Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed appealed for unity Sunday as the transitional parliament opened its first session on home soil since relocating from exile last year.
Somehow, when I think of Somalia, "unity" is not the first thing that pops to mind...
Yusuf lauded the session as historical although powerful warlords controlling Mogadishu skipped the session owing to the tension in the capital. This is a historical opportunity for the Somalia parliament, government and the people, Yusuf told lawmakers gathered in Baidoa, about 250 kilometres northwest of Mogadishu. Let us choose between serving our people or being put on the bad list of history as people who promoted confrontation among Somalis and lacked the skills to administer a modern Somalia, he said. Somalis are fed up with hostilities, displacement and endless violence. The people want peace, freedom and to live under the rule of law.
"Modern" and "Somalia" just don't seem to go together.
Officials said the warlords chose to remain in Mogadishu, where tension runs high after clashes between allied warlords and a group known as Islamic Courts Militia claimed at least 33 lives and displaced hundreds last week. The warlords are still overseeing the situation in Mogadishu because the ceasefire with Islamic Courts Militia is not viable enough to let them leave, a parliamentary official told AFP.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2006 00:00 ||
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Around 1,600 Tunisian prisoners, including dozens of radical Islamists and people jailed for using the Internet for terrorist purposes, have been freed under a presidential pardon, the official TAP news agency reported Saturday President Zine Al Abidine Ben Ali's move led to the full release of 1,298 prisoners, while 359 others were freed on parole, according to TAP. Among those freed were more than 70 radical Islamists, members of the banned Ennahda movement including several leaders such as journalist Hamadi Jebali, according to defence lawyers. They had been convicted and sentenced to long prison terms in the 1990s for membership in the party and attempting to take power by force.
The amnesty, which comes a month after the north African country celebrated the 50th anniversary of its independence, was announced after a meeting between Ben Ali and his interior and justice ministers Rafik Belhaj Kacem and Bechir Tekkari. An unspecified number of prisoners also had the length of their sentences reduced, said TAP. It said Ben Ali had asked for measures to be taken to ensure the released prisoners were reintegrated into society and that they did not reoffend.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
"...Ben Ali had asked for measures to be taken to ensure the released prisoners...did not reoffend."
They hate us because we humiliated them, showed up the gross inferiority of their culture. To them we are the other, detested and feared in a way we can barely understand. Things got really bad in the 19th century. When European society achieved industrial lift-off, Europeans were suddenly buzzing all over the world like a swarm of bees. They encountered these other cultures, that had been vegetating in a quiet conviction of their own superiority for centuries (or in the case of the Chinese, millennia). When these encounters occurred, the encountered culture collapsed in a cloud of dust. Some of them, like the Turks, managed to reconstitute themselves as more or less modern nations; others, like the Arabs and the Chinese, are still struggling with the trauma of that encounter. Neither the Arabs nor the Chinese, for example, have yet been able to attain rational, constitutional government.
As I said, time is short. The Hun is at the gate. In the case of most European countries, in fact, the Hun, the hesperophobe, is inside the gate. We can dream on for a while, dream that our cultural superiority, our technological superiority, our political superiority, will preserve us against all assaults. Perhaps we should remember that the Huns were cultural illiterates, technological ignoramuses, and political incompetents. It doesn�t take much in the way of culture, technology, or statecraft to deliver a crippling blow to a weary, sybaritic, over-governed civilization that is near the end of its allotted span and has lost all faith in its own founding values. Time is short.
#3
Nimble, immigration to Europe from elsewhere wouldn't be nearly the problem it is if the institutions there weren't leading purveyors of hesperophobia themselves.
Posted by: Phil ||
02/27/2006 13:57 Comments ||
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Huns were cultural illiterates, technological ignoramuses, and political incompetents.
Russias lower house of parliament approved Sunday a sweeping new anti-terrorism law defining terms under which the military may shoot down hijacked passenger planes, strike at suspected terrorist targets and intercept communications for security reasons.
The law entitled On Counter-terrorist Action was approved in a final reading with 423 votes in favour, one against and eight abstentions. It will be passed to the upper house of parliament and then President Vladimir Putin for final approval both of which are considered a formality.
This law is very much needed . . . It defines what terrorism is. Without it, it was difficult to carry out the struggle against terrorism by lawful means, said a deputy with the pro-Kremlin United Russian Party, Nikolai Kovalyov.
The head of the Duma lower houses legislation committee, Pavel Krasheninnikov, described the law as strict.
In working out the law we studied the sad experience of terror acts in Madrid, the United States, Beslan and elsewhere, Krasheninnikov told journalists.
The lengthy text approved Sunday sets out a range of procedures for anti-terrorist operations and also covers operations outside Russian territory.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/27/2006 03:13 ||
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The sales of weapons to Iran don't go through Duma.
An Australian man convicted of receiving funds from Al Qaida has said Osama bin Laden does not like to be kissed and described himself as a reluctant Muslim who loved beer. Joseph Terrence Thomas said he had been seeking spiritual fulfilment as he went from a Christian upbringing in suburban Australia to becoming a Muslim convert training at an Al Qaida camp in Afghanistan. "I never really thought I'd be a Muslim," Thomas said on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's "Four Corners" program on Monday. "I'd say, 'Oh look, you know, I really love your religion but I really love my beer'," he said.
Thomas, also known as Jack, on Sunday became the first Australian convicted under tough new anti-terrorism laws. The 32-year-old father of three was found guilty in Victoria state's Supreme Court of receiving $3,500 and a plane ticket from senior al Qaeda agent Khaled bin Attash after training at an al Qaeda camp in Afghanistan in 2001. A jury of nine women and three men on Sunday also found him guilty of possessing a false passport. Sentencing proceedings will begin on Thursday and Thomas's lawyers have said he plans to appeal against the convictions. Thomas was found not guilty of two charges that he had intentionally provided support and resources to bin Laden's militant network between July 2002 and January 2003.
While he was at the Al Qaeda camp in Afghanistan, Thomas said he saw bin Laden three times, once shaking hands with him. "Very polite and humble and shy. He didn't like too many kisses ... he didn't mind being hugged but kisses he didn't like and he just seemed to float .. across the floor," Thomas told Four Corners in interviews recorded a month ago.
While admitting he trained at the camp and met bin Laden, Thomas has said in several interviews that he never had any intention of accepting Attash's offer of becoming a "sleeper" agent in Australia. "I might be naive and I might be an idealist, but I am not a dickhead who will help to hurt innocent people, which those people have shown is their tactic," he told The Age newspaper in interviews recorded about four weeks ago and published on Monday.
Thomas was a pantomime performer as a child and said he started ballet classes so he could meet girls. Disappointed when he was rejected by a Victorian dance school for being too stocky, he instead joined his brothers' punk rock band, The Lobotomy Scars.
Thomas, a short, baby-faced man with a thin beard, walked to court each day of his week-long trial in Melbourne with his parents Ian, a retired technical school teacher, and his mother Patsy, an aged-care nurse, by his side. His family described him as an idealist with a great social conscience who was driven by injustice. He worked in a soup kitchen and took up sky diving and scuba diving and dabbled in Buddhism and the occult before a Muslim friend took him to a mosque. After his conversion to Islam, he chose the name "Jihad". He wanted a Muslim wife and married Maryati, an Indonesian policeman's daughter, after flying to South Africa to meet her on a friend's recommendation.
Thomas told the ABC he met Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar Bashir in Malaysia in 2000 on his way back from his haj pilgrimage to Mecca. Bashir was jailed for 30 months for his role in the 2002 Bali bombings which killed 202 people, including 88 Australians. "My wife had gone to school with his wife," Thomas said.
He said he went to Afghanistan seeking an Islamic utopia but didn't find it. He was detained in Pakistan in January 2003. "The Taliban had their traditions but many of them were not Islamic," he told The Age, referring to Afghanistan's fundamentalist Islamic rulers who were driven from power in late 2001 after they refused to hand over bin Laden.
This article is a bit too kind, IMHO; in a large part, this was a instrumentalization of this sad case by political/confessional orgs which are trying to get a new virginity regarding antisemitism.
At the parisian demonstration organized "against racism" (remember, in France racism is something that emanates from the Evil French society, as illustrated below) by thoses who enabled themselves the islamization of France (leftists, socialists, "antiracist" orgs, official dhimmi jewish orgs, gaullists, msm, church hierarchy,...), trotskysts attacked the leader of the MPF conservative christian party Philippe de Villiers and he had to be escorted out by police forces.
His thought-crime? Explicitely positioning himself against the accelerated and gvt-enabled islamization of France.
Thus, he's "right wing", and to be demonized as pépé Le Pen (who wisely choose not to go to this PC-fest himself)...
This is awful... this whole "marching on the streets against racism" was an insult to Ilan (his family didn't participate as noted below, and the original all-jewish demonstration that was to be done in the barbarians 's territory at Bagneux, where nobody heard a thing during the 3 weeks of torture, was prevented by the authorities for fear of "provoking violence"), thoses who let the barbarians in are now acting as if they were concerned... and who do they blame?
Well, the National front and the MPF (slandered as "antisemite, which is totally untrue, unlike at least some parts of the NF), of course!
Ilan Halimi was killed by the racism generated by the "rightwingers", not by "youths" soaked in a jihadist/islamist culture, that's what was said (the communists sang their usual anti-NF slogans, "N for nazi, F for fascist").
Note that despite what is written below, it is not the security which has ejected PdV (the Betar and the JDL, in that case, this being initially a jewish demonstration), but pro-immigration leftists (pleonasm), including the Licra (secular leftist jews representating mostly the media elite) and Sos-racisme (socialist proxy).
Video here.
Also, there WAS a National front delegation, represented by Jean-Richard Sulzer, a jewish NF Ile-de-France politician.
Only good news is that the islamo-leftist Mrap "antiracist" dared not to show itself openly, for its members are identified as islamic antisemite enablers even to the left, or to split factions within it (the stalinists vs the islamists).
Rank and file jews are not duped by theses goons anymore, at least that's what I hope.
Some non-PC jewish orgs sent a communique noting how shameful was that incident, especially since they clearly identify the islamic ennemy and can't help notice PdV is the only non islamo-collaborator mainstream pol, and Alain Finkielkraut, noted anti-idiotarian jewish intellectual (not the pitiful buffoon Bernard Henry Lévy!!!) expressed his disgust too.
In 2002, about 20% of french jews voted for Le Pen, even though he is (justly, IMHO) seen as an antisemite... BUT, he was also the only leader to stand up to the colonization of France.
Now, with the national Front turning toward muslims and the antiglobo left (sort of), I wonder if the catholic De Villiers will benefit from that sympathy.
Anyway, 2007 (2006?) presidential elections will be crucial.
Either there is an earthquake and PdV or JMLP is elected (very, very, *very* unlikely), with then much trouble to follow, or France's deathspiral will goes on, only faster, with Nicolas Sarkozy (allowing foreigners to vote, funding mosques with taxpayers money, "updating" the law on State/Church separation to favorize "french islam",...) or Lionel Jospin/Ségolène Royal/Laurent Fabius... (a pure-breed old school tranzi socialist, need I to say more?), or Dominique Galouzeau "de Villepin" (like Yacoub Ben shirak, only able to wax bad grandiloquent poetry),...
Frankly, I believe it's hopeless, and we're getting screwed, and will cease to exist as a functioning Nation circa 2020-2030 (talking heads see an ethnic war à la Yugoslavia circa 2010-2012).
Farewell, France, I'll miss you, not your Elites.
Enlightened since 1789, gaullo-communist since 1945, statist since 1958, progressive since 1968, technocratic since 1974, socialist since 1981, dhimmi since 2002 (and full of pseudo intellectuals who make such recapitulation like this out of their *ss, that would be me).
What an interesting run.
Tens of thousands of people protesting racism and anti-Semitism held marches in France Sunday in memory of a Jewish kidnap victim tortured and killed by a violent extortion gang.
Jewish and anti-racism groups organising the main rally in Paris said up to 200,000 people walked through the east of the capital, from Place de la Repblique to Nation, past the mobile telephone shop on Boulevard Voltaire where the 23-year-old murdered man, Ilan Halimi, worked.
Police put their number at 33,000.
Some lit candles or released white balloons as they passed the shop, while others sang the French national anthem or chanted Jewish prayers.
The Paris demonstration included figures from across the political
spectrum, including interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, foreign minister Philippe Douste-Blazy, Socialist party head Francois Hollande and former Prime minister Lionel Jospin, as well as the leaders of rights groups, unions, student bodies, and Jewish and Muslim associations.
Religious personalities, including Dalil Boubakeur, head of the Paris Mosque and chairman of the Council of Muslims in France, and Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger, were also present in the forefront of the march.
Notably absent, however, were members of the victims family. Ilan Halimi's mother Ruth and two sisters, Anne-Laure and Yael, announced they wouldn't attend the demonstration but they stressed that they were moved by the marchers' solidarity.
They denied that their decision to stay away from the march was linked to the participation of extreme-right officials. Some of Ilan's friends, who have been working him in the mobile phone shop, also stayed away because, they told French television, of the presence of extreme-right officials.
One far-right politician who attempted to participate, Philippe de Villiers, leader of the Movement for France party, was forcibly expelled by private security guards employed by the organisers, while members of the xeonophobic National Front party led by Jean-Marie Le Pen did not attend, police said, despite vows to do so.
Roger Cukierman, head of the umbrella group of Jewish secular associations in France (CRIF), which organised the marches with two left-wing anti-racism groups, said: "Its important for French society to realise that little anti-Semite and racist prejudices can have terrible consequences."
Silent marches of between 1,000 and 2,000 people also took place in the cities of Lyon, Nice, Bordeaux, Marseille and Strasbourg with demonstrators carrying pictures of Halimi and banners reading "Rest in Peace, Ilan".
In London, a crowd of about 50 sympathisers gathered in front of the French embassy to remember the victim, in what ambassador Gerard Erreta said was "a show of solidarity and vigilance," in the face of anti-semitism.
In Jerusalem several hundred Israelis of French origin demonstrated in solidarity with French Jews following the murder.
"The martyrdom of Ilan reminds us that anti-semitism still kills 60 years after Auschwitz," Rabbi Jacques Gruenwald told the gathering.
Sunday's demonstration in Paris was the largest since 1990 when around 200,000 people took on the streets of the capital four days after Jewish tombstones were desecrated in the cemetery of the southern city of Carpentras.
For the first time since WWII, then Frances President, Francois Mitterrand, and the countrys Prime Minister, Michel Rocard lead the march.
Government spokesman
The French government was wary about drawing too heavy a link between the criminal gang responsible for Halimis murder and anti-Jewish sentiment, however.
Past incidents in which apparently anti-Semitic crimes turned out to be staged or committed for other motives seemed to lie behind its cautious stance.
A government spokesman, Jean-Francois Cope, told French radio that while there were "strong suspicions" of anti-Semitic motives in "this horrible affair", investigators were still getting to the bottom of the case.
"Absolutely everything must be done to know all the details" before conclusions about racism or anti-Semitism were drawn, he said.
Halimis abduction and murder has sent shockwaves through the country, and raised tensions between Frances large Jewish and Muslim communities.
Gang leader to be extradited within a week
Halimi, 23, was kidnapped in January by the gang, which, among other tacticts, apparently used young women as bait to lure men into a trap. According to the Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot one of these women was a 16-year-old Iranian.
He was held for three weeks while his abductors sent ransom demands to his family.
On February 13, Halimi was discovered, naked, bound and gagged, with horrific burns and stab injuries, alongside a railway track near Paris. He died while being taken to hospital.
Tipped off by one of the "sex-bait" women, police quickly swooped on a number of suspects, which has grown to 17 with recent arrests.
The alleged ringleader, identified by prosecutors as Youssef Fofana, 25, was arrested in the Ivory Coast capital Abidjan and France has requested his extradition.
Fofana, a convicted petty criminal of Ivorian origin and with French citizenship, is suspected of being behind two other extortion rackets that involved threatening doctors, businessmen and minor celebrities.
Questioned by police, he allegedly said the gang targeted Halimi because he was presumed as a Jew to be wealthy, but denied being the killer or that anti-Semitism was the motive.
Police said they had confirmation that four of six other potential kidnap victims tracked by the gang were also Jewish.
"He has shown no remorse, no regret," an investigator said of Fofana, who was expected to be extradited to France within a week.
On Saturday, two of the young women and a male suspect were placed under formal criminal investigation as a precursor to being charged on kidnapping and illegal detention counts.
Although the gang allegedly includes whites, blacks and Arabs, media attention has focused on its Muslim members, stoking animosity between members of Frances 600,000-strong Jewish community and the five-million-strong Muslim population.
#3
didn't realize it was so long, but there was some half-truths and falsehoods in this article I wanted to precise (some very PC, like the "5 millions muslims", official figure is 6 millions, and truth is closer to 8-10 millions, as there is probably about 12 millions+ non-europeans in France, total pop being between 62-63 millions, figure is often put ca. 15% muslims or more).
#4
Of course, A5089. I really like reading your comments, and without your added insight, we would be a lot longer in interpreting the article. And more than likely, wrong.
European Union foreign ministers are in full finger-wagging mode and will warn Serbia that its EU aspirations could be in doubt, but will not set any deadline for it to hand over top war crimes suspects to the UN tribunal.
"This time, you're really gonna get it. Or not. We'll see."
The ministers will endorse a report by EU enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn noting that Serbia is not fully cooperating with the UN war crimes court in The Hague, and say this could delay Belgrade's rapprochement talks with the EU. They will examine whether the negotiations "could be disrupted when full cooperation is not forthcoming as we require," said German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier as he arrived for the meeting in Brussels. "There is no ultimatum on the agenda for the moment," he noted. Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn added: "I don't think that an ultimatum is the right path to take."
How very...European of you.
You mean, "y'rup-peon".
During their talks in Brussels, the ministers will also thrash out how best to keep the Palestinian government afloat in the face of Israeli sanctions. As they gathered, the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, announced that it was prepared to provide 120 million euros (142 million dollars) to the Palestinians to help them stock up on ammo pay government salaries and energy suppliers. "Today, I will annonce (to EU foreign ministers) a very substantial package of assistance to meet the basic needs" of the Palestinians, EU external relations commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said ahead of the meeting. The EU is the biggest aid donor to the Palestinians, but it has faced a quandry since the militant group Hamas won last month's elections, as the organisation figures on its terrorist blacklist. Israel's sanctions, announced after the Hamas victory, deprive the Palestinians of about 60 million dollars a month in taxes and duties, and the EU wants to help the impoverished Palestinian territories meet the shortfall.
Gah.
The ministers are not expected to take a clear position on Hamas until the new government is formed and its position on recognising Israel, renouncing violence and working peacefully for a two-state solution is made clear.
I prescribe getting Europe's collective ears checked for wax buildup. Obviously they can't hear very well right now.
In a busy day of talks, the ministers will also take stock of Iran's nuclear ambitions just a week ahead of a key meeting of the board of the US International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
five gets you seven that they make it all the way through the "My esteemed colleagues'" and the "Your Excellencies'" and then break for lunch and 'consultations'.
#1
European Commission, the EU's executive arm, announced that it was prepared to provide 120 million euros (142 million dollars) to the Palestinians to help them
Who said that euro involment in Holocaust is over?
#3
Hamas' position is very clear. It hasn't changed. One can only suppose that the EU supports another go at extermination with such funding being offered.
Terrified that the locals might riot again if they refuse I assume. Been down the appeasment road before, haven't they?
As George W. Bush looks out on an unfriendly world, where can he find new allies to support America's tarnished foreign policy? Step forward Jacques Chirac, who in his final year in office acts as though he wants to be as good a friend to Washington as Tony Blair. After five years of trying to build an anti-U.S. front with Germanysplitting Europe down the middlethe French president is reaching into his diplomatic toolbox and coming up with initiatives that are increasingly in tune with America's global agenda.
So, as the U.S. president arrives in New Delhi with the aim of building up India as a 21st-century regional superpower capable of rivaling China, Bush will find that his path and message have been smoothed by Chirac. Just returned from India himself, the French president struck a blow for the U.S. administration's strategy by strongly supporting a rapid buildup of India's nuclear-energy ambitions. He signed an agreement to export French nuclear know-how, giving India the chance to obtain nonpolluting energy for its accelerating industrial and domestic needs and reduce its dependence on imported oil. The U.S. Congress has yet to lift its ban on nuke exports to India. But if Washington is as serious about assisting India's nuclear option as it seems, then France's willingness to partner in the effort looks like welcome news indeed.
But Chirac has gone further. In a little-noticed speech on French nuclear doctrine earlier this year, he announced that France's nuclear-weapons capability should be reckoned with by states tempted to sponsor terrorism on French soil. Although wrapped up in Gaullist tropes, this amounts to something akin to a pre-emptive-strike doctrine for Europe, not far removed from the U.S. policy that caused such a flap after 9/11. Belated or not, it echoes Washington's determination to tell terrorists and their state sponsors that there are lines not to be crossed.
In the Middle East, France and America are working intimately on Lebanon. They are pointing a collective finger at Syria and forcing U.N. resolutions demanding that it stop trying to control its neighbor. Chirac was a close friend of the murdered Lebanese prime minister, Rafik Hariri, who kept a good chunk of his $6 billion fortune in France. Furious Hizbullah leaders in Beirut, supported by Damascus, denounce the French president as a poodle of Washington. Even more significant is the new joint front on Iran. Chirac has led Europe's condemnations of Tehran's threats against Israel and has been instrumental in referring its nuclear challenge to the Security Council.
Little of this is reflected in the French press, which cleaves to its diet of America-bashing pur et dur. But Chirac understands that posturing over Iraq has not protected France from Islamofascism. Militant Islamist preachers are active among the nation's 5 million Muslim citizens, many of whom willingly believe that all their problems will get better if they follow Sharia and reject French secularism. Chirac also reacted swiftly when a French Jew was recently tortured to death after being kidnapped by a thuggish gang who believed that, because he was Jewish, his family by definition was rich enough to pay a massive ransom. This vestige of the very worst anti-Semitism shocked France and may serve to wake up intellectuals blinded to the excesses of radical Islamists by their own anti-Americanism.
And Chirac has his own Abu Ghraib. France's elite antiterrorist police face accusations of torturing Arab detainees suspected of terrorist links. A top general has been suspended after an enemy combatant held by his soldiers was murdered in the Ivory Coast, where young French troops, as frightened and far from home as American troops in Iraq, are all that is preventing a descent into anarchic bloodshed. Anti-U.S. politicians in Switzerland and Strasbourg may paint America as a nation of bloody torturers, but Chirac knows that in the fight against terrorism both soldiers and security agencies make mistakes. He is not joining in the U.S.-bashing on this front.
Thus, France in 2006 is a very different country in terms of foreign policy from the France that wanted to lead Europe, and much of the world, against America in 2003. Germany's new chancellor, Angela Merkel, does not share the keenness of her predecessor, Gerhard Schroder, for selling arms to China or turning a blind eye to the erosion of democracy in Russiaprompting France to follow suit. Meanwhile, other EU nations like Britain and Spain are economic success stories in part because they have embraced U.S.-style free markets. After investing so heavily in anti-Americanism, leading nowhere, Chirac finally appears to be cutting his losses. Perhaps it's time to put french fries back on the menu in Washington.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/27/2006 02:58 ||
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#1
But Chirac is on his way out. Who comes after Chirac and what will his policy toward the US be?
Posted by: Jonathan ||
02/27/2006 7:26 Comments ||
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#2
Yeah. Let's trust Chirac. That's a grand idea.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
02/27/2006 7:30 Comments ||
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#3
In a little-noticed speech on French nuclear doctrine
?
#5
No thanks. Relations with France should be at arms length with the other hand pinching our nose. In 20-30 years, the French will be in a very nasty civil war. The last thing America needs is for the French to think, yet again, they have a right to Americans to come and pull their nuts out of the fire. The smartest thing we could do is to raise tariffs on French goods so that industrial infrastructure will be encouraged to migrate out of France and out of harm's way. The best the French can hope for is that the Germans will come and occupy them permanently.
Posted by: ed ||
02/27/2006 8:13 Comments ||
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#9
It doesn't matter who's in charge. The French will not be our allies regardless of appearances. They are interested in building a Francophonie alternative to les anglo-saxons with the Arabs, Chinese and any third world thugs who would like to join them. They are an enemy who is unable to fight with us but happy to provide a second would veneer to those who can.
#10
i doubt very much that the arabs (other than the Lebanese Maronites and a handful of secular Algerians) and the Chinese are interested in building a francophonie.
I think this is a tribute to among other things A. Good, if unheralded, diplomacy by the Bush admin, esp Rice. B. The fact that the extreme alienation between the US and France was over Iraq, and now that Iraq is moving to self rule, its simply not the same kind of issue. C. Putin going a bit too far, making him a more difficult ally for Chirac. D. The elections in UK and German - Chirac is stuck with Blair, and has lost Schroeder. E. The actions of our adversaries - from Iran, to Hamas, to the cartoon riots - our enemies are pressing us together.
#11
The fact that the extreme alienation between the US and France was over Iraq
You make it sound like the extreme alienation started with the war on Iraq. In fact it is the Iraq war that has forced the anti-American drum bangers like Chirac to get real as their citizens demand they do something, besides blaming the US to deal with their terrorist threats, which are far more severe than our own.
To some of us, his oil for food scams, bribes, coddling dictators, the fact he'd be in jail if he had lost the election, and that his blame America stance is no different than the Muslim blame the Jews stance, created alienation long before the Iraq war. Not all of us thought he was cool just because he blamed America.
#12
The French have never really been our friends. Imperial France occasionally helped us against their blood enemies, the British. But since the French Revolution, never. We bailed them out twice in WWI and WWII, but that was only because they were allied with the British. That help was always resented by the elites. France dropped out of NATO. In 1966, France withdrew its military from NATO and demanded that all non-French NATO troops leave France (relocating NATO HQ to Brussels). During the Cold War, France was always cozier with the Russians than the West. When I was in the AF, France was one of the countries with whom we could not share information because it was assumed that what was in Paris today would be in Moscow tomorrow.
With his approval rating hovering around 20%, Chirac has decided to become our friend only because he has lost all support internally.
#15
2B - I used "extreme" deliberately - meaning more overt, more widespread in society etc.
"To some of us, his oil for food scams, bribes, coddling dictators, the fact he'd be in jail if he had lost the election, and that his blame America stance is no different than the Muslim blame the Jews stance, created alienation long before the Iraq war. Not all of us thought he was cool just because he blamed America"
Number 1, I was focusing on state to state relations, not individuals. Second, I was focusing on French hostility to the US, not the other way around. Since the posted article is about a(purported) change in FRENCH attitudes and policies, I would have thought that was clear. Sorry if my prose was imprecise.
#16
"One difference between French appeasement and American appeasement is that France pays ransom in cash and gets its hostages back while the United States pays ransom in arms and gets additional hostages taken."-William Saffire
#17
"Never will I believe that the soul of France is dead! Never will I believe that her place amongst the greatest nations of the world has been lost forever." Winston Churchill
I would suggest that the Iraq war forced the French to finally see that their anti-West bias is nothing more than politicians distracting from their own failures, in exactly the same way that Muslims leaders use Jews.
I understand your point, but I do not believe that the Iraq war caused the extreme alienation between the French and Americans as the French already completely secure in their sense of superiority. Though I will grant that it did cause extreme alienation between the Americans towards the French.
Rather, I think that American response to the war on terror v/s the abject failure of the French governments supposedly superior diplomatic handling of the Iraq crisis forced the French to see their own government in a brand new light.
#21
As we sit here and bash the French, in my opinion most deservingly so, we all bitched that the French need to dot this or that. Now they are turning to try to work together, should we give them a big "No thanks"? Are we just venting or stupid? The French are weak, cowards, and not trustworthy, but they are a nation that has the capability to sell Nuclear technology and biotech capabilities to our enemies. We must pinch our noses and deal with them, bring them on to the teamm, or at least to the table, and try to keep them from becoming a muzzie state in europe with full up nuke capabilities.
Posted by: 49 pan ||
02/27/2006 19:32 Comments ||
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#23
but watch your backs at all times. Every move, declaration has to be scrutinized. Jacques, this is not necessary among allies. I trust Aussie PM Howard to say what he thinks and does. France has a lot to make up for....backstabbing lies costing American lives among them. If there's a sea change, then welcome, and don't begrudge us our worst suspicions for the next couple decades, eh?
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/27/2006 21:34 Comments ||
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The FBI determined a powdery substance found in a roll of quarters at a University of Texas dormitory was not ricin after initial state tests had indicated it was the potentially deadly poison, a spokesman said Sunday.
The FBI tests did not identify the substance, but they came back negative for the poison that is extracted from castor beans, said San Antonio FBI spokesman Rene Salinas. ``There were no proteins in there to indicate it was in fact ricin,'' Salinas said. He said was unlikely further testing would be done. Texas health officials did ``just a quick test and they don't check for the proteins in ricin,'' Salinas said.
Salinas said it was unclear whether the FBI would continue its investigation into how the substance ended up with the coins. If it was put there as a joke, Salinas said ``it was an extremely bad joke.''
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/27/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Ah, is that what that was? I wondered why my hometown was on Chinese TV yesterday.
An Afghan security official said on Monday Kabul had provided solid evidence to Islamabad about militant training camps in Pakistan and the presence there of Taliban leader Mullah Omar, but Pakistans Foreign Office said the information was outdated.
"Oh, yasss! That was a long time ago, when brontosaurs ruled the world..."
During a recent visit to Pakistan, President Hamid Karzais delegation handed over confessions of 13 Pakistani terrorists arrested in Afghanistan and details of Taliban leaders in Pakistan, including phone numbers, locations and descriptions, the Afghan security official said.It is currently crystal clear ... that terrorists are using Pakistan soil for planning attacks, for masterminding attacks on our soil, he told Reuters.
Thank you for that statement of the blindingly obvious...
Foreign Office spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said Pakistani intelligence agencies were investigating a list of under 40 suspected Taliban members Kabul suspects are running the insurgency from Pakistani soil. Separately, some information was provided about Mullah Omars whereabouts, she said. Some of that information has already been checked and its not correct. She said Osama did not figure on the list handed over by the Afghan government and rejected speculation that he was hiding in Pakistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2006 22:50 ||
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PESHAWAR: Speakers at a conference said that the publication of caricatures of Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was an international plot designed by imperialist America to weaken the strong Muslim states by driving a wedge between the West and the East. They urged workers, peasants and labourers across the world to unite and stand up to imperialist forces led by the US and prevent them from achieving their nefarious designs.
"Workers and peasants"?
The speakers expressed these views at an Anti-Imperialist Conference organised by Pakistan Mazdoor Kissan Party at Nishtar Hall, Peshawar. Speaking to peasants and workers who had come from far-flung areas of the province, Ghinwa Bhutto, chairman Pakistan Peoples PartyShaheed Bhutto, said that the publication of cartoons was Americas plot aimed at isolating the people of the East from the West to achieve its objectives. Our real foes are the Americans and the Jewish lobby that controls the US and the western media particularly in Scandinavian countries, said Ms Bhutto, widow of Mir Murtaza Bhutto. She said that the people from the west always sided with the people from the east, particularly on the Iraq war, which the western people opposed, and if both the East and the West united, imperialist America would have no place in the world. The imperialists (Americans) and the Jewish lobby plotted the cartoon drama to isolate us, he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2006 00:00 ||
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Speakers at a conference said that the publication of caricatures of Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was an international plot designed by imperialist America to weaken the strong Muslim states by driving a wedge between the West and the East.
LAHORE: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) will hold protest rallies in all the provincial capitals against the arrival of American President Gorge Bush on March 3, said PTI chief Imran Khan. "I will lead a protest rally from the Rawalpindi Press Club to Islamabad to protest against the American president's dual policy on democracy," Imran Khan said at a press conference on Sunday.
He said that America had always promoted its image as a 'champion' of democracy while on the other hand it was supporting military rule in Pakistan and Burma. The PTI chief said Americans had killed millions of people in Iraq and Afghanistan in the name of democracy, but America had adopted a totally different policy for Pakistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2006 00:00 ||
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LAHORE: People who resorted to violence during protests against the publication of caricatures of Prophet Muhammad (may his slippers never uncurl pbuh) in European newspapers have damaged the cause of Muslims, Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi told legislators from Jhelum and Attock during a meeting in Rawalpindi on Sunday. Elahi said the caricatures offended Muslims all over the world. He also said the PML was capable of coping with all challenges effectively and urged MPAs to accelerate development work and the PML reorganisation campaign in their areas. He said the opposition was trying to damage national assets during protests.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2006 00:00 ||
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If Islamophobia is a growing problem, who is responsible for spreading negative stereotypes of Muslims? You know: the stereotype that muslims are violent extremists who want to impose their beliefs on everyone around them. Where on earth could people ever get such an idea? Maybe they're just bigotted and closed minded. How else would they make such an absurd connection?
LAHORE: A spokesman for the Punjab government has said people proved that they would not approve religion's use for political gains, by staying away from the opposition rally on Sunday.
What if they gave a riot and nobody came?
Opposition parties failed to exploit people's religious sentiments for their political designs, the spokesman said in a statement. He said that opposition parties had not condemned ransacking of public property and burning of Punjab Assembly even after so many days. The spokesman alleged that the opposition was trying to achieve its anti-state agenda with violence during protests. He said the government represented people's sentiments on the caricature issue.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Protest Warriors Rule!!
Posted by: N guard ||
02/27/2006 0:23 Comments ||
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Some of Pakistans embassies abroad are distributing a booklet which contains a map of the Jammu and Kashmir at variance with Pakistans long-held position on the dispute. The map shows the Northern Areas of the state, which have been officially considered an integral part of the former princely state, as a separate entity, identified simply as the Northern Areas. The Line of Control, formerly the Ceasefire Line, has been removed on the map. The entire state, both the Indian-held part and Azad Kashmir, has been shown as one, single, undivided entity, identified as Jammu and Kashmir state with the words disputed territory appearing in very small letters under this appellation.
The map is being handed out in Pakistans diplomatic missions in a few European countries as part of a booklet containing basic information about the country. The Northern Areas, Azad Kashmirs highest court held in 1995, were an integral part of the Jammu and Kashmir state and their administrative control, it directed, should be handed over by Pakistan to the Azad Kashmir government. This has not happened. Azad Kashmir is not a disputed territory, according to Pakistans long-held position. The state position is that areas making up Azad Kashmir were liberated by the local people following an uprising against the Maharajas rule in 1947. Similarly, the Northern Areas territory ceded to China, according to a treaty between the two countries, will be subject to renegotiation in the event of a change in the status of the area at some future date.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2006 00:00 ||
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Prayer leaders in Islamabad's registered mosques urged the people not to allow politicians to exploit their sentiments over the publication of caricatures of the Holy Prophet (May his drip clear up pbuh).
During their Friday sermons, imams from mosques around the capital expressed their reservations on the MMA's claim that their protests would continue till the ouster of President Musharraf. "Politicising the issue is wrong. They (the MMA leaders) should have said that their protests would continue until the publishers of the caricatures are punished," observed the imam of a mosque in sector G-9/3. He said that every Muslim was hurt by the publication of the caricatures, but it was not justified to use the people's religious sentiments to further a political agenda.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2006 00:00 ||
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He said that every Muslim was hurt by the publication of the caricatures ...
Sure enough, especially those hostile saps who got their beturbaned @sses trampled flat during the protests. More cartoons, more tramplings, more economy crippling demonstrations. Faster, please.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan called on influential world figures to fight extremism and bridge the divide between East and West at the opening of a conference of Muslim and European leaders. "Lofty ideas alone are not enough ... We need to develop sobering, but equally compelling counter-narratives of our own," Annan told delegates at the second gathering of the UN-sponsored Alliance of Civilizations.
The UN chief drew attention to the violent demonstrations across the Muslim world over the satiric cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed published in Europe as symptoms of a greater global sickness. "At the heart of this crisis is a trend towards extremism in many societies," Annan told the gathering Sunday. "I very much hope that you can come up with specific, concrete suggestions for ways of carrying dialogue forward so that it can really catch the popular imagination; so that we are not just a nice group of people agreeing with each other, but people with a message that can echo around the world."
He said world figures, especially artists, entertainers and sports champions, must promote the ideology of tolerance and understanding between cultures among youth before they are swayed by extremists. "It is very important to reach young people before their ideas and attitudes have fully crystallised," he said.
The Alliance of Civilizations initiative, launched in November 2005 by Spain and Turkey, has created a "high-level group" of some 20 members including Iran's former president Mohammed Khatami, former French foreign minister Hubert Vedrine, South Africa's Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the wife of Qatar's emir Sheikha Mozah. The group, which had its first meeting in Palma de Mallorca in Spain in November and will have two more meetings after Doha, is expected to come up with concrete steps for promoting dialogue between cultures that will be presented to the UN, other international organisations and world governments in the autumn.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2006 00:00 ||
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#3
We need to develop sobering, but equally compelling counter-narratives of our own
It's always about "narratives" and "framing" with these people, isn't it? I guess that's easier than actually doing anything.
And then there's this gem:
He said world figures, especially artists, entertainers and sports champions, must promote the ideology of tolerance and understanding between cultures among youth before they are swayed by extremists
I've witnessed gobs of preaching by artists and entertainers about the "ideology of tolerance".
I don't sense that it's made any difference with practitioners of the Religion of Peace.
Posted by: Hans Blix ||
02/27/2006 10:16 Comments ||
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#5
Hans, you don't need a menu if you're dining with Kofi. The chef will prepare anything you want and John Bolton will pick up the check, albeit extremely reluctantly.
#7
He said world figures, especially artists, entertainers and sports champions, must promote the ideology of tolerance and understanding between cultures among youth before they are swayed by extremists.
Gee, aren't the artists, entertainers, etc the one's being slaughtered in muslim countries when they do speak out. The one's lingering in prison and/or in hiding with fatwas against them.
Are these the artists you have in mid Kofi?
Or are ya just in the mood for another Bono concert?
#9
East West divide? Japan is in the East. Taiwan is in the East, Australia is in the East (well South and East). Change that to middle east instead of east and you've narrowed down the source of 99% of the worlds problems.
I agree action is required to solve that problem. Action not theft.
#1
This guys is such a thoughtful person I wish he would come here and live and comment on life. He would be safer. You will never read any commnetary like this in the MSM.
Peeling Tater would toss a wrench into the Religious leaderships plans would it not?
Posted by: SPoD ||
02/27/2006 15:39 Comments ||
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The bombing and bloodshed that pushed Iraq to the brink of civil war have propelled anti-American firebrand Muqtada al-Sadr to the forefront of Iraqi politics. The young Shiite cleric who twice defied America in 2004 now has emerged as a major threat to U.S. plans for Iraq.
Al-Sadr had already managed to carve out a strong position in Iraqi politics. His followers won 30 of the 275 parliament seats in the December elections, and his support enabled Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari to win the nomination of the Shiite bloc for a second term as prime minister. But the outbreak of Shiite-Sunni violence presented al-Sadr with an opportunity that he was quick the exploit.
Through skillful use of intimidation, first, and then concessions, al-Sadr, 31, has profited more than any other Iraqi figure from the unrest that swept the country after the Wednesday bombing of a Shiite shrine, which triggered reprisal attacks against Sunni mosques and clerics. Many of those reprisal attacks were believed to be the work of al-Sadr's own Mahdi Army militia, which operates in the Shiite slum of Sadr City and in Shiite strongholds throughout the country. But al-Sadr, who was in Lebanon when the bombing occurred, denied any role in the violence. He quickly joined moderate Shiite clerics in public appeals to halt the attacks.
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Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/27/2006 03:19 ||
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"In effect, al-Sadr's followers stirred up trouble, and then took credit for stopping it."
Surprisingly accurate statement from AP. Sadr's moves are classic - and hard to counter. I am skeptical that he is clever enough to come up with this on his own: somewhere there are puppet strings to Teheran - it would be great if we could find and expose them.
Leaders of the main Sunni Arab political bloc have decided to return to suspended talks over the formation of a new government, the top Sunni negotiator said Sunday. The step could help defuse the sectarian tensions that threatened to spiral into open civil war last week after the bombing of a Shiite shrine and the killings of Sunnis in reprisal.
That bloodletting has amounted to the worst sectarian violence since the American invasion nearly three years ago, and the possibility of Iraqis killing one another on an even greater scale appears to have helped drive Sunni Arab politicians back to moderation, after they angrily withdrew from negotiations last Thursday.
The Bush administration has pegged its hopes for dampening the Sunni-led insurgency, and withdrawing some of the 130,000 American troops here, to Sunni Arab participation in the political process.
While the Sunni bloc, the Iraqi Consensus Front, has not publicly announced its decision and could still reverse course, Iraqi officials say the talks may resume as early as this week, depending on the level of tension in the streets.
Sectarian violence appeared to be ebbing across Iraq on Sunday, with more people venturing outside for the first time in days. Nonetheless, Shiite militiamen retained control of some Sunni mosques they had raided, and scattered mayhem left at least 14 people dead, including three American soldiers. At least 227 people have been killed since the shrine bombing.
The young spiritual leader of the Shiite militiamen, Moktada al-Sadr, made his first appearance in Iraq since the paroxysm of violence. He arrived in the southern port city of Basra from a trip to Iran, and, in a rare public speech, called for unity between Shiites and Sunnis while demanding a timetable for the withdrawal of American forces.
Blaming the American military for the recent violence, he told Iraqis to "cut off the head of the snake." Thousands of followers, some waving Kalashnikov rifles, cheered in the streets.
The return to talks of the Sunni Arab bloc would be a crucial step in keeping on track the formation of a permanent government, which was mired in troubled negotiations even before the attack last Wednesday. The Sunni negotiator, Mahmoud al-Mashhadany, said Sunni politicians now recognize the need to form a widely inclusive government as quickly as possible to succeed the current interim government, dominated by religious Shiites and Kurds.
"We've canceled our withdrawal from the talks," Mr. Mashhadany said in a telephone interview. "We should hurry up and form a national unity government, to change this hopeless government. In the new government, everyone will handle responsibility."
The Bush administration has been pressuring the majority Shiites and the Kurds to allow significant Sunni Arab representation in the coming four-year government, in hopes of politically engaging the Sunni-led insurgency. The Sunni Arabs are severely underrepresented in the current government because they boycotted elections in January 2005.
The mediation efforts of the American ambassador here, Zalmay Khalilzad, were dealt a serious blow last Thursday, when the leaders of the Iraqi Consensus Front, which is religiously conservative, said they were boycotting talks on forming a government out of anger at the sectarian violence, organized mostly by Mr. Sadr's militiamen after the bombing of the golden-domed Askariya Shrine in Samarra.
The Sunni Arabs presented a list of demands to the Shiite-dominated government, including repairing the damaged mosques and honoring the memory of Sunnis who were killed. On Saturday night, at an emergency meeting of political leaders, the Iraqi prime minister, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, said the demands were valid.
Mr. Mashhadany said Sunday that the Sunni Arabs would remain vigilant for any broken promises from the Shiites. "We don't need words on paper," he said. "We need them to implement these changes."
But he generally struck a conciliatory tone, saying "there's a desire to accelerate the formation of the cabinet" and adding, "This is from the leadership of all the groups the Sunnis, the Shia and the Kurds."
In the past several days, Iraqi officials have put aside the negotiations to deal immediately with the sectarian violence. If the streets remain calm on Monday, they say, that could prompt leaders to restart the talks.
The Iraqi government announced that on Monday it would lift an extraordinary day curfew it had imposed on Baghdad since Friday.
"We're not yet talking about forming the government," said Sheik Jalaladeen al-Sagheir, a senior Shiite politician. "We want to make sure the air is clear first."
In the past several days, American diplomats have conferred with Iraqi leaders to try to bring all the parties together. The Americans approached several Iraqi officials, particularly Sunni Arabs, requesting their presence at the emergency meeting called by Mr. Jaafari on Saturday night.
"We strongly felt Sunni Arabs had to be there and accept the invitation," one diplomat said.
At the meeting, dozens of politicians formed an advisory council to look into reducing the sectarian tensions. All sides still have major concerns: Some Sunni Arab leaders, for instance, are demanding that the Shiite-dominated police, accused of running death squads and torture chambers, release Sunnis who were arrested during the wave of violence.
Attacks that took place Sunday were, for the most part, less intense than the recent violence. Eight mortar rounds landed near two Shiite mosques in the troubled Baghdad neighborhood of Dora, killing at least 8 and wounding at least 32.
In Baquba, 30 miles northeast of Baghdad, gunmen fired on boys playing soccer, killing two and wounding at least five. A roadside bomb around Baghdad killed at least one Iraqi commando officer in a convoy. A bomb exploded in a Shiite mosque in Basra, causing minor injuries.
The American military said two soldiers had been killed early Sunday in Baghdad by a roadside bomb. Another soldier died from small-arms fire in the evening.
No word emerged on Sunday of the fate of Jill Carroll, the 28-year-old American journalist abducted in early January. Her captors issued a statement through a Kuwaiti television station this month demanding that the Americans and Iraqis release all imprisoned women by Sunday, or Ms. Carroll would be killed. The Americans have said they do not negotiate with militants.
Though the streets of Iraq remained mostly quiet throughout the day, a general atmosphere of anxiety still blanketed the country. The police intensified patrols and checkpoints on the outskirts of Najaf, the southern city that is home to Shiite Islam's holiest shrine and its most revered cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. In the Baghdad neighborhood of Zaiyuna, militants who had engaged in firefights by a Sunni mosque in the past two days seemed to have disappeared.
"Today, it's tense but quiet," said Ansam al-Abaiyachi, a women's rights advocate.
Members of the Mahdi Army, Mr. Sadr's militia, still kept control of some Sunni mosques they had stormed last week. They stood guard around the buildings with Kalashnikovs, but many had doffed their black uniforms, on orders from senior Sadr officials. In some instances, they tried to persuade Sunni worshipers that the Shiites had a right to keep the mosque.
That was the case at one mosque on Palestine Street in Baghdad, near Sadr City, the militia's enclave. The Sadr followers occupying it told neighborhood Sunnis that it had been a Shiite mosque before Saddam Hussein's government converted it into a Sunni house of worship. Last week, the militiamen expelled the imam and renamed the building the Ali Mosque, after the martyred son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad, revered by Shiites.
The militiamen had also set up a checkpoint near the mosque. Policemen tried futilely to persuade them to take it down.
"They're like the Baathists from before," one police officer said, making the comparison with members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party. "You can't talk to them. You can't say anything to them."
The leader of the Mahdi Army, Mr. Sadr, preached calm in his speech in Basra. He was visiting leaders throughout the Middle East when the violence erupted last week.
His last stop was Tehran, Iran. The Shiites and Sunnis, he said, must "be brothers, and love each other, so that our Iraq can be safe, stable, independent, and free of the occupation."
As the crowd of thousands roared, Mr. Sadr called for a peaceful demonstration to be held against the American-led forces. "We got rid of the accursed Saddam only to be replaced by another dictatorship, the dictatorship of Britain, America and Israel," he said.
In northern Baghdad, in the Sunni stronghold of Adhamiya, young men with Kalashnikovs guarded mosques, still fearful of Shiite assaults. Police officers, generally distrusted by Sunni Arabs, remained at checkpoints on the outskirts of the neighborhood. Makeshift barricades of bricks and stones blocked some roads.
There were signs, though, of normal life seeping back in. Children frolicked in the blazing sun. People wandered around with buckets of fuel or kerosene, carting them home after days spent hunkered down indoors.
The main mosque in Adhamiya, Abu Hanifa, was the scene of a televised joint prayer service on Saturday between Sadr clerics and conservative Sunni imams.
"I think the meetings between Shia and Sunni clerics have helped defuse the situation," said Salam Suhail, who sells automotive spare parts. "Any sectarian war would be a catastrophe for us. We'd rather have a tsunami than a war between Shia and Sunni."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/27/2006 03:01 ||
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"We got rid of the accursed Saddam only to be replaced by another dictatorship, the dictatorship of Britain, America and Israel," he said.
...YOU got rid of him??
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
02/27/2006 12:36 Comments ||
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#2
"Any sectarian war would be a catastrophe for us. We'd rather have a tsunami than a war between Shia and Sunni."
GERMAN intelligence agents in Baghdad obtained a copy of Saddam Hussein's plan to defend the Iraqi capital, which was passed on to US commanders a month before the 2003 invasion, The New York Times has reported.
In providing the Iraqi document, German intelligence officials offered more significant assistance to the US than their government has publicly acknowledged, the newspaper said on its website.
The plan gave the American military an extraordinary window into Iraq's top-level deliberations, including where and how Saddam planned to deploy his most loyal troops, the Times said.
An account of the German role in acquiring a copy of the Iraqi plan is contained in an American military study, which focuses on Iraq's military strategy and was prepared in 2005 by the US Joint Forces Command, it said.
The German government was an especially vociferous critic of the Bush administration's decision to invade Iraq. While the German government has said that it had intelligence agents in Baghdad during the war, it has insisted it provided only limited help to the US-led coalition.
After the German agents obtained the Iraqi plan, they sent it up their chain of command, the paper said, citing the study.
In February 2003, a German intelligence officer in Qatar provided a copy to an official from the US Defence Intelligence Agency who worked at the wartime headquarters of General Tommy Franks, according to the American military study.
The Iraqi plan called for massing troops along several defensive rings near Baghdad, including a "red line" that Republican Guard troops would hold to the end, the paper said.
Ulrich Wilhelm, the chief spokesman for the German government, would not comment on the report, the Times said.
#2
A "plan" that was utterly useless, both to the defenders and to the attackers.
Re-read "Thunder Run". No one expected Baghdad to fall as quickly as it did, and the drive to the center of Baghdad was an impromptu affair, put together after the swing to the airport demonstrated that enough firepower would let an armored column operate in urban (or suburban) territory. If there was a secret plan, it was as full of bluff and bluster as Fisk's reporting.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
02/27/2006 7:28 Comments ||
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#3
How did the Germans find the information? From the briefcase of a dead Iraqi courier washed up on the banks of the Euphrates? Sorta makes you wonder if Saddam was disappointed the Germans gave the information to the Americans.
#4
The thing about plans is they never survive contact with the enemy. The plans the Germans gave us could very well have been perfectly valid. Until the poorly paid, poorly trained Iraqi troops (and lets me realistic even the republican guards sucked) were faced with utter annihilation at the hands of a vastly superior force.
#5
There are still a lot of German soldats who hold the US military in high esteem, and would be more than willing to do their "Ami comeraden" a favor or two.
#7
I suspect the Germans will conclude the same thing about hthe U. S. Another nice move to undermine U. S. intelligence capabilities by the NYT (New York Traitors).
#8
We (the US military) knew the Soviet War Plan for any attack against US forces in Europe called for the use of overwhelming numbers - more tanks, more aircraft, more APCs, more people. The United States has been working on a battle capability to combat overwhelming numbers since at LEAST 1975. The Iraqis used basically the same war plan the Soviets created, and we destroyed them accordingly, because we've been more or less successful in defeating overwhelming numbers with speed, intelligence, innovation, tactical surprise, coordinated maneuver, and superior technology. The Iraqis were nowhere as capable as the Soviets. By preparing to fight the best that could be brought against us, taking on fourth or fifth (or 70th) best was more or less a cake-walk. It didn't matter if we had their plans - we were capable of defeating them in depth because of OUR plan.
Never, Never, NEVER underestimate the US military.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/27/2006 19:38 Comments ||
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Shortly before the American-led invasion of Iraq, Amr Moussa, secretary general of the Arab League, warned that the attack would "open the gates of hell." Now, three years later, there is a sense in the Middle East that what was once viewed as quintessential regional hyperbole may instead have been darkly prescient.
Even before the bombing of one of Shiite Islam's holiest shrines in Samarra set off sectarian fighting last Wednesday, the chaos in Iraq helped elevate Iran's regional influence a great concern to many of the Sunni led governments here while also giving Al Qaeda sympathizers a new a foothold in the region.
But the bombing, and the prospect of a full-blown civil war driven by sectarian divisions, is even more ominous for the Middle East. Nine Middle Eastern countries have sizable populations of Shiites living side by side with Sunnis, and there is concern in many of them that a split in Iraq could lead to divided allegiances and, perhaps, conflict at home.
"The spillover of this is of concern for everybody in the region," said Ali Shukri, a retired Jordanian general who for 23 years served as an adviser to King Hussein. "When you take western Iraq, Anbar Province borders Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia; the southern part of Iraq borders Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iran. If there is a conflict, a surge in violence, it becomes contagious in the region."
The rising tensions in Iraq are also happening at a time when two other powerful dynamics are at work: the rise of Islamic political parties, like Hamas in Gaza and the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, and the effort of the Iran's leadership to once again try to spread its ideas around the region. How all these forces combine and ultimately influence each other has become a source of deep worry.
In addition, should fighting increase, local leaders are also bracing for a new influx of refugees and damage to the regional economy. Both factors would have serious consequences for Middle Eastern states that have little or no oil and are already suffering from stagnant economies, including Jordan, Syria, Egypt and Yemen.
The tiny Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan absorbed about a million Iraqis after Saddam Hussein's government fell, and now, faced with serious economic problems, its leaders worry about another flood of refugees rushing across the border. In Saudi Arabia, officials face the dual threat of a restive Shiite population at home and the increased power of the Iraq-based group that calls itself Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, which has already stated its desire to take down the Saudi monarchy.
The Qaeda group in Iraq has already claimed responsibility for a triple bombing in Amman last year, and several political analysts said they believed that the attempted suicide bombing of a Saudi oil refinery on Friday had its roots in Iraq.
With Egyptians making up a large portion of the foreign fighters in Iraq, and earlier in Afghanistan, some analysts have asked, "If Al Qaeda aligned forces are successful in breaking apart Iraq, will they try to strike in Egypt?" Many have expressed concerns about the regional economy, and, if nothing else, have noted that increased violence will undermine efforts to lift a region stung by high unemployment and economic stagnation.
"Iraq has been like hell for the last three years," said Hesham Youssef, Mr. Moussa's chief of staff in Cairo. "I think it would surpass any expectation if a civil war erupts. This will go even into a much worse scenario, not only for Iraq, but for the region as well."
The most pressing fear in the region remains that civil war would aggravate the split that tore Islam into two major groups centuries ago, Sunnis and Shiites. While the original division was caused by a dispute over who would take over as leader, or caliph, after the death of the Prophet Muhammad, Shiites and Sunnis have developed distinctly different social, political and religious practices over the centuries and have often viewed each other with suspicion.
While Sunnis are a majority in the region, there are large Shiite populations in Oman, Bahrain, Lebanon, Yemen, Kuwait, Syria, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. In some places, Shiites are discriminated against.
But in weighing the regional impact of the Iraq war, and the potential for intra-Muslim conflict, Iran, the only Shiite-led government in the world, clearly looms largest. By many accounts, the shifting dynamics in Iraq have served to strengthen Iran's hand at a time when it is defying Europe and the United States by moving forward with a nuclear program. Iran says it wants to develop nuclear energy; the West says it suspects Iran is trying to build weapons and has had the International Atomic Energy Agency refer Iran's case to the United Nations Security Council.
The Iranian leadership has condemned the blast as the work of the Israelis, the Americans and the British, leveling a charge that aims to rally all Muslims behind it; it has also called for calm in Iraq, thereby winning grudging appreciation of regional leaders, and it still has the chaos in Iraq as a foil to deflect American attention from Iran's own nuclear program, analysts in the region said.
"It is true that the elements involved in the explosion were a couple of misled and radical Sunnis, but everyone knows that these people are the puppets of the occupying forces, who incur heavy costs, design very accurate plans and encourage such weak persons to do whatever they want," read an editorial in the Iranian paper Jomhuri-ye Eslami. "During the past years, these elements have been trained with the budget of America and England in order to have an anti-American face but to be the agents of America. They are in fact the children of the Satan that has occupied Iraq at the moment."
Under almost any chain of events, from the development of a democratically elected government in Iraq to the fracturing of the country into ethic zones, Iran faces the prospect of emerging as a far more influential power regionally in the near future than at anytime since the 1979 revolution, political analysts said.
"There was always a balance between Iraq and Iran," said Abdel Raouf El Reedy, a former ambassador to the United States who now serves as chairman of the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs, an independent research center in Cairo. "Now, if Iraq disintegrates and there is sectarian division between the Shiites, Kurds and Sunnis, then Iran will become the dominant power in the region."
But it is difficult to determine Iran's immediate intentions in Iraq, whether it is a force for calm, an agitator for destabilization or a bit of both. With the election in June of an ideologically hard-line president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran had abandoned any conciliatory approach to the West, moving forward with its nuclear program.
In taking such a confrontational approach, Iran has tried to reach out to the Arab world. By calling for Israel to be wiped off the map and calling the Holocaust a myth, Mr. Ahmadinejad has tried to unite Muslims Sunni and Shiite under a pan-Islamic umbrella controlled by Iran.
While that oratory has left Iran more isolated from the West, it has increasingly found a degree of unity and support in the region. The recent outrage over the caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad, which set off more than a month of protests, also helped unite Muslims in opposition to a common perceived enemy.
That unity, and the prospect of Iran spreading its revolutionary ideas among Sunnis, could be undermined if there is a fevered civil war pitting Iraq's Sunnis against its Shiite majority.
"If it does start to divide them, then everybody will clinch to power like hell and they will be at each other necks like crazy because nobody will want to lose," said Mr. Shukri, the retired Jordanian general.
So far, Iran has stuck to its script and has tried to transform the attack on a Shiite shrine, which it condemned, into another point to rally all Muslims. But there are many people around the region who question Iran's sincerity, and who see in the chaos in Iraq a hand from Tehran.
"I know the Iranian government does not want to have a stable area," said Muhammad al-Zulfa, a member of the Shoura Council of Saudi Arabia, a consultative assembly appointed by the king. "So I'm afraid they want to keep the Americans busy in Iraq or somewhere else, in Syria, or Lebanon. Maybe the Iranian government wants to have a hand in all these areas."
At the moment, if there is any hint of the possibility for direct confrontation between Shiites and Sunnis, it was offered in Lebanon, by Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, leader of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah. He blamed America and militant Sunnis, like Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, for the chaos in Iraq. He singled out a practice among some extremists known as takfir, in which one Muslim declares another an apostate, and then kills him.
"Let's not blame each other," he said at a rally last week. "We shouldn't give them that opportunity. We should limit the accusations to the American occupation, its agents and the takfiri murderers. Toward those our rage should be directed."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/27/2006 00:14 ||
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That unity, and the prospect of Iran spreading its revolutionary ideas among Sunnis, could be undermined if there is a fevered civil war pitting Iraq's Sunnis against its Shiite majority.
#2
There is so much here that is twaddle that it would have been amazing a mere 10 years ago. Today I expect no more than this from the terminally BDS-ridden PC-addled Tranzi NYT. I want to focus on the core fantasies being peddled, as I see them.
The M.E. is a swamp of despicable, vile, barbaric, despotic shitholes. It is the primary host of the most dangerous human pathogen on the planet. The oft-mentioned "stability" of this swamp, in reverent tones, is purest black comedy. That's one of the memes in play now that 2 of the worst regimes have been toppled. Seems to me that "worried" is a reasonable response for the others, though not for the reasons tossed out in the article. They have to be worried that the ideological dominion and kleptocracy games are about to end.
I love the Sunnis and Shi'a living side by side BS - it's an idiot's illusion, a farcical view by a fuckwit. In all cases, one dominates the other - and the downtrodden is in no doubt regards who is Master and who is serf.
The alQ breeding-ground bit is quite precious, too. Caliphatists were breeding in the M.E. - in Afghanistan, for example, long before the US took out the Taleban trash. Saddam and his hideous offspring were terror incarnate - long before the US came calling, greased the kiddies, and pulled that freak out of his hole.
The fixation on alQ is specious and dangerous - the presence or absence of an "official" alQ connection misses the point: the security of the USA and our allies, such as they are. One thing that makes me proud to be an American is that, when we have a President with some vision and the stones to pursue it, we tend to see to it that bad shit happens to bad people. Melike. Slackman's a tool - a shallow werdsmythe and peddler of asinine NYT agenda fantasies which focus on the BDS aspect and spin accordingly.
If Iraq disintegrates, then so be it. They have their chance, courtesy of the US - UK - Oz - and the other coalition members, and they have their infection, courtesy of Islam and Arab Tribalism. Whichever prevails, whichever they choose, so be it. Western logic presumed they'd choose freedom, given the choice. Heh. Does not apply. So the question remains open.
To be honest, only the fate of the Kurds garners any of my attention or interest. In the end, they will prosper - only a twisted dictator with many times their power could keep them down - and that's well and good, IMHO. They are the brightest spot in this episode of As the World Turns.
Additionally, Arab Iraq has been rendered toothless outside its borders - the terrorists still living are amateurs compared to Saddam, including Zarqi. Removing this dictator was a Good Thing.
A swamp. Of shitholes. To neutralize the threat of the pathogen, we must drain it. We must drain them all. All in their turn. 2 down, and what - 20 to go? Many of those will fold under their own weight and demographics after one or two more are removed.
Iran seems to be demanding to be next. Works for me. Make it so.
#3
Many of the Net blogs are NOT detecting any signs of civil war in IRAQ - in America, though, UNITED FORPEACE.org is calling for various Lefty groups/orgs to storm the White House on March 15th, and for Dubya, etal and aligned Corporatists to stand before the UNO Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes ags humanity.
#4
I hate being destablized, ever since Suez I've felt that things have just going so wrong for me. The Jews, the endless heat, inbred camels, sand everwhere, The Jews, I long for the days of wholesome peace and contentment. Instead we get The Jews and freaking kids everywhere. I'm depressed and unstable.
Posted by: The Middle East ||
02/27/2006 17:20 Comments ||
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WASHINGTON Iraqi security forces have made strides over the past four months with nearly a third of the armys battalions now assigned to their own battle space, a Pentagon progress report said on Friday.
Delivered to Congress amid an upsurge of sectarian violence, the report said the force has grown to about 230,000. It said 98 Iraqi army and 27 police battalions have been trained and equipped and are now engaged in counter-insurgency operations. Of the army battalions, 53 are capable of leading counter-insurgency operations with US military support and 37 control their own areas.
Both figures represent significant increase from October, when only 19 battalions had their own battle space and 36 were judged capable of leading operations, albeit with US military backing. One of the reasons we want to turn over battle space to Iraqis is precisely so coalition forces can be less visible and less exposed, said Peter Rodman, an assistant secretary of defence who briefed reporters on the report.
The security forces, which in the past have crumbled under insurgent pressure, now face a major test of strength with an explosion of sectarian violence in the wake of the bombing of a Shia mosque this week. This so far seems to be a test that they are standing up to just exactly as we would hope, Lieutenant General Gene Renuart, of the Joint Staff, told reporters here.
With most of the line armys line battalions now trained and equipped, US military trainers are shifting their focus to creating support units that would enable the Iraqi to operate independently of the US military, the report said. Plans call for completing the formation of leaders and basic training for most of those support units by the end of the year, he said.
No Iraqi battalions are currently considered capable of operating fully independently of the US military, Renuart said. In October, there was one, but it has since been downgraded, he said. Once combat support and combat services units have been built up, the general said, then you will begin to see increasing numbers of level-one battalions.
The report said priority also is being given this year to training and equipping police forces, which fall under the Ministry of the Interior and currently number some 82,000. Insurgent infiltration and militia influence remain a concern for the Ministry of the Interior, the report said. Many serving police officers, particularly in the south, have ties to Shia militias.
Recent sectarian attacks on Sunnis have been carried out by Interior Ministry police suspected of having been ties to Shia militias, the report said. Domestication of the militias is a gradual process, Rodman said. But he added that bringing them into the police forces was a way to do it.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/27/2006 00:00 ||
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No Iraqi battalions are currently considered capable of operating fully independently of the US military, Renuart said.
But remember the standard, to operate just like an American battalion. That includes the ability to communicate and coordinate support, air/artillery/etc. By which standard there are probably no other units in the world capable of meeting that standard outside of the US military. Just the ability to link into the electronic communications and net that the Americans use, means that British, German, Japanese, etc are not at the same level. And the entire organizational structure of combat support and services certainly are not there yet. A gun without bullets is just a club. Modern military organizations require that infrastructure to operate. So the ability of the battalion is dependent upon none organizational elements which are beyond the battalion commander's control. However, that factor has to be considered in 'readiness'. Its like an iceberg. 10 percent on the surface [the battalion] and 90 percent under the water [support and integration].
Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev on Monday warned the United States against unilateralism in global affairs and hailed the Kremlin's invitation for Hamas to visit Moscow, criticizing the West for trying to shun the organization.
Gorbachev said the United States had failed to use the end of the Cold War for purposes of global development and abused its position as the world's only superpower.
"There is only one superpower now and it doesn't know what to do with its status," Gorbachev said at a meeting with foreign reporters. "As a result, we got Yugoslavia and Iraq, and the situation has only got worse."
Gorbachev also strongly backed Russian President Vladimir Putin's invitation to Hamas to visit Moscow, saying that the move offers an opportunity to draw the it into the peace process.
"It offers a chance," Gorbachev said. "It must be supported by common efforts."
Gorbachev criticized the US approach to Hamas' victory, saying that attempts to isolate the group that swept the elections were a manifestation of "double standards.
Posted by: Captain America ||
02/27/2006 17:08 ||
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Batting cleanup for the FSU is Mikhail Gorbachev, still trying to hit above the PineTree Line, Gorby brings a lot of fans to the ballpark, but unless Larry King is pitching Gorby's on base average is less than .100.
#4
Actually, it was Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II acting in concert that brought down the Evil Empire. Reagan provided the external pressures, while John Paul supported the internal dissent. The Iron Curtain was hard and brittle, and all those little hammer taps both inside and out shattered it.
#5
As a poster on the Net said yesterday, WE'RE A SOCIALIST NATION MOVING TOWARDS COMMUNISM BUT THE LEFT DOESN'T KNOW HOW TO STOP IT.
*SAVE CLINTONIAN LEFTSOCIALIST AND COMMIE-MAJORITY AMERIKA FROM BUSH AND THE COMMIES;, SAVE [HATED] FASCIST = [BELOVED]LIMITED COMMIE AMERIKA FROM THE COMMIES; SAVE AMERICA FROM BUSH AND THE COMMIES - VOTE DEMOCRAT, VOTE HILLARY, VOTE FOR THE LEFT!? GOP-CONSERVATIVE FASCIST SOCIALIST MALE BRUTES MUST BE SAVED BY LAISSEZ FAIRE = REGULATOR/ULTRA-CONSERVATIVE COMMMIE SOCIALIST MOTHERS.
The private Israeli firm that provides gasoline to the Palestinian Authority said a check for more than 22 million dollars bounced last week and announced it has stopped deliveries. "A check for 103 million shekels (22.4 million dollars) made out to Dor-Allon was returned unpaid last week and we have stopped deliveries because the Palestinian arrears are accumulating," a Dor-Allon spokesman told AFP Monday.
Amid the threat of a fuel crisis in the Palestinian territories, an Israeli official questioned by AFP said the "government cannot intervene in a matter involving a private contract."
Since the 1994 creation of the Palestinian Authority, Dor-Allon has provided some 600,000 tonnes of fuel and 120,000 tonnes of gas per year to the Palestinian Energy Authority, which acts as the wholesaler in the territories. Sources at the energy authority said their arrears currently stand at about 120 million shekels (26.1 million dollars).
The Palestinian Authority is suffering from a severe cash crisis, which could be exacerbated following the victory of radical Islamist group Hamas in last month's general election. The United States and European Union have threatened to cut off aid unless Hamas renounces violence, recognizes Israel's right to exist and respects previously signed international agreement.
On Monday, however, EU external relations commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said the European Commission had earmarked 120 million euros (142 million dollars) in much-needed funds for the Palestinians. The always cash-strapped Palestinian Authority is desperate for funds since Israel imposed sanctions on the incoming Hamas-led government, including a freeze on paying customs duties, worth around 50 million dollars a month.
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas is "not relevant" because of the victory of the Islamic Hamas in last month's elections and its takeover of the Palestinian parliament and Cabinet, Israel's acting foreign minister said Sunday. Tzipi Livni spoke after meeting US envoy David Welch, where they discussed how to relate to Abbas, the Fateh leader who is president of the Palestinian Authority, in light of the landslide Hamas victory over Fateh. Last week, Abbas picked Hamas leader Ismael Haniyeh to form a new Cabinet.
Livni's harsh statement reflected an apparent difference in approach between Israel and the US. Israel Radio reported that Welch put forward a policy in which the US would work with Abbas instead of the Hamas-led government, but Israel rejected that. Livni told Israel Radio that Abbas "can't be a fig leaf for a terrorist authority. Abu Mazen can't be a pretty face for ugly terror that hides behind it." She said the Hamas government must decide about Israel's demands for recognition and renunciation of terror, and Abbas "in this regard is not relevant." Without referring to the radio report, Micaela Schweitzer-Bluhm, spokeswoman of the US consulate in East Jerusalem, said: "In terms of Abu Mazen [Abbas], we remain fully committed and supportive of him."
Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat called Livni's remarks "totally unacceptable." Erekat, from Fateh, said: "The Israelis are trying to undermine the Palestinian people in general because they don't differentiate between one Palestinian and the other." Israel and the US both consider Hamas a terror group.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2006 00:00 ||
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Were we supposed to believe that he was relevant BEFORE the election?
#2
The Israelis are trying to undermine the Palestinian people in general because they don't differentiate between one Palestinian and the other."
There is no need to distinguish one Paleo from the other. The majority, overwhelmingly, voted for terrorists. This is the face they have chosen to represent all of them.
The government you elected rejects terror and acknowledges israel or you all are treated as the terrorists you embraced and legally chose to represent you.
In response to worldwide protests sparked by the publication of cartoons vilifying the Prophet Mohammad, Arab parliamentarians on Sunday agreed to push for the introduction of an international law prohibiting the vilification of all religions.
Except for Judaism, of course. And the Ahmadis. And the Ba'hais. And the Ismailis...
Speaking on the sidelines of the Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union (AIPU) assembly, which met yesterday to thrash out the agenda of the 12th biannual conference that begins today at the Dead Sea, Kuwaiti Parliament Speaker Jasem Khurafi said he hoped the international community would respond positively to the Arab initiative.
I hope the international community responds with a resounding "no." I'm afraid I'm going to be disappointed.
Khurafi said Arab parliamentary groups were currently coordinating among themselves in order to drum up international support for the move. During the past few months, the Arab and Muslim worlds have reacted with anger at the publication of cartoons vilifying the Prophet Mohammad in a Danish newspaper.
Had somebody depicted Mohammad swimming in a beaker of piss it'd have been art.
The newspaper, Jyllands-Posten, printed the cartoons last September, but since then they have been widely reprinted throughout the world by newspapers to demonstrate that freedom of the press trumps religious prohibitions. The paper published 12 cartoons, one of which portrays the Prophet Mohammad wearing a turban-shaped like a bomb. The Danish government has refused calls to apologise on the grounds that it has no power over the newspaper.
More havarti? Should I crack another couple bottles of Tuborg?
Yesterday, the parliamentary assembly ratified the agenda of the AIPU, which is held under the patronage of His Majesty King Abdullah. Apart from the cartoon controversy, topics to be discussed include the Arab parliamentary experience in the light of the current developments in Iraq and Palestine, election processes, the right to candidature for parliament, the principle of separation of powers and its effect on democratic practice, water and its strategic role in the Arab world, human rights and the rights of the disabled in Arab countries, among other topics.
How about the personal liberty of Arabs and Muslims to think for themselves and to hold their own opinions, whether somebody else likes them or not?
In the meantime, the AIPU agreed yesterday to hand its presidency for the next two years to Lower House Speaker Abdul Hadi Majali. Lebanon's Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has held the post for the past two years. Also on Sunday, Prime Minister Marouf Bakhit met with Arab League Secretary General Amr Musa, who is participating in the two-day conference. Discussions focused on preparations for the Arab summit to be held in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum at the end of next month, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.
Khartoum's certainly the place to go to discuss the Wonderful World of Islam. If anyplace presents the face of Islam to the rest of the world it's Khartoum.
They also discussed developments in the region, Foreign Minister Abdul Ilah Khatib attended the meeting. The Damascus-based Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union was established in 1974 with the aim of strengthening contacts and promoting dialogue among Arab parliaments and parliamentarians.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2006 00:00 ||
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Note that the proposed law doesn't appear to forbid vilifying people of a certain religion.
Israel will institute a number of comprehensive changes to its defense export arrangements at the insistence of the United States, following the crisis over Israel's export of attack drones to China. The status of several central divisions in the Defense Ministry will be changed, including that of the head of security and the division for assistance and export. A new division will be established in the Defense Ministry, and Foreign Ministry representatives will sit on a supreme advisory council for defense exports. The U.S. administration has been informed of the expected changes.
"The Chinese crisis" caused a rift between Israel and the Pentagon on several levels. A number of contacts were frozen by the Americans, who said Israel could not be trusted in the area of sensitive technological exports, both American and Israeli, which might reach "dangerous addresses." The American delegates expressed their satisfaction with the plans, but said that it remained to be seen how Israel would enact the decisions.
However, Haaretz has learned that the Americans said they expected the Foreign Ministry to have been given a more serious role in supervising Israel's defense exports. The Foreign Ministry, like the Trade, Industry and Labor Ministry, was given a position only on the supreme advisory council that will operate in the new division, and which will deliberate on export to "special" countries like China, Russia, and countries that have any connection to acts of terror. The Americans demanded in the meeting that Venezuela be added to the list of countries Washington considered "problematic" countries and to which defense exports should be limited.
The Foreign Ministry in fact had no part in supervising defense exports, and diplomatic considerations were insufficient. The Foreign Ministry more than once harshly criticized the actions of the Defense Ministry regarding defense exports. A few dozen people will work in the new division, most of whom will come from other divisions. The Public Service Commissioner will be asked to authorize about ten new positions for the new division of defense exports. The division will also be responsible for enforcement of the various regulations.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/27/2006 00:00 ||
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I like the israelis, and I understand their need to make revenue.
They need to get their head around the fact that we are about the only nation on this planet that is currently willing to support them without a gun held to our head. And modify their behavior accordingly.
Selling arms and tech to people that we will prolly fight sooner or later is not going to make the next round of political / economic / military support any easier.
Posted by: N guard ||
02/27/2006 0:21 Comments ||
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#2
Another time to remember that "nations don't have friends, they have only interests." The US has strongly supported Israel. Without the absolute political and military support of the US, Israel would have been overrun in 1973. But this support is not always reciprocated. Remember the sinking of the Liberty in 1967. Plus our friends have always had an active intelligence operation in the US. The Israelis have always been willing to sell any technology to anyone other than the Arabs. Buying US technology from Israel is cheaper than developing or stealing it. China is a big customer. I seriously worry about coordinating missile defense technology with a country who will sell it to our future enemy.
#3
For what it is worth, I have worked with and like the Israelis. In a previous life, I helped them set up their national EW test facility and even received a holiday card and a book in thanks from the MOD. I like and support them, but there are some technologies that we need to control.
Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian President, has dismissed Iranian overtures to take over funding for the new Hamas-led Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Gaza if the West slashes financial support.
But he also indicated that attempts last week by Condoleezza Rice, the America's Secretary of State, to persuade Arab countries not to fund the Palestinian Authority could prove counter-productive. "We are asking for support from everyone - from Muslims, from Arabs and all over the world - and if we boycott the Arabs and the rest of the world and all is left is Iran, of course, we are going to lose," he said. "Iran cannot respond to all the needs of the Palestinian people."
Except for guns and ammo. Ask the Lebanese ...
Asked whether Teheran could fill a "foreign aid gap" if Arab countries shunned Hamas, which defeated his Fatah faction in last month's elections but is termed a "terrorist" organisation by the United States and the European Union, Mr Abbas responded with scepticism. "There are two questions to ask before saying yes or no. Can Iran respond to all the demands of the Palestinian people? And the second question: how will the money be channelled to the PA areas?" Mr Abbas was speaking to the broadcaster Jonathan Dimbleby in an interview to be broadcast on ITV1 today.
"Preferably through me," he added.
The question of how to deal with the Hamas victory, which Mr Abbas conceded was "unexpected", has thrown Western policy in the Middle East into confusion.
Khaled Meshaal, the Hamas leader who visited Iran and met its president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, last week, has reportedly been promised $1 billion (£570 million) from Teheran for Hamas if the group remained both anti-Israeli and anti-Western.
That would cover the loss of US and Euro funding for a year. Has to be tempting to Hamas.
Ali Larijani, the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, declared that Iran would "definitely help this government financially in order to resist America's cruelty".
The prospect of strengthened links between Teheran and Hamas is alarming Western capitals. Miss Rice was rebuffed last week when she urged Egypt and Saudi Arabia, two key US allies and regional powers, to end funding for the Palestinian Authority if a Hamas-led cabinet takes control without renouncing violence and accepting Israel's right to exist.
Britain and its European allies fear that such an uncompromising stance could drive the new Palestinian government into the arms of Iran. They are instead looking at whether to make payments directly to the office of Mr Abbas after Hamas takes control.
At which point it will be squandered, given to Fatah (but I repeat myself) and be used to pay for Al-Aqsa Martyr (ibid) splodydopes.
British officials have also suggested that a Hamas government must be gradually encouraged to end terror and accept the existence of Israel rather that being faced with an ultimatum to do so.
Because we all know Hamas responds better to gentle encouragement rather than threats.
About 80 per cent of the Palestinian Authority's £70 million monthly budget is spent on the salaries of a bloated list of 140,000 public employees. But the pay that flows through civil servants keeps many families afloat, and bankruptcy could spark widespread unrest if it results in growing poverty.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/27/2006 00:00 ||
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MOSCOW -- The head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization said Sunday that his country had agreed in principle to set up a joint uranium enrichment project with Russia, a potentially significant breakthrough in efforts to prevent an international confrontation over Iran's nuclear ambitions. "Regarding this joint venture, we have reached a basic agreement," said Gholamreza Aghazadeh, the country's nuclear chief, speaking at a press conference with his Russian counterpart in Bushehr, where Russia is helping to build a nuclear power plant. "Talks to complete this package will continue in coming days in Russia."
If Iran does agree to shift enrichment to Russia, Iran would cede control of a key element in the nuclear fuel cycle and ease suspicions that it could secretly produce uranium suitable for nuclear weapons.
Meanwhile the centrifuges continue to whir .....
A deal would also head-off a strongly-worded letter punitive action by the U.N. Security Council after a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna on March 6. Aghazadeh made it clear, however, that there is still no formal agreement and some issues remain outstanding. "There are different parts that need to be discussed," he said, according to Russian news agencies. "These are not just related to forming a company, there are other elements. There are political issues and the proposal should be seen as a package."
He went on to say that Iran has "set a precondition," which he declined to specify. Russian analysts following the talks said Iran wants security guarantees that it would not be attacked by the United States.
And the Russians want us to oblige.
The announcement followed two days of talks between Aghazadeh and Sergei Kiriyenko, the head of Russia's nuclear agency. Negotiations are expected to continue in Moscow in the next two or three days. "I think there remain no organizational, technical or financial problems on the joint venture establishment," said Kiriyenko, but he added that "the international community must have guarantees of security and preservation of the nonproliferation regime."
Kiriyenko provided no specifics, including on key issues such as access to the Russian facility by Iranian scientists and whether or not Iran agreed that it would be permanently based in Russia.
Yup, not a word about the security guarantees we've wanted, not a word about monitoring and safeguards.
An agreement, if in the unlikely event one is reached and backed by the United States and the E.U., would be a significant boon for Russian diplomacy. Russia is chairing meetings of the Group of Eight leading industrial democracies this year, and securing a deal with Iran would be a major boost to the country's desire to be seen as an essential and powerful partner.
Aghazadeh said the decision to establish a uranium enrichment facility in Russia could be taken before the next IAEA meeting. "We believe we can get an outcome that will be satisfying for the March 6 meeting," Aghazadeh said.
Russian officials said Iran would also have to agree to restore a moratorium on enrichment. "The Russia side intends to discuss the issue of setting up a joint venture with Iran to enrich uranium only as a package with all other problems concerning the Iranian nuclear dossier," a source in the Russian delegation told the Russian news agency Interfax. "These problems include, among other things, the resumption of an enrichment moratorium by Iran."
To be guaranteed to the international community by the Russians, and if you can't trust the Russians, who can you trust?
Aghazadeh also said Sunday that Iran also planned to add two more power generating units at the Bushehr plant, and was now preparing tender documents. "Russia will certainly be invited to bid in the tender," Aghazadeh said. "We will be waiting for [Russia's] offer."
And there's the pay-off.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/27/2006 00:00 ||
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TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran will next week grant Total, Shell and Repsol upstream development contracts in the giant South Pars gas field in the Gulf, an Iranian state oil firm said on Saturday.
Iran intends to use phases 11 and 13 of South Pars, which sits on the world's biggest reservoir of natural gas, to produce liquefied natural gas (LNG). The Islamic Republic hopes to export its first LNG shipments in 2009. "The signings will be late this week," said a spokesman for the Pars Oil and Gas Company.
Total is looking to develop phase 11 of South Pars to produce LNG, gas supercooled to liquid for loading onto tankers, in a project called Pars LNG. Shell and Repsol are looking to do the same with phase 13, a project called Persian LNG.
Akbar Torkan, managing director of the Pars Oil and Gas Company, was quoted by the Abrar-e Eqtesadi financial daily saying the contract to develop phase 11 would be worth $1.2-$1.4 billion. The phase 13 deal would be worth $1.5 billion, he added.
Although it sits on the world's second biggest reserves of natural gas, Iran has been very slow to develop exports. Qatar, which draws its gas from the same Gulf reservoir, is a long-established LNG exporter.
Torkan also told the ISNA students news agency that Pars Oil and Gas Company had tendered phases 19-21 of South Pars.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/27/2006 00:00 ||
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The war on terror has led to some subtle tactics that are not much noticed. For example, in the Islamic world, media is seen as a tool, not an independent institution dedicated to finding and reporting the truth. Most news media (print and electronic) in the Islamic world cannot survive on advertising revenue. There just isn't enough of it. But there are plenty of "patrons" available to pay for favorable coverage, or a good dig at a rival. In other words, you pay the editors to get your message into circulation. The CIA has been aware of this since World War II, and has played game quietly ever since then. On a slow news day, American media will jump on this and score some points over how un-American it all is. Meanwhile, the media war overseas goes on as it always has.
Since September 11, 2001, American cash has been increasingly deployed to use Islamic media to hurt al Qaeda, and Islamic terrorism in general. But exactly where the money goes, and to precisely what end, has depended a lot on what has been obtained from interrogations of captured terrorists. Their motivations are then compared to attitudes of similar people back home who did not join al Qaeda. That produces a list of items that could be exploited in the media to discourage people from joining or supporting Islamic terrorists.
While the invasion of Iraq provided a media boost for the terrorists (foreign infidels invade a Moslem country), it was an even bigger negative for them. The terrorists were soon setting off their bombs among Moslems, and the images of dead Moslem women and children proved disastrous for al Qaeda recruiting and fund raising.
This illustrates another al Qaeda weakness; money. The blowback from the Iraqi invasion, particularly the terrorist attacks in Saudi Arabia, encouraged the Saudi government to come down really hard on the Islamic charities, and deep-pocket Arabs, who had been providing so much money to al Qaeda. This went largely unnoticed in the Western media, but al Qaeda has been going broke over the past few years. With less cash coming out of Saudi Arabia, and the other Gulf States, more Islamic terrorists were seen operating on the cheap. The cash crunch has even shown up in Iraq, where many of Saddam fat-cat henchmen had been funding the terrorism there. Seeing that they were not getting sufficient bang-for-the-buck, and that more police and intelligence agencies were looking for them, and their money, much of this cash was shipped off to safer locations
The paid-for media reports take advantage of things like tight al Qaeda budgets and disappearing donors. To get your money's worth, you seek out journalists who can be subtle. It's not like none of their readers know that Moslem journalists can be bought, but readers do want to be entertained, and fed news that makes them feel good. So if you are going to prattle on about all those Iraqi civilians al Qaeda is blowing up, make sure you insist that the ultimate blame belongs on the Americans or the Jooos. That's nothing new, but all that coverage of Islamic terrorists killing lots of Moslems (and not many Americans), does not help al Qaeda recruiting at all. Moslem journalists would rather not report on all those dead Iraqi children, but with the right financial motivation, they can be encouraged to do the right thing.
The CIA also generates story hooks that will embarrass and humiliate al Qaeda members and supporters. In effect, make it "uncool" to be down with al Qaeda. Raw material for this comes from opinion surveys in the Moslem world, as well as interrogations of a growing number of captured terrorists. Even dead terrorists are useful. Much effort goes into identifying dead terrorists, then more effort, and money, goes into investigating the backgrounds of the late jihadis. This not only yields important information on terrorist contacts, but also on motivations. That, in turn, is fodder for new stories that can discourage likeminded fellows who are tempted to join.
The full story of this media campaign won't be told for many years, just as we did not find out a lot of similar secrets about World War II until the 1970s, 80s and later.
Posted by: ed ||
02/27/2006 07:21 ||
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#1
Terrorists are their own worst enemy. They can't kill Americans in high numbers anymore and they can't take on American troops without dying in large numbers. They are so nuts they have to kill something so they kill the very people that could help them.
#3
And this is different from our main stream media exactly how?
Muslim media doesn't try to bring down their government. Instead they will say/do anything to protect their sultan, just like during the Clinton administration.
Posted by: ed ||
02/27/2006 13:02 Comments ||
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Al Qaeda is having increasing problems with ethnic frictions. There was always a problem with the Arabs, who founded, and largely run, al Qaeda, being disdainful of non-Arab recruits, and non-Arab members. The Arabs tend to have an attitude problem. Not only do they feel that Arabs are superior, in general, to everyone else, but they also project a "more-Islamic-than-thou" vibe that really irritates non-Arabs. This has always been a problem, even though the senior al Qaeda Arabs tried to make every recruit feel welcome.
The current problem comes from the fact that all of the original al Qaeda senior leadership is either dead, arrested or in hiding. Dealing with new recruits is left to middle management. These fellows are nearly all Arabs, and often recent replacements for more experienced operators who are dead or arrested. The people dealing with new recruits often have to do it under stressful conditions, and this does not make the experience very welcoming for the new guys. It quickly becomes obvious that new Arab, particularly Saudi, recruits are seen as more promising than the others, especially the non-Arab others. The recruits are usually young men, and the Arab recruits take the cue and begin razzing the non-Arabs. Often, this induces the non-Arabs to just leave. The misbehaving Arab recruits are rarely punished, although the most abusive of them may be encouraged to undertake a "martyrdom" (suicide) mission. Office politics in al Qaeda can get rough.
Posted by: ed ||
02/27/2006 07:19 ||
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Oh, no! Don't tell me we have to go to that friggin Sensitivity Training!
#5
I can see the motivational seminar posters from al-Mahkinsay Consulting (or would it be Da'hil al-Carnegie? The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Caliphs?) now:
"Sharpen the scimitar"
"Begin with Jihad in mind."
"There is no 'I' in 'Allah.'"
Posted by: Mike ||
02/27/2006 12:14 Comments ||
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#6
report them to Sub-Human Resources Dept
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/27/2006 12:20 Comments ||
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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
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Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
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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.
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