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Iran kidnaps Brit sailors, marines
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 2: WoT Background
7 00:00 Zenster [7] 
1 00:00 Anonymoose [9] 
2 00:00 Deacon Blues [3] 
30 00:00 Frank G [9] 
2 00:00 gromgoru [7] 
9 00:00 Nero Shuper3237 [5] 
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5 00:00 Iron Felix [6] 
5 00:00 Nero Shuper3237 [7] 
5 00:00 gromgoru [3] 
5 00:00 Bobby [5] 
7 00:00 Shipman [4] 
Page 1: WoT Operations
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11 00:00 All your Unicorns [6]
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Page 3: Non-WoT
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2 00:00 Old Patriot [10]
2 00:00 Anonymoose [5]
7 00:00 tu3031 [6]
8 00:00 Shipman [5]
6 00:00 Kalle (kafir forever) [7]
13 00:00 Zenster [8]
18 00:00 Duh! [7]
2 00:00 rhodesiafever [7]
7 00:00 Frank G [9]
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3 00:00 Ex Astronaut Lisa Nowak [6]
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Page 4: Opinion
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Page 5: Russia-Former Soviet Union
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7 00:00 Capsu 78 [9]
3 00:00 USN, ret. [3]
10 00:00 Zenster [10]
1 00:00 John Frum [9]
4 00:00 trailing wife [9]
8 00:00 Frank G [7]
13 00:00 RD [8]
3 00:00 tu3031 [10]
10 00:00 trailing wife [5]
7 00:00 Besoeker [4]
12 00:00 Zenster [11]
Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Amir Muhanned Assures Ongoing Battles Against Russian Forces
Amir Muhanned (Commander of the Eastern Front in Chechnya and Amir of "Khattab Group"), that Mujahideen plans and arrangements are proceeding in accordance with the set subject plan and that the popularize propaganda attempts of the end of the Chechen resistance are built unfounded and that what is happening is a Russian media war with the support of traitor Ramzan Kadirov, who receives large amounts of money from the Kremlin.

Russians have resorted to propaganda trick through the media after the steadfastness and fortitude of Mujahideen in Chechnya despite the effects of their killed and wounded. Commander (Amir) Muhanned urged all Muslims not to let down their brothers in Chechnya and to understand what they fought for which is the liberation of their country from the Russian occupiers who feared the establishment of the Muslim Chechen state in the Caucasus.
This article starring:
AMIR MUHANNEDChechnya
Ramzan Kadirov
Posted by: Fred || 03/24/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Chechnya: Little Value In Estimates Of Chechen Resistance
(RFE/RL) -- Russian Deputy Interior Minister Colonel General Arkady Yedelev recently announced his latest estimates for the number of resistance fighters still active in Chechnya: 450, subdivided into 37 separate groups. Those figures, provided during a press conference in Grozny on March 19, contradict earlier statistics cited by the Russian military and Interior Ministry. They also differ from estimates from the Chechen resistance leadership, which admits that not all groups of fighters are still under its direct control.

Yedelev's figure of 37 militant bands is down from his estimate of just six weeks earlier: "Rossiiskaya gazeta" on February 2 published an interview with him in which he gave the same total -- 450 men -- but estimated the number of individual groups at 46. Two months before that, the resistance website kavkazcenter.com cited Colonel General Nikolai Rogozhkin, commander of the Interior Ministry forces, as estimating the number of Chechen resistance fighters at between 800-1,000.

The days when the North Caucasus resistance constituted a unified force that coordinated its activities with the Chechen War Council appear to be over. And in early November 2006, the commander of the Group of Federal Forces in the North Caucasus, Colonel General Yevgeny Baryayev, was cited by kommersant.ru as providing a figure of 700.
Continued on Page 49
This article starring:
ABDUL KHALIM SADULAIEVChechnya
Colonel General Arkady Yedelev
Colonel General Nikolai Rogozhkin
Colonel General Yevgeny Baryayev
DOKU OMAROVChechnya
Group of Federal Forces in the North Caucasus
SHAMIL BASAIEVChechnya
SULTAN KHADISOVChechnya
Posted by: Fred || 03/24/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  450, subdivided into 37 separate groups
Heads up! They're fracturing and becoming potentially more deadly.
Posted by: Shipman || 03/24/2007 0:50 Comments || Top||

#2  The terror is being reconstituted. Chechen women have been told to birth a baby a year. And high birth rates proves compliance. Its the Paleo cycle again: birth 'em, explode 'em.
Posted by: Sneaze || 03/24/2007 7:14 Comments || Top||

#3  That's about 12 guys per group.
Sounds perfect for a Midnight Basketball league...
Posted by: tu3031 || 03/24/2007 10:08 Comments || Top||

#4  We need to open a Spay and Neuter clinic for moslems.
Posted by: Jackal || 03/24/2007 14:19 Comments || Top||

#5  LOL, Jackal!

How true.
Posted by: Nero Shuper3237 || 03/24/2007 14:56 Comments || Top||


Down Under
Muslims to use polls as a sounding board
Former Guantanamo Bay detainee Mamdouh Habib and a handful of other Muslims will stand for election today in New South Wales - Australia's most populous state - hoping to secure the community a political voice. "One of the reasons we stepped forward is to confront racism head on and to confront Islamaphobia head on," said Kaysar Trad, spokesman for Sydney's Islamic Friendship Association. "We owe it to this nation to stand up to racists and make a positive political stand," Trad said.

The Iraq war and comments about women, jihad and Jews by radical imams in Australia have inflamed tensions between Australia's small, mainly Sunni, Muslim community of some 280,000 people, and the rest of the country. During the election campaign, Christian Democrat leader Reverend Fred Nile called for a 10-year ban on Muslim immigrants to give priority to Christians fleeing persecution. He also called for a study of the effects of Muslim immigration.

Habib, with his slick-back hair and ponytail, aviator sunglasses and chain smoking, admits he is a political novice and stands little chance of victory in the election to the New South Wales parliament. On the steps of a Sydney shopping mall, microphone in hand, however, he pleaded emotionally against the Iraq war and for democracy. Habib is contesting the seat of Auburnin Sydney, an area with a large Muslim community, along with converts Silma Ihram and Malikeh Michaels. A fourth Muslim is a candidate in a neighbouring seat.
This article starring:
Islamic Friendship Association
Kaysar Trad
Malikeh Michaels
MAMDUH HABIBal-Qaeda
Reverend Fred Nile
Silma Ihram
Posted by: Fred || 03/24/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Mamdouh received about 4.4% of the vote in Auburn, which for Muslims would be a crushing defeat for the incumbent infidel, who has not yet conceded defeat.
Posted by: Mullah Lodabullah || 03/24/2007 8:38 Comments || Top||

#2  280,000 too many.
Posted by: Excalibur || 03/24/2007 8:48 Comments || Top||

#3  I woder is ASIO is still sneaking into his house and moving the furniture around?
Posted by: tu3031 || 03/24/2007 10:10 Comments || Top||

#4  Mamdouh received about 4.4% of the vote in Auburn,

How did the Tractor Vote go?
Posted by: Shipman || 03/24/2007 11:18 Comments || Top||

#5  The Tractor Trounced him, Ship. Tractors of the World Unite!
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 03/24/2007 11:29 Comments || Top||

#6  "One of the reasons we stepped forward is to confront racism head on and to confront Islamaphobia head on," said Kaysar Trad, spokesman for Sydney's Islamic Friendship Association.
uh, not liking another religion isnt racist
Posted by: George Grolurong3861 || 03/24/2007 11:45 Comments || Top||

#7  Heh heh DB, the tractors are right-deviationists.
Posted by: Shipman || 03/24/2007 16:15 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Bush vows veto as House sets time limit
The US House of Representatives yesterday voted to impose a September 1, 2008, deadline for withdrawing all American combat troops from Iraq, prompting a quick veto promise from President George W. Bush. In a mostly partisan 218-212 vote, House Democrats succeeded in attaching the deadline to legislation authorizing more than $124 billion (Dh456 billion) in emergency funds, mostly for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan this year. The narrow margin of the vote was far short of what Democrats would need to override any presidential veto
Posted by: Fred || 03/24/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The only winners in this game wil be anti-American agendists, anarchists, Govt-ists, and extremists, etal Radicals. OWG and "Globalism" canot be argued for its own sake, but must be argued by humiliating and degrading a USA that they seemingly "hate" but refuse to leave or relocate from. Their response is to gener NOT improve or reform Socialism in other nations, but to turn Amer into something that they themselves hate. PRAVDA [paraphrased]> at least under the Communist USSR, ordinary or mainstream Soviet citizens were permanently poor = miserable BUT D ***ng IT, WERE "OPTIMISTIC".
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 03/24/2007 0:34 Comments || Top||

#2  Well said JoeMan.
Posted by: Shipman || 03/24/2007 0:52 Comments || Top||

#3  PRAVDA [paraphrased]> at least under the Communist USSR, ordinary or mainstream Soviet citizens were permanently poor = miserable BUT D ***ng IT, WERE "OPTIMISTIC".

Half of an imaginary loaf is better than no loaf at all.
Posted by: SteveS || 03/24/2007 12:03 Comments || Top||

#4  Half of an imaginary loaf is better than no loaf at all.

There should have been a whole imaginary loaf except certain stateless right-deviationist wreckers were allowed to roam free in the peoples imagination. This will end.
Posted by: Iron Felix || 03/24/2007 15:27 Comments || Top||

#5  Back on topic - There are several folks on the front page of the WaPo today, smiling and congratulating themselves.

Several do not accept e-mails from voters ouside their zip codes. Madam Speaker Pelosi, seems to speak for everyone, but will not accept my e-mail. Majority Leader Steny Hoyer is also too good to listen to anyone except those who can elect him, as is John Murtha.

Any of you 'Burgers in those districts that could do me a favor? Pass along my message to the Dems:


Perhaps you have not read the English translation of the bin Laden fatwa, wherein he assures his followers the U.S. has no stomach for fighting, and will run away like they did in Vietnam, Beirut, and Mogadishu. Perhaps you do not believe the threat radicals present to our country at home and do not remember the attacks on the World Trade Center in 1993. Perhaps you think the timid response to that attack did not encourage the radicals to attack again, in 2001.

Maybe you do not believe the publicized message of bin Laden’s right-hand man, al-Zahwari, encouraging his followers to rid the “Land Between Two Rivers “ of the infidel Americans, which suggests the radical focus is on our presence in Iraq, rather than attacking on our home soil. Even when my son was in Iraq, with the Marines, his Mother and I preferred the fighting to be over there, rather than over here. Probably you believe the reason we have not been attacked since our incursion in the Middle East is just luck.

I can imagine no other explanation other than ignorance for your voting to end the war in Iraq on any given day, unless it was just to embarrass the President. That would be beyond ignorance and well into stupid, since it would have the same result as telling the whole world that bin Laden was right. Even if the President vetoes the bill, your message to those that would kill us is, “We do not have the courage to stand up to you. Come and get us at home.”

We left troops in Japan for a long time, and the country thrived. We left troops in Germany for a long time, and the country thrived. We left troops in South Korea for a long time, and the country thrived. We took the troops out of Vietnam when Congress intervened, and millions died. Do you see the pattern?

Whether your vote was based on ignorance, the courage of your pacifist convictions, party loyalty, or craven political greed, I believe your vote has done a great disservice to this Country and the brave men and women who offer their lives to keep us free.
Posted by: Bobby || 03/24/2007 17:51 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Islamist anger over Hindu judge
Some have pointed out that the CJ is, ex officio, head of the Sharia court. Having a non-muslim in this position is thus objectionable to them. Ironically, Judge Bhagwandas is the only judge in Pakistan to hold a Master's degree in Islamic Jurisprudence. His recent pilgrimage to various sites in India just adds fuel to the flames

ATTEMPTS to resolve Pakistan's judicial and political crisis were in doubt last night when a religious extremist organisation representing the al-Qa'ida-linked Lashkar-e-Toiba terror group warned that it would not tolerate the appointment of a Hindu chief justice in the Islamic country.
The warning from Jamaat-ud-Dawa, Lashkar-e-Toiba's powerful "patron" organisation and public front, came only hours after the Government in Islamabad announced that the highly regarded Hindu judge Rana Bhagwandas, the Supreme Court's only non-Islamic judge, would be sworn in later today as acting chief justice.

The move is seen as a critical step in trying to find a way out of the turmoil that has gripped the country following attempts by President Pervez Musharraf to sack chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry.

But it is highly provocative to religious zealots and last night, with Jamaat-ud-Dawa leading a backlash among Islamic fundamentalists against the appointment of Justice Bhagwandas, all bets were off that a resolution to the crisis was imminent.

There were fears that hardline Islamic political parties might start a campaign against the scholarly and erudite Hindu judge, further adding to the chaos besetting the beleaguered judicial system.

Courts have been paralysed as lawyers have led street protests against the sacking of the chief justice, and more trouble is expected on Monday when misconduct charges are brought against Justice Chaudhry.

Justice Bhagwandas's anticipated appointment as acting chief justice has been seen as the only hope of breaking the dangerous deadlock over moves to remove the chief justice.

Adding to the President's problems, Justice Chaudhry was reportedly preparing to tour Pakistan's main cities to address bar associations and law societies on the crisis.
Posted by: John Frum || 03/24/2007 11:37 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Again, Perv is making a small risk to diminish the power of the Islamists. A very crafty move, in that being a master of Sharia jurisprudence, this Chief Justice will be able to justify everything he does with strong precedent, instead of the typical whimsy found in Sharia courts.

Of course the Islamists are very opposed to this, as they would be to any real expert in the law, because much of what they do is done based in loopholes and intentionally bad interpretations of law.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 03/24/2007 13:36 Comments || Top||


MMA lawmaker and 14 activists released
The administration of the federal capital on Friday released 15 activists of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), including National Assembly Member Mian Muhammad Aslam. Police arrested these activists from various parts of the city under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order on March 16 when they were trying to reach the Supreme Court building to express solidarity with suspended Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.

The administration held an emergency meeting on Friday, with Islamabad Chief Commissioner Khalid Pervez in the chair. The meeting, which was also attended by Police Inspector General Chaudhry Iftikhar Ahmed, Deputy Commissioner Chaudhry Muhammad Ali and other high-ranking officials, decided that extra police would be deployed in various markets of the city to stop those who would force shopkeepers to close their shops on March 26, sources told Daily Times. It also decided that police and Rangers would be deployed at key places in the city to maintain law and order.

However, the district administration of Rawalpindi hasn’t yet released MNA Muhammad Hanif Abbasi and 150 other activists of the MMA and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz. The administration reportedly fears that these people might create problems during a strike called by the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy on March 26 to protest against Mr Chaudhry’s suspension. However, the people belonging to other political parties, who were arrested on March 21, have been released.
This article starring:
Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry
Deputy Commissioner Chaudhry Muhammad Ali
Islamabad Chief Commissioner Khalid Pervez
MIAN MUHAMAD ASLAMMuttahida Majlis-e-Amal
MUHAMAD HANIF ABASIMuttahida Majlis-e-Amal
Police Inspector General Chaudhry Iftikhar Ahmed
Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal
Posted by: Fred || 03/24/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:


International-UN-NGOs
Sec-Gen Ban: Iraq Too Dangerous For UN To Actually Help
Hat tip Lucianne.comIraq is too perilous now for greater United Nations participation in the country's reconstruction, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the day after being shaken in Baghdad by an explosion so close he felt the shock wave and ducked in fear.

"Iraq is still very dangerous," Ban told reporters today in Cairo. "I do not think the security situation has sufficiently convinced me that the UN should do something at this time. But, basically as a matter of principle, I am of the view that the UN should do more."
If Ban Ki-moon turns out to be the kind of Secretary-General who does nothing at all, it would be far better for the world than the result of his two activist predecessors.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/24/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Translation: Iraq does not have sufficient five-star resautants and hotels to provide for UN help.
Posted by: Glenmore || 03/24/2007 8:03 Comments || Top||

#2  TW, I assure you, there's one place where Banki will interfere plenty.
Posted by: gromgoru || 03/24/2007 8:40 Comments || Top||

#3  "Iraq is still very dangerous," Ban told reporters today in Cairo. "I do not think the security situation has sufficiently convinced me that the UN should do something at this time.

Possible UN actions:

The 'viewing with concern'

The 'noting with alarm'

The 'development of a high-level study group'

The 'building of a concensus of member states'

The 'issuance of the strongly-worded statement'

The 'viewing with concern at the rejection of the strongly-worded statement by the instigator of the trouble'

The 'noting with alarm....'

.....
Posted by: WTF || 03/24/2007 9:39 Comments || Top||

#4  Gutless bastard from a cowardly country at the head of a criminal organization.
Posted by: Mac || 03/24/2007 10:09 Comments || Top||

#5  Meet the new boss...
Posted by: tu3031 || 03/24/2007 10:12 Comments || Top||

#6  When the mortar round landed, Ban ducked and practically tried to hide under the table.
Malliki didn't bat an eyelid.
Posted by: John Frum || 03/24/2007 11:33 Comments || Top||

#7  Yes. Unless there is a dictator willing to supress his fellow citizens brutally while he is stealing billions from them, the UN cannot help.

Iraq is the UN is staying out. In it's current incarnation, the UN does more harm than good. Despite the violence, Iraq has a rising currency, stock market, real estate values, household income, etc. It's been a long time since a country the UN has 'helped' has seen such metrics.

Too bad. I think we Rantburgers would welcome a UN willing to take these risks and side against the terrorists. Unfortunately, that UN may never have existed except in the minds of those who chartered it.
Posted by: JAB || 03/24/2007 11:44 Comments || Top||

#8  The UN can actually help? is there any evidence of that in the last 20 years? apart from supporting dictators?
Posted by: Kalle (kafir forever) || 03/24/2007 13:06 Comments || Top||

#9  Totally agree, Kalle. Confidence or belief in the UN, by anyone other than the Paleos or Slamists, requires a complete suspension of disbelief coupled with a cue-ball smooth brain.
Posted by: Nero Shuper3237 || 03/24/2007 15:01 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Iraqi Court Gets Into the 'Swing' of Things with Sentencing
CCCI CONVICTS 25, SENTENCES 6 TO DEATH

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The Central Criminal Court of Iraq (CCCI) convicted 25 individuals from March 11 - 17, for violations of the Iraqi Terrorist Law, Penal Code and Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) Orders enforced by the Iraqi judiciary.
The trial court sentenced four individuals to death Mar. 14 after being found guilty of violation 4/1 of the Iraqi Terrorist Law. The four individuals were apprehended Jan. 4 by Multi-National Forces.
Multi-National Forces found an anti-tank mine near one of the convicted individual's vehicle and a video camera and video tape in the vehicle's glove compartment showing the convicted individuals making Improved Explosive Devices. Detailed instructions on how to use a sniper rifle and scope were also found. Two of the convicted individuals told Multi-National Forces they were paid to emplace IEDs.
CCCI sentenced another individual to death Mar. 11 after being found guilty of violation 4/1 of the Iraqi Terrorist Law. The convicted individual was apprehended in Fallujah Dec. 18, 2006 after the individual and two insurgents attacked an Iraqi Police Recruiting Center with Rocket Propelled Grenades and a PKM machine gun. .....
Posted by: Glenmore || 03/24/2007 08:48 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Hang 'em high! Heads on corpses optional.
Posted by: Mac || 03/24/2007 10:07 Comments || Top||

#2  "That rope will snap your neck like a dry twig."
Hang Em High with Clint Eastwood.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 03/24/2007 11:09 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Belgium: FM Compliments Palestine
Belgium became the latest Western nation to show cooperation with the new Palestinian government by complementing its moderate position compared to its Hamas predecessor March 23. The statements were made shortly following a meeting between Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht and Palestinian Foreign Minister Ziad Abu Amr in which De Gucht urged the new government to halt violence, bring Palestinian security forces under one rule and secure the release of a captured Israeli soldier.
Posted by: Fred || 03/24/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Was he complimenting the hostile position they take when speaking in English or the really, really hostile position they take when speaking in Arabic?
Posted by: Grumenk Philalzabod0723 || 03/24/2007 0:47 Comments || Top||

#2  photos of Karel
Posted by: 3dc || 03/24/2007 1:56 Comments || Top||

#3  he does the Listening Sympathetic Head Tilt™ really well
Posted by: Frank G || 03/24/2007 7:21 Comments || Top||

#4  EUropeans.
Posted by: gromgoru || 03/24/2007 8:44 Comments || Top||

#5  Listening Sympathetic Head Tilt™

Man, everytime I try that I end up looking up at the clouds.
Posted by: Iron Felix || 03/24/2007 15:29 Comments || Top||


Peres: Israeli army was not ready for war on Hezbollah
Vice-Premier Shimon Peres told a panel investigating the government's handling of last year's war in Lebanon that Israel's decision to invade was a mistake and the military was unprepared, according to testimony made public. Peres also said Hezbollah did a better job of handling media coverage than the Israelis did. "The greatest mistake is the very fact of war," he told the commission. "If it had been up to me, I would not have gone into this war." The 15-page transcript of his appearance before the commission last November has large swathes deleted by Israel's military censors on security grounds, but nevertheless provides insights into the veteran statesman's thinking. The transcript was released on Thursday.

No blame game
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert appointed the commission, headed by a retired judge, under intense pressure from a dissatisfied public because of the inconclusive war. Hezbollah rained almost 4,000 rockets on northern Israel, but Israel's military failed to achieve the war's stated aims - smashing the group and returning two captured soldiers. Army chief Dan Halutz resigned after widespread criticism and there were calls for Olmert and Defence Minister Amir Peretz to follow suit.

While Peres refused to lay blame, he said the military "was not prepared for this war" and its inconclusive outcome harmed Israel's deterrent posture in the eyes of the Arab world. "We are perceived today as weaker than we were before," he said.

Peres told the commission the war was neither a success nor a failure, but he said the government was wrong to publicly prioritise the return of the soldiers, snatched by Hezbollah in a cross-border raid on July 12. "If you say your primary objective is to free the abducted [soldiers], you in practice put yourself at the mercy of the enemy," Peres told the panel. "Why would you say that?"

He added that Hezbollah had been more effective than Israel in the battle for favourable media coverage of the month-long conflict, finding an effective spokesman in its leader Hassan Nasrallah. "Hezbollah united around a spokesman of no little talent - Nasrallah," Peres said. "We relentlessly attacked one another. One person blamed the other and the net effect was negative."

Peres, 83, told the five-member panel of jurists and retired generals that he kept his misgivings about the war to himself for fear that arguing against it in Cabinet meetings would leak out and damage the public perception of ministerial unity. "It would have come out immediately," he said. "I wanted to be cautious but effective and not like someone from the opposition."

The panel has said it will issue partial findings in late April, including assessments of decisions taken by Olmert and other key officials. Although the commission does not have the power to dismiss Olmert, analysts say a critical report could force the unpopular premier to resign. In February, Olmert gave seven hours of testimony and underwent intense questioning before the commission in a closed-door hearing perceived as his last chance to stave off censure. The transcript is expected to be released soon.
Posted by: Fred || 03/24/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Peres - how about some real honesty old man.
Posted by: 3dc || 03/24/2007 2:00 Comments || Top||

#2  "If it had been up to me, I would not have gone into this war."

Oh, whadda schmuck!

It is simple, Shimon. The key word here is leadership, or rather a lack of it thereof.
Posted by: twobyfour || 03/24/2007 2:02 Comments || Top||

#3  He's also thinks that Europeans are civilized.
Posted by: gromgoru || 03/24/2007 8:45 Comments || Top||

#4  Half are civilized,
the non-muslim half
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 03/24/2007 13:10 Comments || Top||

#5  Yes Jim, of course they are.
Posted by: gromgoru || 03/24/2007 15:36 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
UN Imposes New Sanctions On Iran
breaking update - 15-0 unanimous vote approving, Nice move on the Brit kidnapping Asshats, sealed teh sanctions
Posted by: Frank G || 03/24/2007 15:37 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Let me guess ... No further British "imports"?
Posted by: Zenster || 03/24/2007 15:49 Comments || Top||

#2  The sanctions passed are to ban Iranian arms exports (of course that wont effect illicit shipments to hezb - but it means from no on only outlaws will have Iranian guns) and asset freezes on a wider list of officials.

And it sets the clock ticking for the next round.
Posted by: liberalhawk || 03/24/2007 15:55 Comments || Top||

#3  Who cares about sanctions? OK, it's better than nothing. However, it's far from sufficient.

What we need is large-scale destruction. The world, and sundry tyrants, is watching. And they all want to learn a lesson: can one attack the West, wage proxy-terrorist wars, and build nuclear weapons with the explicit purpose of annihilating Israel and whatever parts of the West can be reached -- without paying a steep price? the last several decades indicate that the lesson says "yes, you can."

UN sanctions are worthless in that context.
Posted by: Kalle (kafir forever) || 03/24/2007 17:42 Comments || Top||

#4  Word, Kalle. We need to dust off the old militaristic label gun and start plastering nine digit price tags all over the MME (Muslim Middle East).
Posted by: Zenster || 03/24/2007 17:45 Comments || Top||

#5  The UN seems to think its job is to come up with excuses for countries to not get their a$$es kicked directly. Give them chance after chance and hopefully by magic they'll have a change of heart. Enough excuses/sanction. Time to kick some a$$.
Posted by: gorb || 03/24/2007 18:41 Comments || Top||

#6  But did they ban ipods and video games? It's not 'serious' until they impose sanctions on those.
Posted by: Glenmore || 03/24/2007 19:54 Comments || Top||

#7  Give them chance after chance and hopefully by magic they'll have a change of heart.

In other news, international heart transplants down sharply in today's trading.
Posted by: Zenster || 03/24/2007 20:21 Comments || Top||


''We want them back'', Beckett tells Iran
(KUNA) -- British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett tonight demanded Iran provide a "full explanation" for the detention of 15 British servicemen seized in Iraqi waters. The Foreign Secretary said in a statement "We are disturbed to learn that some 15 Royal Navy and Royal Marines personnel and their equipment have been detained by the Iranians today. We understand that they were in two boats that were operating in Iraqi waters in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 1723 in support of the government of Iraq to stop smuggling. So the Iranian Ambassador was summoned to the (British) Foreign Office this afternoon and seen by our Permanent Secretary Sir Peter Ricketts. And we also raised the incident in Tehran through our ambassador there."

"We have asked for a full explanation on what has happened and we are leaving them in no doubt that we want the immediate and safe return of our personnel and their equipment. I understand that the meeting with the Iranian Ambassador was brisk but polite. But he was left in no doubt that we want them back", Beckett concluded.
Posted by: Fred || 03/24/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "My fellow Britons, I am pleased to tell you Parliament just passed legislation which outlaws Iran forever. The bombing begins in five minutes," she forgot to add.
Posted by: Seafarious || 03/24/2007 0:04 Comments || Top||

#2  Another "incident" where Saddam = Moud-Mullahs affirm, ergo deny, that Iraq is [future]Iranian territory???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 03/24/2007 0:09 Comments || Top||

#3  I think you just might be on to something there, Joe. Also, AhmaNutjob could use the soldiers as pawns in Iran's game of geopolitical chess. He probably figured it never hurts to have a little leverage when intimidating Europeans out of tightening sanctions.
Posted by: Grumenk Philalzabod0723 || 03/24/2007 0:37 Comments || Top||

#4  My British friends, prepare for yet another round of humiliation and embarrassment at the hands of the nutbags.
Posted by: Captain America || 03/24/2007 1:04 Comments || Top||

#5  IONews, WAFF.com > BLOOMBERG > US NAVY LACKS EFFECTIVE ANTI-CARRIER DEFENSE, vv SM-2 "SIZZLER" dual use anti-carrier cruise missle, which CHINA has purchased + IRAN WANTS TO PURCHASE. In addition, CHINESE MIL FORUM > Unconfirmed > Chin Sales source told US officios China's PLAAF [may] had purchased 12 TU-22 BACKFIRE bombers.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 03/24/2007 1:25 Comments || Top||

#6  Beckett wants a full explanation from a lying nation?! Were she to wear her holed bucket, it would go right through her pin head.
Posted by: Duh! || 03/24/2007 1:33 Comments || Top||

#7  Joe, the Backfire story sounds interesting.
Posted by: 3dc || 03/24/2007 1:53 Comments || Top||

#8  What she really said was probably along the lines of, "OK, keep them for long enough to make some political capital out of it, then it's back to business as usual. Deal?"
Posted by: Sonar || 03/24/2007 2:34 Comments || Top||

#9  Why did the English decide to just watch the Iranians take their sailors and run them back to Iran on the end of a stick? What's the upside?
Posted by: gorb || 03/24/2007 3:13 Comments || Top||

#10  Another 15 victims of tranzi ROE.
And before anybody asks, I've served in Intifada-I, I know exactly what I'm talking about.
Posted by: gromgoru || 03/24/2007 8:36 Comments || Top||

#11  There was a time when a captain who allowed his men to be taken because he was following orders would have been cashiered from the Navy.
Posted by: Excalibur || 03/24/2007 8:52 Comments || Top||

#12  Excalibur - that was back in the days of wooden ships and iron men. Now we have iron ships and wooden men.
Posted by: DarthVader || 03/24/2007 9:05 Comments || Top||

#13  E: There was a time when a captain who allowed his men to be taken because he was following orders would have been cashiered from the Navy.

I think today's RN is one where not following softly-softly ROE's will not only result in dishonorable discharge, it might even lead to a prison term.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 03/24/2007 9:14 Comments || Top||

#14  Didn't they threaten to do just this about a week ago?

I'd take this as confirmation that we've found Iranians operating inside Iraq.
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 03/24/2007 9:23 Comments || Top||

#15  There was a time when a captain who allowed his men to be taken because he was following orders would have been cashiered from the Navy.

Byngo!
Posted by: Shipman || 03/24/2007 11:21 Comments || Top||

#16  There was also a time when shit like this happened and a gunboat showed up just offshore soon after and started leisurely lobbing in rounds.
Posted by: tu3031 || 03/24/2007 11:51 Comments || Top||

#17  Will Britain remember Pacifico and gunboat diplomacy? 15 of its own sailors would seem to warrant extreme military threats against Iran.
Posted by: Kalle (kafir forever) || 03/24/2007 13:03 Comments || Top||

#18  Somebody remind the Honorable Gentleman to look up the Oxford Dictionary.

U for ultimatum
Posted by: Victor Emmanuel Flenter1810 || 03/24/2007 13:07 Comments || Top||

#19  Jane’s Navy

The four sailors and 11 marines attached to the Type 22 Batch 3 frigate HMS Cornwall, flagship of Combined Task Force 158, were engaged in routine boarding operations when the incident occurred, according to the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD).

The boarding party had completed a successful inspection of an unflagged dhow when "Iranian gunboats came over and seized them", said MoD spokesperson Captain Mike Davis-Marks.
Posted by: Icerigger || 03/24/2007 13:11 Comments || Top||

#20  You do notice they will not do this to American Navy I wonder why? :)
Posted by: djohn66 || 03/24/2007 13:13 Comments || Top||

#21  HMS Cornwall, Ship's Motto: Unus et Omnes - One and All

The task force commander, Commodore Nick Lambert, "that is the motto unless Mecca Sea Monsters come then we simply sit down on our asses and drink tea. Sometimes we wave goodbye".

Nice back up dickweed.

In 2004, eight British servicemen were taken hostage by Iran and held for three days in a similar dispute. The blindfolded men were forced to apologise on Iranian television for their actions before their ordeal was ended by diplomatic efforts.
Posted by: Icerigger || 03/24/2007 13:23 Comments || Top||

#22  Now we have iron ships and wooden men.

Looks as though these Brit sailors couldn't even get up a little wood.

I'll have to go with tu3031 and post # 16. Isn't this why Iowa class boats were built in the first place?
Posted by: Zenster || 03/24/2007 15:28 Comments || Top||

#23  Isn't this why Iowa class boats were built in the first place?

No.
Posted by: Shipman || 03/24/2007 15:33 Comments || Top||

#24  Maybe not, but long range standoff capability suits current requirements to a tee.
Posted by: Zenster || 03/24/2007 15:36 Comments || Top||

#25  a war with Iran means Iran shutting down the straight of Hormuz. UK cant stop that, theyd need the US to even have a chance.

Think the Bush admin wants a war with Iran NOW, with the military scraping every ready unit in the (worthy) attempt to win in Iraq? And no, you cant win this without ground pounders, cause they will be the most effective force against the surface to ship missiles and other assets the Iranians have along the coast.
Posted by: liberalhawk || 03/24/2007 16:02 Comments || Top||

#26  So Tony, aren't you sorry now over pressuring George, to pressure Israel, to let Hizbollah off?
Posted by: gromgoru || 03/24/2007 16:32 Comments || Top||

#27  The Bucket woman was so concerned but saw no need to return immediately to her office. And sure, Kofi Assnan was monitering that Asian Tsunami while holidaying in the Switzerland too.
Posted by: Duh! || 03/24/2007 17:00 Comments || Top||

#28  I think a principle concern is the survivability of the Green Zone in the face of a massive Persian missile barrage.
Posted by: mrp || 03/24/2007 17:43 Comments || Top||

#29  Maybe not, but long range standoff capability suits current requirements to a tee.

Not something the Iowas (even when in Commssion) ever had. A few (16? )Tomahawks are not all that impressive. Perhaps you are thinking of an Aegis.
Posted by: Shipman || 03/24/2007 19:14 Comments || Top||

#30  mmm no. Aegis is not the call. B-1B's, B-2's at Diego Garcia (whoops! A British island!) would likely be the infrastructure-destroying fleet
Posted by: Frank G || 03/24/2007 19:20 Comments || Top||


Syria's plot to cover up crimes in Lebanon
The Alrai newspaper has quoted a reliable Iranian source that the opposition wants to change the composition of the international tribunal so that majority of the judges are Lebanese and not foreigners. The purpose of the International Tribunal is to prosecute the killers of Lebanon’s prime minister Rafik Hariri, who was assassinated in 2005 along with 22 others.

According to the source that wanted to remain anonymous for security purposes, a strategy meeting took place recently in Damascus to decide on this issue. The meeting was headed by Syrian General Mohammad Nassif ( Abu Wael) who is responsible for the opposition file in Lebanon and representatives from Amal and Hezbollah organizations. In the proposed International style tribunal , the number of judges will be 7 . 4 of the judges will be foreign nationals and the remaining three will be Lebanese citizens.

According to the most recent reports about the current talks between Speaker Nabih Berri and parliament majority leader Saad Hariri :
1- Berri is offering to accept the international tribunal but with some modifications. He did not reveal the modifications , but specified as “ amendments that protect Lebanon’s sovereignty “ . According to the Iranian source, this means a “majority of Lebanese judges “.

2- Against acceptance of the tribunal by the opposition , Berri ‘s initiative calls for a government of 19 – 11 , meaning the opposition will have one third plus one minister to give it the power of veto in any government decision.

3- According to the Iranian source, since the opposition will have veto power , all the judges that have to be selected by the Lebanese government have to be approved by the opposition. This will allow the opposition to select judges that are friendly to Syria.
The above plot according to the Iranian source is in accordance with the strategy that was decided in Damascus during the above mentioned recent meeting between the Syrians, Hezbollah and Amal.
Posted by: Fred || 03/24/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  mmm - thanks for your input. Now STFU and siddown, punks
Posted by: Frank G || 03/24/2007 6:44 Comments || Top||

#2  No! Don't break my heart! Don't tell me that Hariri's murder will go unavenged!
Posted by: gromgoru || 03/24/2007 8:39 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Sat 2007-03-24
  Iran kidnaps Brit sailors, marines
Fri 2007-03-23
  LEBANON: 200 KG BOMB FOUND AT UNIVERSITY
Thu 2007-03-22
  110 killed as Waziristan festivities enter third day
Wed 2007-03-21
  40 killed in Wazoo clashes
Tue 2007-03-20
  Taha Yassin Ramadan escorted from gene pool
Mon 2007-03-19
  5000+ kilos of explosives seized in Mazar-e-Sharif
Sun 2007-03-18
  PA unity govt to meet officially on Sunday
Sat 2007-03-17
  Gaza gunnies try to snatch UNRWA head
Fri 2007-03-16
  Syrians confess to Leb twin bus bombings
Thu 2007-03-15
  9 held in Morocco after suicide blast
Wed 2007-03-14
  Mortar shells hit Somali presidential residence
Tue 2007-03-13
  Lebanese Police arrest a Palestinian carrying a bomb
Mon 2007-03-12
  Talibs threaten Germany, Austria, Luxembourg, Mexico, Samoa
Sun 2007-03-11
  U.S. calls Iran, Syria talks cordial
Sat 2007-03-10
  Captured big turban wasn't al-Baghdadi. We guessed that.
Fri 2007-03-09
  Ug troops arrive in Mog


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