While Islamist fanatics and ignorant Westerners sow panic over the alleged desecration of a Koran at Guantanamo Bay, no one mentions a startling fact: When it comes to destruction of the Koran, there's no question who the world champion is--the government of Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi state religion is the primitive and austere Wahhabi version of Islam, which defines many traditional Islamic practices as idolatrous. Notably, the state bans the importation of Korans published elsewhere. When foreign pilgrims arrive at the Saudi border by the millions for the annual journey to Mecca, what happens to the non-Saudi Korans they are carrying? The border guards confiscate them, to be shredded, pulped, or burned. Beautiful bindings and fine paper are viewed as a particular provocation--all are destroyed. (This on top of the spiritual vandalism the Saudis perpetrate, by inserting anti-Jewish and anti-Christian squibs into the Korans they publish in foreign languages, as Stephen Schwartz documented in our issue of September 27, 2004.)
This behavior isn't a recent innovation, by the way. Here's an account of how the Saudis carried on when they seized the city of Taif in 1802. It's taken from an unimpeachable Islamic source, the compilation Advice for the Muslim, edited by the Turkish scholar Hilmi Isik and published by Hakikat Kitabevi in Istanbul:
The Wahhabis tore up the copies of the Koran . . . and other Islamic books they took from libraries, mosques and houses, and threw them down on the ground. They made sandals from the gold-gilded leather covers of the Koran and other books and wore them on their filthy feet. There were verses of the Koran and other sacred writings on those leather covers. The pages of those valuable books thrown around were so numerous that there was no space to step in the streets of Taif. . . . The Wahhabi bandits, who were gathered from the deserts for looting and who did not know the Koran, tore up all the copies they found and stamped on them. Only three copies of the Koran were saved from the plunder of a major town, Taif.
No wonder anti-Wahhabi Muslims say "the Saudis print the Koran to destroy it." They print it and they destroy it in a daily desecration that makes Newsweek's retracted Guantanamo allegation look trivial by comparison.
He's deteriorating but stable, much like Gen. Franco.
Saudi Arabia's King Fahd has undergone a medical examination after feeling "tired" but he did not need to go to hospital, Saudi sources said on Wednesday.
"Nurse! He's doing it again!"
Fahd, who suffered a stroke in 1995, has been ailing for the last decade and rumours about his condition have frequently surfaced in Saudi Arabia and on international oil markets. Day-to-day rule of the world's biggest oil exporter passed to his half-brother Crown Prince Abdullah after his stroke. "He didn't go to hospital. He had a medical examination. Nothing has changed," one Saudi source. Another source in the royal palace said the king, who is in his 80s, had felt "tired".
You'd be tired too from jibbering all day.
A Western diplomat said he had heard "flat denials" from senior Saudi officials that Fahd's health had deteriorated.
"No, no! Certainly not! He couldn't possibly deteriorate any more!"
Gulf news agencies said Fahd spoke by telephone on Wednesday with Bahrain's King Hamad. It said the two men discussed Saturday's summit of Gulf Arab leaders in Riyadh. Saudi Arabia's stock market lost 4.69 percent in morning trade to 11,959 points, before recovering some of those losses by mid-afternoon. Some traders attributed the fall to a natural correction in a market which has surged upwards for two years, but others blamed concerns about the monarch's health.
Dang. My wrist's getting tired from writing typing out all these "Get Stable Soon" cards...
"He was starting to get unstable, so we had him freeze dried!"
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/26/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
"'E's just resting!"
He'll be fine as long as they remember to water him occasionally...
#4
Mentioning Ted Mack on this thread gave me a flashback to "Queen for a Day", hosted by Jack somebody... I believe old Kingy Thingy Fahd is out of it, gone to Droolsville.
#6
Hmmm. I don't think even Geritol Hi-Test would help Fahd and I could swear the guy on QfaD was Jack something - I can see his face, lol, not TEF, but okay, I'm easy, heh.
KRASNOYARSK, Russia, May 26 (UPI) -- A Russian nuclear scientist, missing for the past 18 months, has mysteriously turned up in the Central Russian city of Krasnoyarsk. Sergei Podoinitsyn, who as a scientist at a nuclear facility in the secretive defense industry had access to top secret nuclear information, turned up showing signs of partial amnesia, the Moscow Times reported Thursday.
Uh huh. Right. Sure. Whatever you say.
Police said he disappeared Oct. 17, 2003, when he left by taxi for Krasnoyarsk with $9,000 to buy a car. He did not return and five days later prosecutors opened an investigation into his disappearance.
18 months is one hell of a bender, even for a Russian
There was speculation Podoinitsyn had been kidnapped by foreign agents seeking to obtain nuclear secrets or that he had fled to the United States.
I guess selling his services to the highest bidder never occured to the KGB, huh?
Police said Podoinitsyn's relatives reported the scientist called his wife and security authorities Saturday to tell them he was alive.
"Honey, I'm home. Did you miss me? Hello? Hello?"
Podoinitsyn told his family he had worked for a while at a construction site but did not recall how he ended up there.
My wife didn't wouldn't buy a story like that. Neither will the guys in the trenchcoats.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/26/2005 12:36 ||
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BEIJING: Uzbek President Islam Karimov met Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao Wednesday, vowing to step up the fight against terrorism as he sought backing for his crackdown against anti-government protestors. Analysts say Beijing is willing to grant him support because it needs his help to keep Muslim separatists from its northwestern Xinjiang region in check. The visit is the hardline president's first overseas trip since the May 13 violence in which Uzbek security forces killed between 500 and 1,000 people, many of them civilians, independent activists and rights groups say.
"I would like to stress once more that the fight against international terrorism, separatism and extremism is a priority direction for Uzbek policy," he said in an interview with the leading People's Daily. "Of course, only with the active participation of neighboring countries will it be possible to effectively guarantee the battle against cross-border threats." Karimov has blamed the unrest in Andijan on Islamic extremists and said in the interview that "at the moment, the fight against religious extremism has a deepened meaning". Facing international criticism from countries including the United States, he arrived in China with few other places to turn in his quest to restore his credibility at home. "You can't imagine any Western European or North American country inviting the Uzbekistan leader to visit at this time (but) it fits the pattern of China," said political analyst Paul Harris from Lingnan University in Hong Kong.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/26/2005 00:00 ||
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From East Asia Intel, subscription req'd.
UN relief sources say North Korea's ration for cereals has been cut from 300 grams [10.5 ounces] to 250 grams, half the daily requirement. Economic reforms in 2002 that freed some prices and wages has brought inflation and increased unemployment worsening that country's endemic shortages. Still the Military First policy is in place.
Two-thirds of the 23.7 million North Koreans depend on rations supplied by the government-run Public Distribution System, which in turn is largely fed by imported aid. Norks threaten starvation, lay a guilt trip on the world. Keeps the army fed and the just-plain-joes weak and divided.
During the 1990s, 2 million North Koreans died from starvation due to natural disasters and the regime's diversion of both financial and manpower resources to the military. North Korea has the world's fifth-largest military, and is the most militarized nation in proportion to population with more than 1.2 million people in uniform. Military spending is estimated at a third of North Korea's gross domestic product. 2 million starve to death and the LLL says nothing. We are talking 2 million people!!!! As far as the GDP percentage, under Stalin, the USSR spent about 25% of the GDP on the military sector.
Some 3.8 million people in North Korea are "core recipients" of aid from the United Nations World Food Program. Another 2.7 million receive aid through other schemes. The UN agency said it may have to cut off all aid by October unless it receives new donations. People are getting tired of enabling Kimmie's behavior.
It will halt cereal aid in June to 2.1 million North Korean primary school children, old people and poor urban residents. Just like Saddam. He took the Oil-for-Food program, bribed his cronies and enablers, starved the children and built up his Baathist Regime. Kimmie read and implemented Saddam's Playbook.
Washington hasn't decided whether to provide food but stressed that the decision was unrelated to the standoff over North Korea's nuclear weapons. The trouble is that the decision affects the standoff. Give civilian food and the military is stronger for it. It is a plan of truly evil people that prey on the goodness of normal people.
Last year's 50,000 ton U.S. commitment was half that provided in 2003. Washington is concerned that relief meant for civilians is diverted to feed the military. Seoul's representatives at the recent North-South talks, resumed after Pyongyang's refusal for almost a year, were apparently unsuccessful in persuading a Pyongyang to return to the six-power talks. Why should the Norks give in? Their brinksmanship threats are working against the SKors.
Much of the talks centered on the North's request for fertilizer pending since January. Although Seoul's public stance is that increased interactions and trade with the North will modify the Pyongyang regime, Seoul demanded official talks to discuss such aid rather than accepting food requests from the North Korean Red Cross. The urgency of the North's situation was demonstrated by South Korea recent agreement to send 50 trucks across the Demilitarized Zone, the first time fertilizer has been moved by land. A South Korean official said 10,000 tons would move that way while the remaining 190,000 tons would go by sea, still well under the half million tons Pyongyang has been requesting. At the same time, North Korea will send its cargo vessels into South Korean waters for the first time since 1984 to pick up the fertilizer augmenting a fleet of South Korean ships. A non-compromising hard nosed attitude is what is needed. The sooner the Norks fall, the sooner the North Korean people can be rescued. But witholding food aid to people in need is an agonizing thing to decent people.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
05/26/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Ask France for help or the un. Bush should not give them a solitary grain of rice until they give up nukes and weaponary. Hungry? Chew on a reactor rod mmm mmm U238 is good for the digestion.
#3
Announce that we'll give them all the grain they want. But each grain will be dusted with potassium nitrate as a preservative. None of that grain would be given to the soldiers, I'd bet on it.
(For those of you not up on your chemicals, KNO3 was stirred into the cereal of boarding school boys to cool their desires. It isn't effective, but the boys -- and the North Korean troops -- weren't to know that. ;-] )
#6
So what? According to Amnesty International, the US is the world's #1 human rights abuser.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
05/26/2005 7:55 Comments ||
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#7
You're right, RC. I'm so ashamed to be an American. Why, we put panties on people's jihadi's heads, but 2 million starving, that's o.k. (/sarcasm off/)
Posted by: BA ||
05/26/2005 8:18 Comments ||
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#8
Isn't starvation a preferable way to die if your life is miserable? At least that is what the MS and the left tells us. Not only do I think we should not help the Norks feed themselves, we need to actively deny them food and water. I can find a doctor or two to sign off on it.
That's what we want. Quality of death, right?
...
Okay, thanks. I'm off my Terry Shiavo high horse now, for today, at least.
#13
In this article Something for Pyongyang to chew on
Andrei Lankov suggets that reform is impossible.
The very existence of this affluent (from the North Korean point of view - not simply "affluent" but unbelievingly rich) and free country creates manifold problems for Pyongyang's leaders. If common North Koreans learned of South Korean prosperity and if they became less fearful of political persecution, nothing would stop them from behaving like East Germans did in 1990. Why on earth would they agree to live in a crumbling and destitute state if they knew that there was a prosperous and free "other Korea" just across the border?
Thus, the North Korean elite is cornered. These people do not want to tamper with the system since they are afraid it will collapse as a result of some experiments. In such a case, they have nothing to gain and everything to lose - not only their prosperity, privilege and power, but also their freedom - and in some cases even their lives. This means they have to continue with their policy, believing that their choice is "kill or be killed".
How to break this deadlock? The short answer is an amnesty. People who run the country should be granted immunity from persecution for all crimes.
Posted by: john ||
05/26/2005 10:55 Comments ||
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#14
Any Chem Engineers out there? Check me on this, but isn't the production of chemical fertilizers pretty much comparable to the production of smokeless powders, rocket fuels, and other materiel in terms of feedstocks, chemical plants, etc?
So essentially, by providing tons of fertilizer, the South Koreans are in fact subsidizing or freeing up NK production resources to be devoted to weapons production.
We need to get our folks off that peninsula and just focus on a plan to come pick up the pieces when its all over.
Posted by: DO ||
05/26/2005 11:01 Comments ||
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#15
I think that it would be good to give NKorea 200,000 tons of fertilizer (ammonium nitrate) to be delivered by a fleet of Ryder trucks parked detonated at selected locations
Defence Minister Henk Kamp wants the navy to get rid of a number of large frigates. The ships will be replaced by smaller vessels which can be used to patrol the coast. The defence minister's plans are in line with the wishes of parliament. Well, that's obvious.
The new strategy represents a shift of emphasis away from sea power and towards providing support for operations on land. The minister is due to inform MPs about the changes to the navy today.
#1
Lovely idea. They can sell the frigates to the new European fast reaction force, as transport ships. That way the force will at least have some way to get where they need to go.
#10
Well into the 60s and early 70s, they had a small, but balanced fleet: a carrier (sold to Brazil?), a couple of missile cruisers (sold to Peru), some DDGs, and plenty of escort ships and some subs.
That's the normal state of affairs for a socialist government. Transfer payments and the national health system eat up all tax revenues, so it it stops having a military, stops fixing the roads, stops doing everything that is legitimately a function of government, so that it can concentrate on looting the productive and buying votes with hand-outs.
#14
Any one know if this was the last major engagement of the Dutch Navy?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
05/26/2005 13:58 Comments ||
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#15
Oh, the Battle of the Java Sea is sacred. The USS Houston was lost there. An early loss to offset the many victories yet to come. Imagine if the current mainstream media was there to cover the events as they happened.
The Perth, with only half the normal oil supply and the Houston made for Sunda Strait being ordered to Tjilatjap but were to discover a second enemy amphibious landing taking place in Bantam Bay, off St. Nicholas Point at about 11.30pm. And engaged the Japanese transports escorted by destroyers of the 5th and 11th flotillas at once. As the two battle scarred warships wreaked havoc amongst the enemy vessels, causing the Japanese to sink their own transports, they were intercepted by a strong Japanese surface force. The Mogami and Mikami arrived after receiving an urgent call to assist the destroyers. And both allied cruisers running short of ammunition, overwhelmed by some 90 Long-lance torpedoes launched at them, were eventually pinned and sunk firing till the last. Captain A.H. Rooks of the Houston received the Congressional Medal of Honour, posthumously; "they sacrificed their lives to gain time for future victories".
#16
i think in recent years theyve sent their frigates to their carib possesions, Aruba, Curacao, St. Martin. Guess they figure theres no real threat to those places now.
#18
I think Aruba has been independent for a decade or two. They can get by on the tourist trade (scuba/snorkling, expensive shops, expensive restaurants, expensive hotels, cruise ships. Yes, there are cheaper of all of the above, but that's not what pays the bills.)
The head of Interpol told a European regional conference of law enforcement chiefs Wednesday police around the world must be fully equipped to deal with the possible threat of a bio-terrorism attack. "We have to look forward and prepare for new threats," the organisation's president Jackie Selebi said in an opening address to Interpol's annual conference held in Nicosia. He said Interpol's latest anti-terrorism initiative was a global programme to enhance the preparedness of law enforcement organisations to prevent and deal with bio-terrorism.
"We, as police, cannot afford to be unprepared for the eventual use of biological agents by terrorist groups." The international law enforcement body head warned that failing to combat bio-terrorism and its capability to inflict mass casualties was not an option. "The consequences of such failure are too dire to contemplate," he said. Selebi, attending his first regional conference since being appointed last October, said Interpol was now addressing a threat that had been "underestimated" for far too long.
But at a later news conference he was careful not to suggest that any bio-terrorism attack was imminent or inevitable. "I don't think Interpol holds any information that this particular country on this particular day, that this is going to happen. We simply are saying we need to be prepared for every and any eventuality," he said. With better cooperation between 182 member states and the use of a secure high-tech global communications system, Interpol says it is becoming more effective in the fight against international terrorism.
Some 144 countries -- including all 46 from Europe -- are connected to Interpol's global communication system called I-24/7 allowing them to respond quicker to crises and alert each other about dangerous fugitives. A total of 117 member countries have shared information on suspected terrorists under Interpol's Fusion Task Force project. The result has been that the database had increased "dramatically" to more than 8,000 suspects, compared to information on only 2,000 individuals a few years ago.
International police cooperation is about denying terrorists the opportunity to prepare and carry out attacks, or escape justice by going from one country to other, said Selebi. "The fight against terrorism lies with the police. They, and only they, can fight terrorism because they can detect, investigate and send them to jail."
Top law enforcement officials from across Europe have gathered in Nicosia for Interpol's annual general meeting focused on international crisis coordination, such as the recent Asian tsunami, and transborder crime. Delegates for the three-day meeting will also look at people and drugs trafficking as well as international organised crime. The easternmost outpost of the European Union since its accession to the wealthy bloc in May last year, Cyprus itself complains of a meteoric rise in the number of migrants from Africa and Asia seeking asylum in its territory.
#3
The evidence from police forces is women are quicker to pull the trigger in threatening situations than men. I think more (heavily armed) women in urban terrorism situations would be a good thing.
#4
Any possiblity that, when the whining starts when a woman DOES get killed or maimed in combat, that the whiners will remember this attempt on the part of a Republican congress to head that off?
I have my problems with women in combat, mostly because of the propaganda effects leveraged by hypocritical liberal moonbats who demanded equality in the first place, then will forget all about it when they magnify the horror of female suffering that, if equality REALLY holds, should be regarded no more nor less than when it happens to males.
Bottom line: you'll get my respect when you prove you can accept responsibility for the consequences, AND handle them. Given the number of convenient pregnancies before Desert Storm Redux, I don't think SOME of our military women are capable of that. Hell, we KNOW some of our military MEN are not capable of that either.
I'll be honest: I can't shake myself of my upbringing that tells me that members of the fairer sex ARE worthy of higher regard and attention than mine. Some use that as a pretext to keep them "in their place" (Islam comes to mind), while I use that as a reason to demand that they be treated fairly and allowed to develop themselves and reach their maximum glory. My wife has assholes for her supervision, and she has to continually keep me from tearing into them when they insult her intelligence and blatantly discriminate in job allocations. I've fought before for her, and as a consequence, the employer has adopted the unspoken, unwritten rule that they will hire women, but NOT their spouses, because the latter will cause too much trouble when they screw the former.
Thus, having said this, if a female member of our armed forces is maimed during honorable combat in her country's service, and returns without moonbatting complaining, accepting the consequences of her desire to be in the front line, then I wish to be excused for revering and honoring her and her service more than her male counterparts.
Please, just no post-facto, retrospective complaining that she should have been prevented by congress from doing what she stated she wanted to do.
(While I admit to enjoying being treated as a member of the fair sex, equality means I must earn your respect the same way you must earn mine -- by ability and hard work -- and your scorn when I can't or won't. Real feminists understand this, and accept nothing less. The whiners who claim special privileges are as bad as those who kept women protected at home and hearth because they were thought to delicate for the rough'n'tumble of the male world.)
#6
We have 2 women in our Civil War cavalry company and I'd go into combat with them. They pull their own weight. I realize a Civil War reeanctment group is not quite like the real army (having been there) but we still ride hard and live rough on occasions. There were a few women when I was in who couldn't pull there own weight and it degraded the effectiveness of the whole unit. Combat units aren't social clubs. If you can't measure up you don't belong there. Your life and those of your fellow soldiers depend on you making the grade.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
05/26/2005 7:30 Comments ||
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#7
Caution!
If there is a reintroduction of a draft, technically the selective activation of the unorganized Federal Militia, there will be an immediate constitutional challenge why males have been and remain disproportionately subjected to this action. Given the likely case that the judiciary will still be unrefomred, this will force the government to treat both the same to fulfill combat requirements. Be careful what you wish for, you may get it.
Very logical. In fact women police officers have less options: if they accept hand to hand combat with the bad guy they could find themselves overpowered, maimed or even killed so they have to resort to weapons in situations a man officer can handle weaponless. And unless teh officer draws a weapon bad guys are more likely to resist to a woman.
(Note: No posts about what women trained in martial arts can do: a woman trained in martial arts is nice but a man trained in martial arts is better, he has also has the option to arrest the suspect without causing unneeded harm while the woman will have to resort to violent techniques)
#10
A woman trained in martail arts with a weapon is good, but she will still have to demonstrate to the bad guy that she must be obeyed. A large, muscular-looking man is less likely to need to prove anything.
#11
This is very nice until it comes to infantry work, there it happens like this: you carry substantial loads, even at the lightest ie an M16, plus ammo plus boots plus water plus body armor is not light. But at times you could be carrying over 50 pounds of stuff. From to time your survival depends on how fast you run to cover. All things equal (ie trained men versus trained women) women run slower, specially when loaded. From time to time your survival depends on how high you jump or if you can climb a wall or from a rope. Women don't jump as high and don't climb as well, specially when loaded. And from to time you have infiltration missions: here being able to walk fast before sunrise is crucial: if sun rises before unit has returned, established a defensive perimter in that crucial position, then the whole unit could be wiped out. Women don't walk as fast, specially when loaded and a unit goes as fast as its slowest member.
I will not mention problems like strength to carry wounded comarades, like male and female soldier alone and banging instead of attending the radio/keeping watch (has happenned), sexual rivalries, the fact that sometimes you HAVE to let a comrade behind and that male soldiers would compromise the mission/unit before abandonning a a woman and, of course, I will not mention that, given the ennemies US forces usually fight, captured women soldiers will be likely raped
Sorry but political correctness has no place in the battlefield.
Oh, and there is a reason for men feeling that women deserve a better treatment in dangerous/straining situations: it is in our genes: we are expendable, they are not.
Under the American Constitution, all able bodied adult citizens are part of the unorganized Federal militia, and, as such, may be called up to defend the country in case of attack. If the draft was re-instated, then feminists could sue to be included in it on grounds of discrimination.
Of course, the real reason feminazis want "women in combat" is precisely to hobble the American military with "dead girl" footage, the pro-fascist hypocrites.
Posted by: Ernest Brown ||
05/26/2005 9:43 Comments ||
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#13
I personally think women in combat is a bad idea and just another facet of the multi-culti culture wars. Note, I have not served, so perhaps other rantburgers can enlighten me. Comments/questions to follow:
First, there are certain biological issues intrinsic to being a woman that can potentially degrade performance, such as pregnancy and menstruation...is this not a valid argument?
Second, women are just not as strong as men, it's a biological fact (with some very rare exceptions). If I am wounded in a fire fight, and I need a comrade to carry me out of there before I bleed to death, it's doubtful a woman can do this.
Third, while we are focusing on being "enlightened" and "inclusive" enough to include women in combat units, the terrorists are going to strive to use captured female soldiers as another reed with which to flagellate our liberal society. It's bad enough when a male soldier is captured and subjected to physical torture, but won't the image/idea of a woman being tortured, raped and interrogated and the subsequent calls for us to do "anything" to get her back weaken our already weakened resolve? Especially when the press turns from crowing over this victory to criticizing the plight of women in combat?
Fourth, there is most likely a reason women have not been included in combat units in the past, and that is because they self-select roles that do not include combat action.
Fifth, the last thing we need are audits by Congress of military branches/units to be sure that the gender composition of units is "fair" and women are proportionately represented. Don't tell me that this isn't the first step towards affirmative action in battle...I just don't believe it.
Sixth, from what I have seen, mixed-gender units already inject logistical, morale, and ethical questions. What about if a commanding officer is dating his sweetie in the unit? Is he going to make the proper decision and send her into battle? What if there is a nasty breakup between a commanding officer and their sig other in the unit...what happens there?
#14
One of my former lab techs had previously been a captain in the Army and commanded a military police company. Lovely woman, smart, sweet, competent ... and dangerous to anyone who tried to corner her. From the stories she told, she had no qualms about soldiering, carrying a rifle, and using it properly when required.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/26/2005 11:11 Comments ||
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#15
1. Quite a number of women HAVE been killed in the US armed forces in Iraq, IIUC. No particular complaining from the left about women being killed (as opposed to men)
2. The current army policy is NOT to put them in infantry or other combat units, but they ARE put in support units that often colocate with combat units
3. I presume all such women are required to meet physical requirements for their role. As are men.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/26/2005 12:11 Comments ||
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#17
Muddled comments here, to some degree.
"Combat" roles go beyond infantry. They include, for instance, attack helicopter pilots. We already have very successful fighter and A10 Warthog pilots who have done well in combat, dealing with heavily damaged aircraft etc. ... and happen to be women.
And we've ALREADY seen women pilots be captured, tortured and raped .... it happened to a Lt Colonel in the USAF in Gulf 1 and she has talked about it on TV. No obvious maiming ... sorry ... but the torture was real.
As a female I have to say this is a silly argument IMO -- and yes, I'm associated w/ the military.
Posted by: too true ||
05/26/2005 12:21 Comments ||
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#18
The majority of women are not capable of doing the job, but since we don't need 50,000,000 people in the infantry, that shouldn't be a problem. Some women are taller and stronger than the majority of men. As long as we have the exact same requirements for the two sexes (which we do not right now), I don't think there would be a problem.
The argument is even weaker for Armor, Artillery, fighter pilots, snipers, ...
That said, I'm an old fuddy-duddy and don't really like the idea of women being put in danger. I just wasn't made for these times...
#19
I'm all for the Congressional abandonment of the idea, but should the status quo continue indefinitely or be replaced with a gender-blind physical minimum standard?
Posted by: Edward Yee ||
05/26/2005 12:46 Comments ||
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#20
The key to women in combat is to make sure that they are properly trained -- which must include strength and endurance training. My tiny mother (5'1/4", 92 lb., definitely not muscular) used to haul around her paraplegic and quadraplegic patients when she worked as an occupational therapist at the Veteran's Hospital back during the Korean War. "It's all a matter of knowing the proper leverage," she says. And she is of the WWII generation, so I have no doubt she would haul a wounded comrade as far as needed. That generation is tough.
Again, it comes back to standards and training. Make the first equal, and the second rigorous, and qualms about ability to perform evaporate. As for the whole affairs thingy, every good manager knows you don't screw around with subordinates, or super-ordinates either.(Sorry.) That kind of thing messes up group morale worse than just about anything.
But these days, with the entire country of Iraq being the front line, it would be criminal not to require female troops in all units to be as able and as trustworthy as the men in the front-line units.
Oh, and menstruation shouldn't be an issue, although pregnancy is. So SOP should be to issue each female troop with one of those long-term birth control injections, to be effective for the duration of her stint. After that, rape becomes just one more method of torture, which anyway isn't necessarily limited to females in that part of the world.
Remember mother bears and their cubs. We can handle it if we choose to, even me -- if it became truly necessary.
#21
Jackal mentions snipers. The Soviets used women in their elite sniper units - they were deadly and justifiably feared, were responsible for heavy casualties inflicted on Germans in WWII IIRC.
Posted by: too true ||
05/26/2005 13:08 Comments ||
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#22
Steve Whittle said:
Lovely woman, smart, sweet, competent ... and dangerous to anyone who tried to corner her. From the stories she told, she had no qualms about soldiering, carrying a rifle, and using it properly when required.
Ah, because you think war is about carrying a rifle? It is about carrying a damned machine gun, tons of ammo, food, water, a kitchen sink and being able to move fast despite the weight.
Have you read the post we had a few days ago, about a WWII MOH recipient: with his unit in danger of being overrun, he shifted a Machine Gun (25 pounds without ammo for a "light" machine gun) from right to left flank and mowed more than 100 Germans. All depended on him being strong enough to move fast despite the weight and when arriving being fresh enough to deliver accurate fire intead of panting and having shaking hands due to exhaustion.
Or about that Army/Marine chaplain who carried over 40 wounded over a cliff?
And haven't you heard about those German units who covered 50 miles in a single night, moving on foot for stealth, in order to wreak havoc in the Soviet rearguard? It is not enough that pretty woman of yours being able to carry a rifle: she has to walk those 50 miles before sunrise, all while carrying much more than a rifle. If she makes only 49 miles the unit is spotted in the open and is exterminated. As simple as that.
#23
After she's walked 49 miles in the dark, she isn't going to be any prettier than her male comrades. And if she can't do that last mile, she should be in a different unit that doesn't need to. It's as simple as that. That is, after all, why so many more women choose support functions where their comparative weakness isn't an issue.
#24
because you think war is about carrying a rifle? It is about carrying a damned machine gun, tons of ammo, food, water, a kitchen sink and being able to move fast despite the weight.
The nature of warfare has changed a lot since then, JFM -- and will change much more rapidly in the coming few years than most might imagine.
Which is not to deny that there will continue to be a role for light infantry - but overall, combat already is mostly no longer quite this sort of thing in most cases. And what is coming by, say, 2015, will make personal physical strength much less central to combat success.
Expect: robotic 'packmules' linked to the soldier and bringing along a lot of equipment. Expect: nanotech uniforms that not only harden into more rigid armor when needed but which also recognize when a soldier is wounded and use electromechanical nano'muscles' to apply pressure to the wound to control bleeding - a self- actuated, intelligent tourniquet, essentially.
Expect: voice-activated robotic artillery and similar weapons, controlled via a battlefield network that merges sensor data with self-organizing swarms of intelligent mini-missiles and other armaments which can be given a set of objectives and left to accomplish them under software control.
All of these are in the demonstration stages now.
Posted by: too true ||
05/26/2005 14:12 Comments ||
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#25
We will see when there are robotic mules, actuators or light sabers. In the interim they don't exist and there are plenty of opportunities where greater speed and strength can make the difference between a LIVE male soldier and a DEAD female soldier.
#26
Actually, there are indeed prototype robotic mules. Some terrains still defeat their autonomous movement, but they do rather well in other terrains.
#27
LH,
In the Army, there are separate physical fitness tests/standards for men and women. Unless they recently changed that. As far back as the 70s, the GAO has hammered the Army to put physical requirements on specific military occupational specialties, which the Army has resisted for decades. Before the integration of females in the front line, medical units operated upon the standard of two male stretcher bears for carrying each wounded. With the introduction of females up front, that went up as the average female lacks upper body strength that males did. Its little things like that which impact manning issues [increase the number of support troops to do the same job while pushing for more combat slots. Doesn't make sense does it?]. However, you're told to shut up and deal with it. Now, the capabilities of the women can be raised with increased weight and resistance training to make up for these types of physical issues, but that means more training time which is already in very short supply in the normal unit schedule. We'll muddle through it all, but both sides are not speaking the full truth on the matter.
And TT, the battlefield always has to have boots on it for control. Technology is not going to change that by 2015 any more than it has changed since 2000 BC. The story that wonder weapons are going to replace the grunt have been too many and been going on for too long to be anything but fantasy.
#28
The story that wonder weapons are going to replace the grunt have been too many and been going on for too long to be anything but fantasy.
Of course - that's why those UAVs aren't doing battlefield surveillance and sometimes direct kills. Never happened, right?
Yeah. Sure.
Look: yes there will be boots on the ground. But the number and kind of them HAS changed significantly in the last few decades and will do so a great deal more in the future.
Posted by: too true ||
05/26/2005 18:18 Comments ||
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For more than four years - steadily, seriously, and with the unsentimental rigor for which we love them - civil engineers have been studying the destruction of the World Trade Center towers, sifting the tragedy for its lessons. And it turns out that one of the lessons is: Disobey authority. In a connected world, ordinary people often have access to better information than officials do.
In most situations, decisions should be made at the lowest possible level, by persons close to the situation. In some contexts, it's called "federalism" or "subsidiarity."
Proof can be found in the 298-page draft report issued in April by the National Institute on Standards and Technology called Occupant Behavior, Egress, and Emergency Communications. (In layman's terms, that's who got out of the buildings, how they got out, and why.) It's an eloquent document, in many ways. The report confirms a chilling fact that was widely covered in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. After both buildings were burning, many calls to 911 resulted in advice to stay put and wait for rescue. Also, occupants of the towers had been trained to use the stairs, not the elevators, in case of evacuation.
Fortunately, this advice was mostly ignored. According to the engineers, use of elevators in the early phase of the evacuation, along with the decision to not stay put, saved roughly 2,500 lives. This disobedience had nothing to do with panic. For example, Rick Rescorla, who made the decision to evacuate his company's offices in WTC 2, and got nearly everyone out.
The report documents how evacuees stopped to help the injured and assist the mobility-impaired, even to give emotional comfort. And don't forget those like the Red Bandanna Man, who stayed behind to help others get out.
Not panic but what disaster experts call reasoned flight ruled the day.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but the movie cliche of the unreasoned mob fleeing in panic doesn't seem to apply in real life. It didn't at the WTC, or the Pentagon, or in the northeast blackout.
In fact, the people inside the towers were better informed and far more knowledgeable than emergency operators far from the scene. While walking down the stairs, they answered their cell phones and glanced at their BlackBerries, learning from friends that there had been a terrorist attack and that the Pentagon had also been hit. News of what was happening passed by word of mouth, and fellow workers pressed hesitating colleagues to continue their exit.
Interesting question: is this an American cultural thing, a product of the individual self-reliance we pride ourselves on? In more collectivized cultures, or in totalitarian states, would we see a different response?
Discuss.
Posted by: Mike ||
05/26/2005 16:18 ||
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#1
the movie cliche of the unreasoned mob fleeing in panic doesn't seem to apply in real life
I don't think it does in most circumstances, either.
I got roped into being an extra (for lack of a better term) in the crowd scene near the end of The Jackel. When the "shooting" started, we were instructed to run in all directions, and they had other extras in police uniforms actually waving at us to go back toward where we had just left (i.e., where the bullets were landing).
I did as I was told, since it was just a movie. But having been in terrorist attack and sniper situations, I can tell you the way they had us behave would be the last thing I would have done in real life. Someone's shooting at you - particularly with an automatic weapon? Hit the deck, preferably behind something solid and thick, and stay down. That's a normal response, I think. Running around like a chicken with its head cut off is not, for most people.
Except, apparently, in Hollywood.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/26/2005 17:23 Comments ||
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That was one of the most boring jobs (and I use the term loosely) I've ever done. A great deal of sitting around doing nothing. On folding chairs. Outdoors. On a cloudless day. For more than one day.
I can't believe people do that for a living.
If you're ever watching the movie and see a (ahem) queen-sized middle-aged woman in a white linen jacket in the crowd at the "hospital" dedication running toward the cops, that's me.
Luckily, I think I'm on the cutting room floor. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/26/2005 22:33 Comments ||
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#4
Was that scene in the US, then? They make so many of them in Canada (Montreal is tops with the HW dinks, I've read) that it makes it unusual. I read a guy's description once on the making of a Bay Watch episode that was exactly as you described it - lots of sitting around, endless waiting for that 2-30 seconds when they were to do some milling around or similar shit, lol! Since it was Bay Watch, all the HS teen queens who had never scratched that itch mobbed the casting call. The guy who wrote the bit said there were barely enough men to fill the needed slots - so he and almost all the others were selected. Malibu Pier, milling around. Some measly flat $ day rate, bad & insufficient food, Kool Aid, boredom. Sounded like a day wasted - and that was his conclusion, though he said it was pretty funny to see himself onscreen for 3-4 seconds.
BTW, I only called you "babe" to see if I'd get the Barb Wire treatment, lol! It's so "Hollywood" doncha think? Lol! Good on ya - you know much more than those frustrated teen queens - regardless of their gender, lol!
#5
unsentimental rigor? Civil Engineers? Alaska Paul and I are pussy cats! I cry every time Jeremiah Johnson finds his family dead (probably 15 times watched to date, and now I have the DVD!). Call us tough assholes, but ones you'd like to have on your side for the right reasons
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/26/2005 22:55 Comments ||
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#6
You can call me "Babe" anytime, .com.
Well, almost anytime.... ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/26/2005 23:57 Comments ||
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#7
And to answer your question, yes, some of it was shot in the States. We have a lot of movies shoot scenes around the Richmond/Petersburg area. We've got both new and centuries-old buildings around here, city scapes and old-fashioned-looking small town looks (Ashland), the James River, etc. Lots to work with.
This time, Richmond stood in for D.C. There was an empty building near downtown (not quite finished, IIRC) with a parking lot next door - they used it for the new D.C. children's hospital the "first lady" was dedicating when Bruce Willis started "shooting" at her & Sydney Poitier ran across the stage and tackled her to protect her.
The scene where Bruce Willis' van was blown up was filmed not downtown but up at Chimborazo Park on Church Hill - it was a nine days' wonder, very cool.
Nobody ever saw Richard Gere, except when he was acting, though I read that he had great dining experiences at the 5-star Jefferson Hotel. I didn't see Bruce Willis, though I read he was polite and relatively accessable.
Sydney Poitier, though - when he came through the crowd (of extras) to take his place at the side of the stage when they were ready to shoot the scene, everybody spontaneously stood up and applauded him. He seemed a little surprised, but he was very nice and smiled and waved at everyone. A real gentleman.
I had done some stage work many years ago, but no TV or movie work, so I wasn't prepared for how BORING the whole thing was. And I don't do boredom well.
Live and learn.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/27/2005 0:13 Comments ||
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LOS ANGELES, May 26 (UPI) -- A Los Angeles-based FBI agent has been accused of tipping off a suspected Chinese spy. And the case may be linked to the high-profile prosecution of veteran counterintelligence officer James J. Smith and his longtime lover, Katrina Leung, recently unsealed court records indicate.
Chinese women, why does the FBI.......oh, right
In the most recent allegation of misconduct within the FBI's Chinese counterintelligence squad, Denise K. Woo has been charged with revealing the identify of an undercover operative and the existence of a wiretap and lying about it to her superiors, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Denise Woo? If she's a chinese FBI agent, does that mean she's decided to cut out the middle man and is screwing her self?
No charges were ever brought against the suspect, but Woo was fired and subsequently indicted for her alleged misconduct. According to the newly released documents, Smith oversaw the 1999 investigation and vouched for the undercover operative's reliability.
Reliable at many things, apparently
Smith, now retired, was indicted in 2003 on charges of covering up information Leung might have been a double-agent employed by China. In a deal with prosecutors, he pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of lying about his extramarital affair and is awaiting sentencing.
Leung, who denied any wrongdoing, was charged with illegally possessing classified materials with intent to harm U.S. interests. A federal judge later dismissed the case against her, citing alleged government misconduct.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/26/2005 09:30 ||
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This is Katrina Leung.
I hope she knew some great tricks, Agent Smith...
Posted by: Carl in N.H. ||
05/26/2005 11:56 Comments ||
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#2
Send Katrina..she has a lovely pair of Leungs.
Posted by: Sun Tzu ||
05/26/2005 15:07 Comments ||
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A Manhattan newsstand owner was being held without bail yesterday after allegedly threatening to blow up the New York Post's circulation office for publishing controversial photos of Saddam Hussein. Nagi Nashal, 53, a Yemeni immigrant, was arraigned Monday night on charges of making a terrorist threat - a state law enacted in the days after the Sept. 11 attacks - and of falsely reporting an incident. His family claims another man made the telephone threat. "Nagi loves America," said his half-brother, Mothana Alorir, 56, who works with Nashel. "We make money for our families. Nagi is not for Saddam."
Nashal, who has lived in the United States for two decades, allegedly called the newspaper's W. 18th St. circulation office Saturday morning, according to court papers. A Post worker traced the call back to Nashal's First Ave. business, 1437 Candy Store. Cops questioned Nashal, who, they say, admitted making the bomb threat. They arrested him and searched his store and his apartment but found nothing suspicious.
Criminal Court Justice Evelyn Laporte ordered Nashal held without bail until Friday for his next court appearance. Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Adam Kauff argued that Nashal was a flight risk because he often traveled back to Yemen and sent money to family there. "It's ridiculous," countered Nashal's Legal Aid lawyer, Michelle Gelernt, who pointed out Nashal is a naturalized U.S. citizen. Alorir and another co-worker insisted that a livery cab driver overheard Nashal calling the Post about a newspaper delivery, then asked to borrow the phone. They said the cabbie hit the redial button, made the threat and left the store.
#1
Article: "Nagi loves America," said his half-brother, Mothana Alorir, 56, who works with Nashel. "We make money for our families. Nagi is not for Saddam."
That should probably have read: "Nagi loves making money in America," said his half-brother, Mothana Alorir, 56, who works with Nashel. "We make money for our families. Nagi is not for Saddam."
#2
"It's ridiculous," countered Nashal's Legal Aid lawyer, Michelle Gelernt, who pointed out Nashal is a naturalized U.S. citizen.
Alorir and another co-worker insisted that a livery cab driver overheard Nashal calling the Post about a newspaper delivery, then asked to borrow the phone.
They said the cabbie hit the redial button, made the threat and left the store."
I wish we could have a 'Shoot a Lawyer' national holiday.
#3
I wish people would quit calling them "Yemeni-American, or Saudi-American, or Syrian-American,or etc. They are just American Passport carriers. How can anyone call them Americans when they do not share even the basics of this culture?
Posted by: Fred ||
05/26/2005 00:00 ||
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Guilt by osmosis. That sure beats guilt by cultural and economic oppression, and global rights abuses such as not joining the ICC, Kyoto, and the Land Mines Convention. They probably lump it with the US causing starvation in Nork, the US not intervening in the Sudan, and cutting off Mugabe from his international bank accounts. And oil-for-food. That's the USs fault, too.
#3
At one time AI did great work defending persecuted individuals. Since then it has become thoroughly corrupted and subverted, and looks more and more like those nutbag Troskyist organizations that rail against the supposed evils of capitalism. I'm hoping an insider spills the beans on this becuase it looks like a classic Soviet era takeover of a 'progressive' organization, except this time by Muslims.
#4
I reccommend an immediate education program to upgrade US forces to world standards. Classes will begin to instruct forces how to loot and burn cities and villages, execute men and boys, rape women and livestock, and bribe human rights whores with oil certificates. We'll know we have truly arrived to world standards when our body count matches the 3 million of Bangladesh, the home of Amnesty International's Secretary General Irene Zubaida Khan. Fire up those shredders.
Posted by: ed ||
05/26/2005 1:24 Comments ||
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#5
ed - Damn that's a tall order, bro! I mean, sheesh, vicious genocide, soulless corruption, and raping livestock - whew! Must take generations to achieve any level of expertise... To pull it off with nonchalance and a droll dry wit, that takes a certain panache and style - we're so cowboyish. I dunno, man. Okay, we do have some arsonist types, but the rest - wow. Can the UN lend us some Blue Hats to instruct and lead us? I'm just guessing, but would Belgians be best?
#8
Lol, Spo'D, Do trolls rate a spot? Or are they not worth the trouble, heh. Dhimmidonk Leadership, RINOs, and Moonbat Orgs in there? Lol! I'm thinking you've started the makings of a fun thread, heh. ;-)
#9
Most Moonbats can be counted on to swing first. Self defence is legal. I don't travel in circles that would bring me into contact with RINOS or Dhimmicrat leaderships types. Trolls are fun to play with but I know I should save bandwidth that doesn't belong to me.
In Bangladesh, Amnesty said at least 147 people died in 2004 in what the government protrayed as crossfire deaths between suspected criminals and the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB).
#13
AI is just one little star in the constellatioon of nauseating mixes of whacky good-doers and charity scam artists. AI in particular works hard to rake in the cash donations from all quarters. AI also takes on alot of folks with political agendas that are directly contradictory with AI's stated purpose ie Irish, Palestinian and Kashmiri nationalist who see violence and terrorism as perfectly OK so long as it in for their cause. Screw AI and all the phuking tools sporting their bumper sticker activism.
#20
Took the words right off my keyboard SM! The most recent AI annual "report" is pretty incredible in what it doesn't mention and what it glosses over. Makes one wonder.
It also pisses me off that it would be used to generate donations to organizations who would then turn around and waste it on conferences / luncheons / exotic trip unstead of going to people like the poor child in the pic:
UNITED NATIONS: US and NATO nuclear policies are immoral, dangerous and destructive of the global nuclear non-proliferation regime, a former US Defense Secretary from the Vietnam War era, Robert McNamara, said on Tuesday.
Mr. McNamara's successful career lends much weight to his words...
McNamara, who spoke at a conference taking stock of the 1970 nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, was defense secretary in the 1960s under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson. He was the architect of early US policy in the Vietnam War.
So obviously he knows what he's talking about...
"If I were to characterise US and NATO nuclear policies in one sentence, I would say they are immoral, illegal, militarily unnecessary, very, very dangerous in terms of the risk of inadvertent or accidental launch and destructive of the non-proliferation regime that has served us so well," he said.
And since McNamara's noted for his spot-on analyses, we should take his words to heart...
McNamara, 88, said the month-long conference should strengthen the treaty and "ensure that North Korea and Iran do not become nuclear powers." But he added, "I believe there is a high probability that the conference will fail to achieve those objectives."
Posted by: Fred ||
05/26/2005 00:00 ||
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I think I'm beginning to see why it took until 1972 before both the Vietcong and the North Vietnamese Army in South Vietnam were defeated*. Guys like McNamara did not want Uncle Sam to win, and set policy accordingly.
* Of course, a Democratic Congress gave it all up by failing to support the South Vietnamese government in the face of a North Vietnamese conventional blitzkrieg.
#2
When I saw this title I just knew it would be the Mad Mullahs.
Imagine my surprise. Bobby Mac the Master Revisionist. Still hoping for a last-minute reprieve and a ticket to Heaven. Adding Moonbattery and silly insults to malfeasance, cowardice, and murder won't do the trick, Bobby. You're supposed to stop digging when you hit bottom, asshole.
Sorry Bobby, You get Hell. And a more deserving American is hard to imagine. You'll meet all your buddies there, too. Have an unimaginably painful and terrifying time, won't you?
Mr. McNamara, I fear that you are somewhat behind the times. President Reagan has already moved the Pershings into Germany. Communist Russia and the Warsaw pact has folded. The Berlin wall is GONE.
However, during what appears to have been a several decades long brain fart that you have suffered (and meriting an entry into the Guiness' book of world records), A Democrat President's carelessness allowed North Korea to progress along the path to developing a nuclear weapon, encouraging it to EXIT the NPT lest it be made to cease and desist. And two Members of NATO, along with the one who left Nato (during YOUR watch, I think?) is ineffectually negotiating with Iran to stop their nuclear aspirations. And no, you wanting a talk with the Shah about it isn't going to work: he's indisposed at the moment, and has been for some time.
Oh, and during this time, Lybia made a run at it, but the Americans and the British (not the IAEA), boarded a ship carrying essential components of their program, so their dictator (his name wouldn't ring a bell, sir, being AFTER your time) decided to fold, gave up his program, admitted to terrorism (you'd be surprised at how big a problem that's become), renounced such ways, and re-opened ties with the West and the United States.
Sir, I recommend crawling back into the sub-space nexus where you've clearly been for decades and try again for Rip Van Winkle's record...
#10
I'd like to know how strengthening the treaty would ensure that North Korea and Iran do not become nuclear powers. It's pretty clear the the non-proliferation treaty has done squat. Lots of countries have gone nuclear during its reign.
#11
It doesn't surprise me *SPOILER WARNING* that Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater paints McNamara as a political hack with no regard for soldiers -- just when I think they caricatured him, the real one proves to be even worse!
Posted by: Edward Yee ||
05/26/2005 9:29 Comments ||
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#12
This guy could be the most despicable sleazeball ever to serve in a leadership position in the US government. Worse then even, dare I say it, Ramsey Clark.
#13
I don't care to feel compelled to slap the elderly but there are special circumstances at play here. You think after 88 years he'd have the common sense to shut his trap and drift off into the trashcan of history as the stupid, inept and pathetic POS that he was rather than pile it on. In alot of ways he was immoral, dangerous, and destructive to our nation while he "served." At 88, his words would be better spent trying to apologize and rehabilitate himself. Foolish old man.
WASHINGTON - The United States will not block Iran's application to join the World Trade Organization when the issue comes before the WTO General Council on Thursday, as part of a nuclear-related deal between Tehran and key European states, a senior US official said on Wednesday. "We're not going to block it, in support of the diplomacy of our European friends ... That is the plan," the official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
"We're just playing this one out to the end," he added with an air of resignation.
The United States, in a policy shift last March designed to bolster EU-Tehran negotiations, offered Iran economic incentives to abandon its suspected pursuit of nuclear weapons, including a decision to allow Iran to begin talks to join the WTO. But that US commitment was put at risk when Iran recently declared its intent to resume sensitive nuclear activities. However, an imminent crisis was averted on Wednesday when the so-called "EU3"—Britain, France and Germany—agreed with Iran on a two-month breathing space for a deal.
Followed by another breathing space, then another, then another, then a mushroom cloud over Haifa ...
Deputy US Trade Representative Peter Allgeier told Reuters on Tuesday that a US decision on Iran's WTO application was up in the air, despite Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's March announcement that the Bush administration would let the WTO application proceed. But the senior US official who spoke anonymously said that while blocking the application "would have been more of an option" if Iran proceeded with uranium enrichment-related activities, the administration now planned to stay united with its European allies.
"In the silly European view, Iran continues to suspend its nuclear activities. They believe that a US decision to withhold its veto would help their diplomacy," the official said.
The WTO General Council meeting in Geneva on Thursday is the first opportunity the United States and the other 147 WTO members will have to review Iran's application since Washington shifted its policy. The EU3 had argued it needed incentives from the United States to give its negotiations with Iran more weight.
Maybe Costa Rica will block it for us.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/26/2005 00:00 ||
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The U.S. Marine Corps has dismissed all charges against a lieutenant accused of killing two Iraqis last year. Major Gen. Richard A. Huck, commander of the 2nd Marine Division reviewed the report from an Article 32 hearing -- the military equivalent of a grand jury hearing that weighs whether there is sufficient evidence to go to trial -- about 2nd Lt. Ilario G. Pantano's shooting of two Iraqis he stopped to question. Ilario testified at Camp LeJeune, N.C., he believed the Iraqis were about to kill him when he fired on them April 14, 2004. The chief witness against Pantano was a sergeant whom he had removed as a squad leader shortly before the shooting. Pantano may still face administrative punishment for discharging excessive rounds.
"LT, I've got some good news and some bad news for ya. Bad news is you're going to have to refund supply for all those extra rounds you dumped into those scumbags."
"What's the good news, Sir?"
"You'll never have to buy a drink in this club again."
Posted by: Steve ||
05/26/2005 12:24 ||
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Whoa! PLEASE tell me 2LT Pantano still wants to stay on and will ...
Posted by: Edward Yee ||
05/26/2005 12:47 Comments ||
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Blackfive says he wants to get back to a combat unit.
Posted by: Matt ||
05/26/2005 13:54 Comments ||
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Great. The Marines did right by Pantano. Now about Pantano's accuser, Sgt. Daniel Coburn. The sergeant was given immunity from prosecution for violating direct orders not to discuss the case so he could return to the witness stand for cross examination. Does that immunity extend to Coburn's falsely accusing his officer? It seems to me that good order and discipline would require that Coburn pay a high price for his vindictiveness.
XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX THU MAY 26, 2005 11:02:32 ET XXXXX
Hollywood once again jumps into bitter DC politics when an episode of NBC's LAW & ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENT suggests a judge killer would wear a 'Tom DeLay' T-Shirt! The House Majority Leader plans a letter of protest later this afternoon, congressional sources tell the DRUDGE REPORT.
Thursday night's episode centered on the murder of a judge. "Maybe we should put out an APB for somebody in a Tom DeLay T-Shirt," declares a character during the drama.
MORE
Posted by: Steve ||
05/26/2005 11:59 ||
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What the f*** is wrong with these idiots?
Freedom of speech, my ass.
Why don't they put out an APB for someone in a Harry Reid t-shirt? Or better yet, a Michel Moore-on one. That I'd believe.
Hollywood is the enemy. Let's treat them as such. :-(
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/26/2005 12:33 Comments ||
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Can't forget the Army-bashing L&O:SVU season finale ... having Stabler cite his Marine Corps veterancy (at least) twice was used as an "equivalence" shield that didn't work. The only good thing about the series now is watching child molester takedowns, albeit that never goes out of style ... it won't, right?
(Damn lefties, making me worry.)
Posted by: Edward Yee ||
05/26/2005 13:05 Comments ||
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Umm....just a question, mind you...do you know ANYONE who wears a Tom DeLay tshirt? And where would you get one? Even the shirt vendors across the street from the Capitol don't carry TD tshirts...
Ok, this leads only to a 13 minutes preview streaming movie, but it's quite revealing; note this .rm can be downloaded (about 25 mb) at http://www.france-echos.com/actualite.php?cle=5080
Exclusive! A secret propaganda video has emerged documenting the existence of terrorist training camps for children in Sudan.
"Look at the faces of these children⊠these are faces of the future of Islam that the West fails to see and the West is afraid of". The English voice-over on a fundraising video describes hundreds of children marching in a regimented style at an Islamist training camp. "Some of the Koran devotees in Sudan are only 4, 5 and 6 years old," it goes on. "How this puts us adults to shame".
At camps like this across Sudan, children are trained for war against the West. Eye-witnesses report pre-pubescent youths target training with AK-47 machine guns, negotiating flaming obstacles and climbing walls. "They were conducting training to a very high military standard", states Lutfallah Ahmed Afifi, former head of security at one such camp. "The level of training was equal to that of Western military. I feared for my own life". Every day the children chant mantras claiming they are arming themselves against America.
The children come from across Africa — Kenya, Nigeria, Chad — as well as Sudan. Most were captured and forced into the camp. "Without a shadow of a doubt, the children were brought there by force", recalls Lutfallah. "Those who ran the camp had told the families that they would take care of the children and pay the family money". Rapes and beatings are commonplace. Slavery in Sudan has a long tradition and is well documented, but this is a different form of bondage.
Worse still, there is evidence that the children are also being schooled in the use of basic battlefield chemical weapons. Lutfallah initially thought he was guarding an Islamic madrassa. But when he oversaw Government officials arriving to a secret laboratory even he wasn't allowed in, he uncovered a terrible secret: "They bring teams of specialists from the Government Military laboratory — they come to teach the children in the use of unconventional weapons".
There is no doubt these camps are known to the Sudanese Government, and despite assurances given to the West, Sudan is still supporting terror to serve its own interests. Ali Osman Mohammed Taha, serving vice president and main negotiator with the West on anti-terrorism matters, openly declares his war on the US to congregations of Muslim speakers. "This is going to be an open ended battle between us and the USA⊠an ongoing struggle" he is filmed saying in the Sudanese embassy in Malaysia. "The struggle will continue no matter how much it costs." Taha goes on to explain how the Government facilitated the entry of Jemaah-al-Islamiya to attract Islamic and Arabic money into Sudan.
"The regime is not working for the welfare or interests of the Sudanese people", explains Abd'ul Aziz Khattab, the man who filmed the speech and who defected his position with the Embassy to expose the actions of his Government. Sudan may be pretending to support the War on Terror, but the kidnapping, brutalising, brainwashing and militarising of children indicates their real intentions are quite different.
#1
In addition to all of my others flaws, I'm very egostical : how comes I am "Glomogum Elmirong1363" (where do you find theses names, btw?), while I type "anon5089"? Whenever I post by the main site, and not by the alternate url, it's happening.
Is this some kind of devious, quasi-rovian, republican plot to make me doubt of my own identity, and ultimately throw me in a pit of self-loathing, self-denial and uncertainties about my sexual orientations?
If so, that's very futile : as a proud euro, that's already the way I am.
#2
After WWII ended, many concentration camp denizens reported that when the bombers flew overhead they used to pray that the camp would be bombed. Better destroyed with us along with it, they said, than undestroyed and continuing the murder.
Bomb the camps in Sudan. Both those who die and those who survive will be better off. As will a world that doesn't have to deal with the monsters being created there.
#3
anon5089, it's not that we don't love you. We do, of course we do! You must have misplaced your cookies somehow (or perhaps you've found another bug for Fred to play with ;-)
Fred and the regulars apparently got tired of trying to remember which Anonymous was who, so F. created a random name generator. Some of its efforts are surprisingly appropriate -- Jarhead likes his so much that his new nym is a composite of the two (which confuses me immensely, but what's a girl to do?)
SRINAGAR, India - Leaders of the moderate faction of Indian Kashmir's main political separatist alliance said on Wednesday they had accepted an invitation to visit Pakistan for talks to reload and rearm help end the Kashmir dispute.
The decision of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference came after Islamabad invited Kashmiri separatists to travel across the frontier on a new bus link between Indian and Pakistani Kashmir launched last month. "We have decided to visit Pakistan on June 2 by bus. It will be a spectacular kaboom big step towards the resolution of the Kashmir dispute," Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, chairman of Hurriyat's moderate faction, told a news conference.
"We will talk to militant and separatist political leaders across (the border) and we will try to resume talks with India after we return from Pakistan," Farooq said after a meeting of Hurriyat leaders in Srinagar, summer capital of Indian Kashmir.
Hurriyat bands about two dozen Kashmiri political separatist groups, some of whom are seeking Kashmir's independence and others its merger with Pakistan. The alliance has been considerably weakened after a hardline faction, backed by militant groups, opposed moderates who supported peace talks with New Delhi and walked out of the panel in 2003.
India has in the past been reluctant to allow Hurriyat leaders to visit Pakistan. However, a visit to New Delhi by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf last month and his talks with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh provided new momentum to a peace process between the two countries. An Indian security official told Reuters the government had no objections to the Hurriyat visit.
There was no word yet from Syed Ali Shah Geelani, head of the hardline Hurriyat faction, on whether he would also accept Pakistan's invitation.
Make sure an Indian general embraces him, just as he gets on the bus, and whispers into his ear, sotto voce, "Thanks for the help, Syed, we'd never rolled them up without you." Then shake his hand and let him go.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/26/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Meanwhile, a letter in a Srinagar paper
DEAR EDITOR,
This refers to the recent grenade blast near Biscoe School.
I was posted in the Causality of the SMHS on that fateful afternoon when the disastrous struck wounding little kids.
I donât want to comment on the motive behind all this cowardly act but I was moved by seeing a child holding my hand and saying, âUncle please Mujhe bachao, Mujhe nahin marna haiâ. âUncle please save me, I donât want to dieâ.
This episode left me in a river of tears and I could just realise what worse our society will have to see if this continues.
Dr Zaid, Email
Posted by: john ||
05/26/2005 11:34 Comments ||
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LAHORE: Student attendance at the Punjab Medical College (PMC), Faisalabad, has dipped after clashes between the Islami Jamiat Talaba (IJT) and the Muslim Students Federation (MSF) over the past two days in the campus. Many students have stopped coming to college fearing for their lives after the clashes on May 22 and May 23. Police cases have been registered.
The IJT has given a 72-hour 'deadline' to the college administration to expel MSF activists, saying it would hold a series of protests otherwise. Mushtaq Cheema, Faisalabad nazim, is allegedly backing the activists because the MSF president, Ishtiaq Aalam, is a close friend of his son Irfan Cheema. The federal and provincial governments have directed authorities to depoliticise campuses. In spite of the fact that the ruling Pakistan Muslim League has abolished its youth wing, the MSF, it still functions in many campuses. Raja Basharat, Punjab law minister, was not available for comment.
The MSF asked Dr AG Rehan, PMC principal, to allow the organisation to hold a funfair in the campus. The IJT intervened saying that the MSF should not be given permission. The administration allowed the MSF to hold the fair. After the funfair on May 22, the IJT clashed with MSF students in the Iqbal and Sena Hostels accusing them of drinking alcohol and dancing. Later, a police case was lodged but the IJT and MSF students were released at midnight.
According to students, 50 MSF activists equipped with batons, steel rods and guns, entered the college and assaulted about a dozen IJT students, in their MBBS fourth year, on May 23. The IJT registered a case at the Civil Lines police station, but the MSF activists are still roaming free. The names of the accused are Ishtiaq Aalam, Afzal Khan, Salik Shahbaz, Wahjahat Hasan, Mohsin Gujar, Mustansarul Hasan, Jahangir, Nasir, Farhan Sarwar, Rai Khizar, Altumash, Sarfaraz Janjooa and Fahad. Punjab Medical College students told Daily Times that there were about 1,200 students in the campus. They said that about 125 students were affiliated with the IJT and roughly the same number with the MSF. The PMC principal said that the situation had calmed down and campus life had returned to normal. He said the administration was trying its best to cope with political elements, but it was hard to remove political elements without strict directions to do so.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/26/2005 00:00 ||
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#5
Good that the boys have their priorities as medical students all sorted out. Memo to administration - beef up the psychology/psychiatry department though as there seems to be a dispoportionate incidence of severe mental illness among the student population.
PESHAWAR: The differences between the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) and the Jamiat-e-Ulama-e-Islam-Fazlur Rehman (JUI-F) the two major parties of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) became more visible on Wednesday when MMA's provincial spokesman, Mufti Kifayatullah of JUI-F, severely criticised the JI leadership for opposing NWFP Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani and National Assembly Opposition leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman's participation in the National Security Council (NSC).
This article starring:
MUFTI KIFAIATULLAH
Jamiat-e-Ulama-e-Islam-Fazlur Rehman
Posted by: Fred ||
05/26/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
LOL, great psy-ops kids!!
Posted by: Minni Mullah ||
05/26/2005 14:37 Comments ||
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A Palestinian parliamentary election set for July 17 will have to be postponed because of a dispute over voting law reforms, Deputy Prime Minister Nabil Shaath said on Wednesday. Hamas militants, gaining popularity at the expense of the ruling Fatah party, demand the vote be held on time. A delay could worsen factional tension and complicate President Mahmoud Abbas's bid to maintain calm to revive peace talks with Israel. Abbas has insisted the election would go ahead as scheduled but Shaath said that was no longer possible. He cited a Central Election Commission (CEC) statement on Monday that it no longer had enough time to prepare for a mid-July vote because of Abbas's refusal to ratify electoral law amendments passed by parliament.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/26/2005 00:00 ||
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I hate to say this, because it's supposed to, but it doesn't really matter, does it?
Egyptians voted on Wednesday in a referendum on whether to introduce direct presidential elections with more than one candidate, but opposition groups called for a boycott saying the change did not go far enough. Egyptians trickled into polling stations adorned with posters of President Hosni Mubarak to say yes or no to a constitutional change replacing the old system of presidential referendums on a single candidate chosen by parliament. Police detained about 10 members of the Kefaya (Enough) protest movement in central Cairo when they tried to hold demonstrations opposing the referendum and the amendment.
As before many recent Kefaya events, large numbers of Mubarak supporters turned up at the same venue to drown out the opposition with chants of "Not enough" and "Yes to Mubarak". Riot police surrounded the Kefaya group while allowing a much larger pro-Mubarak group to move freely. Opposition groups have long called for reform but say the conditions set in the amended Article 76 of the constitution will secure the post, held by Mubarak since 1981, for his ruling National Democratic Party (NDP). "Today is a day of mourning. Boycott the referendum on the disaster of 76" read the headline on the front page of the opposition Wafd Party newspaper. reuters
Posted by: Fred ||
05/26/2005 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
BEIJING: Uzbek President 
LAHORE: Student attendance at the Punjab Medical College (PMC), Faisalabad, has dipped after clashes between the 
PESHAWAR: The differences between the 
A Palestinian parliamentary election set for July 17 will have to be postponed because of a dispute over voting law reforms, Deputy Prime Minister 
Egyptians voted on Wednesday in a referendum on whether to introduce direct presidential elections with more than one candidate, but opposition groups called for a boycott saying the change did not go far enough. Egyptians trickled into polling stations adorned with posters of President Hosni Mubarak to say yes or no to a constitutional change replacing the old system of presidential referendums on a single candidate chosen by parliament. Police detained about 10 members of the Kefaya (Enough) protest movement in central Cairo when they tried to hold demonstrations opposing the referendum and the amendment. 
