Lesson No. 1: If a bureaucrat, or a soldier sent by a bureaucrat, comes to knock down your door and take you someplace you don't want to go because of who you are or what you think-- kill him. If you can, kill the politician who sent them. You will likely die anyway, and you will be saving someone else the same fate. For it is a universal truth that the intended victims always far outnumber the tyrant's executioners. Any nation which practices this lesson will quickly run out of executioners and tyrants, or they will run out of it.
Lesson No. 2: If a bureaucrat, or a soldier sent by a bureaucrat, comes to knock down your door and confiscate your firearms-- kill him. The disarmament of law-abiding citizens is the required precursor to genocide.
Lesson No. 3: If a bureaucrat tells you that he must know if you have a firearm so he can put your name on a list for the common good, or wants to issue you an identity card so that you may be more easily identified-- tell him to go to hell. Registration of people and firearms is the required precursor to the tyranny which permits genocide. Bureaucrats cannot send soldiers to doors that aren't on their list.
Lesson No. 4: Believe actions, not words. Tyrants are consummate liars. Just because a tyrant is "democratically elected" doesn't mean that he believes in democracy. Reference Adolf Hitler, 1932. And just because a would-be tyrant mouths words of reverence to law and justice, or takes a solemn oath to uphold a constitution, doesn't mean he believes such concepts apply to him. Reference Bill Clinton, among others. The language of the lie is just another tool of killers. A sign saying "Arbeit Macht Frei" (Work Makes You Free) posted above an execution camp gate doesn't mean that anybody gets out of there alive, and a room labeled "Showers" doesn't necessarily make you clean. Bill Clinton notwithstanding, the meaning of "is" is plain when such perverted language gets you killed. While all tyrants are liars, it is true that not all political liars are would-be tyrants-- but they bear close watching. And keep your rifle handy.
#1
If you can, kill the politician who sent them. While all tyrants are liars, it is true that not all political liars are would-be tyrants -- but they bear close watching. And keep your rifle handy.
Kind of vague. I read somewhere that George W. Bush sent someone to knock down some guy's door and take that guy somewhere he didn't want to go. Bush might bear close watching. I'll keep my own rifle handy.
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Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
12/01/2004 22:33 Comments ||
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Re: Lesson no. 1, can I kill a socialist instead. I know I'll still end up dead, but at least I'll die knowing I did something to benefit the human race.
I've seen this movie, it doesn't bode well for Lord Shaftesbury:
British detectives are to fly to the south of France to help track down an English aristocrat who mysteriously disappeared on the French Riviera over three weeks ago, police said on Tuesday. Anthony Ashley-Cooper, the 10th earl of Shaftesbury, aged 66, has been missing since the afternoon of November 6 when he was seen checking out of the Noga Hilton hotel in the seaside resort of Cannes.
"Legume! My cape!"
Sussex Police said that officers would be travelling to Nice sometime around December 13 for meetings with their French counterparts. Lord Shaftesbury divided his time between Britain and the French Riviera where he was known to frequent titty hostess bars and houses of ill repute other night spots. On the day before he vanished he visited his estranged third wife, a gold digger nightclub hostess, in a flat in Cannes.
Wealthy English lords, girly bars on the Riviera and a slinky estranged wife tucked away in Cannes. It's got everything!
According to newspaper reports, police have been looking into a possible link with a criminal inquiry launched earlier this year when Lord Shaftesbury claimed to have been assaulted and robbed by a gang.
Ah, a mysterious criminal element!
Set upon by somebody's henchmen, was he?
See, it's not just Arab countries that have Deep Laid Plots ...
The case has generated much interest in Britain, where his family have told newspapers that they are extremely worried about his fate. He had been expected to return to Britain on November 10.
Anyone checked his last will and testament to see who gets the booty?
Lord Shaftesbury, who was educated a Eton and Oxford and speaks fluent French, inherited his title from his grandfather when he was 22 years old, along with the family seat at Wimborne, southwest England, and its 9,000-acre (3,600-hectare) estate.
Send for Sherlock Holmes!
Posted by: Steve ||
12/01/2004 10:08:56 AM ||
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North Korea accused the United States of carrying out 190 aerial recon missions against them in November. That would be entirely possible, because the rumors and scraps of information coming out of North Korea indicate that the government is falling apart. There have been more defections of senior North Korean government and military officials lately, and the border with China is more and more wide open to anyone with a little something to bribe the border guards with. For months, China has been moving more troops to their North Korean border. Partly this is to try and control the larger number of people fleeing the north, and to be ready if millions come across when the North Korean government collapses.
This is what many Chinese and South Korean officials are expecting, sooner, rather than later. Preparations have been made to go in with reconstruction and relief aid, as well as senior defectors who can help form a new government. It is not known what agreements have been made between China and South Korea over which country would take the lead in controlling a new government in North Korea. This is a touchy subject. South Korea expects Korea to be reunited soon. China has mixed feelings about that, not wanting a larger, pro-American nation on their border. But the subject has been discussed recently, if not much reported. Sounds a bit optimistic. A key indicator would be if there are hasty, high-level but very discreet meetings between SKOR and China.
Posted by: Anonymoose ||
12/01/2004 10:32:53 AM ||
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#1
Meebe the Japanese should be given a second chance to administrate?
#2
âChina has mixed feelings about that, not wanting a larger, pro-American nation on their border.â
From the anti-Americanism coming from S. Korea over the last decade, it isnât clear that a united Korea would be pro-American. The united Germany is certainly less pro-America than the old West Germany.
North Korea is holding South Korean construction cranes, bulldozers, road graders, dump trucks and almost 200 cars hostage at the site of a suspended power plant project as a bargaining chip in the international standoff over its bid to develop nuclear weapons.
"One false move and the Daewoo gets it!"
The South Korean companies that own the construction equipment are dismayed since North Korea has refused to back down on demands for compensation for the suspension of the power-plant program. The Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO), the New York-based consortium set up to build safe power plants in North Korea in exchange for Pyongyang's agreement to dismantle its weapons program, says no progress has been made on the impasse.
"Put the crusher down and step away!"
"Never!"
Construction of two 1,000-megawatt light-water reactors to replace North Korea's Russian-model, plutonium-producing nuclear plants was suspended in 2003 after the United States raised suspicions that Pyongyang also concealed a secret program to enrich uranium to weapons grade. The freeze on the nuclear plant project was extended last week for another year, effective Dec. 1, by KEDO, which is led by the United States, Japan, South Korea, and the European Union. The Bush administration has been contending that the project has ``no future,'' as the State Department said a year ago.
"T'hell with it! Let 'em keep the graders. We're outta there!"
"But those are our graders!"
"Then you negotiate with them!"
South Korea and Japan, which are most heavily invested in construction of the $4.6 billion nuclear plant project about 125 miles north of the 38th parallel on North Korea's east coast near Sinpo, hope to keep it on the table to entice North Korea back into disarmament talks. KEDO's extension of the freeze noted that ``the future of the project will be assessed and decided by the Executive Board before the expiration of the suspension period,'' suggesting it will be revived or killed based on North Korea's willingness to rejoin disarmament talks in coming months.
"He's holding his breath again."
"Ignore him. He does that all the time. Nothing ever happens."
But in the meantime, North Korea has barred the removal of 93 pieces of heavy construction equipment, including three cranes, plus bulldozers, steam shovels, dump trucks, road graders and forklifts, and about 190 South Korean cars and some buses from the site at Kumho, demanding that the United States pay unspecified ``compensation'' for the suspension of the program.
"Money! Give us compensation for all we've invested!"
"Piss off. All that stuff is charitable contributions. You can have your Kimmie posters back. That's all you kicked in."
Pyongyang has threatened to go in and seize the equipment along with computers, office equipment and any technical documents still on the site, but has made no move to do so. KEDO's executive director, Charles Kartman, raised the issue in talks with North Korea prior to the consortium's announcement Nov. 26 of the extension of the freeze on construction. KEDO spokesman Brian Kremer confirmed on Monday that no progress has been made recently on breaking the impasse, but added, ``We're certainly hopeful that KEDO can resolve this issue.''
"Yeah. We raised the issue. But they were so whacked out on white slag we couldn't get any sense out of them."
The South Korean companies with the most equipment at stake are Hyundai, Doosan, Daewoo and Dong-ah, which subcontracted with Korean Electric Power Co. to provide construction work. A spokesman for the four major Korean subcontractors, speaking in Seoul on condition of anonymity, said the seized equipment amounted to a major loss and said the situation was ``awkward'' for the construction consortium since they had not been compensated for it. Their equipment had been shipped from South Korea directly to a port at Kumo, avoiding the difficulty of negotiating road access through the almost hermetically sealed North Korea. KEDO is continuing to pay leasing fees to the South Korean companies ``for equipment that is not being used. We have a budget that we have to live within,'' Kremer said.
"We have a project manager who was last seen clutching a gin bottle and weeping in a gutter in Pusan..."
The reduced KEDO staff at the Kumho site is maintaining the partially built project and caring for the equipment and vehicles. The major and lesser subcontractors had sought to retrieve their equipment when the nuclear project was shelved about a year ago, when the project was a third of the way toward completion. But a North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman said at the time, ``We will never allow the U.S. to take out facilities, equipment and materials for the light water reactor construction and technical documents now in the Kumho area unless the U.S. pays a penalty.''
``Our measure has nothing to do with subcontractors participating in the light water reactor construction,'' the Foreign Ministry spokesman said, quoted by North Korea's official news agency. The value of the vehicles and equipment perhaps in the tens of millions of dollars is a small fraction of the overall $4.6 billion estimated cost of the Kumho reactor project, which is 70 percent funded by South Korea. But the impasse over removal of the equipment is emblematic of the conflicting political demands from the United States, South Korea and Japan, which the KEDO project is entangled in.
Posted by: tipper ||
12/01/2004 4:05:01 AM ||
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#1
I've asked before but never gotten an answer.
Where are the Kyoto types and Greenie protestors of all these new nuke plants? Iran is busily building nuclear generating plants with promises of EU (and JFK) help, NK is / was having us build them these "safe" nuke plants and never a peep from the environmentalists.
Any guesses at the reaction if GWB announced a program to build another 20 or so nuke plants to cut down on coal / oil / gas electric generation?
#2
As far as the Greens go, their real beef is not with nuclear power, but with Western Civilization. So long a barbarians build the things, they're cool with it.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
12/01/2004 9:22 Comments ||
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#3
Sounds like time for some Tomahawk negotiation, and compensation to the South Korean construction teams. A dozen Tomahawks should do the trick. Let the NKors have the scrap metal.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/01/2004 15:29 Comments ||
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When you make deals with psychopaths, expect to get burned. The SKor companies expected to do quite well in Nork, but, well sh*t happens. Losing the construction spread will be a good object lesson for South Koreans. They will not learn unless they bear the cost.
The whole reason that this deal went south is that the Norks violated their agreement not to produce plutonium, so the Norks will also pay a price for welching on the deal.
The US hopefully has learned that the Norks are liars and thieves, but we knew that going in. Everyone can thank Bubba for sucking everyone into this fiasco.
So that is how I see it: an expensive object lesson for SKor. Maybe the SKor govt can bail out the SKor contractors. The KEDO project is a dead skunk in the middle of the road.
A final note: Fred---your comments had me spraying turkey and dressing leftovers on the screen. Thanks a lot....
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/01/2004 16:20 Comments ||
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AP- Consider it "a good object lesson". Rantburg has never been drink-safe.
Has anybody ever heard of a Bad Guy's lawyer praising his jail conditions? C'mon, 'fess up now...
Lawyers for a Victorian man remanded in custody over alleged terrorism offences say he is being detained under inhumane conditions. Joseph Terrence Thomas, 31, of Werribee was refused bail last week after being accused of training with Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and working for Osama Bin Laden in Australia. Thomas is being held in a maximum-security unit in Barwon prison at Lara south-west of Melbourne. The prison houses Victoria's most notorious offenders.
Thomas's lawyer, Rob Stary, says his client should be in a metropolitan prison. Mr Stary says it is a complete over-reaction, considering his client has not been convicted. "When he's not in his cell he's required to be shackled with leg irons, he's required to be handcuffed, including the time he has any visits," Mr Stary said. "There's no contact visits, he's in 23-hour lock-up, segregated from other prisoners." Corrections Victoria's Kelvin Anderson says the strict conditions have been deemed appropriate for Thomas's risk assessment. Thomas will face court again in February.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
12/01/2004 4:52:26 AM ||
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I think that Joseph Terrence Thomas has a right to consult with a second counsel. As far as God Save the world---the world is in such a state of
chaos..I think God has a "right" to be angry perhaps? This is what many theologians state.
#1
Typical MSM drivel. Cites examples of muslims threatened by Muslim extremists and then concludes we (i.e. the host society) need to be more tolerant towards those nice muslims.
#3
Poor me. My fighting spirit has made me a victim of those mean Dutch women who don't like my fashion sense. I buy scarves in their stores. What more do they want from me?? Poor, poor, me.
A Dutch Muslim MP and writer, whose collaboration with the film-maker Theo Van Gogh led to his murder, said yesterday she was writing a follow-up script in defiance of extremists' death threats. Somali-born Ayaan Hirsi Ali has lived in hiding since Van Gogh was killed in Amsterdam on Nov 2. In an interview with NRC Handelsblad she said she was working on the second part of Submission, Van Gogh's film that accused Islam of promoting violence against women. "Theo's murder will not make me abandon this project," she said. "We often discussed the manner of our possible assassination — would we be stoned, burned, shot or knifed? He would laugh and call me every day to ask if I was still alive."
Posted by: Bulldog ||
12/01/2004 3:58:32 AM ||
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I have tons of respect for someone who was personnaly affected by 9/11 serving his country again in the military. God bless him and his family.
Posted by: Tibor ||
12/01/2004 11:12:50 AM ||
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#1
I second that. God bless him and his family! To know such love for country was beyond many people prior to 9/11 and still is beyond many within the US now. My respects and may he rest in peace.
Posted by: BA ||
12/01/2004 11:52 Comments ||
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#2
Powerline has a post as well as links to the NYPost and NYT coverage
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/01/2004 11:55 Comments ||
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Rest in peace. We owe you a great deal.
Posted by: Steve from Relto ||
12/01/2004 12:26 Comments ||
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Add him to the "Profiles in Courage" section, Fred.
Posted by: Mike ||
12/01/2004 16:39 Comments ||
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#6
As a nation we will never feel the full effect of 9/11 or Operation Enduring Freedom. I did not lose anyone in my family- thank God for that.
I did travel to NYC on 9-11-2002 for the memorial services. I walked from Grand Central
Station to Ground Zero and back up to Saint Patricks Cathedral for 4 p.m. mass...I can only compare it to Lady Diana and the service that was given in her honor at such an untimely death.
I have never experienced such an event and cannot think of an adjective to describe Manhattan on 9-11-2002. tremendous loss and the country will never be the same. Just visiting Manhattan last month was very intimidating- National Guardsman about face on 5th Avenue near Rockerfeller Plaza with loaded rifles across their shoulder, cocked and ready to fire at a moments notice. And many other land marks were guarded in such a manner - very intimidating for me.
Is the MSM getting a clue? Next they'll be talking about the French massacre in IC
Former American fugitive Marc Rich was a middleman for several of Iraq's suspect oil deals in February 2001, just one month after his pardon from President Clinton, according to oil industry shipping records obtained by ABC News. And a U.S. criminal investigation is looking into whether Rich, as well as several other prominent oil traders, made illegal payments to Iraq in order to obtain the lucrative oil contracts. "Without that kind of middleman, the system would not work because the major oil companies did not want to deal with Iraq because there was a mandated kickback," said human rights investigator John Fawcett.
Another broker was New York oil trader Ben Pollner, head of Taurus Oil, who investigators say handled several billion dollars worth of the transactions now under investigation. Pollner told ABC News he paid no bribes or kickbacks to the Iraqi regime. Rich is still living in Switzerland and unavailable for comment. The roles of several American oil companies, including ChevronTexaco and ExxonMobil, are also under investigation. ChevronTexaco received subpoenas requesting information for two separate grand jury proceedings, and said they were cooperating fully with both investigations.
The U.N. oil-for-food corruption scandal only continues to grow in scope. Today, Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., who is leading the congressional investigation into the program, said that U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan should resign because the scandal occurred on his watch. "I think there's a terrible stain on the credibility and the reputation of the United Nations, there's no doubt about that," said Coleman. "If we're ever to get to the bottom, how can you get there if the guy who was in charge during the course of this fraud and corruption is the guy now who is supposed to be ferreting it out?"
Top officials of the U.N., including Annan, are accused of looking the other way as some $21 billion meant for humanitarian aid was stolen by the Saddam Hussein regime. Uncovered in the federal criminal investigation were previously undisclosed payments to Annan's son, Kojo, from his employer Cotecna. The Swiss company had been specifically hired to monitor the oil-for-food program. Annan's son left the company in 1998 but received payments until this year. Secretary-general since 1997, Annan said this week he was unaware of the payments. "Naturally I was very disappointed and surprised, yes," he said. Also under criminal investigation is the U.N. official Annan put in charge of the program, Benon Sevan. Documents discovered by U.S. forces in Iraq suggest Sevan received payments in the form of oil contacts from the Hussein regime, although Sevan has denied any wrongdoing.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
12/01/2004 7:52:23 PM ||
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... This is the same Marc Rich who was a contributor to the Clinton Library?
OFP$ in Arkansas?
HT Instapundit. EFL. Sounds like the knives are coming out for sharpening. Bye Bye Kofi. Reports that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has endorsed Thai Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai as Asia's candidate for the post of United Nations secretary general when Kofi Annan's term expires in December 2006 have been received with surprise by diplomatic milieus in New York. Most observers feel that such a move is premature and that the real campaigning for the post will only start around mid-2006.
They haven't noticed the blood in the water, I guess...
UN secretaries general are elected for one five-year term and are generally re-elected for a second term, with the post being rotated each 10 years among the regional groups within the UN. An exception to this unwritten rule was the Egyptian Boutros Boutros-Ghali, who was elected as a representative of the African group in 1992 but was not given a second term when the US vetoed his re-election and promoted Kofi Annan for the post. That was certainly a brilliant decision
On paper Annan should have served only one term, thus completing Africa's 10-year tenure, but he was given a second term in 2002. Another brillian decision. Both apparently on Bush watches. I'll bet they thought Halliburton was paying Kofi more than Saddam. Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
12/01/2004 7:50:20 AM ||
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Race to replace Kofi begins
"Hmm. The mannequin or the Furby? We're agreed they're both an improvement, but which would be better?"
#2
This is a good article. Here's another excerpt:
The UN Charter states that the secretary general is the "chief administrative officer" of the organization. His job is therefore to administer the UN Secretariat, that is to say to implement the decisions of the Security Council. Granted that the secretary general may "bring to the attention of the Security Council" matters that threaten "international peace", this is however a purely theoretical proposition, as the members are generally better informed than he is of threats to peace and security. Ultimately the secretary general has no power and has a level of authority that is inversely proportional to the importance of the issue he addresses. ....
"The task of the UN secretary general," commented a government official, "is to do nothing but to do it well." Doing nothing "well" is not an easy task if taken seriously. It consists of administering the Secretariat within the narrow limits set by the various committees of the General Assembly, of building a good team, of listening to advisers but not being manipulated by them. The secretary general must not be unprincipled, but he must know how to manage his principles. Ultimately the post requires a diplomat who will not fall prey to the illusion of power, who can be decisive without being abrasive, and who will not seek in appearance refuge from substance.
The role of secretary general is thus not one for a politician, as Boutros-Ghali discovered to his chagrin. The Egyptian was an intellectual giant who did not suffer fools and made no secret of it. He played down the human cost of the siege of Sarajevo, which was front-page news, as compared with the genocide in Rwanda, which was not and which the West did not want to hear about. Ultimately he became an annoyance to the Americans, who vetoed his re-election in favor of the less abrasive Kofi Annan, whom they defined as the secretary general they could "work with".
.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
12/01/2004 9:09 Comments ||
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#3
What a pity he turned out to be a gangster. Shouldn't have been a surprise, really, considering his past in diplomatic/international circles.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
12/01/2004 9:26 Comments ||
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Incidently, the Frogs have traditionally required that the Sec Gen be able to speak French.
#6
North America has never had a person in the rotation. Last go around there was a push for Brian Mulroony (sp?) of Canada. I could live with that. Its time for a Secretary General from the first world again.
#7
Mike-you only respond to that part of the Charter which buttresses up your argument, and conspicuously avoid the rest. What ELSE does the UN Charter say? (Hint-it's about genocide.)
#10
The world ain't the same as in post WWII Cold War. Progress is happening. The UN is steeped in ideas that are no longer relevant - kinda like "old Europe." The time in history when the UN, and its championing of a valueless view of nations, had a purpose has passed. All nations and all governments ain't created equal. Totalitarian, autocratic, bad guy countries ain't the same as democratic, individual liberty protectin, countries, but you'd never know that from the UN. Why are we pourin money into an organization that actively works against us in the world, sees the US as the bad guys, and is incapable of standin up for real human rights. What is the UN's role now? Why are we even debatin who should be the next UN secretary general? Its time to move on and organize a new association that understands the freedom, democracy, individual liberty and human rights. How's that for moveon.org?
#11
Hank: Yup, but Bush has to step up, and he hasn't. And I doubt Condi has that sort of swing-for-the-fences surprise up her sleeve. Would be nice, but...
Mr. Hurd reads too much Guardian and not enough Rantburg.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/01/2004 12:41:14 AM ||
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I read this OPED and this guy is an EU syncopant it's plain. The EU has proclaimed is't self as a "counter weight" to the US With France and Germany at it's lead. A look at the war like anti US propaganda that is passed off as news in europe is criminal. He thinks we take the UK and Tony Blair for granted we do not. He says "...the British, French and German foreign ministers act effectively together to head off Iran from becoming a nuclear power." No they have assured that Iran will become armed with nuclear weapons. Nothing less. Asshats.
#2
Thanks Steve,I needed a good laugh. You have to wonder if some of these people actually live on Earth. I really liked second paragraph where only UN can authorize a war,but the US has weakened that authority.
India and Pakistan managed to have a couple of wars w/out UN approval. Israel and assorted Arab nations have managed to fight several wars w/out the Security Council's approval. Russia and Afghanistan. China and Russia,VietNam and India. Britain and Malaysia,Argentina. France and Algeria. The US and VietNam,Panama,Grenada. Nato and the Balkans. And so on and so on...
In fact offhand the only wars I can think of approved by the UN are Korea and the First Gulf War. Technically the Second Gulf War could be considered the resumption of hostilities after the cease-fire agreement was violated,so it's covered also.
Posted by: Stephen ||
12/01/2004 2:27 Comments ||
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The guy's a real Douglas, that's for sure. (Eponymous rhyming slang.)
#4
The Europeans really go in for these ridiculously pompostic articles that one cannot imagine being written without more laughter than the scripters of Monty Python working on their next tome. How can they ever expect to be taken seriously?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
12/01/2004 8:00 Comments ||
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How can they ever expect to be taken seriously?
I believe the EU Constitution specifies that all Europeans are to be taken seriously.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
12/01/2004 8:10 Comments ||
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Robert, I posted a last-minute but long response to one of your comments in yesterday's thread about Chamberlain.
.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
12/01/2004 8:16 Comments ||
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We done Mike. And we all clapped, really. Chamberlain's your idol. He did everything that was humanly possible to deal with Hitler, only for Churchill to steal the glory. We get it.
#9
Odd, Mike, that the "rearmament program" you point to as being Chamberlain's baby left Britain in such piss-poor shape at the start of the war. Almost like it was too little, too late.
I also like the bit where critics accuse him of being a "war mongerer" for the lackluster job he did. It's not like you can't find a peacenut who will call buying a cudgel "the start to a dangerous arms race".
*Yawn*
Call me when you stop worshipping failures like Chamberlain and criminals like Annan. Maybe then you'll be worth arguing with.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
12/01/2004 9:20 Comments ||
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I believe the EU Constitution specifies that all Europeans are to be taken seriously.
Yep, it's right there in the list of 'rights' granted by the Union to its citizens.
#12
Where the USA has a Bill of Rights, the EU proposes a List of Privileges.
Rights are part of human nature, inalienable -- they come with one condition, that you respect the rights of fellow human beings. Privileges, ah privileges, are granted at the pleasure of the State, ephemeral --they come with many strings, the whims of the collective and of bureaucrats.
The two political philosophies are incompatible. One protects the individual against the State, the other makes him a subject of the State. Hence all the wondrous European noises and editorials.
Seyyed Hossein Khomeini, the grandson of the late Ayatollah Khomeini, told the Voice of America's new Persian language TV news program that the clerical rulers of his native Iran have left Iranians yearning for democracy. "Iran is not free," Khomeini told VOA in an exclusive interview. "Islamic clerical rule is not, and cannot be, democratic."
Khomeini, who, like his grandfather, is a Shi'ite Islamic cleric, made the comments in a wide-ranging interview with VOA News and Views anchor Hossein Kangarloo. Segments of the interview are being broadcast from Sept. 27 through Oct. 1 on News and Views via satellite to Iran. Khomeini, who now lives in Iraq, said he moved there to experience the freedom made possible by the United States. Khomeini said that despite Iraq's problems, he feels not only a sense of hope in Iraq, but a will to establish democratic government and a disavowal of terrorism. He said that the Islamic rulers of Iran are anti-Western and supporters of terrorism, but, he asserted, "The Iranian people do not support this terrorism and are strongly opposed to it."
Although the Islamic revolution brought about by Khomeini's grandfather in 1979 ushered in an era in which females could not be seen in public without a veil, the younger Khomeini has a more tolerant view of women's rights. He told VOA: "It is a woman's right to choose to veil or not." During his visit to VOA's Washington headquarters, Khomeini gave interviews to VOA's television and radio programs, as well as to Radio Farda, a joint operation by Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Khomeini told his VOA hosts that programs like VOA's are the most effective way for him to communicate with the people of Iran.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/01/2004 12:47:51 PM ||
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hussein kangarloo--hmmm--is he from al australia?
Posted by: SON OF TOLUI ||
12/01/2004 13:09 Comments ||
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I dunno. He just hopped in. I'll ask him...
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2004 13:33 Comments ||
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No, Hulugu, that is just a pseudomym, you know...a reporter, hop here, hop there... that kind of stuff... Besides, his real mane was probably too attrocious.
#5
It is a womanâs right to choose to veil or not.
In that part of the world, the obligatory rest of the sentence is "...and in either case, she will be protected from sexual crime and violence by the people of our society".
#8
If he isn't a red herring for the Tater Tots, he is playing a very dangerous game. People die for saying less than that in Iran and his fame is only gonna protect him only so much...
Iran boasted Tuesday it had humiliated the United States at a board meeting of the UN atomic watchdog by agreeing to what it reiterated was only a temporary freeze of its suspect nuclear programme. "The Islamic republic has not renounced the nuclear fuel cycle, will never renounce it and will use it," top national security official and nuclear negotiator Hassan Rowhani told a news conference. "We have proved that, in an international institution, we are capable of isolating the United States. And that is a great victory," he added.
Rowhani, who smiled and joked with reporters during a nearly two-hour-long press conference, claimed that the US envoy to the IAEA "was enraged and in tears, and everybody said that the Americans had failed and we had won". He also asserted that Iran had only agreed to the suspension for the duration of negotiations with the European trio that should yield lucrative incentives for the Islamic republic. Iran and the European trio are to begin talks in December on a package of rewards to Iran for suspending enrichment, the key process using centrifuges to make fuel for nuclear reactors -- or the explosive core of atomic bombs. "The suspension will only last as long as the negotiations. It should be a question of months and not years. We should not feel during the negotiations that they are trying to gain time," he said.
Europe is ready to negotiate on trade, transfers of peaceful nuclear technology and help on security issues. But the talks will also be aimed at producing "objective guarantees" that Iran will not divert its nuclear programme towards making an atomic bomb. Both sides admit this will be a tough task in the light of Iran's determination to produce its own nuclear fuel.
Enrichment remains at the heart of the stand-off at the IAEA. Iran says it only wants to enrich uranium to low levels, so as to produce fuel for a series of atomic power stations designed to free up its huge oil and gas resources for export. And it zealously guards its "right" under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to have a peaceful nuclear programme, including the full fuel cycle. But there are fears that Iran's fuel cycle drive belies an effort to acquire the "strategic option" to build a bomb if circumstances dictate it. The United States insists the country already has a covert weapons plan. "The negotiations with the Europeans will be complicated. There will be highs and lows. But we will go into the talks with a sincere wish to succeed, and we hope the Europeans will be the same," said Rowhani, a mid-ranking cleric and secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council.
The IAEA is continuing to investigate Iran. Its chief, Mohamed ElBaradei, has said that while no diversion of nuclear materials for weapons purposes has been detected, he could not rule out the possibility of covert activity. The IAEA adoption of the resolution ended an intense week of back-door talks to save the overall agreement between Iran and the Europeans. Under the compromise, Iran dropped its demand that 20 centrifuges - the machine that spin at supersonic speeds to enrich uranium gas - be exempted from the deal for research purposes. In return, the IAEA board passed what Iran has hailed as the most conciliatory resolution since the stand-off began in early 2003. In the wake of the toned-down resolution, the White House called on the international community to "remain vigilant" and has not ruled out making a unilateral Security Council referral.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/01/2004 12:49:52 PM ||
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#1
Is there any doubt that the "negotiations" are and were a sham and that the EU and Iran are on the same side here? Their common goal is of course to isolate and hamstring the US from taking military action against Iran.
#2
There is no way that these talks would come out with any other result. Again, France and other EU countries, as well as Russia, have sold their souls to the MMs of Iran for lucrative contracts and trade. They do not care about the unintended consequences of their actions as long as they can stick it to to the US. When Iran gets a bomb, they will sell them to proxies, including SA, and everyone, including the EU, will be subject to nuclear blackmail by the MMs. I am just amazed by the sellout of their national security by the EUniks.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/01/2004 14:56 Comments ||
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#3
They're probably assuming Israel will take them out.
#4
Maybe so, lex....If the EU is counting on Israel, then this is one Tom Wallager game of Chicken! From a rational sense, I still just cannot believe that the EUniks would do this, but I am getting used to the idea. If they will do this, then forget NATO for sure. When the chips are down, NATO won't be there either.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/01/2004 20:25 Comments ||
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#5
IOW, Hail POTUS Hillary - the Left's agenda still remains the 3 D's against America, i.e. Destabilize, Discredit, and ultimately Destroy. Its only for "domestic energy consumption" and Radical Islam-based national "modernization". The Left wants America to attack and be attacked, to wage war and be warred against - either way America must expand and militarize and regulate. ONce Americva is finis creating global empire, aka carrying out the historically globalist agenda of International Leftism-SOcialism-COmmunism-Progressive, America's empire, sovereignty, and geopol power/dominance and will usurped and taken away from it, as per what Bill Clinton did by stealing/usurping credit for the Reagan-Republican economy, and blaming the "Far Right" and Radical Socialism when he himself os for the same. As I've argued before, iff Hillary "I'm just like Girl like Martha/Betty Crocker" Clinton intends to serve a full eight years as POTUS in comparative Left-verified national success and geopol "quiet" as did Bill, the various Rogue crises has to be resolved or mostly resolved by the time she enters office. America will be induced top PC create global empire while destroying Leftism's Islamist mercenaries. Iff the Failed Left stick to their 2020 timeline, then any non-Clinton GOP-DEM POTUS only has about four years, or less, to govern before Der StalinReich Martha/CrockerFrau Hillary makes her moves.
Syria on Tuesday insisted that it had not dropped a demand that Israel stick to a promise said to have been made by late prime minister Yitzhak Rabin to abandon all Syrian land under any peace treaty. The official Syrian news agency (SANA) quoted an official source as saying that by reiterating its insistence on the so-called "Rabin deposit", Damascus was not setting preconditions for resuming peace talks with Israel.
"No, no, certainly not! It's just unacceptable, that's all."
Efforts to revive the talks, broken off in 2000, appeared to gain momentum when United Nations special envoy Terje Roed-Larsen said last week that President Bashar al-Assad was willing to resume negotiations with Israel "without conditions".
I'd take that to mean "starting from scratch." But then, I'm not an Arab.
"A Syrian official source emphasised that the Syrian position is fixed vis-a-vis the resumption of peace talks and building on what has been accomplished, including the (Rabin) deposit," SANA said.
So they lied. They're not willing to talk without conditions.
The "Rabin deposit" is the diplomatic term for the Syrian insistence, contested by many Israelis, that Rabin promised full withdrawal from Syrian territory in any final peace agreement with Syria. Earlier on Tuesday, an Egyptian official said after talks between Assad and President Hosni Mubarak that Damascus no longer insisted on the "deposit". Israeli officials contend that any offer by Rabin was conditional and hypothetical, designed only to test what the Syrians were prepared to offer in return. On Monday, Egypt offered to mediate between Israel and Syria and said the subject could be raised in talks on Tuesday between Assad and Mubarak. But Egypt played the offer down after Assad met Mubarak, saying the process did not require mediation "because Israel knows fully what is required". In Beirut, Lebanon's official news agency said Assad had told his Lebanese counterpart Emile Lahoud by telephone that Syria still insisted that Israeli-Arab peace must be based on UN Security council resolutions 242 and 338, and that peace talks must resume where they left off.
Looks like the Israelis can wait a while, wonder if Assad can?
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/01/2004 12:02:01 AM ||
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#1
That was then. This is now. The high point of Syria's negotiating position is long past and gets worse by the day. Even Egypt is smart enough not to get involved.
Finance Minister Mohammed al-Hussein has asked Washington to scrap its threat of sanctions against Commercial Bank of Syria over charges of financing terrorism, the ruling Baath Party's daily reported Tuesday. Al-Baath said the request was made in a meeting with a U.S. Treasury department delegation on the sidelines of a meeting in Bahrain on starting a Middle East agency to fight money-laundering and terror financing. "We asked the U.S. delegation for official guarantees on the annulment, not just a suspension, of the sanctions that were planned" against the state-owned bank, the finance minister told the newspaper. The Syrian delegation in Bahrain also called for U.S. assistance in developing Syria's banking and customs systems, and equipment to supervise the border with Iraq, Hussein said.
Rantburg Diplomacy Desk followup to the Prince Nayef article:
Angry disagreements surfaced on Wednesday at a meeting of interior ministers from Iraq and its neighbors over the timing of the withdrawal of U.S.-led troops from Iraq, diplomats said. The diplomats said some countries, including meeting hosts Iran, were pushing for a joint statement with an article calling for the complete withdrawal of U.S.-led troops shortly after Iraq's planned Jan. 30 national elections.
"You want us to leave? Sure, no problem. Which way is Tehran again?"
Members of Iraq's interim government disagree with the inclusion of a U.S.-led troop withdrawal deadline. "The Iraqis believe it's up to them to decide about it," one of the diplomats said.
Diplomats said the issue provoked some angry exchanges between officials at the two-day Tehran meeting which had been due to conclude earlier on Wednesday. "Some of them were shouting at each other. It's hard to be optimistic (about an agreement)," one said.
The Tehran meeting had already exposed Baghdad's growing frustration with some of its neighbors, accusing them of not doing enough to halt the flow of illegal arms, people and money connected to violence in Iraq. "A lot of people come illegally to Iraq," Naqib told Reuters on Wednesday on the sidelines of the ministerial gathering. "There are so many goods smuggled into Iraq -- weapons, money. That is the major issue right now for us. They (Iraq's neighbors) should make some efforts to control their borders," he said. Neighbors also needed to arrest "terrorists which are working in some neighboring countries and exchange some information about their activities," he said.
The Tehran meeting involving Iraq, its neighbors, Egypt and the United Nations was seen as a chance to improve security cooperation and encourage tighter border controls. But while Iraq's neighbors, such as Iran, acknowledge some difficulties policing their frontiers with Iraq, none accept any responsibility for the violence taking place there.
"Responsibility? For this mess? Us? Pshaw! And piffle."
Iranian Interior Minister Abdolvahed Mousavi-Lari, for example, turned the tables on Iraq, arguing that its western neighbor must do more to prevent the violence spilling over into Iran. "Smugglers have smuggled much weaponry over the insecure borders of Iraq to Iran and continue to do so and this creates problems for us," he told reporters.
Diplomats said Iran, a long-time foe of the United States which broke ties with Tehran in 1980, also wanted the joint declaration to "condemn the occupation of Iraq by U.S.-led forces and the massacre of civilians."
#10
Distance covered by the 3rd ID and the 1 MEF on their drive to Baghdad = 350 miles
Baghdad- Tehran = 441 miles
Baghdad- Damascus = 464 miles
Baghdad- Riyadh = 609 miles
Posted by: Matt ||
12/01/2004 20:59 Comments ||
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#11
The diplomats said some countries, including meeting hosts Iran, were pushing for a joint statement with an article calling for the complete withdrawal of U.S.-led troops shortly after Iraq's planned Jan. 30 national elections.
WTF??????
Since when do non-Iraqis have a say in what happens in Iraq? Sounds a lot like meddling to me.
East Africa is no stranger to Islamic militancy. The region has been the victim of a series of al-Qaeda related attacks against predominately U.S. interests. Due to the large population of Muslims in many of the region's states, it has the potential to become fertile breeding ground to al-Qaeda's religious rhetoric. Through the argument of conducting a "defensive jihad" against the United States, al-Qaeda has been able to recruit East Africans in missions aimed at endangering U.S. interests in the region.
Islamist activity targeted at U.S. interests is a relatively new phenomenon in East Africa. While the region's recent history has been plagued with inter-religious violence, the objectives of such violence have been for state or regional control, and not an attempt to weaken the power and influence of foreign powers. Al-Qaeda, however, has had some success in recruiting East African Muslims to conduct guerrilla operations with transnational objectives. These operations have primarily been to attack U.S. interests.
The first major attack took place in August 1998. Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for bombing the American embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The attacks killed hundreds of people and coincided with the anniversary of the first deployment of U.S. troops to Saudi Arabia in 1990. The U.S. troop commitment to Saudi Arabia has been one of the central motives behind al-Qaeda's attacks against the United States. Four years later, in November 2002, an al-Qaeda conducted hotel bombing in Mombasa, Kenya killed more than a dozen people at the Israeli-owned Paradise Hotel. Minutes before the hotel bombing came an unsuccessful attempt to shoot down an Israeli airliner with a shoulder-held, surface-to-air missile. These attacks were meant to coincide with the 55th anniversary of the partition of Palestine.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/01/2004 12:29:48 PM ||
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Iraq wants to try foreign fighters and Arabs suspected of funding the insurgency from abroad in Iraqi courts - a plan drawing objections from Saudi Arabia, which has called on Iraq to interrogate then return all Saudi detainees suspected of terror activities.
"Members of the Master Race are exempt from local laws and ordinances. It's in the Koran someplace. You could look it up."
Iran's interior minister, meanwhile, said Wednesday that participants in a high-level security summit in Teheran of Iraq, its neighboring nations and Egypt agree border control is a top priority. Separately, his Iraqi counterpart said Iraq has called on the ministers and security chiefs to seriously block infiltrators and to stop the flow of money into Iraq to back insurgents. "We are aware that some of the terrorists infiltrate from neighboring countries, and we call on our neighbors to arrest them and hand them over to Iraq for trial," Iraqi Interior Minister Falah Hassan al-Naqib told reporters Wednesday.
Right. That'll happen.
Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef made clear on Tuesday, however, that his country wants Iraq to hand over all Saudi detainees it is holding under suspicion of terror activities, according to the official Saudi Press Agency. Prince Nayef was quoted as saying "infiltration by some terrorists into Iraq has happened," according to the agency. "We hope and ask Iraqi authorities that any Saudi citizen they capture, they should take from him whatever they want and then hand him over to us. I speak in the name of the kingdom. This is of concern to us. If we are fully prepared to help Iraq, then this should be taken into consideration. Iraq must not be a place for training terrorists, and they could be Saudis, like what happened in Afghanistan."
"So just hand 'em back to us, and we'll use them someplace else."
A month ago, Iraqi interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi said authorities had 167 Arab foreign fighters in custody. More were arrested in last month's US-led military offensive to clear the city of Fallujah of insurgents. Allawi hasn't given a specific breakdown or more recent figure, but has said foreigners include Syrians, Saudis, Egyptians, Sudanese, Afghans and Moroccans. Blocking infiltration of terrorists and insurgents into Iraq is the prime focus of the two-day meeting with senior representatives from Iraq's neighbors - Jordan, Kuwait, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Turkey - as well as Iraq, Egypt and the United Nations. The gathering, an unusual attempt at high-level coordination in the sensitive area of security, is designed to help participants share intelligence on militant groups suspected of ties to the insurgency in Iraq. Abdolvahed Mousavi Lari, Iran's interior minister, told reporters Wednesday that the ministers have discussed forming security committees to work out details of tightening borders. "We agreed to step up security cooperation so that the borders can be controlled better. Border control is a top priority," Lari said on emerging from a closed meeting.
"How 'top' is it?"
"Ummm... Just behind the new subway for Qom. Soon's that done, we'll get right on it."
In the opening session on Tuesday, Iraqi Vice President Ibrahim al-Jaafari said blocking infiltration of terrorists was the biggest assistance needed to stabilize Iraq just a month before the first elections since the April 2003 ouster of Saddam Hussein. Prince Nayef, according to the Saudi Press Agency, said participants in the conference also would be discussing a broader problem - those who "infiltrate into Iraq, train for terror operations and return from it, like Afghanistan."
So why do you want them back? You got a quota on that catch-and-release program?
"We assure Iraq that we will work so no harm is brought to it from our countries ...
"Trust us on that!"
"The situation in Iraq endangers not only the country and its people, but has also become a clear and dangerous threat to security and stability in the region," he said.
Kingdom Offers Full Support to Iraq
P.K. Abdul Ghafour ⢠Arab News
Saudi Arabia yesterday offered its full support to the interim Iraqi government to restore security in the war-torn country and prevent Iraq from becoming a training ground for terrorists like Afghanistan. "We are fully prepared to assist Iraq to prevent it from becoming a training ground for terrorists including Saudis, like Afghanistan," the Saudi Press Agency quoted Interior Minister Prince Naif telling reporters in Tehran. Prince Naif acknowledged that infiltration by Saudi terrorists into Iraq was possible. "We would like to assure Iraq that no harm would come to it from neighboring countries," he told reporters on the sidelines of a conference of Iraq's neighbors on improving security in the Arab country...
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/01/2004 12:32:34 PM ||
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#1
Use the ol smokeysinse diplomacy and tell Prince Nayef too go too hell
#2
âWe would like to assure Iraq that no harm would come to it from neighboring countriesâ...
A rather remarkable statement... I mean, I knew Nayef was the most diabolical and cunning of the Sudairi Seven Prince Thingy's, but I had NO idea he spoke for the Mad Mullahs.
Pakistan has rejected reports it had withdrawn troops from a tribal area near the border with Afghanistan suspected to be a hideout for Al Qaeda leaders, the US State Department said on Monday. "Pakistani officials, both publicly and privately to us, have made clear that there has been no withdrawal from Waziristan and that they remain fully committed to continuing the campaign against Al Qaeda and its supporters," department spokesman Richard Boucher told reporters.
"No, no! Certainly not!"
"They're just, er...tuning the drums. Just a bit of a tweak, really. Back any day now, see."
According to a Pakistani military spokesman at the weekend, soldiers have been withdrawn from the streets of the main town in the troubled South Waziristan district after months of bloody offensives against Al Qaeda-linked militants. "Our understanding of the situation with regard to the forces in Waziristan is it's not a change of attitude or inclination or activity on the part of the Pakistanis," Mr Boucher said. "We've seen the reports, but we've talked to the Pakistani officials about them, and they have told us that they maintain their commitment to fighting terror and they intend to do that on the ground as well," he said. Military checkpoints in Wana, were handed over to police after tribesmen pledged their territory would not be used for violence, Pakistan's military spokesman Maj-Gen Shaukat Sultan had said. But soldiers are still hunting insurgents in the rest of the tense region and the military said the scaling-down in Wana was largely a symbolic move to reward one of the area's two dominant tribes, the Wazir, for their help.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/01/2004 12:37:38 PM ||
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And might I say that was a stunning leather bustier she was wearing...
Lawyers for Pfc. Lynndie England moved Wednesday to throw out statements she made when first questioned about Iraqi prisoner abuse, including that reservists were just "joking around, having some fun." The motion was one of five taken up by military judge Col. Stephen Henley in a hearing in advance of England's Jan. 18 court-martial on abuse charges stemming from photos of her pointing and smiling at naked detainees at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison.
"She meant something entirely different... I'm just not sure what it was."
Paul Arthur, an Army special investigator, testified that England was aware of her rights, including to have a lawyer present, when she was interviewed for more than four hours early the morning of Jan. 14 — three months before the photos became public. Arthur testified that England was brought in for questioning — without a lawyer present — because investigators had obtained several pictures of her, including the now-infamous shot of her holding a naked detainee by a leash. He said England was cooperative and did not appear fearful, and if she had asked for a lawyer he would have ended the interview. At the end of the questioning, he said, she wrote and signed a statement detailing her actions.
Thank you, PFC England. Now just wait right there while we get your cell ready for you.
In a hearing this summer, Arthur said England told him the reservists took the photos while "they were joking around, having some fun, during the night shift." Arthur said he believed the reservists from the 372nd Military Police Company were responding to the stress of being in a war zone. But when asked if that assessment applied to England, Arthur replied: "She never mentioned that she was frustrated. She said it was more for fun."
She's a fun loving girl, she'll have a lot of new friends soon to entertain.
England, a 21-year-old reservist from Fort Ashby, W.Va., was one of seven members of the Maryland-based 372nd charged with humiliating and assaulting prisoners at the Baghdad prison. She became a focal point of the scandal after the photos surfaced. During testimony at a pretrial hearing, defense attorneys maintained that England was being used as a scapegoat for a military run amok. England has said she and the others were following orders from military intelligence operatives to "soften up" prisoners for interrogations. The defense sought unsuccessfully to call Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in an attempt to show that those directives came from or were known to the highest echelons of the Bush administration. Military prosecutors argued that there were no such orders. England faces up to 38 years in prison if convicted. The hearing Wednesday was England's first court appearance since giving birth to a son in October. Attorneys have said the father is another soldier charged in the case, Spc. Charles Graner Jr.. Graner, pegged in testimony as the ringleader in the abuse, is scheduled for trial Jan. 7 at Fort Hood, Texas. Three co-defendants have pleaded guilty and received sentences ranging from reduction in rank to eight years in prison.
Better hurry up and make a deal, Lynndie, before they don't need you any more.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/01/2004 11:39:02 AM ||
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#1
Whip it! Whip it good!
Posted by: Capt America ||
12/01/2004 20:05 Comments ||
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Lynndie England is a "young" 21 years old. She is now a Mother, who is facing serious ramification's for her military misconduct. upon entering the service all are trained and educated on court martial process. It is unfortunate that this had to happen for both parties-- let's make a deal is the direction I would march in if I were in their 'boots'.
A laminate that protects NASCAR racecar windshields from rocks and debris will soon give extra protection to Army helicopters flying in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Army's Aviation Applied Technology Directorate at Fort Eustis, Va., started testing the concept in March and just got the green light to begin applying the Mylar polyester coating to the windshields of operational aircraft. Nathan Bordick, an engineer working on the project, said the Army borrowed the idea from NASCAR, where teams have been applying multiple layers of the peelable coatings to vehicle windshields for years to resist cracking, chipping and scratching. Periodically throughout a race, pit crews peel away a layer, leaving a clear, undamaged windshield for the laps ahead, he said.
Field tests on Black Hawk and Chinook helicopters showed that the coatings, which cost about $100 to apply, could significantly extend the life of aircraft windshields, which run $3,000 to $5,000 apiece, Bordick said. First priority for the new coatings will go to helicopters flying in Iraq and Afghanistan, where sand and harsh desert conditions quickly batter windshields and render them unsafe. But, Bordick said, the Army would eventually like to add the coatings to all its aircraft windshields. The coatings go on much like a typical window tint, Bordick said, but must be applied in a relatively controlled environment -- inside a building or hangar or within a bag constructed around the aircraft. Initially, the coating will be applied at the depot level, but the Army will begin training aircraft maintenance crews to apply it themselves, he said. [snip]
#1
"peel-offs" don't protect that much, except for minor sandblasting and dirt/oil. Makes sense, but doesn't protect from big impacts or gunfire, etc.
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/01/2004 12:44 Comments ||
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Frank G: "peel-offs" don't protect that much, except for minor sandblasting and dirt/oil. Makes sense, but doesn't protect from big impacts or gunfire, etc.
This is pretty much a cost and maintenance issue. If they're not having to replace windshield quite as often, they can devote more time and money to other aspects of chopper maintenance.
Associates of Marwan Barghouti said Wednesday that the jailed Palestinian uprising leader has decided to run for president, reversing an earlier decision and throwing Palestinian politics into additional disarray. The deadline for announcing a candidacy is midnight Wednesday.
Clock's ticking, Bargster. What's it gonna be, man?
It's not polite to rush a man with a Death Wish ...
Barghouti's decision came after he met with his wife and two senior Palestinian officials at an Israeli prison where he is serving multiple life sentences, the associates said on condition of anonymity. Word of Barghouti's candidacy came just hours after interim Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas formally launched his campaign for Palestinian Authority president. According to recent polls, Barghouti is more popular than Abbas.
Especially among the jihadi set and the thug wannabes.
Festivities Elections are to be held Jan. 9.
Posted by: Seafarious ||
12/01/2004 10:31:27 AM ||
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The whole idea of someone incarcerated for life running for the presidency of a sorry assed group of people is just too funny for words.
#2
wtf--what happened to the bribes and threats transmitted by the fatah guy who visited him on monday--shortest personal hudna in islamo prison history--give him a noble
Posted by: SON OF TOLUI ||
12/01/2004 13:07 Comments ||
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#3
As they say in Congress, "Once bought, the honest politician stays bought."
Apparently Barghouti has a lot of loose nuts upstairs. Who knows what else he will say this week.
#4
The thing about Barghouti is that he can be bought, but there's no way for him to really enjoy his windfall. That would explain the change of heart. :)
Preparations for the Jan. 30 national election are on track despite continuing violence and calls for delaying or boycotting the vote, the U.N. election chief in Iraq says.
"I won't say I am happy, but I am satisfied with the process," Carlos Valenzuela told The Associated Press in an interview. "People tend to have these very unrealistic expectations about elections. ... They are not a panacea, but they seem to me at least at this moment the one way to go that would help the transitional process" in Iraq. I posted this in response to Goher's comment at Allawi in Jordan for meetings If even the UN is happy, things must be pretty good.
Posted by: Spot ||
12/01/2004 9:37:42 AM ||
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A Hamas leader announced Wednesday that the militant group will boycott upcoming Palestinian presidential elections, the first sign of open tensions between the interim Palestinian leadership and the Islamic opposition group since the death of Yasser Arafat. The announcement by Hamas leader Ismail Hanieh could undercut the legitimacy of the Jan. 9 election, though Hamas said it would honor the outcome. Hamas has tens of thousands of supporters and is particularly strong in the Gaza Strip. "We are not calling on the Palestinian people to boycott the election, but Hamas members will follow the decision to boycott the election," Hanieh said.
Hanieh spoke as Egyptian and Israeli leaders met in Jerusalem to discuss Israel's planned withdrawal from Gaza next year. Israeli officials said the two sides agreed in principle to allow Egypt to deploy additional troops along its volatile border with Gaza to help ensure quiet after the pullout. Since Arafat's death, the rival Palestinian factions have maintained a fragile calm, pledging to maintain unity during the current transitional period. Hanieh said his group would boycott the election because it did not include legislative and municipal elections as well. The interim Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, is a frontrunner in the presidential race, but Hamas would likely make a strong showing in local races.
In the West Bank, Abbas played down Hamas' decision. "If they want to boycott these elections, it is up to them," he said. Formally launching his campaign, Abbas called for a renewal of peace talks with Israel and said the two sides would meet after the election. "We must have a dialogue with the Israelis," Abbas said at his campaign headquarters. "After the elections, we will meet again" to discuss the road map. The internationally backed peace plan calls for the establishment of an independent state next year, but has been stalled since it was signed in June 2003.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/01/2004 8:59:04 AM ||
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#2
"After the elections, we will meet again" to discuss the road map.
What is there to discuss? For heaven's sake, it's already been established what needs to be done. Just knock off the habitual footdragging and go out and do it.
#6
democracy is antithetical to intimidation which is the sine qua non of islaminazis--they consider democracy a religion to be demonized and crushed as being anathema to allah and his word ie sharia--reread your sayeed qutb dudes
Posted by: SON OF TOLUI ||
12/01/2004 12:58 Comments ||
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#7
two possible reasons for the Hamas boycott
1. they think their candidates would do poorly and don't want to chance it
2. they think their candidates would do well but don't want the responsibility that would go with elected office
3. They wish to exercise their "right" to kill Joooos indefinitely.
#8
An election is not automatically "illegitimate" if voter participation is less than 100% BY CHOICE. If there are some potential voters who choose not to vote, then they have cast their vote for "nobody" or "I don't give a d*mn".
Those who think that their deliberate non-participation in an otherwise fair election somehow de-legitimizes it have an opinion of their authority that is way too big to be legitimate in itself.
#9
the importance of the level of voter participation depends on the political context. Id agree that in this case non-participation by Hamas is of minor significance to this election. Those Pals whose recognition of Abbas's leadership matters, the moderates and fencesitters, are likely not that concerned with what Hamas does. This does not mean the same applies in all other elections, where the political situation is different.
Any candiate put up by Hamas would be, in effect, a Hamas "leader." Any Hamas leader is a legitimate target for Israel, since Hamas is commited to the destruction of Israel and Israelis. Hell...they don't even say who their leader is now.
A national women's swimming competition due to be held in Muslim-majority Bangladesh has been cancelled after protests from an Islamic group, officials said. Sahabuddin Ahmed, general secretary of the Bangladesh Swimming Federation, said officials agreed to cancel the competition late Monday after more than a thousand demonstrators took to the streets of the host town Chandpur in southern Bangladesh. "The local administration of Chandpur district decided to cancel due to threats from an Islamic group," Ahmed told AFP.
The Islamic group, the Anti-Islamic Activities Prevention Committee, had branded the event to be "un-Islamic" and threatened to shut-down the whole area, he said. A message received from the group demanded that women should not be allowed to take part in the Eighth National Long-distance Swimming Competition out of respect for the religious feelings of the country's more than 100 million Muslims. The men's competition is due to go ahead as scheduled. "We had to compromise in order to maintain a peaceful atmosphere here," Taherul Islam, the chief district administrator told AFP. Four women had hoped to take part in the event.
State Minister for Youth and Sports Fazlur Rahman said he hoped the competition could be rearranged within a few months. "We want to do many things in Bangladesh but because of our social infrastructure sometimes we have no other choice but to compromise. I am hopeful that this will not be the same forever," Rahman said. A similar event was held without disruption last year. In July, however, Bangladesh's first women's wrestling competition was cancelled after threats from Islamic groups. Sporting officials described the cancellation as a "triumph for fundamentalism".
"I'm hoping that someday Bangla will be a normal country, no longer infested by people whose turbans are way too tight. When that day comes, we'll no longer be disrupted by the illiterate howlings of our native fascisti. People like Taherul Islam will be able to change their names to something more reasonable, like 'Bob' or 'Herb.' Women will be able to walk the streets unmolested, without having acid thrown in their faces by jilted suiters or retarded siblings. Men will be able to smile, play cards, go bowling, and work at productive jobs. The birds will sing, the sun will shine, and God will stop trying to wash our nation from the face of the earth every year because we'll finally have pleased Him."
Posted by: tipper ||
12/01/2004 1:05:24 AM ||
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#1
bare wrists and kicking feet are un-islamic
Posted by: SON OF TOLUI ||
12/01/2004 1:09 Comments ||
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#2
a "triumph for fundamentalism".
It certainly was. Death to fundis and zealots everywhere.
#4
Remember mens soccer is unislamic according the Osama and Omar.
This was well discussed at LGF for whatever thats worth. I can't see much use in a site that doesn't let you post other than for some entertaiment when things are slow.
#5
They said that they cancelled the women's swimming competition as a compromise. Sounds more like it was due to intimidation by a mob of 1000 fanatics.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/01/2004 2:11 Comments ||
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#6
Speaking of LGF... what's is the optimal blog size? I expect half of RB regulars are LGF expats.
#7
To be fair, LGF had comments enabled way before Fred did. :-p
But yes, the LGF commentariat has become way overgrown. I am registered over there but rarely drop in anymore. I do have drinks from time o time with the DC lizardoid minions, hopwever...
#8
Speaking of LGF... what's is the optimal blog size?
Regular commenters, you mean? I'd guess 80-150 over any 3-day period. Perhaps 30-40 within any 2-hour period. Wretchard did (or links to) some research on the question of operational effectiveness for social networks and came up with the 150 persons max figure. Effectiveness begins to fall apart after that figure's breached.
#9
I read this site and LGF everyday. I read this one because it covers 100+ topics a day, and I read the other because it covers 5 or 6 topics in tremendous detail (as supplied by the various respondents).
Both are very informative. I can't even recall which site I found first.
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraq's interim prime minister went to Jordan for meetings with tribal figures and other influential Iraqis in a bid to encourage Sunni Muslims to participate in the Jan. 30 elections, but he ruled out contacts with insurgent leaders and former members of Saddam Hussein's deposed regime. Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, who arrived in Amman late Tuesday, sought to play down expectations that his meetings would mark a breakthrough in curbing the violence, saying Jordan was simply the first stop on a tour that would take him to Germany and Russia. Before leaving Baghdad, Allawi said his government would pursue contacts with "tribal figures" and other influential Iraqis to encourage broad participation in the elections, which some Sunni clerics have threatened to boycott. But Allawi branded reports that he would meet with former Baath party figures as "an invention by the media," although word of such contacts came last week from the Iraqi Foreign Ministry. Former Baath party leaders are strongly believed to form the core of the insurgency.
Ministry officials had said that Arab governments urged the Iraqi authorities to make contacts with Iraqi exiles and opposition figures during a conference last week at the Egyptian resort of Sharm El-Sheik. Arab officials fear that without some overture by the Iraqi government toward Sunni Arab insurgents, many Sunnis may boycott the Jan. 30 elections, thus leaving themselves and their Arab buddies in other nations with bupkis calling into question the legitimacy of the new administration.
Bahrain offered to host an Iraqi reconciliation conference. On Tuesday, however, Allawi told the Iraqi National Council, a government advisory and oversight group, that there would be "no conference in Amman" but that his government wanted contacts with "important tribes," many of which maintained links to Saddam's regime. He mentioned by name two tribal figures - both sons of a prominent sheik from the insurgent-plagued Ramadi area west of Baghdad. However, Ramadi residents said the family is known for its ties to the Americans and that some members moved to Jordan after suicide attacks on their family compound. Allawi's staff declined to discuss planned meetings in Amman or to explain the apparent inconsistencies. However, it appeared the government may have been reluctant to pursue reconciliation with Saddam loyalists - at least publicly - because of pressure from Shiites.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/01/2004 12:17:12 AM ||
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#1
it's an ay-rab thing--the enemy is my friend [after a few threats to his family and some lucrative payoffs to his clan]
Posted by: SON OF TOLUI ||
12/01/2004 1:06 Comments ||
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#2
The election must take place to save face for the US. If it takes talking to the devil, Allawi would do it. The Sunni group is a major power in Iraq and the US wants to pull out as soon as possible. However, the US can not pull out before the election takes place to avoid humiliation.
#5
Goher you do realize that Allawi is sunni and is part of that 'Major' power structure. This 'power' only exists since the U.S. overthrew Saddam and that most of the Sunnis support Allawi, elections, and the U.S. invasion.
#7
Goher you do realize that Allawi is sunni and is part of that 'Major' power structure
Your facts are mixed up.
a. Allawi is a secular Shiite, not a Sunni, so his appointment as PM had Sistani's approval.
b. But since Allawi was also a former Baathist who served in the Iraqi intelligence services while Saddam was in power,in that sense he was part of the former power structure. However, Allawi eventually fell out of favor with Saddam and left Iraq in 1971 to pursue medical studies in the UK.
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.
Reports that the 
Efforts to revive the talks, broken off in 2000, appeared to gain momentum when United Nations special envoy 
Paul Arthur, an Army special investigator, testified that England was aware of her rights, including to have a lawyer present, when she was interviewed for more than four hours early the morning of Jan. 14 — three months before the photos became public. Arthur testified that England was brought in for questioning — without a lawyer present — because investigators had obtained several pictures of her, including the now-infamous shot of her holding a naked detainee by a leash. He said England was cooperative and did not appear fearful, and if she had asked for a lawyer he would have ended the interview. At the end of the questioning, he said, she wrote and signed a statement detailing her actions. 
Associates of 
