Americans for the first time in my memory seem not to care a whit what Europeans think â to the great consternation of our elites on the East Coast. Heartland Americans think the French are ridiculous, and seem almost to welcome Gallic disdain. Most of us out here, far from being deprived yokels, have a clearer appreciation of the quite profound amorality in Europe than anyone in the Ivy League: we detect a cynical, self-loathing paralysis of cheap talk and aristocratic banter on the continent that never leads to any real good physical deed: prancing and preening in Brussels and Paris, but paralyzing fear when the real innocents are being butchered in Serbia a few miles away. Tough talk to a democratic and humane America, not so tough talk to nightmarish killers in Iraq, Iran, and North Korea...
Let the Europeans be toadies and fear these abjectly bankrupt regimes; let Americans worry more about the poor half billion people who have had to suffer and endure under them. Europeans, not us, are on the wrong side of history â and it is more embarrassingly apparent each day of this present crisis. Like the weeks before the fall of the Berlin Wall, what is ahead is fraught with uncertainty and fear, but it is also, in some strange and macabre way, full of rare hope as well. Good article, as most of his are. Read the whole thing if you haven't already. It's kinda more important than Robert Blake or Britney's breasts or even horney pervert priests.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
04/19/2002 ||
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Bill Quick turns his eye toward what the Bush administration's policy was (and remains) regarding Yasser and his thugs:
"Far worse, though, is that Israel is indeed doing what it set out to do: Destroy the terrorist infrastructure. They've captured arms caches, destroyed safe houses and bolt holes, killed hundreds of low-level fighters, and captured dozens of mid and high level leaders, including those at the very top. When Arafat is finally released from his incarceration (if he ever is) he'll come out into the sun, blinking like a mole, to find he has no organization left - except for shattered remnants, half of whom will no doubt, in the grand Arab tradition, be trying their damndest to murder him. Though it's not over yet. The targets were al-Aqsa and Tanzim on the West Bank. That still leaves Hamas, with its strength concentrated in Gaza. The cannon fodder will be replaced easily and the arms will be shipped from Iran to replenish what was lost. The big losses were the Big Time Hard Boys, up to and including Barghouti. That takes it out of the short-term effective category and puts it into the medium- and maybe even long-range.
"Say what you will about George Bush, but this outcome was no accident. In another month, the middle east will be a much quieter place, as the various governments contemplate in horrified awe what the "Zionist entity" is capable of by itself - and what the capabilities of its ally, the United States, must be on a far grander scale. But they already knew that, which is why their armies haven't tried to take on the IDF since 1973. A low-level (usually) war of attrition has proven more effective. The IDF counterstrike this time may render it more costly than the PA wants to bear, but I doubt it. Gunnies are cheap, and the imagination on the other side is confined to the propaganda wing. They'll try and rebuild and give more of the same.
"George Bush, whether the world quite realizes it yet or not, has carefully planned and carried out the destruction of the Palestinian Authority and its terror brigades, and managed to do so without triggering anything more threatening from the Arab states than a few fundraisers." That's the way things stand as of this moment. If Sharon backs off and allows them to regroup, then this could all be wasted effort, with things back to the way they were this time next year. The question in my mind is, what are they going to do to stop them from regrouping? Sure hope the first step is keeping Yasser bottled up without plumbing until he dies of old age.
Fred, my guess is this is a short term stopgap to put the quietus on the problem until the fall, when we are going to rain the fires of hell on Iraq. The fall of Iraq is going to shatter all sorts of mid-east fault lines, and in the ensuing scramble, I doubt if anybody will be paying much attention when Israel settles its Palestinian problem permanently. Posted by Bill Quick [www.dailypundit.com] 4/19/2002 10:51:07 PM
It's my personal opinion, with nothing to back it up, mind you, that we'd be raining all over Iraq right this moment if we didn't have to wait for new cruise missiles to be delivered. Remember Clinton ran the stock down, and then we expended a bunch of them in the early days of the bombing. Posted by Fred 4/20/2002 5:15:26 AM
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
04/19/2002 ||
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Bushtit points to a picture of a pair of forelorn-looking Japanese tourists with the caption:
"Japanese tourists Yuji Nakano, left, and Mina Takahashi sit in the destroyed town square of Bethlehem's Old City Wednesday April 17, 2002. The two tourists, from Tokyo, say they arrived in Bethlehem on part of their six month travels around the world hoping to visit the Church of the Nativity and were unaware of the on-going standoff between Israeli forces and Palestinain gunmen taking shelter in the Church."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
04/19/2002 ||
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Professional Kennedy and celebrity environmentalist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. decided to fly into Iowa to honor the state with his opinions on portentious matters. The Des Moines Register last week quoted him as saying that "large-scale hog producers are a greater threat to the United States and U.S. democracy than Osama bin Laden and his terrorist network."
Kennedy offered that bizarre comparison at an April 5 rally on hog farm issues in Clear Lake, Iowa, sponsored by his Waterkeeper Alliance. The White Plains-based alliance, which benefits mightily from the visibility of Kennedy's name, has been pushing a nationwide campaign against large animal-raising operations, teamed up with wealthy trial lawyers to pursue massive lawsuits against pork, chicken and beef producers for their alleged environmental sins. So there you have it. Forget that trivial Osama bin Laden nonsense, turn the place where the World Trade Center used to be into a People's Park, and concentrate on the important stuff.
Oh, hell. I just noticed Bill Quick links to this one, too... Posted by Fred 4/19/2002 7:32:43 PM
I was thinking of Gore declaring war on the internal combustion engine when I read that. I'm not sure who produces more high-quality manure-the pigs or Baby Bobby.
The pigs are a environmental problem-something needs to be done to neatly dispose of the amount of crap that comes out of these big pig farms, but pig poop won't depopulate a major city.
Joshua Trevino (No permalinks? Why no permalinks?) discussed that WarBlogWatcher (no link because he's a dimbulb) fellow, who uses a pseudonym because "I don't want the police at my door for criticizing the war machine. It's safe to use your real name when you go along with what the war machine wants, and dangerous when you don't." Reading that, it occurred to me that every day, day in and day out, I write about gunnies, snuffies, hard boys, thugs of various varieties, Yasser, Qazi, Perv, Saudi princes, nefarious potentates, and bloodthirsty dictators. I should immediately begin using a pseudonym, too, 'cuz in Cyberspace Nobody Can Hear Your Car Explode. Thank you for yore support.
Posted by: Thermal J. Untervehr ||
04/19/2002 ||
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At least three people were killed and two injured as a powerful explosion rocked the main bazaar in the eastern Afghan city of Khost early on Thursday. The blast occurred some 300 meters from the city's military hospital. "The blast was severe but it was not immediately clear if the motive was political or a personal vendetta," a witness said. This could be the Bad Guys continuing to show they're around, or, probably just as likely at the moment, some local bad guys showing their stuff to intimidate the opposition.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
04/19/2002 ||
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The British Royal Marines ended their first large-scale combat mission in Afghanistan on Thursday after locating terrorist facilities and discovering documents and anti-aircraft ammunition. During the five-day mission, some 400 mostly British troops - as well as smaller U.S. and Afghan troop contingents - dug in along a rugged area of high desert near the Pakistani border where Operation Anaconda took place last month. U.S. soldiers went through the area during that mission, but allied intelligence said some al-Qaida and Taliban fighters may have returned. British Brig. Roger Lane said there was "evidence to suggest some terrorist facilities remained undiscovered and that (al-Qaida) forces had re-infiltrated." Allies said the area has been a key resupply route for al-Qaida and Taliban soldiers. He would not offer details on what that evidence was. Lane did say the marines found new cave complexes, including one containing 20,000 rounds of large-caliber ammunition usually associated with anti-aircraft artillery. After dumping out the ammunition and documents, the troops destroyed the caves. This appears to have been a pretty routine scrub. They're getting their feet wet in anticipation of more serious things to come. It was as much an exercise as an operation.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
04/19/2002 ||
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Provincial governors and tribal leaders were lining up hoping for an audience with Afghanistan's ageing former king Mohammed Zahir Shah after his return from 29 years in exile. The 87-year-old was not scheduled to make any public appearances on his first full day back in his homeland since he was ousted in a 1973 coup and was expected to remain in his closely-guarded residence for much of the day Friday. This is really the only guy in Afghanistan today who has any pretense of legitimacy, so...
Italy's Deputy Foreign Minister Margharita Boniva, who accompanied Zahir Shah on his return, told reporters here late Thursday that his homecoming had been postponed due to intelligence of an assassination plot. "The threats were not only to his life when he would arrive but during the flight and especially during the landing part of the trip. Quite obviously we could not ignore that sort of intelligence," she said. Asked if the threat was from Taliban and al-Qaeda supporters, Boniva said the intelligence report "did mention terrorist attacks coming possibly from al-Qaeda -- a lot were from abroad". The Talibs and al-Qaeda will be jumping through hoops to try and get a few rounds through the old man. So will Hekmatyar, Rasool Sayyaf, and possibly Rabbani. Plus some other fellows who want to be in the same class.
But other than the heavy security presence around his home here Friday, the only other people outside were regional dignitaries hoping to wish Zahir Shah a warm welcome. Mohammad Ali Jalali, governor of the eastern province of Paktika, was one of a group of senior leaders expecting to speak with the ex-king. "I will not be making any request of him. I just want to welcome him back to his home," Jalali told AFP as he waited patiently under a tree by Zahir Shah's residence in the up-market Wazir Akbar Khan neighbourhood. "He is the one man who can join all the ethnic groups of Afghanistan together again. There is no one else who can fulfill that role. It's curious, but when he was in Italy, out of sight, out of mind, there wasn't much to him. Just having him back in the country increases his following. Guess everyone can hope.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
04/19/2002 ||
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A teacher received serious burn injuries in Kandahar when unknown people sprayed acid on her face when she was on her way to school, Afghan officials confirmed on Wednesday. The incident followed distribution of pamphlets three days back in Kandahar city and some other areas in which the people were warned against sending girls to schools. Women teachers were also warned not to attend the schools and warned of dire consequences otherwise. "The pamphlets showed that they were issued by the Taliban movement," Kandahar administration claimed. "Girls should not go to schools and women teachers should stay at home," the handwritten pamphlet warned. Syed Abdul Rehman a commander loyal to Kandahar Governor Gul Agha confirmed the distribution of the pamphlets and said the troops were searching for the people behind their distribution. However, so far no arrest could be made in this connection. He also confirmed that the woman teacher was attacked on Tuesday. "The young woman teacher received burn injuries on her face, neck and hands," Commander Rehman told reporters in Chaman on Wednesday. The man who sprayed acid on the teacher escaped in a vehicle with other people, an eyewitness told police in Kandahar. This is the same tactic the jerks occasionally try to use in Kashmir. They're sadistic jerks in Afghanistan, too.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
04/19/2002 ||
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In an editorial, Kayhan International referred to Zahir Shah as a "frail 87-year-old man in poor health" who is "not familiar with Afghanistan today or the Afghans who drove out the Soviets and are averse to the American occupation of their country. What Afghanistan needs is peace, independence and solidarity based on Islam. This country does not need a fossil" to please foreigners. Oh, God, yes. We wouldn't want any fossilized shah returning to Iran, either. Better to leave government in the hands of mullahs and ayatollahs and other God-fearing men who wear turbans.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
04/19/2002 ||
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Two people were killed and scores were arrested or injured in riots Thursday sparked by a decision not to name northeastern Ferdos city a provincial capital, the Kayhan afternoon paper reported. Mehdi Tajalli, 14, and Hadi Ahmadi, 26, were killed after violence erupted earlier in the day to protest against local reforms. Yeah, that sounds like something worth getting killed over, especially if you're young and stoopid and have nothing better to do with your time. Wonder what's not being told here?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
04/19/2002 ||
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Iranian Majlis Speaker Mahdi Karrubi said on Wednesday that all campaigns against terrorism should be carried out under aegis of the United Nations so that all the goals can be achieved within the framework of the UN Charter. Ooooh, yeah. That's a recipe for success. "Can you say 'ulterior motives,' boys and girls?"
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
04/19/2002 ||
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Pakistan's high court today removed the judge presiding over the trial of 11 men accused of the kidnap and murder of US journalist Daniel Pearl, lawyers said. Lawyers defending prime suspect Sheikh Omar, a British-born Islamic extremist, had petitioned for a change on the grounds that judge Arshad Noor Khan was not impartial. They argued that Khan had heard Omar confess to the kidnapping during a pre-trial hearing and therefore should not preside over the trial. Chief prosecutor Raja Qureshi said the state did not object to the change. "In order to demonstrate complete transparency for a fair and impartial trial, the state has no objection if the case be transfered from the court of judge Arshad Noor Khan to another judge," Qureshi told the court. A new judge would be appointed before the trial is set to resume on April 22, he said. No telling what kind of fix is in here by this time. They can't very well let Omar Sheikh go, but with the USA fixing a beady eye upon them they can't very well let him off. My guess would still be an "unfortunate accident," possibly while he's undergoing extended (three months or maybe even more) "house arrest."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
04/19/2002 ||
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The leadership of Pakistan Muslim League is believed to have asked their exiled leader Mian Nawaz Sharif to make his return home well in-time - before the October elections - and defy all government's restrictions if the party is to maintain its vote bank. The party's central information secretary Siddiqul Farooq endorsed these reports when he declared at a news conference on Thursday that "Nawaz Sharif will return home, come what may, and his homecoming will give a surprise to his followers as well as detractors".
He strongly contradicted existence of any agreement which bound Nawaz Sharif from coming home for 10 years and challenged that if the government possessed such a document it should produce it before the people. He, however, avoided replying to a question whether the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was not a guarantor in the said agreement which restricted Nawaz Sharif from indulging in politics. He said that Nawaz Sharif had not stopped his political activities during his stay in Saudi Arabia as a number of his interviews had been published in Pakistan and other countries. Nawaz is probably expecting to work some sort of a deal, either with Perv to throw support his way, or with Qazi if he thinks he can tip the scales that way without getting bumped off. Qazi will see him as a tool to be used and discarded, and Perv will be hesitant to ally with him because of his (Perv's) anticorruption stand - Nawaz being a case study in corruption. This is the time to show up because if Perv thumps him hard he's alienated any PML followers who might support him.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
04/19/2002 ||
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The United States is deploying 340 military engineers to build roads and water wells on a southern Philippine island stronghold of Muslim rebels linked to the al Qaeda network. The dispatch of the U.S. engineers to the Philippines will bring to about 1,000 the number of American troops deployed in the country's politically volatile south where Manila is fighting Muslim separatist groups and kidnap for ransom gangs. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said she had approved the deployment of the U.S. engineering team on Basilan in response to clamor from residents for more development and social projects. About 660 American soldiers are currently deployed in the country's south to train Filipino soldiers in counter terrorism and help defeat the Abu Sayyaf rebels holding a U.S. missionary couple and a Filipina nurse for more than 10 months on Basilan. That's very nice. It accomplishes nothing but some local public relations and the expenditure of a few hundred thousand dollars, but it's very nice.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
04/19/2002 ||
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The pilot of the plane that crashed into Milan's tallest building killing himself and two others was a failed businessman who wanted to end his life, his son said in comments in Friday's daily La Repubblica.
The paper quoted Luigi Fasulo's son, Marco, and a friend, identified only as Franco, who both insisted the incident on Thursday was a suicide.
'What do you mean 'an accident'? It was a suicide, a suicide, I'm telling you. There were people who wanted to ruin him, to destroy him financially, so he committed suicide,' Mr Marco Fasulo said, without elaborating. Well, that would take it out of the "accident" category and put it into the Kopy Kat Kiddy category, even though he was an antique. The "accident" account was really too hard to buy.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
04/19/2002 ||
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A Palestinian blew himself up in a car at a checkpoint Friday, slightly injuring two Israeli soldiers, and Israeli forces killed five Palestinians in exchanges of fire in an abrupt escalation of conflict in the Gaza Strip. Islamic militants threatened to carry out more attacks in Israel.
The Israeli military spokesman said a suicide bomber detonated explosives in his car at an Israeli military checkpoint near the Kissufim crossing, killing himself and lightly wounding two Israeli soldiers. Local residents said the Israelis arrested three Palestinians and announced a curfew on loudspeakers.
Further south, Israeli troops moved briefly into Palestinian-controlled territory near the border with Egypt, scene of frequent clashes and incursions. Palestinians opened fire on Israeli troops, who pounded the area with heavy machine gun fire, witnesses said. Palestinian doctors said three Palestinian civilians were killed and six wounded by Israeli gunfire. Israeli military sources said that during a routine operation, Palestinians shot at soldiers, who returned the fire.
Also, the military said soldiers killed two armed Palestinians who tried to infiltrate the Netzarim Jewish settlement in Gaza. The militant Islamic Jihad group claimed responsibility for the attempted raid.
Thousands of Palestinians paraded through Gaza City and Rafah for the hastily arranged funerals of the casualties and vowed revenge for their deaths. A masked activist of the Fatah organization of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat said the Palestinians had a message for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon: "You have opened the gates of hell and you will be burnt in its fire. Murder for murder, and destruction for destruction." Gotta keep those boomers and snuffies going, whether there's any benefit to them or not. The objective isn't to damage a target or kill people, but just to have the booms going off. That shows they can't be controlled, even if they're actually being (somewhat) controlled.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
04/19/2002 ||
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Faced with calls for an armed force in Palestinian territories and a probe of the devastated Jenin refugee camp, the U.N. Security Council grappled with an Arab-initiated resolution the United States threatened to veto. Britain offered some compromise proposals the 15-member council was set to consider on Friday but neither the United States nor Arab nations have approved them. The Arab draft calls for a "third party" presence in Palestinian territory, demands an immediate Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian cities and an end to Israel's siege of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat headquarters in Ramallah and the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. It also wants a U.N. investigation into alleged massacres and destruction of the Jenin refugee camp, the most violent of Israel's incursions in the West Bank over the past two weeks in search of terrorist networks. It's good to see our UN delegation remaining compos mentis. Such a deployment, of course, is what Yasser really, really, really wants. The best of all possible outcomes for him would be Iraqi, Syrian or Libyan troops as (snurf! snort!) peacekeepers.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
04/19/2002 ||
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The Israeli army pulled out of Jenin Friday as Palestinian residents of the town's devastated refugee camp dug for corpses and international aid workers moved in to help the homeless and trace the missing. An Israeli armored unit also withdrew from Qalqilya, another West Bank town, after an overnight raid, witnesses said. Troops had left Qalqilya on April 9 but swept back in to search for suspected militants. Israel's defense minister had said troops would quit Jenin and Nablus by Sunday but stay at the Ramallah compound of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and near the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem until standoffs with militants ended. The post-mortem accusations are already under way. Since they were in a lose-lose situation, it's probably just as well that they decided to lose by taking out as many Bad Guys as they could lay hands on. Yasser will draw out the church siege as long as he possibly can, years if everything goes right, and he'll do the same with his Ramallah HQ. The best move for Sharon would be to leave the tanks parked there until a couple weeks after Doomsday. The bitching and moaning will continue, reach a crescendo, and then gradually fade as Yasser without plumbing becomes the natural order of things. The question is, can the US take the heat?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
04/19/2002 ||
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Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Al-Hariri on Tuesday asserted his country's right to fight for the contested Shebaa farms area on the Israeli border and said the dispute could erupt into a new battle front. "Shebaa farms is in Lebanese territory and because it is Lebanese and because it is occupied by Israel, the Lebanese people have the right to have it back by all means, including resistance," Hariri said in an interview on PBS's "newshour with Jim Lehrer." Translated, that means that they want to pick a fight as soon as they think they can get away with it without being roundly thumped in return, and they'll continue to use Shebaa Farms as an excuse until they can come up with something better. If there's no distraction going on in the West Bank or Gaza, it'll be pretty quiet. He's also playing to the Hezbollah political bloc within Lebanon.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
04/19/2002 ||
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Hizbullah forces in south Lebanon apparently attempted to fire Katyusha rockets at targets in northern Israel this morning. The two rockets were aimed targets in the western Galilee region but fell north of the border within Lebanese territory. There were no casualties in the attempted rocket attack. How very effective. They missed the entire country...
According to UNIFIL, Lebanese Army troops are searching locations north of the border to pinpoint the launch site. And no doubt that's very effective, too...
Well, the rockets did land in Lebanon, so they probably want to give them some targeting help. Posted by Hermetic 4/19/2002 4:56:07 PM
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
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Abdullah Bajubeer writes in Arab News:
Though we may have manufactured for ourselves the impressive motto, "Glory, Glory to the Arabs," it only feeds the illusion of non-existent power and a role of no importance.
I have had the opportunity to look closely at the statement issued by the United Nationâs Economic and Social Committee for Western Asia (ESCWA), following its conference in Beirut last year. I was astonished to read that the productivity of the 13 countries which belong to ESCWA â 12 of which are in Asia and one, Egypt, in Africa â amounted to $392 billion annually. This represents only 1 percent of total world productivity!
A sobering fact: To put it another way, that same amount represents the productivity of one small European country â Holland â with a population of 16 million. In other words, Hollandâs productivity alone is equal to the total output of the 13 ESCWA countries! We should also bear in mind that oil represents 90 percent of ESCWAâs exports and that Holland possesses neither oil nor gas.
The report went on to point out that the number of tourists in the Arab world does not exceed 2.5 percent of the total number of world tourists. In Europe, Spain hosts 70 million tourists annually; France 50 million and England 40 million. The report also mentioned that the rate of illiteracy in the ESCWA is 42 percent of the population and is higher among women. The rate of unemployment is 16 percent of the work force...
I write these words after a series of articles, programs and demands for an Arab boycott of Western nations that do not stand for Arab rights. It seems they are saying that the Arabs must confront the results of Black Tuesday and also boycott America and other Western countries which ride on its heels. Who, I ask, are we deceiving? I ask the writers and TV personalities who call for a boycott: Are you serious or is it all a sick joke? I must say that the situation is too serious and too discouraging for joking.
Let us first produce and then, if necessary, we can talk of boycotts. If you spent less time hollering "jihad" and waving guns, you'd be more productive. If the Palestinians spent less time doing the same and then exploding, they'd be more productive. Keeping the rubes fired up and diverting a nation's resources into warfare reduces its level of productivity. So what do you do? Hold a telethon, raise $100 million in capital and give it to the PA to piss it away on guns. Oh, and keep all the women locked up, too, so they won't produce anything more valuable than more rubes. Us infidels don't have much to worry about, do we?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
04/19/2002 ||
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Terror Networks
Maoist thugs bomb Nepal airport
A bomb planted by Maoist rebels damaged an airport in the eastern part of Nepal but there were no injuries. A police official blamed Maoist guerrillas fighting to topple the Hindu kingdom's constitutional monarchy for the explosion at Bhojpur airstrip late on Thursday. "They attacked the control tower building and the facility has been damaged," the official told Reuters, adding he had no further details.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
04/19/2002 ||
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Three snuffies were killed by troops during an encounter in Udhampur district. Troops claimed recovery of two Ak rifles with some ammunition, one pistol and a radio set from the deaders, who reportedly owed allegiance to Harkat-ul-Jehadi Islami (HuJI).
An SPO was killed as hard boys fired rockets towards a police station in in Bandipora. Reports said the SPO was killed when a group raided a police picket and threw a grenade at it in Bandipora. Before leaving the spot, the militants decamped with three .303 rifles alongwith some ammunition.
A defence spokesman said troops recovered 65 Kg of RDX exposive and two grenades during search operations in Kupwara.
A retired snuffy was iced by former business associates in downtown Srinagar. The deceased was a surrendered militant and was arrested by BSF in connection with a bank robbery incident at Hawal last year.
Police recovered a body in Gool area of Doda district. No details, except that he was dead.
Another body was recovered in Jammu district. Police is investigating.
Bad Guys fired several rockets towards Beerwah police station in Badgam district, causing minor damage to the nearby family quarters manned by police. No one was hurt.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
04/19/2002 ||
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Indonesia's lacklustre effort to combat militancy has been criticised by America. That could change if Jakarta goes ahead and arrests Abu Bakar Baasyir, accused of helping to lead a terrorist group. His lawyer said yesterday that he may face arrest over a 1985 sentence for subversion which he never served. Supreme Court Chief Justice Bagir Manan said prosecutors still had the right to arrest Bashir, who said he would protest. This is probably pretty doubtful, given Indonesia's recent record in the area, but it would be a good thing if it did happen.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
04/19/2002 ||
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The U.S. government Friday issued an alert about a possible act of terrorism against banks in Northeastern states, and officials said the information came partly from interrogating Abu Zubaydah, the most senior al Qaeda member in U.S. custody. It was the most concrete acknowledgment yet of the type of information coming out of the Zubaydah interrogations. Considered the chief recruiter for al Qaeda and one of bin Laden's top deputies, Zubaydah was being held in an undisclosed location and had been treated for three gunshot wounds received during his March capture in Pakistan. It's the ganja. And maybe those little orange capsules. And the black ones, with the gray dots. And the valium. It's probably not good data, but what the hell? You gotta get that dosage juuuuust right... I shall now ululate and hand out candy to children...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
04/19/2002 ||
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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.
