Afghanistan opened its grand council to choose a new government Tuesday, shortly after the nation's former president bowed out of the race for head of state, removing the last major challenger to interim leader Hamid Karzai. That's nine months to the day after 9-11...
The council, or loya jirga, convened Tuesday afternoon in a huge, carpeted, air conditioned tent, where the 1,550 delegates are to choose a new government to lead the nation from the devastation of war. "Today, the 11th of June 2002, in Kabul, the capital, the heart of Afghanistan, we have a message - a message of national unity, a message of peace, a message of reconstruction," Chairman Ismail Qasim Yar said in welcoming remarks. "We are hoping this loya jirga, with unity and shared hearts, can solve the problems that have faced our land for 23 years." Beats hell out of having an Amir al Moumeen chopping people's heads off and an occupying army of Arabs, Chechens and Paks, doesn't it?
The session was then suspended for about a half hour until the arrival of the aged former king, Mohammad Zaher Shah, who formally convened the loya jirga. "I'm here to do a service after long years of being away," Zaher Shah in a soft voice barely audible as he sat at a table flanked by Afghan flags. "By the will of God, after 29 years of exile, I am back in my country with my nation." Zaher Shah urged the delegates to work "for the unity and independence of Afghanistan... My only wish is to bring peace in the country, national unity, reconciliation and to take the nation back to peace and integrity." We can only imagine what he's feeling. Not many of the other participants can even remember the days he's talking about. A good number of them probably don't even believe they existed...
Hours before the council convened, Burhanuddin Rabbani, president of post-communist Afghan governments, said he was withdrawing his candidacy for head of state and supporting Karzai. "I am proposing Chairman Karzai as the sole candidate before the loya jirga," Rabbani told reporters hours before the loya jirga was to convene. And we can only wonder what the payoff was for that statement. Rabbani's been chewing sour grapes since shortly after the Bonn conference...
On Monday, Zaher Shah renounced any role in the new government and backed Karzai, dashing hopes of some delegates that he would stand for head of state. The ethnic Tajik clique that dominates the current administration opposed any role for the king, and their objections to his possible candidacy forced a one-day delay in the start of the loya jirga. Rabbani is an ethnic Tajik. It appeared that deals had been cut for him and Zaher Shah, an ethnic Pashtun, to step aside, possibly in exchange for posts for their allies in the new government. "We came into Kabul as warriors, as conquerors. We had full control of the city," Rabbani said, referring to the takeover of Kabul by his northern alliance fighters in November. "But we made concessions then for the best interest of the country. And now we do this again." He said he expected to play a role in helping the new head of state choose a Cabinet. Ah... That'd be the payoff.
Selection of a head of state was among the first orders of business for the 1,550 delegates - representing all aspects of Afghan society. The government they will choose must write a new constitution and oversee preparations for nationwide elections. Security was tight, with international peacekeepers inside and outside the massive air conditioned tent set up for the meeting. Two big-screen televisions were ready to provide live coverage. However, the last-minute politicking and dealmaking left many delegates disillusioned, feeling that the selection of leaders had been scripted in advance by the outgoing leadership under pressure from the United States. Perhaps that's because we feel we have an interest in Afghanistan now, too. We've made an investment, and we don't want to see it go down the drain. Check the dictionary and see if there's a word corresponding to "gratitude" in Pashto...
Special U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad said Monday there must be significant changes in the leadership if a new government is to win broad support. Khalilzad urged all ethnic groups to put aside past rivalries and use the loya jirga to form a broad-based government. He said "significant" changes must occur for the transitional government to be accepted by most Afghans. However, some delegates complained that outsiders were usurping their authority. "It is for us to decide what role the king has," said an Afghan delegate to the loya jirga who uses only one name, Mirwais. "If we want or don't want the king, it is for us to decide and then the king can say whether he accepts or not." The king's decided he doesn't want to be head os state. He may realize that he's 87 years old and that each year his chances of seeing his next birthday decrease significantly.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/11/2002 08:27 am ||
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I've been of the opinion for quite some time that Zahir Shah, for all his manifest virtue, is simply too old, at 87, to resume the active role of head of state. Indeed, I'm even dubious about the "Father of the Nation" idea floated by Karzai, as mentioned above, being that it'd place all the burdens upon the old gentleman without the title to go with it. Nobody asked me, of course, and I doubt the loya jirga would pay any attention to me at all, but if, hypothetically speaking, they were in fact interested in restoring the monarchy after all, I'd counsel them to seek out Zahir Shah's heirs - he has several sons, and I'd imagine, grandsons as well - and judge their fitness to be king or head of state or Father of the Nation or what have you.
Mind you, I've heard plenty of worse ideas in my time than establishing a constitutional monarchy in Afghanistan. I just don't think, based solely on his very advanced age, that Zahir Shah is the man to do it, I'm sorry to say.
Posted by: Joe ||
06/11/2002 15:40 Comments ||
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Afghan Interior Minister Yunus Qanooni told the Loya Jirga assembly Tuesday that he would resign to strengthen national unity. That's a loss for Afghanistan. Qanooni is one of the guys with real class in the old Northern Alliance.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/11/2002 12:44 pm ||
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Afghanistan's interim leader Hamid Karzai on Tuesday proposed that former king Mohammed Zahir Shah be formally titled "Father of the Nation" and given a series of important ceremonial responsibilities. "We would like to give him the title of 'Father of the Nation' but this has to be approved by the Loya Jirga," he said at the opening of the traditional gathering which will select a new transitional government for Afghanistan.
Karzai, who is expected to be appointed head of state in the new administration, proposed seven jobs for the popular 87-year-old former monarch, who returned to his homeland in April after nearly 30 years in exile in Italy. The first three are for him to inaugurate the Loya Jirga, the National Council -- or parliament -- and the drafting of the constitution. The fourth is his participation at the "highest level" on national days, meaning that events mandated under state protocol, like inspecting the national guard, will be presided over by the ex-king. The fifth and sixth are that he acts as "the upholder of peace" in the nation, and be responsible for the conferring of state titles and medals. Finally, Karzai proposed that after the week-long Loya Jirga, Zahir Shah again take up residence at the presidential palace where he lived for 60 years before his ouster. Uh, Hamid? It sounds like you've just described what a constitutional monarch does. Only difference is that he won't be head of state...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/11/2002 12:51 pm ||
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Should keep him occupied between naps.
Posted by: Tom Roberts ||
06/11/2002 13:47 Comments ||
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The real question is what role will be found for Prince Marwais, his youngest, and apparently his most important political adviser. I'm agnostic on whether the Afghans go monarchist again, as long as they don't go terrorist -- the real question is whether there will be a struggle between factions on the question of an ongoing role for the monarchy, and by extension for its control. Of course, if the constitution they write gives him no more power than Elizabeth has in Australia or Canada, it's out of the loop. But I have a hunch this signals that there may be something more formal in the minds of some of the people who will be writing the basic law.
Posted by: Dan Hartung ||
06/11/2002 21:45 Comments ||
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By Robert ("Beat me! Whip me! Call me an infidel dog!") Fisk
Washington wants the loya jirga to succeed. No! Who told you that?
True, far too many of its pliant warlords â the Pashtun and Tajik gangsters whom the Americans paid in thousands of dollars for their sometimes loyal alliance against Osama Bin Laden â have been trying to bribe and bamboozle their own candidates into power once they realised that the "grand assembly" of Afghans would actually be held today. And true, there has been intimidation and delegates murdered. Yup. By all parties. It's an old Afghan sport, kind of like buzkashi, only they use politicians instead of a goat...
But a successful interim government â whatever its chances of producing fair parliamentary elections â is vital for the United States. Firstly, it will allow President Bush, despite his failure to capture either Mr Bin Laden or the Pimpernel-like Mullah Omar, to claim that America has fulfilled its promise to bring "democracy" to Afghanistan. Don't recall that we ever promised to bring "democracy," with or without the quotes, to Afghanistan. I think "freedom" was the word used. Freedom may or may not equate to personal liberty for the Afghans; that's their own lookout. It's their country, not ours. We did manage to free them from an occupying army of Arabs, Paks and Chechens, and in the process it was necessary to smash the Taliban. If the new guys want to go back to public executions as the halftime show at football games, that's their privilege, whether we approve or not. While the bin Laden and Mullah Omar corpses would be nice, breaking their organizations is the important part. When you come right down to it, the vision of Mullah Omar riding off into the sunset on a motorcycle was actually priceless, and Binny will soon conk out from natural causes. Oh, and we did knock off Mohammad Atef, Juma Namangani, and a few others, and of course we did capture Abu Zubaydah. Not too bad, I'd say.
Secondly â and more importantly â because it is America's ticket out of the country. As an article in the Wall Street Journal, the President's best friend in his "war on terror", put it last week, nation-building "certainly beats keeping crack [sic] US troops on the Afghan-Pakistan border for the next 10 to 15 years". Who told you we wanted to be an occupying power? Repeat after me: "It's-their-country-and-we're-only-there-to-kill-al-Qaeda."
But even if the democrats and the killers and murderers of Afghanistan â let us not be squeamish about some of the "delegates" â bring off their tribal rites today, it's by no means certain that Afghanistan's central authority will be able to do any more than they have already: rule the streets of Kabul while regional warlords â including one of their own vice-ministers â battle with rival mafiosi in the rest of the country. That's probably true. But the Loya Jirga, which seems kind of like an old Latin senatus or maybe a very early form of a parliament â say, sometime around the magna carta â is what the Afghans do and have been doing for a few hundred years. It'll lend a bit of legitimacy to the Karzai regime. Some of the warlords are making the transition to politicians, and the most ignorant and brutal will eventually die out, probably with a little help from the spankin' new national army taking shape. Holding up the ideal and complaining it's not met is a pretty cheap argument. Try taking what they had before â Hekmatyar fighting with Masood and Rabbani, followed by Mullah Omar â and contrasting it with what they have now, and things look positively ducky. Effective central governments don't spring into being full-blown; they build from a base, and they build incrementally. We're trying to set up that base, and no, there aren't any guarantees.
Hamid Karzai, the head of the present interim government, has only one popular mandate in Afghanistan. It doesn't come from the thugs of the Northern Alliance who "liberated" Kabul from the Taliban last November. Nor does it come from his own Pashtun people, with whom his prestige has rested only upon his personal integrity. Hmmm... What other candidates are there? Lessee, here... There's Rabbani, who held the Northern Alliance together and moved aside at the very moment his men were taking Kabul. He sour-graped it, and he's still going to be looking out for his own interests, but he's preferable to Hekmatyar, who was first a Pak stooge and then an Iranian stooge. The Talibs were a wholly owned subsidiary of the Pak ISI. Rasool Sayyaf is owned and operated by the Saudis. Karzai represents a compromise candidate, and the personal integrity Fisk so casually dismisses is the only reason he has support. He's shown his bravery by going into Afghanistan on the heels of Abdul Haq, who was pretty thoroughly and brutally hung just days before. The Talibs made a try at hanging Karzai, too, lest we forget, and on the very day he was named to head the interim government almost bought a very small farm in a friendly fire incident. Nor has he done a bad job as an administrator, within the constraints he was presented.
It comes from his friends in the West, those who advised him, dressed him in his stunning green robes and paid for his advancement. It comes from those Western nations â stand up, all of us â who have promised to fund, through him, the regeneration of Afghanistan. The Afghans have a pretty depleted set of tax rolls right now. Should we let them starve? Should we let them collapse back into anarchy? Will that be better for them? Will it be better for us?
The gang leaders of Afghanistan have agreed to let Mr Karzai remain leader of the next interim government. But at present, those same mafia bosses are running many of the major cities of Afghanistan. Humanitarian organisations and charities are, in many cases, still forced to funnel their aid through these ruthless men, in Mazar-i-Sharif, in Nangahar province, in Khost. Voters in the forthcoming elections know that their humanitarian aid comes via the warlords. When has it been different? The Taliban did the same daggone thing, only worse. Shucks, they even claimed to be burning the food drops we were making and laying baksheesh taxes on the trucks bringing in the charity that was needed to keep their people from starving.
So who will they vote for in parliamentary elections? Mr Karzai is trying to form the country's first non-sectarian political group â allegedly with the brother of Ahmed Shah Masood, the Tajik leader murdered two days before the 11 September atrocities in the United States. And loya jirgas have their uses. While by no means pliant, the British used them to maintain their control of Afghanistan in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The wretched President Nadjibullah â he who was emasculated and then strangled by the Taliban in 1996 â persuaded two loya jirgas to keep him in power. It would seem to make sense to plan for the future, wouldn't it? Or should they just wait for events to overtake them?
So with American money behind him, Mr Karzai may have a good chance to go on leading Afghanistan â at least for the moment. So what's all this mean, Bob? Bitch, moan, rant, rave, and toss your charges of corruption and brutality. Any suggestions for doing things differently? Doing them better? Wouldn't it be a good thing if Afghanistan, eight months after the bombing started, seven months after Kabul fell, six months after Mullah Omar and Binny headed for the hills, begins turning into the sort of place people want to live? Or am I missing something?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/11/2002 02:19 pm ||
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Reading though this I wondered what sort of lunatic Fred dredged up to top off the day's posts. After pulling up the original, I realised that I shouldn't have wondered at all. Did you dig the picture of el Fisk at Mazar i Sharif to the right bottom?
Posted by: Tom Roberts ||
06/11/2002 13:45 Comments ||
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(Tap-tap-tap!) Dang! I think my sympathy meter's still busted. It's reading zero. Guess jihad isn't what it's cracked up to be...
Posted by: Fred ||
06/11/2002 13:54 Comments ||
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_Him_ again. How much abuse can one man take?
I note that today's screed was peculiarly pointless, even for Fisk; perhaps he suffered a worse concussion in that beating than he knew previously and it's going active on him. And the problem that you noted in your last comment - his bitching, moaning and whining, but not offering an alternative - is not peculiar to him, but very much characteristic of his genre of thumb-sucking pundit.
Posted by: Joe ||
06/11/2002 15:43 Comments ||
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The Iraqi Foreign Ministry in Baghdad issued a statement Sunday asserting that the government of Saddam Hussein has neither made nor possessed weapons of mass destruction in more than a decade. "Iraq has said on many occasions that it is not concerned with entering the mass destruction weapons club. ... We left it in 1991," the official statement said. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld on Monday responded. "They are lying," he told a news conference at Kuwait's international airport before flying to Bahrain. Guess that settles that.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/11/2002 08:41 am ||
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Iran has decided to increase its financial aid to some organizations that oppose peace efforts in the Middle East. Iran has allocated a special budget for the support of some Palestinian groups who lost their sources of funding when the Soviet Union and the communist bloc collapsed, and when Libya stopped providing material support to the Palestinian organizations. A source very close to the Revolutionary Guards said that the leader of the [Palestinian] Islamic Jihad movement, Ramadhan Shalah, had visited Iran last week heading a large delegation that included the Islamic Jihad leadership, Hamas representatives, and Ahmad Jibril, leader of the PFLP - General Command, to participate in a symposium held in Tehran in support of the Intifada. The Palestinian Authority was represented by PA Communication Minister Imad Al-Falluji. [The symposium] was overseen by 'Ali Akbar Muhtashemi, former Iranian ambassador to Syria and interior minister, known as 'the midwife of Hizbullah' due to his role in the movement's off shoot from Syrian backed Lebanese movement. [Shalah] met twice with Supreme [Iranian] Leader 'Ali Khamenei who promised him that his movement's budget would be separated from the Hizbullah budget, and would be expanded by 70% to cover the expense of recruiting young Palestinians for suicide operations. Well, that's comforting news. Sure clears up a lot of those troublesome "are they directly involved or aren't they?" arguments...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/11/2002 08:26 pm ||
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Iran has taken upon itself financing the Islamic Jihad movement, since its founding... However, the movement's budget was transferred to it via Hizbullah, whose budget (disbursed through Iranian institutions such as Al-Wali Al-Faqih office, and the Liberation Organizations Bureau of the Revolutionary Guards, in addition to the Al-Quds Forces) - exceeded $200 million. That's interesting information, structurally and financially...
Last year, disagreement broke out between Hizbullah's financial apparatus and the person in charge of funds in the Islamic Jihad organization. A little trouble in Islamic paradise?
As a result, the Islamic Jihad heads demanded that the Iranian institutions funding them draw up a movement budget that would be under its leadership's direct supervision. [The newspaper] Al-Sharq Al-Awsat learned that the Supreme Leader [Khamenei] ordered the immediate transfer of a huge sum to the financial apparatus of the Islamic Jihad. So not only does the Islamic Jihad funding come from Iran, it's controlled from the top in Iran...
The anticipated aid will be passed on to several Palestinian figures who visited Tehran in recent weeks. According to a Revolutionary Guards source, the Al-Quds Forces will continue training Islamic Jihad fighters inside Iran, while Col. 'Ali Reza Tamiz, one of the commanders of the Al-Quds Forces' technological team, will remain responsible for training Hizbullah members and training them in the use of advanced equipment and weaponry, including Ra'ad missiles, Shahin launchers, and surface-to-air missiles recently received by Hizbullah. That should put him on somebody's hit list, and it should pull Hezbollah up closer to the top of the concern list...
With regard to the Hizbullah budget increase, the source said, the [Hizbullah] receives, in addition to its annual budget diverse aid from religious, economic, and government institutions in Iran. Every month, institutions such as Al-Shahid, Imdad Al-Imam, and Al-Mustaz'afin Fund transfer financial aid to the families of the Hizbullah martyrs, wounded, and handicapped. So it's not only the Saudis and the Iraqis who're subsidizing the campaign...
An Islamic Jihad leader denied the Al-Sharq Al-Awsat report, saying that his movement "does not work for any regime in the world." And if he's not a liar I'm an Irishman named Murphy. Wanna see my leprechaun?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/11/2002 08:40 pm ||
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Imam Khomeini's grandson Hassan Khomeini, who moderated the event, also referred to the connection between the Iranian regime and the Palestinian struggle:
"There is a strong connection between the Intifada and the Islamic revolution in Iran. It is a connection between two revolutions... The huge Iranian Islamic revolution had an impact on the whole history, it revived religious conviction and stated that religion can play a meaningful role in all aspects of life. The Intifada of the Muslim Palestinian people should be looked upon from the Islamic perspective after all nationalistic movements and communist trends have been defeated after reaching a dead end. The Intifada is the beginning of the way towards a new phase in the historic revolution of Imam Khomeini. We say, as Imam Khomeini said, that Israel should be wiped off the face of the earth and Jerusalem should go back to the Muslims because it belongs to them..." I'd call that a pretty definite statement of intent. It's all very inspiring to be a part of the Forces of History, especially when you're not in immediate danger of getting shot yourself. On the other hand, if you declare war to the death, there is that possibility a bullet — or a missile — will eventually come your way.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/11/2002 08:44 pm ||
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Pakistan and Afghanistan Defence Council Monday concluded that Jihad (holy war) will continue adding the government must not try to stop Kashmiris from crossing the line of control. More than two dozens of political and religious parties participated in the National Solidarity Conference organized by Pak-Afghan Defence Council. A joint statement was issued in the end. Muttahida Majlis i Amal is made up of the core groups of Pak-Afghan Defense Council. This is the bunch that will try to overthrow Perv.
There could not be any restriction over the crossing of LoC for Kashmiris therefore government cannot prevent Kashmiris from crossing line of control, the statement said. So, there!
The sacrifices by Kashmiris and Palestinian have paved the way towards independence. Those efforts would not be lit down and no compromise would be made in this regard. Ummm... Actually, they've killed a lot of people and made everybody with an IQ hate people like the speaker...
Earlier, Chairman Maulana Samiul Haq said that government must change the pro US policies by halting support to them. "US bases should be closed and FBI officials should be stopped from interference in the country's internal matters," he said. "Just because we cut a few people's heads off, what's that to them? It's interference in our internal affairs, that's what it is!"
Jehad would continue and no power cannot stop it, he said and added, "in the present circumstances, all the political and religious parties should work together for the safeguard of the country." Qazi Hussain Ahmad and Maulana Fazlur Rahman were not present in the conference, however, Samiul Haq reiterated, "we will provide support to them for the cause and for us it does not matter what platform they use." Qazi, Fazl and Sami represent the unholy trio of religious fanaticism in Pakland. All three make very nice livings at it without spending an undue amount of time in the calaboose.
Kashmiri leader Rahid Turabi on the occasion said, "who is General Pervez Musharraf to stop Kashmiris from crossing the line of control adding they are simply unstoppable." Abdul Rashid Turabi is the Jamaat-e-Islami Gauleiter for Pak-occupied Kashmir.
Another Kashmiri leader Ghulam Mohammed Safi said that State terrorism was not termed as terrorism and the movement of innocent people was labeled as terrorism, which was totally unjustified. He said that diplomacy should be strengthened and Kashmiris should be lit to work, as they were fighting the war of Pakistan's defence. This is Secretary General All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) Ghulam Mohammed Safi. Innocent people seldom cut people's heads off, blow things up, or, for that matter, wear masks unless they're into kinky stuff...
Pakistan Muslim League (N) leader Raja Mohammed Zafarul Haq said that current deteriorating situation was the result of inconsistent policies by the government as it had failed in highlighting the Kashmir issue internationally. Raja Zafarul Haq, the Pakistan Muslim League chairman, formerly religious affairs minister, who expressed his professional opinion that the Pak anti-blashphemy laws, which apply to Muslims only, are fair to all religions.
He said that no government had the right to stop Jehad and if efforts were made in this regard that would be repulsed by the 140 million masses. Zafar said, "we are ready to go to the Stone Age but are not prepared to change Kashmir policy." And another classic quote from a master of non-linear thought...
Sheikh Rashid Ahmad from PML (N) said that US real interest in the region was to keep an eye on the China. Discussing the inability to match the western media, he stressed the need for new means and ways to counter US interference in the region. This guy, if it's the same one, used to be a PPP functionary. He actually won a court case against a newspaper that had charged he was insane, but it took him 23 years to do it. Not to get off the subject, but did you ever notice how many sheikhs there are running around in Pakland? Almost as many as in the Saudi Entity. How does one get to be a sheikh? Is there a correspondence course? Does a sheikh have any duties, or do you just get to wear Rudolph Valentino-style robes and ravish the occasional babe?
Mirza Aslam Baig said, Jehad could not be stopped and if any commitment had been made in this connection, it is totally baseless." Commenting on October elections, he said that efforts were being made to bring pro-Indian and US government therefore political and religious parties should work against it. Former Chief of Army Staff General Mirza Aslam Baig...
Lt. Gen (retd) Hamid Gul addressing the participants said, "we have lost the diplomatic war and now the only way remains is Jihad. He said that our real enemy is America and we should use all energies to counter their evil designs." Former chief of ISI. Gul famously stated on one occasion: "It's not that difficult to obtain a suitcase-size nuclear weapon. Just the thing for retaliation against London or New York."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/11/2002 11:32 am ||
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"Sheikh", is a term meaning "teacher". I submit that the sponsor of this weblog be given the title "Sheikh", honoris causa.
Muttahida Jehad Council (MJC), a conglomerate of 15 Jehadi organisations fighting Indian rule in occupied Kashmir on Monday strongly condemned the arrest of Syed Ali Shah Gilani, senior leader of All Parties Hurriat Conference (APHC) by Indian police under draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA). In a statement, the spokesman of MJC accused that Indian government was trying to eliminate the political leadership in order to suppress the indigenous freedom movement in held valley. The spokesman vehemently rejected the Indian allegations that Syed Ali Shah Gilani receives money from Hizbul Mujahideen and distributes the same among the local commanders. All that piggy squealing convinces me he's guilty, guilty, guilty...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/11/2002 11:38 am ||
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Leading scientists of the country Monday assured that Pakistan was making steady progress in science and ready to face challenges. "Milestones set by Pakistan in the field of science and technology over the last few years bear testimony to the fact that the Pakistani scientists and engineers can also contribute significantly to world knowledge", eminent nuclear scientist and chairman National Engineering Science Commission (NESCOM) Dr Samar Mubarakmand said. "They have the caliber and capability to embrace ever emerging challenges on the fast changing scenario of science. The breaking of the isolation is the main objective of this conference... Gone are the days when few countries could prosper at the cost of others, it is fast becoming obligatory on the developed world to share fruits of their technical achievements with the developing and under-developed world". Yasss... The world is waiting for the scientific breakthroughs that will allow us to harness the untapped powers of djinns. As soon as they discover the laws of cause and effect they will actually cease being dangerous; rational people are predictable, even if you don't happen to agree with them. The irrational are unpredictable; you never know when they're going to explode, sometimes literally.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/11/2002 11:44 am ||
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Five Indian warships have started to sail away from near Pakistani waters, the latest sign of an easing of tensions between the two countries, a navy spokesman said on Tuesday. "Ships of the western fleet which were on patrol in different areas of Arabian Sea have been recalled to their bases as per government decision, they are likely to enter Mumbai shortly," Commander Rahul Gupta said. The five ships being recalled had been moved to the western coast from the eastern coast last month after the attack on an army camp in Kashmir by terrorists. Tensions relaxing until the next outrage...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/11/2002 12:34 pm ||
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As many as a half-dozen men "of U.S. origin" have been captured in the tribal areas of Pakistan near Afghanistan and handed over to U.S. authorities in an operation to root out al Qaida and Taliban. The men, whose identities were not revealed, were taken prisoner by the Pakistani army following tip-offs by tribal chiefs. Sold 'em out, by golly!
"Yes, we confirm it," Zamir Akram, deputy chief of mission at the Pakistan Embassy in Washington, said when asked about the arrests. "It is an ongoing operation. We have been arresting people and handing them over to the Americans." It was not known if the five or six men were already in the United States. The definition of "American origin" was also unclear. As in, are they Arab-Americans or are they more Johnny Jihads?
The FBI, when asked about the handover, referred all questions to the Justice Department. The Justice Department was not immediately available for comment. U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, together with FBI and Department of Defense officials, announced Monday the arrest and detention of New York-born Jose Padilla. Padilla, who allegedly received bomb-making training from al Qaida and was part of a conspiracy to plant a radiological bomb somewhere in the United States. Wonder if they're part of the same bunch or if they're a different plotline?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/11/2002 08:08 pm ||
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Saudi Arabia reports that the Kingdom's missionary activities have led to a sharp increase in Islamic conversions in the wake of the Sept. 11 Islamic suicide attacks on New York and Washington. Saudi authorities said more than 700 foreigners were converted to Islam after Sept. 11. They said the lion's share of converts came from the Philippines. Saudi Arabia and Gulf Cooperation Council regularly report figures on the conversion of expatriates to Islam. Several GCC countries, including Qatar, reported an increase in conversions since Sept. 11. Saudi Islamic Affairs Minister Saleh Al Sheik said 942 people from 19 countries converted to Islam in 2001, 709 of them after the Sept. 11 attacks. Officials said the Western backlash against Islam in wake of the suicide attacks increased interest in the religion. Didn't we get one of those converts last month? Yup. I think we did, though he wasn't from the post-911 batch.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/11/2002 11:48 am ||
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By the way, and speaking of whom, have you seen the speculation that he might have been in some way connected to the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing? Another blog, I forget which one at the moment, posted the FBI composite sketch of "John Doe #2" which bears a most suspicious resemblance to our man, especially when you compare the pictures side-by-side.
Posted by: Joe ||
06/11/2002 15:45 Comments ||
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Posted by: Fred ||
06/11/2002 15:53 Comments ||
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Aren't any Muslims, in their hearts, getting disgusted with what the fanatics are preaching in their names? Not that many would be willing to risk the usual penalty for saying so.
#4
I'm consistently amazed at the reluctance, nay, refusal of most Muslims to become disgusted at the acts, much less the preaching. But I guess the penalties could have something to do with it...
Posted by: Fred ||
06/13/2002 19:45 Comments ||
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The Gulf Cooperation Council, stymied in efforts to hire and train Gulf Arab soldiers, is considering a proposal to use mercernaries to bolster its regional force. The discussion took place during a recent meeting by GCC military commanders in Manama. The meeting was the ninth by military chiefs to implement plans to expand Peninsula Shield, the regional force of Gulf Arab states. The alliance has been hampered in meeting a mid-2003 deadline to expand Peninsula Shield from the current 6,000 to 20,000 soldiers. Officials cite a shortage of locally-trained soldiers as well as fears by most member states to send their soldiers to GCC headquarters in Saudi Arabia, regarded as a rival to its smaller Gulf Arab neighbors. GCC secretary-general Abdul Rahman Al Attiyya said Gulf Arab commanders discussed whether foreigners could be recruited into the regional force. Gulf Arab states have a significant number of expatriates in their militaries. These include soldiers from Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan and mercernaries from Britain and the former Soviet Union. That's pretty interesting. If the local young fellows aren't willing to defend their countries, that's a good indication that in a generation or so somebody else will be in charge. The fact that military service is beneath the dignity of so many young Americans worries me for the same reason this situation should be worrying the Emirates.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/11/2002 09:04 pm ||
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I thought one of the factors in the reluctance of the Gulf governments to have armies of their own citizens is the likelihood such armies would overthrow their own governments.
Three 15-year-olds were wounded in a bomb attack. They were with a group of about 50 students from a yeshiva high school in Kiryat Arba visiting a nearby farm called Sdeh Calev. They were walking back to a bus after going cherry picking in an orchard late Tuesday morning, and were near the farm gate when the bomb went off. A crazed killer Palestinian youth was spotted setting down a plastic bag at the site shortly before the explosion. The wounded were rushed by helicopter to Jerusalem's Hadassah-University Hospital, Ein Karem, where one boy was listed in serious condition. The other two were wounded moderately. They were about to get back on the school bus after a morning picking cherries. That's some kind of military target. The Paleostinians claim in public to be killing Zionists. When they're being polite they claim to be killing Israelis. In private, they want to kill Jews. What they're killing and wounding are women, children, schoolboys, men too old to defend themselves, and granny ladies. Occasionally they get a soldier, but it seems coincidental. This is not war; it is evil, an evil made possible because they know the Israelis won't stoop to their level, won't kill the Paleostinian mothers and sisters and grandparents, won't target their kids on school outings. In one respect it's a bucket on the Good Guys' foot. But it's also the reason why they're the Good Guys. Assuming this war against the Jews ever ends, the Paleostinians will be shamed as a people in the very same manner, and for the very same reasons, the Germans were shamed as a people in the wake of the Second World War.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/11/2002 08:27 am ||
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A would-be Palestinian bomber exploded Tuesday at the Karni crossing point into the Gaza Strip. Israel Radio said the bomb in Gaza went off in the hands of Mohammed al-Jawwar, 26, of Islamic Jihad, killing him, before he could plant it by a border fence. I have three words for that: "Har-har-har!"
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/11/2002 08:27 am ||
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"missed it by that much." - Maxwell Smart
Posted by: kanji ||
06/11/2002 18:03 Comments ||
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President Bush suggested after meeting with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon at the White House Monday that conditions were not yet ripe to convene a Middle East summit "because nobody has confidence in the emerging Palestinian mob government." Bush seemed to sign on to Sharon's view that Palestinian reform needed to precede peace moves. Good idea. Don't be quick to give them what they want. Keep asking yourself, "Why do we have to be understanding of them?"
Nevertheless, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said a conference is expected to be called this summer, though its contours still needed to be worked out. Fleischer said the president believes that reform of the Palestinian Authority and peace moves must "go hand in hand." Bush, he said, stressed to Sharon during their meeting the importance providing a political horizon. The conference is the carrot. The IDF is the stick...
Bush and Sharon also discussed the possibility of holding a summer conference. Both the president and Secretary of State Colin Powell see the conference "as one piece in a multi-peace process," Fleischer said. Sharon told Bush that the conference should focus on stopping terrorism and violence against Israelis and on Palestinian reform, senior officials in his delegation said. Arab states want a more robust agenda focused on Palestinian statehood. Good idea. First establish the structure of a peaceful civil state and we can all talk. Keep the structure of capos and button men, and we'll find something better to occupy our time.
Senior Israeli officials inisted that Arafat — and what to do about him — barely came up in the conversation. The US opposes expelling Arafat but senior Israeli officials stressed yesterday that the Palestinian leader is "not immune" to Israeli action. Israel has so far refrained from striking at him directly. Since they don't have to talk about it anymore, it's probably settled. The U.S. may be opposed to dumping him for its own reasons, but probably won't stand in the way of the Israelis doing it. Even the State Department Whimp Brigade must realize that if Yasser is just about as bad as a "leader" can get, the devil you don't know has to be better, even if only marginally so.
Bush, Fleischer said, still has to mull over the conflicting views expressed by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Sharon. Mubarak has insisted a final peace deal be negotiated along the 1967 armistice lines. Sharon rejects that border as a starting point for talks. The dispute was not raised during the White House meeting, the senior Israeli officials said. Sharon probably sees the 1967 borders as an eventual end point, but not without the civil Palestinian state next door. He'd be stoopid to give them something without getting something in return, despite both the Israeli and U.S. Whimp Brigades' love of concessions in the hope of getting a nice word.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/11/2002 08:27 am ||
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I doubt if any Israeli government is going to give the old city of Jerusalem back, in toto, to any Arab state. Swapping neighborhoods may mean that some West Bank land remains in Israeli hands as well.
Posted by: Tom Roberts ||
06/11/2002 9:35 Comments ||
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The European Union, under pressure from the US, is considering expanding its list of terror organizations to include Hizbullah, the Aksa Martyrs Brigades, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), diplomatic sources in Jerusalem said yesterday. According to these officials, the signals Jerusalem has received over the last few days from various European capitals is that the EU's inclination is to declare these groups terror organizations meaning their assets could be frozen in Europe and making the transfer of money to these groups illegal. Hezbollah you could maybe kinda sorta make an argument is a guerrilla movement rather than a terrorist organization per se, though I wouldn't agree with the argument, having a memory that goes all the way back to Beirut and the Marine barracks. If the other two aren't terrorist organizations then there ain't no sech animal.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/11/2002 08:28 am ||
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A suicide bomber blew himself up Tuesday and wounded at least 10 people at a restaurant north of Tel Aviv, police said. Police spokesman Gil Kleiman said the blast went off at a restaurant in the town of Herzliya. It was the first suicide attack since a massive car bomb killed 17 Israelis on a bus in northern Israel last Wednesday. Details of the attack were sketchy and an exact casualty count unclear. Yerucham Mandola, spokesman for Israel emergency services, told Israeli radio that nine people had been wounded. Two were said to be in serious condition, including a girl. Other Israeli media spoke of as many as 15 people wounded. Yep. Sharon's in Washington. I'm thinking what a fine tactic it would be for the IDF to round up everyone they think is remotely connected with suicide bombings, pack the sonsofbitches pants full of dynamite, light a single fuse, and then step back out of range and watch the fireworks show...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/11/2002 12:36 pm ||
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actually they should shove a stick of dynamite in each of their cornholes, a la the legendary cat and the firecracker.
Posted by: kanji ||
06/11/2002 18:01 Comments ||
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Don't give anyone ideas. I expect any day to hear of the -- Rectal Bomber!
Islamic Jihad leader Ramadan Abdallah Shalah, focused in his speech on President Bush's statements against suicide bombings: "...If America is the one to divide the world into the 'camp of the good' and the 'camp of the evil,' and if it puts the Palestinian people and its Jihad fighters on the evil side, claiming that the martyrs are evil, then we say: 'Allah, make us all evil, [make us all] anger America and blow up in the heart of this cursed Zionist entity...'" You've got your wish, Ramadan. You are evil and you will go the way of evil...
"America, the West, or any country in the world, has no moral right to decide whether a Palestinian has the right to blow himself up... or not. Why isn't America objecting when someone American or European contributes millions of dollars for dogs and cats? No one tells him - why are you giving up your wealth for the sake of dogs and cats? We are the owners of our souls... no one has the right to object to us giving away our souls and turning them into human bombs for a cause we consider more important and more sacred than our lives." Because dogs and cats aren't blowing people up. Because dogs and cats aren't systematically inculcating hatred, violence and insanity in large numbers of people. Most dogs and cats aren't imbued with implacable hatred for their fellow creatures...
Referring to American calls for reform in the Palestinian Authority, Shalah said: "Who amongst us doesn't want reform? Who amongst us isn't against corruption? But when reform is raised today - it is [only] a cover for the American-Israeli plan to dismantle the unity of the Palestinian people... This kind of reform, we reject. We all know the PA... we all blamed Arafat for corruption... But [now] we say, if for the sake of reform, we have to give up the Intifada, the resistance, and the Jihad warriors - then we would rather have Arafat's corruption continue... We have suffered many years from corruption and will continue to suffer more and more in order to have the resistance continue." "Keep the corruption, and keep the suckersrubesmarks jihadis coming!"
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/11/2002 08:48 pm ||
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The Abu Sayyaf rebels may seize new hostages in a bid to slow down the search-and-destroy operations against them in western Mindanao, warned the Philippine military. The bandits lost the last of their captives in a firefight last Friday in which US hostage Gracia Burnham was rescued while her husband Martin and Filipino nurse Ediborah Yap were killed, the Philippine Star reported yesterday. The area's army commander, Alexander Yapching, said the military was urging residents of the Sirawai area to be vigilant and to inform the authorities about suspicious groups lurking there. 'I instructed our company to conduct an information drive in the villages... We believe that will be part of their way of getting out,' he said. 'They might get another victim for the purpose of having a human shield.' That's about what we would expect...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/11/2002 07:53 pm ||
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Al Qaeda has moved into several African nations and is considering making Algeria its new base of operations. Afghanistan's too hot for them, and they can see that Pakland might get that way...
Algerian security sources said Al Qaeda has moved into such countries as Algeria, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Nigeria. Four out of five seen as easy meat, and Nigeria's northern area makes it four and a half out of five...
The sources said the Islamic insurgency movement has spent large amounts of cash in buying weapons and influence in these countries. The London-based Al Hayat daily reported that a leading Al Qaeda operative entered Algeria earlier this year and attempted to bolster the Islamic insurgency against the regime in Algiers. The newspaper quoted Algerian security sources as saying the operative — who had been based in the Persian Gulf — distributed a large amount of cash and urged the insurgents to merge into one command. Currently, the Islamic insurgency against Algiers is being waged by two groups, the Armed Islamic Group and the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat. The latter group is said to have been recruiting in Europe for fighters. Sounds like a replay of getting established in Afghanistan. Wonder if they'll settle on one country or try and spread out among all five?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/11/2002 08:57 pm ||
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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.
