Federal officials confirm that a vote fraud investigation is unfolding on Indian reservations in South Dakota, home of one of the tightest U.S. Senate races in the nation. So far, the alleged fraud is said to have occurred on the Cheyenne River Reservation and the Pine River Reservation, and an investigation has been ongoing in six counties, including Dewey, Ziebach and Fall River. The FBI has uncovered the registration of minors, dead people, and people who do not exist. Many of the registrations have included bogus names and invalid addresses. "I used to vote Republican sometimes when I was alive," said the late Aldo Squibby, of Pierre. "But once I pegged out, I realized that it was the Democrats who were really looking out for my interests. I've voted Dem in every election since 1888."
Investigators said in one case a woman was registered to vote a week after her death. "I was too sick to register when I was alive," said the late Freda Murton. "Now that I'm beyond all cares and woe, I have more time to devote to the issues."
They have also found multiple absentee ballots distributed to the same registered voter but returned with different signatures, the officials said. "Now, you can call me Bob, or you can call me Rob, or you can call me Robert..."
The case was brought to the attention of the South Dakota attorney general's office when county auditors began discovering problems with absentee ballot requests and votes. State Attorney General Mark Barnett said the investigation has been ongoing for two weeks. Barnett said that he hoped invalid absentee ballots haven't been filed. Absentee voting began Sept. 24 and the registration deadline is Oct. 21. "I don't even want to think about it," Barnett said. "A lot of absentee ballots are going to get looked at." "So far we've got about 114 percent of the ballots counted, and they're still coming in..."
Federal sources said the key suspect in the investigation is a former staffer of the state Democratic Party, whom is alleged to have falsified voter forms. The party itself has not been implicated. Officials said that because of the size of the alleged fraud, they expect to find accomplices. Are these the same guys who worked for Mayor Williams, gathering signatures in D.C.?
Bret Healy, executive director of the state Democratic Party, said the worker was fired as soon as the party learned of the allegations. Healy said party officials notified the U.S. attorney. "Hello? U.S. attorney?... Hi. South Dakota Democrat Party here. Listen, we've got something fishy going on around here. There's a couple dead guys who voted Republican. We just don't know what to make of it..."
South Dakota does not require a photo ID to register to vote and absentee ballots can be obtained without appearing personally. "Actually," said John Q. Smith, a frequent South Dakota Democratic voter, who is also registered in Chicago and St. Louis, "you don't even need flesh and blood. Take me, for instance. I've never even existed..."
Last week, Attorney General John Ashcroft attended a symposium in Washington, D.C., to promote legal voting this year. The national Democratic Party also said that it would monitor elections this year to make sure that those who want to vote are given access to the polls. "Dead people and the not-yet-born are just as concerned as the rest of us with how This Great Nationâ¢'s business is conducted. Disenfranchising them is an affront to everything this country stands for. It was dead people who built this country, mostly. The Publicans are always hollering about the rights of the unborn â what about the rights of the never-been-conceived? Hah? Hah? Answer me that!"
On Thursday night, the House gave final approval to an election reform bill that provides $3.8 billion to states to update equipment. The Senate took up the conference report on Tuesday and was expected to vote for its passage on Wednesday. President Bush has said he would sign the legislation. Republicans had insisted that measures also be included to deter fraud, including a provision that those who register by mail bring some form of identification to their polling places. That earned scorn from some lawmakers who said that the provision would erect barriers to voting. "If you can't trust a voter who's gonna vote Democrat, who can you trust? They're just jealous because so few non-existent people vote Republican."
The South Dakota U.S. Senate race between incumbent Democrat Tim Johnson and Republican Rep. John Thune is one of the hottest in the country. The race is among the eight tightest in the country which are likely to determine which party controls the Senate majority next year. The latest polls indicate Thune is ahead 48-43. Men with shovels are out every day, working hard to close that gap...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
10/16/2002 02:24 pm ||
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Some obvious confusion between North and South Dakota. Tip, one's north of the other.
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Well... Which is the one on the left? Is that Wisconsin...
(Grumble.) I hate it when I think one thing and write the other...
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2002 14:20 Comments ||
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But is the poll reflecting the voting intent of the dead and non-existent voters? After all, I'll wager they're far more likely voters...
Posted by: Andrew Olmsted ||
10/16/2002 14:23 Comments ||
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There. I fixed the places where I wrote "North" and thought "South". After all, what's a few hundred miles among friends, when control of the Senate's at stake?
If you get a chance, have a look at WOT Week. It's not quite "in beta," since the interface works okay, but I'm still working on the idea. Feedback needed: Is it worthwhile? If so, I tried it two different ways, one with internal links and the other without. What else does it need?
Leave comments here, or e-mail me...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
10/16/2002 11:21 pm ||
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Good work. I don't need it, since I visit daily, but it could be very handy for those who don't.
Posted by: Kathy K ||
10/17/2002 5:01 Comments ||
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The chief of the United Nations weapons inspectors appealed to Iraq today to agree to arrangements for new inspections but said his weapons teams would only return to Iraq after the Security Council adopts a resolution giving them a new mandate. Reporting to a closed meeting of the Council, the weapons official, Hans Blix, said he still had no agreement with Iraq on several inspection issues: helicopter flights for his teams; conditions for interviews of Iraqi weapons experts, and permission for U-2 or Mirage photographic surveillance flights over Iraq. The chief of the United Nations weapons inspectors appealed to Iraq today to agree to arrangements for new inspections but said his weapons teams would only return to Iraq after the Security Council adopts a resolution giving them a new mandate. Reporting to a closed meeting of the Council, the weapons official, Hans Blix, said he still had no agreement with Iraq on several inspection issues: helicopter flights for his teams; conditions for interviews of Iraqi weapons experts, and permission for U-2 or Mirage photographic surveillance flights over Iraq. Doesn't that come as a surprise? Who ever expected any kind of delays to be associated with Sammy's "unconditional acceptance"?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
10/16/2002 10:39 am ||
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The Noo Yawk Times manages to take our breath away with its fawning report on Sammy's "reelection"...
If there is a reliable hard core to the support for Saddam Hussein among ordinary Iraqis, it is here on the baking flatlands of north-central Iraq, where the Iraqi leader was born.
So it was no surprise today that officials of the Ministry of Information provided a fleet of buses to bring foreign reporters 110 miles from Baghdad to watch Tikritis voting in a referendum on Mr. Hussein's presidency. Under Iraq's Constitution, the referendum serves as an election, but it has only one candidate â Mr. Hussein.
Those marshaled outside polling places here were determined to leave nobody in any doubt as to Mr. Hussein's popularity. Hundreds of Tikritis in a state of near hysteria shouted "Bush, Bush, listen, we love our great leader, President Saddam Hussein."
The crowds gathered in Tikrit appeared to be in a trance, transported by their worship of Mr. Hussein, and by their contempt for President Bush, from the grim realities of everyday life in Iraq to a state of bliss.
Women carrying pins punctured their fingers so they could mark their "yes" votes in blood. Men followed suit, using the blunt edges of paper clips as makeshift knives to start the blood flowing...
Men danced with pistols held above their heads.
A man seized a reporter's notebook to write a personal message. "Every `yes' vote is a bullet in the chest of Bush the father and Bush the son," it said.
Voting is compulsory for all Iraqis over 18, and the ballot gives them a choice between ticking a box marked "yes" and a box marked "no." Official results are expected Wednesday...
With sand blowing on the wind stinging his visitors' faces, another of the Bedouin chiefs, Adil Rezurky, finally closed off the discussion with what amounted to his ace-in-the-hole.
"Of course this is a democratic process," the 60-year-old tribal chief said. "Iraqis know Saddam Hussein to be one of the great leaders of the world, so what reason would they have not to choose him? With a leader such as this, how could Iraqis want to say anything but yes?"
How, indeed?
Sammy was "reelected" with 100.000 percent of the vote. The Times reporter actually appears to buy the story.
This is not "reporting." This is not "liberalism." This is plain stoopid.
When the 101st is garrisoned at Tikrit, and Sammy's bones are starting to fall apart on the gallows in Baghdad, these are the same people who will be telling the Merkins how they detested the regime, how they never knew how bad Sammy was. They'll tell us how the Ba'athists made them do it.
The Times reporter, John F. Burns, is the same person who'll be crawling the countryside, looking for evidence of atrocities â not committed by the Ba'athists, or the Mukhabarat, but by the Merkins. He'll probably be sharing a Jeep with Robert Fisk and John Pilger until some locals beat them up.
Perhaps the time has come for the Times to ask itself: "Why do they hate us?"
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
10/16/2002 11:02 am ||
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I think Tikrit will be a big parking lot - we have no use for the Tikriti mafia, and neither would post-regime Iraq...pave it over
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/16/2002 11:50 Comments ||
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Don't forget about Marc Herold's lies and distortions. I vow to stick to him like a fly on shit if he tries to pull another Afghanistan hack job.
Iran said today that it planned to create 16 camps along its border with Iraq to shelter refugees fleeing a possible war there, but vowed not to let them enter the country, state radio reported. "We don't want your kind here..."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
10/16/2002 11:05 am ||
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Just as in the last war, however, we will keep your planes, trains, and automobiles. Plus any watches, gold teeth, and boots.
The impasse between the United States and France over military action in Iraq has deepened in recent days after an effort to reach a compromise stalled, with the French insisting that the Americans must come back to the United Nations Security Council before they can use force, diplomats said today. While the United States and France pressed their positions, diplomats from several Security Council nations said they were still hoping to avoid a damaging, permanent rift over Iraq, and President Bush spoke in conciliatory terms, insisting that the negotiations were still moving forward. "We are working with all the parties to get a resolution done," he said at the White House as he departed for Michigan. "We haven't written our oldest ally off. Not yet, anyway."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
10/16/2002 11:51 am ||
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The dirty, cheese eating surrender monkeys just want assurances, just like the Russians, that they won't loose any money on the deal. You know, all those stainless steel cylinders get paid for.
Police have gotten conflicting witness descriptions of the Beltway Sniper and have so far been unable to compile a reasonable composite sketch of the man who has killed nine people and wounded two others. Maybe it's more than one guy?
Because of distance, darkness and other factors, Fairfax County Police were unable to come up with a definite description of the killer based on interviews with witnesses to the most recent shooting, which occurred Monday night in Falls Church, Va. That's why one day he was olive-complected and the next he was fair, then went back to being olive...
Capt. Nancy Demme of the Montgomery County Police said a witness to Monday night's parking-lot shooting was firmly convinced that the sniper used an AK-47, but she said that doesn't mean the witness couldn't be mistaken. "The only common denominator right now is male," Demme said. An AK is a fairly distinctive-looking shootin' arn, but I guess if you've no experience with guns they all kinda look alike...
The Beltway Sniper left behind more than shell casings at the scenes of his two latest attacks â there were several solid eyewitnesses who said they saw his face and his license plate. If they need somebody to show them how to do a pull on their database to grab partial plate numbers and filter them by vehicle make and color, I'll be happy to help them personally. I suspect they don't need my help, though â but if I'm wrong, just leave a note.
In another development, the Pentagon agreed to provide aerial surveillance in the hunt for the sniper, who has now killed nine people in the Washington, D.C., area, and injured two. I'm afraid that's a symbolic gesture. I'll be surprised if anything comes of it...
At least one witness saw a male sniper aim and fire, then flee in a van, The Washington Post reported Wednesday, citing anonymous law enforcement sources. One witness reported seeing a white male on Friday, but many others said they saw an olive-skinned man, definitely of the "Hispanic or Mid-Eastern type," but not African-American. Eyewitnesses testified that on Friday:
-- one individual thinks he/she saw one white male
-- one individual thinks he/she saw two olive-skinned males
-- two individuals think they saw one olive-skinned male
Eyewitnesses testified that on Monday night:
-- two individuals think they saw an olive-skinned male
The consensus would appear to be at least one olive-skinned fellow, doesn't it? And maybe more than one â a shooter/spotter team...
Officials have not been able to rule out the possibility of terrorism, or that a two-person team, consistent with military training, might be involved. I thought we had here, but it's an idea that seems to keep coming back. If it is, they're smarter than the average crazed killers, and pretty effective. Possibly they intend to claim credit when they're back safe in Iraq or Peshawar or Ain el-Hilweh...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
10/16/2002 12:09 pm ||
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Montgomery County Police Capt. Nancy Demme said one witness told police the shooter used an AK-74 rifle to kill 47-year-old FBI analyst Linda Franklin on Monday night outside a Falls Church, Va., Home Depot store."The witness firmly believes this is the weapon," Demme said. "But we have to keep in mind that weapons are interchangable, like vehicles."
Not if your ballistics tests keep showing the same gun killed each person. AK-74 is the .223(5.56) version of the AK-47, a very rare weapon in the States. A lot of the Taliban in Binny's home movies carried them, not that there is any terrorist connection here, nope, none.
Posted by: Steve ||
10/16/2002 14:36 Comments ||
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A cop once told me that the only thing worse than one eye-witness is another eye-witness...
Pakistanâs newly powerful Islamic partiesâ alliance will demand that pro-Taliban scholar Maulana Fazlur Rehman be made prime minister if they enter into a coalition to form government, an alliance leader said Tuesday, October 15. Boy, squirting hot coffee out your nose really hurts! Just a sec, while I change keyboards...
âIf the MMA decides to join the government, then our prime minister will be Maulana Fazlur Rehman and we will support him,â said Qazi Hussein Ahmed, vice president of the Muttahidda Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported. For the longest time, I thought it was Fazl who was pulling Qazi's strings. Now it appears it's Qazi who's pulling Fazl's. Just goes to show what I know...
Ahmed, who heads the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI), one of six parties in the MMA, made the comment after talks with a leader of the pro-government Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q). The PML-Q has been seeking to coax the MMA into a coalition to capture the majority needed to form government. PML-Q executive Chaudry Shujaat Hussain met Ahmed at his residence ahead of an all-important meeting of MMA leaders to debate coalition options. âWe will chalk out our plans to form government at the MMA meeting and we will announce our decision after this meeting,â Hussain told reporters at his residence. Qazi really does expect to be in charge with his 45 seats...
Maulana Fazlur Rehman heads the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam party, known for its close ties to Afghanistanâs ousted Taliban regime. Really close ties, in fact...
However, speaking to IslamOnline, Musbahullah Abdul Baqi, a political analyst in Afghanistan said that he has doubts that reports of Fazlur Rehman's nomination for Prime Minister is true. He said that the number of chairs which the Islamic coalition has does not qualify them to nominate someone for the Prime Minister position. "I expect that they will instead be on the oppositions' seats in the national council," he said. 45 seats is a lot, but it's not all of them...
He added however, that while Fazlur Rehman was pro-Taliban, he was also active during Benazir Bhutto's government, and that he is not an "extremist" but is flexible and is open to the requirements of the time. "He is what you would call a 'traditional' scholar who understand the requirements of the time we live in," he said. Fazl is "moderate" in comparison to Qazi, perhaps, and maybe in comparison to Sami. I can't think of many people he's more "moderate" than...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
10/16/2002 11:38 am ||
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This is the same Fazl who signed Bin Ladins Fatwa in 1998 stating that it was permissible to kill Americans, civilian and military, whereever you can find them.
In short he would be the perfect Prime Minister of Pakistan.
Posted by: Paul ||
10/17/2002 4:29 Comments ||
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Oops;
upon further checking it was Fazlur Rehman Khalil who signed the Fatwa, who is a different person to Fazlur Rehman.
Posted by: Paul ||
10/17/2002 4:40 Comments ||
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I made the same mistake only ten months ago. Fazl didn't sign the fatwa - he had his JUI-F party secretary do it.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/17/2002 8:19 Comments ||
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Source: PPI, Agencies, Translated by Jihad Unspun
Witnesses said that a team comprised of CID police, four FBI officials and other intelligence agencies have conducted a raid at the Jalozai refugee camp. The camp is under the control of Hizb-e-Islami, Gulbadin Hekmatyarâs party. The suspects did not offer any resistance. The security agencies, backed by contingents of the Frontier Constabulary and armed personnel carriers, laid siege to some houses in the camp in the wee hours and arrested four Afghan nationals identified as Abdul Ghafar, principal of a religious seminary; Akhtar Mohammed, Syed Abdur Rehman and Mohammed Idrees. The arrested suspects were later handed over to intelligence agencies' personnel. The CID assistant inspector general, Abdul Majeed Marwat, told reporters that the raiding party also seized CDs and passports from Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Arab countries. The official said that the arrests may provide a clue to track down those involved in the attack on a church in Taxila. That's interesting. If anything comes of this, it would seem to link Hek and his Hezb to the al-Aalmi bunch. Amazing, the way the terrorism hip bone's connected to the backbone...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
10/16/2002 11:47 am ||
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Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat (1929-2002?) announced on Wednesday his plans for a new shakedown in the PA's Cabinet. Committee members were quoted by the report as saying Arafat was intending to fire PA Interior Minister Abdel Razek Yahya, following pressure by prominent Fatah officials, after Yahya failed to reorganize the PA's different security mechanisms. More likely because he could see the stupidity of the suicide campaign and he turned out not to be quite the figurehead Yasser wanted...
Yahya, reports said, will be replaced by Hanni al-Hasan, the head of Tanzim in the West Bank, committee members said. Barghouti'd be the man for the job, but he's otherwise engaged at the moment...
Other ministers in Arafat's cabinet, among them Finance Minister Salaam Fayad, Saeb Erekat and Nabil Sha'ath, will remain in power, the report said. A nonentity and two spear carriers — their careers and Swiss bank accounts are safe.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
10/16/2002 06:59 pm ||
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The army arrested two wanted Islamic Jihad activists in a Monday night operation in the northern West Bank village of Sanur. One of those in custody is suspected of preparing explosive devices, while the other is suspected of recruiting members to Islamic Jihad and sending them to carry-out terror attacks. At the place of the arrest, the army found a crate of ammunition and a pipe bomb. The bomb was detonated in a controlled explosion. A bomb artist and a recruiter. Not a bad haul...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
10/16/2002 07:03 pm ||
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Palestinian Authority security forces arrested two members of the Aqel family in the Nusseirat refugee camp in Gaza City on Tuesday as part of their efforts to arrest Imad Aqel, the self-confessed murderer of Col. Rajeh Abu Lihyeh, the commander of the riot police in the Gaza Strip. Sources said Amin Aqel, 16, and Abdullah Aqel, 17, were arrested at the entrance to the camp. The two were taken to an undisclosed location. ... where they are being beaten...
A PA security official confirmed the arrests, saying the police were checking whether the two were linked to Abu Lihyeh's assassination. Tuesday's arrests have increased tensions between the PA and Hamas, which has distanced itself from the slaying of the police commander. "Nope. Wudn't us. Nope, nope."
Efforts to reach a deal between the two parties have reached a deadlock because of Hamas's refusal to help in the arrest of the suspected murderer. "Hold a Hamas member responsible for something he does? Are you nutz?"
Imad Aqel is believed to be hiding inside the Nusseirat camp, which is surrounded by scores of indignant armed PA security agents and policemen. Residents of the camp have set up barriers and planted roadside bombs at all the entrances to thwart any attempt to capture him or his accomplices. "You'll never take him alive, coppers!"
"Well, I wouldn't go that far..."
"Mahmoud, if they come close to him, shoot him!"
"Hokay, boss!"
"Say! Wait a minute...!"
Last week, PA Military Intelligence agents arrested another member of the Aqel family, Ziad, 37, a teacher, as he made his way home from work. "You'll never take him alive, either, coppers...!"
"Now stop that!"
Leaflets distributed in Gaza City on Tuesday said the families of six Palestinians who were killed by PA policemen last week would avenge their deaths. The leaflets said the names of the "Oslo policemen" involved were known to the families. They described the PA as a "corrupt" regime. Prob'ly had something in there about rule by gangsters...
Also on Tuesday, a special committee formed by the Palestinian Legislative Council to investigate the Hamas-PA crisis met in Gaza City to discuss a draft proposal that would end the standoff. The proposal calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities and bringing to trial the murderer of Abu Lihyeh. "Mahmoud...!"
"Hokay, boss! One step closer, an' he's toast!"
Hamas leader Ismail Abu Shanab said his movement is not a party to the conflict. "The PA is asking us to hand over the murderer, and we told them that he's not with us and we have nothing to do with him," Abu Shanab said. ... washing his hands piously...
He added that the differences with the PA and Fatah have still not been resolved, because Hamas has refused to condemn the killing of Abu Lihyeh. Hamas issued a statement condemning all assassinations and killings, but did not clearly condemn the murder Abu Lihyeh. "Yes. We're against bad stuff. Everybody knows that... Well, not specific bad stuff. Just, you know, bad stuff."
Fatah wants a clear condemnation of the murder because it feels that without it, they will open the door to"giving Hamas the power to dictate to the PA how to implement laws and policies," one of the Fatah PLC members who was involved in mediation efforts said. Bassam Abu Sharif, an adviser to PA Chairman Yasser Arafat, said the PA has set an ultimatum for Hamas to facilitate the arrests. He said police may start searches for the killers as early as Tuesday night. It really sucks, being the PA, and that turns out to be the real meat of the matter. The Paleothority is pretending to be in charge, but while everybody was being fitted with dynamite belts Hamas was setting up in business as the real power in Gaza, with tentacles in the West Bank as well. As Yasser becomes more impotent, Sheikh Yassin grows stronger, and that's not going to wane until Sammy and the ayatollahs are out of business.
Thanks to Ben for the tip...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
10/16/2002 07:26 pm ||
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The information on the Saudi funding was gathered in U.S. interrogations of Omar al-Faruq, a Kuwaiti linked to al Qaeda who was arrested in Indonesia in June and later handed over to U.S. authorities in Afghanistan, said Rohan Gunaratna, author of the book "Inside Al Qaeda: Global Network of Terror." The money was sent to Jemaah Islamiah earlier this year, said Gunaratna, who has seen the U.S. interrogation papers. The amount sent by the Saudi donor was $74,000, the Financial Times said. That'll buy a fair amount of boom materials...
Gunaratna said the explosives were bought from Indonesian army officers who sold the material illegally. The C4 explosives are the same material used in the al Qaeda-linked bombing of the USS Cole in the port of Aden in Yemen two years to the day before the Bali attack. Gunaratna said the explosives bought by Jemaah Islamiah were shipped to the Indonesian island of Ambon, the site of numerous bloody attacks between Christians and Muslims in recent years, and divided among different Islamist groups. Killing Christians is a favorite passtime in Maluku. These guys seem to have assumed that killing Balinese Hindus and a bunch of furriner infidels caught with beer in their hands would be in the same category.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
10/16/2002 10:29 am ||
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Asian countries point a finger at a Muslim cleric living in Indonesia, Abu Bakar Bashir, as leader of Jemaah Islamiah which they say has planned acts of terror throughout the region. Bashir denies any knowledge of the group or links to terrorism, and Wednesday he told reporters "the bombings were engineered by infidels to launch war against Islam." He has previously blamed the United States for the Bali attacks. It seems a waste of energy to point out that he's a lying, hypocritical bastard who should roast in hell for eternity, so I won't say anything...
Yudhoyono said after meeting Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer they had agreed the investigation into the explosions "should be fast, but we should not put aside accuracy." Mentioning Bashir by name, he said if there were any indications Jemaah Islamiah leaders in Indonesia were involved in terrorism, "then we will take legal steps as necessary." "But we're sure none will be necessary, 'cuz he sez he dint do it, so that means it was, ummm... somebody else."
The national police spokesman denied a report in the Washington Post that a former Indonesian air force member had confessed to building the bomb. "There hasn't been any confession from anyone," Saleh Saaf told Reuters. "It's only a rumor." Guess they're not hitting them hard enough. If you just say "Talk, or I'll hit you," nothing happens. If you say "Talk, or I'll hit you again," you might get some results. If you say, "Talk and I'll stop hitting you there," then you're getting results. See how easy it is?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
10/16/2002 10:29 am ||
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Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri prepared Wednesday to enact emergency anti-terror measures, her most decisive move yet to crack down on militant Islamic groups following the Bali bomb blasts. A presidential decree would bypass parliament, which has blocked anti-terrorism legislation. That's because their parliament's chock full of terror sympathizers, who don't think it could happen to them...
Meanwhile, investigators said the C4 plastic explosives that demolished the Sari nightclub and nearby bars on Kuta Beach were packed into the roof of a minivan. An authority on al Qaeda, citing documents from a U.S. interrogation of a member of the network, said an unidentified Saudi supplied funds to the Indonesian-based Jemaah Islamiah to buy explosives that could have been used in Bali. A Soddy. An "unidentified" but charitable Soddy...
At a news conference, Bali Police Chief Budi Setyawan offered no further information on the interrogation of two Indonesians in connection with the blast that killed more than 180 people, mostly foreign travelers. He said only neither was from Bali. Maybe from Java? Sumatra? Peshawar, perhaps?
Australia said it could take weeks to identify many of the charred and mutilated victims of the late Saturday attack. Prime Minister John Howard appealed to grieving families to be patient. So far, 33 Australians have been confirmed dead and 140 are missing. Slaughtered for drinking beer and having fun...
With the United States and jittery Asian neighbors piling pressure on Indonesia to take firm action, a top aide to Megawati said in Jakarta a presidential decree would be issued "as soon as possible." An anti-terror bill giving police stronger powers to act against suspects has been languishing in draft form, as the government tries to come up with a version acceptable to parliament. That would be no version at all...
Thanks to Steve, as usual...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
10/16/2002 10:29 am ||
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The United States repeatedly warned the Indonesian government in the weeks before the bomb blast that killed more than 180 people in Bali that a group linked to Al Qaeda was planning attacks to kill Americans and other Westerners, Bush administration officials said today. Why, not even a month ago, they were complaining about the Merkins "pestering" them with those unfounded, scurrilous charges...
The American ambassador, Ralph C. Boyce, delivered the latest warning to President Megawati Sukarnoputri and her top advisers just a day before the bombing and gave her a deadline of Oct. 24 to act, the officials said. Yasss... What's the correct diplomatic wording we're looking for here?... Oh, yes. WE TOLD YOU SO YOU STOOPID F**KS!
Indonesian officials had no comment tonight, ... or if they did, they couldn't be heard through the bags they had over their heads...
but American officials said they had reacted before this weekend largely with demands for more concrete evidence of a terrorist plot and Qaeda activity. Concrete enough for you, jugheads?
Since the weekend bombing, senior Indonesian officials have conceded for the first time that groups linked to Al Qaeda are active in their country, although President Megawati has not said so. Thank you for that statement of the obvious. Now what're you gonna do about it? Elect them to parliament? Oh. You've already done that...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
10/16/2002 10:29 am ||
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The streets in Indonesia are bursting with comments that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has failed to drag Indonesia into the war against terror, while Solehman Buyung, an analyst working for an online magazine in Jakarta said the CIA âhas been trapped in its own game in Indonesia.â Oh, pray do tell...
While the western media is scrambling to blame Al-Qaeda for the blast, the media in Indonesia and South East Asia in general is pointing fingers at the CIA. "Nope. Nope. Couldn't have been al-Qaeda. Hadda be them Merkins..."
The Berita Harian newspaper in Malaysia gave the first page headline to the news from Taiwan that officials on the Island off China had a hint that the blast would occur but was told by the U.S. not to divulge the information. According to the Taipei Times, the opposition in Taiwan pressed the government of Prime Minister Yu Shui-kun to reveal the information, criticizing it for not giving importance to the lives of Taiwanese citizens who were in Bali at the moment of the blast. Yeah. Bush knew, too. I'm not sure how, but ask McKinney. I'm sure sure does.
In Indonesia the Republika revealed the bomb used in Bali is a C4 and that plastic elements were found in the discotheque that went flames. It said the CIA uses this type of material as well as commandos from the U.S. and some international terrorist groups. F'rinstance, al-Qaeda?... No, not them...
The C4 is ten times more powerful than TNT explosives and is very expensive, making it accessible only to rich countries, not countries like Indonesia and groups like those in Indonesia, the Republika said. "Not poor Third World groups run by simple holy men, who spend their time in contemplation and doing good works..."
The Indonesian military (TNI) has also rejected claims that it might have links to the Bali blast with reports saying that a former military aviation officer allegedly prepared the bomb for the blast. The former officer, whose name is withheld, is being interrogated by police the report said. "Goddammit! I thought you told me the witnesses were dead?"
The TNI said it did not possess such plastic bombs, quoting the Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency, which said that the C4 was made only in the United States and was used by the U.S. army, or countries that were allied to the U.S. I can't breathe! This statement has taken my breath away! Gaaaaaaaa!
With these developments, analysts in Jakarta say there were grounds for the Indonesian government not to be fouled by the leads given to it by the CIA or the U.S. According to Antara news agency in Jakarta, a group of Muslim lawyers has criticized Indonesian Minister of Defense Matori Abdul Djalil for his allegation that Al-Qaeda and local terrorists were responsible for the Saturday night bombings in Bali. They urged the minister to correct his statement and to prove to them who the local terrorists were. "We don't need an investigation. Just tell us who they are..."
Abdul Djalil said on Monday that the method of the Bali bombings showed the involvement of Al-Qaeda, in cooperation with local terrorists who supplied the necessary logistics. His assertion is supported by news agencies which said Wednesday that traces of plastic in the burnt down discotheque in Bali showed the involvement of the Al-Qaeda in the blast, omitting to say that the C4 originates mainly from the U.S. itself, a political observer working in a University in Kuala Lumpur told IslamOnline. Just as IslamOnline omits to say that it's a favorite tool of crazed killers worldwide...
Buyung said that the CIA was missing the point in Indonesia, adding that the U.S. secret service was to be blamed for the Bali blast. âIn the 1960s the CIA was a terrific organization and the public was in the dark over the unexplained, such as the death of U.S. president John F. Kennedy. The know who done that one in Indonesia, don't they?
âHowever now we are living in the age of the Internet, news travels fast and the CIA has proven that it is outdated. It could not predict the attacks on the U.S. on September 11 last year, but it could predict there were international terrorists in Indonesia,â he said. Actually, your run-of-the-mill blind man — though not a blind cleric — could predict that.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
10/16/2002 11:23 am ||
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#1
I don't think they quite get it yet. They can whine and complain and point at the US, and yah know what, it won't matter. Its the Aussies they have to convince and I really don't think they will believe it was the US unless they have strong evidence (i.e. a witness in Aussie custody that spills the beans). Anyhoo, until they face up to the real terrorist threat (that's right, those nutball islamic terrorists) the Aussies won't be spending any green at the bali resort. As the captain said, the balinese(sp?) have received the royal shaft. I hope they know how to thank Jakarta properly.
#2
OTOH, it might not matter if they get on hands and knees and convince the aussies to come back. Many companies have already retricted travel to Indonesia. Prolly will be pretty hard to have a modern economy if foreign investors pull out at the same time your tourist industry hits the tank.
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