Interior Minister Prince Naif yesterday warned terrorist organizations wanting to undermine security during the Haj season that they will be countered âwith an iron fist.â Addressing a press conference here after inspecting Haj arrangements in Makkah, Mina and other holy sites, Prince Naif said his ministry has taken maximum security precautions for the Haj.âOur security precautionary measures for Haj this year are of the highest order,â said Prince Naif, who is also chairman of the Supreme Haj Committee. This they take very seriously.
The interior minister also disclosed that the number of Al-Qaeda suspects in the Kingdom does not exceed 250, adding that they are all still under investigation. Prince Naif said the move to separate prisoners from the public security department was an independent decision, which was taken after extensive studies.âIt was not taken as a result of foreign pressure,â he insisted. Saw a report the other day that after some of these "suspects" had finished serving their sententces, they were deported. Thanks a lot, Naif.
Asked whether the government would open its borders to receive Iraqi refugees in case war breaks out, Prince Naif said the Saudi border is now open only for receiving Iraqi pilgrims. âIf the war breaks out, the Saudi government will take a decision on this matter,â he added. However, he emphasized that the government will not allow any Iraqi to enter the Kingdom illegally.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/07/2003 09:13 am ||
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If I were in Iraq right now, I'd be singing, "Gimme That Ole Time Religion" as I ran for the border.
Two senior al Qaeda figures helped train the people now suspected of planning chemical and biological attacks in France and the United Kingdom, European intelligence and judicial sources tell CNN. One of those figures is Abu Mussab al Zarqawi, the man singled out by President Bush as a link between the terrorist group and Iraq. The other is Abu Khabab whose voice has been identified by intelligence sources as the man on a videotape showing al Qaeda operatives performing chemical weapons experiments on dogs. Khabab is a deputy to Zawahiri. He's another Egyptian, and he's in charge of the chemical weapons program...
The information comes after a recent wave of arrests in France, the United Kingdom, Italy and Spain that investigators say helped uncover several cells of Islamic terrorists who had the material to make chemical and biological weapons. And, investigators say, the terrorists were apparently ready to use them. Among the common links between some of the men who were arrested: They trained at a camp in the Caucasus region, particularly the Pankisi Gorge of Georgia and in nearby Chechnya, according to investigators. Officials are concerned the area has become a new base of operations for terrorist groups. "They are coming from the same region, most of them are Algerian, trained [in] the same place, in some camps in Afghanistan, and at the same time in Georgia in the Pankisi Gorge. They have the same trainers," said Gilles Leclair, who coordinates anti-terrorism efforts for the French Interior Ministry. "And it seems, if we can recognize what we found in the searches, that they wanted to start chemical attacks." In raids near Paris in December, the French police not only recovered a chemical suit, as previously reported, but also chemicals, including cyanide.
The formulas for chemical weapons found during the searches appeared to be different from the formulas in al Qaeda's Encyclopedia of Jihad and other training manuals for developing bombs and chemical and biological agents that were recovered from abandoned camps in Afghanistan. And sources say that difference is of particular concern to French security officials.
Officials are investigating similar links with another series of arrests last month in Spain. European intelligence officials say that according to interrogations of prisoners, Zarqawi was at the Pankisi Gorge providing training for the men, but they have not yet been able to say precisely when that took place. I'll have to lay off mocking CNN for awhile. This is a good report. Assuming it's accurate, it ties the arrests in Britain, France, Spain and Italy together, pinpoints the training to Chechnya/Pankisi, and IDs the guys in charge as Zarqawi and Khabab.
Zarqawi runs his own mob â al-Tawhid â and tromps around Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran and Jordan, apparently as he pleases. Tawhid is also part of the Ansar al-Islam alliance. His buddy Moammar Ahmad Yussuf managed to get nabbed crossing the border from Syria to Turkey, after he blew the Foley assassins' cover.
I'm wondering â don't know yet â if Tawhid is affiliated with or an outgrowth of the Lebanese group of the same name.
Harakat al-Tawhid al-Islami
Harakat al-Tawhid al-Islami is the most important radical Sunni movement in the northern town of Tripoli. It was founded in 1982, and its leader is Shaykh Sa'id Sha'ban, a former member of al-Jama'a al-Islamiyya (Islamic Group). He was able to assert his power over the city in 1983 against Syria's wishes. Sha'ban, who comes from a lower-middle-class family, has been successful in attracting the classes of the poor in Tripoli. Sha'ban had been a member of the pro-Saudi Muslim Brotherhood before setting up his movement in 1982. It was the outcome of unifying three fundamentalist groups: Soldiers of God (Jundullah), al-Muqawama al-Sha'biyya (Popular Resistance), founded by Khalil Ikawi, and the Movement for Arab Lebanon (Harakat Lubnan al-'Arabi), founded by Dr Ismat Murad. However, the first two groups split from the Islamic Unification Movement by the summer of 1984, denying Sha'ban an important power base. Al-Muqawama al-Sha'biyya formed al-Lijan al-Islamiyya (Islamic Committees), and the Movement for Arab Lebanon formed Lijan al-Masajid wa al-Ahya' (Committees for Mosques and Neighbourhoods).
Sha'ban believed the civil war could end only if shari'a (Islamic Law) were applied in Lebanon under an Islamic government. He was very antagonistic of the communists, who were subject to the deadly massacres of his movement in Tripoli. The movement controlled the city for a few years and imposed strict Islamic laws on the people. But when Syrian forces entered the city, the movement was defeated. In recent years, Sha'ban has become a close ally of Iran, and he has improved his ties with Syria.
Harakat al-Tawhid al-Islami (Islamic Unity Movement, IUM) is one of three Islamist groups which broke away at different times from the mainstream Islamic Unity Movement in Kurdistan (IUMK) and in September merged to form Jund al-Islam (Soldiers of God), was also held responsible by the KDP for the assassination on February 18 of Francois Hariri, governor of Arbil and member of the KDP's Central Committee. He was shot dead by unidentified assailants as he drove to work in the city. His bodyguard was also killed and his driver wounded. The KDP announced in late March that it had identified several IUM members as being responsible for the assassination, one of whom was apprehended.
This seems a more likely candidate for Zarqawi's bunch, but it doesn't follow that the two aren't either the same or first cousins. (Data. I need more data...)
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
02/07/2003 02:03 pm ||
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A U.S. soldier hospitalized in Germany with gunshot wounds to his left hand and leg has admitted he shot himself in frustration over his army career, police said Friday. Well, I called this one wrong.
The 26-year-old private first class initially told police he was attacked by an unknown assailant early Monday in a parking lot near his barracks in Schweinfurt, 60 miles east of Frankfurt. German authorities put 17 officers on the case and offered a $5,400 reward for clues. "In a third round of questioning he finally admitted that he had shot himself," police investigator Heinz Henneberger said. Police said the man told them where to find his pistol, which he had thrown in a nearby bush. Four cartridges found at the scene matched the pistol, which was the soldier's private weapon, not army issue, police said. The soldier, listed in stable condition, had a history of depression and talked to police of trying to kill himself, but it was unclear whether that was his intention Monday, Schweinfurt police chief Juergen Karl said. "He said he was unhappy because he had not been successful - he did not get where he wanted to be in his career," he said. "We all have dreams in life and he had simply not fulfilled his." The U.S. military refused to comment, saying its investigation is still under way. Police said the soldier could be charged under German law with lying about a crime, but only if the Army does not press its own charges. The Germans have closed their investigation and are awaiting the results of the U.S. inquiry. He will get treatment for his depression and a unfavorable discharge, doubt the germans will press charges. They'll just make sure he's shipped back to the states.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/07/2003 02:01 pm ||
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"He said he was unhappy because he had not been successful - he did not get where he wanted to be in his career," he said. "
#3
Well, he may have enlisted later than most. I celebrated my 25th birthday in basic training. I was older than any of my TI's. Hell, most of the time I was nearly the oldest guy in any squadron I was assigned to. This PFC's first shirt needs a dressing down for missing this guys problem.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/07/2003 14:50 Comments ||
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The Greek EU Presidency has postponed its plans for a special summit on the Iraq crisis reports Austrian newspaper, die Presse. It may instead hold the talks during the course of the scheduled meeting of EU foreign ministers at the General Affairs Council on 24 February. The meeting will not be held before the next UN weapons inspectors report is presented on 14 February as it is still uncertain whether it should be at the level of foreign ministers or heads of state and government. The reason for the delay, said a diplomat, was the differing positions of the European members of the UN Security Council â France, Germany, Spain and the UK. Paris and London are reported to have "little enthusiasm" for a special summit. Heh, heh, heh. They know they don't have the votes to present a unified anti-american position, which is what they wanted.
Posted by: Anonymous ||
02/07/2003 11:44 am ||
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Sometimes, what DOESN'T happen can be just as sigificant (or moreso) as what DOES happen.
I refer to Richard Perle's speech where he stated that France is no longer an ally." In my comment, I had indicated that the State Department had yet to be heard from, and that silence could be considered agreement with Mr. Perle.
Two days have passed, and there's not been a word from State to modify, soften, or distance the USA from Perle's speech. Even Pravda has had time to evaluate the speech and comment upon it.
Like Sherlock Holmes' famous observation about what "The Hounds of the Baskervilles" did in the nighttime (Watson: "The Dogs did nothing in the nighttime." Holmes: "THAT was the curious incident."), I take the silence of State as significant.
I may be wrong and they may have said something. Anybody else heard anything from State about this?
Posted by: Ptah ||
02/07/2003 09:42 am ||
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I think that this France-German backstab is going to be treated strategically the same way the US did to the fortified Japanese bases of Rabaul and Truk during WWII in the Pacific. We are going to bypass them and leave them to wither on the vine...unless they change their ways.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/07/2003 20:36 Comments ||
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I forgot to add a disclaimer: Feel free to delete if you think this is OT. However, this is a solicitation for information to be posted on Rantburg.
#4
Wrong Holmes story - definitely not the Hound of the Baskervilles. Can't recall the title, but it had to do with drowned maids, missing butlers, and trigonometric measurment of tree heights. Oh, and Charles I's missing crown...
#5
Perhaps Pravda needs to re-read their Doyle...I think that phrase about the dog in the night does not refer to The Hound of the Baskervilles...but a short story titled "Silver Blaze". Not sure, though. Gettin' old.
#6
The famous Holmes exchange is from neither "The Hound of the Baskervilles" nor (as Anonymous thought) "The Musgrave Ritual," but another all-time classic: "Silver Blaze."
Posted by: David Hines ||
02/07/2003 10:18 Comments ||
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It's worth noting here that in Thursday Night's Letterman show, Tom Brokaw quoted a bumper sticker, "First Iraq, then France".
#8
Whether Rumsfeld says "Old Europe" or equates Lybia, Cuba, and Germany together(with mentioning France which may is significant in itself), the Administration is totally quiet. I think the doublecross France laid on Powell made him so furious that nobody within State dares to say anything about France for fear of incurring the wrath of the boss.
Posted by: john ||
02/07/2003 18:39 Comments ||
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I think that this France-German backstab is going to be treated strategically the same way the US did to the fortified Japanese bases of Rabaul and Truk during WWII in the Pacific. We are going to bypass them and leave them to wither on the vine...unless they change their ways.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/07/2003 20:36 Comments ||
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My apologies. It IS "Silver Blaze". I'd read all of Doyle's stuff in my Teens, (3 decades+ ago. I'm getting ooooold!)
Dustin Hoffman has become the latest US star to voice his opposition to war with Iraq.
Hoffman accused the Bush administration of "manipulating the grief of the country" after the events of September 11.
The president's real motives for going to war are power and oil, he said.
Damn. Didn't see that coming.
He spoke out after receiving a lifetime achievement accolade at the Empire Film Awards in London.
"For me as an American, the most painful aspect of this is that I believe that administration has taken the events of 9/11 and has manipulated the grief of the country and I think that's reprehensible," he said.
Yeah, we should've took at least another couple of hits before we're entitled to get pissed off.
"I don't think, like many of us, that the reasons we have been given for going to war are the honest reasons.
"If they are saying it's about the fact they have biological weapons and might have nuclear weapons and that gives us the liberty to pre-empt and strike because we think they might hit us, then what prevents Pakistan from attacking India, what prevents India from attacking Pakistan, what prevents us from going into North Korea?
Nothing. They maybe next.
"I believe - though I may wrong because I am no expert - that this war is about what most wars are about: hegemony, money, power and oil".
Yeah, Barbra Striesand told me. But she didn't tell me what hegemony was.
Hoffman pointed out that the US had once funded Saddam Hussein's regime even as he killed tens of thousands of Kurds. He added that he believed all politicians were incapable of telling the truth.
As all actors seem to be incapable of shutting the f**k up.
"If I was asked what is the most important aspect of being a politician, I would say getting re-elected. And when that's the goal, then all bets are off with the truth".
....and then he jumped into his 7MPG limo and was driven away.
From a Washington Post report on the Washington Press Club Foundation congressional dinner:
McCain, Republican maverick, former POW and Vietnam War hero, cracked in his speech that if "Washington is a Hollywood for ugly people," then, considering the remarks coming out of Tinseltown about Iraq, "Hollywood is a Washington for the simpleminded."
#6
And if I were to be asked the most important aspect of being an actor I would say being a f**king idiot! Here's another prime candidate to be a human shield.
#7
Aren't these the same people(along with sports stars)that do not belive the laws and moral standards the rest of us have to live under apply to them.How come the radical tree huggers are not torching his limo?
Oh!I forgot he is a major star and can not be expected to live by the same standards as the rest of us.
Border police on Friday denied entry into Turkey to a former U.S. Marine who is leading an anti-war group of "human shields" headed for Iraq ahead of a possible U.S.-led attack, an official said. Ken O'Keefe, the founder of the "Human Shield Mission" protest group who flew into Istanbul from Italy, was not let into the country when he presented a passport issued by the World Service Authority. A spokesman of Istanbul airport, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Turkey does not recognize this passport. Hah, hah
The spokesman said O'Keefe protested, shouting that he had traveled across the world with that passport and was a "citizen of the world." U.S. INS, please take note.
The U.S.-based World Service Authority issues passports on the basis of an article of the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights that guarantees the right to travel freely. The authority says the passport is recognized by more than 150 countries. Nobody important, I'll bet.
Five other activists accompanying O'Keefe were allowed into the country, while O'Keefe flew back to Italy. O'Keefe, 33, is a veteran of the 1991 Gulf War. He gave up his U.S. citizenship four years ago to protest U.S. foreign policy. Good, don't let him back in the U.S.
Another 38 members of the group arrived in Istanbul on Friday in a convoy of two red double-decker buses and several cars that has been traveling by land from Britain. Damm, they made it.
Scores of Turks waving signs saying "No to war" greeted the convoy in Istanbul's downtown Taksim square despite a heavy snowstorm. The group, which includes Americans, Britons, Australians, Swiss and Greeks, will be joined by several Turks, private NTV television reported. They plan to reach Baghdad next week. The protesters left London on Jan. 25. Oh goody, goody. They won't miss the fireworks. Assuming they make it through Kurdish territory alive.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/07/2003 01:37 pm ||
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Two red double decker buses? I could mistake them for Scud launchers. Especially at night. As far as our ex-Marine, I read about him on his website. He's a walking blanket party.
#2
"The group, which includes Americans, Britons, Australians, Swiss and Greeks"
I Say Again former transmission - I believe that it says in your U.S. Passport on page 4 that "If the bearer travels to a belligerent foreign country with the intent to ally with its' Armed Forces, or to support it politically, the bearer shall be stripped of his/her citizenship" or something to that effect. American Peace Activists(tm)[Actors, Rock Stars, etc] TAKE NOTE! Reverse your Sex changes! Denounce the free and the brave! Move to Iraq for a sun-filled life of mirth! Worship Saddam while you still can!
Yeah, PETA knows what's important...
Every so often, I violate my own policy against giving PETA -- People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals -- the publicity it desperately desires and doesn't deserve. I do this whenever the Norfolk-based animal rights group does something so astonishing, it simply can't be ignored. This is one of those times.
But our story doesn't begin in Norfolk. It begins in Israel. On Jan. 26, a bomb exploded on the road between Jerusalem and the West Bank settlement of Gush Etzion. As terror attacks go, this one was minor. Most of us didn't hear about it because, with the exception of one bus passenger treated for shock, no one was injured. Thank God.
Palestinian terrorists delivered the bomb to its destination by donkey. They strapped explosives and a remote device to the animal and detonated the bomb by cell phone as an Israeli bus passed by. The donkey, of course, was killed.
You know where this is going, don't you? That's right. PETA, the group that never before expressed concern about the carnage in Israel, is suddenly outraged. All because a donkey died.
Never mind that, according to the Israeli embassy, which keeps track of such grim statistics, 729 Israelis have perished in terrorist attacks since September 2000. It took the death of a donkey for PETA to find its voice. Leave the animals out of it, they cry.
Determined to make Hampton Roads look like a breeding ground for wackos to the rest of the world, PETA President Ingrid Newkirk this week fired off a fax to Yasser Arafat. She began the letter with a polite salutation: ``Your Excellency.''
I can think of lots of titles for Arafat. Excellency isn't among them. But I digress. ``. . . We have received many calls and letters from people shocked at the bombing . . . in which a live donkey, laden with explosives, was intentionally blown up. All nations behave abominably in many ways when they are fighting their enemies, and animals are always caught in the crossfire. The U.S. Army abandoned thousands of loyal service dogs in Vietnam. (Odd. No mention of our dead soldiers, MIAs, POWs or even loyal South Vietnamese allies who were left behind, but again, I digress.)
``Al-Qaeda and the British government have both used animals in hideously cruel biological weaponry tests.''
Brace yourselves. It gets worse.
``We watched on television as stray cats in your own compound fled as best they could from Israeli bulldozers''
Fleeing cats! PETA confronts the horror of war.
``Animals claim no nation. They are in perpetual involuntary servitude to all humankind, and, although they pose no threat and own no weapons, human beings always win the undeclared war against them. . . . If you have the opportunity,'' Newkirk beseeched Arafat, ``will you please add to your burdens my request that you appeal to all those who listen to you to leave the animals out of this conflict?'' In other words, Newkirk seems to be begging the Palestinians not to stop the slaughter, but rather to find a different delivery system for their bombs. If Yasshole doesn't have enough problems. Now he's got some lunatic bitch screaming about cats and donkeys.Can't you find some other way to blow up the Jews?
Appalling. Perhaps Ms. Newkirk would prefer that the Palestinians used suicide bombers instead of burros. Oh, that's right, they usually do.
Lisa Lange, PETA's vice president of communications, told me yesterday that Newkirk's letter was written after their offices had been bombarded with calls from PETA members who had learned of the donkey bomb. Proving that there are lots of people in this country with lots of time on their hands...
Lange said it's PETA's philosophy that human cruelty often begins with animal cruelty. The Washington Post this week asked Ms. Newkirk if she had ``considered asking Arafat to persuade those who listen to him to stop blowing up people as well'' as animals. Her response should be required reading for all would-be members of PETA: ``It's not my business to inject myself into human wars,'' Newkirk told the Post. Spoken like the pompous morally superior douchebag that you are...
How does one respond to such moral ambiguity? How about a body count of human bodies? In January 2003 -- the month in which the donkey died -- 21 Israelis and eight foreign nationals were killed by terrorists in Israel, and 127 others were injured. Yet PETA weeps for the ass. Assholes weeping for asses.
Radio talk show host Tony Macrini got it right when he remarked recently that ``PETA'' was an acronym for ``People Embarrassing the Tidewater Area.''
One can only hope that Newkirk left off her Norfolk return address on that asinine letter to Arafat.
Posted by: tu3031 ||
02/07/2003 10:56 am ||
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IMHO, PETA's destruction of animal laboratories constitutes a crime against humanity.
#3
I'm a member of an offshoot group of PETA: Our mission statement is to find poor, defenceless animals, hunt them down, kill them, disassemble them, cook a good-sized portion of them, saving the rest for later in the freezer, and eat their Medium-rare remains. PEOPLE ENJOYING TASTY ANIMALS.
#4
Bodyguard --- we have a branch of PETA here in Alaska (People Eating Tasty Animals). In fact, they have bumper stickers. We also have a few donkeys, but we give them a wide berth, being HAZMAT nowadays and all...........
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/07/2003 12:37 Comments ||
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Geeez, Wilbur...what if they switch to horses now that they've pissed off PETA?
Posted by: Mr. Ed ||
02/07/2003 13:14 Comments ||
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I used to support PETA. I see nothing wrong with demanding that people acknowledge animals feel pain and that cruelty against them is wrong. And, a vegetarian diet is good for you and great for the planet (though I confess I had chicken for dinner). But I stopped supporting them when it became clear that, like the Sierra Club, they had been taken over by folks who had lost site of their mission and sanity. What a shame, the animals could use advocates instead of assholes.
#7
If you're against cruelty to animals, the ASPCA does the job. If you're thinking more in terms of being revolting having a revolution, PETA's more your style.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/07/2003 20:25 Comments ||
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Unidentified men here on Thursday shot and killed a man accused of blasphemy. Prof Mushtaq Ahmad Zafar, 50, had just confirmed his bail from the Lahore High Court (LHC) and was later killed in Mozang areaâs Saadi Park. If the courts don't sentence you to death, some fanatic will carry out the sentence anyway
On December 21, 2002 Gujjar Singh Police Station registered a blasphemy case against Prof Zafar on Maulana Sarfaraz Naeemiâs complaint. Mr Zafarâs case was under trial and he got interim bail. On Thursday, LHCâs Justice Bashir A Mujahid accepted and confirmed his bail.After his bailâs confirmation, Prof Zafar was on his way to Saadi Park in a rickshaw when two men, following him in another rickshaw, stopped him, shot him in the face and fled. Very heroic, they have just earned themselves some extra virgins
Mozang Police Station Duty Officer Arif said the assailants were on foot and after killing Prof Zafar they blended into the crowd. Prof Zafar was the author of a book called âNoh-i-Lockâ in which he had written objectionable statements. The book was written in Urdu and later translated into English. The book, after its publication, was banned in Pakistan and England. A case was registered against Mr Zafar and a few other people. Later, he got interim bail during the initial interrogation.
Posted by: Paul ||
02/07/2003 08:44 pm ||
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Assailants riding motorcycles opened fire on two Muslim scholars in the southern city of Karachi, bumping off killing one and seriously wounding the other in separate attacks on Thursday. Islamic tutor Maulana Mohammed Ibrahim, 26, died instantly when two unidentified attackers shot a single bullet into his head in central Karachi. The assailants then fled. Really? Where did they go?
About five minutes later and only a few blocks away, unidentified assailants shot fellow Islamic tutor Mualana Falak Sher, 34, in the head, Shakir said. Police believe the same assailants were responsible for the two shootings, he added. Guess that's where they went. No doubt Inspector Walid Arbuckle and the Karachi Kops were right behind them, in hot pursuit...
No arrests were made and there was no immediate claim of responsibility. Guess not...
The attacks came a day after two gunmen shot and killed the head of an Islamic school, Qari Mohammed Mian Saeedi, in a drive-by shooting outside his Karachi home. Same guys, perchance?
The victims of Thursday's attacks belonged to the same Sunni religious group as Saeedi. Pakistan has face a surge of religious violence in recent years, much of it between rival Sunni and Shiite Muslim groups that have repeatedly attacked each other's places of worship. Makes you kinda yearn for the Good Old Days of the Homoöusian Controversy, or the Arian Heresy. Christians never get to bump each other off anymore, at least not over obscure points of doctrine. Maybe we could find some Albigensians someplace...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
02/07/2003 11:13 am ||
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Sounds like the families are "going to the mattresses", huh? A little civil war among thugs would be nice...
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/07/2003 12:03 Comments ||
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Pakistan's most feared Islamic militant group, branded by Washington last week a foreign terrorist group, has been severely weakened by a crackdown on extremism, intelligence officials said on Friday. But others warned it was too early to write off the Sunni Muslim Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) group. "Lashkar-e-Jhangvi itself is very badly weakened now and I don't think they have the steam to re-group at this moment," said a senior intelligence official on condition of anonymity. They always say something like that just before some beturbanned lunatic shoots up a church or slaughters a few other infidels...
"But there are other splinter groups - those people who have been in Afghanistan have maybe groups of seven, eight or 10 people together operating in the country." Yep. Those are the guys...
Fayyaz Leghari, a senior Pakistani official in the province of Sindh, said last week the crackdown by Pakistani intelligence and police, helped by FBI agents, had given the authorities the edge over militancy, saying groups were "in disarray". "Straighten up that turban, Mahmoud! When was the last time you cleaned that rocket launcher? Suck in that gut! You look like Qazi!"
Since President Pervez Musharraf banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi in August, 2001, its notorious leader Riaz Basra died in a shoot-out with police. ... twice, in fact...
Basra's successor Akram Lahori is in custody and Asif Ramzi, another senior member, blew himself up in December. Not intentionally, of course...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
02/07/2003 11:06 am ||
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"Lies! All lies!"
Pakistan's acting High Commissioner in Delhi, Jalil Abbas Jilani, has dismissed as "absolute rubbish" claims by Indian police that he handed over thousands of dollars to fund Kashmiri militancy. Indian police arrested two people on Thursday under controversial new anti-terrorism legislation. Police said one of those arrested was carrying more than $6,000 in cash, which she said Mr Jilani had given her. Are they "just good friends" or was the money for the local snuffy brigades?
Pakistan summoned the Indian envoy in Islamabad on Friday to lodge a strong protest over the allegations. "Really! It's nothing! The jewelry stores were closed, so I just gave her cash..."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
02/07/2003 10:49 am ||
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"Lies! All lies!"
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf on Thursday denied the US claims that Iraq's embassy in Islamabad served as a liaising point between Baghdad and Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network. Powell on Wednesday accused Iraq of harbouring a variety of terrorists, including at least one senior member of al-Qaeda, Abu Mussab al Zarqawi, who is accused of ordering the murder of a US diplomat in Jordan last year. "From the late 1990s until 2001, the Iraqi embassy in Pakistan played the role of liaison to the al-Qaeda organisation," Powell told a special meeting of the UN Security Council as he outlined Washington's case for war against Baghdad. "Certainly not. We have mullahs who take care of that sort of thing..."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
02/07/2003 11:48 am ||
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The chief minister of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province on Thursday denied the presence of Taliban or al-Qaida fighters in territory he controls along the border with Afghanistan and demanded a withdrawal of all American forces from the region. In a rare interview with a foreign journalist, Chief Minister Akram Durrani insisted there was no terrorist threat in his province and said Pakistan's federal government should kick U.S. forces out of bases in Pakistan being used to support the war on terrorism in Afghanistan. That's the MMA's party line...
``We don't have any al-Qaida or Taliban here,'' said Durrani, who heads a conservative Islamic coalition that won power in the province last year. ''Absolutely there is nothing here and we don't want any foreigners here.'' "Nope. Nope. No al-Qaeda. No Talibs. Sorry. They're, ummm... something else. And don't go sending us any foreigners. We're xenophobes, thank you..."
He was speaking of American Special Forces that work with Pakistan troops in the tribal regions that border Afghanistan and FBI agents who have been on several raids with Pakistan security forces against Islamic schools and homes in the frontier province. Where they've caught al-Qaeda and Talibs, and had shoot-outs with others...
In an interview lasting more than an hour, Durrani warned that a war in Iraq will set off protests not only in his deeply conservative province, but throughout Pakistan. ``It's time for the United States to rebuild its relationship with Pakistan,'' said Durrani, interviewed inside the chief minister's palatial brick residence in the heart of Peshawar. Pakistanis, Durrani said, are disillusioned by a United States they now see as antagonistic toward Muslims. Only those who want to kill large numbers of us. Nobody really cares about the rest. I think that's the part that gets to him...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
02/07/2003 08:47 am ||
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Three Tamil Tiger terrorists rebels have blown themselves up after Scandinavian truce monitors boarded their heavily armed boat, hours before peace talks were due to begin in Germany. The Three members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) committed suicide on their trawler off the northern coast of Jaffna as they tried to smuggle arms on the island. "They have blown up the boat. They have gone with the blast," said Teitur Torkelsson, of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission. I wonder how many Houris Non-Muslim martyrs get?
The peace monitors who had boarded the boat are reported to be unharmed, having disembarked before the explosion. Earlier, the truce monitors said the discovery of an anti-aircraft gun, grenades and ammunition on board the ship was a "clear violation" of the truce signed last February. I guess tigers can't change their stripes
Correspondents say the initial euphoria over Sri Lanka's peace process has ended and negotiators now have to steer their way through emotive human rights issues, like the demobilisation of rebel child soldiers.
Posted by: Paul ||
02/07/2003 08:21 am ||
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"... demobilisation of rebel child soldiers" is a problem? Well, mayb there are no schools for them, or matbe they're the onl;y force left and are needed as police...
Posted by: John Anderson ||
02/07/2003 10:10 Comments ||
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Egypt has rejected a U.S. request to interview Egyptian engineers and scientists employed in Iraq's nuclear program.
U.S. officials said the regime of President Hosni Mubarak failed to respond to Washington's appeals for information of and access to Egyptian nationals employed in Iraq's nuclear program. The officials said after repeated U.S. efforts the Cairo government responded that it viewed Egyptian nationals who work in Iraq as private citizens. "They said they would not get involved and refused to help us locate them or provide information so we could reach them ourselves," a U.S. official said. Isn't that special. How much aid do we send Egypt?
Officials said that late last year the U.S. intelligence community received information of the employment of dozens of Egyptian engineers and scientists in Iraq's nuclear program. Some of the names of the Egyptians matched a list provided by Iraq to the United Nations of more than 500 scientists who worked in Baghdad's nuclear program. Looks like that list will come in handy after all.
In December, the Bush administration relayed a request to Cairo for help to interview the Egyptian scientists. The officials said at first the Mubarak regime ignored the U.S. request and then denied any link to the Egyptian scientists in Iraq. "Who? Never heard of them, can't be egyptians."
The U.S. request was coordinated with the International Atomic Energy Agency. Isn't our good friend IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei a Egyptian atomic scientist?
Officials said Britain also relayed a request to interview Egyptian scientists. The disclosure of the Egyptian rejection to interview nuclear scientists came during a visit by a high-level Egyptian delegation to Washington. The delegation is led by Mubarak's diplomatic adviser Osama El Baz. El Baz will meet senior administration officials and congressional leaders.
Officials said the U.S. intelligence community is concerned that Iraq has transferred leading components of its nuclear program to Egypt and Libya. Egypt has launched a program to construct eight nuclear reactors by 2011 in cooperation with China and Russia. Oh, great, just what we need.
On Sunday, the London-based Al Sharq Al Awsat daily reported that Britain and the United States, through their embassies in Cairo, relayed a request to Egypt for interviews with the Egyptian scientists. The newspaper said the requests cited Egyptian nationals who appeared on an Iraqi list of 207 foreign nationals who worked in Baghdad's nuclear program.
Western intelligence sources have asserted that Egypt and Iraq coooperated in strategic weapons programs in the 1980s. They included missile and WMD development programs. The sources said the 1991 Gulf war suspended Egyptian cooperation with Iraq. But the cooperation was quietly restored at a reduced level in the mid-1990s. Note to self: move Egypt up two places on shit list.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/07/2003 02:30 pm ||
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The United States plans to order a fifth aircraft carrier to head for the Gulf as early as Friday as the U.S. military masses land, sea and air forces in the region for possible war with Iraq, defense officials said. The officials, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters the USS Kitty Hawk would be told to depart the western Pacific Ocean within days and move through the Indian Ocean to join four other U.S. carriers and a British aircraft carrier near Iraq. The Kitty Hawk, which is based in Yokosuka naval base in Japan, is currently at sea and its movement would add about 75 warplanes aboard the ship to hundreds of U.S. naval and Air Force aircraft now near Iraq. The Kitty Hawk is accompanied by other warships carrying cruise missiles. Three U.S. carriers are already within striking range of Iraq -- the USS Abraham Lincoln and the USS Constellation in the Gulf, and the USS Harry S. Truman in the Mediterranean Sea. A fourth carrier, the USS Theodore Roosevelt, set sail from the western Atlantic for the region on Tuesday.
The British aircraft carrier Ark Royal and its shepherding battle group earlier passed through the Suez Canal into the Red Sea and is expected to be on station soon in the Gulf within striking distance of Iraq. Ark Royal is carrying helicopters and commandos.
To replace the Kitty Hawk in the western Pacific, defense officials said that orders are expected to be issued soon to the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson to move from Hawaii to be near the Korean peninsula, where Washington and its allies are involved in a nuclear crisis with North Korea. Don't want them to feel left out.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/07/2003 01:55 pm ||
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KCNA calls it the "Calvinson". Unless we got one of those stealth carriers I used to read about in Popular Science.
The Dutch government has agreed to provide Turkey with a Patriot defense system in case of war in Iraq, the Defense Minister said Friday. The missile system will be supplied under a bilateral agreement, not through NATO, according to an Air Force official. Well, that was very unilateral of them.
Charlotte Slagmolen, a defense ministry spokeswoman, said it was unclear when the system would be deployed or how many missiles would be available. The Dutch Air Force has four Patriot systems with 160 missiles. The decision comes as NATO allies face a deadline of Monday for raising objections to a U.S. request for help protecting Turkey, the only NATO member bordering Iraq. NATO Secretary-General Lord Robertson announced the deadline Thursday, the same day Turkey's parliament took the first step toward allowing U.S. troops to set up bases there for use in a war with Iraq. Robertson stressed there "is complete agreement on the substance" of the measures to defend Turkey, and differences only concerned the timing of a decision to order military experts to begin planning. "NATO's solidarity with Turkey is not in doubt," Robertson insisted.
France, Germany and Belgium, just three of 19 NATO members, have held up the start of military planning for almost three weeks, arguing it would send the wrong signal while the United Nations works to avoid a war. The Three Stooges
On Friday, French Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero reiterated France's view that launching military preparations would send the wrong signal while U.N. efforts to avert war against Iraq continued. "Preparing sends the wrong signal" - That policy worked real well against Hitler, didn't it, France.
"The position of the allies is a position of supporting the United Nations," Valero said. "This position remains unchanged." "In this context nothing would justify that the alliance associates itself with preparation for an eventual military operation," Valero said. He did not say how France would respond to Monday's deadline.
Although the Dutch public is widely opposed to participation in a U.S.-led war in Iraq, Dutch caretaker Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende has said the Netherlands will be a "reliable partner" if force becomes necessary. Thank you, Jan.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/07/2003 01:25 pm ||
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Note to the "Big Three" (France, Germany, Belgium):
The Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Sheikh Mohamed Sayyed Tantawi ruled as "forbidden" that any Arab or Islamic country helps foreign forces launch a military offensive against Iraq. "We strongly refuse attacking Iraq, as it is a sort of aggression on Islam, and thats why all possible efforts should be geared up to turn the specter of war away," Tantawi said in response to a question about the presence of American troops in some Arab countries in preparation for a looming war against Iraq. "Under Shariaa (Islamic Law) it is not allowed to give any support to these foreign troops to carry out their aggressive plans."
The grand imam of Cairo's thousand-year-old prestigious centre of learning and highest authority for the Islamic world had issued a fatwa to the effect that Arab and Islamic countries should not allow their territories to be used in launching a military offensive against any Muslim countries. "We stand with the Iraqi people and against any aggression on its land. We will never accept injustice and aggression against any Islamic and Arab country whatever it is. When we show our objection to any aggression against the innocent and isolated Iraqi people, we are defending not the Iraqi regime, but the Muslims living there, as they are part and parcel of us, Tantawi told the Kuwaiti Al-Rai Al-Am daily in September. This is a reiteration of the Islamists' position that no Muslim regime, anywhere, can be attacked for any reason, no matter what they do. It'll be interesting to see what his position is when it's all over. Memories are short, especially in the Middle East, so the Baghdadis will probably welcome him and forget about the way he confuses his political views with his relgion...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
02/07/2003 12:04 pm ||
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Well that does it. We'll just have to call it off then.
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/07/2003 12:59 Comments ||
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Oh, now we have a "Grand Imam"? Does every Muslim have some kind of title? And can they all issue "fatwas"? Inquiring minds want to know....
#3
So ya wanna have a title, do ya? Well talk to one of your titled buddies down at the mosque. He will then nominate you for something. After a waiting period and some tribute or something, you get the title, hand lettered and suitable for framing. You then can issue fatwas by the firkin. One caviat: watch out for the fatwa-ee, because they may have a bigger firkin for their fatwas. Good luck.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/07/2003 14:54 Comments ||
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Today's scare headline.
The United States President, George Bush, said Iraqi field commanders had been given authority to launch chemical weapons against advancing US forces, prompting the Pentagon to consider battlefield cremations of slain soldiers.
"We have sources that tell us that Saddam Hussein recently authorised Iraqi field commanders to use chemical weapons, the very weapons the dictator tells the world he does not have," Mr Bush said. He did not elaborate. It is the first time the Administration has made such a charge. Cremation is being considered to prevent the spread of chemical or biological agents from contaminated bodies to the US, defence officials said. It's like this is the first time we had to worry about taking casualities from chemical and biological weapons. Hello, any one remember all those Cold War years when we expected the Red Army to pour through the Fulda Gap behind a cloud of chemical agents. I know I spent enough time dragging around my NBC gear during exercises. I'm sure they had a plan then.
The Pentagon has for decades gone to great lengths to recover and bury every US serviceman and woman killed abroad.
"This would be a first," said Lieutenant-Colonel Cynthia Colin, a Pentagon spokeswoman. I doubt that. It is prudent to look at the policy again, she said, "and make sure we give commanders a variety of options. Cremation is one of the options being considered."
US troops are training to combat chemical or biological attacks and are receiving protective gear in the hope of guarding against the worst effects. The issue is controversial and fraught with emotion. Pentagon officials declined to elaborate on the substance of the review, saying only that cremation is among the options being considered "if remains pose a hazard to the health and safety of the living".
During the 1991 Gulf War, plans were reportedly in place for mass burials and cremation of troops killed by chemical or biological agents. Those plans never had to be implemented.
The review began last month. It is being conducted by the US army's mortuary affairs program - which is charged with the recovery of all service member remains - and by health and safety officials from all four branches of the military, Colonel Colin said.
Since the repatriation of remains became a political rallying point during and after the Vietnam War, the military has sought to immediately return personnel killed overseas. In the two world wars, more than 307,000 soldiers were buried in temporary cemeteries overseas. Of those, more than 47,000 were later returned to the US for interment. Soldiers often risk their lives to retrieve the remains and personal effects of fallen comrades and bring them back to families for burial. "We want to bring the remains back, that's our goal. But we have to do it safely," Colonel Colin said. OK, let's look at this. Chemical attacks - decontaminate the bodies the same way you would the living. The mortuary affairs troops would have to work in suits, it will take longer, but it can be done. Biological attacks - depends on the agent. Most will die upon the death of the host, or a short time after. The only case for cremation would be for a bio agent that would remain a threat, go dormant that is, after the person dies. If Saddam weaponized Ebola for example. (Guessing here) In most cases, a closed, sealed casket would be enough protection. I hope to God that it does not come to this.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/07/2003 09:48 am ||
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Well, Bjork Staerk posted that Krekar said in an interview that chem weapons are in the Iraqi oil fields.
These are some of the major headlines and their brief stories in Turkey's press on February 7, 2003.
Land Forces Commander Aytac Yalman paid a secret visit to Jordan in which a third front will be opened in a possible U.S.-led military operation against Iraq. The United States will open the first front in Kuwait in such a war. If Turkey gives permission, a second front will be opened in the north. Jordan will become the third front against southwest of Iraq. Cool. I wonder if anyone told Jordan?
During the secret meeting held at National Intelligence Agency's (MIT) Marmara Mansion, Prime Minister Abdullah Gul told Iraqi Vice President Taha Yasin Ramadan, ''please, think of your people.'' He stressed, ''we have been expending all kinds of efforts to prevent a possible war. We have been holding high-level contacts. As regional countries, we assure protection of Iraq's borders. Iraq should abide by resolutions of the United Nations.'' Prime Minister Gul asked Ramadan to convey his words to Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. Don't think he's listening.\
NATO Secretary General George Robertson said that he had put forward some proposals about defense of Turkey in a possible military operation against Iraq. The proposals of Robertson are envisaged to be approved with ''silence procedure''. According to the procedure, if any of 19 allied countries does not object to the proposals till the beginning of next week, the proposals will come into force. Noting that he had put forward some deliberate proposals about defense of Turkey, the only ally of NATO neighboring Iraq, in a possible military operation against Iraq, Robertson said that all allied countries had been in consensus about defense of Turkey. We'll see.
Although U.N. Security Council permanent members France, China and Russia and regional countries oppose to it and although all these countries say there should be a second U.N. resolution, the United States is determined to attack on Iraq. Pentagon is expected to increase the number of its soldiers to 150 thousand by February 15 while this number is expected to reach 200 thousand in March. It has almost become definite that the United States which will use military bases in Turkey, Jordan, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia will proceed effectively from the southern and northern fronts. U.S. special forces who are already in Iraq will start invasion from the land, later there will be intense bombardment within 48 hours. Works for me.
Ahead of a possible US-led war against Iraq, Parliament yesterday approved a proposal allowing the United States to make upgrades to Turkish airbases and ports for a possible stationing of US troops. The decision came one day after Prime Minister Abdullah Gul declared his governmentâs support for US plans to carry out a military campaign against Iraq and was approved in a closed session by a vote of 308-193, with 9 abstentions. The government is expected to put another proposal before Parliament on Feb. 18, after next weekâs Feast of the Sacrifice (Kurban Bayram) holiday, regarding a US request to station its troops in Turkey for a possible northern offensive into Iraq. In related news, about 50 AKP deputies voted against the proposal, citing their opposition to a war in the region, while all the opposition Republican Peopleâs Party (CHP) deputies also voted down the proposal. Cutting it a little close.
Ankara yesterday hosted a summit of northern Iraqi opposition leaders convened in order to discuss a post-Saddam Hussein future. Participating in the meeting were Iraqi Kurdistan Democratic Party (IKPD) leader Jalal Talabani, Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITF) Sanan Ahmet Aga, and Nechirvan Barzani, the nephew of Iraqi Kurdistan Democratic Party (IKPD) leader Massoud Barzani as well as prime minister of the so-called regional Kurdistan government. Also present were US President W. Bushâs Envoy to the Iraqi opposition Zalmay Khalilzad and Turkish Foreign Ministry Deputy Undersecretary Ali Tuygan. During the meeting, Tuygan said should Turkish forces enter northern Iraq the Kurdish groups should accept them as allies. He also warned the Kurds not to attempt to found an independent state in the region, adding that nobody should try to benefit from such a war, clearly suggesting that the Kurds should not try to take control of the oil-rich cities of Mosul and Kirkuk. For his part, Khalilzad urged the other participants at the meeting to heed Tuyganâs words. Talabani stated that Turkey and the US were coming to protect the northern Iraqis and that they were all allies. However, Barzani warned that if neighboring countries intervened in the region this could lead to unrest and chaos. I think a deal has been made with the Kurds to behave.
Responding to the news that Turkeyâs Parliament had approved upgrades of certain facilities in preparation for their possible use by US forces, Iraqâs Ambassador to Turkey Talip Abid Salih said yesterday that such a move was tantamount to joining a war. âIf Turkey allows US troops to be stationed here, this is tantamount to taking part in a war,â stated Salih. âCountries which help the US will later realize their mistake.â Salih added that he was not threatening Turkey, merely giving advice. Keep your advise to yourself.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/07/2003 09:10 am ||
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Saudi Arabia said Wednesday it feared a U.S.-led war to overthrow Saddam Hussein would transform Iraq into another Afghanistan with rival ethnic and religious factions fighting for power. "If things fall apart, who will come back and bring it all back together?" Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal told a news conference. "All the factions inside Iraq will present their visions for a new government like they did in Afghanistan. These are the consequences of a conflict, and if that happens, it will result in the division of Iraq." That isn't necessarily so. They might argue out some sort of a compromise — not that the Soddies could conceive of that being a good thing. But if the country breaks up into pieces, it might be because having a single country there wasn't that good an idea in the first place...
Prince Saud said a possible U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and Saddam's ouster would not only splinter his country's neighbor but also set off turmoil in the volatile region. Which is also a terrible idea from the Soddy standpoint, but simply another problem to be dealt with for the rest of us...
Prince Saud also asked the United Nations to "give equal attention to the territorial integrity of Iraq" before sanctioning military action. "The goal of military action should not be to punish Iraq or occupy Iraq," he said. "It should result in maintaining Iraqi integrity and independence ... because if internal security is lost I don't think the United Nations, with all its forces, can regain it. There will be a collapse of the administration and that will result in grave consequences for the region... The Security Council is not an authority charged with granting permits to go to war but rather a body called upon to seek peaceful solutions to safeguard security, peace and stability in the world... World peace and security will not be able to be guaranteed without safeguarding the territorial stability and integrity of all countries, including Iraq.â He's talking about Iraq, but he's thinking about Soddy Arabia. If nothing ever, ever changes, then the princes will always, always be in charge...
Prince Saud said he had discussed his country's fears with President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, adding: "Our aim is to make the United Nations aware of its responsibility ... not only to (issue) a decree allowing the use of force against Iraq but to have one that would create a force to maintain Iraqi security but not occupy it." That would leave Iraq to its own devices, which likely would involve the factions fighting it out internally until something like Sammy and the Ba'ath arose to clamp "order" on them. Then we could do the same thing again in 20 years...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
02/07/2003 09:01 am ||
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"Our aim is to make the United Nations aware of its responsibility ... not only to (issue) a decree allowing the use of force against Iraq but to have one that would create a force to maintain Iraqi security but not occupy it."
Sounds like he thinks Chirac is going to cave in before too long. My guess is as soon as he hears the troops have a go-ahead signal, so he can claim not to have been left behind.
And I do hope his offer of four airplanes is turned down. This is the force that voted and turned down a mission in Afhanistan, leaving guess-who to rearrange schedules and cover the hole in the line.
Posted by: John Anderson ||
02/07/2003 10:20 Comments ||
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"...transform Iraq into another Afghanistan with rival ethnic and religious factions fighting for power"
Sure, when the Saudis start meddling. But Iraq isn't fraught with Arab veteran has-beens from the Afghan-Soviet war, and therefore has a good chance to be a prosperous, normal nation.
Although...surely enough, watch for remnants of Al-Qaeda and the other dweebs to stir trouble in the beginning.
#3
I think the Qaedas will try to move in, but I think there'll be a greater danger from the Paleos, Iran and the Syrians. Along with the Soddies, they're the ones who're going to be on the front line with a western-style regime in Iraq.
If a new Iraq gets off the ground, the oil wealth available alone should make the whole country prosperous for as long as the kleptocrats can be controlled. If we make no further moves after Iraq, in ten years that contrast itself will kill all three regimes. Iran, remember, used to be a very prosperous country, especially for the Middle East.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/07/2003 12:11 Comments ||
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I don't see what would be so terrible about splitting Iraq into (i) Kurdistan (ii) Iraq (iii) Shiiteistan. Each location would have some of the oil.
Even better would be a confederation along the Swiss model including (iv) Syriastan (v) Jordanistan (vi) West Bankistan (vii) Lebenon.
One big country with enough oil to spread around and enough oil that they feel they have something to lose if they get uppidy and attack Isreal. Also the big country would be a nice democracy because the US will sit on them and force them to accept democracy.
#5
I don't see what would be so terrible about splitting Iraq into ... (iii) Shiiteistan.
Except nobody would be able to say "Shiiteistan" at the U.N. without giggling. (Or at the parade of nations at the Olympics)
The Pentagon is writing ârulesâ that will supposedly govern the behavior of the U.S. soldiers in their handling of the Iraqi popular resistance during expected confrontations between the U.S. forces invading Iraq and the Iraqi civilians defending their soil. The Pentagon is writing rules of engagement to allow U.S. forces to use ânon-lethalâ riot control agents, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said, claiming that the goal is to minimize civilian casualties if the United States goes to war in Iraq. But Rumsfeld said that Geneva convention treaty restrictions and other laws that bar the use of riot control agents in warfare without a presidential waiver have made the process âvery complex,â Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported. âAbsent a presidential waiver, in many cases our forces are allowed âto shoot somebody and kill themâ but they are not allowed to use a non-lethal riot control agent under the law,â Rumsfeld said Wednesday, February 5. So the headline's not quite accurate, is it? They're laying out rules for not killing civilians. Rules of engagement for combatants are pretty straightforward. But since it's our intention to not kill large numbers of civilians, we have to figure how to do that...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
02/07/2003 08:52 am ||
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I'm sorry, but this sounds extremely fishy: "Civilians defending their homeland" is a definition of Citizen soldiers. "Civilians" who non-violently defend their soldiers as >>voluntary<< human shields BECOME military equipment, in the same way that an APC protects the soldiers within it. As I understand it, this is especially the case when martial law is declared.
This doesn't make sense: Why would the Geneva Conventions (there's more than one treaty) forbid something that REDUCES casualty counts? I could see a possibility of using non-lethal agents to effect the rescue of civilians are FORCED to be human shields.
I'm wondering if more than just the headline is accurate. I could see why a presidential waver is required, since using a non-lethal agent is more risky to the soldier using it.
#2
Sounds like weâre planning to deploy microwave- and flash-generating weapons to disperse or immobilize crowds. Need to get the paperwork straight first to keep the lawyers happy.
Posted by: The Kid ||
02/07/2003 12:08 Comments ||
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This story (Kirtland To Test Pain Warfare) announced the test plan, and this (Active Denial Technology ) is a follow-up. While there may be questions about ADT safety, I think it's probably safer than cluster bombs and hand grenades.
Posted by: The Kid ||
02/07/2003 12:21 Comments ||
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What Rummy's talking about are 1) the Chemical Weapons Convention, which prohibits use of riot control agents (RCAs) as a "method of warfare," and 2) Executive Order 11850, which controls US use of RCAs. EO 11850 (which you can find using Google) says that only the president can authorize use of RCAs under very controlled circumstances. Pres. Ford signed it in about 1975, and Congress has formally blest it. Rummy in fact misspoke - he doesn't need a waiver, just presidential authorization.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip â Hamas, a militant group that espouses suicide attacks and a strict Islamic rule, says it is ready to take over the Palestinian leadership from Yasser Arafat.
The statements on Thursday by a senior Hamas official, Mahmoud Zahar, were a rare public expression of the rising political ambitions of the group as Israel itself works to weaken Arafat.
Zahar told The Associated Press that the group is "absolutely" prepared to lead the Palestinian people. He said Hamas has the infrastructure to take over leadership "politically, financially [and] socially." well thats fine by us "mr. hamas", if I can just get your signature and your "GPS grid coordinates" on the this here lease, we'll be only to happy to send the movers right on over to your office.
Zahar said Hamas would take over through elections, not by force. Which would be a first....Palestinians had elections scheduled for Jan. 20 but postponed them because Israeli troops are in control of most of most West Bank cities. rubble and camel turds are remarkably easy to control.
Israel's government is working to weaken Arafat, saying that he encourages militants to attack Israel. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has ruled out contacts with Arafat, insisting that other Palestinian leaders are prepared to make peace. Sharon, with the backing of the United States, has demanded that Arafat be replaced or sidelined.or buried,deep fried or frickassied, they can choose whatever method they want ,but hes as gone as the turkey carcass from last thanksgiving.
Critics have warned that the plan could backfire because radical groups like Hamas, not moderates, could take over if Arafat is neutralized.
Arafat has not visited Gaza in more than a year, confined to his headquarters in Ramallah by the Israeli forces. He fears that if he leaves, he will not be allowed to return.
Hamas has moved into the vacuum in Gaza, offering social services in the crowded territory, poverty-stricken in the best of times and made even more destitute by the effects of the conflict. The group's frequent attacks against Israel have bolstered its support.They are also hosting a square dance and potluck on saturday afternoons. Alternate weeks they have a sack race and apple bob with the "parents without partners" folks. (give me a break......)
In an apparent move to reassert control, the head of Preventive Security in Gaza, Arafat ally Rashid Abu Shbak, told Israel Radio on Thursday that he is sending police into areas where militants, many from Hamas, have fired mortars and rockets at Israeli settlements.
Shbak said the rocket fire is against the interest of the Palestinian people because it draws punishing Israeli retaliation."shbak" mmust be the einstein of Gaza City.
Reflecting Hamas policy, Zahar said the armed conflict with Israel would continue, referring to suicide bombings and other attacks. Egypt has been trying to obtain a declaration from rival Palestinian factions to stop attacks on Israeli civilians, but Hamas has refused.what? and cut out our number one revenue stream? are you crazy?
Hamas has been responsible for dozens of suicide bombing attacks against Israelis during 28 months of fighting. As a matter of Islamic principle, Hamas does not recognize the existence of a Jewish state in the Middle East, opposing Arafat's policy of creating a Palestinian state alongside Israel.
Ziad Abu Amr, a Palestinian legislator from Arafat's Fatah movement, said Hamas leaders rarely mention their takeover goal in public, but it is clearly their intention.Hamas is just not as clever a bunch of liars as fatah. said or unsaid, the goal is the same in both places.
"They want to mold things according to their vision," he said. "All along they presented themselves as an alternative, but they want to do it peacefully."those bastards, who do they think they are? us?
Hamas has avoided direct conflict with Arafat's regime up to now, though from time to time, clashes between the rival groups have erupted.thereby causing the Israeli army to buckle over in laughter.
Israel sent its troops into West Bank cities and towns in mid-June after a series of Palestinian suicide bombing attacks in Israel, weakening Arafat's security forces at the same time as Israel charged that Arafat was not acting to stop attacks against Israelis. From an old Dilbert Cartoon( about unemployment):
Hamas: Knock knock!
Arafat: Whos there?
Hamas: Not you!
Posted by: Frank Martin ||
02/07/2003 05:24 pm ||
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Iraq has withdrawn tens of thousands of troops and hundreds of tanks, armored personnel carriers and artillery from the Iraqi border with Jordan and Kuwait, according to Western intelligence sources, reports Geostrategy-Direct, the online intelligence newsletter. The sources said the regime of President Saddam Hussein appears to have concluded that Iraqi troops would not be able to withstand any U.S. attack. Sammy's smarter son, Qusay, was supposed to be in charge of defense preparations. Daddy would have wanted to defend every last inch of soil.
The withdrawal has taken place over the last two months as Baghdad assessed that war with the United States was approaching. Saddam sent a large force to the Jordanian border last year in what the sources termed a show of force to Washington and its Arab allies. But the Saddam regime has redeployed its forces around Baghdad and oil facilities, the sources said. The area of western Iraq is now being defended by Bedouin tribes, who have received more than 5 million rifles, the sources added. Humm, the King of Jordan has Bedouin troops, maybe they got relatives across the border. Maybe they'd be open to a deal.
According to Iraqi opposition sources, the regime has reinforced its position around Kirkuk. The city is the center of the oil-rich northern region and borders the Kurdish autonomous zone. The Iraqi effort includes the deployment of additional troops and tanks around the city. Kirkuk is expected to be a prime target in any U.S.-led invasion of northern Iraq. Nice of them to put all the targets in one place.
Last week, British defense sources reported that Saddam ordered trucks equipped with missile launchers to western Iraq. That would be the missile launchers he doesn't have.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/07/2003 02:08 pm ||
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#1
What about the report just yesterday (linked to here) about troops mobilizing on the border?
#2
I think he's leaving the milita and his questionable troops on the southern border and pulling the better divisions back to guard the key points. He knows he can't defend everything. The southern and western deserts are too open, so he's concentrating on the cities and oil centers in the north. It shows he is still thinking about ground warfare, our air forces will be hitting those deep targets first. The more he keeps moving them around, the better we can track them.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/07/2003 15:06 Comments ||
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Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is making preparations to move his family to Libya, according to U.S. intelligence officials. Recent intelligence reports said spy agencies have picked up indications that bin Laden family members are preparing to head for Libya from other parts of the world that the officials would not identify. They mean Pakland, Yemen and Soddy Arabia...
In the past, bin Laden has kept his several wives and numerous offspring at several residences in Afghanistan, including compounds in Jalalabad and Kandahar, until U.S. military forces ousted the ruling Taliban militia in December 2001. There were an estimated 50 bin Laden family members in Afghanistan, including wives, children and bodyguards. After the fall of the Taliban regime, intelligence reports surfaced indicating that bin Laden and his family members were heading for Somalia, in East Africa. A watch was placed on the lawless desert country, but bin Laden and his family did not show up. Not if they knew we were waiting for them...
Other intelligence reports have placed bin Laden in hiding somewhere along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. U.S. intelligence has started a massive worldwide hunt for bin Laden. Some officials think he is dead. However, an audiotape of bin Laden's voice surfaced late last year discussing recent al Qaeda attacks in Yemen, Indonesia and Kuwait, the first indication since December 2001 that he is alive. The U.S. government is offering a $25 million reward to anyone who helps kill or capture bin Laden. So far, no one has collected the reward. He could still be alive, but the tape is suspect. I'd still put chances that he's dead well into the "probable" range. Muammar has been playing the Grand Old â Retired â Man of Terror. There were the stories about Sammy going into exile in Libya, and after the Afghan campaign he offered refuge to the "Afghan Arabs." He also offered to take in Hekmatyar when Iran kicked him out. This could as likely be an offer of a comfortable retirement as an indication Binny's risen from the grave and is moving to North Africa.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
02/07/2003 09:39 pm ||
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From the Center for the Advancement of Capitalism.
I think that what Bush wants to do is scare enough of the Iranian government that they stand up to the conservatives, join the revolution, and the revolution wins.
How will the US scare people in the Iranian government?
The Iranian government only has so many soldiers that they can rely on. When the US takes over Iraq, the Iranian government will want to put a lot more soldiers near Iraq "just in case." Those soldiers cannot put down demonstrators in Teheran or Qom. Will there be enough soldiers and other security forces to put down the demonstrations? Maybe, maybe not.
Also, when the US takes over Iraq, we will find all kinds of information in Saddam Hussein's government buildings. The world will also find out all kinds of bad things that we knew about the Iraqis but couldn't say, because saying would tell how we found out. The world may also see awful things from the Iraqi government that most Iraqis don't even know about yet. Are there things about the Iranian government that people in the government donât know? Maybe, maybe not.
People in the Iranian government will also see the awful things that the Americans let the Iraqi people to the people in the Iraqi government. Could the same thing happen in Iran? Maybe, maybe not.
And the world will see the Iraqi people dancing in the streets when their government is gone and the Americans occupy their country, just like in Kabul.
The Iranian government will also see that no oneânot Russia, not France, not the UN, not the Arab League, not God Himself could save Saddam Hussein from the Americans. They will see that, if the Americans decide to invade, no one and nothing will save them. Will the Americans really invade? Maybe, maybe not. (An American invasion of Iran is unlikely, but people in the Iranian government still have to worry about it.)
The more maybes are added to the list, the more scared people in the Iranian government will be. The more scared they are, the more likely that they will join the revolution, or stand aside and not fight. The aim is that the soldiers and their leaders will decide not to try to stop the revolution, and not to be the ones on trial for shooting the demonstrators. The best thing for people in the government is to be Yeltsin, to join and lead the revolution. The next best thing is to be Gorbachev, who gave up power but is safe and is respected abroad. The worst thing is to be Ceausescu, and to try to hold power and be defeated and killed.
Posted by: John Bragg ||
02/07/2003 08:31 pm ||
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I swear that I have not changed one word in this story. What lies behind the Libyan strongman's strange but abiding interest in the attractive young mother of a 10-year-old Ugandan king?
LIBYA'S Colonel Muammar Gaddafi has developed a mysterious obsession with an ancient Ugandan kingdom whose 10-year-old monarch is the youngest in the world. According to long-standing rumours, there are two reasons for Gaddafi's interest in Toro, one of five historic kingdoms that make up present-day Uganda. One is oil. There have long been suggestions that oil will soon be discovered in the tiny kingdom in the west of the country and that this bonanza will make Toro the dominant force in the Ugandan economy.
The other reason is said to be little king Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV's mother - the peachy 35-year-old widow, Best Kemigisa, who has been entertained and courted with considerable gusto by the Libyan leader in recent months.
Last week, Toro's prime minister, Stephen Nyabongo, was moved to state publicly that there was, in fact, no substance to suggestions of a romantic relationship between Gaddafi and Kemigisa. But, as the London Sunday Times reported, Gaddafi's behaviour towards Toro is something out of the ordinary as far as the Libyan strongman, known for bankrolling Africa's more controversial causes, is concerned. According to the newspaper, Gaddafi: Spent almost R38-million rebuilding Toro's palace and has bought luxury homes for the king and his mother in Kampala and London; Entertained both Kemigisa and Oyo in Tripoli several times - on one occasion the queen mother spent two months there; Sponsors the education of Princess Komuntale, Oyo's teenage sister, at an international school in Tripoli; and Visits the tiny kingdom at the foot of Uganda's fabled Mountains of the Moon whenever he can.
In return for the Libyan's attentions, Oyo has appointed Gaddafi as his adviser, and has sought his help to develop education, health and tourism in Toro. Libya being such a tourist hotspot
In diplomatic circles, speculation continues that Gaddafi is infatuated with Oyo's mother. She was widowed in 1995 when King Patrick Olimini Kaboyo II died suddenly from hypertension. Did they do a autopsy?
Talk of the relationship - and the time the queen mother has spent in Tripoli - has troubled Toro's one million people, the London Sunday Times said. "The people are very upset," the newspaper quoted an official as saying. "It is as if she has been taken over by Gaddafi." Oyo first met Gaddafi in May 2001, when the Libyan flew to Uganda for the installation of President Yoweri Museveni following his re-election as head of state. The kingdoms were abolished by former President Milton Obote in 1966 but re-established in 1994 by Museveni for ceremonial purposes. Following Museveni's installation, Gaddafi flew Oyo and his mother, along with their tribal guardians, back to Tripoli.
Gaddafi has in the past demonstrated considerable generosity towards the women who catch his eye. He has a hand-picked elite personal bodyguard made up entirely of beautiful women whose loyalty to their leader was demonstrated in June 1998 when, during a reported assassination attempt , one of them sacrificed her life for him. Their sultry style is somewhat over-emphasised by their chic shoulder holsters and by Gaddafi's insistence that they wear lipstick, nail varnish and perfume and style their hair - apparently to counter the "loss of femininity" suffered in doing "men's work". I've seen pictures, they're hot!
Gaddafi made headlines in July 2001 when he dispatched armed soldiers at night to bring South African bad girl of pop Brenda Fassie from her hotel to the house he keeps in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, after she performed at a concert there.
On that occasion, Fassie threw her arms around Gaddafi.
The Libyan strongman then took off his ruby-and-diamond gold ring and slipped it onto Fassie's finger.
More recently, Gaddafi' s roving eye fell on a 19-year-old American model, Tecca Zendik, who arrived in Tripoli in November last year as a contestant in the Miss Net World show, the first ever international beauty pageant held in Libya. Last month, Zendik was given a Libyan passport and appointed the country's honorary consul in the US. Chicks dig a guy with his own country.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/07/2003 11:43 am ||
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Back in July there was a story that Muammar had betrothed one of his sons to the little boy king's sister, who was being educated in Libya. You can't beat a good Libyan education...
Posted by: Fred ||
02/07/2003 12:18 Comments ||
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I thought a beating was a good Libyan education
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/07/2003 13:02 Comments ||
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#3
This page has a picture of Her Peachiness with the late King.
#4
Funny thing,I have Bob Woodward's "Veil:The Secret Wars of the CIA 1981-1987" and it says here that Gaddafi might be a bit of a queen himself.According to Woodward,CIA reports on Gaddafi said that he had,while on vacation in Spain and Mallorca,used make-up and high-heel shoes and ordered his staff to buy a teddy bear for him.I haven't found independent confirmation for this.
Posted by: El Id ||
02/07/2003 14:17 Comments ||
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Sorry, Tecca. Looks like the thrill is gone. Unless you got some oil wells he doesn't know about back in LA. I thought Mo was at deaths door?
Marking the anniversary of his failed putsch, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said here Tuesday that his effort in 1992, when he was an army paratroop colonel, to overthrow the government by force of arms was not a coup attempt. "Nope. Nope. It was, ummm... something else."
Chavez, who decries his current political opponents as "coup-mongers," sought Tuesday to draw a fine distinction. "The coupmakers of 2002 had no moral code; they are enemies of the homeland. The 1992 rebels have a moral code and are patriots," Chavez emphasized at a ceremony where he bestowed land titles on certain citizens in the western Caracas neighborhood of 23 de Enero. "I'm in charge now, so it's wrong to have a coup against me. I wasn't in charge then, so it was okay. Simple, huh?"
The Venezuelan leader said that the 1992 coup attempt was "a volcano that came out of the military youth which revealed itself to be against the military elite of that time, which was in the service of political interests." He added that, however, last year's brief coup "was a conspiracy of economic, political and corrupt elites." The president said that there was no comparison between the 2002 military and the 1992 armed forces. "Just because it walked like a duck, quacked like a duck, and laid and egg doesn't mean it was a duck."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
02/07/2003 11:43 am ||
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Four Cuban coast guardsman defected Friday, docking their patrol boat at a Key West resort, walking into town and surrendering to a police officer. The men, dressed in their military uniforms, approached Officer Matt Dorgan at about 4 a.m. and told him they wanted to surrender, Key West police spokeswoman Cynthia Edwards said. One man had a Chinese handgun holstered to his side, which he allowed Dorgan to take.
Officers searching their boat docked at the Hyatt Marina Resort found two loaded AK-47 machine guns along with ammunition. The boat was still flying a Cuban flag. Good thing this was Florida. They bring those things into Californicate and they would have been arrested. The AKs, Cuban flags are on sale at all California universities.
``They were happy to be here and were compliant with all of our requests,'' said Officer Tara Koenig, a Spanish-speaking officer Dorgan called for assistance. "Welcome to Key West, please check your machine guns at the door"
She said the men told her they had been on patrol about 1 a.m. when they decided to defect. ``My impression is that it was a last-minute decision,'' Koenig said. ``They were patrolling, talking about living at the poverty line when they said 'You know what, the United States is only 90 miles that way.' So they set the heading on their boat, terminated communication with Cuba and headed straight here.'' Heh, heh, heh. So much for the People's Paradise.
Edwards said the men were taken to the Monroe County jail, where they will be turned over to the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service. An INS spokesman did not immediately return a call Friday. Cubans who make it to U.S. soil are usually allowed to remain in the country, while those intercepted at sea are generally returned to Cuba. Safe!
The men's patrol boat has been turned over to the U.S. Coast Guard. A Coast Guard spokeswoman had no immediate comment and it could not be determined if the U.S. military had been tracking the men before they arrived at Key West. No one answered the phone at the Cuban Interests Section in Washington on Friday morning. Well, so much for Border Security.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/07/2003 10:35 am ||
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#1
Maybe going from Yellow to Orange today may help this lapse in security procedures with the Coasties.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/07/2003 12:40 Comments ||
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But wait!, dont they realize that Cuba has the best health care anywhere? Dont they realize that 'el jefe' is just trying to make their lives better?
Why those ungrateful peasants!, we'll see how good they do in the evil yankee-land. You know what happens when you let people feed themselves, and think for themselves, next thing you know they'll begin to think that they're in charge! and then you know what happens? the hang you by your feet upside down in a gas station with your best girlie by your side.
You watch! they'll be swimming back to the socialist paradise in no time, you'll see.
( somebody call the whaaaaaaaabulance for el jefe!)
Posted by: Frank Martin ||
02/07/2003 15:50 Comments ||
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Ivory Coast's President Laurent Gbagbo is expected to say on Friday that he wants a peace accord signed with rebels two weeks ago to be renegotiated. Mr Gbagbo's wife, Simone, who has considerable responsibilities within the ruling Ivorian Patriotic Front (FPI), told a French radio station that Ivorians did not want the accord as it stands. The head of state is due to address the nation at 2000 hours local time on the agreement which has been rejected by his supporters and the main political parties. The Marcoussis accord makes provision for power sharing with rebels who have divided the country since an uprising last September. "We asked you Frenchies to help fix the problem. We can screw it up ourselves â we don't need any help with that."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
02/07/2003 10:29 am ||
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Apparently he saw the demonstrations over the last week regarding the French-brokered truce. He wants to remain alive President a viable leader
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/07/2003 11:49 Comments ||
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The founder of the militant Palestinian group Hamas urged Muslims on Friday to attack Western interests around the world if the United States launches a war on Iraq. "It's a Crusaders's aggression, a Crusaders's war and an occupation," Sheikh Ahmed Yassin said of a possible U.S.-led military campaign against Iraq. "Muslims will have to threaten and strike Western interests, and hit them everywhere," Yassin wrote in an open letter. "As they fight us, we have to fight them and as they threaten our interests, we have to threaten their interests," he said. Hamas, a fundamentalist Islamic group on the U.S. government's list of terrorist organizations, has killed hundreds of people in suicide bombings in Israel during the 28-month-old Palestinian uprising for statehood. But the group insists it only operates in Israel and in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, and that it does not target Westerners. Gee, it sure sounds like you're targeting us now.
Yassin, who brands the United States an enemy, called upon Muslims in the U.S. armed forces to disobey any order to attack Iraq. "It is forbidden for them to participate in the killing of other Muslims," he said. "But our muslims will kill your muslims if they don't obey me"
After Friday prayers in Gaza City, the wheelchair-bound Yassin led a rally against any U.S. war on Iraq over its alleged weapons of mass destruction. Some 1,500 Palestinian demonstrators marched through the city, holding green Hamas flags and posters of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. Loudspeakers sounded a call for Iraqis to emulate Palestinian suicide bombers by donning explosives belts "to fight the invaders." Palestinians hold regular rallies in Gaza Strip and the West Bank in support of Iraq, whose financial aid to families of those killed by Israel during the uprising has boosted Saddam's image in the two areas. Worried about losing your funding?
Yassin also called on Arabs and Muslims to boycott U.S. goods and "close their doors" against the United States and its allies and not to offer them assistance in the war against Iraq. "Any regime that does that is a sinner," Yassin said in a copy of the letter obtained by Reuters.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/07/2003 11:50 am ||
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#1
Yasser's pretty old now, sooner or later he'll have a heart attack or something
#5
Three good things would come from Hamas rule:
1. Embarrass the Europeans who now send money to the PA based on the myth that it is not for terrorism (similar for Saudis).
2. Several hundred fatah thugs will likely be killed or banished
3. Hamas will fairly quickly lose credibility because they won't be able to fix infrastructure or destroy Israel, etc. so they'll eventually descend into the kind of govt. doublespeak that every other govt. tends to go to.
Also, for those who doubt it, Israel has agents in Hamas, too. Not as many as in Fatah, but partly that's because Fatah people are so cheap to bribe.
#6
Ya know, it is easy to shoot off one's mouth when the other person is not shooting back. When things heat up, there are at least two countries that will make Hamas a smoking hole in the ground and that will be the end of it. No words needed.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/07/2003 11:08 Comments ||
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Here's a conspiracy theory for you. David Shippers, Bubba's prosecutor, was interviewed in Chicago Mag last October. He actually hooked up w/Jayna Davis, who has put together circumstantial evidence that there was Iraqi involvement in Okla. City. Shippers thinks Hamas also had a hand in it. And Jayna's site still doesn't say that the FBI has turned over the tape of John Doe #2(?) to Specter's committee (I am assuming he's still head of it.)
Officials in the Central Asian states of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are resorting to repressive measures in an effort to counteract the clandestine activity of Hizb ut-Tahrir, a radical Islamic group. Despite the officialsâ increasingly coercive measures, one regional analyst has described the radical group as "growing like a hydra." Or maybe a cancer...
Over the past several years, Uzbekistan has severely curtailed freedom of religious expression, arresting thousands of individuals, nearly all of them Muslims, for allegedly engaging in the propagation of radical Islamic ideas. Now it appears that authorities in neighboring Central Asian states are ready to follow Tashkentâs lead in cracking down. Official concern about increasing Hizb ut-Tahrir activity was underscored by the January 30 discovery by authorities in northern Tajikistan of an underground printing press. During the raid, in Tajikistanâs Soghd Province, authorities discovered high-tech desktop publishing equipment and confiscated over 31,000 copies of books, pamphlets and leaflets. Three men, alleged Hizb members, were taken into custody in connection with the illicit publishing operation. This would be the stage where they're setting up the supporting infrastructure, prior to widescale recruitment...
The focal point of Hizb activity is the Ferghana Valley, Central Asiaâs most fertile region, which is shared by Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Poverty in the overcrowded valley is widespread. Gauging Hizb membership and support in Central Asia is difficult. However, Hizb activists have claimed that up to 100,000 Muslims have been interned in Uzbekistan on the basis of their religious beliefs. But such claims have not been independently verified. That doesn't say they're Hizb members, and I'd guess the numbers are inflated at least ten times. You can't be an oppressed Muslim without at least some kind of oppression to point to...
The Hizb advocates the non-violent overthrow of existing governments in Central Asia and the establishment of an Islamic caliphate in the region. Everybody wants a caliphate. And they're always "non-violent" — until the explosions start...
There are indications that since the September 11 terrorist attacks and the subsequent US-led campaign against terrorism, the Hizb is becoming more confrontational in its approach. Pamphlets recently confiscated by Tajik authorities contained anti-American slogans and voiced support for a potential jihad against the West. What else? You can't be an Islamist unless you're off on jihad against the West...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
02/07/2003 08:37 am ||
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The focal point of Hizb activity is the Ferghana Valley, Central Asiaâs most fertile region, which is shared by Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Poverty in the overcrowded valley is widespread.
Their biggest problem is their centralized kleptocracy, er, Bureaucracy, which would let the poeple keep the benefits of their fertile land.
ALP given slap on the wrist
07feb03
THE US Government has formally complained to the ALP about the party's criticism of President George W. Bush and its lack of support for the deployment of Australian troops to the Middle East. And when you read what was said, you'll understand why.
The Bush administration complained to Opposition Leader Simon Crean's office, saying the ALP's apparent anti-Americanism and targeting of Mr Bush during a parliamentary debate this week was damaging the US-Australian alliance. The Labour Party are playing to the lowest common denominator since the Australian Media have primed the public to loathe and distrust America and to think this war is only about controlling oil.
Mr Crean's office has confirmed the complaint, according to a report today in The Australian. "Labor makes no apologies for acting in the national interest, unlike John Howard, who seems to think the strength of an alliance lies in agreeing with everything the US says or does," a spokesman for Mr Crean told the paper. Labor MPs attacked the Bush administration during Wednesday's debate, with frontbencher Mark Latham saying the US President was "the most incompetent and dangerous president in living memory". Why, because he actually takes ACTION instead of toadying and appeasing dictators? Who's the real toady?
The Bush administration made its views clear to Labor's foreign affairs spokesman Kevin Rudd during his trip to the US last week. Sadly, the ALP will just argue that it is evidence of US manipulation and interference in our domestic affairs. They disgust me, and worse, Mark Latham is scheduled for the next leader of the Opposition, and possible future Prime Minister. Heaven help Australia!
Posted by: Anonymous ||
02/07/2003 08:20 am ||
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And the smaller parties here are even worse.
Posted by: Paul ||
02/07/2003 1:15 Comments ||
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We all thought that socialism was discredited with the fall of the Berlin wall--well it looks like the battle will go on. Why isn't freedom enough?
Posted by: phil ||
02/07/2003 18:53 Comments ||
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#6
Socialism is like a bubble in a linoleum floor. When you step on it it just moves around. You have to either lance it, or you have to push it all the way over the edge.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/07/2003 20:46 Comments ||
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#7
Australia is a democracy and as an Australian I have no problem with Latham expressing his opinion, which is shared by many of the citizens of Australia. To spell out Labour's policy and the view held by the majority of Australians - we believe our troups should only be involved in any action if it is UN sanctioned.
I think putting Latham as the next leader of Labour is jumping the gun somewhat. Also, Labour as a long way to go before they are even an effective opposition.
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.
Two senior al Qaeda figures helped train the people now suspected of planning chemical and biological attacks in France and the United Kingdom, European intelligence and judicial sources tell CNN. One of those figures is 
