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Bush, Blair, Aznar to Meet on Iraq
Today's Headlines
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Britain
Straw fury at French tactics
France's threat to deploy its UN veto is making war with Iraq more — not less — likely by preventing the security council from enforcing its own decisions, Jack Straw said last night. In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, the foreign secretary expressed dismay at what he had earlier called President Jacques Chirac's "extraordinary extortion position" in saying France would veto a second resolution whatever the circumstances. "Unfortunately, they appear to have made the decision not to enforce 1441," he said. "That renders it less likely that we get a peaceful outcome."
Quite.
He brushed aside any suggestion that war - possibly next week - would be illegal without a fresh resolution. He argued that if a resolution is lost then it does not exist - so the legal position reverts to resolution 1441 which threatens serious consequences if Iraq fails to comply with demands to disarm.
Serious consequences, apparently, is diplospeak for "do what we say, sucka, or we gonna bust a cap on you."
He also rejected Saddam's latest offer to prove he has destroyed his elusive stocks of VX nerve agent. "I have come to the dismal conclusion that for him it is really a game and it is trickling out the minimum concessions to buy more time." The foreign secretary told the Guardian that diplomacy could still produce a peaceful outcome, with the clock now running into next week.
I like the idea of Sammy going on Iraqi TV to say, in Arabic, that it was all his fault.
The US said yesterday it was prepared to wait until next week for a UN vote on a final ultimatum to Iraq, but might opt not to ask for a vote at all, if a security council majority continues to elude Washington. Only days after George Bush pledged to call for a vote, whether it might succeed or not, the administration said it would look at "all the options".
Is this more cover to keep Sammy from loosing chemical weapons at our guys?
The White House spokesman, Ari Fleischer, declared "the end is coming into sight" as more than 250,000 US and British troops in the region carried out final preparations for an invasion. B-2 Stealth bombers, likely to carry out the first raids of the campaign, left their Missouri bases yesterday. Hopes, too were fading last night for Britain's resolution after the crucial six undecided nations questioned whether the relatively short deadlines outlined in the proposal were realistic or only an excuse for war.
Take a guess, guys.
"The British proposal is not still at the point at which ... it satisfies our concerns," said Chilean ambassador Gabriel Valdes. Britain's United Nations ambassador, Jeremy Greenstock, met the crucial six undecided nations in a private meeting in an attempt to salvage a compromise. As Mr Straw spoke, the French foreign minister, Dominique de Villepin, also appeared conciliatory in the face of US-led vituperation. France is still open to any option that could solve the current crisis, he said. "We want a solution and we are looking for consensus within the security council. Everything must be tried to preserve the unity of the council and we are working towards that. France confirms its openness to seize all opportunities."
He realizes that the strident "we will veto regardless" puts them on the hook, and now he wants off.
But Mr de Villepin reiterated that Paris will not cross its red line: any second resolution must not contain an ultimatum that could lead to military action against Iraq. That was not reasonable, he insisted.
It's not reasonable if you're determined that Iraq isn't going to get whacked, regardless of what it does...
London's assault on the French position - "poisonous" the No 10 spokesman said - continued at a White House briefing. Ari Fleischer, the presidential spokesman, said that France had rejected the British "six tests" even before Baghdad had done so. "France has said they reject the logic of ultimatums. France also looked at the British proposal and they rejected it before Iraq rejected it. If that's not an unreasonable veto, what is?" he said.
Dominique is still on the hook.
In an attempt to woo Russia and the six swing states on the security council Mr Straw had earlier dropped the demand that Saddam state on Arabic TV that he would disarm. But he would still have to make a statement admitting his guilt.
No-o-o-o-o-o! Sammy has to allocute!!
Clare Short, the turncoat international development secretary, made a more conciliatory contribution, despite her weekend screed attack on Tony Blair's "reckless" conduct. She emerged to tell aides that she felt more positive about progress on the role of the UN and the prospects for the Middle East peace process.
"It was all PMS, really!"
Ms Short gave the impression of flailing abjectly rowing back from her weekend interview - telling BBC News she hopes the prime minister's battle to win a UN vote succeeds. Significantly, Gordon Brown, the chancellor and an ally of Ms Short's, took to the TV studios yesterday to back Mr Blair's position more energetically than at any time during the Iraqi crisis.
Posted by: Steve White || 03/14/2003 03:23 pm || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  But Mr de Villepin reiterated that Paris will not cross its Maginot line: any second resolution must not contain an ultimatum that could lead to freedom for the Iraqi people. That was not reasonable, he insisted.

On the one hand I would like to see the weasels go on record by voting in support of Saddam at the UNSC. On the other if we are not going to get the votes, perhaps it would be better to fall back on 1441 and roll over Sammy with an M1A1 ourselves.
Posted by: RW || 03/14/2003 1:46 Comments || Top||

#2  Paris has now said that they'll veto anything that could lead to war; e.g. anything reasonable. In other words, we've got our "unreasonable veto" and no actual vote is needed. All we need is another day or two of diplogames to make sure all the world understands what's happened here, and then we can send the balloon up and get on with things.
Posted by: jrosevear || 03/14/2003 7:06 Comments || Top||

#3  jrosevear
That's the short version. See Den Beste for more words, same view.

http://66.27.50.74/cd_log_entries/2003/03/PlayingOldMaid.shtml

dorf
Posted by: Anonymous || 03/14/2003 7:31 Comments || Top||

#4  Screw the frogs. We'll get to them later.

Right now, we have bigger fish to fry. Let's stop worrying about the EU and go do the deed, NOW!

But - we WILL remember.

Monsieur Chirac, enjoy your "triumph" while you can. Payback is guaranteed to be a bitch...
Posted by: mojo || 03/14/2003 10:17 Comments || Top||

#5  I was dissed yesterday, but Den Beste's post that dorf is referring to made me feel better about going the diplomatic route.

Yeah, Bush has been taking a beating from Chirac and Saddam, but compare this fight to a saloon brawl where the bad guys are breaking tables over, smashing chairs upon, and busting up bottles over the head of the good guy, who tries to talk his way out of the brawl. They then pause for applause, when the good guy stands up, wipes the blood off his lip, and says, "YOU GUYS just demolished the saloon. Where's everyone going to get their drinks NOW?"

THEN he kicks the shit out of the Iraqui.
Posted by: Ptah || 03/14/2003 10:42 Comments || Top||

#6  Excellent article explaining the diplomacy as old maid, not poker... Chirac ends up with the old maid
http://66.27.50.74/cd_log_entries/2003/03/PlayingOldMaid.shtml
Posted by: Jim || 03/14/2003 15:54 Comments || Top||


Europe
Denmark upholds conviction of radical
The spokesman for a radical Muslim group that urged people to kill Jews had his conviction of violating Denmark's anti-racism law upheld Friday. Fadi Abdullatif, the Danish spokesman for the Hizb-ut-Tahrir group, was convicted of breaking the country's anti-racism laws and given a 60-day suspended jail sentence in October 2002, but appealed.
60 days? With no teevee? Bet he was glad they suspended the sentence...
The Eastern High Court upheld his conviction and the sentence. Members of the group passed out handbills outside Copenhagen mosques in spring 2002 quoting a verse from the Qu'ran: "And kill them wherever you find them, and turn them out from where they have turned you out." The text of the flyer, which was also posted on the group's Web site, called Jews "people of slander" and said they should be killed. Danish law prohibits public statements that are deemed insulting or indignant about race, religion, nationality or sexual preference. Convictions can result in jail terms as long as two years.
And if you actually kill somebody they won't suspend all of the sentence...
In January, neighboring Germany outlawed Hizb ut-Tahrir, citing the spread of anti-Semitic and anti-Israel propaganda. Little is known about its structure, but German authorities said the group — whose name means Liberation party — advocates the destruction of Israel and has called for the killing of Jews.
The Hizb is a funnel group, apparently with Central Asian roots. Their avowed purpose in the establishment of a khalifate. They had an "Islamic constitution" for Britain up on their sites last year, and they're agitating for shariah law in Denmark. If you're interested, have a look at khilafah.com. Today's hot topic is "Reestablishing the Khilafah State is the Only Way to free ourselves from the oppression of the Western Colonial Powers."
Denmark's top prosecutor, Henning Fode, is investigating whether to ban the Danish branch, which has approximately 100 members.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 03/14/2003 09:28 pm || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Fifth Column
Follow Up: Maines Caves!
The power of the pocketbook... and the blogosphere!
Angry fans and radio stations appear to have rapidly clipped Dixie Chick Natalie Maines' antiwar feathers. The country singer apologized Friday evening for saying her band is ''ashamed that the President of the United States is from Texas'' -- comments that prompted furious online posts and phone calls from listeners, and boycotts from some country stations. ''I apologize to President Bush because my remark was disrespectful,'' Maines said in a statement released by her publicist. ''I feel that whoever holds that office should be treated with the utmost respect.''
...and please keep buying those CD's and concert tickets. Waitressing really sucked and didn't pay nearly as well as this.
She also seemed to soften her antiwar stance in the face of protests. ''While war may remain a viable option, as a mother, I just want to see every possible alternative exhausted before children and American soldiers' lives are lost,'' she said in her new statement. In an earlier statement on their website, the Chicks had taken a stronger stand: ''While we support our troops, there is nothing more frightening than the notion of going to war with Iraq and the prospect of all the innocent lives that will be lost.''
Who? Me? Us? Nah, that was Sean Penn...
On Friday, some country stations had begun boycotts of the Dixie Chicks, who had been topping playlists with the Vietnam-themed single ''Traveling Soldier.'' '''The majority of our calls are from listeners who are upset and concerned with Natalie not backing our leader, our president,'' said DJ Dennis Mitchell, of Cat Country 106.7 in Harrisburg, Penn. Before Maines' apology, Mitchell told EW.com that his station had stopped playing the Chicks' music, and might not start again for as long as a month.
Posted by: tu3031 || 03/14/2003 10:15 pm || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Dixie Chicks Remark Irks Country Fans
Why don't these people just SHUT UP!
NASHVILLE, Tennessee - The Dixie Chicks are drawing harsh words from country music fans for remarks singer Natalie Maines made about President George W. Bush during a recent performance in London.
We're in London. The yahoos back in America will NEVER find out...
Maines told the audience earlier this week, "Just so you know, we're ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas."
I got a feeling there's gonna be a few Texans who'll feel the same way about you when they hear about this.
Angry phone calls flooded Nashville radio station WKDF-FM on Thursday, some calling for a boycott of the Texas trio's music.
McCarthyism! Blacklist!
The group released a statement Thursday saying they have been overseas for several weeks and "the anti-American sentiment that has unfolded here is astounding. While we support our troops, there is nothing more frightening than the notion of going to war with Iraq and the prospect of all the innocent lives that will be lost."
Jeez, anti-American sentiment in Europe. Thanks for the news flash. How come European "artists" never comment on the anti-Europeanism when they're over here?
In a separate statement Thursday, Maines said, "I feel the president is ignoring the opinion of many in the U.S. and alienating the rest of the world. My comments were made in frustration, and one of the privileges of being an American is you are free to voice your own point of view."
Which means we will feel free to voice our own point of view and rip you to shreds. One of the privleges of being an American.
The Dixie Chicks will kick off a U.S. tour in support of their multi-platinum album "Home" on May 1 in Greenville, South Carolina. The group's hits include "Wide Open Spaces," "Ready to Run" and "Landslide."
Posted by: tu3031 || 03/14/2003 3:24:03 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
Pakistani Spymasters Protect bin Laden
I don't think much of the source, but this article seems to carry some pretty good info about the Pak Generals, who surely have to rank among the Learned Elders of Islam
A deadly combine of influential retired chiefs of Pakistan's premier spy service, the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), and multimillionaire transnational gold-and-drug smugglers whose operations span the gold-glittering free ports of Dubai and Singapore appear to be shielding Osama bin Laden from the hands of U.S. justice, amid reports that U.S. forces are zeroing in on the dreaded jihadist. The Washington Insititute in a recent report by senior fellow Matthew Levitt said "In the past, according to one account, al-Qaeda raised as much as 35 percent of its operating funds from the drug trade."
Just like the Taliban and the Chechen Mujahideen, it's hard to know where the criminal ends and the terrorist begins.
Top U.S. journalist, Daniel Pearl of the Wall Street Journal, was killed last year trying to unravel the al Qaeda and its links with a transnational smuggling ring, while two well-known Pakistani journalist who assisted Pearl and in their separate ways bared different aspects of this deadly combine were hounded by the ISI. Bin Laden's top sponsors — the spymasters — are former army generals, who headed the ISI, and who established close links with bin Laden. They are namely General Mehmud Ahmed and his even more notorious predecessor General Hamid Gul, while the drug-cum-gold smuggling ring includes formerly Dubai-based mafia don Dawood Ibrahim, the man wanted for the bomb blasts in the Indian city of Bombay that left 300 dead in 1993. Ibrahim, whose gold-and-drug smuggling operations span from Dubai in the Mideast to Singapore in the Far East is said to be leading a princely life-in-exile in Pakistan, since his ouster from Dubai in 1995. However, Musharraf has publicly, repeatedly denied his presence in Pakistan.
Ibrahim is the don of a mafi known as 'D-Company', that split along religous lines following the anti-Muslim riots in India after the tearing down of the Babri mosque a decade ago. The Muslim members of the gang (who made up the majority of it's membership) got in touch with the ISI who helpfully gave some of the gangsters bomb making training and sent them back to Mumbai where there handiwork would kill 300 people, in order to teach the Hindus a 'lesson'. Dawood and the rest of the top gangsters fled to Pakistan and Dubai with new Pakistani passports occassionally used for wet works by the ISI
General Mehmud Ahmed, was the main architect of the October 1999 coup that catapulted Musharraf into power. At that time he was the corps commander of Rawalpindi, considered one of the most powerful posts within the army hierarchy since Rawalpindi is closest to capital Islamabad and the soldiers there are in the vanguard of any army coup.
It is often overlooked that Musharaff didn't actually mount the coup that brought him to power, he was flying over Karachi at the time, but Islamist Generals, angry at the Pakistani PM forcing them to pull their troops from India's Kargil region under US pressure, kicked out the politician and chose the non-Islamist Musharaff as someone who would be more acceptable to America than any of them.
General Ahmed was later promoted to become the chief of the Inter Services Intelligence and incredibly was in the U.S. on September 11, 2001. He went to Afghanistan at the head of a team to ostensibly persuade the then Taliba'an leader Mullah Omar to hand over Osama bin Laden to the U.S. President Bush had initially set a deadline for the Taliban regime to surrender bin Laden. However, members of Ahmed's team that included Pakistan's top clergy instead of persuading Mullah Omar to listen to the U.S. demand, assured him full support in his war against America. With U.S. backing, Musharraf sacked General Ahmed. Still nearly half dozen attacks on Musharraf's life suggests Ahmed may be enjoying more clout than Musharraf in the rank-and-file soldiers as he belongs to the army's stronghold of Punjab, Pakistan's most populous province. On the contrary, Musharraf was born in India and is looked down upon in the army's old boys network. Ahmed almost openly rebelled against Musharraf for joining the U.S. coalition in the war on terror, but had to call quits because of an unfavorable regional situation.

Likewise, General Hamid Gul is a former ISI chief who had aspired to become the army chief and possibly Pakistan's chief executive, some of his close relatives told this correspondent, but was dispensed with after the changed situation with the demise of communism a decade earlier. With the rise of the Taliban regime, press reports confirm Gul was deemed an uncrowned king of that country and the most frequent vistor to Mullah Omar and bin Laden. For days at a stretch, Gul would vanish traceless from Pakistan, to be ensconsced in secret talks with Mullah Omar and bin Laden.

Most Pakistan observers believe Musharraf is fully aware these two former spymasters and generals are instrumental in shielding bin Laden, but can not lay hands on them as it would create a huge rift within the army — the sacred cow of Pakistan politics.
And with every political party from the Communists to the far right religous parties dispising him, the army is his only powerbase.
Posted by: Paul Moloney || 03/14/2003 03:34 pm || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Had to call it quits because of an unfavorable regional situation????
Posted by: Anonymous || 03/14/2003 12:28 Comments || Top||

#2  So howzabout a free-market contract on 'em, Perv? Then you can be "shocked, shocked!" that someone would kill your good and loyal friends, etc, etc...
Posted by: mojo || 03/14/2003 13:45 Comments || Top||

#3  Hey, didn't the State Department once inquire about putting out a contract on Fidel to the Mob professionals? If memory serves, I think they said "thainks, but no thainks."
Posted by: Ptah || 03/14/2003 15:17 Comments || Top||


Top ISI operative in Bangladesh shot
An under-cover agent of the Pakistani ISI — operating from Dhaka and known to Indian intelligence agencies as 'Ahmed Mustakeen' — was shot dead under mysterious circumstances in the Bangladeshi capital on Monday. The Hindustan Times had reported on February 18 that Mustakeen was the "kingpin" of the ISI's network in Dhaka. He reportedly owned a restaurant on Dhaka's Jail Road and had been clandestinely working for the Pakistani agency for the last several years. He was married to the daughter of a senior Bangladeshi police officer of the rank of inspector-general.
The ISI, and it's Indian equivalent RAW have been waging a covert war against each other for decades, so this sounds like just another hit by a RAW agent.
There has been no breakthrough in the case yet. But sources in Dhaka said the police were following three theories. First, his disgruntled subordinates, who hadn't got their dues, did Mustakeen to death. The Dhaka police also suspect ''anti-ISI forces'' in Bangladesh who are not happy at the manner in which a section of the country's security apparatus is being run by the Pakistani intelligence agency working in tandem with its Bangladeshi counterpart, the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI).
A large part of the Bangladeshi military and security services are friendly with their Pak counterparts due to Islamic solidarity and dislike of Indian 'hegemony'. They don't seem to concerned about the 1 to 3 million of the countrymen killed by the Pakistani army in 1971, but then a lot of them come from pro-Pakistani militias that worked alongside the Pak army against their own countrymen during Bangladesh's was for independance. Most of the Banladeshi Islamists, including the local branch of the Jamaat-e-Islami, also were involved in pro-Pakistan militias, and the primary role was conducting massacres of the Hindu population of East Pakistan (Bangladesh), because they were seen as being loyal to India.
The Bangladesh authorities are also blaming Indian security agencies for having ''carried out the hit'' on Mustakeen. In the past, Dhaka has blamed Indian intelligence agencies — with or without evidence — for engineering political unrest in that country.
And Bangladesh has turned a blind eye to the operations of a dozen separatist groups active in India's restive north easter provinces, giving many of their leaders a safe haven.
This time, it seems that the Bangladeshi police are yet to come up with any clues to back up their claim. Considering the deep-cover activities of Mukstakeen, the Bangladesh authorities are unlikely to make a hue and cry about the incident which, if publicised, will only confirm Indian claims of the ISI's presence and penetration in that country.
Posted by: Paul Moloney || 03/14/2003 03:06 pm || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Iraq
First Strike?
Is Sammy this stupid? Last time he did everything wrong.
U.S. Military Concerned Saddam Hussein May Launch First Attack
U.S. officials fear that once President Bush signals the U.S. is headed to war, Saddam Hussein will strike pre-emptively, administration sources told ABCNEWS. But if the United States takes action to stop an Iraqi first strike, especially if they try to seize and protect the oil fields, U.S. officials admit they may end up starting the war itself.
Weren't we going to do that anyway?
This new level of concern about Iraq is caused by an accumulation of intelligence including troubling new details that focus on three areas: Specific new evidence indicates that Iraqi activity in the Western desert shows the strong likelihood Scud missiles are hidden there. These missiles could easily reach Israel carrying chemical or biological warheads which could draw Israel into any war.
But Blixie says... oh, never mind.
Detailed new intelligence from the southern Iraqi oil fields shows that many of the 700 wells have now been wired with explosives. These explosives appear to be connected to a central command post, so Saddam could easily set the wells ablaze.
So if you take out the central CP nothing gets blown up, right? That's dumb.
Near the border with Kuwait, where 135,000 U.S. troops are now stationed, recent surveillance indicates Iraqi artillery batteries have been moved dangerously close. The artillery is capable of firing shells filled with poison gas.
What't the lifespan of an Iraqi artilleryman expected to be in this thing? About 15 minutes? Less?
The United States is now considering moving against all three of these targets before any war begins in an effort to prevent Saddam from acting first, sources told ABCNEWS.
I would think if you make your move on any of these things, the war will be considered "started".
Posted by: tu3031 || 03/14/2003 04:45 pm || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "So if you take out the central CP nothing gets blown up, right? That's dumb."

It works with a negative control system. As long as the bombs keep getting a signal from the CP, all's ok. Take out the CP, signal dies, boom...
Posted by: mojo || 03/14/2003 16:02 Comments || Top||

#2  I thought of negative control too, but that's kind of risky. If for some reason the power goes out then "BOOM".

"Achmed, why did the oil well blow up? All I did was turn off this computer..."
Posted by: Scooter McGruder || 03/14/2003 16:54 Comments || Top||

#3  I think, sadly, the only way to stop the wells from getting torched is to pray that the guys in charge opt to disobey orders and leave the facilities intact. Hopefully they'll have their own, their families', and their countrymen's futures in mind and hold those more precious than obeying a tyrant's scorched earth orders.

That last sentence applies to the guys in charge of the chemical and biological weapons, as well.
Posted by: Dar Steckelberg || 03/14/2003 17:41 Comments || Top||

#4  In August 1944, when the Allied armies raced towards Paris, Hitler gave secret orders to his newly appointed Commander of Paris, General Dietrich von Choltitz, to reduce this most beautiful of all cities to 'a field of rubble'. To refuse the order was to risk his own life and put his family at risk of gruesome death at the hands of the Gestapo.
The general did not carry out the order.
Posted by: Anonymous || 03/14/2003 20:39 Comments || Top||

#5  But if the United States takes action to stop an Iraqi first strike, especially if they try to seize and protect the oil fields, U.S. officials admit they may end up starting the war itself.

Who the hell cares who starts it?

Our aim should be to FINISH it.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 03/14/2003 21:29 Comments || Top||


Kurds Say Oil Center Now a Military Camp
The Kurdish families arrive with few possessions but laden with stories about why they fled the city of Kirkuk: a tightening noose of searches, harassment and arrests by Saddam Hussein's forces in the strategic oil center. "It's terrible," exclaimed Saheed Said, who crossed into the Western-protected Kurdish enclave Friday with his wife and three children, joining a growing exodus of Iraqi Kurds from the northern city. "Saddam has turned it into a military camp."

The accounts by the fleeing families cannot be independently verified. But they suggest Iraqi soldiers are fortifying positions at one of the potential key battlefields and trying to root out any perceived threats among the majority Kurds. An escalating campaign of house-to-house searches and detentions of suspected underground resistance supporters apparently has accelerated the Kurdish flight from Kirkuk, about 150 miles north of Baghdad. At least 1,000 Kurds have crossed into the northern safe haven zone outside of Saddam's control since Thursday, border officials said. A steady stream of vehicles - battered buses, cars and packed taxis - passed Friday through the Kurdish checkpoint at Qushtapa, about 45 miles north of Kirkuk. Those with relatives in the enclave were allowed to continue toward Irbil, the administrative capital of the Kurdish zone. Others with nowhere to go huddled together in muddy lots until authorities could find them shelter. "We were so afraid. We decided we couldn't wait and had to leave right away. All I grabbed was a few clothes and one loaf of bread," said Resan Bahadi, hugging her 12-year-old daughter as they waited for someone to arrange a room in a local home.

The Iraqi clampdown intensified early this week after protesters in Kirkuk burned a portrait of Saddam, the refugees said. The Iraqi searches apparently seek any evidence of Kurdish dissent, such as weapons, letters, Kurdish newspapers or books. "They even check the radio to see if it's dialed to a Kurdish station," said Bahadi, whose husband was killed in the failed Kurdish uprising following the 1991 Gulf War. "That alone could get you in trouble now."

Kirkuk, the regional center of Iraq's most important northern oil fields, remained under Saddam's control after the Gulf War while Irbil and other Kurdish areas to the north achieved effective autonomy under the protection of U.S. and British warplanes. Tens of thousands of Kurds have left Kirkuk for the safe haven in the past decade. Saddam, meanwhile, moved Arab settlers into the Kirkuk area and enforced a so-called "nationality correction" campaign in which Kurds were forced to adopt Arab names or risk losing their property. A report released in Washington on Friday by Human Rights Watch said Iraq continues to expel not only Kurds, but ethnic Turks and Assyrians in the region and turn their property over to Arab families from the south. The organization said there was an urgent need to organize the orderly return of more than 120,000 people forced out of their homes since 1991. This was essential to head off ethnic violence should displaced families attempt to return to the area, it said in a report.

Kirkuk could become a pivotal point in a U.S.-led attack. The city would be a major crossroads for any northern invasion from Turkey - if Turkey's parliament reconsiders its rejection of a U.S. request to allow up to 62,000 troops to open a northern front in the event of an attack. Walid Rashid, a 24-year-old Kurdish metal-shop worker in Kirkuk, said Iraqi forces were building earthen and concrete mounds and digging trenches in anticipation of an attack. Additional anti-aircraft batteries are in place, but no tanks have been seen in the city, he added. "All the young men are in a panic," he said. "The Iraqis are rounding up anyone they feel could fight against them. Everyone is looking to get out."

So far, the Iraqi forces have not blocked the route north to the Kurdish enclave. But Kurds in Kirkuk fear their avenue out could be closed if diplomatic efforts to avert war are exhausted. The owner of an old Nissan bus, Karim Sulayman, planned three trips Friday to ferry Kurds to Irbil. "People are begging for seats," he said. "They are feeling this could be their last chance." Behind the bus, a rusty Kirkuk taxi creaked under the weight of nine passengers. Mohammad Salah, 81, crammed himself and his son's family into the cab for a one-way trip from Kirkuk to Irbil. "How could we remain? Saddam's military is everywhere in Kirkuk," he said. "In a war, it could become a very bloody place."
The longer we wait, the more time Saddam has to get ready. Of course, that assumes that the Iraqi army will fight from the positions that they are digging. They may just be going through the motions to keep from being shot.
Posted by: Steve || 03/14/2003 03:02 pm || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Marine Pigeon Force May Detect Attack
I just don't know what to think about this story.
Nearly a month ago, the Marines of the 7th Regiment were given 43 chickens to raise and nurture, chickens that were to repay them by helping detect a possible Iraqi chemical or biological attack. Within a week and a half, 42 were dead, although no one suspects foul play.
Oooh. A pun. Clumsy, obvious, but still a pun...
On Friday, the Marines got a new avian force a company of pigeons. The birds are meant to be the military equivalent of a canary in a coal mine. During a possible invasion of Iraq, they are to ride with a caretaker in armored vehicles. If they start to get sick, it could indicate a chemical attack and give the Marines a chance to put on their gas masks.

U.S. troops have prepared for the worst. They have been vaccinated against anthrax and smallpox. They have gas masks belted to their hips at all times and have been trained to put them on in nine seconds with their eyes closed and while holding their breath. They have been issued with special camouflage suits with charcoal linings, rubber boots and gloves, atropine to counteract nerve gas, and packets of charcoal to deactivate any chemicals that may land on them. To detect an attack, the Marines have special chemical sensitive tape and paper, a chemical agent monitoring machine, a packet filled with detection ampules and a vehicle, the Fox, designed to take test samples while moving. "And we've got the pigeons. Hoorah!" said Chief Warrant Officer Rob Garcia, 34, of West Paterson, N.J., who's in charge of chemical and biological defense training for his battalion.

But first came the chickens. They arrived at this Marine camp in northern Kuwait more than three weeks ago and were billeted in a coop. Things were going fine until three of them died one night. "It was pretty much steady like that, except some nights when we had major massacres of like nine," said Lance Cpl. John Frawley, 20, of Stony Point, N.Y. "About a week, week and a half, they were done." One chicken, nicknamed "Turkey Thunder," was rescued from the coop by the 3rd Battalion, 11th Regiment. It now lives in a tent with Marines from the artillery battalion, though it appeared to have a little cough Friday night. It is unclear why the chickens died. Some believe they had the flu. Others said chickens were simply not meant to live in the desert.

Lt. Col. Michael Belcher, commanding officer of the 3rd Battalion, does not blame his Marines for the deaths. The chickens looked a little piqued that first day, and he believes the birds' death warrants were signed long before they ever moved to Living Support Area 7. But he wanted to do everything possible to make sure their pigeon replacements did not meet the same fate. "They get bottled water," he told Frawley, who was charged with finding "pigeon qualified personnel" to care for the birds. "I don't want them spooked." Belcher held out hope that if all goes well, the birds could receive a most honorable discharge."We'll release them in Baghdad," he said. "Like doves."
Too bad they couldn't release a truckload of pigs too!
Posted by: Yosemite Sam || 03/14/2003 02:47 pm || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I raised exotic breeds of chickens as a lad. It's true the birds are sensitive to extreme heat - it kills 'em. In fact, the Israelis recently developed a featherless breed of chickens able to survive desert heat.
Posted by: Scooter McGruder || 03/14/2003 14:49 Comments || Top||


’Free Iraqi Forces’ Join U.S. Troops
The 50 Iraqi exiles trained by the U.S. military to act as interpreters and guides have joined American units in the Persian Gulf awaiting a possible war with Iraq, the Army general in charge of their training said Friday. The first group of "Free Iraqi Forces" finished a monthlong training course at a base in Hungary earlier this month, Maj. Gen. David Barno told Pentagon reporters in a telephone interview. Barno said his group of Army soldiers is training another group of Iraqis and preparing for a third class. The graduates are all deployed with military "civil affairs" units, which move into areas after combat to help provide food, shelter and other relief to civilians, Barno said.
Good place for them.
The Iraqis - exiles who were living in the United States, Canada and Western Europe - are trained to work with U.S. military units that provide humanitarian assistance, Barno said. They are not intended to join front-line combat units, though U.S. field commanders have the final say on that question, Barno said. The Army trainers taught the Iraqis basic self-defense skills, like using a 9mm pistol and wearing protective gear in case of chemical or biological attacks. The Army also trained the Iraqis how to coordinate humanitarian aid between the U.S. military and relief groups such as the International Committee of the Red Cross and the United Nations Commission for Refugees. "They're not experts, but they're well attuned to the requirements," Barno said.
The Iraqi recruits range in age from 18 to 55, and many were businessmen or teachers with advanced degrees, including one man with a doctorate, Barno said. They represent all regions and the three main ethnic groups in Iraq, he said. "They came together very cohesively despite their varied backgrounds from different parts of Iraq," he said. Although the "Free Iraqi Forces" are not formally part of the U.S. military and wear distinctive patches on their uniforms, they will be expected to follow the orders of U.S. commanders, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said. The Iraqis are paid a small stipend that's less than a U.S. private would make, Barno said.
Three Iraqi recruits have had to drop out of the training because of personal or medical problems, Barno said. The recruits are screened before their training to try to prevent the forces from being infiltrated by agents working for Saddam Hussein, Barno said. "I'm very confident that these individuals ... are absolutely trustworthy," he said.
Tick..tick..tick..
Posted by: Steve || 03/14/2003 11:30 am || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Nah, they ain't got no B-25's...
Posted by: mojo || 03/14/2003 13:46 Comments || Top||

#2  I thought "Free Mexican Air Force" was a song by Flaco Jimenez....
Posted by: Frank G || 03/14/2003 18:23 Comments || Top||

#3  ;)

Right up there with "I Was a Cock-Teaser for Roosterama!"
Posted by: mojo || 03/15/2003 0:27 Comments || Top||


Shooters Transit Suez, Head for Red Sea
Two US destroyers and three nuclear submarines headed south through the Suez Canal on Friday, after the Pentagon said it was considering sending more warships from the Mediterranean to join a war on Iraq. Egyptian port authorities said the destroyers were the state-of-the-art USS Arleigh Burke and the USS Deyo, while the attack submarines were the Boise, Toledo and the San Juan, all of the Los Angeles class. All the ships include Tomahawk cruise missiles in their arsenal.
Heh, heh, heh. Open wide, Sammy!
A Pentagon official said on Thursday Washington was considering moving ships and submarines fitted with cruise missiles from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea for use in any attack on Iraq. The decision involves "more than 10 ships" - cruisers, destroyers and submarines - and is tied to Turkey's recent refusal to grant US forces permission to fly over its territory. The satellite-guided Tomahawk missiles, which have a range of 1600km and can avoid radar detection, could then be targeted on Iraq "with the cooperative effort from Saudi Arabia", the official said.
Cooperative effort, my ass.
A green light from Turkey would be needed to launch air bombings or missile strikes from two US aircraft carriers stationed in the eastern Mediterranean or even an airborne operation in northern Iraq. Turkish Ambassador to the United States Faruk Logoglu said on Wednesday that preliminary discussions were under way on the possible use by US forces of Turkish airspace in case of war in Iraq. The Turkish parliament on March 1 rejected a call by the government to allow a massive US military deployment in Turkey with the aim of sending ground troops to invade across Iraq's northern border. The new Ankara government which is being set up by incoming Prime Minister designate Recep Tayyip Erdogan could call for a new parliamentary vote on the issue.
Which better happen soon. If five are all ready passing through, I'd expect all the ships would be in the Red Sea by Saturday afternoon at the latest.
Posted by: Steve || 03/14/2003 02:30 pm || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


A blitz like no other
A HUNDRED RAF warplanes will spearhead an unprecedented blitz on Iraq in the first hours of war - paving the way for the ground invasion. Our brave fliers will take part in the biggest British air armada since the Suez crisis half a century ago to unleash havoc on Saddam. They will play a key role beside US and Aussie pilots in devastating Iraq’s military with the most up-to-date "smart" weapons ever used in battle.

Last night a senior British officer at Qatar, the Allies’ nerve centre, said: "Nothing like this has ever been seen before.The firepower we possess and our ability to achieve pinpoint accuracy is truly devastating to the enemy. Everyone is ready to go. We are there."

In the first seconds of war, two Royal Navy T-class submarines will fire Tomahawk cruise missiles from the Persian Gulf. More £1million Tomahawks will be launched from American B2 Stealth Bombers, B52s and US Navy warships. The US is moving B2s and a dozen more missile-firing warships to the region, defence officials said yesterday. The planes began flying out of Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri on Wednesday night. And the US navy plans to move about a dozen cruisers and destroyers from the eastern Mediterranean to the Gulf.

After the initial assault, 44 RAF Tornado GR4 bombers armed with Storm Shadow missiles and Paveway III "smart bombs" will take off. They will join with US F15 Eagles, F117 Nighthawk stealth fighters, Predators, Prowlers and Australian Hornets to form 60-strong aircraft "packages". Each will launch waves of state-of-the-art missiles up to 200 miles from targets, knowing they will be accurate within 2ft. RAF Harrier GR7s armed with Maverick missiles and Jaguar GR3s will also take part in the opening salvos, while fuel-carrying VC10s and Tristars will act as airborne filling stations.

Top brass are determined to render Iraq helpless in the opening hours of the war. US planes will blind Saddam’s command bunkers by knocking out the electricity grid with secret Blackout Bombs. These are packed with tiny bomblets containing carbon filaments which short-circuit power cables. Power stations will be hit with Microwave Bombs, which create huge electrical jolts. Iraq’s pitiful air force of just a few dozen working planes has already fled and Scud and SAM surface-to-air missiles will be targeted with the opening shots. Elite British SAS and SBS teams have been behind enemy lines for weeks pinpointing Scud sites for air strikes. Last night it was confirmed 25,000 British combat troops have now been moved to their "tactical assembly areas".

As the ground invasion starts Saddam’s soldiers will be hit by wave after wave of air assaults, in the hope they will quickly surrender by the thousand. Royal Marine Commandos and elements of the US 82nd Airborne Division will be helicoptered in to take the al-Faw oil refineries south of Basra. Paras from 16 Air Assault Brigade will race ahead to seize strategic objectives.Then the 7th Armoured Brigade - the famed Desert Rats - will pour across the border. Its units include the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, Royal Irish Regiment, Royal Fusiliers and Queen’s Dragoon Guards. They will form up with the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment with its 116 Challenger II battle tanks and 150 Warrior armoured personnel carriers.

More than 100,000 US soldiers will also roll forward in an unstoppable drive for Baghdad. The capital could easily be reached within a week. But there are fears Saddam’s Republican Guard will make a bloody last stand in its streets. The fanatics may vow to fight among the closely-packed homes, many interlinked by a warren of cellars and alleys. The Sun’s military adviser Major General Ken Perkins said: "If the Guard do make a stand they have an advantage. They know the escape routes, the dead-ends and the best places to spring ambushes." On the other hand, Maj Gen Perkins said, the attackers would have superior firepower.

Rumours are rife in Baghdad that any civilians stepping outside during street fighting will be shot by their OWN side. And suicide squads are said to be in training - ready to die attacking Allied soldiers with canisters of deadly chemicals. Baghdad driver Mohammed Salman said: "Yes, we are in fear. But we trust in God that when the bombs come they do not land on our homes."
Posted by: Yosemite Sam || 03/14/2003 02:29 pm || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  A HUNDRED RAF warplanes will spearhead an unprecedented blitz on Iraq in the first hours of war

As soon as we get UN approval two months from now.
Posted by: g wiz || 03/14/2003 10:40 Comments || Top||

#2  Hot damn!
Posted by: Ptah || 03/14/2003 10:59 Comments || Top||

#3  Well, Blixie IS more concerned w/global warming than war.
Posted by: Anonymous || 03/14/2003 12:32 Comments || Top||

#4  As of this week, Blixie IS the main source of global warming.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 03/14/2003 12:42 Comments || Top||


Franks shifts missile vessels to war positions in Red Sea
The U.S. military is moving a dozen or more missile-firing ships from the Mediterranean into the Red Sea, bordering Saudi Arabia, as Gen. Tommy Franks puts the final pieces in place for a war with Iraq. As the ships were preparing to move as early as last night, the Air Force announced it had deployed an unspecified number of B-2 stealth bombers from Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., to bases closer to Iraq. The bat-wing bombers, making their first deployment outside the United States, would play a key role in the opening hours of war by knocking out important military targets in Baghdad. The Air Force has established special shelters for the B-2s on the island of Diego Garcia and in Fairfield, England. The White House has set Monday as a deadline for Iraq to begin disarming. If it does not, a U.S.-led attack could come any day afterward.
Like maybe Tuesday...
Two battle groups are in the Mediterranean, headed by the carriers USS Harry S. Truman and USS Theodore Roosevelt. The Navy has in place around Iraq more than 30 surface ships and submarines capable of firing the terrain-following Tomahawk. A Pentagon official said it is his understanding that Gen. Franks, chief of U.S. Central Command who will oversee any invasion of Iraq, will keep the two carriers and their 140-plus aircraft in place for now. Only surface ships and submarines armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles will move to the Red Sea, the official said. The official said the reason could be that, since the missiles fly relatively low and slow to their targets, Gen. Franks would rather have them fly over the Saudi desert than population centers over Israel and Jordan. Tomahawks are typically one of the first weapons fired in war to take out air-defense systems. If citizens spot missiles overhead, it would give Baghdad warning of an attack and perhaps ruin the tactical surprise Gen. Franks is seeking.
Had not thought of that. Sammy has a lot of spies in Jordan, bet they are watching the sky and the troops based there.
"Shooting over Israel and Jordan politically may not be viable," the official said. The two carriers' strike aircraft are able to fly high, 30,000 feet or more, before descending over Iraq toward the target. Turkey has not yet granted overflight rights. But Pentagon officials said they believe Israel and Jordan, which is allowing American special operations troops on its soil, will allow flights over their airspace to Iraq.
We heard that Jordan agreed, Israel is no problem.
Three battle groups are in the Persian Gulf, spearheaded by the carriers USS Constellation, USS Kitty Hawk and USS Abraham Lincoln. The USS Nimitz battle group has left Pearl Harbor and is three to four weeks away from arriving in the Gulf. It is scheduled to relieve the Lincoln, which had completed its six-month deployment and was heading home when the Pentagon told it to reverse course and prepare for war.
It only seems like we have everything we own there...
The military has 21 of the radar-evading B-2 bombers. Analysts say as many as 16 could participate in the opening night of strikes against Iraqi fixed targets: air-defense centers, command posts and Republican Guard concentrations. The B-2 holds 16 1-ton bombs, guided by the global positioning system (GPS), meaning each bat-wing aircraft can hit 16 different targets in a single pass over Baghdad. The capability marks a major improvement from the Gulf war 12 years ago. Then, only the F-117 stealth fighter, with two laser-guided bombs, penetrated Baghdad airspace in the opening nights. More than 230,000 American troops are in the Iraqi theater, backed by about 40,000 British personnel. Gen. Franks said at the Pentagon last week that he is ready to wage war if President Bush gives the order to topple Saddam Hussein and rid Iraq of weapons of mass destruction.
The final piece may be the Army 101st Airborne Division, a helicopter assault force of 20,000 soldiers. The last of the 101st's helicopters are scheduled to arrive in Kuwait this week by sea. The division is expected to carry out several missions, including opening a northern front and patrolling western Iraq for Scud missiles and launchers.
The 101st is all we are waiting for now. Tick.. tick..
Yep. Sure sounds like Tuesday...
Posted by: Steve || 03/14/2003 02:25 pm || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Purim

Tuesday, March 18, 2003

The holiday of Purim, involves a plot by wicked Haman against the Jews and his eventual defeat and demise through the efforts of Mordechai and Queen Esther. A minor holiday, Purim is historic in origin. It is celebrated with much joy and revelry. Traditionally, children and adults dress in costume and a carnival atmosphere prevails with parades and festivities. The Book of Esther is read and children twirl noise makers known as groggers to "blot out" Haman's name whenever it is read.
Posted by: Who are you kidding? || 03/14/2003 15:16 Comments || Top||

#2  Don't they have to give the inspectors time to get out? How long is flight from Baghdad to Kuwait City... 45 minutes?? Yep, Tuesday.
Posted by: RW || 03/14/2003 16:39 Comments || Top||

#3  RW---I have seen here or somewhere that Blixie's inspectors are ready to go in 3 hr. The problem is that Sammy just may want to jaw with them come departure time and they may not be able to make the plane. In which case we should put that one on Blixie' head. I do not think that Bush will let Sammy hold up the show with a hostage taking program.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 03/14/2003 19:31 Comments || Top||


Today’s Turkish Press on Irag
WASHINGTON OFFICIALLY ASKS ANKARA FOR OVER FLIGHT PERMISSION, USE OF SEVERAL TURKISH MILITARY AIRBASES
Ahead of a possible US-led military campaign against Iraq, the Bush administration officially asked Ankara yesterday to open Turkish airspace to US planes for airlifting troops and war materiel into northern Iraq. Washington’s over flight request was conveyed by Robert Pearson, US ambassador to Ankara, during his meeting with ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is set to formally take PM post soon. Pearson also presented Erdogan a letter from US President George W. Bush which reportedly requested US use of military airbases in the southeastern Turkish provinces of Mus, Batman and Diyarbakir to launch air strikes on Iraq. Following the meeting, Prime Minister Abdullah Gul, Chief of General Staff Hilmi Ozkok and Erdogan gathered to discuss Washington’s requests. In related news, US Vice President Dick Cheney phoned Erdogan reportedly urging him to introduce a motion to Parliament which would allow deployment of US troops in Turkey for a possible northern offensive into Iraq, and told Erdogan that Turkey should not intervene in northern Iraq single-handedly. /All Papers/

ANAKARA WARNS BARZANI TO ABANDON HIS ANTI-TURKEY ATTITUDE OVER NORTHERN IRAQ
Turkish Foreign Ministry warned Massoud Barzani, head of the Iraqi Kurdistan Democratic Party (IKDP), to abandon his anti-Turkey attitude over the northern Iraq issue. Meeting with IKDP’s Representative in Ankara, Sefin Dizayi yesterday, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Yusuf Buluc said that the IKDP should give up promoting anti-Turkish ambitions in northern Iraq and coopearte with Ankara for the well-being of all the Iraqi people. /Cumhuriyet/

TALABANI: “WE ARE OPPOSED TO TURKEY’S INTERVENTION IN IRAQ SINCE WE DON’T WANT TO FIGHT AGAINST TURKISH TROOPS”
Iraqi Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani said yesterday that they didn’t want to invade Mosul and Kirkuk or fight against Iraqi troops. Talabani stated that his policy was only to protect security of the region controlled by Kurds. “We consider ourselves as partners of the US,” he said. “We are opposed to Turkey’s intervention in northern Iraq since we don’t want to fight against Turkish troops.” /Aksam/

ERDOGAN HOLDS A TELEPHONE CONVERSATION WITH CHENEY
Justice and Development Party (AK Party) leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was designated to form the new government, held a telephone conversation with U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney following the summit at Prime Ministry. During the conversation, Erdogan and Cheney exchanged views about a possible U.S.-led military action against Iraq and the motion. Erdogan told Cheney that Turkey was going through a new government process and stated that a new evaluation on demands mentioned in the motion should be made. Erdogan said that formation of the new government should be waited for making evaluation on the motion.

U.S. PRESIDENT BUSH CALLS FOR URGENT RESPONSE FOR MOTION AND AIR SPACE
The U.S. President George Bush sent a letter and verbal message to Justice and Development Party (AK Party) leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan through the U.S. Ambassador Robert Pearson. Bush said they did not have patience to wait more. Pearson officially conveyed the demand for air space, and stressed that Bush waited for an urgent response. Bush sent the message that if Turkey and the United States would not enter Northern Iraq together and act together there, it would not be appropriate for Turkey to enter there by its own. In a summit in which Erdogan, Prime Minister Abdullah Gul, and Chief of General Staff Gen. Hilmi Ozkok, they adopted to give a positive response to Washington.

A LITTLE SPACE BETWEEN GENERAL STAFF AND POLITICAL LEADERSHIP
Chief of General Staff Hilmi Ozkok, who had gone to Cankaya Palace when the motion was rejected, pointed out that, ''views of Turkish Armed Forces should be shared with public.'' President Ahmet Necdet Sezer in response said, ''it will not be appropriate. Various interpretations can be made.'' When Gen. Ozkok had made a statement supporting the motion following this meeting, President Sezer said, ''it was not appropriate. He should not have asked my views if he would have made this.'' When the motion was rejected, Gen. Ozkok told Prime Minister Abdullah Gul that, ''we had made all our accounts on passage of the motion. We can not remain indifferent against Northern Iraq. It is obligatory to find a new formula.''

PRESS CENTER ESTABLISHED IN ISKENDERUN
A Press Information Center was established in Naval Base Command in Iskenderun. Naval Forces Captain Ertugrul Ucar, who made a statement in Press Information Center, briefed about the studies carried out in the region within the scope of possible action against Iraq.

YALMAN: ''TSK IS READY FOR EVERY MISSION''
Land Forces Commander General Aytac Yalman who inspected Iskenderun port said, ''our troops are at perfect level. We, as Turkish Armed Forces (TSK), are ready for every mission which our nation will give us.''

MILITARY ACTIVITY
U.S. activity continues in Turkey. Land Forces Commander General Aytac Yalman came to southern Iskenderun province to inspect the region. U.S. Land Forces Deputy Commander in Chief Gen. Michael Dodson who also inspected Iskenderun port, Mediterranean Region and Garrison Command in southern Mersin province later returned to Incirlik base by helicopter.

GONUL: IRAQ CANNOT WIN THE WAR
National Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul said that in case of a possible war between Iraq and the United States, Iraq could not win the war. Gonul who informed Parliamentary Planning and Budgetary Commission regarding the budget of his ministry said that data were clear and if war would start, Iraq would not have the opportunity to win it. He added that no matter how heroically Iraq fought, the result would not change. He said that Iraq should implement the United Nations decisions.
Something could still happen on the Northern Front, but they better hurry.
Posted by: Steve || 03/14/2003 02:20 pm || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Steve, I think there's a lot going on that's not being made public. We've seen posts here recently that the convoys from the ports continue, and that ships apparently continue to unload. This may end up being run like Reforger, our troops fly in and meet up with their pre-positioned equipment, and roll in 36-48 hours.
Posted by: Chuck || 03/14/2003 9:18 Comments || Top||

#2  Chuck, You may be right, this might be something like threatening with left and striking with a right punch, there is something fishy going on, maybe part of the plan.

The troop deployment (soldiers) is objected, but the deployment of military material is going on in full pace. What if the US troops fly in as civilians (there is no stop for tourism) at the already (US army) rented city airport of Gazi Antep. It looks as a farfetched theory but how to explain the continued deployment of military equipment.
Posted by: Murat || 03/14/2003 9:41 Comments || Top||

#3  Turkey blew it, they should have created a Kurdish Legion of troops and sent them in with the US with the hopes that Turkey would look good, and that they could get other Kurds to move into Iraqi Kurdistan. Perhaps some Iraqi Turkomen could then move into Turkey and they won't have to kill each other over the stupid borderline anymore. Then the Kurds could concentrate on harrassing the Syrians and the Iranians.
Posted by: Yank || 03/14/2003 14:25 Comments || Top||


The joke’s on Saddam
In a small dark theatre, a group of actors are performing a revue, with sketches on corrupt policemen, UN officials and a few slapstick gags involving a rubber skeleton. The auditorium is packed. The show, Parasites, has been playing to full houses for a month, and tonight, like every night, everybody is paralysed with laughter. "It was fantastic," one member of the audience, Samira Tofia, says afterwards as couples, families and small children stream outside. "At times like this it's important to keep laughing," she adds.
"In California, 50 women protested the impending war with Iraq by lying on the ground naked and spelling out the word peace. Right idea, wrong president." —Jay Leno
There is nothing remarkable here — apart from the fact that we are in Iraq, a country where there is seemingly not very much to laugh about. Iraqis may face the prospect of war, and massive US bombing next week, but this doesn't mean that they are unable to joke about their plight. "We'll carry on with the show even when the war starts," Mahir Hassan Rashid, Iraq's top comedian and the show's director, explains. "We'll do it in our gas masks if necessary."
That should be hee-hee-larious...
Unlikely though it seems, Iraq has recently been enjoying a comedy renaissance — not in Baghdad, but in the autonomous enclave of northern Iraq, controlled by the Kurds. Here, comedians can poke fun at Saddam, without the fear of being dragged away by his secret police. There are numerous Saddam jokes — about his wayward family, blonde mistresses, and delinquent playboy son, the murderous Uday.
"More coming out about Saddam Hussein. We now know he takes Viagra and he has as many as six mistresses. No wonder Congress is reluctant to take action against this guy — he's one of their own." —Jay Leno
In the rest of Iraq nobody jokes about the president. To do so would be to invite arrest and execution. "Traditionally, the only place where we have been free to express our ideas has been the toilet cubicle," Hassan explains. "But if you walked into a cubicle and found a piece of graffiti that said, 'Fuck Saddam, his wife and daughters,' you left pretty quickly." If the Mukhabarat (Iraq's intelligence service) came in next and found you there, they would arrest you." What would happen then? "Saddam would turn you into soap," Hassan says.
Saddam: "... so then I turned them into soap!"
Staff: [uproarious laughter]

Iraqis have lived under a totalitarian regime for a long time. Political satire only became possible after 1991, when the Kurdish opposition took control of northern Iraq following the Gulf war. Hassan and his revue team sensed that their moment had arrived, and decided to make Iraq's first comedy film about Saddam. Hassan roped in a friend, Goran Faili, who looks uncannily similar to the dictator, and dressed him in a green uniform, beret and sunglasses. He hired 50 Kurdish guerrillas to play Iraqi soldiers. The resulting film was very funny. The extras danced round singing "Long Live Saddam", in a pastiche of the dire propaganda screened nightly on Iraqi TV. In one scene, Faili, as Saddam, makes a rambling speech in Arabic to his terrified cabinet, warning them that he intends to lop their heads off. In another he discovers the Ba'ath Party slogan "Unity freedom and socialism" scrawled above a toilet. The film was screened on Kurdish television; and after decades of official repression, it was a huge hit. Saddam's vigilant agents dispatched a CD copy to Baghdad. The Iraqi president was not amused. His response, when it came, was predictable: he sent several assassins to northern Iraq to kill the entire cast. "Fortunately the guys were all arrested [by the Kurdish authorities]," Hassan recalls. "They were found carrying a list. All our names were on it."
"In a bizarre move, Saddam Hussein has released all prisoners being held in Iraqi jails. Isn't that amazing? Iraq has prisoners that are still alive." —Jay Leno
The episode revealed one of history's truisms — that tyrants all have the same deep psychological flaw: they can't laugh at themselves. After the film came out, Faili spent the next four years in hiding, surviving six assassination attempts. I tracked him down to a muddy housing estate in northern Iraq where he lives in retirement. He said that he got into Saddam impersonating after his parodies of the dictator went down well with friends. "There are not many people who can imitate Saddam's Tikrit accent," he said. "I used to watch videos of him. You notice that he moves very slowly."
"Sorta like Al Gore, but not as stiff."
What did he think of Saddam? "He is very clever at killing and murdering people. But in other respects he is completely stupid," he said. "He is a donkey."
"More and more information coming out on Saddam Hussein. We now know that he has, like, 24 presidential palaces. Each one of these palaces of Saddam's has a dolphin pool and an amusement park. Well, if you didn't think this guy was creepy before — now he's starting to sound like Michael Jackson." —David Letterman
The Kurds have suffered most under Saddam's rule, and beneath modern Iraqi comedy you detect a lurking sense of horror. Hassan, now 40, is Iraq's answer to John Cleese — with a bit of Benny Hill thrown in. He is famous not only in Iraqi Kurdistan but also in neighbouring Syria and Iran, as well as in Europe, among the Kurdish diaspora. He first started performing sketches and plays in the mid-1980s, with a group of fellow Kurdish arts students in the city of Sulaymaniyah, then under Baghdad's control. Many of them were arrested and tortured. Three of his contemporaries disappeared. In his revue there are jokes about chemical weapons. "In a country like Iraq comedy and tragedy are never very far apart," Aso Jamal Mukhtar, who shot the Saddam comedy film, and is part of the revue team, says. "If we do comedy there will be tragic elements in it. Some people laugh at it, but others cry at it." Security officials imprisoned Mukhtar in 1986; he still has the scars on his arm from where they hung him from the ceiling. During this period Hassan and his fellow-actors had to submit their scripts to a censor from the Ba'ath party. These were returned with large chunks crossed out in red pen. Any expression of dissent — however coded — was struck out.
"The latest rumor is the United States is working behind the scenes to try to find a 'safe haven' for Saddam Hussein. See if he agrees to step down and leave Iraq, we will relocate him. What a nightmare, where are you going to send a guy who thinks America is a nest of greedy imperialists intent on bleeding the third world of all their resources? I mean, besides Berkeley?" —Jay Leno
In Saddam-controlled Iraq the arts scene is virtually non-existent. Only official newspapers and TV are allowed; mobile phones are banned; phonelines bugged; and email heavily restricted. Under these oppressive circumstances it is difficult to see how literature can flourish — although Iraq's most famous modern writer is, of course, none other than Saddam himself. In 2001, an anonymous debut novel, Zabibah and the King, was published in Baghdad. Saddam let it be known that the book was his — a thinly disguised allegory of America's attack on Baghdad during the Gulf war. Hassan and his team are scornful of the idea that Iraq's president could have written anything at all.
Even something that bad...
So what is their favourite Saddam joke?

"Saddam is addressing a convention of the blind in Baghdad on the eve of the American attack. He tells them: 'God willing, you will see our victory.'"

Another Saddam joke: Saddam and Ezad Duri (one of Saddam's top Ba'ath party commanders) go on a trip to Europe. They visit a brothel. Saddam sleeps with a blonde prostitute. Afterwards, Duri asks: "How was she?" Saddam replies: "Uday's mother (Uday is Saddam's son, by his ex-wife Sajira) was better." Duri then sleeps with the same prostitute. Saddam asks: "How was she?" Duri replies: "Uday's mother was better."
"Saddam Hussein has told his people that U.S. troops will commit suicide when they get to the gates of Baghdad. That's when you know you have a bad army, when your only hope for victory is that the enemy's troops kill themselves." —Jay Leno
Posted by: Steve White || 03/14/2003 02:06 pm || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Let me float you this idea:
Northern Kurds,and Southern Shites declare independence,are immediatlly recongnized by Britain,Spain,& And U.S.,and sign Mutual Defence Treaties(preferably in the Rose Garden).

This isolates Saddam and his Bathists buddies in the center of what was Iraq and we wait them out (wouldn't think it would take long).

Sticks a finger in Chiraq & Schroeders eye,tell Turkey they left us no choice.And most satisfying of all tells the U.N.in no uncertain terms that"You are irrelavant,pack your bags and go home."
Posted by: raptor || 03/14/2003 6:11 Comments || Top||

#2  Because I can see thru the crap doesn't mean I'm a Krugman-reading lefty. You come back next week and tell me to come back the week after, ok?
Posted by: g wiz || 03/14/2003 10:36 Comments || Top||

#3  "F%ck Chiraq" has a nice ring to it.
Posted by: RW || 03/14/2003 11:17 Comments || Top||

#4  Do you PROMISE we are going to war this time? I've got gold options resting on it...

I'd really hate for the US to stand down now!

I have faith in the guts and determination of W, he seems to have some backbone, but the longer we wait the worse the opposition gets....

I am sick of waiting we have been waiting for a year and a half now!
Posted by: anon || 03/14/2003 16:21 Comments || Top||

#5  Yeah the wait is bad! All I want is immediate gratification---right f-----g now!
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 03/14/2003 18:06 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Malaysia Tightens Security After Philippine Crackdown on Rebels
The Malaysian armed forces are conducting 24-hour patrols in waters bordering the Philippines to prevent any intrusion by Muslim rebels fleeing a government crackdown, local media reported Friday. Army spokesman Brigadier General Muhamad Yassin Yahya told the official Bernama News Agency that although there had been no trace of encroachment by Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) fighters so far, tight security measures were needed as a precaution. Philippine President Gloria Arroyo has sought Malaysia's help as a mediator to bring the MILF rebels back to the negotiating table and stop renewed violence. Arroyo's special envoy Roberto Romulo said Thursday after talks in Kuala Lumpur that Malaysia's Acting Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had "reconfirmed Malaysia's committment to assist in the search for peace in the southern Philippines."
I'm obviously missing something here. MILF wants to gnaw off a potentially rich corner of the Philippines to incorporate it into a new khalifate, and the government wants talks with them? Are they nuts?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 03/14/2003 09:40 pm || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Middle East
Hezbollah warns US of suicide attacks
The head of Lebanon's Hezbollah warned Washington on Thursday that its forces would be met with suicide attacks, and not flowers, if it invaded Iraq. "Don't expect the people of this region to receive you with flowers and perfume," Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said while addressing a sea of people who filled the streets of Beirut's southern suburbs for an Ashura meeting. "The people of this region will receive you with rifles, blood, arms, martyrdom and martyrdom operations," he said.
Or at least he's gonna try to make that happen...
Nasrallah's comments came in response to remarks from officials in Washington that Iraqi citizens would welcome a U.S. invasion to topple President Saddam Hussein. They also came as the U.N. Security Council remained deeply divided over a new resolution to disarm Iraq and the prospect of war grew. Nasrallah, whose group helped drive Israel out of southern Lebanon in 2000 after a 22-year occupation, said the Iraqi people would fight U.S. forces in their region as the Lebanese had done before them. "In the past, when the (US) Marines were in Beirut and their fleets were in the Mediterranean Sea, we screamed in the southern suburbs, 'Death to America'," Nasrallah said.
We remember. We promise we'll never forget...
"Today, the region is being filled with hundreds of thousands of American soldiers and fleets and 'Death to America' was, is and will stay our slogan... it is a policy," he told men, women and children dressed in black in observance of the Ashura. In the southern port city of Tyre, some 10,000 people marched in the streets waving Palestinian and Hezbollah flags, among them hundreds of barefoot young men beating their chests.
... and jumping up and down and making faces. Fearsome faces.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 03/14/2003 10:07 pm || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


PFLP-GC sez they dunnit
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC) claimed responsibility Tuesday, March 11, for an ambush in the West Bank town of Hebron that killed an Israeli soldier and wounded four others on Monday, March 10. "The Martyr Khaled Akr Forces, armed wing of the PFLP-GC, laid an ambush Monday evening on the road leading to the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Al-Khalil," reported Agence France-Presse (AFP) quoting a statement by the Damascus-based resistance group. As a group of Zionist settlers was passing, they (the Palestinian fighters) opened fire, killing and wounding a number of them," it said, boasting that "the group returned to base safely." The operation came in response to the daily massacres perpetrated against our people in Palestine," the statement said, vowing to continue "the revolution until the land and its people are liberated."
PFLP-GC is a different bunch from the plain vanilla PFLP. They're based in Damascus, and run by a former Syrian army captain. Last December, they lined up some financing from Iran and Libya and decided to be Islamists.
Shortly after the attack, the Israeli army claimed that their tanks fired shells at the building after the Palestinian fighters refused to surrender. The building collapsed and the body of a Palestinian fighter, believed to be one of those who carried out the operation, was found under the rubble Tuesday.
"Ewwww! Nasty! He looks like a pancake with lips!"
A house adjacent to the building and another one in the area, in which the Israeli army claimed it found explosive charges, were also dynamited later on Monday.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 03/14/2003 09:50 pm || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


U.S. hoping to release 'road
A senior official in the American administration said Friday that the United States is hoping to release to present the "road map" for Middle East peace at the beginning of next week or at the latest over the weekend. President George W. Bush announced Friday that he would unveil his long-sought "road map" once a new Palestinian prime minister with real governing authority takes office. "We have reached a hopeful moment for progress," in the stalled peace process, Bush said in a White House appearance.
We're continuing to pass gas over the Paleostinians. Without a complete victory over Iraq and a solid thumping administered to Iran, a year from now we'll be looking for other signs and portents. The Romans used sheep's guts, which are probably a more reliable mechanism than anything the Paleos promise...
According to the senior official, the timing of Bush announcement's is not connected to developments in Iraq but only to the fact that the Palestinians have made progress in appointing a Palestinian prime minister.
And mostly ignored everything else they were supposed to do...
In in his remarks, President Bush called on both sides in the long Israel-Palestinian conflict to "abandon old hatreds and to meet their responsibity for peace." The president said the "road map" would set forth a sequence of steps, "goals shared by all the parties." The road map was worked out by the "Quartet" comprising the United Nations, the United States, Russia and the European Union. Bush spoke Friday with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordan's King Abdullah II shortly before the address.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 03/14/2003 08:34 pm || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front
War plans stir many emotions among Seattle area Iraqis
Edited for brevity--article is worth a read
Ten days of traditional mourning for a seventh-century martyr ended last night for Shiite Muslims in the local Iraqi community, capping a period of introspection and spiritual renewal. Even as they looked back at the galvanizing event in their branch of Islam, the immigrants looked ahead with anticipation and anxiety toward another conflict, the looming U.S. war with Iraq. Hundreds of Shiite Muslims and Kurds, two groups that have faced religious and ethnic persecution for decades in Iraq, make up most of the Iraqi population in Washington. Many insist that ousting Saddam Hussein by any means is necessary to restoring their historic homeland. Anti-war demonstrators don't speak for them, they say, and they wonder where U.S. and European protesters were when Saddam crushed Shiites and waged war with Iran and Kuwait. "Why protest now, when Saddam was against us 100 times before?" said Ahmed Al-Mahana, 40, who believes that the Iraqi president is toying with weapons inspectors. "Saddam is a big thief and a big liar. Anybody who trusts him is stupid. We lived with Saddam. We know Saddam."

Those who lived under Saddam's regime as adults seem much more willing to support the war and to want to restore a liberated Iraq. Those who fled as children seem more comfortable with life in the United States.
Posted by: Dar Steckelberg || 03/14/2003 03:25 pm || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "We lived with Saddam. We know Saddam."
Upon hearing this Chiraq immediately replied, "Et alors? Moi aussi!" ("So? Me too!")
Posted by: RW || 03/14/2003 15:09 Comments || Top||

#2  Why protest now, when Saddam was against us 100 times before?" said Ahmed Al-Mahana, 40, who believes that the Iraqi president is toying with weapons inspectors. "Saddam is a big thief and a big liar. Anybody who trusts him is stupid. We lived with Saddam. We know Saddam."

Good point,also makes you wonder why these people don't get more media exposure.Could be media bias,maybe.

Posted by: raptor || 03/15/2003 6:17 Comments || Top||


Korea
Anti-U.S. Sentiment Abates in South Korea
Edited for brevity
The anti-American demonstrations here have suddenly gone poof. U.S. soldiers are walking the streets of Seoul again without looking over their shoulders. The official line from the South Korean government is: Yankees stay here.
I love it when a plan comes together...
Opposition to U.S. troops in South Korea that seemed to be boiling over has quieted dramatically in recent weeks, because of new threats from North Korea and a suggestion from Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld that U.S. troops may be cut and repositioned. Resentment toward the U.S. government, however, has hardly disappeared.
It's just that now they can call us names for taking our toys and going home...
Outside the heavily guarded gate of the main U.S. military compound in Seoul, protesters sit daily with a loudspeaker blasting the English words "[Expletive] America!" over the camp. In a fourth-floor walkup office crammed with grim photos of Iraqi and Afghani civilians and other casualties of American wars, Park Jun Hyoung, a 34-year-old activist, explains, "We don't think of Americans as protectors. We think of them as occupiers."
No problem. I really don't think we should stay where we're not wanted — or come back if they suddenly decide they need us...
But the mainstream South Korean public seemed sobered by Rumsfeld's remarks last week that the Pentagon might reduce its force of 37,000 troops and move some of them away from the front lines at the Demilitarized Zone, the frontier with North Korea. The Korean critics "went up to the cliff, peered over, and then pulled back," said Scott Snyder, the head in Seoul of the Asia Foundation, a private, nongovernmental, grant-making organization.
No, they went to the edge of the cliff, had a good look, jumped, and now they're unhappy at the prospect of hitting bottom. Next time the NKors decide to "reunify" the country, maybe France will help them out.
Posted by: Dar Steckelberg || 03/14/2003 01:55 pm || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  My suggestion: we sort out the current problems, then leave. I suspect that we'll need the Second Infantry Division elsewhere in the next few years. And if a Japan - South Korea - Taiwan alliance can't take care of themselves, then there is no hope for them anyway.
Posted by: Patrick Phillips || 03/14/2003 11:03 Comments || Top||

#2  Scooter,

You've got a legitimate point. However, external enemies make for very strange alliances. Those three nations won't get over the past as long as they don't have to. And we are the reason they don't have to.
Posted by: Patrick Phillips || 03/14/2003 11:33 Comments || Top||

#3  On three: "Everybody hates somebody sometime!"
Posted by: Hiryu || 03/14/2003 16:30 Comments || Top||


Home Front
Bush Establishes Medals for Global War on Terror
Edited for brevity
President Bush has issued an executive order establishing two military awards for actions in the global war on terrorism. The president signed the order March 12 establishing the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal and the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal. The Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal will be awarded to service members who serve in military expeditions to combat terrorism on or after Sept. 11, 2001. Operation Enduring Freedom is the prime operation the medal may be awarded for. Personnel assigned to operations in Afghanistan and the Philippines are examples of service members who will receive the award. The Global War on Terrorism Service Medal will be awarded to service members who serve in military operations to combat terrorism on or after Sept. 11, 2001. Operation Noble Eagle is an example of the type of operation the medal may be awarded for.
Pix of new medals also available at site.
Posted by: Dar Steckelberg || 03/14/2003 03:26 pm || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:



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Two weeks of WOT
Fri 2003-03-14
  Bush, Blair, Aznar to Meet on Iraq
Thu 2003-03-13
  Iraq mobilizing troops and scud launchers
Wed 2003-03-12
  Inspectors Pull Out?
Tue 2003-03-11
  U.S. Suspends U-2 Flights Over Iraq
Mon 2003-03-10
  France will use Iraq veto
Sun 2003-03-09
  Iraqis surrender to live fire exercise
Sat 2003-03-08
  UN Withdraws Civilian Staff from Iraq-Kuwait Border
Fri 2003-03-07
  Binny′s kids nabbed?
Thu 2003-03-06
  Russia airlifts out remaining nationals
Wed 2003-03-05
  Human shields stuck in Beirut without bus fare
Tue 2003-03-04
  US hits roadblock in push to war
Mon 2003-03-03
  Human shields catch the bus for home
Sun 2003-03-02
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