A powerful Afghan regional commander said on Tuesday the central government needed to take courageous action against unruly regional warlords if it was to extend its rule around the country. Ustad Atta Mohammed, a senior commander in the north, also said President Hamid Karzai must resist calls for a federal state or risk the disintegration of Afghanistan. Speaking about a call by his northern rival, General Abdul Rashid Dostum, for a federal system in Afghanistan with greater powers vested in the regions, Atta said he agreed with the concept in principle, but now was not the time. "Federalism now, or calls for it, would mean disintegration of Afghanistan... it would mean a repeat of the debacles of 23 years of war," he said.
While both Atta and Dostum are officials of Karzai's government, they are bitter rivals whose forces have clashed repeatedly for control of the north since the Taliban fell in late 2001. Atta blamed the fighting on rivalries of local commanders and ambitions of local elders. He said he was satisfied by a weekend meeting of regional and central military commanders and commanders of the U.S.-led coalition pursuing Taliban and al Qaeda remnants. "There was no feeling of disagreement; it was a relaxed atmosphere," he said.
Atta said the conference also dwelt on concerns about increasing activity in southern Afghanistan by Taliban remnants operating on the Pakistani border. "There was a lot of discussion about ongoing meddling, formation of fronts, regrouping and equipping across the southern border," he said. He said some worries were raised about links between some Cabinet members and "strangers in a neighbouring country". He did not identify the Cabinet members or refer to Pakistan by name.
Interesting article. I cut a lot of it out, so feel free to read it all. The goobers who sneer at the "warlords" are talking about Atta Mohammad, Dostum, Ismail Khan, and, to a lesser extent, Gul Agha Shirzai. Of them, Gul Agha's the one who most fits the warlord stereotype â he's a corrupt little man, who's not in the same league as the other three. His corruption as governor of Kandahar was what gave the Talibs their start, hanging some of the worst of his men from a crane. Dostum's troops were fighting without shoes in the early days of the Afghan war. Atta Mohammad stuck by Rabbani and Massoud â I suspect mostly Massoud â through the Dog Eat Dog and the Taliban days. At one point the Talibs had Ismail in jail and were going to hang him. So these are men of substance, even when they bicker with each other, who justly regard themselves as having contributed to Afghan freedom. Karzai's government has to accomodate them at least to an extent, and a federal system, actually a group of "dukedoms," probably makes as much sense as a federal system does in Iraq, and for the same reasons. The sticking point always comes with Pashtunistan, and God knows what to do with that area.
They've got to do something, though, because of that meddling from the "strangers in a neighbouring country." Iran's doing a certain amount of meddling, cozying up to Ismail, but the majority of it's coming from NWFP and Baoluchistan. Regardless of what Jamali and Perv tell Karzai, that meddling is going to continue. Unless the Paks are willing to produce Hekmatyar's head on a pike, the Afghans are going to discount those assurances as just so much flatulence. My personal preference would be to turn Dostum and Atta Mohammad loose on the Paks — let them see what real mujaheddin can do to them.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
04/22/2003 07:52 pm ||
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#1
Dostum can do his famous "tank walk" on some jihadis and that should put the fear of God Allah Dostum retribution into their knickers or at least their sandals.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/22/2003 19:59 Comments ||
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#2
I've heard that the tank stories are apocryphal. But who wants to chance being wrong?
Posted by: Fred ||
04/22/2003 20:13 Comments ||
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That may be true. The real successful instigator of terror or fear of retribution will by reputation (real or not) have the potential recipient think up the terror on himself. Whooooaaahhhhh.....
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/22/2003 20:25 Comments ||
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#4
I'd even Paypal to see Hek's head on a Pike
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/22/2003 21:17 Comments ||
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Thirty-six special forces soldiers raided two compounds Monday night after intelligence reports said â people in the area were planning attacks on U.S.-led coalition forces in Afghanistan, Col. Roger King told a news briefing at Bagram Air Base. Seven people were taken into custody during the raid, King said. King said he could not say where the raid took place because the operation was continuing. keep hunting!
About 11,500 troops from a 23-country coalition are in Afghanistan pursuing remnants of the Taliban regime â which was expelled from power in late 2001 â and hunting down fighters of the al Qaeda terrorist network who lived under Taliban protection. It was not immediately clear if the dead man had belonged to either group, King said. "The reason we knew he was an enemy fighter was because he picked up an AK and started popping caps - pretty good evidence
that normally is the defining moment," King said, referring to an AK-47 assault rifle. Also on Monday, a U.S. soldier from the Charlie Company of the 27th Engineers Battalion lost part of his left foot and broke his right foot in several places brave men still being hurt over there
after stepping on a mine at Bagram Air Base, King said. The soldier, who was not named, was in stable condition and was being taken to a military hospital in Germany for treatment, King said. The coalition's command center at Bagram, north of Kabul, is a former Soviet air base that was heavily mined so this was a Soviet mine, not a Taliban mine?
during the 1980s.
A Saudi policemen was shot dead on Monday in the north of the kingdom, the fourth shooting of officials in the area in recent months, getting to be a pattern?
a source close to the police said. Police were searching for the unknown assailant or assailants who shot Lieutenant Colonel Hamoud al-Rabeea on Monday in Jouf province, the sources told Reuters. The motive for the shooting was not clear. Im sure we could come up with a few
Nor was it just Officer Abdullah, walking his beat. It was a light colonel of coppers...
A gunman killed a policeman and wounded another in Jouf in March, while the province's deputy governor was murdered in February and a judge was gunned down in September. Not quite Colombia, but its getting there.
Killings of officials are rare in conservative Saudi Arabia, which has seen a string of bomb attacks against Westerners in recent years. now who in Saudi would want to kill Westerners?
Saudi officials have blamed the bombings on in-fighting among gangs involved in alcohol smuggling in the Muslim kingdom "This speakeasy is on our turf, you dont remove it we go to the mattresses",
but diplomats say the attacks may be linked to rising anti-Western sentiment in the Muslim country. Really?
Posted by: Liberalhawk ||
04/22/2003 10:57 am ||
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How about the 40% unemployment rate? That might have something to do with growing dissatisfaction.
#2
40%? Its always been that or more among the native Saudis. I don't remember any of them ever really working but show up once in awhile. The working group in Soddie is mostly Paks, Filipinos, Koreans, Bangladeshis and Palestinians.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
04/22/2003 12:32 Comments ||
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If it's true, it's a nuke in the lap of the British anti-war camp...
Labour MP George Galloway has denied a newspaper report he received money from Saddam Hussein's regime and threatened to take legal action. The Daily Telegraph claimed Mr Galloway received £375,000 a year from the oil for food programme, according to Iraqi intelligence documents the paper says it found in Baghdad. But Mr Galloway has strongly denied soliciting money from the Iraqi regime and dismissed the official Iraqi letter as a possible forgery or as having been doctored to discredit him.
"Framed! I'm bein' framed, I tell ya!"
The Telegraph said the documents suggested Mr Galloway was conducting a relationship with Iraqi intelligence while campaigning for his anti-war charity, the Mariam Appeal. The Labour MP told the paper it was "preposterous" to suggest his pro-Iraq campaigning activities were funded by the Iraqi dictator. The Telegraph claimed a confidential memorandum sent to Saddam by his head of intelligence showed Mr Galloway had asked a secret agent for a greater cut of Iraq's exports under the oil-for-food programme. The Telegraph said the papers were found by one of their journalists in the foreign ministry in Baghdad. In a statement, Mr Galloway insisted the documents were either forged or doctored. "I have never solicited nor received money from Iraq for our campaign against war and sanctions," he said. "I have never seen a barrel of oil, never owned one, never bought one, never sold one." Sounds like a man losing touch with plausability.
And from a high official in former Iraqi intelligence: "I have never seen a British politician, never owned one, never bought one, never sold one."
He said the paper's claim he had met Iraqi intelligence officials was incorrect "to the best of my knowledge". Methinks he might start remembering stuff soon.
"Given that I have had access over the years to Iraq's political leadership, most often the deputy prime minister Tariq Aziz, I would have absolutely no reason to be meeting with an official of Iraqi intelligence." Mr Galloway said he had not seen the documents because he was out of the country writing a book about Iraq. "From the way they have been described to me, I can state that they bear all the hallmarks of having been either forged or doctored and are designed to discredit those who stood against the war," he said. They were part of what he described as a "smear campaign against those who stood against the illegal and bloody war on Iraq and against its occupation by foreign forces". He continued: "The idea that such documents have, as if to order, come to light just days after the massive assault on Baghdad, the looting and destruction of its ministries and government buildings and the chaos in the country, must be treated as highly suspect."
"I thought they destroyed the evidence, dammit! Haven't those natives ever heard of cover names? Don't they use burn bags?"
Mr Galloway said any interests he had in relation to the Mariam Appeal were registered in the House of Commons Register of Members Interests. The Mariam Appeal, named after an Iraqi child, did not receive any financial help from Iraq for its activities, the MP said. Daily Telegraph editor Charles Moore told BBC Radio 4's Today programme he stood by his newspaper's story. He said: "When you find a document of this sort, what you need to establish is the prima facie case for its validity, and then you get the other side of the story, you get the person in question to put his side. "That is what we have done. I would think that would be perfectly conventional journalistic behaviour." Oh, whatta beautiful scoop.
Posted by: Bulldog ||
04/22/2003 05:55 am ||
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Galloway's rebuttal on Radio 4 (audio). Telegraph reporter's account of the files' discovery.
#2
Awesome - now when do we find Ritter's little girlfriends?
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/22/2003 7:09 Comments ||
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this is just an amazing scoop. unbelievable.
this deserves (if true) to be trumpeted far and wide. It deserves to go round the world in email chains. It deserves front page coverage for at least a week, documentary specials to be filmed...
#4
Notice the Clinton-like slipperiness in the phrases, ""I have never solicited nor received money from Iraq.." - probably solicited and received money through middlemen. Or the phrase, "I have never seen a barrel of oil, never owned one, never bought one, never sold one." - you don't need to physically own oil to get money. Or this one, "...I would have absolutely no reason to be meeting with an official of Iraqi intelligence." - a classis non denial.
#5
Couple of flaws in the story.
First off, the previous (joy!) Iraqi government didn't make money off the UN OFFP; it made money off smuggling oil past the UN.
Secondly, I'm afraid Galloway is one of those people who is so full of himself he doesn't need to be bribed; his price is to have his ego stroked, that's all (horrid little man).
I'm afraid the Telegraph bungled this one.
#7
We'll find out if it's true or not. I think it's too big to sweep under the rug. If Galloway doesn't sue at all, it's true. If he sues and loses, it's true. Given the description of the documents, I don't think he'll sue and win.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/22/2003 9:23 Comments ||
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via Command Post/Al-Guardian He's filed suit:
Labour MP George Galloway has instructed his solicitors to sue the Daily Telegraph for libel over allegations that he was in the pay of Saddam Hussein.
The MP for Glasgow Kelvin has strongly denied the Telegraph's claim, based on documents found in the office of the Iraqi foreign minister by its correspondent David Blair, that Mr Galloway received oil shares worth £375,000 a year from the former dictator's regime.
"Not only do I deny it, I've just instructed my solicitors this very morning to begin legal proceedings for libel against the Daily Telegraph on the strength of this story," Mr Galloway told the ITV News Channel at around 12.30pm today, speaking from Portugal.
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/22/2003 9:29 Comments ||
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Well, British libel law is such that it's particularly easy to sue someone and win, compared to US law. It is a very interesting story, though. We'll have to wait and see.
The Telegraph is a respectable paper, though they're obviously betting a lot here on their correspondent in Iraq.
Posted by: John Thacker ||
04/22/2003 9:36 Comments ||
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As much as i think galloway is a bit of a fucking prick, this is a bit far fetched. A reporter goes into a building that has been looted and burned and has millions of documents just happens to find a letter written in arabic that incriminates the annoying shit. Wishfull
#11
Fantastic though this story might seem (in the unreal sense, though the other applies too), its much harder to believe the Telegraph would so jeopardise its reputation by being complicit in a fraud of this magnitude.
The Telegraph's called Galloway's bluff, and he's going to go down spectacularly. From today's Telegraph editorial, Saddam's Little Helper:
""Gorgeous George" has plenty of form, including allegations that he had misused funds as director of War on Want in the mid-1980s (he was later cleared after paying back £1,720). But, like Jeffrey Archer, his energy, combined with a readiness to litigate, saw him through many incidents that might have done for other politicians. Many, from all wings of the Labour Party, have nursed their doubts about the Glasgow MP, peering suspiciously at his natty suits and winter suntan."
Eagerly awaiting further developments. According to the Telegraph reporter (link in comment above): "Two more box files were labelled "Britain". Others were labelled "United States", "Security Council" and "France". Each appeared to contain all the appropriate documents that had crossed the desk of an Iraqi foreign minister." There may be many more goodies to follow...
#13
whats troubling is that the reporter from the Telegraph could just walk into the Foreign Ministry and grab files - how many files are there being grabbed by people who want to hide things rather than reveal them. There are reports that some of the looting was done by Baathists to cover up regime activities - I sure hope we dont miss WMD evidence cause of that.
#14
Whatever shall we DO Mr Galloway?...
(The documents, with translations.)
http://www.dailytelegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/04/22/ndocs22.xml&sSheet=/news/2003/04/22/ixnewstop.html
#16
The UN will be caught in the fall-out. There have been rumours of skimming and pay-offs in the UN's food-for-program (and other UN activities). This will put pressure on them to come clean.
Also this looks a bribe which is illegal in the UK. I expect Galloway to be charged.
All the makings of a major scandal with lots of collateral damage on the Left and at the UN. I love it!
Posted by: Phil B ||
04/22/2003 11:20 Comments ||
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A reporter goes into a building that has been looted and burned and has millions of documents just happens to find a letter written in arabic that incriminates the annoying shit. Wishfull
Hmmm. Sounds like the Telegraph reporter is someone who can probably read and speak Arabic, otherwise, he'd never have been able to find anything. As for why a reporter can "just walk in and ... grab files", a friend of mine is over there. "John" is an Air Force intelligence specialist, and an Arabic linguist. He says that everybody in Saddam's government produced huge files about EVERYTHING to cover their butt, to keep from being introduced to one of Saddam's little fun palaces. He mentioned several BILLION files, going back 30 years, and many of them damaged by fire or explosion. We're talking about hundreds of TONS of paperwork. The US doesn't have the manpower to even exploit a small percentage of that. They may be allowing anyone not an Iraqi that can read or speak Arabic access to the files, just to glean as much information as possible, as quickly as possible, before those files really DO disappear.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/22/2003 12:27 Comments ||
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An examination of Galloway's bank accounts, and a tracing of the income, will verify or refute this story. The Telegraph is a reliable outlet (plus, they run Mark Steyn's columns!), so I would give this story some weight. As they say, "Just follow the money." Galloway has been enough of a thorn in Blair's side that undoubtedly an investigation will follow, with repercussions to follow.
#19
These allegations are so explosive that Galloway has no choice but to sue for libel, whether they're true or not. If they're true, taking it to court will at least buy him some time to figure out how to muddy the charges against him.
I agree that this story seems too good to be true. But the Telegraph is a respectable paper, not a tabloid rag like the Sun or the Mirror (and they publish Sir John Keegan, as well as Steyn!). Plus, I'm sure they got good legal advice before going with the story, knowing that Galloway was very likely to sue them. They've got to feel that they're in a solid position even if Galloway tries to push them to the wall. This one will bear watching, to be sure.
#20
Weeeelllll, the "Bagman of Baghdad" (compliments of Iain Murray) thinks he actually might have been in Iraq Christmas 1999. Of course, those hot on his trail have already nexised same.
A website set up by the party of French President Jacques Chirac as part of last year's re-election campaign, has been bought by an American organisation and is now displaying anti-French cartoons. The domain name for the site, chiracaveclafrance.net, expired in March this year. It was immediately bought by another organisation and registered under the name of The Web Group, based in Washington DC. A Reuters report on Friday quoted the French newspaper Le Figaro, as saying the domain had been bought by USO, the United Services Organization, a "a non-profit charitable corporation... to provide morale, welfare and recreation-type services to uniformed military Personnel." The report said the domain name was pointing to USO's own site. However, things appear to have changed a bit since then. The site has now been pointed at one page of anti-French cartoons on the MSN site which are maintained by one Daryl Cagle; it is titled "Stinking, Lousy FRANCE." The page of cartoons has been called using frames so that the URL remains as www.chiracaveclafrance.net even while displaying content from another site.
Have a look at the site. Cagle's pretty good...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
04/22/2003 08:11 pm ||
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In the run-up to the one-and-a-half day Franco-African summit, French officials were confidently predicting that â whatever the British press and politicians might say â the presence of Robert Mugabe in Paris would not spoil the party. Zimbabwe, after all, is largely seen in France as a post-colonial, British problem. Unlike the Ivory Coast. The suffering of the expelled white farmers is viewed with pity, but not anger. They're only British descendents, not French....
But when he opened Friday's edition of Le Monde, the French leader would have read an editorial that could have easily come from one of the more moderate sections of the British press. "Mugabe's presence in Paris for this summit is an insult to all the victims of his regime," the paper wrote. "Did Jacques Chirac really think that ticking him off â in a corridor â about democracy and human rights, would really change the mind of this ageing autocrat?" C'mon, this is the same guy who thought that telling Eastern Europe that they acted like ill-bred children was proper manners.....
And if the rest of the French media has been less explicit in its criticism of the president, it has been noticeable that most newspapers â including the pro-Chirac Le Figaro â have filed reports this week about human rights abuses in Zimbabwe. President Chirac may have broad public support in France at the moment, but â on this issue â he is on more dangerous ground. We have been told that Mr Chirac expressed Europe's concerns to Mr Mugabe at the state dinner on Thursday night, but the Elysee has given no further details. And, with Mr Mugabe's wife, Grace, indulging her shopping habit and the president and his 20-strong entourage staying in a luxury hotel, the French have failed to convince the rest of the world that they have administered a diplomatic rap over the knuckles. The French have pissed off so many Americans, they're happy for every tourist they get, even odious dictator types.
At the closing press conference of the summit, Mr Chirac was asked what he made of the criticism he had received for hosting several leaders, with dubious democratic credentials. He shrugged it off with the bland phrase: "France is committed to the fight for mutual respect, law and morality." OK, sorry about not issuing a drink alert at the start of this article. My bad!
But will the Mugabe row cause anything more than temporary irritation for the French president? After all, the French television news â and indeed many of the papers here â have given more coverage to the special French edition of the British tabloid, the Sun, with its photomontage of "Chirac the worm", than to Robert Mugabe's presence in Paris. So the answer is, probably not - but it may make Mr Chirac think twice before inviting the Zimbabwean leader again. Depends on how much his wife dropped at Chanel.....
Posted by: Baba Yaga ||
04/22/2003 01:18 am ||
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When the French realise they've had it ALL topsy-turvey, I'll call it progress. Then they can start on their apologies. Till that happens, and Chirac's receiving the spittle he deserves from the French Street, they're going to remain in the 'traitorous imbeciles' camp. Has anyone seen French press reports on the Rolands, the promised oil contracts? Do they even know how much Chirac colluded with Saddam?
"He shrugged it off with the bland phrase: "France is committed to the fight for mutual respect, law and morality.""
It's as though he feels spouting outrageous lies and hypocrisy is his expected duty. They like this guy! Unfathomable.
Btw Baba Yaga, you need to highlight the whole phrase, then click 'highlight'.
IRAQ: Iraqis demand: `Invaders out now!' BY ROHAN PEARCE
For those who expected the US-led invasion forces in Iraq to be welcomed with open arms, events on April 15 proved to be a shock. On that day in Nasiriya, some 20,000 Shiite Muslim Iraqis protested against the US occupation of Iraq, chanting: âYes to freedom, yes to Islam! No to America, no to Saddamâ. The protesters were opposed to plans by Washington to impose a pro-US puppet regime on their country. The Shia, who comprise 60-65% of Iraq's population, were oppressed under Saddam Hussein's regime. The overwhelming majority of them no doubt welcomed the end of the Hussein era. However many possess a strong distrust of the US â an opinion formed by Washington's support for the former Iraqi regime's war against predominantly Shiite Iran, plus Washington's enforcement for 13 years of brutal economic sanctions against the Iraqi nation. snip pages of socialist ranting thinly disguised as objective journalism
An April 8 Associated Press report revealed that on April 7 âtroops from the [US] Army's 3rd Infantry Division stormed one of Iraq's presidential palaces. They used Saddam's toilets, but also rifled through documents and helped themselves to ashtrays, pillows, gold-painted Arab glassware and other souvenirs.â I'd like to see some evidence before these defamatory statements are made. So far they appear to be highly disciplined with crystal clear rules of engagement that certainly precluded letting the army loot. Not that the facts ever get in the way of the loony left!
The destruction unleashed by the US bombing campaign on many of the poorer, working-class districts in cities such as Baghdad yass, carpet bombing just like Dresden...
will lead to a population much more easily dominated by an occupying army â more easily dominated because the population will be dependent on the occupation authorities for water, food and medical treatment. Amnesty International's April 15 press release noted: âThere seems to have been more preparation to protect the oil wells than to protect hospitals, water systems or civilians.â Ai Ai AIiiee it's colonialism oh it's a war for Oiiiil it's Jewwwws and Oiiiil and Capitalism oh Save us Marx, Save US!
feel free to email the perps of this article at:
glw@greenleft.org.au
Unlike us rapacious capitalist bastards, the people who write this stuff are pure and simple. Oil exists in a vacuum, unconnected with the rest of Iraq or the world economy. The fact that oil is the resource that will pay for water, food and medical treatment in Iraq isn't even a consideration â to the pure and simple, these things should all be free.
Posted by: Anon1 ||
04/22/2003 03:22 am ||
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gotta try to fill the hole left by Murat (sob)...
#2
You know, until they actually have a decent polling structure and government in place, I won't believe any of this crap signifies a majority consensus. Even here in the US, one would have had a hard time believing 80% of the populace supported the war effort based solely on the full-blown media coverage of the anti-war demonstrations.
Let them demonstrate and rant. They are free to do so, courtesy of the Coalition. I just hope they remember they couldn't do this one month ago.
Posted by: Dar ||
04/22/2003 8:29 Comments ||
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The conventions on the laws of War permit soldiers to take portable state property, which is what the contents of Saddam's palaces were.
President Hamid Karzai said Tuesday that he had won assurances from Pakistan that it would try to stem the violent cross-border attacks that Taliban and other rebels have been carrying out against Afghanistan in recent months. "Pakistan is a brother of ours, and as a brother, Pakistan will do all to help Afghanistan to attain the best levels of safety and security," Karzai said at a news conference with Pakistan's prime minister, Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, during a state visit to Islamabad. "That kind of assurance I have from Pakistan."
And if you can't rely on Pakistan, who can you rely on?
Karzai said that while thousands of former Taliban fighters in Afghanistan could be left alone, "certain key leaders" must be apprehended. "I am sure Pakistan will help Afghanistan in that regard," he said.
Cert'nly. Cert'nly. They're gonna get right on it...
Karzai also met with President Pervez Musharaff. "We will fight terrorism all the way," Musharaff said after their meeting. "We are mutually complementing each other to tackle the problems."
"Yeah, buddy. Ain't nobody fights terrorism quite like we do."
For all the brotherly talk in front of the press, Afghan government officials have become increasingly angered by attacks by supporters of the Taliban, and other opponents such as the renegade mujahidin commander, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who are widely believed to be orchestrating a campaign from Pakistan to destabilize the Afghan government.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
04/22/2003 07:06 pm ||
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JPost Reg req'd - yeah, I know this is a re-usable headline
A bomb explosion in a community herding ground killed five civilians and injured 12 others Tuesday in Indian-controlled Kashmir, where separatist politicians have rejected talks with a government negotiator on the fate of the troubled Himalayan region. 17 injuries - good response
Police in Jammu, the winter capital of Jammu-Kashmir state, said soldiers and police killed 16 militants after surrounding two forest areas where they said they had received tips about guerrillas' presence. 16 killed is good news
The police said no security force troops were injured in the encounters. Eyewitnesses and police said that villagers were gathered early Tuesday to sell milk and put their cows out to pasture in nearby grasslands when a bomb hidden in a nearby wall along a dirt road exploded at the village of Khulgulshanpora. That'll teach 'em..
The villagers "were gathered here preparing to leave for grazing the cattle when suspected militants detonated the explosive killing five villagers on the spot," said P.K. Bhardawaj the local police officer. Police said the explosive was apparently meant to target security forces who use the road. No group claimed responsibility. Police suspected separatist militants, First guess?
who have been fighting for 13 years for mainly Muslim Kashmir's independence from predominantly Hindu India or its merger with Pakistan. The insurgency has claimed 61,000 lives.
In another incident, nine paramilitary soldiers were wounded when their truck drove over a land mine — laid by suspected rebels — in Lower Munda village, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) south of Srinagar, police said. Also, an unidentified rebel was killed in a gunfight with soldiers in nearby Kuthar village, police added. The government negotiator, N.N. Vohra, is on a weeklong visit to Jammu-Kashmir, following Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's conditional offer Saturday to negotiate with Pakistan on Kashmir.
Ahah! That explains the timing of the festivities...
Vohra, a former Indian home secretary, said he would talk with pro-India groups and state lawmakers before trying to meet the separatist groups. "Doors for talks are fully open," Vohra told reporters as he left New Delhi on Sunday. But separatist politicians said Vohra did not have the mandate to discuss the issues they want to raise. "If he can declare that he is prepared to discuss the future dispensation of Jammu-Kashmir, only then a dialogue offer from him would merit our consideration," said Abdul Ghani Bhat, chairman of the separatist 23-party All Parties Hurriyat Conference.
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/22/2003 11:30 am ||
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#1
Nothing's gonna change for the better in Kashmir -- or Afghanistan, for that matter -- until India waste Pakistan. Someone needs to put the fear of God into their rabid Islamic mobs.
Posted by: Ned ||
04/22/2003 12:38 Comments ||
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#2
Yep,Afganiston will not settle down untill the NWFP is cleaned out,sounds like a job for 10thMountain Division and Nightstalkers.
Stage a raid and 15 minutes after"Boots on the Ground"U.S.&Karzi reps.tell Perv enterfere at your peirl.
Source: NNI
A day before the visit of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, the Pakistani authorities have confiscated huge quantity of arms including 120 rockets and their batteries at the bordering town Miranshah of North Waziristan Agency located just close to Eastern Afghanistan's province Paktia and Paktika. "The rockets confiscated are Russian made and are battery driven," an political administration revealed to NNI here Sunday.
Battery driven? That's even better than wind-up...
The rockets declared very dangerous and having accuracy of almost 100 percent were tried to smuggle into Pakistan in a truck apparently carrying grass for the animals, the official said. The truck was confiscated in wee hours Monday that was carrying these sophisticated rockets. According to the official, the truck drove into Pakistani tribal areas from the check post of Asia. The operation was conducted by Post Commander Hazrt Illah and was supervised by Political Agent (local administration in Pakistani tribal areas are named as political agent of the federation), Ghulam Farooq Khan and Assistant Political Agent Zaheerul Islam.
Gotcha. Smuggled into the country from the former Soviet Union — Kyrgyzstan? — under a load of hay. Hazrat Ullah didn't get paid off, and tipped a couple smart boys from the gummint...
According to the Pakistani authorities, the most sophisticated rockets of Russian made were tried to store in Pakistani tribal areas under a terrorist plan of wide range in the country. The rockets might also belong to the remnants of al-Qaida and Taliban for their future terrorist plans in Afghanistan where the remnants are attacking US interests daily, it is suspected at official level. The Pakistani authorities have also arrested a driver of the truck and hope some sensational information from him and are investigating.
"Mahmoud, you in bi-i-i-i-g trouble, boy!"
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
04/22/2003 11:01 am ||
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#1
I guess Indian authorities in Kashmir should be on the look out for big Ruskie rocket there in the next few weeks.
#2
Would the batteries just be used for ignition, kind of like the model rockets from Estes, etc.?
Posted by: Dar ||
04/22/2003 11:43 Comments ||
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#3
ignition or guidance
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/22/2003 12:02 Comments ||
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#4
Mirimshah is south-southeast of Khost, in the area around Tora Bora. Pakistan doesn't have a direct border link with any of the old Russian states - everything has to be passed through either Afghanistan, Iran or China. If I were the US commander in Afghanistan, I'd do another sweep of the caves of Afghanistan south of Kabul.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/22/2003 12:52 Comments ||
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Dang. The Perfessor got this one before we did...
The presence of such a vast crowd of pilgrims from throughout the country [in Karbala] attests to the power and the potential of the majority Shiite community, which was long repressed by Saddam's mostly Sunni Muslim government.
The event was peaceful for the most part, although the U.S. military said Tuesday that police in Karbala arrested six men who had been planning to blow up two of the city's mosques.
Five of the detainees claimed to be members of Saddam's Baath Party, and one said he belonged to al-Qaida, said Capt. Jimmie Cummings, spokesman for the Army's 82nd Airborne Division. The men were arrested Monday and have been handed over to the 101st Airborne Division in Karbala, Cummings said. Glenn's comment:
Al Qaeda and Ba'ath trying to blow up mosques; the "All-American" 82d Airborne standing in their way. I wonder if this story will make Al Jazeera?
To which we can only add: "Heh."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
04/22/2003 08:54 pm ||
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(CBS) Some of the ancient artifacts stolen from Iraqi museums are already appearing on the international art market and at least one suspected piece was seized at an American airport, FBI officials say.
Lynne Chaffinch, manager of the FBI Art Theft Program, said art collectors and dealers in the United States have reported contacts from overseas suggesting they have access to some of the thousands of stolen items. Internet searches have also turned up some items of interest, she said.
"We are seeing things appear," Chaffinch told reporters Monday.
Chaffinch said Customs agents at an unspecified U.S. airport seized at least one item believed stolen from a Baghdad museum.
Customs officials declined comment, citing an ongoing investigation, but confirmed that Customs agents are on the lookout for Assyrian, Sumerian, Mesopotamian and other treasures.
Chaffinch said she expects the thieves will attempt to sell most of the stolen pieces in wealthy countries such as the United States, Britain, Germany, Japan, France and Switzerland. People in the United States already buy about 60 percent of the world's art, both legal and illegal.
Thieves usually attempt to sell stolen art and artifacts on the legal market. The FBI frequently hears about a suspect piece from a dealer or expert, then dispatches an undercover agent to contact the seller. Some of these agents have art history training so they can move undetected in a highly specialized world.
The FBI soon will send a team of agents, probably along with Chaffinch, to Baghdad to collect documentation about the stolen pieces. The information will then will be posted for police on the FBI's National Stolen Art File, which along with private and international databases lists descriptions of some 100,000 pieces of stolen art.
The University of Chicago's Oriental Institute has also begun posting on its Internet site descriptions of some important artifacts believed stolen. These include a gypsum statue of a worshipper hailing from 2,500 B.C. and a gold helmet of King Meskalamdug, from the Royal Cemetery at Ur, dated to around 2,400 B.C. Experts at the university say between 50,000 and 200,000 items were stolen from Baghdad museums after the city fell to U.S. forces. Museum officials in Baghdad speculate that the looters did not take items at random, but appeared in some cases to know exactly what they were seeking.
A U.S. government task force that includes the FBI and Justice Department, State Department, Customs, CIA and Interpol is figuring out how to tackle the Iraqi looting case. Interpol plans a conference May 5-6 in Lyons, France, to organize and coordinate international efforts to both recover the stolen pieces and arrest the perpetrators. Some Interpol investigators are already in Kuwait, awaiting U.S. military permission to travel to Baghdad.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/22/2003 02:59 pm ||
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Of course, your average Mahmoud on the streets of Baghdad, without electricity, a job, wheels, phone service, would have no problem getting that valuable art he looted out of the country, on the world market and available to known traffickers of Messopotamian artifacts in the evil U.S. - But then it wasn't an inside job, was it? (/sarcasm)
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/22/2003 15:19 Comments ||
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Chaffinch said she expects the thieves will attempt to sell most of the stolen pieces in wealthy countries such as the United States, Britain, Germany, Japan, France and Switzerland.
Funny, I thought they would find them for sale in dirt poor agricultural, third world counties...
As I say to the Boss, gotta go where the customers are.
A prominent Iraqi Shiite cleric was released Tuesday, April 22, by U.S. forces after his detention and reported torture sparked angry demonstrations for two days, his followers said. Sheikh Mohammed al-Fartusi appeared aboard a mini-bus on Baghdad's central Fardus Square to the cheers of hundreds of Shiites who had staged protests against his reported arrest on Sunday.
One of his followers said he was relieved Fartusi had been freed, although U.S. army officials did not confirm he had ever been arrested. Quoting his followers, al-Jazzera correspondent said that Fartusi was tortured during his two-day detention.
Hmmm... Prob'ly had us confused with some Iraqis or something...
Nihad Rizkan said two days of protests in front the Palestine Hotel, which hosts both U.S. forces and foreign journalists covering the war, "contributed to his liberation." He said Fartusi would later lead prayers at the Hikma mosque, in the impoverished Shiite suburb of Baghdad where he lives.
Guess he's recovered from his torture, huh?
However, followers of Fartusi said U.S. forces arrested two other mullahs and their three bodyguards at Al-Dura checkpoint, 25 kilometers (10 miles) south of Baghdad. They said they were returning from Karbala, where hundreds of thousands of Shiites gathered Tuesday for the climax of a massive pilgrimage.
"Lootenant, we gotta coupla turbans here with some tough guys for bodyguards. What should we do with 'em?"
"Bring 'em in. We'll see if they're on the list..."
Also Tuesday, the head of the National Front for Iraqi Intellectuals was arrested by the U.S. forces seeming on the grounds of his alleged connection with the deposed regime. "Some 12 U.S. armored vehicles drove to the Front's headquarters. Soldiers showed up and took Suddam al-Qaud," said his brother who denied that Suddam had any relations to the former regime. The captured is a tribal heavyweight in the western Iraqi areas and a rich businessman.
Dontcha hate that habit dictators have of keeping detailed records?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
04/22/2003 11:32 am ||
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#1
This is going to be the "devil in the details" issue with Iraqi - containing the zealots and Islamist that have been buried for the last 30+ years. Especially the Shiites. Need to build a middle class fast.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
04/22/2003 12:48 Comments ||
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Source: F2 networks
Religious leaders in the Shiite Muslim holy city of Karbala are keeping the lid on files seized from Saddam Hussein's security services because they fear vengeance could be taken against local informers. "We found a large number of files that include reports signed by informers," said Sheik Abdul Mahdi Karbalai, representative in Karbala of Sayyid Ali al-Sistani, one of the world's spiritual leaders of Shiite Muslims.
"We are leaving this issue for time to heal; there is one report that caused the execution of four members of the same family."
If they were informers, small loss, except for the trend toward anarchy in the Shiite areas as the holy men struggle for power...
Sheik Karbalai said that early this month the population seized files from the local security branch and many were handed over to the religious leaders of the city, 80 kilometres south-west of Baghdad. Haydar Tohmeh, manager of the Rasul Hotel, lost his father and a brother because of what he said was a fabricated denunciation that they were among those who took up arms against Saddam Hussein in the city after the 1991 Gulf War. His father and brother are on a provisional list of 414 people executed after the 1991 revolt was crushed, compiled from security services records and posted with the approval of the religious leaders a few days ago on the street leading to Karbala's holy shrines.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
04/22/2003 10:05 am ||
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A lot of raw material for blackmail. Think any of these oh-so-pious religious leaders would even think of using... sorry - stupid question.
EFL
U.S. soldiers trying to stop looting in Baghdad ran into a huge cache of cash - more than $600 million in $100 dollar bills hidden behind a false wall.
Another one? Or is this the same one? How many $600 million stashes do they have?
Using forklifts to handle the heavy, tightly-wrapped packets of new bills, soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division hauled the money away for safekeeping, the U.S. Central Command confirmed Tuesday. The Los Angeles Times reported last week that the 3rd Infantry found $656 million in a Tigris River neighborhood where senior Baath party and Republican Guard officials lived.
Apparently it's the same one. The money was probably earmarked for the Oil for Politicians program...
In warehouses operated by the Iraqi Ministry of Health, U.S. forces found more generators and spare generator parts than they had expected, along with plenty of medical supplies. "There are enough supplies here ... to make immediate impact on the condition of several medical facilities," Brooks said, adding that coalition forces will deliver the supplies to hospitals. Let the lefties explain this.
Posted by: Tom ||
04/22/2003 09:02 am ||
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#1
According to the Boston Globe, it's another $600 Million stash
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/22/2003 10:01 Comments ||
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Odd, though, must be a cultural thing. All that cash instead of the secret account in the Cayman's.
Would be interesting to have the Secret Service track the bills involved, serial numbers, etc. Might find some interesting things out, bank involvements, money laundering schemes.
#3
Old, but worth reading. The UN and Oil for Food.
Interesting accounting practices, to say the least.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/cRosett/?id=110002335
#6
"save the children" via reuters, reports still looting and gunfire in Basra at night, calmer during day, Brits and Iraqis working to restore power, water and phone service, schools open on shifts, food not yet a problem but will be, more challenging than smaller Umm Qasr.
#8
General Blount of 3rd ID, via CNN:
"The general also said that troops had restored power to about a quarter of the city, west of the Tigris River, but occasional outages are still expected over the next few days.
"All the power generation stations are functioning -- not at full capacity, but functioning," Blount said. "About 40 percent of the city has power today, about 80 percent tomorrow and then the last 20 percent in the next four or five days."
#9
It must be a bummer to have all that recently looted "plug in" pirate booty from the local ministry in your cider block house that holds 28 family members, and have no way electricity to turn it on... sorta like Christmas morning with no batteries. (Move that server, Grandma Mustafa wishes to lay down.)
#10
centocm reported this AM that water in Basra is now better than pre-war levels. medical supplies found in warehouses exceed expectations, will be uesd to help Iraqi hospitals, coalition field hospitals (from variety of countries) will also be used. Also finding generator equipment in warehouses, will be used for hospital power.
#11
AP confirm power restored to "about 20%" of Baghdad. Much happiness life returning to normal. But still water problems, first reported cases of cholera,etc. Internal displaced returning to city, produce entering city, etc.
#12
I think the troops should get a 10% finders fee. It's a win-win scenario Iraqis get money for new government and GIs get nice payday (for once)! I know it belongs to the Iraqis, but it's a good thought.
Hat tap to InstaPundit. Edited for brevity.
Fastfood giants Pizza Hut and Burger King have set up their first franchises inside war-torn Iraq, even as many aid convoys waited on the borders for the war to officially end. The arrival of the two restaurants - sited inside giant trailers on a British military base near Basra - won a rapturous welcome from soldiers, whose limited range of rations lost their appeal many weeks ago. But some officers were less keen on the new arrivals, which are due to start selling food tomorrow."I would prefer we got decent showers and toilets sorted out first," sniffed muttered one high-ranking officer. Permission to open the restaurants was granted through the British Army and they will be run by existing franchise holders from Kuwait, with a percentage of any profits going to charity. That military campaign was nothing. Here comes the real invasion!
Posted by: Dar ||
04/22/2003 08:59 am ||
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#1
Got to hand it to the Kuwaitis. Even if they were going to institute sharia around 9/11.
An Iraqi Tragedy by Daniel Pipes ed for length, but fine analysis to counteract the anti-US element of reportage on this issue
Who's to blame for the destruction of Iraqi museums, libraries and archives, amounting to what The New York Times calls "one of the greatest cultural disasters in recent Middle Eastern history"? The Bush administration, say academic specialists on the Middle East. They proceed to compare American leaders to some of the worst mass-murderers in history.
Hamid Dabashi of Columbia University: U.S. political leaders are "destroyers of civilization" like Attila the Hun, Genghis Khan and Tamerlane.
Michael Sells of Haverford College: They are "barbarians" whose "criminal neglect" makes them comparable to Nero.
Said Arjomand of the State University of New York (Stony Brook): The U.S. government's "war crime" renders it akin to the Mongols who sacked Baghdad in 1258.
These academics overlook one tiny detail, however: It was Iraqis who looted and burned, and they did so against the coalition's wishes. Blaming Americans for Iraqi crimes is deeply patronizing, equating Iraqis with children not responsible for their actions. but who ever held the loony moon-bat left accountable when THEY are being racist?
The academics also overlook another fact: the extreme rarity of such cultural self-destruction. The French did not sack the Louvre in 1944. The Japanese did not burn their national library a year later. Panamanians did not destroy their archives in 1990. Kuwaitis did not destroy their historic Korans in 1991. Yes, looting took place in all these cases, but nothing approached what The Associated Press calls Iraq's "unchecked frenzy of cultural theft."
And a frenzy it was.
(SNIP)
Long live Daniel Pipes, long may he write op ed in the NY Post!
Posted by: Anon ||
04/22/2003 08:01 am ||
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The museum was looted after GW-I. The Iraqis in charge of the museum knew it was coming, "as sure as the sun will rise, we will be looted again." Please, U.S. Army, protect us, while we shoot at you of course. They were SHOCKED, SHOCKED to see looting. After they had made off with all the good stuff. All bullshit 'news' gobbled up by useless 'journalists' to say Bush Bad, War Bad.
* "Death By Slow Burn - How America Nukes Its Own Troops", by Amy Worthington The Idaho Observer, 4-16-3. Ok, this article may be a war apologists' rant, but if there's a hint of truth it's sensationally concerning.
"America's mega-billion dollar war in Iraq has been indeed a NUCLEAR WAR. Bush-Cheney have delivered upon 17 million Iraqis tons of depleted uranium (DU) weapons, a 'liberation' gift that will keep on giving. Depleted uranium is a component of toxic nuclear waste, usually stored at secure sites. Handlers need radiation protection gear. Over a decade ago, war-makers decided to incorporate this lethal waste into much of the Pentagon's weaponry. Navy ships carrying Phalanx rapid fire guns are capable of firing thousands of DU rounds per minute. Tomahawk missiles launched from U.S. ships and subs are DU-tipped. The M1 Abrams tanks are armored with DU. These and British Challenger II tanks are tightly packed with DU shells, which continually irradiate troops in or near them. The A-10 'tank buster' aircraft fires DU shells at machines and people on the battlefield.
"DU munitions are classified by a United Nations resolution as illegal weapons of mass destruction. Their use breaches all international laws, treaties and conventions forbidding poisoned weapons calculated to cause unnecessary suffering ... When a DU shell is fired, it ignites upon impact. Uranium, plus traces of plutonium and americium, vaporize into tiny, ceramic particles of radioactive dust. Once inhaled, uranium oxides lodge in the body and emit radiation indefinitely. A single particle of DU lodged in a lymph node can devastate the entire immune system according to British radiation expert Roger Coghill ... battlefield soldiers who inhale or swallow high levels of DU can suffer kidney failure within days. Any soldier now in Iraq who has not inhaled potentially lethal radioactive dust is not breathing. In the first two weeks of combat, 700 Tomahawks, at a cost of $1.3 million each, blasted Iraqi real estate into radioactive mushroom clouds. Millions of DU tank rounds liter the terrain. Cleanup is impossible because there is no place on the planet to put so much contaminated debris.
"Dr. Asaf Durakovic, a professor of nuclear medicine at Georgetown University, is a former army medical expert ... He found that 62 percent of sick vets (from Gulf War I) tested have uranium isotopes in their organs, bones, brains and urine. Laboratories in Switzerland and Finland corroborated his findings ... Nothing compares to the astronomical cancer rates and birth defects suffered by the Iraqi people ... As an Army health physicist, Dr. Doug Rokke was dispatched to the Middle East to salvage DU-contaminated tanks after Gulf War I. His Geiger counters revealed that the war zones of Iraq and Kuwait were contaminated with up to 300 millirems an hour in beta and gamma radiation plus thousands to millions of counts per minute in alpha radiation. Rokke recently told the media: "The whole area is still trashed. It is hotter than heck over there still. This stuff doesn't go away."
Posted by: glen ||
04/22/2003 01:57 am ||
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#2
The myth of DU health hazards is continually trumpeted by ass-hats everywhere.
They inevitably FAIL to consider the occupational exposure and epidemiological data that has been acquired over 70+ years of observation of uranium minors... who are occupationally exposed to uranium oxide dust (such as would be produced by the combustion of a DU penetrator during an armor strike.) Bottom line is that DU isn't any more "toxic" than an equivilent amount of lead.
Here is a link to a detailed study by the Royal Society on DU exposures:
Most likely (and to my mind probable) association with cancer in Basra (or anywhere in Iraq) is to look at how hazardous chemical wastes are disposed. If they are dumping them on the ground... the chemicals are probably migrating to their drinking water. Drinking diluted hazardous waste is a pretty sure way to end up with cancer; so it's no surprise that countries with poor "industrial hygienne" such as Iraq have high cancer rates.
It's going to take a heck of a long time to clean up their wells and reduce cancer rates. Eastern Europe learned the same cancer lesson: improper disposal of hazardous waste = sick kids and cancer.
I have just finished trouncing a DU conspiracy theorist on the FSO website, it is total BULLSH*T.
DU remains a very weak ALPHA particle emitter (alpha radiation is stopped by a sheet of paper and does not penetrate the skin, hence is not a big cancer-causer) for 500,000 years.
It is not a chernobyl and will not be causing radiation problems.
In fact, DU is used as SHIELDING as it ABSORBS more harmful gamma radiation in medical X-Ray machine shielding and tank armour.
DU does not cause cancer with radiation.
And I am the most anti-nuclear person on the planet, I actually went to prison protesting a nuclear mine in Australia once. So I am in no way pro-nuke.
#4
Problem with depleted uranium is the toxic dust pulverized at the impact, not the dreaded "radiations hazard" (IIRC). Anyway, I thought US DoD started remplacing its DU ammos by stungtene back in 1997, due to environnementalists pressure (plus, less concern for afterward cleaning-up). I mean, there was enough opportunities, ie Kosovo, to get rid of the old ordnances, no?
#5
Has anyone ever noticed that these ass-clowns never have any specific examples of people effected by D.U.? "The Iraqis" "How else to you explain the cancer rate?" is all we get. What I want to know is, How the hell was it possible to reliably CONFIRM the Iraqi cancer rate? And, they never mention the people walking around with D.U. stuck IN them that don't seem to drop off the earth every week. If I'm not mistaken, the box of lead fishing weights I have in my tackle box is more radioactive than D.U.
That's it. I'm calling Doctor Assphister, and see what he say's about changing my lead weights to D.U. weights.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
04/22/2003 7:47 Comments ||
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#6
"DU munitions are classified by a United Nations resolution as illegal weapons of mass destruction."
I dare say that "resolution", if it ever existed, never passed.
Posted by: Tom ||
04/22/2003 9:41 Comments ||
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#7
Here's the scoop on a study of Gulf War I vets who were subjected to "friendly fire" with DU weapons:
Posted by: Mark IV ||
04/22/2003 13:01 Comments ||
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#10
Took a look at The Idaho Observer link - hooboy! Nice "newspaper". Tinfoil hats optional - on the "here's why we publish" page they even have a graphic of the UN flag with black helicopters flying across....can't make that shit up
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/22/2003 16:11 Comments ||
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#11
There is a reason this stuff is called "depleted" uranium? Maybe all the fissionable material is gone? Sitting in my basement watching the war on CNN might get me more exposure to Radon than being embedded. DU dust ingested would present a toxic hazard, similar to other heavy metals such as lead, mercury. And all those supposed "hot spots" in Iraq may be worth investigating for what Saddam was playing with.
Posted by: john ||
04/22/2003 20:24 Comments ||
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Won't this guy ever take 'no' for an answer?
Chief weapons inspector Hans Blix says U.N. inspectors should return to Iraq to independently verify the discovery of any weapons of mass destruction. The United States, however, said it sees no immediate reason role for his teams to exist. Russia has called for U.N. inspectors to complete their searches and certify that Iraq's nuclear, chemical and biological weapons have been eliminated along with the long-range missiles to deliver them. On Tuesday, Blix was to brief the council on the U.N. inspectors' readiness to resume work. But the opposing U.S. and Russian views indicate the difficulties ahead as the council faces divisive issues on post-war Iraq. These include not only Iraq's disarmament but the future of U.N. sanctions imposed after the country's 1990 invasion of Kuwait, the U.N. role in Iraq now that the fighting is over, control of Iraq's oil revenue, and lucrative reconstruction contracts.
Last week President Bush called for sanctions to be lifted quickly, so Iraq's oil revenue can be used to finance reconstruction. But under now obsolete council resolutions, U.N. inspectors must first certify that Iraq has no weapons of mass destruction. The Bush administration, which accused Blix of hindering truth and objectivity its drive for international support for the war, has already sent its own teams to Iraq to search for illegal weapons. ``We see no immediate role for Dr. Blix and his inspection teams,'' Richard Grenell, spokesman for U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte, said Monday. But Blix told The Associated Press that the United States should let U.N. inspectors return to certify their work. ``I think it might be wise for them to get independent verification because it has high credibility,'' he said when asked about the reported discovery by U.S. teams of ingredients and equipment in Iraq that could be used to make a chemical weapon. Playing the canard that the US can't be trusted if we find something. Just another reason why Blix can't be allowed back into Iraq. Secretary-General Kofi Annan ordered all U.N. international staff, including the inspectors, to leave Iraq just before the U.S.-led war began on March 19. He has said he expects them to return. Russia's deputy U.N. ambassador, Gennady Gatilov, said there is a need ``for an objective international organ to certify the situation.'' ``In what form it can be done - that can be discussed,'' he told The Associated Press. Before the war, Blix and chief nuclear inspector Mohamed ElBaradei said they might need several more months to determine whether Iraq was disarmed. ``Now, when there is no regime of Saddam Hussein, it might be much easier to do this job,'' Gatilov said. And Mr. Gatilov, why is Saddam not there any more? You may now say "thank you, United States."
One council diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the aim of Tuesday's closed session with Blix was to try to connect what is happening on the ground with U.N. inspections. It isn't clear how sanctions could be eliminated if U.N. inspectors can't return. Simple: all in favor say 'aye.'
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/22/2003 01:03 am ||
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I find it just disgusting that those hypocrites at the UN have not immediately lifted sanctions on Saddam being ousted: and worse, that the Left has not condemned them for it.
Remember, these are the "crippling sanctions" responsible for the deaths of "500,000 Iraqi Children" TM, that the socialists blamed the USA entirely for.
So now the UN is continuing the sanctions with NO reason... I hear the sound of crickets chirping on the Left coast of Australia/USA/Britain
#2
Russia's deputy U.N. ambassador, Gennady Gatilov, said there is a need ``for an objective international organ to certify the situation.'' ``In what form it can be done - that can be discussed,''
::snicker:: He said "organ".
We can be sure they'll be bending the U.S. and U.K. over before using said organ.
#4
I've got to say that I'm in favor of allowing Blixie and his team back in, to inspect and verify to their teeny-tiny little hearts' content. The more the merrier. If the U.S. teams are finding stuff, and the UN team's not, then the UN team looks stoopid and obstructionist. If the UN team finds stuff, then it demonstrates that the Iraqis were obstructing them and the Blixicrats were pretending they weren't.
If nobody finds anything, then all of them are looking in the wrong places.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/22/2003 10:00 Comments ||
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#5
I'll side with Fred. Didn't Blix say that Iraq probably doesn't have WMD and all the US evidence was made up? Let him in and poke his nose in the first barrel with sarin the US inspectors find.
#6
Blix has already proven he's not really interested in finding Iraq's WMD. Remember his tirade about Global Warming??? His dumpy little Swedish rear needs to be sent back to Stockholm in a can - preferably one that held Sarin precursors. The Iraqi situation at this point should not be subjected to anything from the UN.
Simple way to keep it from happening: Don't declare the "war" "over". Say it's unsafe for UN inspectors to nose into anything. Cite the Fedayeen Saddam or the international bounty-hunters from the rest of the Arab world as the reason. Then let the Coalition go ahead and do what needs to be done. Once everything's done, a new government in Iraq, and stability in the region, tell the UN there's no reason for them to poke their noses into the affairs of a sovereign state. We'll have four or five years of gripes from UN members, but it will preclude 50 years (or more) of "refugees" - IE, the Paleostinians.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/22/2003 13:28 Comments ||
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Source: ABC Online
Lawyers for Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, who faces trial today for treason and terrorism, say their client is anxious to appear in court.
Wonder how long it'll be before he "takes sick" again...
Police say dozens of officers and a bomb squad will secure the trial of Bashir, the alleged leader of the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terror network. "We have no plans to ask for the trial to be adjourned because ustad (teacher) is anxiously waiting for it. He has said that the truth will reveal itself in the courtroom," lawyer Mohammad Assegaf said. The main charge Bashir faces is treason, attempting to topple the Government through a terror campaign in his capacity as "emir" or leader of JI and to set up an Islamic state. Treason is punishable by death if it causes loss of life.
My guess is that he's at most found guilty of a lesser charge. Chances are favorable that he'll be let off. And I think he's counting on that, too. But he never counted on being arrested, either...
Bashir last year dismissed claims he is linked to terrorism, as "manipulations by the United States and the Jews". JI is blamed for the Bali bombings which killed 202 people last October, including 88 Australians, and for a series of other blasts. The cleric is also accused of ordering the assassination of current President Megawati Sukarnoputri, when she was still vice president. Mukhlas, a fellow JI member and a key suspect in the Bali bombings, is said to have refused the assassination order on the grounds that it was not feasible.
"I just can't get to her, Boss!"
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
04/22/2003 11:09 am ||
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Hmmm...the Indonesians are not likely to take lightly the order to assassinate one of their top leaders. That might make things go a little harder for Bashir.
'Course, I'd really like to see them hand this guy over to the US (or the Aussies) for a little necktie party.
Dozens of Iraqi refugees â mostly children â have been expelled from a camp in Syria and sent back to their homeland, the United Nations said today. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees said Syrian security forces entered the El-Hol refugee camp in the country's north-east on Monday and removed nine adults and 23 children. The group is believed to have been taken to the Iraqi side of the border, the agency said. Another 12 Iraqis were expelled from the camp on April 13. UNHCR said both groups were residents of the Iraqi city of Tikrit, a stronghold of Saddam Hussein's regime, which fell to US troops a week ago.
UNHCR said Syrian authorities cited "security concerns" when asked to explain the expulsions. The agency said it appreciated the pressure Syria is under not to give sanctuary to Saddam Hussein loyalists but urged Syrian authorities to give safe haven to asylum seekers. "We are aware of the complexity of the situation, but we insist that the basic norms of international refugee law ... be observed by all concerned parties," said UNHCR chief Ruud Lubbers. UNHCR also said it was worried about an estimated 1,000 refugees and other desperate residents of Iraq who have been stuck in no man's land between Iraq and Jordan.
I don't think those are the Iraqis we were looking for, though if Ruud's against throwing them out I guess I'm for it...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
04/22/2003 08:28 pm ||
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Zimbabwe faces a total power blackout by the end of the week unless the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) urgently acquires foreign currency to settle outstanding debts to regional power suppliers. Sources within the parastatal yesterday told The Standard that the regional electricity suppliers, South Africa's Eskom and HydroCahora Bassa (HCB) of Mozambique, had lost their patience with Zesa which had since last year, failed to settle debts amounting to billions of Zimbabwean dollars due to the critical shortage of foreign currency. Over the past few weeks, the suppliers had substantially reduced the supply of electricity to Zimbabwe, forcing the local power utility to introduce load shedding which has severely affected Zimbabwe's industry. Already, supply from SNEL of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was reportedly switched off last month.
Eh, don't worry about it. It's just that capitalism stuff, you know, exchanging filthy lucre for commodities. Can't be a proper national socialist if you worry about handing money over to capitalists.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
04/22/2003 07:04 pm ||
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Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe on Monday hinted that he was "getting to a stage" when retirement might be possible, when asked on state television if he was ready to step down. There has been mounting speculation that several officials within Mugabe's ruling party are jostling to position themselves to replace the 79-year-old leader, should he step down. Mugabe has said in the past that he would consider stepping down when his government had completed the land reform programme that has seen white-owned land redistributed among new black farmers. "We are getting to a stage where we shall say 'ah fine, we have settled this matter and people can retire,'" Mugabe said, when asked if he felt he had achieved what he had set out to.
Sounds like he's stolen all the money. Time to move on...
Mugabe often uses the royal plural "we" when talking about himself. In January this year it was rumoured that army chief Vitalis Zvinavashe and speaker of parliament Emmerson Mnangagwa had contacted opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai over a plan to retire Mugabe and form a unity government. The ruling party dismissed the report. Mugabe has been in power in the southern African country since independence in 1980.
Emmerson and Don Vito don't come around anymore, I'll betcha...
Mugabe also said he was prepared to meet opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai if the latter accepted Mugabe won presidential elections last year, the 79-year old leader said on Monday. In a wide-ranging interview broadcast on state television, Mugabe hit out at the United States for wanting him to hand over power to a transitional government, saying Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Walter Kansteiner could "go hang".
Mmmm... No. Can't do that. He's not a citizen...
The Zimbabwean leader was speaking in a special interview to mark Zimbabwe's 23 years of independence. But the celebrations have been marred for many by worsening economic hardships and widening political divisions. The country's main labour body has set Wednesday as the start of protest mass action over a massive fuel price hike announced last week. Inflation meanwhile has reached 228% and 7.8 million people have faced food shortages.
"Grace, I have bad news. There's nothing left to steal. The cupboard's bare."
"Hokay, sweety. Let's go live in France."
"I'll help you pack."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
04/22/2003 06:55 pm ||
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#1
Retirement in a life of ease is too good for this bastard. I want He and Grace looking over their shoulders the rest of their short lives, culminating in a violent and unexpected end. But hey! that's just me...
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/22/2003 19:30 Comments ||
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FOUR sticky-fingered enterprising GIs have been arrested for trying to steal nearly $1 million of the $700 million in cold cash found hidden on the grounds of several estates in Baghdad, Army officials said yesterday. The four enlisted men, who all belong to the 4th Battalion of the 64th Armored Division, face court-martials, said Maj. Kent Rideout. The mountain of loot uncovered by U.S. forces on Friday apparently was left behind by top Ba'ath Party members and senior Republican Guard commanders who fled Baghdad. It has been taken to the U.S.-controlled Baghdad Airport for safekeeping and will be returned to the Iraqi people, officials have said. "You can understand how the greed took over, when just one wad of this cash can pay off your mortgage, send your kids to school, etcetera," one senior officer told The Post. Kelly's Hero's they aint!
#3
I think it's an indication that the press still hasn't caught on to the battalion/regiment system the Army uses. Most aren't real clear on the differences between units. I'd guess that's 4/64th.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/22/2003 19:55 Comments ||
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The Middle East Media Research Institute has some interesting articles posted. Most are "commentary",but here's their "news ticker" for today. The 'ALL CAPS' format is theirs, not mine.
ACCORDING TO THE SAUDI MINISTRY OF INFORMATION'S SAUDI PRESS AGENCY (SPA), THE PLO RECEIVED TODAY MORE THAN SR 1.8 MILLION FROM THE POPULAR COMMITTEE FOR ASSISTING THE PALESTINIAN MUJAHIDEEN, WHICH IS HEADED PRINCE SALMAN BIN ABDULAZIZ, THE GOVERNOR OF THE RIYADH REGION. (SPA, 4/22/03)
THE EGYPTIAN DAILY AL-AHRAM DESCRIBED THE AMERICAN PROPOSAL TO LIFT THE U.N. SANCTIONS AGAINST IRAQ AS A 'CLEAR IMPERIALISTIC PLOY⊠TO LEGITIMIZE THE AMERICAN IMPERIALISTIC OCCUPATION OF IRAQâŠ' (AL-AHRAM, EGYPT 4/22/03)
THE MATERNAL AUNT OF FORMER IRAQI PM TARIQ AZIZ: LET THE AMERICANS ARREST HIM⊠(OKAZ, SAUDI ARABIA 4/22/03)
ARAB VOLUNTEERS WHO WENT TO IRAQ TO SUPPORT SADDAM'S FORCES ARE WORRIED ABOUT BEING HARASSED WHEN THEY RETURN TO THEIR COUNTRIES. (AL-WATAN, SAUDI ARABIA 4/22/03)
RIYADH IS PREPARING TO REPATRIATE IRAQIS WHO FOUND REFUGE IN SAUDI ARABIA SAYING THAT WITH THE FALL OF THE PREVIOUS REGIME THEY WERE NO LONGER REFUGEES. (AL-JAZEERA, SAUDI ARABIA, 4/22/03)
LEADER OF THE ISLAMIST 'IRAQI NATIONAL MOVEMENT,' AHMAD 'UBEID AL-KUBEISI, SAID THAT THERE WAS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR THE PRESENCE OF THE AMERICAN FORCES IN IRAQ AT THE PRESENT TIME. (AL-HAYAT, LONDON 4/22/ 03)
THE IRAQI-BASED IRANIAN OPPOSITION MUJAHIDEEN KHALQ WELCOMED THE CEASE-FIRE AGREEMENT REACHED YESTERDAY WITH THE AMERICAN FORCES IN IRAQ. (AL-HAYAT, LONDON 4/22/ 03)
RELIGIOUS LEADERS IN THE HOLY CITY OF KARBALA DECIDED TO CONCEAL IRAQI INTELLIGENCE DOCUMENTS FOUND IN THE CITY TO PREVENT RETALIATIONS AGAINST MEMBERS OF THE FAILED BA'ATH REGIME. (AL-SHARQ AL-AWSAT, LONDON 4/22/03)
A MILITARY SOURCE IN THE PATRIOTIC UNION OF KURDISTAN (PUK) ANNOUNCED THE CAPTURE OF SEVERAL MEMBERS OF THE RADICAL PRO-BIN LADEN ANSAR AL-ISLAM ORGANIZATION DURING RECENT CLASHES CLOSE TO THE IRANIAN BORDER. (AL-SHARQ AL-AWSAT, LONDON 4/22/03)
ABU MINQASH, THE PEASANT WHO 'SHOT DOWN' AN APACHE HELICOPTER: I NEVER SHOT DOWN ANY HELICOPTER; SIMPLY FOUND IT IN MY FIELD. I SAID I HAD SHOT IT DOWN DUE TO THREATS TO MY LIFE BY IRAQI OFFICIALS. I DIDN'T RECEIVE ANY REWARD MONEY FROM SADDAM. (AL-RAI AL-AAM, KUWAIT 4/19/03)
ISLAMIC REVOLUTION'S GUARD CORPS COMMANDER BRIG.GEN. YAHYA RAHIM SAFAVI: IF THE US WANTS TO PROVE ITS SINCERITY IN ITS CAMPAIGN AGAINST TERRORISM, IT SHOULD EXTRADITE MUJAHIDEEN KHALQ MEMBERS TO IRAN. (IRNA, 4/21/ 03)
DEPUTY COMMANDER OF THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC GUARD CORPS HASSAN HAMIDZADEH SAID THAT THE IRAQ'S MOTTO TODAY SHOULD BE THE SAME AS IRAN'S IN ITS REVOLUTION AGAINST THE SHAH: 'NEITHER EAST NOR WEST, ISLAM IS THE BEST.' (IRNA, 4/22/03)
This brief snapshot gives a good indication of what the "Arab Street" is thinking. As you can see, they're about as confused as anybody else.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/22/2003 02:11 pm ||
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Joint Terrorism Task Force agents were questioning two men who were caught videotaping the Ambassador Bridge and found with dynamite and shotgun shells in their car.
It's unclear if the incident has any connection to terrorism, FBI spokeswoman Dawn Clenney said. "We are trying to find out what their motivation was," she said.
Detroit police officers from the 3rd (Vernor) Precinct on patrol spotted the two Dearborn men shortly before 11 p.m. Sunday in a secluded area near the bridge at Vernor and 25th inside a 2001 model Cadillac.
http://www.detnews.com/2003/metro/0304/22/c01-143925.htm
The driver, Hazaa Shahit, 30, was videotaping the bridge while his passenger, Mohamad Elmathil, 26, was using a handheld voice recorder, police said.
#4
If they were released, I hope the FBI has a tail on them. Jeezzz.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/22/2003 14:20 Comments ||
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I live in Detroit, they are reporting that two gentlemen in question were in the wrong place wrong time. The authorities have reviewed the tape and a local reporter stated that they did not even videotaped the bridge/infrastructure. The authorities are basically arresting first and apologise later. They were being held until the FBI talked to them.
Rantburg will likely be moving to a slower, more unreliable server in the next week or so, probably the same one that hosts Thugburg. I just got my hosting bill. The bandwidth jump during the war will be putting me in the poorhouse.
Paypal button's up top, on the right. I'll be out robbing a liquor store if anybody needs me.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
04/22/2003 12:44 pm ||
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#1
Fred -- I sent you some money. Great service you've provided for us. (Now if you could only fix the diplay width issue...)
As a civil servant still in active government service, I am forbidden by law to operate an account outside the shores of Nigeria Britain. Hence this message to you seeking your assistance so as to enable me to present your private/company account details as a beneficiary of contractual claims alongside that of the BulgarianIraqi French contractor, to enable me transfer the difference of US$600,000,000.00 (Six Hundred Million,United States Dollars) into your provided account.....
Sincerely,
George Galloway
Posted by: Dick Saucer ||
04/22/2003 13:56 Comments ||
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Thanks for the donation - it's much appreciated!
I'd fix the page-width thing if I could make my browser do it. Mine (IE6) looks normal, and my Opera and Netscape browsers are on my home box.
I fixed the input box on the Guest Poster form to take up to 254 characters, though, so we shouldn't have that kind of problem with URLs again.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/22/2003 13:59 Comments ||
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I've reset the width on comments to a fixed width, which'll make it look awful on anything but the screen resolution I'm using. Did that fix the problem?
Posted by: Fred ||
04/22/2003 14:37 Comments ||
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Pretty good - I'm at 800X600 and it looks like it's set one reso higher. I'll pony up some cash as well, and this time it won't have Sammy's mug on it
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/22/2003 14:47 Comments ||
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Maybe I shouldn't have included all those pictures...
Posted by: Fred ||
04/22/2003 15:34 Comments ||
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What are your storage requirements? Verio has unlimited bandwidth with 400MB space for $149/mo. There are others like Future Quest that have 450MB storage and 20GB bandwidth for $55/mo, if you expect traffic to subside with the war wrapping up. I'm not affiliated with either company, but just perusing hosts to get an idea what's the norm.
Posted by: Dar ||
04/22/2003 15:58 Comments ||
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#9
Happy to contribute to the cause; I'll whack Paypal tonight from home. Where else can I be so snarky to such an understanding bunch? My wife certainly doesn't let me get away with any of this around the house.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/22/2003 16:19 Comments ||
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Fred -- Great site. I've hit the button.
Posted by: Matt ||
04/22/2003 16:57 Comments ||
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Re the formatting, it looks okay in IE and Opera, but Netscape ignores the width setting and runs it into a single unbroken line. I'm going to reset it to a proportional width again and just hope tomorrow comes soon...
Posted by: Fred ||
04/22/2003 17:44 Comments ||
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Maybe I better stop hitting the 'Refresh' button 100 times per second from now on....
Posted by: Chris Smith ||
04/22/2003 17:54 Comments ||
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fred i gave you some right now, thankyou for providing this fantastic site
and i am a tightarse I never give money to anyone, but you are my golden exception, you are my goldenboy Fred!
#14
Fred, come to Canada, www.eol.ca based in Toronto has transfers of 100,000MB for $300CAD and 0.39CAD for each additional 100MB. Keep in mind these are Canadian dollars. I'm not sure about the storage though.
I'll contribute shortly, but since $1CAD = $0.000000001US it won't be worth much.
The vital Palestinian reform process seems as if it reached a dead-end as Palestinian prime minister-designate Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen (Abu Mazen) said that, "Things have broken down between me and Arafat. I will not come back." Talks stalled late Saturday, April 19, with Abbas walking out and threatening to quit. Parliamentary speaker Ahmed Qorei had been sent to meet Abbas to try to persuade him to come back to the talks, but one parliamentarian told AFP that the chances of bridging the gap between the two Fatah co-founders was "very, very weak."
Ah, yes. Brings back fond memories of Madelaine Albright, racing after Yasser in her heels when he stalked off from one of the interminable meetings in the peace processor. If you don't want to negotiate, you can always set it up so you don't have to.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
04/22/2003 11:38 am ||
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#1
" how much you want for that carpet"
"$2000"
"outrageous. im walking away, im not coming back"
"er, $1500"
"ok, im back. $1000 and not a penny more"
etc
#2
Arrafat is a totalitarian dictator, and refuses to share power with anyone. The United States is setting the PA up for a total drubbing. Either the Paleostineans learn to truly NEGOTIATE, instead of just demand, followed by another wave of suicide bombings, or they're going to find themselves in the same situation as the Children of Israel following Moses: spending 40 years in the Wilderness of Sinai. Frankly, I think that's what it's going to take to make any lasting peace in Israel.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/22/2003 13:55 Comments ||
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It's a pathetic state of affairs too, when we have only someone at the level of Abbas to counter Arafat...he's not much better. His proposed security chief, Mo Dahlan, is nothing but a more disciplined thug than the Al-Aqsa, Hamas, and IJ lunatics. The Paleos need an internal house-cleaning badly, and that can't be imposed on them, they have to want it
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/22/2003 15:30 Comments ||
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Most reports have focused on Abu Mazen's plan to make Mohammed Dahlan, the Gazan strongman and former head of the Preventive Security Services in the Gaza Strip, head of the new government's security services. However, Palestinian sources said the dispute actually revolves around the premier-designate's plans for establishing a new PA security policy, and whether he must win Arafat's approval for every decision he makes.
The sources said Abu Mazen's plans to disarm the underground armed wing of Fatah, the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, and how he will confront Hamas and Islamic Jihad are at the heart of the dispute.
Abu Mazen insists that he be granted sole authority over the disarming of armed factions, while Arafat rejects the demand, fearing that the disarming of the Al Aqsa Brigades would lead to a civil war. The two also have not reached an agreement as to how to deal with the other armed factions.
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/22/2003 15:42 Comments ||
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The Pentagon has produced plans to bomb North Korea's nuclear plant at Yongbyon, if the rogue state goes ahead with reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel rods that would yield enough plutonium for six nuclear weapons, according to a published report Tuesday. Citing "well-informed sources close to U.S. thinking," the Australian newspaper reported the plan also involves a military strike against North Korean artillery stationed in the hills above the border with South Korea. Better have China onboard or paralyzed
The artillery threatens Seoul and about 17,000 U.S. troops stationed south of the Demilitarized Zone. The Pentagon hardliners military planners aren't hardliners, just not diplomats
said to be behind the plan reportedly believe the precision strikes envisaged in it would not lead to North Korea initiating a general war it would be certain to lose. The United States would inform North Korea it was not aiming to destroy the regime of Kim Jong-il, but merely destroy its nuclear weapons capacity, the newspaper reported. However, the Bush administration hasn't made a decision to accept the plan. So it's just another plan being floated to see how it's responded to or for diploleverage
Instead, President George W. Bush has emphasized that they believe diplomacy can work with North Korea. The United States, North Korea and China are were? I thought we'd backed out? scheduled to hold talks in Beijing on Wednesday.
NKor couldn't possibly ignore or even live with a strike on its nuclear and artillery positions. To do so would be an admission it was powerless in the face of the U.S. and SKor. So we can just forget that idea of explaining we're not going for regime change. If we were to hit them, it would have to be with the sole objective of regime change. On the plus side, I think we'd also find that NKor is just as hollow as Iraq was, regardless of the goose-stepping parades, regardless of all the 20-foot portraits of Kimmie they lug around, and regardless of how many people throng the streets shouting "Kimmie, we will defend you with our blood!"
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/22/2003 08:58 am ||
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I would hope that there has not been a single instant since June 25, 1950 that we did not have plans to bomb North Korea.
#2
Yep, another meaningless story. Of course we have plans to attack nearly every country in the world. If something goes horribly wrong, you had better believe that we want to be prepared for any contigency.
Posted by: John Thacker ||
04/22/2003 9:32 Comments ||
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Yes. There had better be a plan. Hell there better be a plan to bomb Bimini.
#4
Boy, reporter got a scoop! Here I thought our professional military spent all day eating bon bons and watching "Oprah" instead of preparing for actual war and making contingency plans.
Posted by: Dar ||
04/22/2003 10:49 Comments ||
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I wouldn't call this story meaningless. Of course the Pentagon has had plans drawn up for North Korea for decades. Everyone knows that, including North Korea.
That's not the point. The point is, why are (presumably) administration sources talking to the press about this? IIRC, UPI and WashTimes have common ownership (the Moonies, right?), and WashTimes is deeply conservative and has good relations with the administration. The existence of the story itself, not so much its content, is what's significant here. Message to the NKors, maybe? Deniable escalation?
#6
Don't believe it. South Korea has adopted a constructive engagement policy, towards the North, and they have an effective veto over US actions, if not rhetoric.
Well what are they gonna eat now?
An institute under the Academy of Agricultural Science of Korea has succeeded in developing a new kind of microbial herbicide for killing barnyard grass. According to researchers of the institute, chemical herbicide has been used to kill barnyard grass. But the toxicant is harmful not only to rice plants but also to human bodies and environment. The newly developed herbicide has no harmful effect on them.The researchers said that it proved successful in killing barnyard grass on some farms and its efficacy reached 80 to 95 percent. Barnyard grass...it's not just for breakfast anymore.
Posted by: tu3031 ||
04/22/2003 08:32 am ||
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#1
Ok. Do these two sentances contradict each other, or is it the lack of coffee as of yet this morning?
"But the toxicant is harmful not only to rice plants but also to human bodies and environment."
and...
"The newly developed herbicide has no harmful effect on them."
Posted by: Mike N. ||
04/22/2003 9:37 Comments ||
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Ah. I did read it wrong. The old is the baddie and the new is not. I'm going to go and get an IV drip of caffeine before I comment any more today. *rubbing eyes*
#4
The same site also has an "Anecdote about Kim Jong Il":" -- Kim Jong Il was present at an aesthetics seminar of writers and artistes in January Juche 59 (1970). A critic made a speech with words adopted from a foreign language. The participants could understand his speech because all of them were artistic experts.
But Kim Jong Il stopped his speech and criticized him of using borrowed words instead of home-grown words. He said it was a manifestation of the lack of the serve-the-people spirit to use words difficult for others to understand or words adopted from foreign languages." - I think that speaks for itself-El Id.
Posted by: El Id ||
04/22/2003 14:49 Comments ||
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Somewhat OT, Fred.
Britain could lose many millions of pounds worth of business in France because of a possible consumer boycott prompted by the Iraq war, according to a new poll. More than one in 10 French consumers are less likely to buy British as a result of Prime Minister Tony Blair's hardline stance, the poll suggests. Only 1 in 100 French are more likely to buy British because of the war, according to the survey by PR company Weber Shandwick, which also revealed anti-British sentiment in Germany.
The survey found that 10 per cent of German consumers said they were less likely to buy British - although this was balanced by seven per cent who said they were more likely. According to Government figures, the UK exported goods worth just over £18 billion to France and over £21 billion to Germany in 2002.
US companies could be hit even harder than those from the UK, the survey conducted between April 11 and April 13 - after the last phase of the war - indicates. The survey revealed that 17 per cent of French people surveyed said they were less likely to buy American, balanced by four per cent who said they were more likely. Interviews with British consumers found 11 per cent claiming to be less likely to buy American, compared with four per cent claiming to be more likely. In Germany, 13 per cent said they were less likely to buy American, against nine per cent who said they were more likely.
Colin Byrne, joint chief executive of Weber Shandwick in the UK, said: "In France and Germany, it may well be that the anti-war stance of political leaders and mainstream media has filtered down to consumers. British opinion is less hostile [sic!!!] to the war, but what's striking is that in general terms British consumers seem to have become politicised. "Of the three countries we examined, the British are far more likely to consider leveraging their purchasing power to make a point about an issue that concerns them."
Posted by: Bulldog ||
04/22/2003 06:26 am ||
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#1
Bring it on Frogboy! Gonna boycott American and British-made personal hygiene products? heh heh
This will do even more to ensure a drop in Americans traveling to France , buying French products, and tolerating snooty little waiters
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/22/2003 7:17 Comments ||
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I've got a "Boycott France" sticker in my back window, and every once-in-a-while I'll get a honk, and a F@%k France!
Man, there'e a whole-lotta frogs over there that I wish would croak.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
04/22/2003 7:50 Comments ||
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Why is it that all the so-called international experts on the 24/7 news channels keep telling us to simmer down when it comes to France and Germany, even when it's quite obvious from stories like this that they don't feel the same way at all. And they're the ones who screwed us.
Posted by: g wiz ||
04/22/2003 8:36 Comments ||
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#4
Mitchell spinning reel. Check.
I'm ready for the boycott.
They make anything else useful?
#5
"In Germany, 13 per cent said they were less likely to buy American, against nine per cent who said they were more likely. "
Confirms a big difference between Germany and France. While I may disagree with TGA from time to time, i think Germany is slowly coming back to friendship - we should encourage this, and not push them to hard. France and Russia cannot maintain the AOW without Germany.
#8
Its pretty simple economics to me. France is a country of about 60 million. America is about 290 million. Who do you think means more to the world economy? If America boycotts France - it will really hurt France but France boycotting America will not hurt that bad. Wine and cheese versus real cars and beer? Give me a break.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
04/22/2003 12:45 Comments ||
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#9
I think the "German Street" has remained fairly US friendly, and that the average German tends to think like "us" in many ways. We shouldn't extrapolate too much from their Government's quibbles with our Iraq policy... after all, we didn't want them thinking that WE were all like Clinton. The Krauts are good, solid people, but they are facing a whole different set of concerns than we are.
The Frogs, on the other hand, never change (i.e., improve). They're not gonna boycott squat, either. A poll question like this lets them vent, but they rarely follow up with actions.
Thank god Scotland was with us... there are things in life for which there are no substitutes.
Posted by: Mark IV ||
04/22/2003 12:51 Comments ||
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#10
I wish you could have read the (very well known) German writer Hans Magnus Enzensberger in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on Saturday. It's about the best comment about the German "we-have-the-moral-high-ground" peace movement I have ever read. He slammed the "rhetoric of appeasement, as if Germans had never lived under a totalitarian regime". Enzensberger expresses "triumphal joy" over the swift US victory in Iraq and the toppling of the dictator. I can only agree full heartedly.
"Writing in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (subscription required), Enzensberger fired some heavy ordnance in the direction of the peace movement, which depicted President Bush as the dictator of the piece and uttered neither a word about the sufferings of the Iraqis under Saddam nor a syllable about their recent liberation. Enzensberger writes:
"It is not the first disgrace of those who warn and remind; not for the first time have the worry lines, which furrow the German brow, proven to be precipitous. It is not so long ago that East Germany was regarded here as unshakeable; it was seen as one of the most successful industrial nations of the world; the social democracy did everything to co-operate with the SED [the East German communist regime]; Poland's Solidarity movement was, as a result, treated as a dangerous troublemaker. Stability was everything; the Soviet Union was an invincible colossus, which only the Americans and other cold warriors provoked, while the heroic besiegers of Mutlangen [an American military depot] dared challenge the provocative rearmament of the United States. It was astounding, and for many leftists, especially awkward, that the colossus stood on feet of clay."
I think more and more Germans wake up to find out that they've been in bad company. The left has tried to exploit the genuine anti war feeling in Germany and turn it into Anti Americanism (which will not stand). I'm absolutely convinced that with the return of a decent government in Germany more people will rub their eyes.
Maybe this war was started for reasons that weren't explained well enough but the results can only be applauded. Unfortunately Schroeder hasn't learned a thing. Yet.
#12
If I remember France has substaintal tariffs on American farm products(seems frog farmers can't compete in both quality or quantity.Wonder why?)French gov. also heavily subsidize Frog Farms.
Guess people haven't noticed but we've been in a trade war for years.
Rather it is an (edited) email sent by Armen Saginian, an Iranian exile living in the US, who is trying to secularise Islam and mount an ideological challenge to the Mullahs. He wants religion OUT of Iranian politics and schools. He has set up a number of organisations such as AA-18, and New Horizons, and published secular books and distributed them in Iran (no mean feat). He needs help and support from the US.
He is a weapon against the Mullahs.
These are his worries, btw: I have no idea what he means by a laic society nor who half these people are, but Rantburgers will know.
Situation has forced us to contact you in this way and manner
· Why is Mr. Michael Ladeen back in the picture?
· Why are the Shiite clerics congregating in Iraq?
· Are we about to create another Islamist Iran in Iraq?
· Prince Reza Pahlavi is not the solution.
· Mr. Asadollah Morovati together with Michael Ladeen is not the solution.
· Iranian youth inside and outside of the country are the solution.
· We just concluded an anti-Islamic mini-convention in Washington D.C.
· We are planning a fully dedicated, three-day, free-Iran & anti-Islamist convention in Los Angeles for October or November.
· Our aim is not only a secularist government, but also a laic society for Iran.
· Give us one tenth of the $5 million designated to topple the regime in Iran, and we will produce ten-fold of the work that the rest of the money will.
· Old political scenario writers are going from city to city trying to drum-up old and burned-out figureheads to present to the White House as a valid alternative opposition. Group.
How can we help?
Respectfully,
Armen A. Saginian
contact: armen@cfiwest.org
Posted by: Anonymous ||
04/22/2003 02:41 am ||
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#1
it was me that posted this from Armen, just forgot to change the name bit.
I posted it because, I wanted to let you know that Iranian expats are trying to stir things, too, and get away from Islamism.
Also alert you to the names he mentions in case it is important.
But mostly: advice.
Can anyone advise on how Armen can best further his cause? Who can he contact who will listen? His organisation needs money to print more anti-Islamist books in Farsi and English to distribute in Iran. Also, to organise and get the word out.
Any good organisations that would be willing to help him with publicity/benefactors/departments of government that would listen to him. Anything would be appreciated.
Any good advice here I will personally email off to him to make sure he gets it.
#2
A broad-based democratic student resistance movement in Iran has a website as www.iran-daneshjoo.org. You might check that out. I wonder, though, what this guy's gripe with Michael Ledeen is? Ledeen has been an outspoken and passionate proponent of democratization in Iran, and in fact viewed the Iranian mullahs as a far greater global terrorist threat than Iraq. If anything he has worked to get an easily distracted press and pundit community to focus on the student movement in Iran and the potential for grass-roots democratic reform. Maybe some quarters of the Iranian expat community have some issues with him for some reason. If anyone knows, post a comment.
#5
Use your name on a blog in Iran and you get an introduction to the happy truncheon.
Posted by: Jon ||
04/22/2003 12:54 Comments ||
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#6
Armen uses his name, but he didn't post here, I did on his behalf (unasked mind you, i just want to find ways to help him out). I don't use my name as mine is irrelevant! who does use a name here? we all use handles!
President Geidar Aliev collapsed and reportedly struck his head during a televised speech Monday, alarming many in the audience and bringing some to crocodile tears. The presidential press service said in a brief statement that Aliev ``lost his balance as a result of a severe drop in blood pressure,'' which stabilized after a few minutes. ``At present, the president's health is fine,'' it said. Sorta like General Franco: stable but slowly deteriorating.
The former KGB general and Communist Party chief has twice won elections criticized as fraudulent, but has also brought stability to Azerbaijan, which has been plagued by insurgencies and a punishing war over the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh. Other than that, rock solid stability!
State television twice interrupted the broadcast of Aliev's speech during a celebration of the 30th anniversary of a military academy. The broadcast was first cut after Aliev suddenly clutched his chest and complained of pain. ``Something has struck me,'' he said. Witnesses in the hall said Aliev stumbled backward and looked as if he were about to fall, and aides rushed to support him. People surrounding him called for a doctor before he was led away. About 15 minutes later, Aliev reappeared, looking pale but in control of himself. ``Don't worry, I guess my ill-wishers put the evil eye on me,'' Aliev joked when the live broadcast resumed. ``But they won't be able to hurt me.'' The broadcast was cut again a few minutes later. A witness who agreed to be identified by only his first name, Yalchin, said Aliev fell backward and hit his head on the floor with a thud. Sounds like the ill-wishers came back with an evil ear, two evil teeth and an evil uvula.
Another audience member, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Aliev looked cheerful and alert as he spoke the second time, and his sudden fall was unexpected. Only after his head hit the floor did guards in the wings and plainclothes security agents sitting in the audience rush to assist him. During both episodes, a hush fell over the audience of more than 2,000, the witnesses said. Cabinet members could be seen nervously smoking in the lobby. A few minutes later, the station returned to the live broadcast again and showed a smiling Aliev congratulating the military cadets and officers on the anniversary. He then ducked behind the curtains, and the celebration continued with a concert. Aliev, who turns 80 next month, had a heart attack in 1987 and underwent bypass surgery at a Cleveland clinic in 1999. He underwent prostate surgery at the same clinic in February 2002. Earlier this year, he underwent a hernia operation there. There's just gotta be a buxom, blonde Las Vegas showgirl who wants to marry this man for his money.
He has announced his intention to run again in presidential elections this October, but many critics say he is actually paving the way to turn over power to his son Ilkham. Ilkham? Cheeze, who names these kids anyway?
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/22/2003 01:10 am ||
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#1
OT : at the very end of his personnal via dolorosa (as he was supposed to see it), dear Franco was supposed to spit bloodcloats "the size of an orange". Aliev is still healty as an ox, by comparison.
It is important to mention that, at the very beginning, Pyongyang insisted on bilateral negotiations with Washington without the participation of any third parties. The reason for this is quite clear: Kim Jong Il wants like he is an equal to the world-s only superpower, and it flatters his self-esteem that the leader of his outcast country may have tete-a-tete negotiations with the leader of the world politics. For once, I actually agree with Pravda! Holy crap!
Of course, North Korea's request to have bilateral negotiations with the United States is caused not only by vanity: Pyongyang wants to have guarantees of security proven with documents (should some kind of non-aggression treaty). Kim and people in his administration think that only the United States that can give these guarantees. Even Kimmie thinks the UN is a joke...
The United States, in its turn, insists that the number of countries participating in the negotiations must be maximally large. Washington believes that all the countries of the region-- Russia, Japan, China and South Korea-- must participate in the process of crisis settlement. In this case, the problem is the support of the international community, for which the North Korean problem poses a threat. Before the war in Iraq, neither of the parties managed to achieve any success in a solution of the problem. Pyongyang and Washington kept on blaming each other for escalation of the conflict, and neither party did much in reality.
Kim dropped out of the sight of the international community for several weeks. Japanese journalists even conjectured that he was suffering from deep depression after he saw TV broadcasts of U.S. tanks freely driving across the Iraqi desert, but this is just journalistic imagination.
Whatever the case may be, the ending of the Iraq war may result in the launching of negotiations between Pyongyang and Washington. The parties have reached a compromise and agreed that China would participate in the negotiations, but that no further countries would. It was said that, probably, other countries would be allowed to participate in the negotiations later.
It is highly likely that recommencement of dialogue between the United States and North Korea was not only due to the end of the Iraq war. North Korea has been on the verge of starvation for some years, and Pyongyang has already appealed to South Korea for aid, rice and fertilizer. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) reports that 70,000 North Korean children will be on the brink of starvation by this summer. The North Korean food reserves will only last until October, and only if they are used sparingly.
Kim is now in a desperate situation, which is hardly a novel experience for him. One thing is perfectly clear now: That the North Korean leader would not like to share Saddam's fate.
Posted by: Baba Yaga ||
04/22/2003 01:09 am ||
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Dammit! Does every dictator have to starve their kids to death?
I hate to see them forcing starvation on their kids so that US will appease their despotic demands. Kim is no more than a hostage-taker.
#2
The dear leader has not yet been the subject of a left wing anti American 'US hands off NK' type demonstration. I look forward to it however, mainly because getting the antisemitic movement involved will take some super spinning.
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.
