An Afghan soldier has been arrested in the capital Kabul after international peacekeepers were fired upon. Two Norwegian soldiers with the International Security Force (Isaf) were shot and wounded in the attack. The assault took place in the northern part of the city when unidentified gunmen opened fire on a patrol, according to officials. Gunmen? I thought it was one guy?
A soldier with the 8th Afghan army division - believed to be a former member of the Taleban - has been held in connection with the shooting. One of the soldiers is reported to have been seriously wounded in the incident and both men are recovering in hospital. They were travelling on the main road between Kabul and nearby Bagram airport shortly after midday when the attackers opened fire on their vehicle. Humm, guess there were more than the one guy. At least they caught him and are having a "talk".
Posted by: Steve ||
05/14/2003 10:09 am ||
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I believe this was written in English, thought in Arabic...
Yemen Times Staff
The 27 April parliamentary elections results announced last week showed participation of all Yemeni 22 political parties and organizations with their different national, Islamic and socialist orientations while other Islamic sects didnât specify their stands vis-a-vis elections process.
Sources mentioned that al-Salafia movement stand, which is considered one of the strongest Islamic groups found in Yemen, was clear and didnât take part in the elections describing them as an act of infidelity and imitation of the west.
Didn't think they were gonna win, huh?
However, some sources indicated that some of al-Salafia elements had supported the al-Dawa candidates (extremists) from the Muslim Brotherhood movements.
The Muslim Brotherhood is the (semi-legit) front for Salafism. It's where they keep the Learned Elders of Islam, who're too important to The Movement⢠to actually get shot. Syria, I believe, shot them a few years ago, and they're outlawed in Egypt and a few other places...
The Shiite al-Ethnashria (al-Gafrites) that has existence in some areas, called on its followers to back General Peopleâs Congress candidates attempting to gain the ruling party support for its activities to face what is called al-Wahabi movement in Islah party with whom they have intellectual-pragmatic enmity.
Makes sense for the Shiites to support the gummint party when the Salafists are the main opposition...
Regarding the Jews in Yemen who are extensively inhabit in Sadah information indicated that they were supporting al-Hak, an Islamic party which adopts al-Zaidi-alhaidwi ideas.
Saleh Obad al-Zaidi was assassinated, on April 27th, by coincidence â or maybe it wasn't a coincidence. I presume that's who they're referring to. He was a prominent figure in the Yemeni National Arab Baâath Party, and was one of the founders of the Oma al-Marek (Mother of Battles) organization. So somehow we end up with Yemen's Jews supporting an Islamic party that adopts Baathist positions. I think I'll go take an aspirin now...
Al-Bohra and al-Ismaelite stand obviously was for GPC candidate in Sanaâa, Haraz and Jibla.
Never heard of them. Don't know if they're parties, secret societies, social clubs or what...
The second section [wing] in the al-Salafia movement that is represented in al-Hikma al-Yemenia members, backed Muslim Brotherhood movement candidates.
However, the stands of al-Hijra, al-Takfeer (Disbelieving), and al-Dawa groups which have simple existence in most Yemen areas is not clear till now.
The Islamic jihad movement does not show any stand against the operation and might boycott.
Yemen has its own version of Islamic Jihad. It was originally an offshoot of Egyptian IJ, rather than being affiliated with the Paleostinian version. I believe it's outlawed in Yemen.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/14/2003 09:59 pm ||
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The Yemeni opposition parties criticized ruthlessly President Ali Abdullah Saleh and held him accountable for all violations that took place during the voting and screening processes of the parliamentary election. Mr. Mohammed Qahtan, head of the political department at the Islah Party party said in a press conference last Monday that democracy in Yemen came as a result of a military balance between the GPC and the socialist parties after the unification. But after the breakdown of this balance due to the civil war of 1994, the margin of democracy started to shrink dramatically. He said, âwe believed in the democracy of president Saleh but he proved to be not different from any other Arab leaders as he ordered the nationalization and blundering of our constituencies by force.â
Ummm... Not a smart thing to say to a dictator...
He addressed the president in a courageous manner by saying âyou are the reason of all this trouble we are going through and democracy will not go ahead unless you do it yourself.â He pointed out that the ruling party tried to drag the opposition into violence and bloodshed but the opposition, as he said, could escape this trap and making concessions to avoid violence.
I hope they're going to start soon...
He pledged that the regime will be brought down through more democracy and hard work on their part. However, it seems that Qahtan was subjected to harassment for his strong criticism of the president.
Hey! Careful with that feather! You almost knocked me over with it!
In a press statement distributed Thursday, Qahtan apologized to the president. âAs I believe that the president of the Republic has a big heart as he is the father of all Yemeni people, I would like to apologize to him for my statement which could be understood as offensive to his Excellency. I hope that he would accept my apology,â the statement said.
"Instead of tossing me into the calaboose to rot..."
This apology was yet followed by another formal apology from the Islah party as a whole. The party held an extraordinary meeting last Friday and apologized to Saleh for the offensive of Qahtan. Islah said that the leadership apologizes in the name of all its members to President Saleh on the offensive made by Qahtan. Islah emphasized that they enjoy good and deep-rooted relations with Saleh, who remains a leader of all people of Yemen.
"At least we could pretend we did, until Mr. Dummschitz opened his mouth..."
On his part, Dr. Abdullah Dahan of the Nasserite party said the fight was not between the candidates of the opposition and the ruling party; rather it was a fight with the state with all its power and potentials. The opposition pledged to count all violations and put them into question before court.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/14/2003 09:18 pm ||
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The U.S. intelligence community assesses that Al Qaida has infiltrated Saudi military and security forces.
Comes as a surprise, huh?
U.S. intelligence and diplomatic sources said assessments by both the CIA and the Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency have asserted that Al Qaida operatives in Saudi Arabia have contacts throughout the kingdom's armed forces. The sources said Al Qaida has operatives in the elite National Guard, the Navy and the Army. "The only area where there is no evidence of a significant Al Qaida presence is the Saudi Royal Air Force," a U.S. official familiar with intelligence assessments said. "The police, army, navy, National Guard and all the rest have been infiltrated by Al Qaida." The sources said the Al Qaida suicide attacks on three Western compounds on early Tuesday pointed to the vast amount of knowledge the organization possessed on the layout of the residences and the security detail. They said nine attackers obtained National Guard uniforms, drove to the gates of the compounds, killed actual National Guard soldiers and immediately entered the Western residency complex.
I hadn't heard the part about the National Guard uniforms...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/14/2003 07:45 pm ||
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#1
Some months ago I heard a famous Merkin say, "You're either with us or against us." Looks like it's time for the House of Saud to pick.
Posted by: Matt ||
05/14/2003 20:18 Comments ||
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#2
Matt, the Sauds decided which side they were on when the planes slammed into the buildings...
Posted by: Brian ||
05/14/2003 20:34 Comments ||
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#4
Methinks the House of Saud had its choice made for it.. they've just been a bit slow to realize..
If they don't jump soon, they may find they've got no choices at all.
#8
I'm waiting for the current generation to be replaced by their sons. Just think, all those cousins who aren't going to be king, and who will eventually have to be cut off from the gravy train. Sounds like a situation tailor-made for civil war.
Saudi Arabia said on Wednesday it would make al Qaeda pay for suicide bombings that killed 34 people, including seven Americans, and would hunt down the masterminds with FBI help. Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal promised to find those behind the bombings, the first major attack on U.S. targets since the United States waged war on Iraq to stamp out terrorism and oust Saddam Hussein. "Saudi Arabia is committed to... striking with an iron fist all who are tampering with the country's security," he told a news conference in Riyadh. "Whoever did this will regret it because they have unified this country's determination to extract this cancer (terrorism) and ensure that it doesn't return." A U.S. official said a team of FBI agents was waiting in Germany for Saudi approval to head to the kingdom. A high-level Saudi security official said the army was erecting checkpoints all over the vast desert kingdom. In a U.S. television interview, the U.S. Ambassador in Riyadh Robert Jordan criticized the Saudi authorities for not responding quickly to U.S. requests for more security. He also said the conservative Muslim kingdom where Saudis sympathize with bin Laden had a "long way to go" to ending terror attacks against foreigners. Summary: Perhaps this is a case of Al Qaeda winning a "battle" on the way to losing the war. Let's hope so.
If the Soddies actually switch gears and crack down like the Indonesians did, that might be so. If they do, in this case they'll take out a single structure that makes up a part to al-Qaeda. That's been the pattern in Pakistan, Indonesia, and to an extent in Russia/Chechnya â the Bad Guys have to stick the beturbanned little heads up to pull the op, and when they do the cops are able to track them down and either kill them or jug them. SA has the second problem of being involved in the finance and ideological end of things, though, and that's where the real progress is to be had. I don't think they have the nerve to crack down on the bin Laden family and their fellow travellers and on the holy men. Too much potential for overt opposition and loss of princely face.
Khaled Hamed Al-Suleiman also wrote in 'Okaz: "Blaming the extremist phenomenon of people who blow themselves up to harm others on our curriculum is not objective or fair, because this phenomenon is new, and it is inconceivable that it is the product of the curriculum that has served our society for half a century...!! Ideological extremism is merchandise that was never manufactured or sown in this land; it is merchandise imported to this land, duty-free, and the one who exported it got nothing for it, except the pure souls harvested by indiscriminate acts of terror..."
Yeah. It had to come from somewhere else. Couldn't have originated in Soddy Arabia...
"Today, Saudi Arabia is paying the price for decades of tolerance and flexibility in its [religious] message, after it has worked since its inception to support Muslims everywhere in the world... No country in the world has been spared terror... and therefore we must not go overboard in analyzing these practical ramifications and present them as the elimination of the foundation of stability of our society. On the contrary; these are threats we can deal with as long as we believe that we bear responsibility towards our religion, our homeland, and ourselves. The fact that the extremists of terror reached the point of turning into human bombs attests to the tyranny of despair and frustration in their souls... There is no doubt that these are terrorists in the stages of dying, like their ideology..."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/14/2003 02:32 pm ||
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#1
He can say whatever he wants, but the truth is most of the terrorists lately have held Saudi passports.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
05/14/2003 14:36 Comments ||
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"No country in the world has been spared terror"
He's talking out his ass. There are a lot of countries out there and I'm sure there are many that haven't been struck by suicide-bombing religious fanatics!
Canada comes to mind... and Singapore... and Belize... and Tahiti... and Finland... and Romania... I could continue, but I won't.
#3
Spare me, Khaled. "...decades of tolerance and flexibility in its religious message..."
That's why workers in Saudi are given different residence permits (igama) based on Muslim (green), non-Muslim (brown). No open worship is permitted by any other religion other than Islam. In his mindset, the flexibility and tolerance are only within the Muslim community.
Morocco, Tunisian, Egypt, UAE, etc. are much more open. This openess on their parts, other Muslim countries, are what the killers are after.
Posted by: Michael ||
05/14/2003 15:24 Comments ||
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#4
Hit the wrong button. Clarification: If you're a Muslim, you get a green Igama, brown if you're non-Muslim.
Remarks about Morocco, etc. mean that even these relatively tolerant societies, just by the fact that churches, synagogues(Morocco) exist there, make their leaders less Muslim in the eyes of these Wahibite murderers.
Posted by: Michael ||
05/14/2003 15:28 Comments ||
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#5
"no country in the world has been spared terror"
is only a slight exaggeration. Many countries had citizens in the twin towers. Many others have citizens who live and/or work in diplomatic areas in countries that are in the terrorist cross hair. The larger point that the Soddies still can't bring themselves to say is that Islam is the only religion where institutions (mosques and schools) incite murder on a large scale and regular basis.
#8
Ok Aris, how about: Islam is the only religion were believers ACT on their mythologies? And how about, Islam is the ONLY major religion were high ranking "respected" religious leaders call for murder?
Now I want you to work on this assignment: find me the religious leader of a major religion who has called for the murder of others. Note: I said the murder of others, as in death, not saying they don't like some religion or they think the other religion is heretical. I said call for the MURDER of other people.
I'll await your response.
Posted by: R. McLeod ||
05/15/2003 1:38 Comments ||
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#9
One correction: I meant "where believers ACT on their suicide/murder mythologies."
Posted by: R. McLeod ||
05/15/2003 1:48 Comments ||
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Words are inadequate to express the shock, the revulsion, the outrage at the suicide bombings in Riyadh. Are expatriates working here an army of occupation, to be slaughtered and terrorized into leaving?
Funny, how the Soddies are so surprised and we're not...
This was an undertaking of sheer evil. Life â be it the life of Muslims, of Saudis, of Westerners, of anyone â is sacred, a gift from God. It was targeted as much against Saudi Arabia as against Westerners â not just because Saudis and Westerners alike have been killed and maimed but because the prime aim of those responsible for this despicable crime is to create panic and terror. Those responsible are the new fascists. Merciless, cold and full of hate, with a demented vision of Islam, they declared war on humanity for the thoroughly un-Islamic goal of separating and insulating the Muslim world from the rest of humanity, as part of which they hope to terrorize Westerners into leaving the Kingdom. They have no qualms about killing anyone who gets in their way; they spread hatred and resentment, not peace; yet they have the blasphemous effrontery to claim that they do Godâs work. They make a mockery of Islam, an open, inclusive faith.
Yep. That's pretty much our assessment, too. Guess we've just had it longer'n you...
We have to face up to the fact that we have a terrorist problem here. Last weekâs Interior Ministry announcement that 19 Al-Qaeda members, 17 of them Saudis, had planned terrorist attacks in the country and were being hunted was a wake-up call â particularly to those who steadfastly refuse to accept that individual Saudis or Muslims could ever do anything evil, who still cling to the fantasy that Sept. 11 and all the other attacks laid at the doors of terrorists who happen to be Arab or Muslim were in fact the work of the Israelis or the CIA. For too long we have ignored the truth. We did not want to admit that Saudis were involved in Sept. 11. We can no longer ignore that we have a nest of vipers here, hoping that by doing so they will go away. They will not. They are our problem and we all their targets now.
If you'da had those realizations a week ago, your 19 Bad Guys might not have gotten away, so they'd be in jug rather than at large to perpetrate this. I also imagine the realizations will fade with time â the Indons suddenly awoke with them last October. They did a good job of rounding up Bad Guys. Now it's all in the past and they're singing the same old song...
It goes without saying that those responsible, those who poisoned the minds of the bombers, those who are planning to become bombers, must be tracked down and crushed â remorselessly and utterly.
I'll believe they're doing that when the first holy man's head rolls, not before...
But crushing them will not be enough. The environment that produced such terrorism has to change. The suicide bombers have been encouraged by the venom of anti-Westernism that has seeped through the Middle Eastâs veins, and the Kingdom is no less affected. Those who gloat over Sept. 11, those who happily support suicide bombings in Israel and Russia, those who consider non-Muslims less human than Muslims and therefore somehow disposable, all bear part of the responsibility for the Riyadh bombs.
And tomrrow you'll be singing the praises of Hamas â and sending them checks. Maybe you should have a telethon for the dead boomers? Send their surviving relatives to good madrassahs...
We cannot say that suicide bombings in Israel and Russia are acceptable but not in Saudi Arabia. The cult of suicide bombings has to stop. So too has the chattering, malicious, vindictive hate propaganda. It has provided a fertile ground for ignorance and hatred to grow.
It won't stop. Read last week's Arab News. Or next week's.
There is much in US policy to condemn; there are many aspects of Western society that offend â and where necessary, Arab governments condemn. But anti-Americanism and anti-Westernism for their own sake are crude, ignorant and destructive. They create hate. They must end. Otherwise there will be more barbarities.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/14/2003 01:56 pm ||
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#1
Fred, it's nice to see some of these Arab News articles. But I have to wonder. LGF, among others, has noted that the Arab language articles in the Arab press often take a completely different view than the English language ones that are supposed to be the translations. I'd be much happier if I knew that these articles read the same in Arabic.
#2
I think there's a mixture. There are Arabs, even in SA, who aren't raving lunatics, and there are apologists akin to our own Gollywood dullards, who're stupid but not drivers of terrorism. It's just that the proportions are different.
I'm wondering if the Soddies are going to rerun the Kobar Towers investigation and pretend nothing happened, it was all a momentary aberration, or if they actually are waking up, like the Indons did, if only briefly. We'll know in a month or so. Somehow I can't see them rounding up holy men and cutting their heads off, though, which is the only real cure for the disease.
On the bright side, I think the Soddies are slowly becoming aware that they're becoming an island of primitivism, surrounded by more liberal societies that haven't exploded or become Lutherans. Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and Dubai are starting to contrast a little more glaringly with the Soddies and their even more primitive cousins in Yemen. Jordan doesn't have any oil and still has lots of Palestinians, so it's chock full of poor folks, but as far as openness of society goes it's got it all over SA. And now there's Iraq...
The Soddies aren't going to fold anytime soon, but they still have the choice of waking up and becoming a modern society. I actually see the biggest problem country in that part of the world - in the entire world, in fact - as Pakistan. The proportion of people there who're literally nutz is alarming.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/14/2003 16:43 Comments ||
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by Raid Qusti
Who are we trying to fool? Ourselves or the international community? Neither can be fooled.
Nobody at Rantburg ever bought it...
Itâs about time we got our act together. The time of pretending that radicalism does not exist in Saudi Arabia is long past. The time for pretending that we are above errors and could not possibly commit terrorist attacks is no longer with us. It has got to stop. Change must come now. We as a nation cannot afford to leave it to its own slow pace. Itâs either now or never. It also must cover all aspects of our life â the school, the mosque, the home, the street, the media.
But you won't. You'll talk for awhile, and the Bad Guys will shut up. Then you'll get tired of it and they'll come back. They never get tired of it...
How can we tell the rest of the world that we are tolerant of other religions and faiths when some of us are not even tolerant of other schools of Islamic thought?
The rest of the world can see your country for what it is: a cesspool of xenophobia and intolerance, ruled by a corrupt oligarchy. You're the ones who're missing that...
How can we expect others to believe that a majority of us are a peace-loving people who denounce extremism and terrorism when some preachers continue to call for the destruction of Jews and Christians, blaming them for all the misery in the Islamic world?
You can't. But you still won't stop.
And the media? It seems that if the media are not flatly denying, they are following the see-no-evil, hear-no-evil, speak-no evil method. Just a few days ago, when a large terrorist plot was foiled in Riyadh and the terroristsâ hideout was raided, what we read the following day in the local media was the head of the Muslim World League denouncing the act, saying that Islam and terrorism are not linked. The sheikh said that killing innocent people was a crime in Islam.
Nope. Nope. No relationship. It's only coincidence that the all major terror organizations in the world are run by Muslims, and that most of them are run by wahhabis...
We already knew that. But we needed to hear more than that. We needed to hear three questions that are never asked. Like dust, they are swept under the carpet: Why are more and more Saudi young men being fed with radical ideas? Who are the people brainwashing them? How are they being radicalized? And so it happens that so much dust is swept underneath the carpet that it finally bursts out in full view of everybody. At last, the truth that was hidden has come out.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/14/2003 12:45 pm ||
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#1
I'm conflicted. What measure of support do we provide to the current Saudi regime? The context to answer must include what the alternative to the existing regime would be. If we provide the same level of support as in the past, do we not simply carry forward with the status quo and allow the Saudi regime to continue to ride on our military? However, too less and we risk losing S.A. to the radical camp.
#2
I've wondered about that, too, CC. I sense there is a prioritization of battles in the WoT within the Bush administration, perhaps based on urgency: Afghanistan first, then Iraq; then Syria, Iran, the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, Saudi Arabia and North Korea, with the order in which they will be fought not yet apparent.
Many criticize Bush for "sucking up to" the Saudi royal family, and conspiracy theories involving the Saudis and the Bush family abound; but I have a hard time believing Bush & Co. aren't fully aware that Saudi Arabia is a big part (even the biggest part) of the terrorism problem, or that they aren't fully committed to dealing with the Saudi problem.
But how to explain the apparent "kid glove" approach we've been taking to the Saudis? I think the answer is that the Saudis are being left til the later stages of this war, in part to see what they can accomplish on their own without US military intervention or other harsh treatment. If, after we've disposed of Syria and Iran and NorK, the Saudis finally see the light, then good; if they don't... well we'll deal with that when we must.
Certainly, articles like this one are a good sign, if nothing else.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
05/14/2003 14:23 Comments ||
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I'm not conflicted. The regime has enough money to buy the kind of support it needs. It doesn't need fighter jets and high technology -- it needs the will to crack down on the ground. The "royal family" is not in danger from the radical camp unless it proves to be too soft on the ground. It's just a matter of time before the radicals directly attack the royals. Then we'll see if the royals have what it takes.
Posted by: Tom ||
05/14/2003 14:26 Comments ||
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#4
Personally, I think that Saudi was not dealt with immediately because we DID need there oil. Now, we'll soon be able to buy oil from the Iraqis.
No, I'm not suggesting that we went to war with Iraq to "steal their oil," but I do, personally, believe that its presence was a factor in the timing. With Iraq's oil fully on the market, the Saudis lever will be gone. Much easier to get them to "listen to reason" in that situation.
It's also the kind of thing that you can't pukblicly talk about.
Posted by: Ralph ||
05/14/2003 15:16 Comments ||
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#5
There is another, purely military issue here. The Saudi public is nowhere near as oppressed as the Iraqi people were. In fact, if we tried to pull a military operation without Saudi consent, i.e., invaded the country, we'd be facing a very hostile populace and all that entails. You'd be in a true colonial situation, which we don't want to be in. You don't want your guys constantly facing guerrilla war in a place where the people support guerrillas. Look at Iraq. The people didn't support the regime and, for the most part, didn't support those who tried to wage a guerilla war...that's why things went well...it was a true liberation.
I don't think you'd have that now in SA....
I think this means we're stuck with helping the Saudi royals as much as possible now without overt, massive intervention.
That said, we could indeed wage a Black Ops war in SA, if the Saudis backed it.
Key question: has the Saudi military been completely compromised by Al Queda? If yes, there will be coup. If no, it should be possible to find out who the traitors are.
Also: if the military isn't heavily compromised, the Al Queda must have training camps. Those can be found and destroyed with small units.
Posted by: R. McLeod ||
05/15/2003 1:47 Comments ||
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Columnist 'Adel Zaid Al-Tarifi wrote (Al-Watan (Saudi Arabia), May 14, 2003.):
"âŠWhat many of the official sheikhs and columnists â who do not awaken until a catastrophe occurs â say about the phenomenon is inappropriate, and does not deal with the real causes and roots of the ideology of Jihad and of accusing [others] of heresy. They suffice by describing what took place as an imported ideology, and ignore the roots imprinted in our culture⊠Our religious message includes many phenomena of religious extremism. A quick glance at the Friday sermons in the mosques or at the Fatwas can attest to thisâŠ"
"The Jihad groups find ideological cover in the religious message spread by the mosques and schools⊠But even if we set aside the main reasons why the Jihad stream was formed, there are many other, selfish reasons⊠The Fatwas, for example, that are issued by the leaders of the Jihad stream, and even by the sheikhs of the Islamic awakening [stream] in the past two years, have inflamed the emotions of many and provided a legitimate basis for these acts. Some Fatwas justified September 11; other Fatwas depicted these events as 'blessed [Islamic] raids.' During the Afghan and Iraq wars, the Fatwas sent many wretched young men to the hopeless battlefieldâŠ"
"The important question is this: What must be done? Many of the pulpits of education, such as the school, the home, and the mosque, need reform today. Anyone who wants to attribute what happened to economic or psychological conditions is missing the truth. These conditions can account for the behavior of criminals, but cannot account for a terror event based on religious belief. Religious terror cannot be contained, because it is part of the religious belief of those who carry it out. What can be done with people who think that anyone who does not agree with their fundamentalist path deviates from the path of righteousness? Those who carry out these deeds are not victims, but criminalsâŠ"
"These events are not newborn in our society, as some would like to present them. It is enough to mention the bombings of 1996, and of 1997. Reactions to these events were diverse. What is important regarding this most recent event is that it must not push us towards further religious extremism, as has happened in the past. Further religious extremism will lead us to a 'Saudi Manhattan.'"
"I wrote this article a day before the three bombings [and following the arrest of an Al Qa'ida cell in Saudi Arabia about a week ago], and I am sorry to say that the Saudi Manhattan has indeed happened."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/14/2003 12:42 pm ||
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#1
What an interesting set of articles. Have you guys heard all this before? Could this be the start of a sea change? (I'm not THAT hopeful, I'm just groping for alternatives to killing them all)
Posted by: Scott ||
05/14/2003 15:07 Comments ||
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#2
Yeah, you see it from a little different viewpoint when they're trying to blow YOU up...
#3
Scott: Very interesting, indeed. An anecdote: When I left Saudi in '88 (Jeddah, 6 years), society there was debating satellite dishes. They were still ILLEGAL, however, when I left. Fastforward to '97 and I'm sitting for an interview to work in Riyadh. I ask the guy about the dish situation, and he didn't know what I was talking about. I arrive and they're perfectly legal. TV ads, newspaper ads, shops. Dish, dish, dish!!! What the hell had happened? The Royals and the merchant classes had made a pact with the devil. In exchange for Wahibite cleric permission for dish legalization, the Royals had to open purse strings for the propagation of Wahibite theology on a much more intensive scale than had been done before. "Iqra'a" satellite channel, $ for madrassas world-wide, mosque construction world-wide, etc, recognition of Taliban in Afghanistan. Royals and merchants got to set up networks in London/Rome for direct transmission into Kingdom: ANA, MBC, Orbit,etc. Western influence on one hand and Wahibite repression on the other simultaneously. What a formula!! Wahibites also got their way re domestic education curricula. Look at the result.
Sea change? Maybe, but young smart Royals have to take over and upset the apple cart and have Saudi join 21st century and will have to ruthless and flexible at same time to cope with a force that is ruthless and inflexible. They haven't shown they are capable of doing the job as of yet.
Advantage us: Royals will want to preserve their power and will act in their own interests, which will coincide with ours. They will be less arrogant.
Advantage them: They don't give a damn about human life and will try to take everybody down with them to visit the 72 white raisins.
GBW and smart folks in Muslim world: Patience, audacity, and thinking out of the box are only solutions.
Let's keep our eyes on MEMRI.org for Kingdom's Arabic language press to monitor situation. Anyone who was good at Kremlin-watching will find those skills useful. The 21st century has its first full-fledged crisis on hand. Think in Cold War time terms (50 years is not out of question) as far as when we find out who the winners are.
Posted by: Michael ||
05/14/2003 16:10 Comments ||
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#4
Mike, that explains a lot. Difficult not to see Islam as one black box. But if there are differences, good to know which to root for/against.
tu - Think so? My anecdote: '83 - Lived in apt complex next to several Arabs who went to Spartan School of Aeronautics. They were from Saudi, Egypt, Iraq and Syria. Some in Flight. Some in Avionics/A&P. Wondered even back then if we were training our own enemies. I was studying ministry, and I befriended and talked to them about God. One (Egyptian - Yasser) even said he came to believe Jesus to be God's Son. (which is accross the line for a Muslim) When the others heard about it, they warned he and I not to tell the Saudi (Mahdi) or he would try to kill Yasser and I , even here in America. Took him and several others to the wildest church I could find the next Sunday.
They may hate Ariel Sharon, but they fear Franklin Graham.
Posted by: Scott ||
05/14/2003 16:58 Comments ||
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Terrorists who killed scores of people in three car bombings in Riyadh were part of an al-Qaeda cell whose hideout was raided by Saudi police on May 6. Interesting that they knew the raid was coming, isn't it?
Formed after the September 11 attacks on the United States and led by Khaled Jehani, the terror cell's safe house was located near the three expatriate housing compounds that were hit by car bombs late Monday, Saudi officials told the Washington Post. Saudi officials told the daily that nine charred bodies found at the bomb site are believed to be those of the attackers. DNA samples from the bodies are being compared to relatives of members of the terrorist group whose locations were raided May 6. The 50 to 60-member al-Qaeda cell was formed by Jehani, a Saudi national who went abroad at 18, fought in Bosnia and Chechnya, and returned to his homeland after the US-led attack against an al-Qaeda stronghold in the Tora Bora mountains in Afghanistan in December 2001, Saudi officials said. Chechnya and Afghanistan seem to be a common link between most of these guys.
Most of the terror group's weapons were smuggled through Yemen, they added. Saudi officials believe that after the US-led war on Afghanistan, hundreds of al-Qaeda fighters were told to return to their home countries and plan independent attacks on US, Jewish and other Western interests, officials said. He who fights and runs away, lives to fight another day.
Jehani has been on the US Federal Bureau of Investigation list of al-Qaeda suspects since January 2002, the Post reported on Wednesday. The terror cell had planned numerous attacks in Saudi Arabia in the last year, all thwarted either because of strict security around the intended targets or because captured members of the cell revealed their plans, Saudi officials said. We could hope the Saudis expend a little more effort in picking these guys up. I'm afraid it's a faint hope.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/14/2003 10:53 am ||
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#1
The best way to deal with these shitheads is to take out some of the holy men who teach them. Just blow up their palacial homes. With them in it. Four or five in one day. Then deny it. Not us. Then do four more the next day. "hey not us, besides it is only a few". It wont take long for the scoundrels to be preaching a different form of peace, love and understanding. I know its bad but a zit needs to come to a head.
#3
What the Soddies have to admit is that the Khaled Jehani cell had help from 'insiders'. For one, I don't see how the Soddies got close enough to identify all the nationalities but still didn't capture any of the cell members unless there was someone on the inside. For another, they had help expediting their entrance into the foreign compounds. Of course, the Soddies have a hard time admitting any wrongdoing (I presume there is already a big movement to blame the bombings on Israel or Franklin Graham)>
#4
50 to 60 members is a damn big cell! In typical clandestine groups a cell consists of about 3 to 4 members, with only the cell leader knowing the cell members. Each cell member is expected to lead and recuit members for a new cell. Fellow members of a cell wouldn't even know each other, so they couldn't rat each other out if caught. That's the benefit of a cell structure. If you've got 50 to 60 members it's NOT a cell - more like a full-fledged brigade, or army!
#5
Shout it loud, Lucky. Many seem to think preachers get to have 'king's x' or something. I believe hitting those who send is the moral choice.
Posted by: Scott ||
05/14/2003 11:34 Comments ||
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#6
Yeah, I think we have to take the "Swordfish" approach. Hit em hard, deny it. Hit 'em harder, deny it. Go for the leadership. It's always the best way.
Posted by: R. McLeod ||
05/15/2003 1:55 Comments ||
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#7
That's why I can't figure out why they keep"repatraiting"forign fighters.When these wackos are captured and sent home all you've done is created an experinced,battle tested terrorist.
These are illigal combantants are buy definition are murders.If caught bearing arms,after determining thier country of origin,they should be stood aginst the wall and shot.
EFL
A Yemeni judge has been injured in an explosion at the courtroom where earlier this week a man was sentenced to death for killing three Americans. The early morning blast, which went off at a court in the southern town of Jibla, was believed to have been caused by a hand grenade. Police said they arrested a man immediately after the incident. Witnesses said they saw several people being taken away in ambulances, but it was not clear if anybody was killed. Suspected al-Qaeda militant Abed Abdulrazzak al-Kamel, 30, was sentenced to death on Saturday for killing three Americans who worked at a Christian-run hospital. He confessed to killing the three last December to get closer to God and to take revenge on Christians and Americans. He's a very holy man
But he condemned the verdict, saying he should have been tried by an Islamic court and not a civil court. Cuz killing Christians isn't against Islamic law.
The judge who was injured on Wednesday was not the one who sentenced Kamel, the Associated Press news agency reported. But that's OK, because it wasn't personal, it was an act of protest against the rule of law, or something. Hope they let this judge try the boomer. Now that will be a quick trial.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/14/2003 09:59 am ||
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But he condemned the verdict, saying he should have been tried by an Islamic court and not a civil court.
Uh huh. Makes a person feel really good about the impartiality of an Islamic court, doesn't it?
Posted by: Bulldog ||
05/14/2003 03:28 am ||
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One of the key indicators that the old Soviet Union was on the verge of collapse was when the people no longer took any pride in workmanship, in cleanliness (of where they lived - the country, not personal hygiene), and in personal dedication. The same is easily seen in some urban areas of the United States. Whenever a neighborhood becomes filled with trash, when graffiti covers the walls, when the people sit around doing nothing, that community will eventually collapse. Some of what is happening in France is evident of the same moral and public decay that caused Russia to collapse. There are other places in Europe with the same symptoms. Italy had them for a number of years, but now are reversing the trend. East Germany was a trash dump in the late 1980's. When there's no incentive to do a good job, and no consequences for doing a poor one, things go downhill, fast. If I were a Frenchman observing what I see happening, I'd want to immigrate - immediately!
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
05/14/2003 10:11 Comments ||
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#2
I was at the parade yesterday. It was like a party. Literally, the whole communist party was there. These lazy bastards are holding the French hostage. It's really the French govts fault they let them do it. But in truth it is all coming to an end. Currently one in four workers is public. After denationalization of the companies it will be much lower. That is what they are truly afraid of. The public workers here (the marxist minoriety) control the government. But they know with the EU reforms it will come to an end, because every country (including France) has to align with those free market changes. France can nolonger be a communist country. The EU is actually pushing for some very good measures, but the Marxist and the Mafia are opposed.
Posted by: George ||
05/14/2003 4:55 Comments ||
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#3
"France Grinds To A Halt". I believe this happens about every 2 weeks.
#5
Regine Linard, 45, a nurse from a Paris hospital, said that yesterday's protest was about much more than pension reform. "It is about the European conception of society.
Oops! There they go speaking for the rest of Europe again. Such a bad habit.
Posted by: g wiz ||
05/14/2003 9:40 Comments ||
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#6
One of the key indicators that the old Soviet Union was on the verge of collapse was when the people no longer took any pride in workmanship, in cleanliness (of where they lived - the country, not personal hygiene), and in personal dedication. The same is easily seen in some urban areas of the United States. Whenever a neighborhood becomes filled with trash, when graffiti covers the walls, when the people sit around doing nothing, that community will eventually collapse. Some of what is happening in France is evident of the same moral and public decay that caused Russia to collapse. There are other places in Europe with the same symptoms. Italy had them for a number of years, but now are reversing the trend. East Germany was a trash dump in the late 1980's. When there's no incentive to do a good job, and no consequences for doing a poor one, things go downhill, fast. If I were a Frenchman observing what I see happening, I'd want to immigrate - immediately!
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
05/14/2003 10:11 Comments ||
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#7
pasties? what is this? Vegas?
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/14/2003 10:11 Comments ||
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#8
"France grinds to a halt"...
So what's the big deal? Oh, wait, it's not August yet... Well maybe they just want to institute a second national vacation month.
#9
"nurses in lab coats and masks".
And red high heels?
Posted by: Steve ||
05/14/2003 11:07 Comments ||
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#10
France has bigger problems than Communism. Their Muslim population is growing, while the birthrate of the native French is declining. This is a ticking bomb that will probably go off within the next 20 years.
#11
When, oh when is this country going to get its long-overdue comeuppance? I've read of some French reactions to September 11. I know they hoped for maximum US casualties in Iraq. Now I read that "satisfaction at the bombings in Riyadh is barely concealed" (merde in france). Someone please tell me when the French are going to get what they so richly deserve. I, for one, can't wait until the entire place becomes the Most Holy Caliphate of Francistan.
Posted by: Joe ||
05/14/2003 12:18 Comments ||
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#12
This is not going to be funny when the system breaks, but if people are going to be in denial what can you say. The irony of social democracy is that it has to go hand in hand with a dynamic economy. If these people want their pensions, they better start holding out for a crash liberalization of the economy.
#13
My wife trains young people for work and 10 out of 12 said the wanted to immigrate to America. They said they loved the American way of life and hated France. What's going on here is filthy, the govt has no money and the public workers want 35 hrs and retirement at 55. The government is to blame, plain and simple. It lets 1 million people control the life 60 million. It lets the laws be made from the street. Just like the last war, where 22million people from around the world hit the streets when 6 billion didn't, and it was said that Bush was defying the people. BULL!!
Posted by: George ||
05/14/2003 12:52 Comments ||
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#14
Ahem. France has NUKES. When Sharia law is instituted, there'll be hell to pay...
Followup, severely EFL.
Lawyers representing a group of Iraqis aim to file a war crimes complaint Wednesday in a Brussels court against U.S. Gen. Tommy Franks, the commander of American forces in Iraq. The planned complaint has already sparked outrage in Washington, but legal experts said it is likely to be rejected following recent changes to Belgium's war crimes law to prevent such charges against Americans. ``This could be just a spectacular way of catching attention in the media,'' said Prof. Jan Wouters, director of the Institute for International Law at the University of Leuven. Oh, do you think?
The complaint against Franks was to be filed by attorney Jan Fermon, who is running for parliament Sunday in Belgium's national elections, representing the small, far-left Resist group. Fermon said the complaint would also include charges against other U.S. military personnel, whom he did not identify. Two other leftist candidates, Dr. Geert Van Moorter and Dr. Colette Moulaert, found the 16 wounded or bereaved Iraqis in whose name the complaint was lodged while working for a medical aid group in Baghdad during the war.
Chased down their ambulances, did she? Wotta goil!
The Belgian government rushed changes to the law through parliament last month after complaints lodged against Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, former President Bush and current U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell soured relations with Washington and Jerusalem. Under the new amendments, Belgian courts should refer foreigners facing war crimes charges to their own countries if they are democracies with a record of fairness in justice. Despite that, Fermon said he was optimistic that his claim would be accepted. ``We have a very specific case, with specific evidence,'' he said in a recent interview. "Mr. Franks failed to distribute the ice cream ration to the children, and he ordered the bombing of the factory that made the feed for the baby ducks!"
Fermon's announcement last month that he planned to file the complaint provoked concern from the U.S. government. ``The Belgian government needs to be diligent in taking steps to prevent abuse of the legal system for political ends,'' said State Department spokesman Richard Boucher. Wonder if we can file a claim in the Belgian courts about the genocide in the Congo -- that's certainly the fault of the Belgians.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/14/2003 01:37 am ||
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``This could be just a spectacular way of catching attention in the media,'' Then how about a public survey of sites in Poland for NATO II Headquarters and Dutch ports for all trans-Atlantic cargo shipments from this day on.
Posted by: Don ||
05/14/2003 8:51 Comments ||
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#3
Jan Fermon is/was a Cuban Commie, need we say more about his motivations? If this a**hole is elected to their Parlament we should leave NATO. Come to think of it, that aint a bad idea on it's own.
#9
``This could be just a spectacular way of catching attention in the media,'' Then how about a public survey of sites in Poland for NATO II Headquarters and Dutch ports for all trans-Atlantic cargo shipments from this day on.
Posted by: Don ||
05/14/2003 8:51 Comments ||
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#11
Belgium is a country divided between the Flemish and the Waloons. The Phlegms are Dutch that are too good for the Netherlands and would rather be German and the Loons are French wannabes. About 38,000 Belgians served in Hitler's Waffen SS. Based upon population records, that aproximates two percent of the adult male population of military age.
Now, the Belgians have decided that their own national courts have the authority to try "international criminals" for crimes committed in other countries. They would like to try Arial Sharon, for example.
I wonder how many Belgians they're going to try for their criminal colonial acts in the Congo before, during and after its independance. No country in Africa was so ill used by its colonial masters nor so ill prepared for independance. I'll bet that there are dozens of Belgians still alive with responsibility for those acts. Direct responsibility, as in actually doing the shooting or torture or beatings. Unlike Sharon, whose responsibility is, at best, imputed for acts that another nation's armed militia performed in the heart of a civil war.
#12
Jan Fermon is/was a Cuban Commie, need we say more about his motivations? If this a**hole is elected to their Parlament we should leave NATO. Come to think of it, that aint a bad idea on it's own.
#13
Thirty-three Belgian nationals, of Moroccan Origin, will run for parliamentary seats in the Belgian legislative elections, May 18. The majority of candidates are university professors, lawyers and activists. Political parties bet on the Moroccan-born Belgians especially in French-speaking regions like Walloon and Brussels.
Twelve candidates were born in Morocco, whereas the rest are born in Belgium or in other countries. The age of candidates, mostly from the second generation of immigrants, ranges between 23 and 58 years. A significant number of Moroccan-born women was enrolled for these elections.
Uh huh, explains a lot, doesn't it?
Posted by: Steve ||
05/14/2003 11:34 Comments ||
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#14
Excellent and informative posts by Chuck and Steve. Heretofore my knowledge of Belgium was based on several afternoons sitting in the Grand Plaza in Brussells and sucking down too many Duvals (I think that was the name of the beer).
One thing that I haven't seen any explanation why - of the BENELUX triumvirate - Netherlands hasn't joined her sisters in the rush to cozy up to the French. Anybody want to weigh in?
#15
CC, the Dutch seem to enjoy good beer, weed, prostitution and a comfortable, fun yet industrious lifestyle. Philisophical ideology takes a back seat to Realpolitik and a liberal yet dynamic economy. I think that's the big difference.
NEW YORK - A New York artist says he didn't mean to be offensive. But some people near Ground Zero don't appreciate James Peterson's latest work.He's painted a fake "CAUTION Low Flying Planes" sign on a building near Ground Zero.The work has prompted a host of complaints to the city Landmarks Preservation Commission. City Hall has sent a letter to the building's owner, saying the exterior painting must have a permit or be removed.Peterson admits he didn't get a permit or permission from the landlord. Peterson calls his caution sign a piece of guerrilla art.
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
05/14/2003 04:22 pm ||
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Unbelievable. This "guerrilla art" is brought to you by the same mindset that brought us defecating in the streets of S.F. and labelled as "street theatre". Also known as Howard Dean supporters.
#2
Let's catapult his body into the side of a building. We can call the resulting tomato stain "art".
Posted by: Dar ||
05/14/2003 16:27 Comments ||
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#3
Most of the most famous works of "gorilla" art involve a hairy primate flinging his or her feces against the wall of their habitat....coincidence I don't think so.
#4
Hm. I always assumed that guerilla art is done specifically to offend. I suggest that some other artist shove one end of a hot poker up his ass, glue the other end to the pavement, and call it an "installation piece." Title: "An Argument on the Social Limits of Proletariat Critique of Performance Art".
We can sell the shrieking and poker-buggered guerilla artist, pardon me, the shrieking and poker-buggered work of guerilla art to some Manhattanite mental defective who still doesn't get that Andy Warhol was less an artist than he was a successful practical joke, and probably for enough money to finance a Republican take-over of New York.
#7
ColoradoConservative: where does the Dean crack come from? Out of the various anti-war voices, his was one of the saner ones - no tinfoil-hat theories, just saying he thought it wouldn't be in US interests. The public defecators I despise because they openly decry policies which serve the best interests of the US.
Er, I also despise them because they're defecating in public, of course.
#8
Understand your point Sade, but Dean IS the candidate of the far left...he is beloved by those of that mindset because his values come closest to theirs...he isn't in perfect sync with the street shitters, but then he couldn't be and hope to get the nomination.
Posted by: R. McLeod ||
05/15/2003 2:18 Comments ||
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A David Warren op-ed piece, edited for brevity.
'Salam Pax" is rising as one of the media stars in postwar Iraq. He began blogging from Baghdad well before the war, and has come back sporadically since. (He calls his blog "Where is Raed?") He is the darling of fellow bloggers in the West, who light up with links whenever he appears on the Web. He has been written about in the New Yorker magazine and elsewhere, and his jottings copied into the Guardian in the Britain. Not bad for a person whose very existence has been skeptically queried. And who does a superb job of covering his traces, creating fresh firewalls around himself in the very moments when he appears to be giving his identity away.
I am quite certain he exists. That isn't the scandal. He has a family and a history and even a real-life name. But without compromising sources, and thus endangering lives, including Salam's own, one may discover a great deal about him from carefully reading his blog, and following obvious leads from there.
Salam is the scion of a senior figure from Iraq's Baathist nomenclature. He was brought up at least partly in Vienna, which is the OPEC headquarters; his father was therefore an oilman, and possibly a former head of Iraq's OPEC mission. Another clue is a hint that his grandfather was an Iraqi tribal chief, from which I infer that his father was one of the Iraqi tribal chiefs that Saddam Hussein rewarded for loyalty, outside the Tikrit clan.
Salam has an easy familiarity not only with the upscale Baghdad in which he has been living, and which he selectively describes through the jaded eyes of a true insider, but also with most Western fashions and things. This is what gives him his plausibility to Western readers. He drops many hints that he is a homosexual, suggesting reckless candour. (I'm inclined to doubt these.) His English is superb and colloquial. He has those Tariq Aziz qualities. There are nightmares in his background, but the foreground is smooth, charming, self-confident, man of the world -- tending involuntarily to smugness. He can tell you anything, and seems to enjoy putting on the show.
He refers casually to pseudonymous friends, who are also children of the deposed Baathist elect. They all know their way around but, unlike their parents, have never carried the weight of responsibility. They were of a class, but not yet fully in it -- products of a very luxurious bubble. Or perhaps Salam himself or any one of them was directly employed by Mr. Saddam's very extensive, and in places quite sophisticated, network of Soviet-modelled spy and disinformation networks -- we cannot know yet. I posted my own suspicions here last week when we learned Salam was back. I can't help but think that, if Internet blogs existed 60 years ago, Salam's equivalent would have been a young man with a name like Ribbentrop, or Speer, or Eichmann. Do we find Salam worrying about missing or jailed family members? Does Salam express anxiety about newly discovered mass graves possibly containing a loved one? Does Salam complain about poorly mended bone fractures, kidney damage, failing eyesight, or other lingering effects of torture? No. The only inconvenience in Salam's life currently is paying $5/hour for Internet access. Can you feel his pain? I can't.
Posted by: Dar ||
05/14/2003 12:59 pm ||
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Nice catch, Dar. I've been saying the same thing for a while. In his mass posting, when he first "returned", he talked about his uncle as the director of a bank. Plus, his family had a generator and fuel for it. Indeed, just having Internet access prior to the liberation was a clue for me as to his true situation. He's an obviously well-to-do young man in a nation where wealth was the province of the Thugocracy. Not a "made man" in the Thugocracy but a soldier on his way up in the mob.
#2
I forgot the big one. Read his entries for around April 10. It appears that the bomb attack, the second one, that tried to get Saddam happened one street over from his house. He lives in a Baathist neighborhood.
#4
From Roger Simon's website at http://rogerlsimon.com/archives/00000134.htm:
"Warren was alleging something that Charles and I had discussed privately often -- that blogger SALAM PAX of "Where is Raed?" fame was actually an Iraqi intelligence agent, probably for the Mukhabarat or one of its sister organizations.
Our reasoning was simple and instinctive: Who better to infect the American (and world) intelligentsia with anti-war views, especially since he was cool, hip, gay (supposedly) and superficially an anti-Saddam insider? Don't bomb us, he seemed to be saying, we're just like you. If David Warren (and Charles and I) is correct in this, SP is one of the most brilliant intelligence operatives of all time--no exaggeration! Read the entire article. Warren has great sources.
EFL
Five weeks after it was knocked off the air by U.S. missiles, Iraq's national television station sputtered back to life Tuesday night, but the landmark event went largely unnoticed. With millions of residents in the capital still living with electricity interruptions and not aware that their state-run TV station was coming back to life, it seemed that few in Baghdad knew enough to tune in for the first two-hour broadcast. Gone were the speeches by Saddam Hussein. Gone were the state-sanctioned news programs praising Saddam Hussein. Gone were the patriotic songs hailing Saddam Hussein as a great leader. In their stead was an odd collection of black-and-white music videos, news stories on the electricity shortage in Baghdad, brief readings from the Koran and, most peculiar of all, a snippet of what appeared to be a British infomercial for soap.
Tucked in between, however, was something even more striking: What was most assuredly the station's first report giving voice to the victims of Saddam's ruthless regime. For 10 minutes, women and men looking for relatives taken by Saddam's security squads spoke of their search for answers. But the story passed largely unnoticed. Despite the significance of transforming a tool of Saddam's propaganda into the nation's new public television station, the American reconstruction leaders failed to announce the event to city residents or other media in Baghdad. Instead, the occupying forces touted the launch Wednesday of the first postwar national newspaper, Al Sabah. But that watershed event ran into immediate trouble. Even before The New Day hit the streets, its editor said he had been directed by U.S. officials to stop the presses. "Washington ordered me to stop it," editor Ishmael Zayer said in a brief telephone interview Tuesday night. "There is a dispute over who is running the paper." Officials at the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance could not be reached for comment.
Like Al Sabah, the new televisoin station, Iraq Media Network, struggled to get up-and-running for Tuesday's inaugural broadcast. Iraqi cameramen and American consultants worked out of bombed out Information Ministry complex recently hit with a rocket-propelled grenade fired by someone apparently trying to undermine the new station. American bombs destroyed some broadcast equipment and Iraqi looters took a lot of it. But American consultant Mike Furlong vowed to get the show up and, in the end, he did. "What we want is a free and independent media in Iraq," said Furlong, the de facto information minister in Baghdad.
For those who saw it, the new station was long on music and short on news. "New television with old programs," griped one Iraqi who saw the program. Squeezed between the snowy music clips was a half-hour on current events. Reporters interviewed the man in charge of power who assured viewers that things would get better in two weeks, filmed frustrated Baghdad residents arguing with harried hospital workers overwhelmed by the demand, and talked with Iraqis searching for loved ones killed by Saddam.
Posted by: Tadderly ||
05/14/2003 10:45 am ||
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You know what this means. Gainful employment for Peter Barnett.
#2
CC - Why? Is La Figaroa going to open an office in Baghdad? I think that's the only organization Barnett hasn't worked for that might, possibly, offer him a job. After all, even Al Jazarrea won't touch him!
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
05/14/2003 17:52 Comments ||
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Edited for brevity.
United States military forces in Iraq will have the authority to shoot looters on sight under a tough new security setup that will include hiring more police officers and banning ranking members of the Baath Party from public service, American officials said today. The far more muscular approach to bringing order to postwar Iraq was described by the new American administrator, L. Paul Bremer, at a meeting of senior staff members today, the officials said. On Wednesday, Mr. Bremer is expected to meet with the leaders of Iraqi political groups that are seeking to form an interim government by the end of the month. "He made it very clear that he is now in charge," said an official who attended the meeting today. "I think you are going to see a change in the rules of engagement within a few days to get the situation under control."
Asked what this meant, the official replied, "They are going to start shooting a few looters so that the word gets around" that assaults on property, the hijacking of automobiles and violent crimes will be dealt with using deadly force. How Iraqis will be informed of the new rules is not clear. American officials in Iraq have access to United States-financed radio stations, which could broadcast the changes. From the NY Times, so take it with a grain of salt... It could be entirely made up! Drudge has got a bunch of stories about that crisis as well.
Posted by: Dar ||
05/14/2003 10:36 am ||
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Still a lot of prayer needed over there, if one might take a moment.
#2
Hey now wait a minute. I don't mind the stories from DEBKA or the North Koreans, but posting an article from the NY Times really is a low point for this board. Admittedly there was a disclaimer, but Fred's got to maintain some standards.
Posted by: Matt ||
05/14/2003 11:43 Comments ||
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#3
The New York Times: All the news that fits, we print.
#4
The New York Times: Oops! U.S. military officials, under pressure because of persistent lawlessness in Iraq, insisted Wednesday they were "aggressively targeting" looters and were now holding suspects for about three weeks. They said, however, they would not authorize a shoot-to-kill policy. "We are aggressively targeting looters, but we're not going to go out and shoot children that are picking up a piece of wood out of a factory and carrying it away or a bag of cement," Maj. Gen. Buford Blount III, commander of the Army's 3rd Infantry, told reporters in Baghdad. "Our soldiers have the right to defend themselves, and have. And if a looter is carrying a weapon and the soldier feels threatened, of course he is going to engage."
Posted by: Steve ||
05/14/2003 13:46 Comments ||
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#5
Actually, it's basically the same thing I read in an AP article on Nando Times, so it's pretty legitimate. Even the NYT can be "accurate" about facts now and then. It's just a bit sloppy about sources, about proper atribution, and sloppy spelling and grammar.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
05/14/2003 14:55 Comments ||
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#6
"Well, don't shoot ME! I don't even own a lute."
-- Fabulous Furry Freak Bros.
EFL.
Iraqi villagers have discovered a mass grave containing the remains of several thousand people apparently put to death by Saddam Hussein's regime. It is thought to be the largest find of its kind in Iraq. The villagers said that they found the remains of about 3,000 people. Some reports suggest there could be thousands more bodies at the site in the village of Mahawil, about 50 miles south of Baghdad.
One villager, Ali Mekki, said: "This is my sweatshirt which my brother Jaafar used to borrow from me all the time." He pulled a maroon-coloured garment from a plastic bag stuffed with human bones, a skull and other bits of clothing. "I believe this is my brother who went missing in 1991." He tied the ends of the bag to keep everything inside and lit a cigarette. "The lack of a clear name on the identity card makes the identification uncertain. I am waiting for my other brother to come back from home so we can match it with the number. If it really is him, we will give him a proper burial," he said.
Since the fall of Saddam, Iraqi citizens who say they witnessed mass executions in remote parts of the country are now helping to uncover mass grave sites in places as far apart as Najaf and Basra. At the site in Mahawil, villagers have made piles of bones, skulls and decomposed remains. Some have been placed into plastic bags while others have been left next to the grave. Identity cards found in clothing and empty eye sockets of skulls were visible through the clear plastic. Most of those who had been buried there appeared to have been dressed in civilian clothes, but there were military uniforms as well.
Many of those who are buried in the village are believed to have been killed in the aftermath of the Shia uprising of 1991, which was initially encouraged but then ignored by the US. Saddam put down the uprising and is believed to have had thousands of people killed. Amnesty International said that over the past 20 years it had collected information about 17,000 disappearances in Iraq. But it said the actual figure might be much higher. Rafid al-Husseini, a local Iraqi doctor, was trying to organise the retrieval of bodies at Mahawil. He helped to draw up a list of 674 people whose remains were thought to have been uncovered, but said that villagers had recovered the remains of up to 3,000 people.
Some groups have demanded that the international community protect such grave sites to assist war crimes prosecutions against senior figures from the Iraqi regime. But the US military said it wanted to let people come to the site and mourn their relatives in peace. "This man [Saddam] committed a lot of atrocities [but] we are not going to stand here and disrupt them from their mourning," said Major Al Schmidt, of the US Marines. "We're going to come in as best we can and do what's best for these people." I prefer the Marine approach. One thing we know is that there are more of these mass graves. And larger ones.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/14/2003 02:00 am ||
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"If it really is him, we will give him a proper burial," he said.
And if it's not? What then, just dump the bones in the trash, maybe? Nice. Very compassionate.
#2
After reading the article above about the Belgian war crime accusations against Tommy Franks and then reading this--only the Nth mass grave found in Iraq so far--I have to wonder how g--d--n ignorant Jan Fermon and Co. are. They should be kidnapped and forced to tour those mass graves, help unearth the bodies, and prepare them for return to their relatives and/or proper burial. Then they get a tour of all the prisons in Iraq from the poor, tortured souls that managed to survive their imprisionment. And then they can go back and file their worthless and pathetic attempt of a charge.
Posted by: Dar ||
05/14/2003 9:16 Comments ||
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#3
This just further underscores the total impotence and moral degeneracy of old europe. They ignore genocide while attempting to prosecute those that would end it.
#4
Just a comment - If it isn't "him" it would possibly be irresponsible to bury the remains privately, as very likely they belong to someone who is being sought by his own relatives. They would best be deposited with the proper authorities.
There is of course no telling who the proper autjhorities would be in Iraq at the moment.
Metn MP Ghassan Mokheiber expressed âregretâ Tuesday over press remarks by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that withdrawal of his countryâs troops from Lebanon was linked to a peace agreement with the Jewish state and a total Israeli pullout.
Which they expect several weeks after Doomsday. Which means the Syrian troops stay until then...
âI cannot understand or accept the basis of this position and say so with the frankness of one keen about the establishment of the best brotherly relations between Lebanon and Syria,â Mokheiber said in a statement. He argued that a full Syrian withdrawal has become a necessity for both Syria and Lebanon and is one of the âdaring measures and decisionsâ the two countries have to take to adjust and deepen bilateral ties.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/14/2003 07:19 pm ||
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Lebanese Minister of State Abdel-Rahim Mrad praised Syriaâs stand in the Middle East conflict on Tuesday. Mrad was speaking in Baalbek at a celebration marking the Prophet Mohammedâs birthday, held by Dar al-Fatwa and attended by both Sunni and Shiite religious leaders, in addition to a number of local personalities. He said Syriaâs leadership was the only regional force with an âeffective voiceâ that can impose conditions for dialogue, reject external conditions and seek the liberation of occupied land instead of bargaining for it.
He thinks using the Syrian army and kicking the Israelis out is a better option than negotiating with them...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/14/2003 07:12 pm ||
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Iranian President Mohammad Khatami said Tuesday his country was not interested in escalating tension in the Middle East, arguing that would be playing into the hands of Iranâs arch-enemy, Israel. Khatamiâs remarks came amid mounting US pressure on Lebanon and Syria to curb Iranian-backed Hizbullah as part of its post-war plans for the region, and as Iran faces off with Washington over its nuclear program. His visit to Lebanon â the first by an Iranian leader since the 1979 Islamic revolution â Â was expected by analysts to mean added pressure for restraint on Hezbollah.
Not that they'd ever admit to such a thing. Watch the hands, not the mouth...
âWe have no desire to take part in escalating tension and shaking stability in the region,â Khatami told tens of thousands of people who packed a football stadium in Beirut, many waving the flags of Iran, Lebanon and Hizbullah. âWe were and still are by Lebanonâs side, as a government and a people. We will respect any decision taken by the leaders of this country,â he said, before arguing that confrontation was in the interest of Israel, whose 22-year occupation of south Lebanon Hizbullah helped end in 2000.
Meaning that if you cheese them off enough, they could come back. And Hezbollah ain't all that hot...
âWe know that Israel sees no harm in striving for its historical desires after the American military forces settle into Iraq,â he told the crowd, which had just sung an anthem with the refrain âDeath to Israel.â âWe know well that Israel must not have any opportunity to present a new pretext, making use of and in service of the goals of American military power,â Khatami said.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/14/2003 07:08 pm ||
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"Arch enemy?"
I thought that was us. Y'know- the "Great Satan"?
*HMPH!*....
The government has approached the Airports Company of South Africa (ACSA) for emergency fuel supplies as an acute shortage of Jet A1 fuel threatens to ground the national airliner, Air Zimbabwe, sources said yesterday. According to the sources, senior Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe (CAAZ) officials left for Johannesburg last Sunday to plead with ACSA for an undisclosed amount of Jet A1 fuel and to discuss ways through which Zimbabwe could import the fuel cheaply, if possible with South Africaâs help.
I wonder if they went by bus...
âThey are in South Africa. The purpose of the visit was to try and convince the South Africans to supply Zimbabwe with Jet A1 fuel,â a CAAZ official told The Business Daily yesterday. CAAZ chief executive Karikoga Kaseke could not be reached for comment on the matter but airports director Jerry Ndlovu confirmed Zimbabwe had sought South Africaâs help to stave off the shortage that could scare away the few remaining international airlines still landing at Harare International Airport.
Bet that place is hoppin'...
âWe have been in touch with ACSA over possibilities of them helping us procure fuel. We also want to see how they are getting it cheaply,â said Ndlovu. Zimbabwe is in the grip of an acute fuel shortage since Libya cut off an oil for barter deal with Harare last year. The country has been without foreign currency to pay for crucial imports including fuel since the International Monetary Fund, donors and development partners cut off aid over differences with Harare on governance issues.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/14/2003 06:47 pm ||
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Jpost - reg req'd
Israeli warplanes flew over southern Lebanon on Wednesday, drawing fire from militant Hezbollah guerrillas, Lebanese security officials said. Hezbollah fired anti-aircraft guns at two Israeli fighters that flew over the western sector of south Lebanon but they missed, the officials said. and the AA locations were noted on Israeli bombing GPS maps
The Hezbollah group said its air defense unit had shot at "Israeli enemy warplanes which violated Lebanese sovereignty," according to a statement issued in Beirut. LOL - Hezbollah - which is a Syrian/Iranian creation, defending the purity of Lebanon's Sovereignty? Irony overload
In Jerusalem, Israeli military officials said Hezbollah had fired anti-aircraft shells at "the western sector of the Israeli-Lebanese border," but declined to comment on the alleged flights by Israeli jets. "No injuries were reported," an Israeli army spokesman said. Since Israel withdrew its troops from south Lebanon three years ago, Israeli military aircraft have routinely flown over Lebanon on apparent reconnaissance missions, sometimes breaking the sound barrier and drawing fire from the Lebanese army and Hezbollah. The Lebanese government and the United Nations say the flights are violations of Lebanese territory. Awww Shaddup!
Hezbollah, which led a guerrilla war against Israel's 18-year occupation of a border zone in southern Lebanon that ended in May 2000, is on the US State Department list of terrorist organizations. And supplied from Tehran and Damascus
Lebanon regards Hezbollah, which is backed by Syria and Iran, as a legitimate movement fighting against Israel's occupation of a small parcel of land on the south Lebanon border. Shebaa Farms is an excuse for the Hez to continue to fire katyushas into Israel and occupy portions of Lebanon, if Lebanon wanted to complain, they couldn't
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/14/2003 05:55 pm ||
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EFL - Jpost - Reg req'd
Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom described his meeting in Paris with his Qatari counterpart Wednesday as a first step toward Middle East peace, and called upon other Arab nations to open a dialogue with Israel. "This meeting brings a glimmer of hope to the whole region," Shalom said at a joint news conference with Hamad Al Thani. It was the first-ever such high-level meeting between the two countries, and the first public meeting between Israel's foreign minister and that of an Arab foreign minister in months. "I think this meeting between us here can be a start that will bring better relations to Israel and Qatar, and Israel and the Arab world," Shalom said. He described the talks as "one important step to bringing peace to Israel and the Arab world." The meeting came a week after the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, visited President George W. Bush in Washington, and officials in Jerusalem said the two events were not disconnected. Bush explained that our friends should also be friends — Also, it would put Saudi Arabia's panties in a bunch
According to these officials, Qatar — which is rapidly becoming the US's key ally in the Persian Gulf — is interested in taking a leadership role in regional politics, and is also being encouraged by the US to do so. Since they are eminently more reasonable and less medieval
These officials said the US is hoping the Israeli-Qatar meeting will provide momentum and create a positive atmosphere for talks on the road map. Shalom said he also hoped the talks with Al Thani will inspire other Arab nations to begin discussions with Israel. Following the signing of the Oslo peace accords in 1993, Israel developed tentative relations with some of the Persian Gulf states, opening trade offices in Qatar and Oman in 1996. After the outbreak of Palestinian violence in September 2000, Egypt pulled its ambassador from Israel, Jordan left its vacant ambassadorship position in Tel Aviv unfilled, and Oman, as well as Morocco and Tunisia, cut trade ties. Israel's interest section in Qatar remained open, but at a very low level and out of the public eye. Al Thani said after the Paris press conference that Qatar was keen to play a role in persuading Israel and the Palestinians to end the violence and return to negotiations. "There is no alternative to negotiations," he said. But "both sides have to sacrifice to reach a solution."
Al Thani said it was too early for Qatar to consider opening full diplomatic ties with Israel. "We don't object to having a treaty with Israel but we don't think it's necessary now," he said. Both ministers declined to discuss details of their one-hour talks.
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/14/2003 05:49 pm ||
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More details coming in:
Algerian army commandos freed 17 European tourists kidnapped in the Sahara Desert by an al-Qaida-linked terror group, while German and Austrian officials expressed concern about the 15 tourists still captive. The hostages were freed in a gun battle that killed nine captors. The clash lasted several hours, with army units trading gunfire with about 10 hostage-takers armed with assault rifles in the desert about 1,200 miles south of Algiers. The report said the Army found two groups of captives, using reconnaissance planes equipped with thermal vision gear. The 17 were in a group freed early Tuesday. The military planned another operation to rescue the second group, believed to be in a location several hundred miles away in the desert mountains. It was unclear whether the second operation had taken place. The army said the Salafist Group for Call and Combat was responsible for kidnapping the travelers. Algerian news reports have said three Saudi envoys of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden met with a top leader of the Salafist Group in December. We heard about that. The tourists started disapearing soon after. Coincidence?
The Algerian group, known by the French-language acronym GSPC, is one of two main insurgency movements still fighting to topple Algeria's military-backed government and install an Islamic state. Officials in Germany, Austria and Sweden confirmed the release of 10 Austrians, six Germans and a Swede, who were expected to return home Wednesday. The official news agency APS quoted the military as saying the 17 freed hostages were "safe and sound." However, officials refused to comment on the circumstances of their release, citing concerns about the safety of the remaining 15 hostages — 10 Germans, four Swiss and one Dutch. "We remain highly concerned about those still in the hands of the hostage-takers," German government spokesman Thomas Steg said. "We are concentrating our efforts on them." German Interior Minister Otto Schily said "there is hope" the remaining hostages "will be free soon."
Posted by: Steve ||
05/14/2003 11:19 am ||
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For those who do not know, "Salafi" is how Wahabbi refer to themselves. Also "Muwahiddun."
Posted by: John Anderson ||
05/14/2003 16:25 Comments ||
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An Arizona vigilante group is testing homemade "drone" reconnaissance planes on the U.S.-Mexican border to monitor illegal immigrants entering the United States in lonely desert areas. Glenn Spencer, head of the American Border Patrol vigilante group, said on Tuesday the group has been testing two Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for about a month and plans to have a fleet making passes over the border by early July. "We want to show how the application of this technology can solve the border problem," Spencer told Reuters. Police and residents say they are aware of the drones, similar to unmanned U.S. military aircraft used in Iraq. Hundreds of thousands of illegal Mexican immigrants cross the border in search of work every year. Three vigilante groups, some of them armed, have sprung up in Arizona in the last three years to monitor the border and hand over any illegal immigrants they find to U.S. Border Patrol agents. The groups say U.S. authorities allow too many Mexicans to flout U.S. immigration law. Since the Sept. 11 attacks, some have also said unrestricted immigration poses an unacceptable security risk. Agreed
Area residents say the drones invade their privacy and foster poor cross-border relations. Sorry, you don't own the airspace over your property and if you are outside in the open you have no expectation of privacy. That's how tabloid photographers get pictures of celebrity weddings from helicopters.
"The Mexican populations along the border are indignant," said Miguel Escobar, a Mexican Foreign Ministry official based in Arizona. Tough
Ray Borane, mayor of the border town of Douglas, Ariz., said the group's activities are racist. Sounds like the mayor gets a lot of immigrant votes.
The vigilantes say they plan to outfit each UAV with a global positioning device to pinpoint migrants, and then forward hose coordinates to the Border Patrol. Dubbed the Border Hawk, the $5,000 drone has a wingspan of 5-1/2 feet and flies at an altitude of 300-400 feet — under the 500 feet mandated for aircraft that need certification by the Federal Aviation Administration. The craft are made by members of the vigilante group with experience in electronics, Spencer said. Roll your own UAV - $5000.
Government contracted UAV - $5 million.
Mario Villarreal, spokesman for the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection in Washington, said: "We appreciate the community's efforts in notifying us of suspicious activities... We encourage them to call the Border Patrol or law enforcement but those efforts should be within the law." If all they do is spot the illegals and call them in, I fully support this.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/14/2003 10:17 am ||
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I agree. First, from the civil liberties angle, then more importantly for security. My questions - Why, with a war on terrorism, is there even an issue of a non-protected border? Why are law abiding citizens characterized as 'vigilantes'? How come they have to spend their $ to do this when it is so clearly a Fed responsibility? Who is standing to gain from leaving that border so porous?
Posted by: Scott ||
05/14/2003 10:58 Comments ||
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jsut how in the hell is protecting our borders racist! the border is wide open and the mexicans do squat!
Posted by: Dan ||
05/14/2003 12:40 Comments ||
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What's so funny in the WaPo article is the repeated use of the word "vigilante". It sounds so scary, ominous, and harsh.....
#4
Wanna bet the next WaPo report has the "vigilantes" operating from an "isolated compound" along the border?
There's a big Dem/Mexico push to legalize the illegals already here, and allow basically unstoppable cross-border immigration. As someone living in San Diego, we've seen how to cut this to a trickle - a large fence and many more agents.
All it will take is proof of one terror cell crossing and completing an attack and the will to stop the illegal immigration will be there - regardless of the outcry from businesses employing illegals, Dems crying for the lost beholden votes, and the Fox regime.
Now, did you notice I never used the media term of choice: "undocumented immigrant", which implies no illegal act - they just left their ID...uh...on the table at home..in Chiapas
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/14/2003 12:52 Comments ||
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These guys are on the right track, just using the wrong language. They should be calling themselves, "a militia of the people". After all, "militas" are not only legitimate (while vigilante committees have a bad rap), but PROTECTED by the Constitutiton. As for the difference between the local-built UAV and a Predator, the local UAV doesn't have secure transmission capabilities and download links via a JSTARS aircraft to anywhere in the world. It also doesn't have a multispectral scanner to acquire the image, and the ability to display it in real-time in virtual three dimensions. I'd also speculate that the resolution on the Predator is just a tad sharper than the home-built. When you're looking for hostile bad guys with big guns, rather than border-jumpers, second-best isn't good enough.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
05/14/2003 17:37 Comments ||
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#6
All it will take is proof of one terror cell crossing and completing an attack and the will to stop the illegal immigration will be there - regardless of the outcry from businesses employing illegals, Dems crying for the lost beholden votes, and the Fox regime.
It's infuriating to think that more lives have to be sacrificed before the government will even get serious about border issues.
Now, did you notice I never used the media term of choice: "undocumented immigrant", which implies no illegal act - they just left their ID...uh...on the table at home..in Chiapas
Democratic lawmakers say President Bush is somewhat responsible for the homicide bombings in Saudi Arabia, saying had the United States not been distracted by war in Iraq, it could have further debilitated Al Qaeda, the terror network blamed for the attack. The attacks led to charges of complacency by Bush and his administration, led by Florida Sen. Bob Graham, a 2004 Democratic presidential candidate. "The war on Iraq was a distraction. So, does that mean he was against it? Was there no rational purpose for it?
It took us off the war on terror, which we were on path to win, but we've now let it slip away from us," Graham said on the Senate floor Tuesday. Graham claimed that the administration "backed away" from fighting terrorists and failed to act on communication intercepts between terrorists just as it did before Sept. 11, 2001. In short, he suggested the Bush administration has failed to create a safer environment. "If the question is are we more or less secure from terrorists today than we were a year ago, the answer is we are less secure," he said.
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, agreed. I'm a shocked ... shocked to see Lee criticize the President. [sarcasm intended]
"I believe we were distracted by the war in Iraq," she told Fox News. What was this in the Democratic Talking Points memo for the day?
Graham offered his suggestions on what he would have done to prevent another terror attack, including taking the fight to places where Al Qaeda remains, such as Yemen.
White House officials rejected the charges and privately suggested that Graham's comments are part of his campaign for the presidency. Prior to that, Bush celebrated the defeat of Saddam Hussein aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, where he said the world is now a safer place. "The war on terror is not over, yet it is not endless," he said. "We do not know the day of final victory, but we have seen the turning of the tide. It doesn't take much money to put a car bomb together. It takes hatred." He said that he wouldn't be surprised if the attacks were proven to be Al Qaeda.
Still, some Republicans called out of bounds any suggestions that the attacks were a failure of the Bush administration. "I wholeheartedly disagree with the implication that the attack [resulted from] any weakness on the part of the U.S.," said Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn.
"If this latest attack is the work of Al Qaeda, it should serve as notice that the United States needs to clear the decks and focus the war on terrorism against Al Qaeda. It is absolutely imperative that the United States jettison obsolete or unnecessary commitments, such as 100,000 troops stationed in Western Europe to defend NATO against a non-existent threat, and missions, such as nation-building in the Balkans," Peña said.
Posted by: ColoradoConservative ||
05/14/2003 09:49 am ||
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For Bob to be quoted in any context with Sheila (Who thought we'd already had a manned Mars landing) Jackson Lee is the kiss of death. She's an idiot, and he's obviously losing it as well. I'd thought a lot more of him last fall, but running for President has obviously been too much for him, and its just started....
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/14/2003 10:03 Comments ||
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For Bob to be quoted in any context with Sheila (Who thought we'd already had a manned Mars landing) Jackson Lee is the kiss of death. She's an idiot, and he's obviously losing it as well. I'd thought a lot more of him last fall, but running for President has obviously been too much for him, and its just started....
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/14/2003 10:03 Comments ||
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#3
Saudi Arabia has consistantly frustrated all attempts to investigate prior al Qaeda actions in the country, and has denied the existance of al Qaeda cells in its nation. The only way we could have tried any harder would have been an outright invasion. I presume that is the course of action that Boring Bob and Satanic Shiela were advocating.
#4
Actually this hit shows the deparation of Al Qaeda. It is only limited to hits within the middle east. And this last target included many muslim casulties. This type of hit is really indicative of the turning point on the war against terror.
Posted by: George ||
05/14/2003 10:13 Comments ||
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#5
The Dems are so desperate to pin *anything* on the Bush administration. An attack by Muslims in a Muslim country that killed mostly Muslims, and who do they blame? Sounds to me like a failure of the Saudi administration!
I agree, George. Clearly this is an act of desperation when they start targetting their own kind, their own source of funds, and their own best source of new recruits.
Posted by: Dar ||
05/14/2003 10:24 Comments ||
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#6
So in order for us to properly defend against this attack, what should the President have done? Invade Saudi Arabia? Bomb Riyadh (I'm all for that, but because I don't like the soddies)? Put 10,000 US troops on the ground around those compounds? What kind of idiots do we have in the US Senate? This is not a good sign for US security, and not a good reflection on the direct election of US Senators, when two such fruitcakes can get elected and serve at the same time.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
05/14/2003 10:24 Comments ||
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"I believe we were distracted by the war in Iraq,"
Oh, yes of course. I too was distracted by failure of nearly every doomsayer's prediction about the quagmire our troops were supposed to get into. I was also distracted by the efficiency and proficiency of our armed forces, the discovery of at least 1 mobile chemical weapons lab, the discovery of mass graves, torture chambers, links to France and Russia's collusion, and north korea's sudden reconsideration on its' position regarding negotiations and talks with the U.N. Lastly, I have to admit that I was distracted by the sight of parents being reuinted with their children who were jailed because they refused to join the Saddam youth brigades. How easily I was distracted by all that fluff...
#8
Iraq was a "distraction" that "took us off" the war on terror? I don't buy the notion that Bob Graham actually believes that nonsense.
IT IS ALL ONE WAR. Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, and North Korea are all parts of it. When we deal with each part, and how, are up to debate and speculation; but they are all related.
Is that such an exotic concept that Bob Graham doesn't get it?
Posted by: Dave D. ||
05/14/2003 10:49 Comments ||
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#9
This is pure BS. The Dems will do anything to belittle the victory in Iraq. It never ceases to amaze the depths the Demoncrats will sink to all in the pursuit of the acquisition and maintenance of power. Just look at the sorry episode in Texas yesterday. Nice to hear they're arresting some of those traitors. And Sheila Jackson? Sheesh...what a moonbat!
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
05/14/2003 11:45 Comments ||
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#10
The Dems will have as much success pinning this cowardly attack on our Commander-in-Chief as they did 9-11. The more they talk, the deeper they dig. Can you visualize 4-5 more Republicans in the Senate in 2004?
Posted by: G-Man in Chicago ||
05/14/2003 12:29 Comments ||
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G-man - if the Dems continue to self-destruct and the economy improves a bit a 4-5 seat gain by the GOP in the Senate would actually be a poor showing by the GOP.
#12
I would expect this from the Lees and the Conyers but NOT Bob Graham. On the other hand, Graham did vote against the Senate vote on action in Iraq so maybe it shouldn't be so surprising. He just seems to be a sober and rational sort and I expected better. Although, this is not to say that he can - and should - provide constructive criticisms.
#13
Graham offered his suggestions on what he would have done to prevent another terror attack, including taking the fight to places where Al Qaeda remains, such as Yemen.
Is Bob advocating the invasion of Yemen? Isn't that a little ... unilateral of us? But well, ok, Bob, why don't you make a speech advocating this on the Senate floor. Yemeni dolenda est or something like that. I'm sure all the Democrats will line up behind you. Bob? Bob, you there?
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/14/2003 12:57 Comments ||
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I printed out a list of the States of the United States and their capitals just last night for #2 son to refresh his memory for finals. Last time I looked, we still only had 50, and Saudi Arabia hadn't replaced California...
This could only be Bush's fault if it was our problem. And it was our problem because....?
*sighs* Of course, we tried to say the same thing about Yugoslavia. The Euros, like the Saudis, said "We can handle this! We can handle this!" Like the Euros, the Saudis knew about the problem and couldn't handle it.
And, like in Yugoslavia, the general incompetence/venality/inability of the party that said they could handle it, but couldn't, is it predictable that it will eventually translate to becoming our problem?
Occasionally. OCCASIONALLY, I sometimes am tempted, when it's two in the morning, and I'm staring up at the cieling worrying about the war on terror, to agree with the proposition voiced here occasionally, that threatening to Nuke Mecca and Medina MAY solve our problem.
May not solve anybody else's problems, but I'm also getting to the point of saying "to hell with other people's problems."
#15
This just posted on the Miami Herald's site: Bob Graham may have a fight on his hands to hang onto his Senate seat.
"State Sen. Daniel Webster, a former House speaker and 23-year veteran of Florida politics, has been asked to consider the U.S. Senate race for the seat of Democratic presidential candidate Bob Graham, associates said Tuesday.
Webster, R-Winter Garden, has heard from supporters in the business, religious and political communities in recent weeks encouraging him to join the field of Republicans, said Brecht Heuchan, a Tallahassee lobbyist and former Webster aide."
''There were a lot of people who were supportive of him when he was speaker. I'm sure if that was the direction he decided to go, he just has a lot of people in a lot of different places who are going to be willing to help him,'' Heuchan said.
#17
Senator graham is suffering from the very debilitating disease of Preidential Fever. The major affects being turning all common sense and decency into lefover jello.
#20
I believe we were distracted by the war in Iraq," she told Fox News.
What was this in the Democratic Talking Points memo for the day?
Got it in one!
The Dems and the media - and their talking points (it's obvious most of the media use the Dems' talking points in tandem with the pols) - are pathetic. Do they really think no one notices?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/14/2003 19:22 Comments ||
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"Distracted by the war........". Of course! Looks like we have a number of candidates for the Iraqi Minister of Information position.
Graham offered his suggestions on what he would have done to prevent another terror attack, including taking the fight to places where Al Qaeda remains, such as Yemen.
So OK, Bob and Sheila, do you want a war with Yemen? With Saudi Arabia? Are you willing to say that and mean it? Show some spine, come out and rouse the public with your war-mongering ideas.
Or are you just backbiters with no ideas, just complaints?
Dems in Deathroes...
Posted by: R. McLeod ||
05/15/2003 2:27 Comments ||
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#23
Yea,that crap in Texas is disgusting.Dems can't have thier way so they hold the whole state hostage.
I can see the Dems going the way of the Wigs.
EFL
Japanese police have raided buildings and vehicles belonging to a mysterious cult which has been leading a caravan around the country in an attempt to evade "electromagnetic wave attacks". Investigators searched the premises of the Pana Wave Laboratory in Fukui, western Japan, as well of some of the cult's dome-shaped shelters north of Tokyo, and about two dozen vehicles. After the Tokyo subway attack, police were heavily criticised for failing to act in time against Aum, despite warnings that it had turned from a small yoga-practising group into a terrorist organisation. Pana Wave's activities have dominated the country's media since late last month, when members blocked a road in central Japan for a week. Members of the group are said to believe that the world will end sometime this month, because of a reversal of the magnetic poles. I hate it when that happens
They also reportedly believe that communists are trying to kill their 69-year-old leader, Yuko Chino, using electromagnetic waves. Uh, OK
Cult members wear white clothes in the belief that this will protect them from these harmful rays, which they say are generated by power lines and "left-wing elements". Don't forget the tin foil hats
The cult also has a well-publicised interest in a lost seal named Tama-chan, which has become a national celebrity in Japan since appearing in a Tokyo river last year. Members of Pana Wave believe electromagnetic waves led Tama-chan thousands of miles away from his arctic home. Pana Wave is said to have been founded by Yuko Chino in the late 1970s, and has a membership of between several hundred and more than 1,000 people. Just because they are wacko,doesn't mean they couldn't be a threat.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/14/2003 09:51 am ||
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I wonder if the leaders of this cult wear flowing white robes. Would that be cool! The followers could wear white painters overalls with white baseball, no golf caps.
A woman suicide bomber blew herself up in the middle of a Muslim religious festival in Russia's rebel Chechnya and officials said more than 20 people had been killed and scores wounded. The Kremlin's office on Chechnya and other officials said the latest attack, which followed a suicide bombing on Monday that killed 59 people, took place in mid-afternoon east of the regional capital, Grozny. "A woman terrorist blew herself up in a crowd of Muslim believers who had gathered for celebrations," a Chechen information department official, reached by telephone, told Reuters. "Most of the victims were elderly," the official said. The latest suicide attack came just two days after three suicide bombers drove a truck loaded with explosives into a government office complex in the north of the separatist-minded region. The two attacks took place just seven weeks after a Kremlin-organised constitutional referendum that anchored the rebellious Muslim region firmly in Russia. They voted and we lost. The people have spoken. Let the bombings commence!
After Monday's bomb, President Vladimir Putin vowed to stick to his peace plan for the region to end nearly 10 years of armed conflict between separatist fighters and Russian forces that has cost thousands of lives.The latest attack came just as Putin was preparing for talks with visiting U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell on the U.S.-led war on terrorism, which Russia has backed. Colin's usual welcome when he goes near one of these hellholes.
Local news agencies quoted Chechen administration officials as saying more than 20 people had been killed and scores wounded in the bombing in a small town called Iliskhan-Yurt, which is also known by its Russian name of Byelorechye. About 15,000 people had turned out for the celebrations in the town to mark the birthday of the prophet Mohammad. ...and what better way to celebrate it then with a suicide bombing.
The Itar-Tass agency quoted police as saying that the head of the Chechen administration, Akhmad Kadyrov, had been present at the time and it could not be ruled out that the attack had been intended to kill him. Ya think?
Officials said, however, that Kadyrov had not been hurt.
Posted by: tu3031 ||
05/14/2003 08:47 am ||
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Am I missing something? (usually) Was this a counter-attack?
Posted by: Scott ||
05/14/2003 9:21 Comments ||
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Update: Two women blew themselves up Wednesday at a religious ceremony in Chechnya, killing at least 30 people and wounding dozens in the second major terror attack in the breakaway republic this week. The women apparently were trying to kill Akhmad Kadyrov, the head of Chechnya's Moscow-backed administration. Russian news reports said Kadyrov was among the 10,000 people attending the memorial service for three sheiks in Ilaskhan-Yurt, a village about 15 miles southeast of the capital, Grozny.Kadyrov was not hurt, the reports said. Maj. General Ruslan Avtayev of the Ministry of Emergency Situations told The Associated Press the women detonated bombs they were wearing around their waists.
Rescue officials were collecting body parts to determine how many people had died.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/14/2003 10:45 Comments ||
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Silly me, in jihadi, it is honorable to kill one's own if you might also kill an infidel. A concept, our military command culture learned way back in, ah... 1972?
Posted by: Scott ||
05/14/2003 11:12 Comments ||
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Plus keep in mind that the hard-core Wahhabis frown heavily (kufr!) on celebrating Mohamed's birthday (and anything else that's fun).
If the U.S. were to go to war with North Korea, it would be a very different conflict than the one against Iraq. The U.S. has "war-gamed" the scenario for years — a blueprint for the defense of South Korea that Pentagon insiders know as "OP-PLAN 50-27." Every year the U.S. and South Korean military rehearse the plan and the result is always the same: The U.S. and its allies prevail, but at a terrible price. For half-a-century, the U.S. has been obligated by treaty to execute that war plan, if the North ever invades the South. U.S. Army Gen. Leon LaPorte's job is to make sure the North loses. He is confidant that if North Korea were ever to attack the South, that attack would be defeated. Nonetheless LaPorte and many of his predecessors say North Korea's military, while obsolete, is nevertheless formidable, with 70 percent of its army massed south of Pyongyang along the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). Retired General John Tilleli, who commanded U.S. forces stationed in Korea from 1996-1999, says the North is capable of unleashing a huge military arsenal at a moments notice. "They have short range and medium range missiles, present and deployed," he says. "They have weapons of mass destruction," he adds, "and oh, by the way, they have about a million-plus ground forces." The Pentagon says about 800 of the North's missiles can strike any point in South Korea, and even as far as Japan.
(con't see link)
Posted by: Anonymous ||
05/14/2003 08:28 am ||
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There's the sound of George McClellen again, "and oh, by the way, they have about a million-plus ground forces." Anyone who's been to Korea knows that the terrain channelizes any North to South movement. A million men will be one big traffic jam miles deep into N.Korea under constant interdiction making the Highway of Death(tm) look like a kindergarden playground. Add to the fact that it took days in 1950 for the N.Korean army to reach Seoul with little [but valiant when there was] opposition. Today the dreaded urban sprawl stretches half way to the border from Seoul and the S.Korean Army already has it set up with road blocks and fighting positions [and unlike the Iraqi] from which they will fight for every inch of their home.
To quote Grant - "Oh, I am heartily tired of hearing about what Lee is going to do. Some of you always seem to think he suddenly going to turn a double somersault, and land in our rear and on both our flanks at the same time. Go back to your command, and try to think what we are going to do ourselves, instead of what Lee is going to do"
Posted by: Don ||
05/14/2003 9:05 Comments ||
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Thats a slam dunk Don. Three days rations in a NK haversack will be used up in one.
But, I often wonder when information about these "plans" are leaked, whether it might not be an attempt at deception ?
For example, when I hear the general breathlessly saying that NKor has 70 percent of its army line up along the DMZ, I am thinking "Hmmm...looks like we need to pin them there while hitting them back in the relatively undefended north -- Seaborne landings ? Airborne ?"
Posted by: Carl in NH ||
05/14/2003 11:27 Comments ||
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To quote Grant - "Oh, I am heartily tired of hearing about what Lee is going to do. "
Bruce Catton noted that while the Army of the Potomac was unsure of its leadership it was absolutely certain of Bobby Lee. ;)
#5
The problem is certainly not defeating them militarily. The problem is that Seoul is an enormous city, but not very far from the DMZ at all. If the DPRK army realized that it was going to be defeated, but decided to go all out using its artillery and missiles to pound Seoul (especially in a pre-emptive attack) we would still easily win a war, but at a terrible cost in civilian casualties.
Posted by: John Thacker ||
05/14/2003 12:59 Comments ||
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I just can't imagine how the North Koreans could keep their supply lines open an hour after a conflict starts. They'll have a good opening shot if war starts, but once the artillery shells are gone they would be in big trouble.
I also wonder about the the people in North Korea? Does anyone see them rising up or do you think they are mostly either loyal (decades of propoganda) or starved beyond the ability to rise up?
#7
In order for the Nkors to have a traffic jam on the DMZ they need a little something called gas. As for the Nkor pop rising up (this is a cannard). If they were capable of doing so, don't you think they would have by now. Even the most ardent Nkor patriot must be tired of a diet of tree bark and moss.
In short if Nkor is going to be freed, it will be the US military that does it.
Posted by: Douglas De Bono ||
05/14/2003 15:51 Comments ||
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"Army first" policy means the army gets the guns first, and get to shoot first.
Operation Engulf and Devour Continues! Rodong Sinmun today in a signed article calls for heightening vigilance against the U.S. invariably aggressive and dangerous moves to establish its control over the world with its strategy of aggression and war and policy of strength in the 21st century. It is the U.S. strategy for world domination in the 21st century to stamp out the anti-imperialist and independent forces with its policy of strength and war strategy and redraw the world map in its interests, the article says, and goes on: Asia is the main target of its strategy for world domination. The U.S. ambition to put under its control the Korean Peninsula, a core of its Asia domination strategy, remains unchanged not only in the last century but in the new century. Ah, yes. Korea is the key!
Nobody doubts that the U.S. has put Afghanistan and Iraq under its military occupation and is now seeking to designate the Korean Peninsula as its next target. They are on the list...
Pursuing a hostile policy to isolate and stifle the DPRK while terming it part of "an axis of evil" and a "rogue state" the Bush ruling group is talking about its "victory" in the Iraqi war and asserting that the DPRK should draw a lesson from the war. Nah. Ignore it. Pretend it never happened. You're good at that. BTW, has Kimmie come out of his hole yet? Looks like he might have drawn a lesson from it.
The U.S. is dreaming of a "victory" in the projected second Korean war. The U.S. moves to stifle the DPRK are reaching a dangerous point. This is a clear proof of the U.S. plan to redraw the world map in the 21st century, its strategy to dominate the world. Evil Bush continues to plot!AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!
The U.S. is mistaken if it thinks that it can defeat the DPRK and establish its domination over the Korean Peninsula. The DPRK is fully prepared to foil the U.S. imperialists' strategy for domination over Korea with strong deterrent force.
Posted by: tu3031 ||
05/14/2003 08:16 am ||
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Yeah, baby! Them backwards shithole nations - ya can't eat just one!...
The story seems a little far fetched. I'll be interested to see if the American press runs with it.
A man claiming to be a former North Korean army general who fled the Stalinist state late last year has told a Japanese publication Pyongyang secretly imported nuclear bombs from the former Soviet Union and developed dozens of its own. The revelations were among details about North Korea's military command and its leader Kim Jong-Il contained in a 13-page article in the June edition of the respected monthly Japanese magazine Gendai (Modern Times). In an interview with the magazine, the general said the nuclear weapons were imported in 1983 and that North Korea now has four Soviet-made nuclear missiles which, with a range of 8,000 kilometers (5,000 miles), could reach the west coast of the United States. "The North Korean army even has tens of nuclear weapons it has developed itself in addition to those made by the former Sovet Union," the general was quoted as saying.
(con't see link)
Posted by: Anonymous ||
05/14/2003 07:55 am ||
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...and the fortified, grass-enriched Juche has made their soldiers ten foot tall and bulletproof, too! Horrors!
Posted by: Dar ||
05/14/2003 9:18 Comments ||
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The Soviets would sell nukes in 1983? To North Korea? That's ridiculous. The missiles that can reach L.A. can reach Moscow as well...
#3
Does anyone have info on how reliable a 20yr old missle is? Can they transfer the warhead to a differnt delivery platform? Wouldn't they have to be mobile (RR or truck)to get them in-country and hide them that long?
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
05/14/2003 9:49 Comments ||
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Any guesses on the last time NK actually tested a nuke? How about never? Unless they're exact dupes of Pak's Islamic bombs, how do they know they work? In response to your question on the missiles, sam, notice how often we've tested our nukes and missiles, and our maintenance program is light-years ahead of Dear Leaders'
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/14/2003 17:48 Comments ||
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A number of Europeans who are among 32 tourists presumed to have been kidnapped in the Sahara desert have been found, according to officials. Ten Austrians, six Germans and a Swede have been released and are said to be in good health, according to the foreign ministries in Vienna, Berlin and Stockholm. The fate of the other tourists - including 10 Germans, four Swiss and one Dutch citizen - is not clear. Announcing the release of six Germans, Interior Minister Otto Schily said he could not give more details. Speaking on German television he described the situation as "precarious". But he said there was hope that the 10 Germans would soon be free. These developments come a day after the German Foreign Minister, Joschka Fischer, spoke of hostage-takers for the first time. Mr Fischer visited Algeria on Monday, where he held talks with President Abdelaziz Bouteflika. In the past few weeks there had been growing European pressure for the Algerian authorities to resolve the mystery surrounding the tourists' fate. I'll be interested to know whether EU funds have been used to bankroll terrorists (again) or to encourage the Algerian authorities to maintain law and order in their own country.
Posted by: Bulldog ||
05/14/2003 04:04 am ||
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Guardian reports: "Algerian state radio today said the kidnappers were outlawed Islamist militants, Reuters reported. Quoting an armed forces statement, the radio station said the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat - also known as the Salafist Group for Call and Combat - was responsible. The group is suspected of having links to the al-Qaida network and is waging a bloody war against Algerian authorities."
#5
You'll have to forgive me TGA, but I don't beleive you. Otto, or no Otto, Germany has a reputation for giving terrorists with hostages exactly what they want. (At least when the hostages are Jews on German soil)Otto doesn't run the show, Shredder does. This isn't intended as an insult. Hey. we got the same thing here. Just because Rummy would dropp the hammer without even letting the French know it was happening, it doesn't mean Bush isn't going to play diplo-games with the UN for 6 months.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
05/14/2003 7:04 Comments ||
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German press (Spiegel) reports that the hostages were not "found" but freed in an attack by Algerian forces (I bet the GSG 9 is in Algeria but this will be denied because of diplomatic reasons).
Mike N, if you are referring to Munich 1972, this isn't very fair. Terrorism was new then and people weren't trained to deal with it properly in Germany. Munich led to the creation of the GSG 9 and they did a damn good job in Somalia 1977 (and later, with less publicised actions).
When it comes to terrorists, Schily runs the show and it's zero tolerance with him.
#7
Stern (article is in German) also reports there were possible casualties among the hostages. The operation took several hours and at least nine of the kidnappers were killed.
Posted by: Dar ||
05/14/2003 9:28 Comments ||
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Guardian reports: "Algerian state radio today said the kidnappers were outlawed Islamist militants, Reuters reported. Quoting an armed forces statement, the radio station said the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat - also known as the Salafist Group for Call and Combat - was responsible. The group is suspected of having links to the al-Qaida network and is waging a bloody war against Algerian authorities."
They're doomed. EFL.
Security Council diplomats said Tuesday that Secretary-General Kofi Annan asked France to provide a battalion with about 700 troops to eastern Congo, and was also talking to other governments that could provide military contingents. ``France has indicated that in principle it is prepared to participate in such a force, provided there is no shooting a clear mandate and other governments join in. So we are in touch with other governments trying to see if they will join France in such an effort,'' Annan said.
Warriors from the Lendu and Hema ethnic groups are battling each other following the withdrawal of Ugandan troops in the region. At least 160 people have died in the last week. Chief U.N. war crimes prosecutor Carla Del Ponte said she worried that the ethnic violence could increase. ``It could be a genocide,'' said Del Ponte, who is in charge of prosecuting perpetrators of the 1994 genocide in neighboring Rwanda and those responsible for war crimes in former Yugoslavia.
The latest violence in the lawless eastern Congo province of Ituri broke out May 7 after neighboring Uganda pulled out the last of its more than 6,000 soldiers in and around the main city Bunia, leaving what Uganda warned would be a security vacuum. The Ugandan withdrawal left Bunia in the hands of local Lendu tribal fighters, a 625-member U.N. contingent made up mostly of troops from Uruguay, and an even smaller Congolese police force. The contingent proved no match for an estimated 25,000 to 28,000 tribal fighters in Ituri. How do we know the UN contingent was no match? They never tried.
Clashes for control of Bunia immediately broke out between warriors of the Lendu and the rival Hema ethnic group. More than 10,000 people in the embattled city took shelter under U.N. protection at the city's airport and a U.N. compound, a U.N. spokeswoman said. Pakistan's U.N. Ambassador Munir Akram, the current Security Council president, said ``there is no crystallization of positions as yet'' on what to do in Congo. Ask us next year.
France's U.N. Ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sabliere, who will lead a Security Council mission to Congo and Central Africa next month, said ``there is no definite decision'' by the government on sending troops. He said France has set several conditions, including getting other countries to provide troops and authorizing the mission for a limited period of time. Authorize it for a limited time and the thugs will just wait the clock out.
Annan said he talked on Tuesday to the Ugandan government and South African President Thabo Mbeki, who is also talking to the leaders in the region. ``But we have asked the Ugandan government to cooperate and to use its influence in the region to ensure that the militia and the people in the region restrain themselves and do not escalate tensions in the region,'' Annan said. Perhaps the Ugandan troops should have stayed? But that would be too sensible.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/14/2003 01:51 am ||
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Since Thabo's country controls much of Subsaharan africa, why aren't they the majority of the peacekeeping force? and where the hell are the belgians? too busy throwing war crime indictments at everyone else? pussies....
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/14/2003 9:59 Comments ||
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"and other governments join in"
That means Uncle Sam has to get involved...without the US to provide topcover, the cheese eaters might get accused of...shudder...quagmirism! Besides, who is going to provide logistics support and strategic airlift if we don't? Not France! The A300 has not been delivered and and France can't easily move or supply a militarily significant force beyond her borders.
#4
. More than 10,000 people in the embattled city took shelter under U.N. protection at the city's airport and a U.N. compound, a U.N. spokeswoman said.
#7
Since Thabo's country controls much of Subsaharan africa, why aren't they the majority of the peacekeeping force? and where the hell are the belgians? too busy throwing war crime indictments at everyone else? pussies....
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/14/2003 9:59 Comments ||
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I think France can take care of this. The Lendus won't know what hit them. It'll be like 'Bam' right across the forhead. Couple mechanized divisions and a few air wings. Float the whole force over on the Fleet De Republique
#9
After the French end commercial Concorde flights later this year, they could transition the aircraft to military use. I bet each Concorde could hold as many as fifty troopers with their equipment. While they could move forces quickly, flights would be restricted to really long, hardened runways. May be tough to find in Africaâ¦
Posted by: The Kid ||
05/14/2003 11:29 Comments ||
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I'll believe the world is serious about the Congo when a serious plan is floated to partition the region.
#11
Reading this and the article below, want to bet that France's military go on strike tomorrow? That will make it far more difficult to do ANYTHING - even worse than normal for the French. Maybe they can borrow a dozen or so CASA 222's from the Spanish Air Force...
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
05/14/2003 14:34 Comments ||
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A technical note: The French call companies battalions and so on. Companies typically have around 100 riflemen. So a French battalion would number around 100 riflemen.
In US terms what Annan is asking for is closer to a regiment/brigade.
#13
Good question by the way: where are the Belgians? Answer: they ARE pussies and aren't going to help in any important way.
But these kinds of "security forces" can never work. Reason? If it comes to a real fight, what soldier from Pakistan or France, or Belgium, is going to die for a bunch of Congolese? It's the "why we fight" question. (French and Belgian soldiers. Just sends chills down the spine, don't it?)
Allied forces work when the allies have an actual interest in winning a war.
Posted by: R. McLeod ||
05/15/2003 2:04 Comments ||
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Sars (severe acute respiratory syndrome for those of you who don't know, caused by a mutant coronavirus with a reservoir in either swine or poultry) has struck China's three million-strong military, the World Health Organisation said yesterday - just as the number of cases in the country appeared to be heading downwards. The number of new Sars patients in China was less than 100 yesterday, and the number of cases in Beijing less than 50 for the fourth day running. Ten people died, bringing the total to 262 in China.
But the government's promises of new openness in its "war on Sars" came into renewed question when it was left to a WHO adviser to disclose that he had discovered the outbreak in the People's Liberation Army. Eight per cent of Beijing's 2,000 cases - about 150 to 160 people - were military personnel, Philippe Barboza said. He added that the full significance of the finding could not be judged, as he had been given no details of the patients. "The records do not say who they are, where they caught the disease, even often their sex," he said. Living conditions in the armed forces make an ideal breeding ground for the Sars virus, which has most commonly been passed on by close personal contact. The PLA's traditional secretiveness makes it impossible unlikely that the WHO will be allowed to inspect facilities and monitor the epidemic in the military. WHO officials said yesterday they were impressed with the efforts made to contain the disease in the province around Beijing - Hebei - the first rural area inspected. This could really make a dent in the PLA.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/14/2003 01:32 am ||
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Like I said in an earlier comment a week or two ago, SARS has the possibility of being China's Chernobyl. It is not necessarily the magnitude of the outbreak of the disease, but the fact that the ChiComs covered it up and are still lying to their people that may shake any confidence in the govt. The Chicoms can't manage this one, it is managing them.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
05/14/2003 11:11 Comments ||
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I hope it does.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
05/14/2003 6:46 Comments ||
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Don't forget that the largest manufacturer in Communist China is the PLA. If this spreads in secret in the PLA, it could really impact their economy.
I've been blogging as I can the SARS outbreak. Communist China has been lying from the beginning on their stats. As of yesterday's numbers, their death rate was the lowest of all countries reporting major outbreaks, 12.9%. Canada is 18.2%, Hong Kong 17.1%, etc. How likely is it that the nation where SARS originated, and that has the highest number of cases also has the lowest death rate?
#4
Chuck, as usual, is on the money. How anyone can accept any "news" from China on any disaster like SARS defines gullibility. The likely toll will only become clear years from now by extrapolating stats from isolated pockets able to be fact-checked.
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/14/2003 9:55 Comments ||
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A joint military excercise between North Korea and China's liberated military of the people would be interesting.
#6
Like I said in an earlier comment a week or two ago, SARS has the possibility of being China's Chernobyl. It is not necessarily the magnitude of the outbreak of the disease, but the fact that the ChiComs covered it up and are still lying to their people that may shake any confidence in the govt. The Chicoms can't manage this one, it is managing them.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
05/14/2003 11:11 Comments ||
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Ditto Paul. Watch as some grieving peasant realizes that his soldier son died because his 'government' hid the facts, and starts potting pols. Then a Gdansk.
Posted by: Scott ||
05/14/2003 11:23 Comments ||
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While I doubt Communist China's reported death rate, that's not really the issue. SARS doesn't kill that many people. Today's reported death toll is 267 (from November 1 to today). Even if you add three zeros to that, 267,000 is still not very many people in a country of 1,100,000,000 people.
What is costly are the sick days lost of production, and those lost to massive quarantines. Flu kills 38,000 Americans every year, but costs billions in lost productivity. Communist China's economy hovers between subsistance and industrial and it needs all of the industry it can keep running not to slide backwards.
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