Saudi authorities are investigating suspected illegal arms sales by members of the country's national guard to al Qaeda operatives in the country, U.S. and Saudi officials said. The weapons were seized in a May 6 raid on an al Qaeda safe house and were traced to national guard stockpiles, the U.S. and Saudi sources said.
Ohoh! Is that a termite in the ediface of Soddy Arabia?
Problems in the Saudi Arabian National Guard are not new, according to the officials, and past audits of its armories have revealed that weapons were missing. But there was no crackdown on the illicit trade largely because of bureaucratic inertia.
"Eh? They only kill infidels. Who cares?"
A small number of officers in the national guard have been involved in illicit gun sales for years, according to the officials, and have sold weapons, including automatic rifles, to anyone willing to pay prices well above their market value. The officials emphasized that the motivation of the officers selling the weapons was money, not ideology, and does not indicate any al Qaeda penetration of a force that is supposed to protect the government. One Saudi official said the discovery has galvanized the senior Saudi leadership and the national guard itself. One of its officers was shot and killed last week as he tried to fend off suicide bombers who stormed one of the targeted residential compounds in Riyadh. "People are furious," one Saudi official said.
If they'd been furious a couple weeks ago, they wouldn't have the problem now, would they? And if they'd been furious two years ago, we might not have had a problem. We could still be discussing Gary Condit...
Interior Minister Prince Nayef said at a press conference today that authorities have arrested four people linked to al Qaeda. The four, detained in the last three days, knew in advance of the attacks but did not participate in them, Nayef and other officials said.
"Blow myself up? Uh... Not this time. I gotta do my hair. How about next time?"
As the investigation continues, Saudi authorities have begun to break down the composition of an al Qaeda group of at least 50 to 60 people in the country, sources said. It is led by Khaled Jehani, who left Saudi Arabia when he was 18, later fought in Bosnia and Chechnya, and had been based at al Qaeda camps in Afghanistan. Jehani, 29, returned to Saudi Arabia through neighboring Yemen after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States. The officials said they believe the explosives used in the Riyadh bombings were brought into Saudi Arabia through Yemen, which shares a long and porous border with the kingdom. Officials identified another Saudi veteran of Afghanistan, Turki Mishal Dandani, as the leader of the bombing team. Dandani and Jehani are both believed to be at large.
They were too important to blow up...
Sixty FBI and other U.S. investigators, as well as a team from Britain's Scotland Yard, have joined the investigation, but Saudi officials differed today on the extent of their role. Nayef said the U.S. investigators had come to examine "the sites and we welcomed them based on that — for examining only." But Adel Jubeir, a foreign policy adviser to Crown Prince Abdullah, Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, spoke more expansively of the U.S. role on Fox News Sunday. The Americans, he said, are "helping us with the investigation. They're providing support to us. They're sharing whatever information they have. They're sharing their expertise."
And Prince Nayef's guys are doing the "work". Gotcha.
A U.S. official said cooperation was excellent and involved more than just looking at the bomb sites. The official said U.S. involvement was in sharp contrast to earlier investigations in which visiting FBI agents were shut out. The official said that in the current climate of cooperation he did not rule out the possibility that U.S. officials might be allowed to speak to detainees, something the Saudis have previously refused to allow. The extent of U.S. involvement here remains sensitive, however, and Nayef, in minimizing the role of the FBI, may want to deflect any domestic criticism.
Rather like the Paks do...
The devastating bombs have generated not only revulsion among many Saudis but something once unthinkable, the questioning of the country's strict religious environment and whether it inspires — intentionally or not — Islamic-driven violence. In one illustration of that mood, the religious police, known as the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, are keeping a low profile on the streets in accordance with a government instruction. Saudi religious police patrol the country, sometimes with sticks, to watch for instances of un-Islamic behavior, such as women not covering their heads.
"You got a license for that gun?"
"Yeah. Here."
"Y'r under arrest for un-Islamic activities!"
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/18/2003 09:05 pm ||
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...This comes under the heading of Exceptionally Bad. The Saudi NG isn't a reserve force under nominal state control like it is here, so the name tends to be misleading to a lot of folks.
The SNG is the rough equivalent in size and firepower of a medium armored cav regiment. Its sole purpose is to defend the King and his immediate family. Most (tho not all) members of the SNG are descended from the men who helped King Abdul Aziz Al-Saud take Riyadh back in the 1920s, and the senior commanders are all supposedly reliable princes. Most of it is based in Riyadh (the capital), Mecca, and Madinah - in short, the only three places in the country where the King would be expected to be on a regular basis.
So think about this for a moment - the only force the House of Saud completely trusts for its own personal safety may seems to be compromised, and perhaps fatally so. This does not bode well..
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
05/18/2003 23:33 Comments ||
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At least three people were killed and five wounded in a gunbattle between tribesmen in the Yemeni capital yesterday. Armed tribesmen from two rival clans with a running vendetta had a shootout at a road intersection near the headquarters of the Interior Ministry. Two of the victims were bystanders. Police did not comment immediately, saying they would issue a statement later in the day.
"Once we figure what the hell's going on..."
Both sides involved in the gunbattle were said to be members of the Bani Dhabian tribe from the lawless district of Khawlan, some 150 km east of Sanaa. Tribal sources said police jeeps mounted with heavy machine guns launched a manhunt to arrest the attackers. Clashes between tribesmen involved in blood feuds are common in Yemen, where firearms are carried openly, mainly in tribal and rural areas, despite efforts by police and army to disarm civilians.
"Nah. They ain't Islamists. They're just stoopid..."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/18/2003 04:59 pm ||
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The US second amendment is the whole Yemeni constitution...
The Muslim World League (MWL) said yesterday that terrorism was the most dangerous challenge facing Muslim countries and called for a broadly-based front to eradicate it. âThe Islamic nation is at a difficult turning point in which challenges are increasing, the most dangerous of which is terrorism which has badly harmed Islam and Muslims,â MWL Secretary-General Dr. Abdullah Al-Turki said in a statement. He said terrorist organizations were raising Islamic slogans to win the support of Muslim youth. He stressed the need to educate Muslim youth on the true teachings of Islam.
Like red-to-black and green-to-white...
The Makkah-based organization issued the statement following terrorist attacks in Morocco, just five days after similar bombings in Riyadh. Turki emphasized the need for cooperation between Islamic governments and organizations, scholars, propagators and media men to fight terror. âSuch an alliance must focus on dealing with extremism in religion, and ways to rectify the misconceptions imbibed by young generations from the misguided terror gangs,â he said. Religious scholars, schools and the media in the Islamic world should convey to young generations the true teachings of Islam, and warn them against intellectual deviation, Turki added.
Isn't that how we got to this point? "Kill all intellectual deviants"?
Such an alliance must execute joint programs aimed at providing âimmunity to young Muslims against misconceptions on suicide bombing, killing people and committing terrorist acts under the name of Jihad,â he said.
Still looking for your condemnation of today's bombing in Jerusalem. I've missed it so far...
The MWL chief said the terror attacks in Saudi Arabia and Morocco have raised questions about âthe suspicious objectives of the terror gangs, working under the Islamic banner, which have incited international forces against Islam and Muslims.â
"You guys have gone too far. People are starting to notice — starting to notice things like us, for example..."
Turki expressed the MWLâs readiness to cooperate with government agencies and private organizations in the Islamic world to conduct programs for protecting Muslim youth from deviant groups.
Start by rounding up some holy men, Abdullah...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/18/2003 04:32 pm ||
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Saudi authorities have arrested four people in the Riyadh suicide bombings, the Saudi interior minister told reporters Sunday, adding that three of the attackers who died had been sought in an earlier al-Qaida probe. The minister, Prince Nayef, offered no details on the arrests. Nayef said investigators had been able to identify five of the badly mangled bodies of nine Saudi men believed to have carried out the May 12 attacks on three compounds housing foreigners in Riyadh. Of the five identified, three had been sought in the probe into a weapons cache found in the kingdom that had been linked to al-Qaida. "We still need some time to identify all the characters," Nayef said. In all, nine attackers and up to 25 others died in the bombings. The Saudi government was seeking 19 suspects in connection with the May 6 weapons seizure from a site near one of the targeted compounds. The government had said the 19 were believed to be receiving orders directly from Osama bin Laden, and had been planning to use the seized weapons to attack the Saudi royal family as well as American and British interests.
That last is what'll fire them up, if anything will...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/18/2003 02:22 pm ||
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Saudi Arabia's King Fahd pledged on Saturday that the kingdom would push through political reforms and expand popular participation, but insisted this was not the result of external pressure. "I wish to assure you that we will proceed on the path of political and administrative reforms ... and expand the scope of popular participation and open more areas for women employment," Agence France-Presse (AFP) quoted Fahd as telling the Shura (Consultative) Council. In a key policy address opening the third year of the third legislative term of the appointed council, King Fahd rejected any interference in the oil-rich kingdom's domestic affairs. "We reject interference in our internal affairs from any side and under any pretext. We are keen on undertaking a self-assessment of our internal affairs with the aim to reform," said the king in the speech distributed to council members.
"Nope. Nope. Ain't nobody tells us what to do. Ain't nobody even suggests what we do..."
King Fahd praised the Shura Council's role in bringing reforms, saying that the new government announced in late April did reflect part of the reform efforts, but that more was in the pipeline. The Saudi king said he had given his approval for the formation of a non-governmental human rights body, adding that a government-run rights body would be subsequently established. He also promised that "laws and decrees will be revised," and "supervision of government agencies will be strengthened." But the king warned that reforms can only be fruitful in an "atmosphere of social harmony based on national unity," where there is no room for extremism, urging religious scholars to promote tolerance.
Yeah. That'll happen.
Over 100 Saudi intellectuals submitted in January a petition to Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, the kingdom's de facto ruler, calling for wide-ranging political and social reforms. Prince Abdullah told a group of the signatories in reply that reforms were only a matter of time.
"How much time?"
"'Bout 300 years..."
Saudi Arabia admitted Saturday failure to thwart the three bombings in Riyadh, but also hit out at critics seeking to heap all the blame on the kingdom. Commenting on the attacks that killed at least 34, including eight Americans, Adel al-Jubeir, foreign policy advisory to Crown Prince Abdullah, said Saudi Arabia âhas been a strong ally in the war against terrorism for a very simple reason: this terrorism is directed at us.â
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/18/2003 11:04 am ||
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In 300 years they'll allow reforms to bring themselves up to 1100 AD
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/18/2003 11:11 Comments ||
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#2
This must mean they intend to cease cutting off the hands of people caught stealing.
Posted by: Douglas De Bono ||
05/18/2003 11:34 Comments ||
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#3
Isn't he the one who is drooling and incapacitated?
Posted by: Brian ||
05/18/2003 12:16 Comments ||
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#4
The reform I want is cutting off the heads of al-Quida members and their supporters
Brussels, May 18, IRNA — Javier Solana, EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, condemned the attacks in al-Qods (Jerusalem) Sunday. "I unreservedly condemn today's terrorist attacks in Jerusalem, which resulted in the death of innocent civilians as well as many injured. Acts of terror such as this should not undermine efforts to implement the Quartet's Roadmap. The opportunity it brings should be seized in order to end the violence and put the Middle East peace process on track," said Solana in a statement issued by his office in Brussels.
"Yeah. It's terrible. But it ain't like it happened in Brussels or Madrid, so just ignore it and keep on going..."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/18/2003 05:34 pm ||
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Acclaimed author Arundhati Roy has blasted the US-led war in Iraq and branded democracy as "the Free World's Whore" in a blistering article in a leading Indian magazine. Roy, who makes the cover of the latest edition of Outlook magazine published this weekend, is well known as a social activist and critic of the United States and globalisation.
"Social activist" = "Dipshit"
Her article, a reprint of a speech she made in New York on May 13 at the Center for Economic and Social Rights, brands the US as the "American Empire" where "facts don't matter."
Izzat a fact?
"Apart from the invented links between Iraq and al-Qaeda, we had the manufactured frenzy about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction," she said. "We once again witnessed the paranoia that a starved, bombed besieged country was about to annihilate almighty America. The war against Iraq has been fought and won and no weapons of mass destruction have been found. Not even a little one. Perhaps they'll have to be planted before they're discovered." Roy, who won the Booker Prize for "The God of Small Things" which has sold more than six million copies in over 40 languages, criticised US President George W. Bush and other leaders for not listening to public opinion against the war.
She means the opinion of the part of the public including her, not you and I and all those other people who thought it would be a good idea to take Iraq apart...
"Democracy, the modern world's holy cow, is in crisis ... every kind of outrage is being committed in the name of democracy. It has become little more than a hollow word, a pretty shell, emptied of all content or meaning," she said. "Democracy is the Free World's whore, willing to dress up, dress down, willing to satisfy a whole range of tastes, available to be used and abused at will." Free elections, a free press and an independent judiciary mean little when the free market means they are on sale to the highest bidder, she said. Last year Roy spent a day in prison after being found guilty of criminal contempt by India's supreme court.
Yasss... Democracy would much better be replaced by something else, say... "democratic centralism." That way, resources could be allocated by people like Arundhati Roy and everyone would be happy. Like they were in India, before. Like they are in Korea and Cuba now...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/18/2003 05:07 pm ||
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#1
Yeah Arundhati, Democracy is a whore. But she's a whore with a heart of gold. Which is why you can spew your bullshit in a free country and not be put in leg irons for life for your despicable views.
Arundi ought to try talking smack like this in Pakistan or Cuba or North Korea. See what things are like on the other side. Nahh.
"There are too many people who imagine that there is something sophisticated about always believing the best of those who hate your country, and the worst of those who defend it." - Margaret Thatcher.
Posted by: R. McLeod ||
05/18/2003 17:16 Comments ||
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#2
Arundi actually ought to try talking smack like this in Kashmir, in her own country.
(hmmm...which she seems to have mostly deserted for a comfortable life in New York. She been spending a lot more time in the US than in India, recently...funny how that happens...they hate us, but they shore do like the lifestyle here...)
#3
This kind of thing has a long history. Think of the Japanese immigrants here who sided with the Imperial Japanese Army during WWII and were interned. If we weren't a bunch of gutless wonders, we'd have arrested and deported some of these enemy aliens a while ago.
#4
Maybe she's criticizing the farce democracy of the Islamic Republic of Iran and instead arguing for the rule of law, government transparency and free markets?
Look, orange juche shot out my nose...
Posted by: Brian ||
05/18/2003 20:27 Comments ||
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So she's out of the closet as a fascist. Great job!
IRNA -- In a major ongoing operation, the Indian Army, using MI-17 helicopters as gunships and mounted artillery, has killed about 65 militants in over six weeks to clear a vast area near the Line of Control in the Surankote area of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), where militants had set up command centers.
Yay-hoo! Good shootin', Mukkerjee!
Indian Army officials here said pro-Pakistani groups like the Jaish i-Mohammad, Lashkar e-Taiba, Al Badr and Hizbul Mujahideen of the Masood faction had, over a period of time, set up fortifications in the dense forest areas and had been using these bases to facilitate militant infiltration into Jammu district and Kulgam, Shopian and Pulwama areas of Kashmir Valley. The Indian Army, in a major operation which started in the first week of April, launched an attack to destroy those bases and even convert some of them into Rashtriya Rifles fortifications. The area in the shape of a bulge protrudes into Indian territory and militants were calling it a liberated zone.
So much for that idea...
Officials said full details about the operation would be given next week, but said a large number of militants had been captured. Indian forces have recovered a large number of medium machine guns, mortars and highly sophisticated communication equipment. The area, known as Hill Kaka, comes under the Surankote assembly constituency and the region is the stronghold of former J&K state minister Chaudharhy Mohammad Aslam who, however, lost the last polls as militants did not allow the people to cast their votes.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/18/2003 05:24 pm ||
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Pakistan is preparing to flood Indian Kashmir with jehadis if the Srinagar peace initiative collapses. The bulk of the militants to be sent across the Line of Control (LoC) will be drawn from the renamed Lashkar e-Taiba, say both Indian and Pakistani sources. Senior Pakistani officials are saying they are preparing the ground for waves of suicide bombers and fidayeen attacks in the Valley. Lashkar will be the frontline jehadi group and its founder, Hafiz Saeed, the public face of the militants.
Islamabad is depending on Lashkar for a number of reasons.
One, Pakistan is avoiding using Jaish e-Mohammed because it is tainted with links to Al-Qaeda and is being closely watched by Washington. Islamabad also sees Masood Azhar as too independent and as becoming too powerful. The authorities are moving to sideline him. Azhar's attempts to go to PoK are reportedly being instigated by groups within the ISI who fear Jaish is losing out to Lashkar. Azhar used to be a part of the Harkut ul-Mujahideen, but then that group was put on the Foreign Terrorist List and Azhar was released from an Indon gaol after a plane hijacking. He then went on a tour of the major Pakistani cities foaming at the mouth about Jihad, surrounded by dozens of Kalishnikov-wielding Jihadis and announced the formation of the Jaish. It later turned out that the Jihadis were actually ISI agents there to 'protect' Azhar from a possible Indian assassination attempt. Two, the Hizbul Mujahideen has almost ceased to be a fighting force following Majid Dar's murder. Indian intelligence believes Hizb's internal faction fighting has made it nearly impossible for the group to carry out major terrorist strikes. Syed Salahuddin's faction in the Hizb is now little more than a logistics agency for Lashkar. Its role in any summer flare-up will be providing guides and porters. Hizbul still controls the launching and receiving points for militants along the LoC, which means, say Pakistani sources, it is still has a necessary role in infiltration. The Hizb is the only major Jihadi group in Kashmir made up mostly of Kashmiris. Lashkar's membership is around 90% Pakistani. The Indians have been working on splitting the Hezb so that they could negotiate with moderates who are sick of fighting for their lives while their leaders live in mansions on the other side of the border. Three, Lashkar, which has been nurtured by the ISI, is more amenable to Islamabad's control than Jaish. After it changed its name, Lashkar moved its camps and offices from Punjab to Sindh. Islamabad has also begun working with lower-level Lashkar leaders, rather than those known to the US.
Jehadi-watchers say Hafeez Saeed will be the pointman if Kashmir burns this summer. He is close to the Muttahida Majlis e-Amal (MMA), the ISI and in the good books of Islamabad. Saeed rejected the peace initiative in a rally in Muzaffarabad, PoK, on Wednesday. "The solution lies in jehad, not in dialogue," he said.
To Hafiz, the solution to everything lies in jihad...
Another rising force is Hamid Gul, who is serving as Saeed's advisor. His influence is being seen in Lashkar's increasingly virulent attacks against the US. "Gul was never out of favour with Islamabad. He just kept a low profile because of US pressure," said an Indian official. Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has said and continues to believe India called the Agra summit because of jehadi violence in Kashmir. If Srinagar fails, say observers in Islamabad, he believes a spike in insurgency will force New Delhi back to the negotiating table.
I expect it to fail, and we'll be looking for the spike this summer. Because it's such a failed state, it's not in Pak's interest for anything to come of it. If there's no Kashmir problem, then they're stuck with the problems they've got at home, which are probably insurmountable without large-scale arrests and summary executions...
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
05/18/2003 03:09 am ||
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Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has said and continues to believe India called the Agra summit because of jehadi violence in Kashmir.
Like I said, the Indian government consistantly keeps rewarding terrorism, or at least gives the impression that terrorism works. The politicians are weak, when it comes to dealing with terror Vajpayee's resolve is as weak as his artificial knees. The only way to deal with this is like the US dealt with Iraq. They have to go for the source, I don't think the life of a single Indian soldier is worth losing to swat the Jihadi flies. They have to attack the camps in Pukistan.
#2
Both India and Pakistan use the terrorists as proxies against each other - it's a way to keep each other's armed forces occupied and not focused on the real problems between the two.
Also it's an excuse for both, kinda like my fat cousin who blames everything that's wrong in her life on the fact that she weighs 350lb+. Fact is, even if she lost weight, she'd still be a loser. If India & Pakistan both got rid of the terrorists, they'd have to face their REAL internal and external problems.
Posted by: Sofia ||
05/19/2003 16:08 Comments ||
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IRNA -- Voice of Iraq (VOI), broadcasting from Saudi Arabia, said in its Saturday evening news that the US forces started a vast attack, aimed at destroying the centers where arms and ammunition are dealt. The VOI added, "three residential Baghdad regions were attacked in the course of the operation on Saturday afternoon." Offering more details on the attack, the radio added, "Houses and shops in Hayy-ul-Shurta, Baghdad-ul-Jadida (the new Baghdad), and Al-Biya'a, of the Iraqi capital were the targets of the attack in which US armored vehicles were used."
Don't do it unless you're serious...
The VOI said that the US commanders assumed certain individuals inthose regions used to smuggle guns and ammunition, and according to a US armed forces' headquarters in Iraq, all such weapons and ammunitionwere discovered [were] confiscated during the Saturday evening surprise operation. The American forces have meanwhile recently established new guard posts at all entrances of Baghdad, aimed at confiscating "illegal" arms and ammunition, according to the same report.
Not too sure why IRNA's using "scare" quotes on the word "illegal." We're in charge, we say they're illegal, they're illegal. 'Bout time we started lifting the hardware...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/18/2003 05:32 pm ||
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A Kurdish guerrilla group based in northern Iraq said yesterday it was ready to work peacefully alongside the United States to help build a democratic Iraq. The Kurdistan Democratic Solution Party (PCDK), closely linked to the Kurdish rebels neighboring Turkey has fought for decades, said it was abandoning the armed struggle. â(We) will work jointly with the United States and democratic forces,â it said in a statement in the Turkish town of Tunceli.
Good idea. Leave the hardware over there...
The news will be welcome in Washington as it seeks to rebuild Iraqâs political and physical infrastructure after the war to topple Saddam Hussein. But the groupâs close links to the Kurdish rebels both Turkey and the United States class as âterroristâ will likely complicate any cooperation the group may seek with US forces. Kurdish sources say the PCDK was formed last year as an offshoot of the rebel group Turkey fights, known as the PKK or KADEK, and has perhaps 2,000 lightly armed fighters in northern Iraq who have sometimes clashed with other local Kurdish factions.
If they're laying down their arms and giving up their evil ways, what's the beef?
Turkey keeps its own troops in northern Iraq to crack down on the rebels it has fought in a conflict that has killed more than 30,000 people since 1984. Ankara is under pressure from Washington and Iraqi Kurds to withdraw its forces but is unlikely to welcome any indications that the United States is negotiating with rebels Turkey has vowed to wipe out.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/18/2003 04:56 pm ||
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At least three people were killed and several injured in shootouts between Arabs and Kurds in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk that began overnight, witnesses said yesterday.
Those guys just never get enough, do they?
Gunfights broke out following disputes over the ownership of houses and land, the witnesses came to tell AFP in the Kurdish regional capital of Arbil further north, which is controlled by the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Massoud Barzani. The two sides also fought with knives, said one witness, who added he had seen the bodies of three Kurds killed in the Al-Shuhada neighborhood of the city. A KDP delegation headed to Kirkuk to try to restore calm in the key oil-rich city. Kurds accused the deposed regime of Saddam Hussein of pursuing an active policy of settling Arabs from central and southern Iraq in and around Kirkuk in order to change its demographic character. Two days of looting and score-settling gripped Kirkuk after US-backed Kurdish forces seized the city on April 10 following the US-led ouster of Saddamâs regime. Some Kurds tried to forcibly recover their properties and expel Arab inhabitants, sparking fights. Kurdish fighters later pulled out of the city to be replaced by US troops.
Apparently there's no such thing as a deed, and the courts were for sale...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/18/2003 04:52 pm ||
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With the help of a crane, dozens of Iraqis chanting anti-Baath Party slogans toppled a statue of former President Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr Sunday in the upscale Baghdad district of al-Mansour. The black bronze statue's head was first cut off and then the rest tumbled down. Some in the crowd later stood atop the statue in triumph, bludgeoning it with sledgehammers. Al-Bakr came to power in a 1968 coup and remained in office until 1979. Saddam Hussein wielded vast influence during al-Bakr's years at the helm. Saddam succeeded al-Bakr in 1979, becoming the head of the Baath Party as well. Al-Bakr died in 1982.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/18/2003 12:34 pm ||
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The U.S. military is using Metallica and the âBarneyâ theme song as instruments of torturecoercion in Iraq. Your parents arenât the only ones who hate your musicâsome Iraqis hate it, too. U.S. military units have been breaking Saddam supporters with long sessions in which theyâre forced to listen to heavy-metal and childrenâs songs. âTrust me, it works,â says one U.S. operative. The idea, says Sgt. Mark Hadsell, is to break a subjectâs resistance by annoying that person with what some Iraqis would consider culturally offensive music. The songs that are being played include âBodiesâ from the Vin Diesel âXXXâ movie soundtrack and Metallicaâs âEnter Sandman.â âThese people havenât heard heavy metal before,â he explains. âThey canât take it.â Few people could put up with the sledgehammer riffs of Metallica, and kiddie songs arenât that much easier, especially when selections include the âSesame Streetâ theme and some of purple dinosaur Barneyâs crooning. This would definitely work on me.
There's gotta be some sort of Geneva convention against that sort of thing! [Shudder!]
#2
That's interesting. I often listen to "Enter Sandman" on continuous loop in marathon gaming sessions. Oh well, I guess one man's paradise is another man's hell.
#3
As a reward for giving valid information to interrogators, they can have Mr. Rogers "Won't you be my neighbor" for dessert.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
05/18/2003 14:12 Comments ||
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#4
We did some experiments on what kind of noise would be the most bothersome to a person. One thing that will drive anyone insane is to record the sound of an electric toothbrush and a hand drill at the same time, play it back and constantly, randomly, change the volume from very low to 200dB loud. Two hours and 25 minues would break a deaf Beethoven, especially if you're constantly questioning the subject at the same time. YOU wear ear plugs, he doesn't.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
05/18/2003 14:27 Comments ||
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#5
"Should we break out the LeRoy Neiman paintings?"
"No, we don't want to violate the Geneva convention."
(Name the movie for 10 bonus points!)
Posted by: Dar ||
05/18/2003 15:07 Comments ||
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#6
Dar...would that movie have been "Top Secret" ?
#8
I'll make you
Talk to me
Break you psychologically
I'm Public TV's purple dinosaur
Now I'm marching off to war!
Posted by: Mike ||
05/18/2003 20:50 Comments ||
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#9
Personally, I'd recommend a couple hours of Tool's "Sober". It's a great song if you like Tool... but after a few hours, it's enough to make anyone lay down and die.
Philippine air force planes and helicopters pounded Muslim rebel strongholds Sunday, launching a new offensive against insurgents in the south as the president visited the United States. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo authorized airstrikes against "embedded terrorist cells" of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, or MILF, before she left for the United States, where she was scheduled to attend a state dinner in her honor at the White House.
She said she was going to do it. She did. Good for her.
The MILF is blamed for a series of recent bombings and other attacks in the southern Mindanao region. The rebels have denied involvement in the recent attacks, but MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu said they would fight back if the army launched a new offensive. Gen. Narciso Abaya, the military chief of staff, said the assaults target selected strongholds of the separatist group in Mindanao, where suspected assailants have fled following bombings and attacks that have left more than 210 people dead this year. "These are MILF camps in Mindanao where attackers take refuge, rest and get their logistics after committing atrocities," Abaya told radio station DZMM. The head of the military's Southern Command in Zamboanga, Lt. Gen. Roy Kyamko, told a news conference that planes dropped six 250-pound bombs on MILF strongholds along the mountainous boundary of southern Lanao del Sur and Lanao del Norte provinces. Helicopters fired rockets at rebel positions there, military officials said. Following the airstrikes, ground forces moved in, backed by artillery fire, Kyamko said. Intercepted rebel radio messages indicated scores of rebels were killed in the airstrikes, army Maj. Gen. Cristolito Balaoing said.
Bet they were happy to hear that...
Kabalu, however, disputed the military claims, saying MILF field commanders have not reported any deaths.
"Nope. We're invincible. Bombs don't hurt us..."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/18/2003 01:16 pm ||
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Police in Malaysia arrested 350 Indonesian workers after a clash between rival clans that appeared to have resulted in a murder. Police went to a construction site north of the capital on Saturday to investigate reports that a person had been killed in a clash between rival clans of Indonesian workers there. On arrival, they were met by about 100 Indonesians armed with machetes. Outnumbered five-to-one, the policemen left. They returned an hour later as a force of 300, including riot police. The Indonesians fled to a nearby jungle, but 350 of them were later rounded up, Gombak district police chief Massari Hashim was quoted as saying. Police also seized a large number of machetes and sticks. Police refused to comment.
Just a little dispute among clansmen. Nothing to see here. Move along...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/18/2003 10:31 am ||
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I wonder if Americans can grasp the importance and power of clan and family in these parts of the world. Offend clan (or religion) and the blood could easily start flowing.
#2
These people are almost certainly not members of related families the usual meaning of clan.
You have to understand that that Indonesia is an empire bequethed to a Javanese elite by the Dutch. All of Indonesia outside Java would secede given the opportunity. Malaysia has the same problem to lesser degree.
Incidents like this are the tip of a very large nationalist iceberg that could easily erupt in major disturbances. However there is no real risk of anti-western terrorism.
Posted by: Phil B ||
05/18/2003 19:37 Comments ||
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Rebel negotiator Sofyan Ibrahim Tiba said on Sunday that Free Aceh Movement (GAM) separatists would agree to lay down arms if the process was carried out according to the "mechanism agreed in the Cessation of Hostilities agreement" signed on December 9. The December peace pact was to have launched a process in February that provided for the rebels to store their weapons at sites known only to themselves and international monitors and stipulated that troops simultaneously withdraw to defensive positions.
Doesn't sound like a surrender, does it?
Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said late Saturday that GAM must recognise the "unitary state of Indonesia," accept special autonomy for the province rather than independence and start disarming. "If GAM's response, which we will find out tomorrow afternoon, does not give a positive answer to what the Indonesian government has conveyed, the joint operation will be carried out under a presidential decree," Susilo said, adding that a decree authorising a joint security and humanitarian operation would be issued by Monday at the latest. Sofyan warned that any military action would result in many civilian deaths.
"We'll make sure that happens..."
He claimed that it's an undeniable fact that some Acehnese support independence. "Maybe it will only take three months for the Jakarta government to finish the military operation but does it have to kill half of the population to end the conflict?" he said.
That's been the pattern, hasn't it?
Susilo said the joint operation would impose martial law in Aceh but this could be relaxed if the rebels stopped fighting and started disarming within a week of the Tokyo meeting. Last-ditch efforts to salvage the peace process were Sunday underway in Tokyo, as Indonesian officials and GAM negotiators met for the second of two days of talks.
Given the amount of bad faith on both sides, I don't expect anything to come out of the talks, or if it does, that it won't be adhered to. It'll be a long, hot summer in Sumatra, just like in Kashmir. The only good that will come out of either will be the number of dead Islamists.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/18/2003 10:28 am ||
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Police detained 11 out of 40 Indonesian Muslim Student Action Front (KAMMI) activists on Sunday as they were to stage a rally against President Megawati Soekarnoputri's visit to the East Java provincial capital. Antara reported that the students were stopped by police in the vicinity of Tugu Pahlawan (Heroes Monument) square where President Megawati was to hold an unofficial gathering with some 1,000 leaders from throughout the province. They were later taken aboard a truck to the office of the Surabaya City Police for questioning. The students reject Megawati's visit because she has betrayed the reform movement, chief of the Surabaya branch of KAMMI Agus Wahyudianto said. "We want to give the message that Surabaya students reject Megawati because she is not a reformist leader. She has betrayed the reform movement and thus, she must step down as president," he said.
I'm not sure if she's betrayed the "reform movement" or if she's been juggling competing demands, all shouted in a loud voice, while dodging brickbats...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/18/2003 10:06 am ||
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A Moroccan Islamist group suspected of links with 13 suicide bombers who killed 28 people in Casablanca had until now been regarded as little more than a neighbourhood gang. The Assirat al Moustaquim group hit local headlines in February 2002, when some of its members stoned to death a man in the low-income Casablanca neighbourhood of Sidi Moumen. Moroccan Justice Minister Mohamed Bouzoubaa suggested on Sunday this group may have helped with the Casablanca suicide bombings on Friday night. Worshipping in makeshift mosques, the group's members sought to impose strict Islamic law on Sidi Moumen, harassing women as well as mixed-sex couples seen in public. The man stoned to death, Fouad al Kardoudi, had attracted the hostility of a dozen local young men and had had earlier confrontations with them.
Members of such small grassroots groups, presented in the Moroccan media as part of a Taliban-influenced Salafi Jihad movement, have declared their ideological support for al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Some of them are returnees from the Afghan Jihad â the holy struggle first against the Russian invader and then to establish a strict Islamic state under the now ousted Taliban. Information given to the Moroccan public about such groups has been piecemeal and often confusing. Last July then-Islamic Affairs Minister Abdelkbir Mdaghri Alaoui said that even the most conservative of Moroccan Islamists "refuse violence and terrorism." However, in the weeks leading up to the September general election in which Islamists of the Justice and Development Party (PJD) surged to become the third largest party in parliament, the Jihad Salafists were portrayed as a threat to stability.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
05/18/2003 09:40 pm ||
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Syrian Prime Minister Mohamed Mustafa Miro said Saturday his country seeks Arab solidarity to cope with challenges resulting from the situations in Iraq and the Palestinian territories.
"Yeah. Us Arabs gotta stick together, so nobody else gets it like Iraq did. Nobody like us..."
"This visit comes as part of an effort for strengthening Arab solidarity to face the challenges posed by the occupation of Iraq and the persecution of the Palestinian people," Miro told reporters on arrival here at Khartoum airport. Arab solidarity "enables the Iraqi people to maintain their unity, set up a democratic system and regain their independence," said the Syrian Prime Minister who arrived here heading a ministerial delegation for participation in a two-day meeting of a joint Sudanese-Syrian committee.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/18/2003 08:49 pm ||
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Georgia's Supreme Court on Friday ruled that three Chechen rebels should not be extradited to Russia, saying they should stand trial in Georgia instead. The Chechens were among a group of 13 suspected rebels detained with arms on the Russian-Georgian border last August. Georgia has extradited five of them to Moscow, but the drawn-out legal process has angered Russian officials, who accuse Georgia of turning a blind eye to Chechen rebel activity on its territory. The Supreme Court on Friday annulled the decision by the Georgian Prosecutor's Office to extradite Husein Alkhanov and Rustam Elkhadzhiev. The court sent the case against the third, Ruslan Gilogayev, back to prosecutors for further investigation. Court officials said the ruling was based on the Geneva Convention which forbids extradition until it is clearly established whether or not the person holds refugee status. The court, led by Justice Nino Gvenetadze, noted that the Chechens must be held responsible for breaching the border with weapons, but said they should be tried on Georgian territory.
"We're refugees! Stick 'em up and gimme yer dough!"
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/18/2003 08:45 pm ||
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Two foreigners caught French kissing in Dubai have been given six-month jail terms suspended for three years under condition they not do it again, a local newspaper reported yesterday.
Gawd! Tongues and everything!
The Dubai Court of First Instance found a 26-year-old Australian, and 26-year-old German woman guilty of kissing in public. Names of the couple were not provided. They also were fined 1,000 dirhams ($365) each for being under the influence of alcohol. Dubai is the commercial hub and the most permissive emirate in the UAE. Nonetheless, alcohol consumption is strictly controlled and public displays of sexuality forbidden.
Get a room, dammit! It's cheaper and more fun.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/18/2003 04:47 pm ||
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And let that be a good lesson to the both o' yez!
I don't want teh see yer young haaaart-throbbin' gobs in this station-howsse agin'!
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
05/18/2003 20:58 Comments ||
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In Jeddah, the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) strongly condemned the bombings in Morocco. The OIC âstrongly condemns these vicious acts carried out by people devoid of all values, morals and faiths, especially Islam which forbids the killing of innocent life,â OIC Secretary-General Abdelouahed Belkeziz said. âThese heinous crimes, which aimed at terrifying innocent people, killing them and destabilizing Morocco, will also increase the distortion of the image of Islam and fuel anti-Islamic campaigns,â he said.
Until you condemn the bombings in Jerusalem, the image of Islam remains pretty much unchanged...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/18/2003 04:35 pm ||
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OIC is funded by (wait for it) the Saudi royal family/government.
Wait, sorry for the redundancy.
OIC is the Ex-Im Bank of Wahhabi fundamentalism.
Posted by: Sofia ||
05/19/2003 16:09 Comments ||
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President Laurent Gbagbo approved deployment of French and West African troops to Ivory Coast's lawless west, where rebels, militias and mercenaries have flourished during the country's 8-month-old civil war. The force is charged with trying to restore law and order on Ivory Coast's border with Liberia, where gunmen have preyed on civilians. The decision came as the U.N. envoy for Ivory Coast, Albert Tevoedjre, met Friday with Gbagbo in the commercial capital of Abidjan.
The problem with peace keepers is that, to work they've got to be armed and more dangerous than the bad guys who're trying to break the peace. Otherwise they're nothing but a new target set...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/18/2003 02:26 pm ||
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Maybe Britain will lend the Ivory Coast a couple of regiments of Ghurkas. I don't think there would be a second incident...
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
05/18/2003 14:34 Comments ||
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More on the Bad Guy roundup...
Agents detained "several dozen" militants in Casablanca, Fez and Tangiers on suspicion that at least two Moroccan Islamic groups were behind Friday's five near-simultaneous attacks, officials said. "The judicial police, ... as in any democratic country struck by blind terrorism, are continuing their operations against the networks that are already known by our services," a security official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. It was not clear exactly how many people were detained in the raids, which began Saturday.
"Right now the figure we're working with is 'a whole bunch.'"
An Interior Ministry official said on condition of anonymity that police were trying to determine what, if any, role was played by the group Salafi Jihad, which is believed to be tied to al-Qaida. Another Moroccan group suspected in the attack is the Takfir wal Hijra, the security official said.
Salafi Jihad popped to mind to me, too. I haven't heard of the second bunch...
Salafia Jihadia has been subject to police sweeps for months. About 100 people found to have ties with it were in custody as recently as March, including a suspected leader known for fiery sermons and anti-Western views. Five "groups of kamikazes" â 14 attackers in all â carried out the attacks Friday, Interior Minister Mostapha Sahel said. The one surviving bomber was being questioned. Sahel said a bomb was found at his house.
That sounds like it should be a very painful experience. I hope it is...
About 100 people were injured, 14 seriously, Sahel said. "We have strong suspicions that this cell had contacts with foreign groups," Sahel said, though he also said the attackers were apparently all Moroccans.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/18/2003 02:18 pm ||
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The Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, has organized a massive rally in the Buss refugee camp in South Lebanon yesterday on the occasion of the 55th anniversary of the Nakba (usurpation of Palestine). The Palestine Scholars League â Lebanon branch delivered a statement on the occasion outlining the religious aspects of the Palestine cause. Lebanese parliament deputy Abdullah Qassir then spoke about the Palestinian peopleâs insistence on the resistance option. He affirmed that rights were always grabbed by force, recalling that resistance had liberated South Lebanon from Zionist occupation and would liberate Palestine inshaâallah.
"Rights are always grabbed by force"? That statement takes my breath away...
The Hamas representative in Lebanon, Osama Hamdan, then took the platform affirming that his Movement had chosen the path of Jihad, steadfastness and resistance. He affirmed that the Palestinian people supported that option, charging the American road-map proposed settlement plan of being drafted to protect the Zionist entity rather than to grant rights to the Palestinian people. Hamdan also affirmed that none was authorized to surrender the Palestinian refugeesâ right of return.
"No compromise. No negotiation. No accomodation. Only blood will do..."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/18/2003 11:25 am ||
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Fifty-five years, and the Lebanese (meaning the Syrians) still have them in camps. And these guys don't even wonder why that is.
JPost Reg req'd - more from the peace-lovin'Paleos
One of Yasser Arafat's top aides warned Sunday that reopening the Temple Mount to non-Muslims would lead to a third intifada against Israel. Ahmed Abdel Rahman, a senior political advisor to Arafat, said: "This could be the trigger for a third intifada. How else can we interpret the stupidity of Israel's police minister, who announced last week that Jews would be allowed to visit the al-Aqsa mosque?" Rahman was speaking at a memorial ceremony held in Ramallah for three Palestinian journalists killed in the current violence. He described statements made by Police Minister Tsachi Hanegbi to this effect as idiotic and naive. Hanegbi said last week that Jews and non-Muslim tourists would soon be permitted to visit the Temple Mount, which has been closed by Muslim religious authorities since the outbreak of violence more than two years ago. The PA Mufti in Jerusalem, Ikrimah Sabri, warned over the weekend that allowing Jews to enter the Temple Mount would result in a bloodbath. worse than is already occurring? I would actually expect the fight to be taken to the Paleos. I don't think Sharon can do otherwise and stay in power
Rahman, who until recently served as secretary general of the Palestinian cabinet, also said there was no chance of reaching any agreement with the government of Ariel Sharon. The new Palestinian Prime Minister, Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen), refused to include Rahman in his new cabinet. In return, Arafat compensated him by appointing him as his senior political advisor and promoting him to the rank of minister. Arafat rewards him to undermine the PM - is there any reason why we should stop the IDF from reducing his hovel rubble to gravel?
"Our first mission is to achieve [Palestinian] national unity," he stressed. "We must stop following illusions and mirages. Did you ever hear Sharon say that he will withdraw to the 1967 border? So why are we negotiating with him? Are we doing so in order to allow him to further humiliate us at the checkpoints, as if we are black laborers working for their white employers? I haven't heard one Israeli official talk about Israel's readiness to withdraw to the 1967 borders." Rahman, who represented Arafat at the ceremony, warned that the fight against Israel would continue until the Palestinians achieve all their rights. "Yes, there is a state called Israel, but if it doesn't pull back from the Palestinian territories, the resistance will continue regardless of what the international community says," he added. "This is our legitimate right." He said Palestinians refuse to provide security for Israel as long as the occupation continues. "There will be no security for settlers or the occupation forces," he warned, adding that the Palestinians can never forgive the "Israeli murderers or make peace with them." Fine, the Israelis should acknowledge this, then kill them, Arafat and Rahman should be given the first chance for glorious martyrdom
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/18/2003 11:16 am ||
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Fred - Missed a highlight in the middle :
"Arafat rewards him to undermine the PM - is there any reason why we should stop the IDF from reducing his hovel rubble to gravel?" is obviously my rhetorical question
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/18/2003 11:42 Comments ||
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#2
Third intefada? Did the second one end with no one noticing?
I'm in a surly mood today and currently think the Paleos are utterly beyond redemption. It's long past time to kill all the leaders and scatter their people to the furthest four corners of the world. If the Paleos think they know what a naqba is, they ain't seen nothing yet. Grrr!
#3
When is someone going to eliminate Hamas and Hezbollah, and the al-aksa bozos brigade? Nothing will happen until the flow of funds and the leadership is taken out. All the rest is window dressing. The Arab leadership wants these organizations around to stick it to Israel. We don't. We need to do something about this. A decade plus of footsie is not cutting it.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
05/18/2003 14:17 Comments ||
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there is a serious problem when the Palestinians still identify ALL of Temple Mount as being Al Aksa Mosque, which is only a small part of the real estate there. It is called Temple Mount for a reason: it is a direct link back to the historical presence of the original Jewish Temple which stood there. Why should Jews/Christians be denied access to it? This is depressing - we seem to make NO progress. mer
Posted by: m rainey ||
05/18/2003 14:42 Comments ||
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#5
There can never be peace as long as there is a "Palestine". No amount of Israeli territory will ever be enough. Sharon should give the people 72 hours to pack and leave, then raze every bit of Paleostinian "territory". The "1967 boundary" was the cease-fire line from the 1948 War of Independence. There's nothing "holy" or "legitimate" about it as the boundaries of Israel. Once they get all the Hayrats out, they should push 10 miles into surrounding territory on all sides except Jordan, and plant 100Kt nuclear mines, with a hair trigger. Maybe then, at least for a month or two, Israel will have peace.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
05/18/2003 15:01 Comments ||
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#6
I say every religion should be limited to only ONE holy place. Islam has Mecca. Good enough I say.
#7
Maybe Israel can set up concentration camps with showers and incinerators, eh, OP? I mean it was done to them, right? They certainly have a free pass to displace all the palestinians who were there before they showed up, right?
My position is the same, Israel was stupid NOT compensating those people whose land they took and whose houses they continue to take. And it's going to cost them many times more in money and blood in the long run. Did I say them? I really mean US.
Posted by: Scott ||
05/18/2003 15:40 Comments ||
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#8
First of all, Scott, no one anywhere is dumb enough to think the Arabs would have taken compensation if it had been offered. Israel might accept reparations from the Arabs for the four attempts made to eradicate the Jewish state from 1948 through 1973, not to mention for all the thousands of Israeli civilians that have been and continue to be murdered.
And maybe you can answer this: if the West Bank and Gaza are "Palestinian" territory, why wasn't a "Palestinian" state created some time between 1948 and 1967 when Egypt ran Gaza and Jordan ran the West Bank? Or does "Palestinian" nationality only date from 1967?
Posted by: Chrisotopher Johnson ||
05/18/2003 15:57 Comments ||
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Chris - 1st - Who tried? Are you gonna tell me that Joe Ali Schmuck, 1443 Temple St., Hebron is gonna turn down the money when the IDF show up with the bulldozer and says, "by eminent domain, we're taking the house. Here's fair market value and by the way, you MUST emigrate to another country and if you do willingly there is UN money for your trasport and resettlement." THAT's the right thing to do. And the best bang for all the bucks we pour into that whole armpit. And as we've seen, if we do otherwise we make Joe's children want to be boomers.
2nd. Who said Israel should have given back what was taken in those wars? Not me. I just say do right by the inhabitants. For Israel's own sake.
Those feeble countries didn't count on the world's remaining superpower backing Israel to the extent that we've shown. That part's just law of the jungle. But if America is indeed good (still) we'll at least try to find a place for poor, huddled masses.
Posted by: Scott ||
05/18/2003 16:27 Comments ||
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#10
Scott, your place for the poor huddled masses of Hebron is Siberia.
Or the Sun via trans-solar injection.
Posted by: Brian ||
05/18/2003 20:30 Comments ||
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#11
The poor, huddled masses are not the problem. It's their suicide-bombing fringe and Israel's settlement-building fringe. Take those away and the rest have a chance to live in peace and eventually prosperity. But there'll never be peace and prosperity for the Palestinians until they put aside hate and can be trusted as reliable neighbors and co-workers. That said, I don't expect to see it in my lifetime. A culture of hate and death is not going to change in one generation.
Posted by: Tom ||
05/18/2003 20:41 Comments ||
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#12
Golda Meir said, "There will be no peace until the Palestinians love their children more than they hate the Jews".
#13
Interesting choice, Brian, Siberia. Many currently in Israel are descendents of those who initially sent people there. As well as many who were sent there themselves.
I believe Tom is correct on all accounts. Peace is not gonna happen. But you gotta try. You got Islamic crazies whipping the people into madness on one side. And Likudniks preaching a return to Solomon's glory (and borders) on the other. I just don't want to see our kids and grandkids get killed in between.
Golda was a smart old bird. But if someone told you that, wouldn't you think they just threatened your children?
Posted by: Scott ||
05/18/2003 23:31 Comments ||
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Dr. Abdul Aziz Rantissi, political bureau member of the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, has warned that Zionist premier Ariel Sharonâs meeting with Palestinian Authority premier Mahmoud Abbas might attempt to convert the conflict against occupation into an inter-Palestinian one. Ranteesi predicted that the discussions would solely cover security questions and would be employed to cover up for the Zionist occupationâs crimes in Beit Hanon and other areas in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. He said that Abbas would find a long list of Sharonic security demands that target converting the conflict into a Palestinian civil war. The PA government has disappointed many citizens who believed that it would accord priority to ending the sufferings of the Palestinian people and to fighting corruption, Ranteesi elaborated.
Translated, that means: "You ain't goin' on no damned trip to peace, using no damned roadmap. We ain't gonna allow any change whatsoever in the way things are, unless it's us taking over..."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/18/2003 11:22 am ||
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Hey, if more "militants" die as a result of a Paleo civil war, I'm certainly not going to be complaining....
Palestinian Authorityâs security apparatuses have started distributing roles in a plan to quell the Palestinian Aqsa intifada, according to PA security sources. The plan envisaged entrusting the Marine forces and Force-17 with establishment of roadblocks to arrest those included in the list of wanted persons.
The Marine forces were involved in the Karine A incident. Force 17 was supposed to be merged into the PA security forces under the Oslo accords, but Yasser kept personal control of it for himself. It was used during the 1980s to carry out hits against Israeli and rival Paleostinian organizations, usually outside Paleostine.
The preventive security apparatus is to launch the intelligence missions and collecting information on wanted persons while the police force is to subpoena the wanted individuals so as to legalize the arrests.
Then their "relatives" can show up in large, angy mobs, and spring them, after which nothing will be mentioned...
They added that the intelligence apparatus would be allocated the violent arrests through kidnapping the wanted persons or breaking into houses even if the measure led to inflicting casualties in the process. Meanwhile, the preventive security apparatus in the Gaza Strip was holding a series of meeting for the past week with the Fatah Movementâs central council in the central area in the Gaza Strip to convince armed elements affiliated with Fatah to halt resistance. The Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the military wing of Fatah, apparently approved the request and started by halting night patrols in the central areas.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/18/2003 11:18 am ||
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The Israeli army sealed off the West Bank city of Ramallah Sunday, May 18, following a double bombing attack in occupied Jerusalem. A curfew had earlier been imposed on the city, and the adjacent towns of Beitunia and Al-Bireh but was later lifted, the army said. However, all roads leading to Ramallah were closed. Ramallah is only five kilometers (three miles) from the French Hill neighborhood in east Jerusalem where the deadly bombing took place and houses the offices of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, Prime Minister Mahmud Abbas and the Palestinian Parliament.
Will they go in and root out Yasser this time? Or will they let his defenders deter them again? Tune in tomorrow, for the continuing story of ALL MY CORPSES...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/18/2003 10:53 am ||
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Isn't it time to unleash the IDF? The Paleos and Arabs understand one thing: power. It's time for the Israeli boot to fall on Arafat's neck, then Hamas, then Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah. Why, for crying out loud, are murdering fanatics like Sheikh Yassin allowed to live? A well aimed couple rockets taking out the entire block where he lives is the appropriate response. Sorry about the rant, it's not a good news day
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/18/2003 11:09 Comments ||
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Dittos Frank!
I am completely baffled by the insistance that Arafat should continue to draw another breath. This is a war and bad guys happen to belong to Fatah, the PLO, Hamas, Jihad, Hexbollah and al Qaeda. The sooner they're dead, the safer we'll be.
Posted by: Douglas De Bono ||
05/18/2003 11:37 Comments ||
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A spokesman for PM Ariel Sharon mulled the possibility of removing Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, whom Sharon's office accused of being responsible for the double attack. "Let me just refer you to an experiment that took place in Iraq a month ago — what happened when a reign of terror by one leader was taken off, how the people reacted," Raanan Gissin told reporters. "... When people say 'he's the leader and he's doing this' well, they haven't had the opportunity really to see what it means to live, or to behave or to act without Yasser Arafat calling the shots, literally," Gissin said.
I think I mentioned that Yasser would be involved through al-Aqsa yesterday. I don't think the Israelis are fooled, either, regardless of Rantissi taking the heat...
Gissin stressed any hope for moving along the peace process rested not on the internationally-backed Middle East âroadmapâ, which calls for the creation of a Palestinian state by 2005, but in ousting Arafat as president of the Palestinian Authority. "The problem is not the roadmap, the problem is the trail of blood ... which has been charted very clearly by Yasser Arafat and those who support him," Gissin said.
Yep. They know who's in charge...
Also Sunday, Israeli government spokesman Avi Pazner had earlier blamed Arafat for the twin bombings, charging that the aging leader had formed an alliance with Muslim movements like Hamas and Islamic Jihad in a bid to sabotage peace efforts led the new Palestinian premier. "It is in Yasser Arafat's interest to hamper his rival Abu Mazen, to prove he cannot govern, and for that purpose he has formed an alliance with Hamas and Jihad, in an attempt to stop the revival of the peace process with terrorist acts," Pazner charged. "I do not yet know which measures will be taken but we will obviously have to take some to fight against this wave of terrorism," he said.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/18/2003 10:46 am ||
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JPost news:
The cabinet is slated to meet Sunday afternoon in emergency session to weigh Israel s response to Sunday's suicide bomb attack, with a debate on whether to expel Yasser Arafat expected to be one of the possibilities considered.
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/18/2003 11:15 Comments ||
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Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon cancelled a crucial trip to Washington following a double attack which killed 7 people and injured 20 in Jerusalem plus the two bombers. The operation took place just as Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas and his Israeli counterpart ended their talks Saturday without reaching any conclusions. At least four of the wounded were in serious condition. The blast blew apart a bus just before the morning rush hour in the French Hill neighborhood in Jerusalem. A second bomber blew himself up almost simultaneously in Aram, a Palestinian village just north of French Hill, killing only himself. Jerusalem Police Chief Micky Levy told Israeli public radio that the bomber was probably heading towards French Hill but detonated his explosives prematurely due to the huge security deployment.
"They're comin' to get me! You'll never take me alive, coppers! [BOOM!]"
"What the hell was that, Moshe?"
"Damfino, Avner. Let's have a look..."
In consequence, Sharon cancelled a crucial trip to Washington following the attack. âThe prime minister postponed his trip to the United States, where he was due to hold talks with U.S. President George W. Bush, due to a wave of terrorist attacks,â a statement said, without specifying a new date for the visit.
That's what was supposed to happen. If he'd gone, there would have been more to bring him back...
On Saturday Israeli troops shot and killed two armed Palestinians who had injured two Israelis after infiltrating the West Bank Jewish settlement of Shearei Tikwah near the demarcation line with Israel. One of the injured Israelis was said to be in serious condition.
It's that prospect of a settlement that causes them to swarm like that. It's like turning on a light when you have roaches...
Abdul Aziz Rantissi told IslamOnline.net that âthe double martyrdom operations came as self-defenseâ, noting that the Palestinian resistance will go non-stop as long as the Israeli occupation existed. Asked whether the double bombings are linked to Abbas-Sharon meeting, Rantisi said they have nothing to do with the meeting, given that such operations âcannot be carried out overnight and need some time for planning.â
Unless you happen to have a half dozen krazed killers on standby at any moment.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/18/2003 10:41 am ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
