(2003-12-19) -- In the wake of yesterdayâs decision by a U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals panel ordering the government either to release accused dirty bomber Jose Padilla or to try him in civilian court, President George Bush today declared two judges on the Court to be âenemy combatantsâ.
The judges, who both ruled against the Bush administration in Padilla v. Rumsfeld, have been flown to the U.S. military detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
"These judges are a threat to our freedoms and our way of life," said Mr. Bush in a brief written statement. "In the war on terror, the battlefield has no boundaries and we canât wait until thereâs an imminent threat to executive privilege before taking action."
The judges will be held incommunicado for an unspecified period, or until the Supreme Court overturns the Circuit Court ruling. The prisoners of war will, of course, receive daily visits from a Muslim chaplain."
Check out Scott Ottâs other offerings today - especially the article about Saddam being entitled to unsupervised visits ala Hinckley.
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - A 140-pound rapist met his match in an angry, 275-pound prostitute, police said. Adrian Castillo Ramirez allegedly tried to sexually assault a 24-year-old Bakersfield prostitute who was nearly twice his weight. But she took his knife, stripped him naked and paraded him in front of other prostitutes, after asking how many of them had ever been forced into sex at knifepoint. Then she tried to take him â still naked â to the police station, reports said. Police spokesman was unable to stop laughing.
Castillo was charged with failing to register as a sex offender, and with committing forcible sex acts on the 24-year-old and on a 37-year-old woman in a previous incident. He was convicted of four counts of rape in 1988. Castillo pleaded innocent Wednesday, and is being held on $250,000 bail, police said. Iâm thinking heâs lucky heâs still in one piece.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/19/2003 4:23:18 PM ||
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She ainât exactly pretty,
Ainât exactly small;
Forty-two, thirty-nine, fifty-six
You could say sheâs got it alllllllllllll!
A Fall River pedophile who prosecutors want locked up as a sex fiend twice grabbed a womanâs buttocks at a Hub homeless shelter but claims the alleged assaults were an accident, officials said. ``He said he had an involuntary muscle spasm,ââ Bristol District Attorney Paul F. Walsh Jr. said of convicted child molester Ronald Boyer.
Barely days after he was captured, Saddam Hussein the captive has been released in doll version. Standing 12ins tall, the figure comes complete with shaggy beard and an ace of spades T-shirt, a reference to the US most wanted deck of cards. Saddamâs doll is being sold on the Herobuilders website for $29.95. Spider hole, flyswatter and suitcase full of cash and minutes from the last Baâath party ice cream social sold separately.
The site admits: "At first you might not recognise this action figure. US soldiers didnât recognise the man either, with his ratty hair and wild beard." Pic at the link.
Herobuilder also sells a Dead On Arrival doll of one of Saddamâs sons, Uday. Bwahahahaha!
EFL. I poached this from The Corner.
A traditional doctor in central Nigeria has been shot dead by a patient who was testing the potency of an anti-bullet charm the herbalist had prepared for him, police said on Wednesday. Ashi Terfa died when patient Umaa Akor fired a gun at his head two weeks ago in south-central Benue state, police spokesperson Bode Fakeye said. âHey, does this thingâ...BANG! ...âWork?â
"Akor went for an insurance against bullets and contacted Terfa to prepare it for him," he said. âHere, take this. Itâs magic!â
"To confirm its efficacy, the herbalist tied the charm around his neck and insisted that Akor should fire a gun at him. The experiment proved fatal for the herbalist and his skull was shattered," he added. "He died immediately". Wrong charm?
Police in south-eastern Afghanistan have been placed on alert, with their numbers increased in Paktika province. Afghan authorities have doubled the number of policemen in six districts near the border with Pakistan, to counter attacks by thousands of al-Qaeda and Taliban insurgents.
"Thousands"? At a time?
AFP news agency quotes a local police chief as saying that 56 policemen will be deployed in each of the districts, which have also been infiltrated by anti-western Arab and Chechen fighters. Pakistanâs military in October attacked the area in a massive air and ground operation, killing eight Taliban and al-Qaeda suspects and arresting 18 others.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/19/2003 12:22:15 AM ||
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"56 policemen" in each district vs. "thousands of ...insurgents."
Is this optimism, or exaggeration? Or both? Hope the cops are well-armed.
#2
If you can kill eight and capture eighteen in one raid, that idicates that there might actually be thousands of sympathisers willing to participate in a odd operation or two in that area of Afghanistan.
We might be well advised to install basketball hoops throughout the region. The locals might begin to participate in pick-up basketball games instead of insurgency.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
12/19/2003 11:22 Comments ||
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Sounds like someone's running a 'tripwire' operation, with a HUGE reserve somewhere, just waiting to hit the Blackhawks and go. I'll reserve judgment until we see what happens.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/19/2003 12:08 Comments ||
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The Afghanistan government is negotiating the release of the two kidnapped Indians, involved in the construction of the Kabul-Kandahar Highway. The duo are said to be fine and not under any immediate threat from their captors. The two construction workers were abducted by suspected Taliban rebels, on 6th December, while shopping in the Southern province of Zabul. Afghanistan Interior Minister Ali Ahmed Jalali said the government is in touch with the kidnappers, and negotiations are on for the Indiansâ release. Refusing to divulge details, Jalali said the two men are in good shape and face no immediate threat to their lives. He expressed hope that the Indians will be freed as soon as possible. A Taliban spokesman had claimed responsibility for the kidnapping, but has put forth no demands for the release of the two Indians.
Just a suspicion, but it sounds like the Talibs took the credit for the kidnapping, and the actual (free-lance) bandidos who dunnit are going to pick up a few bucks.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/19/2003 12:21:07 AM ||
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If funds are getting tight, it might be a good spring to obliterate the poppy fields. I guess that would depend on whether NATO would them have to drop the WOT and fight a War on Drugs with all the smugglers.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
12/19/2003 11:25 Comments ||
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From Middle East Newsline
The Bush administration has agreed to lift restrictions on the deployment of advanced U.S.-origin aircraft procured by the Saudi Royal Air Force. U.S. officials said the changes would allow the Saudi air force to deploy its fleet of F-15 fighter-jets anywhere in the kingdom. They said this would include the deployment of the F-15 in the Saudi air force base of Tabuk, about 150 kilometers from Israel. We must figure now that the F-15s are targeted well enough by the IDF and that the Saudi and Pak pilots are not a threat.
Congress was notified of the lifting of the U.S. restrictions in early 2003, the officials said. They said Israel was also told that Saudi F-15S aircraft could operate from Tabuk. Rummy: "The F-15s can now operate from Tabuk."
Israel: "Hokay. [to assistant: âMoshe, kindly activate ordinance targeting program for Tabuk.â]"
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has sent a letter to Congress regarding the lifting of the U.S. restrictions on the F-15 in Saudi Arabia, officials said. The letter cited the Saudi need to defend its air space amid the deterioration of its aging F-5 and Tornado fleets. And what external threat to its airspace, pray tell, is the Saudis facing? Iran? Jordan? Yemen? Oman? Israel?
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/19/2003 1:50:45 PM ||
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I wonder if these have been equipped with some sort of RC "off" switch?
#4
I guess the Israeli air defense missile system must be fully deployed now, then. The only bad thing, from the Saudi standpoint, of "permanently" stationing F-15s at Tabuk will be the exhorbitant amount of maintenance they'll need. That is NOT the most hospitable territory for any aircraft.
As a matter of curiosity, how many of the 72 F-15s the US sold the Shah of Iran are still flyable? Last I heard, they were down into single digits, and forced to cannibalize for spare parts.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/19/2003 18:52 Comments ||
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OP, those were F-14s, not F-15s, and last I read the number of flyable F-14s could be counted with one hand.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/19/2003 19:30 Comments ||
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Given the snarky comments I've read on some mil-blogs re the maintenance load of aging -14s, even in our guy's hands, it'd be a wonder if any of the Iranian ones weren't reduced to hangar queen status by now.
EFFun
WASHINGTON (AP) - The U.S. Navy has seized a boat in the Persian Gulf carrying two tons of hashish and four glassy-eyed terrorists people tied to the al-Qaida terrorist network, the military said Friday. No motorcycles?
The guided missile destroyer USS Decatur intercepted the boat on Monday, U.S. Central Command said in a statement. On board were two tons of drugs worth an estimated $8 million to $10 million and 12 people, four of whom have suspected ties to al-Qaida, the statement said. The other eight were just eating humas and pita bread like fiends.
The boat, a wooden vessel known as a dhow, was near the Straits of Hormuz, the narrow part of the gulf between Iran and Oman, the statement said. The area is a known smuggling route used by Osama bin Ladenâs terrorist network, the statement said. The Al-Q Navy: A fleet of dhows.
American forces searching the boat found 54 70-pound bags of hashish, the statement said. The investigation which followed found clear ties between the drugs and al-Qaida, the military said. A lot of the peeps over at the democraticunderground will be sorely disappointed.
The Decatur is part of a U.S. Navy force including the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise.
Posted by: Dragon Fly ||
12/19/2003 11:47:20 AM ||
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"I dunno, Chief. You sure there were 54 bags? 50 seems like a nice round number, y'know?..."
A U.S. Navy boarding team operating from the guided-missile destroyer USS Decatur (DDG 73) discovered an estimated two tons of narcotics with a street value of around eight to ten million dollars aboard a 40-foot dhow intercepted in the Arabian Gulf on Dec. 15. The dhowâs 12 crewmembers were taken into custody and transferred to USS Decatur, and Decatur sailors are in control of the dhow. The smuggling routes are known to be used by Al-Qaida and four of the 12 crew members are believed to have links to the organization.
Hurrah!
Decatur was operating near the Straits of Hormuz, conducting Expanded Maritime Interception Operations designed to deny use of the seas by terrorists and smugglers. Once aboard the dhow, Decaturâs boarding team determined that the dhowâs crew lacked proper documentation of its nationality or cargo. Decaturâs team then discovered 54 70-pound bags of hashish. An initial investigation uncovered clear ties between the smuggling operation and al-Qaida. âThis capture is indicative of the need for continuing maritime patrol of the Gulf in order to stop the movement of terrorists, drugs and weapons,â said Rear Adm. Jim Stavridis, Commander, Enterprise Aircraft Carrier Strike Group. âThis is a vital part of winning the global war on terror.â Future disposition of the dhow and its crew will be determined following coordination with investigation by legal authorities. The boarding was coordinated by Commander, Destroyer Squadron 18, embarked in the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, operating in the Arabian Gulf. USS Decatur, a part of Expeditionary Strike Group One, is home ported in San Diego.
#2
USS Decatur Homepage Commodore Stephen Decatur: In 1815, Decatur commanded a nine-ship squadron headed for Algiers to settle conflicts which had persisted since 1812. Decatur's abilities as a negotiator were recognized after he secured a treaty with the Algerians and extracted compensation from the Tripolitans. During celebration of the truce with the North African States, Decatur declared his famous line: "Our country! In her intercourse with foreign nations may she always be in the right; but our country right or wrong."
How fitting, he'd be proud.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/19/2003 11:25 Comments ||
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Based on the description of where the dhow was intercepted, I infer that the dhow was coming from Iran. Expect to hear teeth gnashing soon from Tehran.
I don't believe I have ever seen a dhow that needed more than a two man crew. Kind of conspicuous. I would check the crews fingerprints against what was found in Tora Bora. As the article implies, the real cargo was was probably the passengers.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
12/19/2003 11:42 Comments ||
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One of the lesser mentioned distinctions between the Lefts comparison of Iraq to Viet Nam is that in Nam, this cargo would have been siezed, but never make it to the "evidence room"... And the Grey Ponytails in Academia know full well the cargo would have gone "up in smoke" in their day, to the sounds of "Innagoddadividababy"... instead these US soldiers might get to celebrate with some near beer.
A MP with balls, and sheâs female:
A Labour MP yesterday sparked a furious row by using parliamentary privilege to claim that the Muslim Association of Britain, which helped to organise this yearâs anti-war marches, supports terrorism. In a Commons speech, which is protected from libel proceedings, Louise Ellman accused the associationâs senior spokesman of inciting racial hatred against British Jews after he allegedly voiced strong support for Palestinian suicide bombers. By pointing this out, the left will accuse her of "hate speech". Azzam Tamimi, a Palestinian academic who is one of the associationâs main faces, last night challenged Ms Ellman to repeat her remarks outside the Commons. "She is abusing parliament," he said. His remarks came after Ms Ellman declared it was time for the "spotlight to fall" on Dr Tamimi because of his role in "preaching hatred against Jews". Cockroaches hate lights.
To support her case, Ms Ellman cited a series of speeches in which Dr Tamimi, who describes himself as a "sympathiser and supporter" of the militant Palestinian group Hamas, attacked Israel and supported suicide bombers. Bet sheâs got transcripts.
At a conference in South Africa last year, Dr Tamimi allegedly said: "Do not call them suicide bombers, call them Shuhada [martyrs]. They [Israelis] have guns, we have human bombs. We love death, they love life." Singing the Palestinian National Anthem, was he?
Dr Tamimi was also quoted by Ms Ellman as saying:
· "For us Muslim martyrdom is not the end of things but the beginning of the most wonderful of things."
· Israel would be destroyed and replaced by an Islamic state. At that point, he allegedly told a conference in Vienna, Jews should "sail on the sea in ships back to where they came from and all drown in it".
· At a Palestinian Solidarity rally at Westminster last year, Dr Tamimi allegedly said: "Listen, Israel and Jews around the world, unless you change there is no future for you."
Ms Ellman, the MP for Liverpool Riverside, told the Commons that the Muslim Association of Britain should disown Dr Tamimi. "This is not a man of peace," she said. "He and his arguments incite hatred against Jews. Messages put out by this association and other Islamist groups, together with the far right, the traditional anti-semites, incite growing violence against Jews in the UK." Dr Tamimi reacted angrily to Ms Ellmanâs speech. "I challenge her to say these things outside parliament and I will take her to court," he said. "She is abusing parliament, the British system." But he declined to disassociate himself from the quotes attributed to him. He said: "I am an open book. My lectures are open and are on the net. I have nothing to be ashamed of." So he admits saying it, heâs just upset she called him on it. Go ahead, Louise, say them again and let him try suing you, it should be fun.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/19/2003 11:02:11 AM ||
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No, you don't want to encourage her to attract a hate-speech lawsuit...the EUros can't defend themselves against terrorists, but they have some fierce laws protecting themselves from good ideas.
#5
Azzam really doesn't like getting bitch-slapped by a woman in public; loss of face and all that. This was most enjoyable.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/19/2003 19:33 Comments ||
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I for one am prepared to repeat Ms Ellman's sentiments outside parliment.Dr Tamimi is by his own admission an apologist for suicide bombing and an active supporter of a terrorist organisation - Hamas - who's stated aim is the total destruction of the state of Israel. According to Ms Ellman - and I have no reason to doubt her - he has been heavily involved at the heart of it's publicity machine justifying it's terror tactics of blowing innocent people to bits. Oh but I forgot the're not innocent the're Jewish. His vile pronouncements are probably in breach of both our race hate and new terrorism laws and as such he ought to be prosecuted. I doubt if he will though as David Blunkett seems to cut a lot of slack to Islamic extremists like Tamimi.It also really makes me sick that Tamimi and his ilk are so quick to threaten legal action against anybody that simply point out his transparent hatred of Jews and justification of the killing of the innocent for what they are, racism and terrorism. As far as I'm concerned the legal system should be there to protect us from people like Tamimi not the other way around. Finally I'd like to point out that suicide bombing / the act of killing as many innocent people as possible may be ok as far as Islam teaching is concerned but it most certainly is not in the civilised world where he currently resides. I can only wish that he would trundle of to Israel where I'm sure he would be greeted by what he deserves - a missile from an Israeli helicopter gun-ship.
Posted by: Mark Hart ||
12/22/2003 6:04 Comments ||
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From the âI dont think we could make this up if we triedâ department. Fred, feel free to delete as off-topic if needed.
A French court has ordered the removal of a stuffed toy called "Nazo le Skizo" from stores around the country because it is offensive then sad then happy then... to schizophrenics. The toy, a stuffed monkey with a big nose, goes through "three mood changes" in voice and character. Two organisations representing patients with mental health problems had filed a lawsuit against the company, a firm called Ouaps. A total of 18,000 of the 30 euro toys have already been manufactured, and are on sale in 500 stores. In addition to a ban on sale and further production of the toys, Ouaps was ordered to pay 1,500 euros in compensation to the two organisations, Unafam and FNAP-PSY. The company was also ordered to pay 750 euros to a third group, Ariane, and an individual who had asked to be affiliated to the lawsuit. Ouaps said it had not intended to cause offence, and said the toyâs name was derived from a monkey in one of the Tintin comic-strip albums. The packaging, however, described the monkey as "skizo [schizzo], like Yves Lecoq," a popular French mimic.
#3
Being a significantly warped individual, I am reminded by this thread of one of the worst monkey movies of all time: Alakazam the Great - a 1961 feature length amine cartoon that starred the voices of Frankie Avalon and Jonathan Winters.
For anyone who enjoys Mystery Science Theatre type entertainment here is a link to the a site that is a tribute to The Golden Turkey Awards.
I also stummbled across a site dedicated to Cult Movies.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
12/19/2003 17:53 Comments ||
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Lo these many years ago when I worked for the City & County of San Francisco, there was an advisory council to the Mental Health Division of the Public Health Department made up of "users of mental health services". Quite literally, the inmates were in charge of the asylum. .... of course everyone was smoking dope then.......
An anti-terrorism court has charged a Turk with an offense amounting to treason after authorities said he acted as a link between al Qaeda and suicide bombers who killed 62 people in Istanbul last month. Charged him already, that was fast. Adnan Ersoz, who was detained on Monday, is suspected to have been involved in the planning of the four truck bombings after meeting with Osama bin Laden, an intelligence official said Friday. Ersoz confessed that he underwent explosives training in al Qaeda camps in Afghanistan in 2001 and 2002, the intelligence official said. Ersoz told a court Friday that he went to Afghanistan in 1997, admitted to receiving military training there, and met with bin Laden in 2001, but denied advanced knowledge of the attacks, the semiofficial Anatolia news agency reported. So he met Binny in 2001, not after Tora Bora.
He also denied to the court that he had received orders from bin Laden to carry out the attacks, Anatolia reported. "Wasnât me, musta bin one of those other mugs."
The State Security Court in Istanbul charged Ersoz with attempting to overthrow Turkeyâs "constitutional order by force," Anatolia reported. The offense amounts to treason and is punishable by life in prison. No trial date has been set. Police said in a written statement that the man was captured on Monday as he entered the country at Istanbulâs airport. The statement did not say where he was coming from or why he traveled to Istanbul. Anatolia said he came from Iran. Thereâs Iran again.
Ersoz told the court that he had come to Turkey because he wanted to take advantage of a government amnesty that benefits those who give information about illegal organizations to authorities, Anatolia said. He admitted he knew several of the suspects in the bombings, but denied any links to them, the agency reported. "I know them, sure, but weâre not close."
The police statement did not mention Ersoz by name, but Anatolia identified him as Ersoz, quoting police sources. The police statement said the man told interrogators that "a local structure has been established in Turkey" linked to "an international terrorist organization." Police also said the man said he lived abroad "and has been maintaining the link between this structure and the terrorist organization." So he admits to being the link between al-Qaeda and the Turkish cells and heâs based "abroad". If he flew in from Iran (and that would be easy to trace), then he could be the smoking gun showing al-Q higher ups are running ops out of Iran, not being "detained".
The police statement did not name the "international terrorist organization," but intelligence officials said the statement was referring to al Qaeda. Ersoz was believed to be a senior member of local al Qaeda cells. Sounds like he was higher up than that.
"He is one of the top guys who met with bin Laden and received his blessing for the attacks," the intelligence official said. Maybe bin Laden, the son? Heâs supposed to be in Iran.
It was not immediately possible to explain the discrepancy between Ersozâs earlier testimony and his later account to the court. Earlier reports were most likely rumor.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/19/2003 2:08:37 PM ||
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Hat tip: Drudge. Edited for brevity.
Beagle 2 has successfully separated from its "mothership" for the final leg of the journey to Mars. Mike McKay, flight operations director at the European Space Operations Centre (Esoc) at Darmstadt, Germany, confirmed the separation just after 1110 GMT. The tiny probe will now glide the last three million kilometres to the Red Planet alone; silent, powerless and in hibernation mode. The lander is expected to touch down on Mars on Christmas Day, to search for signs of life, past or present. After flying solo for almost six days, the lander should reach the edge of the Martian atmosphere in the early hours of Christmas Day. It will plunge towards the crater of Isidis Planitia slowed by a heat-resistant shield and parachutes, and cushioned by airbags. Meanwhile, Mars Express will fire its rockets to blast itself into orbit around the Red Planet. It will then begin its lifeâs work - searching for water, ice and key chemicals buried under the Martian surface. ...and donât forget oil! Itâs all about oil!
Oh, sorry, thatâs only for American ventures.
Posted by: Dar ||
12/19/2003 11:26:48 AM ||
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Better let the Beagle know not to mess with any of our stuff, else we'll fire up the Sojourner again and let the world see the carbon tipped rotary saw.
EFL:
Russia agreed on Thursday to negotiate debt relief for Iraq, reversing course after months of refusing to forgive any of the $8 billion in obligations run up by deposed president Saddam Husseinâs government. The shift brings Russia in line with other European powers. President Vladimir Putin told the U.S. special envoy, James A. Baker III, that he was prepared to discuss ways to restructure the Iraqi debt within the framework of the Paris Club, an international organization of creditor nations, as France and Germany agreed earlier in the week. Three for three, wonder just what was in Bakerâs briefcase.
The move came a week after Putinâs defense minister rejected any discussion of debt relief for Iraq, which owes more money to Russia than to any other European nation. The results of Bakerâs European trip heartened Bush administration officials because the United States is now working together with all three major opponents of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq on a major aspect of its reconstruction. During a 11/2-hour meeting at the Kremlin, Putin made no specific commitments about how much debt might be erased, officials said, nor was there any public agreement tying debt relief to access for Russian companies to $18.6 billion in U.S.-funded reconstruction contracts in Iraq. The Pentagon last week ruled out giving lead contracts to companies from Russia, Germany, France or other opponents of the war. But members of the U.S. delegation here suggested that countries helping to relieve Iraqâs estimated $120 billion international debt could be looked on with more favor. "If other countries are willing to join the effort in Iraq, conditions can change," said Sean McCormack, a National Security Council spokesman traveling with Baker. If you want to sit at the table, you have to ante up.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/19/2003 10:33:48 AM ||
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The negotiations were inevitable. If Iraq had no plans to join the WTO and use the world bank, they could have just refused to honor the debt altogether. As long as the US was willing to buy oil and products from Iraq, sanctions or embargoes would have been ineffective.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
12/19/2003 11:51 Comments ||
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Love it. The nits at Kevin Drum's left-liberal Calpundit site had been whining about how the denying of contracts to the Weasels was a terrible, stupid move that, being announced in advance of Baker's visit, would cause the visit to fail horribly. Heh-heh, Baker is 3 for 3 with no visible, public concession by us. Bush ends up with the best possible outcome -- the Weasels agree that debt relief has to be done, and he enforces the idea that if you oppose us, you don't share the contracts afterwards.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/19/2003 12:20 Comments ||
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#3
"wonder just what was in Bakerâs briefcase."
Hope it wasnt a promise of a weasel veto on political developments in Iraq.
Turkish police say they are holding a key suspect with alleged links to international terrorism over last monthâs bomb attacks in Istanbul. Press reports name him as Adnan Ersoz and say he is one of the leaders of a cell which planned the suicide attacks. They also allege that Mr Ersoz met al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden to receive instructions about the bombings. Ah, one of the guys who says he met Binny.
A written statement by the Turkish police says that the suspect was captured on Monday as he tried to enter Turkey. Coming back, was he? Getting ready for a new attack, or did he forget his toothbrush.
It says he told interrogators that a local structure had been established with links to "an international terrorist organisation". Guess who?
It adds that the suspect said this international organisation provided military and political training abroad, as well as money to carry out the attacks. The statement said the suspect was the link-man with the organisation. A controller, wonderful. Break out the good truncheons.
The police did not mention any names, and declined to confirm media reports identifying the man as Adnan Ersoz. I donât recall his name popping up before.
The Anatolia news agency said Mr Ersoz was taken to the State Security court on Friday for interrogations. Olympic gold medal winning truncheon team.
The mass-circulation Hurriyet daily claimed that Mr Ersoz was trained in al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan and received the order for the four bombings directly from Osama Bin Laden. Directly, you say? Weâll need date, time and GPS locations.
Several media reports claim that Mr Ersoz confirmed that the cellâs first target was a Turkish military base used by the US in southern Turkey, but that tight security there led to the choice of softer targets. Looks like they have confirmation from several sources.
Turkish police have so far detained about 30 people in connection with the suicide attacks. They include one of the alleged bomb makers, but three men identified by the media as co-leaders of the local cell, together with Adnan Ersoz, are believed to be abroad. Last we heard, they had skipped to Iran.
Additional material from Turkish press news:
Istanbul Anti-Terrorism office said on Friday that one person who was claimed to provide the connection between an international terrorist organization and the structure formed in Turkey in connection with that organization was captured. Recalling that operational studies started following the four bomb attacks in Istanbul, Istanbul Anti-Terrorism office said that ââa member of the terrorist organization whose connection with the captured persons was detained when he entered the country by airway on December 15, 2003. Theyâve had him since Monday, excellent.
In his interrogation, the captured person said that a structure was formed in Turkey in connection with an international terrorist organization, he was abroad to provide the connection between that structure and the terrorist organization. The persons who were within that structure received military and political training by that terrorist organization abroad and the activities were financed by the international terrorist organization, he noted.ââ Singing like a bird.
IMAM WHO TAKES ORDERS FROM LADEN CAPTURED
Adnan Ersoz, one of people who plotted Istanbul bomb attacks, was captured. It was stated that Ersoz was trained in Al Qaida camps and personally received instruction for international terrorist Osama Bin Laden to ââbombââ mentioned sites. Ersoz, one of members of organization named ââImamsââ is being interrogated for three days. Styling themselves "Imams", how holy.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/19/2003 9:23:57 AM ||
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Well...if he is telling the truth about Binny..this will certainly be a big boost to finding him.
I've always been of the mindset that Binny would not be able to stay away from the lime-light so long and I still think that's true. But if he is alive...we'll find him now.
#2
More from AP: Adnan Ersoz, who was captured Monday in Istanbul, confessed that he underwent explosives training in al-Qaida camps in Afghanistan in 2001 and 2002, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Police said in a statement a man was seized as he entered the country upon his arrival by plane. They did not identify the man or give details but said they had been hunting him. The semiofficial Anatolia news agency also quoted police sources as saying that Ersoz was the suspect. The police statement said the man told interrogators that "a local structure has been established in Turkey in link to an international terrorist organization." Intelligence officials said the statement was referring to al-Qaida. "He is one of the top guys who met with bin Laden and received his blessing for the attacks," the intelligence official said.
Intelligence officials already have named Habip Aktas and Ibrahim Kus as two conspirators who met with bin Laden in 2002 and received his consent and approval to stage terrorist attacks in Turkey. It was not clear if Ersoz participated that meeting or met separately with bin Laden, the official said.
Ersoz was expected to be charged with involvement in the bombings later Friday. The official said that Ersoz was believed to be a messenger between the al-Qaida and the Turkish militants. Aktas and Kus are still at large. The intelligence official identified another key but lower ranking suspect as Gokhan Bac, who also was at large. Bac was suspected of preparing the bomb with another captured militant, Fevzi Yitiz. Ersoz was captured in Istanbul only one week after Turkish forces arrested Yitiz after he sneaked into Turkey from Iran. Ersoz's name was first learned by the police during the interrogation of another key suspect Yusuf Polat, captured earlier. In his interrogation, Ersoz allegedly confirmed that their first target was a Turkish military base used by the United States in southern Turkey, but militants stymied by tight security bombed two synagogues on Nov. 15 and the British Consulate and a London-based bank in Istanbul only five days later. The daily newspaper Hurriyet also reported Friday that Ersoz has said the militants have been preparing for the attacks for about two years.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/19/2003 9:54 Comments ||
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Another tidbit: NTV said Ersoz was among four ringleaders of the group behind the blasts, which it called the Union of Imams. It said about 500 members of this little-known group were at large.
NTV said the authorities had drawn up a list of 12 radical Islamist groups, most of them very small, believed to be active in Turkey, including the Union of Imams and IBDA-C.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/19/2003 10:04 Comments ||
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#4
Gee, I didn't know Iman's had a Union. Wonder if we can get them all to strike. Would we have to ululate silently?
#5
How come we haven't heard from Murat recently on this? Oh that's right, because he was wrong about the Kurds being behind it. I still say Turkey needs to take the Syria connection more seriously.
#7
...is being interrogated for three days
Does that mean "for three days now," or, "for the next three days," or what? A mistranslation, no doubt, but an amusing image nonetheless. Heh.
Presidential hopeful Gen. Wesley Clark testified that Slobodan Milosevic knew in advance about the 1995 massacre of thousands of Bosnian Muslims. Clarkâs testimony gave U.N. prosecutors the most direct evidence yet linking the former Yugoslav leader to the genocide. The retired American general testified as a prosecution witness in closed sessions at the U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague on Monday and Tuesday. I donât want him as president but Iâm pleased heâs doing this.
The testimony was made public after being reviewed by State Department lawyers, who the Bush administration said did not request any changes. Tribunal officials said one segment of the court hearings was not included, but it was not related to Clarkâs testimony. Prosecution spokeswoman Florence Hartmann said Clarkâs testimony was ``extremely important for us,ââ and experts agreed it was the most direct evidence so far indicating Milosevic had advance knowledge of the intention to kill Muslim captives at the U.N.-protected zone at Srebrenica. Clark gave an authoritative account of his encounters with Milosevic over 3 years of Balkan wars. He avoided arguments despite provocation from Milosevic, who suggested Clark left his NATO command early because of character problems and was taking campaign contributions from Albanian separatists in Kosovo for his Democratic presidential nomination bid. Oh sure, the Albanians are flush with money, everyone knows that. Look at the paradise theyâve built on the Adriatic.
The strongest evidence came in Clarkâs recollection of a conversation with Milosevic in Belgrade one month after the Srebrenica massacre. Clark was part of a U.S. delegation negotiating a Bosnian peace plan and Milosevic, then president of Serbia, said he could speak on behalf of the Bosnian Serbs. ``I approached President Milosevic as he was standing there in a casual setting outside the formal meeting, and I was still wrestling with the idea as to how it is that Milosevic could maintain that he had the authority and the power to deliver the (Bosnian) Serb compliance with the agreement,ââ Clark said. Say what you will, Wesley isnât but so slow on the uptake.
``I said, âMr. President, you say you have so much influence over the Bosnian Serbs, but how is it then, if you have such influence, that you allowed Gen. Mladic to kill all those people in Srebrenica?â
``And Milosevic looked at me and he paused for a moment. He then said, âWell, Gen. Clark,â he said, âI warned Mladic not to do this, but he didnât listen to me.âââ
Jigâs up, Slobo!
Clark insisted it had been clear that Milosevic ``did know this in advance, and he was walking the fine line between saying he was powerful enough, influential enough to have known it, but trying to excuse from himself the responsibility for having done it.ââ Yep, standard wiggle room for thugs and dictators.
The testimony comes at a critical time for prosecutors who have just 15 days left to wind up their case and yield the floor for Milosevic to present his defense. The trial adjourned Wednesday and resumes Jan. 13 after a Christmas recess. Ah, the speedy wheels of European international justice! Judith Armatta of the Washington-based Coalition for International Justice said Clarkâs evidence was the hardest yet tying Milosevic to Srebrenica, but it fell short of proving his guilt beyond reasonable doubt. ``It is important evidence, but it is quite a step away from what they need,ââ Armatta said. ``He is accused of genocide and complicity in genocide. That is very hard to prove. They need to show that Milosevic shared the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a specific group of people.ââ While judges could find Clarkâs comments incriminating, they could also work in favor of the defense. They could interpret the remark to mean Milosevic tried to prevent a slaughter of Muslim civilians, and had no power over the Bosnian Serbs who committed the murders. Only if they had the common sense of lima beans, but this is the international court weâre talking about.
During cross-examination, Milosevic denied the conversation ever happened. No kidding.
``Gen. Clark, this is a blatant lie,ââ Milosevic said. ``First and foremost because we did not talk about Srebrenica at all, and secondly because I, throughout this time, through all of those years, I never issued a single order to Gen. Mladic, or was I in a position to issue him an order.ââ "I was merely his sugar daddy and his father confessor! He was like a son to me, but I could never order him about, the wastrel!"
Milosevic said to Clark, ``I, for example, believe firmly until the present day that Gen. Mladic did not order any execution of people in Srebrenica. I believe that this was done by a group of mercenaries.ââ Damn, them Esquimoux get around, donât they!
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/19/2003 12:58:54 AM ||
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So, how much credit are we getting from 'islam', moderate or otherwise, for going to the mat for them in Bosnia?
Posted by: Rafael ||
12/19/2003 1:45 Comments ||
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4thInfVet, The Bosnian Muslims are true moderates, who love to drink and dance, and thus are considered heretical by the wahabbis. They have a unique, westernized architecture that Wahabbi "missionaries" from Saudia have vandalized. Their mosques look more like Cathedrals, so the Wahabbis demand that they be torn down and rebuilt in the Saudi Arabian style.
I regret I don't have the link, but the religious leader of the Bosnian Muslims praised the United States and Bill Clinton to high heaven for coming to their aid, reminding the reporter that the United States didn't have to come and spend that kind of money and risk the lives of their sons and daughters for strangers. He called the United States "The Crown of the World". That, at the end of the age, when Allah judges the world, If He demanded if any nation ever did anything righteous, that he (the leader) would nominate the United States of America.
Ohhh, they were grateful all right. Very grateful. THEN. Lord knows how they are now, or if that guy still draws breath to bear witness.
#4
whoa..whoa..whoa. What am I missing here? Clarkâs testimony gave U.N. prosecutors the most direct evidence yet linking the former Yugoslav leader to the genocide
Prosecution spokeswoman Florence Hartmann said Clarkâs testimony was ``extremely important for us,ââ and experts agreed it was the most direct evidence so far indicating Milosevic had advance knowledge of the intention to kill Muslim captives at the U.N.-protected zone at Srebrenica.
That's it????? That's the best they got? Mr. Vain/Glorious' statement? Thousands raped and buried in mass graves and this is THE BEST THEY CAN COME UP WITH????? Somebody fire the prosecutor! This is outright pathetic. Great job of investigating guys.
He avoided arguments despite provocation from Milosevic, who suggested Clark left his NATO command early because of character problems and was taking campaign contributions from Albanian separatists in Kosovo for his Democratic presidential nomination bid
Regardless of whether it is true or not, this would have been the case if Clark wasn't such a useful tool for the UN. You can picture the headline at the NYT. The he-said/he-said advantage definitely would have gone to Milosevic.
Unfortunately for Milosevic, the UN and Euroweenies can all see the advantage of boosting Clark's stature right now . Tough luck there, Milosevic, looks like you came up against the one US General they intend to maintain as their respected patsy.
What a world we live in. Milosevic was the leader and thus responsible for the slaughter and rape of millions. I guess it's just another ho-hum these days. Can't prove it, so let's give the guy an honorary citizenship in Frace.
The UN is so lame! This is an outrage...but sadly, everything the UN does is an outrage...we've just become immune to it.
#7
Um, no. Any statements by a defendant are by definition not hearsay. Whether they are relevant evidence, or are evidence worthy of weight, is another question.
Posted by: Nick ||
12/19/2003 10:05 Comments ||
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"The defendant stated to me that..." is direct evidence. "The defendant's cousin stated that the defendant told him..." is hearsay.
East Germany's last communist leader, Egon Krenz, who was jailed for the state's shoot-to-kill policy against people who tried to flee to the West, has won early release after nearly four years in prison. Krenz, 66, had been serving a six-and-a-half-year term since January 2000 for his responsibility in the deaths of four dissidents who attempted to breach the Iron Curtain. "It is not an amnesty and not a pardon, we didn't want that," his attorney Robert Unger said. Krenz consistently claimed that he had been a victim of "victors' justice" in reunified Germany and was convicted as a stand-in for the East German regime as a whole.
That kinda seems the case to me. TGA may have a different opinion. I thought EGer went under because Egon was human enough not to roll over the protesters with tanks, like Honecker would have done. Not a great man, but not evil.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/19/2003 00:08 ||
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Wasn't Egon Krenz one of the Ghostbusters?
Posted by: Pete Stanley ||
12/19/2003 2:22 Comments ||
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Image of editorial cartoon, timely a decade-odd back: Outline map of Germany (E and W) with Wall between. To the west, crowded with heads. To the east, emptiness except ladders laid up against the Wall. Comment rising:
Well, we achieved German reunification, but not quite the way we intended.
But the Germans are still wrestling with this, socially and economically, and will for another generation or so. Don't let 'em kid you.
#3
I kinda disagree, Fred. Egon wasn't "human" enough (the Stasi had the concentration camps already set up), he was just overwhelmed and Gorbachev had made it very clear that the Soviets would provide no help.
If they wanted to crush the protesters they missed the right time anyway. Once you have one million in Leipzig tanks won't help you anymore.
Krenz was not human, he was just clueless. Oh well, who cares.
He bears responsibility for the people killed at the Iron Curtain but at that time the guys who controlled everything were the Soviets. Krenz (and Honecker) would not have sneezed without Soviet permission.
Krenz has tried to glorify himself by saying that he didn't want to kill thousands. How pathetic is that?
Especially if the thousands would probably have killed him in the end. After violent repression (without Soviet backup) East Germans could very well have "pulled a Ceausescu" on Krenz and Honecker.
#4
TGA, what is your take on why there was massive looting after the fall of Baghdad but only isolated assasination of Baathists? I understand that there were plenty of assinations in Basra after Kuwait was liberated.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
12/19/2003 14:32 Comments ||
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I can only guess: But the fact is that so many ministeries were stormed makes me suspicious. I guess lots of Baathists used (or even instigated) lootings to burn as many documents as possible. The Stasi "stormed" the building in Normannenstrasse along with the protestors and while the protestors tore apart any paper the Stasi destroyed what was really important. They knew where to look for it. Many armoured safes were opened without violence.
And I suppose that despite the tumbling of statues many Baghdadis weren't so sure about the end of the Baathist regime. And compared to Basra Baghdadis lived rather ok with the Baathists while people in Basra hated them with passion.
In Basra the Baathists were the oppressors from outside, in Baghdad the front was less defined. From what I heard scores are being settled in Baghdad, too, and quite a few robberies and murders are in fact assassinations.
Authorities in Europe have shut down a network that recruited at least 200 Islamic militants to carry out attacks on U.S.-led forces in Iraq. The volunteers were drawn from Muslim youths living on the fringes of society in Western Europe, with loose connections to Osama bin Ladenâs al-Qaida and Ansar al-Islam, a militant group in northern Iraq. Thatâd be al-Tawhid, which has the same loose ties to al-Qaeda that I have to my mom ...
One recruit from Italy may have been involved in a rocket attack on the Al-Rasheed Hotel in Baghdad in October, when the U.S. assistant defense secretary, Paul Wolfowitz, was staying there, officials told AP. There are also suspicions that some of the Muslim militants have been involved in suicide attacks in Iraq, although there was no hard evidence, one senior Italian official involved in the investigation told AP. An intelligence report, for example, said recruits from Europe may have been involved in the August bombing of the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad that killed 22 people, including the top U.N. envoy, Sergio Vieira de Mello, officials said. Italian investigators said they believe they shut down the recruiting network in Western Europe with a dozen recent arrests of the ringleader, his aides and others in Italy and Germany who played peripheral roles. Western European officials canât rule out that the operation moved east, however, sending volunteers to the Middle East from Poland, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria, the senior Italian official told AP. The intercepts from the Bad Guys indicate that they have ...
Authorities identified the key suspect as Abderrazak Mahdjoub, a 30-year-old Algerian. He was arrested Nov. 28 in Hamburg, Germany â the same day the Italians arrested two North Africans in Milan. Italian authorities on Wednesday formally asked for Mahdjoubâs extradition. Two suspects remain at large: a Tunisian woman, Betinwaa Farida Ben Bechir, and an Iraqi man, Muhamad Majid, also known as Mullah Fouad, Milan anti-terror police said. The woman is believed to have returned to Tunisia and the Iraqi man is believed to have fled to Syria. All the suspects were charged with "association with the aim of international terrorism" â a charge introduced in Italy after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. They are believed to have provided false passports and money for recruits. Italian investigators said the volunteers were mainly recruited in Italy, Germany and Britain, and they were mainly Tunisians and Algerians.
Investigators told AP they believe Syria is one of the points of entry into Iraq. The cell furnished false travel documents, enabling the volunteers to move across Europe. "We are talking about no fewer than 200 people, 70 of them from Italy," the top Italian official said. August Hanning, head of Germanyâs foreign spy agency, has cited evidence that Islamic extremists have left Britain, Bosnia and Germany to fight in Iraq. "We know of holy warriors who have gone to Iraq to fight the âinfidels,â" Hanning told reporters last month. He refused to give details, but said the number was "relatively small."
Mahdjoub, the Algerian held in Germany, apparently tried to get into Iraq in March along with four others from Germany but was detained in Syria. They returned to Germany, according to German investigators who have been tracking his movements since the start of the year. "If he said, `Iâm going to Iraq to kill nonbelievers,â we would have arrested him, but if he says heâs going to support his brothers, we can do nothing," said Heino Vahldieck, head of the Hamburg office in charge of tracking extremists. Another German official, Manfred Murck, told AP there are those "who are willing to take an active role in the Iraq conflict, whatever that means."
Think hard now, Manfred...
"I donât know whether they wanted to fight by themselves by shooting or bombing," Murck said. He added, "As far as I know from the Italian investigation, they think he (Mahdjoub) took an active role in recruiting and looking for papers, more of a logistical role." Officials offered no hard evidence that Islamic recruiters have moved east, but there have been unsubstantiated reports of Islamic fighters training in Bosnia. Now thereâs gratitude for you ...
In October, Polish authorities arrested an Algerian terrorist suspect who was carrying a British passport when he was stopped at Krakowâs airport. Authorities were looking for possible contacts in Poland while seeking details from foreign intelligence services.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/19/2003 12:06:09 AM ||
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Good news, but this is more of a single cell rather than a 'network'. The transcripts posted here last week of the phone taps on these guys show that there are plenty of more people to round up across Europe
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
12/19/2003 4:35 Comments ||
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Much back pedaling by the website set up to look like Canadians were coming out in force for Clark.
CanadaForClark.com does not represent the opinions of an organization, or an entire country. CFC is a personal blog expressing the opinion of one individual, and anyone that may choose to agree with him or her!
1) Nothing we have done is illegal (it was moveon.orgâs past policy to accept international donations, not ours), and it is doubtful that our link has led to a single donation,
2) Wesley Clark and his campaign have absolutely nothing to do with this website, and
3) Canada is not a Communist nation.
heh, heh.... Who's we? This one backfired under a bright light. Someone wants to put Clark up front and center, but I seriously doubt he is backed by even small numbers of lefties. I think someone in DNC thinks that Clark is useful..but Iâm not sure exactly why. While this could be just one manâs blog, it seems a bit odd for a Canadian individual to take the time to set this up when he canât even vote in the US. Odd.
Posted by: B ||
12/19/2003 1:20:43 PM ||
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I think someone in DNC thinks that Clark is useful..
That would be Terry McAuliffe / the Clintons, who effectively control the DNC until Dean or whoever the Donk nomination 'selects', not elects, and cleans house.
I'd speculate even money odds on the lone gunman blogger theory or someone (insert conspiracy theory here) paid him to do it, cash and carry.
#2
Yeah. One guy with his pants around his ankles.
Posted by: Scott ||
12/19/2003 14:01 Comments ||
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make that one, lone, schizophrenic, gender confused guy with his pants around his/her ankles.
In light of his attempts to hide his identity behind "him or her", and the addition of "we" and "our link" to spread any incoming blame, I'm going with the cash and carry angle. Conspiracy theories are much more fun.
It's all just so Clintonian, is it not? The confused pronouns and the penchant for using foreign campaign contributions.
Posted by: B ||
12/19/2003 14:12 Comments ||
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I have never met a Canadian that would want someone like Clark in charge in the US. The conservatives would be satisfied with Bush's track record. The liberal Canadians would be scared of his uniform and might think Dean was too right wing.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
12/19/2003 22:18 Comments ||
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Maybe it's Ashleigh Bamfield's blog.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
12/19/2003 22:20 Comments ||
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#6
Unlike Mexicans, when did Canadians start voting in American elections?
Posted by: ed ||
12/20/2003 15:33 Comments ||
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From Asia Times, so keep salt at the handy, althbough personally, I believe this isnât far off the mark.
Something went horribly wrong when, moments after the generalâs motorcade passed over a bridge, a powerful bomb exploded - initially estimated to contain 550 pounds of explosives - and badly damaged the structure of the bridge, but did not harm anyone. Immediately after the blast, the governmentâs Press Information Department sprang into action, running from one television channel to the other and from one newspaper office to the other trying to convince the staff that the "assassination attempt" was even bigger news than the arrest of Saddam Hussein, so the story should not be downplayed.
Poor timing, that. If Perv had it set up to worry us Merkins or to justify an internal crackdown, he picked the wrong day. If the jihadis are actually responsible, they picked the wrong day for their coup.
And in the days since the incident, Inter-Services Public Relations and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) have been only too willing to call journalists to their offices for briefings, during which they are urged to portray Pakistan as a country "under siege by extremists" and told that a "new monster of extremism" is about to rise. Not everyone, though, is as quick to make such judgments. A source assigned to a "high strategic position" spoke to Asia Times Online on condition of anonymity, and painted a rather different picture. He confirmed that a number of attempts had already been made on Musharrafâs life as a result of his post-September 11 policies in which he abandoned support of the Taliban and threw in Pakistanâs lot with the United States in its "war on terrorism" and the hunt for Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda fugitives in Pakistan. Indeed, said the source, at least five attempts have been made on Musharrafâs life since he came to power in a bloodless coup in 1999, of which three came from within the army. All of the attempts were ill-planned and the suspects quickly rounded up.
Have any actually been hanged? I'd be much more of a believer if they were made taller...
For his trips between the capital Islamabad and nearby Rawalpindi, where army headquarters and Musharrafâs military residence are housed, the general uses only the ring road, which bypasses busier urban areas. Before the presidentâs motorcade sets out, security personnel are deployed along the whole route to check for any suspicious persons or vehicles, and then all people and vehicles are cleared from the route. And bridges receive special security attention - using the latest equipment - as they are obvious places for bombs to be planted. As a further security measure, Musharraf employs several identical convoys, which speed off at slightly different times. Musharraf himself only decides at the last minute in which one he will ride. Helicopters are also used to keep a close eye on the route. Based on this information, the security source who spoke to Asia Times Online is adamant that the latest "assassination" attempt was in fact carefully stage-managed by Musharrafâs close staff - and at his instigation.
As the year 2003 ran its course, the United States became more convinced that as far as Pakistan was concerned, al-Qaeda no longer remained a threat of any consequence as its major lines of communication had been destroyed, and only a few operators were left, and they were on the run anyway. As a result, the US changed its priorities, but unlike in the past, Musharraf was dictated to rather than consulted, and Pakistanâs strategic interests in Afghanistan and India, as well as Musharrafâs political interests at home, were largely ignored. Musharraf was warned in no uncertain terms of the ISIâs activities in the Pakistani tribal belt, where it was active in aiding the regrouping of the Taliban for their guerrilla war in Afghanistan. A US diplomat in Pakistan also met with Musharraf and on behalf of Washington produced video footage and precise locations of where the ISI was giving Afghans military training to wage jihad against the Afghan administration of Hamid Karzai and US-led troops in that country. As a result of this, an extensive joint US-Pakistan operation was conducted in the tribal areas, but it ended with no significant success as it appeared that the suspects were tipped off in advance by the Pakistan side. Mahmud the Weasel strikes again
At the same time, Musharraf was given evidence of the ISIâs activities in the Kashmir region, as a result of which he was forced to close down forward sections of the army in Pakistan-administered Kashmir that had been lending support to militants for cross-border raids into Indian Kashmir. And a few weeks ago, Musharraf was given another warning - with complete details provided - of ISI-Taliban (or pro-resistance) links, and asked to order another operation in the tribal areas. This pressure from the US is compounded by opposition from the hardline Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), an alliance of six religious parties that won unprecedented representation in parliament in elections last year. In its latest action, the MMA launched "Remove Musharraf" protest marches on Thursday against Musharrafâs U-turn on Kashmir, the armyâs intervention in the tribal areas, and his wearing the two caps of president and chief of army staff.
Other developments are also of concern to Musharraf:
About a week before his death earlier this month, MMA president Maulana Shah Ahmed Noorani attended a luncheon meeting at the US vice-consulâs residence in Karachi, at which some other diplomats from Islamabad were also present. Noorani apparently assured that the MMA did not have any international agenda, and that its campaign in the country was in the cause of democracy. US diplomats in turn stated that the US wanted to see more democracy in Pakistan.
US intelligence officials were initially given a free hand in Pakistan to track down al-Qaeda members. But now they are directly involved with domestic politicians, and last week US Federal Bureau of Investigation agents and their Pakistani counterparts apprehended a former top official of Pakistanâs atomic installation at Kahota Research Laboratories. They were apparently interrogated over possible involvement in selling nuclear material to another country.
Recently, Musharraf was given a report on a German, Italian, French, British and US intelligence "cartel" that has been established to protect the strategic interests of the respective countries in Afghanistan as their troops are heavily threatened by Taliban attacks. Diplomats of these countries apparently visited places like Quetta on the border area and spoke to people there. The move is seen in Islamabad as nothing short of espionage.
Given these developments, the Asia Times Online source argues that it was fair time to pass on the message to Washington that extremists are rampant once again in the country because of interfering US policies. Musharraf "narrowly escaped" this attempt, but perhaps he will not be so lucky the next
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
12/19/2003 4:22:12 AM ||
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Bah. It's either ignore these posts, or keep "Time to thin the crop, Perv" on the clipboard at all times.
#2
US intelligence officials were initially given a free hand in Pakistan to track down al-Qaeda members. But now they are directly involved with domestic politicians
The ISI and the Taliban are hand in glove. Anything we do in Pakland will anger one faction or another. Yes, we're "directly involved with domestic politicians", because they are the links between the Pak government and al Qaeda and the Taliban. Musharraf is caught between a rock and a hard place - he absolutely has to work with the United States, or his country will become the next Iraq. At the same time, working with the United States places him at odds with a significant portion of his military, the ISI, and a major part of the Islamic clerical heierarchy. The old boy definitely "lives in interesting times". The odds aren't good he'll survive the next ten years.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/19/2003 13:07 Comments ||
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"a German, Italian, French, British and US intelligence "cartel" that has been established to protect the strategic interests of the respective countries in Afghanistan as their troops are heavily threatened by Taliban attacks. Diplomats of these countries apparently visited places like Quetta on the border area and spoke to people there. The move is seen in Islamabad as nothing short of espionage"
Intell guys with thin diplo cover go somewhere and speak to people - this is seen as "nothing short of espionage" Ethel, my pills!
#4
Pakistan is the land of a million conspiracy theories. IMHO, it would be wise to keep Occam's razor handy when reading articles about Pakistan. I think the bomb was for real. Al-Qaeda has called openly for Musharraf's death (per the Al-Zawahiri tape.) Ditto for Pakistani jihadi groups.
As for the ISI and the Taliban, I don't think the ISI controlled the Taliban, as the conspiracy-theorist view implies. The ISI tried (but failed badly) to control them. They failed because they wasn't really enough of an overlap between their interests and world-views.
1. The ISI's officers come from Pakistan's mostly-liberal professional classes.
2. The ISI is not a career service. Officers are transferred in from military units, serve 3 years, then go back to military, never to return. This "term limit" rule tends to limit abuses of power. The ISI's known abuses of power mostly occurred during or shortly after the period (during the anti-Soviet guerilla war) when the "term limit" rule was suspended.
3. I believe the ISI was trying to use the Taliban to control Afghanistan, and this policy was a disastrous and embarrassing failure. The units that were involved were largely dismantled.
Registration
The controversial Hisbah Act drafted by the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal government in the NWFP as an appendage to its earlier Shariah Bill has been put in cold storage. In a move that reflects back-channel understanding between the NWFP governor and the MMA government, Governor Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah has sent the draft law to the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) to seek the constitutional bodyâs expert opinion on whether or not the proposed law is in harmony with the Constitution. Sources told TFT the governor referred the draft law to CII after raising several objections to it. If the NWFP Assembly approved the Bill, it would have given the conservatives-led government sweeping powers to implement the Shariah through use of force.
The draft law also envisages setting up a Taliban-style vice and virtue police department and courts, a system that is likely to run parallel to the existing criminal justice system. The draft has drawn much flak since it was revealed almost a year ago by the MMA government. Now it seems the MMA government wants it to be frozen until a more appropriate time. This is revealed by the fact that the government has allowed the governor to refer it to the CII before first debating it in the assembly, a normal procedure. âBy reversing the procedure, the provincial government has allowed the representative of the federal government [the governor] to get it diluted to a point where it loses its poisonous teeth,â says an analyst. On the whole, the MMA leaders (as opposed to the grassroots), are very pragmatic, and willing to negotiate with the government to maintain their hold on power.
On the face of it the MMA members hope the CII will debate the draft law and send it back, though others think that hope is misplaced. MMA Law Minister Malik Zafar Azam, who holds an American Green Card and runs an Italian food restaurant in the United States, believes it might be months before the Hisbah Act may be moved in the assembly because the CII quorum remains incomplete. Interestingly, General Musharraf had publicly denounced the draft law and called it âTalibanisationâ, vowing to not allow it to be passed. Hisbah is an Arabic word that means accountability. The MMA law minister defended the Act before TFT and said it would root out injustice and improve law and order. âAchieving these two things would mean living in a perfect society,â he told TFT at his office last week.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
12/19/2003 4:06:47 AM ||
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so an we take from this that MMA is on the defensive now?
An initial probe and some raw intelligence reports are strengthening investigatorsâ view that the attempt to assassinate President Pervez Musharraf in Rawalpindi was an al-Qaeda brainchild. Senior security officials have described the incident as "the closest call yet". "The intensity of the blast was enough to blow up the entire convoy," a senior official said. This was the third known attempt on President Musharrafâs life since September 11, 2001. "The sad part is that it didnât come as a surprise, we knew that al-Qaeda was taking aim at him," according to a security official who added: "Enough is not being done to protect the president being sought by the worldâs most feared terrorist organisation."
Another official said, "This appears to be a follow up of direct threats made to President Musharraf by al-Qaeda two months ago." He was referring to two successive audio taped statements of Osama bin Ladenâs deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri aired by Arabic television news channels in a space of three weeks in September. In his audio taped messages, condemned also by Pakistanâs main religious parties, al-Qaedaâs second-in-command Zawahiri called upon Pakistani security forces to "topple" President Musharraf for what he called "betraying" Islam and for letting the Americans kill thousands of Afghans. Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya channels aired the two audio messages on September 10 and September 28. The first audio message also contained some fresh video images of Osama and Zawahiri.
Jamaat-i-IslamiâsQazi Hussain Ahmed, JUIâs Maulana Fazlur Rahman and the top leadership of banned Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad did not mince words in condemning Zawahiriâs statement. President Musharraf had refused to comment, dubbing Zawahiri as a "mad man". An official has now acknowledged that the relevant security agency had determined that the tapes were genuine and current. The United States intelligence services had also made similar determination and shared the information with their Pakistani counterparts. At the time Al-Jazeera channel had said the audiotape was received by telephone from Pakistan. "An anonymous caller from Pakistan contacted us to offer Aymen al-Zawahiriâs message," said Al-Jazeera. "The message was recorded by telephone and broadcast immediately."
Security officials have revealed that joint Pak-US efforts, launched soon after broadcast of Zawahiriâs last messages on Al-Jazeera channel on September 28, US intelligence traced Zawahiriâs satellite telephone calls to Angoorada in South Waziristan tribal agency of the NWFP. A Pakistani military operation launched, at a short notice, caused a major gunfight between al-Qaeda suspects and a unit of Pakistan Armyâs Special Services Group at Angoorada on October 2. Eight al-Qaeda suspects and two Pakistan Army personnel were killed, but not before Zawahiri made good his escape.
"Hold 'em off, boys! I'll go get help! Feet, don't fail me now!"
Initial reports after the military operation spoke about killing of Zawahiri. The incident probably taught him not to use his satellite phone again to contact the outside world. Pakistani intelligence community has sound evidence to suggest that Zawahiri, and not Osama, was always al-Qaedaâs principal contact with Pakistani jihadi community which had cultivated strong contacts in Talibanâs Afghanistan where al-Qaeda held tremendous influence till the US-led coalition forcesâ attack in October 2001. Al-Qaedaâs connections with the local Islamic militant groups were significantly highlighted during the investigation of Daniel Pearl kidnapping and murder case. Pakistani and US investigators now agree that the Wall Street Journal reporter lost his life in a joint operation of Pakistani militants and the al-Qaeda.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, the most important al-Qaeda operative to be arrested in Pakistan, is believed to have provided insight about al-Qaedaâs penetration into local groups to Pakistani and American interrogators. His interrogation by American intelligence officials at a still undisclosed location provided the most definite information yet on al-Qaedaâs ties to Pakistani militant groups. Before being extradited to US custody after his arrest from the residence of mid-level Pakistan army officer in Rawalpindi in March, Khalid Sheikh Mohammad was questioned by Pakistani military security officials. The interrogation had revealed al-Qaedaâs perception about President Musharraf and the organisationâs determination to target him. Interestingly, no al-Qaeda links were found to two separate groups of accused arrested in Karachi last year for trying separately to target President Musharraf on his way from the airport to a public rally in Karachi in 2000 and to target his motorcade with rocket launchers and mortars near the defence equipment exhibition - Ideas 2002 - in Karachi last year. "There are still a few loose ends in both investigations," according to a Karachi police official. "Al-Qaedaâs footprints were there but we failed to trace the real people or the mastermind."
Two days after another attempt on President Musharrafâs life on Sunday night, the presidential security codes were being redrawn as a result of consensus in senior military commanders that the security measures did not match the looming threat to his life. The Special Services Group serves as personal bodyguard to the president, but the overall responsibility of his security is governed through the Blue Book and in case of travel outside the capital also by the relevant corps headquarters. For security reasons presidentâs itinerary is never publicly disclosed and decoy cars and aeroplanes routinely escort him on all road and air journeys. Musharraf, a commando, usually carries a pistol, officials said. After the latest assassination attempt, Pakistani security officials were more worried. It proved the terrorists had an access to top-secret information about the presidentâs movement including the timings for his arrival and departures to and from Chaklala military base in Rawalpindi.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/19/2003 12:27:36 AM ||
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The leadership of the Muttahidda Majlis-e-Amal seems to have realised the mistake of openly supporting Taliban and have started distancing itself from the extremist group of Afghanistan, observed political analysts. Talking to journalists in Attock recently, Syed Ejaz Bokhari, an MP of MMA, criticised Mullah Omar, the deposed potentate leader of Taliban for his extremist approach and termed him an agent of the agencies. He even supported Afghan President Hamid Karazaiâs assertions about Mullah Omarâs hiding.
Doesn't that take your breath away?
Political observers are of the view that a statement of the sort by a responsible MMA leader hints at the changes in future approach of the MMA. It may be mentioned here that till recently the component religious parties of Muttahidda Majlis-e-Amal had been supporting the Taliban in all their activities and spared no opportunity to criticise the Pakistan government for its thrusts in war against international terrorism. The experts said that it was a positive development and the MMA would hopefully emerge as a saner political entity if it pursued its policies in conformity with the changing environment.
"Saner"? I guess so. They can't get any loopier...
These observers were of the opinion that MMA by pursuing saner policies and shunning extremism could play a positive role in the overall political and economic development of the country and develop a political culture which can as well prove a fillip for the weal of the common masses.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/19/2003 12:23:50 AM ||
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The Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) on Thursday kicked off its anti-Musharraf drive with a procession led by its acting head Qazi Hussein Ahmed that started from Multan in a caravan of cars, mini-buses and tractors and finished off in Dera Ghazi Khan where its leaders rolled their eyes and jumped up and down addressed a public rally. MMA leaders also addressed small roadside gatherings along the way. Some 2000 people accompanied the caravan. Vehicles were bedecked with white MMA flags. The MMA motorcade passed through Muzaffargarh, Baseera and Qureshi Wala to reach DG Khan. The procession started its journey from the Multan Jamaat-e-Islami office at Kalma Chowk and reached Muzaffargarh where a rally was held at Fiaz Chowk. The caravan left again for DG Khan but was denied permission to hold a public meeting at Committee Chowk on its arrival there. The district administration allowed the MMA to hold the rally at Traffic Chowk after talks with MMA leaders. MMA activists chanted slogans against Musharraf at the DG Khan rally. The protestors were carrying banners reading: âGo Musharraf, Go.â
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/19/2003 00:08 ||
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"Go Musharraf, Go"
Not quite like when i say "go, Joe, go" i take it?
Pakistan has offered to drop a 50-year-old demand for a UN-mandated plebiscite over divided Kashmir and meet India "halfway" in a bid for peace on the subcontinent.
Okay. Where's the hook?
In an interview less than three weeks before the South Asian summit, President Pervez Musharraf late on Wednesday said he was prepared to be "bold and flexible" in an attempt to resolve the dispute over Kashmir. "If we want to resolve this issue, both sides need to talk to each other with flexibility, coming beyond stated positions, meeting halfway somewhere," he said. "We are prepared to rise to the occasion; India has to be flexible also."
There's the gauntlet for India. I'm floored. Hafiz Saeed is probably taking the gaspipe at the moment...
For more than 50 years, Pakistan has insisted on a plebiscite to allow people in the divided Himalayan region of Kashmir to decide between joining India or Pakistan, a position backed by a series of United Nations Security Council resolutions in the late 1940s.
But not one for "Azad Kashmir," which has by now been thoroughly "Pakistanized."
"We are for United Nations Security Council resolutions," Musharraf said. "However, now we have left that aside." Musharraf refused to be drawn on how to settle the Kashmir dispute, but said any solution must be acceptable to Kashmiris. And he warned India his flexibility should not be seen as weakness. "I'll be bold in moving it forward, but if somebody thinks I'll be bold to give up - no sir, I'm not giving up at all," he said.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/19/2003 00:08 ||
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maybe not.. President General Pervez Musharrafâs interview on Kashmir was reported and quoted out of context as he did not state that the resolution of the issue should not be in accordance with the UN resolution passed 50 years back, said Foreign Office spokesman Masood Khan.
"Both India and Pakistan should find a midway to resolve the issue for the durable peace in the region but only which is acceptable to Kashmiris," he said quoting Musharraf. On withdrawal of principal stand on Kashmir, Masood Khan said that neither the issue could be sidelined nor it could be forgotten but Pakistan would persuade it on every front.
Or maybe so.. Meanwhile, Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed that said Pakistan was open to discussing other solutions to the dispute over the Himalayan region other than those laid down in a longstanding UN resolution that calls for a plebiscite. "We are for the implementation of the UN resolution on Kashmir, but if India is serious in solving the issue of Kashmir, other things can also be discussed," Rashid said. He gave no details.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
12/19/2003 3:55 Comments ||
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From Memri:
THE COUNCIL OF SADA (THE DESCENDANTS OF PROPHET MOHAMMAD) HAS DECIDED TO WITHDRAW MEMBERSHIP FROM SADDAM HUSSEIN. THE COUNCILâS INVESTIGATION HAS ESTABLISHED THAT HUSSEIN DID NOT QUALIFY. (AL-ZAMAN, IRAQ, 12/17/03) Hiding from the Crusaders in a hole? Nope. Nope. Couldnât be related to us.
Lebanese Mohammed Jaber said he went to Iraq on a pilgrimage to Muslim holy sites, he ended up being "tortured" with loud rap music by U.S. troops suspicious he might be a foreign fighter against their occupation. Jaber said an Iraqi taxi driver handed him and three friends over to U.S. troops for $100 each in April apiece as fighters for ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
Uhuh. Pilgrims were just flocking to Iraq in April...
"They asked us why we were there and if we came to fight them. But we said we came only to visit the holy sites in Kerbala," he told Reuters. "They didnât torture us physically but they did psychologically by raising the volume of rap music all day until it became unbearable and by withholding food," he said.
"Mmmmmm! Sure is good barbecue! Betcha wish you had some!"
But Jaber said he kept one secret from his captors, fearing the treatment could get worse. "I mean I like rap, just imagine them playing jazz."
Todayâs CPA Briefing
Approximately 2(00) to 300 personnel who are holding passports other than those of Iraqi citizens are being currently held in detention. With regards to how many we can positively affirm that they were foreign fighters, they were foreign, they were fighting us; that would be a suggestion that that would lead them to be called "foreign fighters."
#4
The passage quoted was part of Gen. Kimmitt's answer to a question asked of him:
"Sudarsan Raghavan, Knight-Ridder Newspapers. Could you please give us more details on the two Yemeni students who were captured? Were they foreign fighters or involved in any other way in guerrilla attacks? And also, how many foreign nationals have been detained to date? And of those, how many are you absolutely certain are foreign fighters?"
I don't think Gen. Kimmitt needs a few days off; I think the press needs to take a good, hard look at how friggin' stupid their questions sometimes sound.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
12/19/2003 17:14 Comments ||
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#5
Why don't they ask interesting questions, like "What is the breakdown, by country, of the origins of the foreign fighters that have been captured or killed since the beginning of fighting?"
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
12/19/2003 19:03 Comments ||
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#6
I'm sure they were mostly Swedes and Lithuanians, with perhaps a smattering of Argentines and a few Taiwanese. And I'm guessing they're all Lutheran.
#7
DaveD #4; There are some good reporters, but basically the ranks of journalists are fleshed out by them what can neither do, nor teach. It's like creative incompetence. You can't tell whether theyre looking for spin, or they're simply fools.
The fresh produce on the floor outside made it look like any other Iraqi greengrocerâs, but the Saddam Hussein portrait hanging inside led a passing U.S. army patrol to take a closer look. A quick search through baskets of vegetables and bags of seeds on Friday uncovered a stash of ammunition, explosives, detonators and one rocket-propelled grenade. The only thing missing was the shopkeeper who had apparently vanished. The chance find was significant for the Cougar tank company which patrols the area north of Tikrit, Saddamâs home town where he still enjoys open support from the people and where the U.S.-led occupation is bitterly resented.
Resent and be damned.
Soldiers in the area have been plagued by home-made bombs and they are on the look out for bomb makers and materials which could be used to make the crude but effective road-side "improvised explosive devices" (IEDs). "In Kadisaya, we havenât found much of this, we look for it on a daily basis," said company commander Captain Jon Cecalupo. "This was found hidden in a basket of vegetables they are selling on the market, these are places we usually wouldnât have looked." The Saddam picture was spotted by a tank commander from the turret of his M1A1 Abrams and a soldier was sent to gingerly peel it off the wall, mindful of the fact that some such posters pasted on to nearby bus stops have been booby-trapped.
EFL
A New Jersey Army National Guard member is home for the holidays, thanks to a colleagueâs generosity. When the Cape May Court House-based 253rd Transportation Company held a drawing to determine who would get leave, Specialist Jonathan Hinker — the married father of a 7-year-old son — drew too high a number to qualify. However, the 34-year-old Lower Township manâs disappointment soon turned to joy when Specialist James Presnall volunteered to stay in Iraq. "(Presnall) felt it was more important (that) Jon was able to come home for his family. He gave up his opportunity to come home," Hinkerâs wife, Buffi, told The Press of Atlantic City. Presnall, a 20-year-old Galloway Township native who is not married, had planned to spend his leave with his parents, Howard and Toni Presnall. While disappointed about not seeing their son, they were overjoyed to learn of their sonâs selfless act.
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
12/19/2003 10:46:33 AM ||
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I'll never understand why many Democrats hate the military so much. With guys like these, America can't lose (but the Dems can).
Posted by: Tibor ||
12/19/2003 10:53 Comments ||
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#2
Hard to find a finer example of the Christmas spirit than Spec. Presnall. God bless him!
Posted by: Dar ||
12/19/2003 11:35 Comments ||
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#3
"I'll never understand why many Democrats hate the military so much."
In Fridayâs Baghdad raid, nine cell members, including the guerrilla leader, were arrested at dawn. The gang leader was responsible for coordinating three different cells, according to Lt. Col. Garry Bishop of the 1st Armored Division. The raid was based on a tip from an informant and resulted in the capture of rockets, anti-tank missiles, explosives, timing devices and six 100-pound barrels of fertilizer. Itâs thought there were enough weapons and ammunition to launch an attack comparable to the October homicide truck-bomb attack on the Red Cross Thingy. "The suspected attack time was tomorrow [Saturday] night," Bishop told Fox News. "The information we received, we believe, is a fallout from information gleaned from the capture of Saddam, which identified certain cell leaders throughout the Baghdad area."
#3
Take 'em 40 miles out in the desert, cut their Achilles tendons, and walk away. They either freeze to death or die of thirst. No martyrdom, no raisins, no tombstone, no memories.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/19/2003 13:21 Comments ||
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#4
Damn! Every time I read a comment like this from Old Patriot or Old Spook, I'm just glad they're on our side!
OP, I just hope you and Old Spook don't have daughters--they'll be lonely old maids if they have to introduce their beaus to you! ;-)
Posted by: Dar ||
12/19/2003 13:44 Comments ||
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#5
That's it! That's who Old Spook reminds me of, Jack Byrnes, Robert De Niro's character in "Meet The Parents".
"I will be watching you and if I find that you are trying to corrupt my first born child, I will bring you down, baby. I will bring you down to Chinatown!"
Posted by: Steve ||
12/19/2003 14:48 Comments ||
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#6
no tombstone
AFAICR, the Wahabbists despise the idea of tombstones, considering them un-Islamic. They believe this so strongly they forced Balkan Muslims to destroy their cemetaries in order to qualify for "charity" money.
So each of them should have a tombstone. Just to spite them.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
12/19/2003 15:14 Comments ||
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#7
Also do the carrot/mule thing.
Secure thier hands in such awy that they can't be used,secure 1/2pint of water 3ft in front of them and let them wonder round going insane.
In reality I do not think thier names should ever be released,that Big,Black hole thing ya know.
Actually, I'd not be too worried about it, if OP and OS have daugthers, by the time they bring their boy friends home to meet Dad, the mere fact that they've survived to the time of the meeting will mean that they are acceptable! I can't imagine either of them having daughters who don't don't know how to take care of themselves!
Read Kipling's poem about the female of the species for further elightenment!
All the Best,
Ralph
Posted by: Ralph ||
12/19/2003 19:32 Comments ||
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A peek behind the scenes of intel work:
Two junior military intelligence analysts helped capture Saddam Hussein by building a giant Whoâs Who of Iraq. The pair, Lieutenant Angela Santana and Corporal Harold Engstrom, spent months on the project, a huge chart of 9,000 Saddam Hussein associates. The chart was their first piece of military intelligence work. Time for promotions.
Ultimately, it enabled them to identify a man who knew where the ousted leader was hiding. US forces seized that man a day before capturing Saddam Hussein. He has not been named, but is believed to be a tribal figure from Iraqâs Sunni Triangle area, the base of Saddam Husseinâs support. Lieutenant Santana heard the results of her work live from another officer listening to military communications. "I was ecstatic," she told the Toledo Blade, her hometown newspaper. "I could not believe it. It was one of those pinch-me type of moments," she said, describing how she then ran from room to room in her base - a former Saddam Hussein palace - shouting "We got him!"
She told the Wall Street Journal the task of connecting the dots to Saddam Hussein was "completely surreal". Their chart - which they nicknamed "Mongo Link" - brought together masses of information from interrogations and interviews. It included such details as ages, family relations, home villages and even height and eye colour for thousands of members of the Sunni Triangleâs six most important families. They mapped how people were connected to each other and to the deposed Iraqi president. The detectives realised that the people carrying out attacks on US forces in Iraq were not the ones closest to Saddam Hussein. His near associates - many tied to him and each other through marriage - were keeping their distance, planning and financing operations but not carrying them out, they concluded. They were too quiet, so they stood out from the crowd.
Eventually they identified a man they now refer to as "the source". The military has not named him publicly, but detainees had said he was among the financiers of the resistance. When Lieutenant Santana and Corporal Engstrom realised his importance, orders were issued for the 4th Infantry Division to track him down. He was arrested in a raid on a Baghdad house on Friday after eluding capture several times. "When I heard this source was captured, I knew we were onto something," Lieutenant Santana said. The following day, a bedraggled and bearded Saddam Hussein was found. Outstanding work, LT. Keep it up.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/19/2003 9:36:05 AM ||
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"No one ever beat Mongo before - Mongo impressed!"
Slightly EFL:
West told Linda Vester on her Fox News program "Dayside": "As a commander, you have a moral obligation to protect your soldiers. I went outside the lines, I understand that, and that was a choice I made and I had to accept those consequences."
Vester asked West: "You learned of an assassination plot against you, and that there were other attacks planned against your soldiers. ... You had this detainee, and he wasnât giving up information. Thatâs what led up to this, correct?" "Yes, maâam," replied West.
"You reached a point ... where you were pretty desperate." West said that he wasnât desperate, but he "had full confidence" that this person was working with other people, and that the individual had information. West knew that information would stop attacks, and he felt he had a responsibility to his men to thwart those attacks.
Vester then asked: "The General, Odierno, who finally administered your punishment, was in a tough spot. He knew that he had to do what one has to do when there is a violation of the UCMJ [Uniform Code of Military Justice] â but at the same time ... heâs getting powerful senators saying âDonât you do anything to Col. West.â Do you understand why Gen. Odierno had to administer some sort of punishment?"
"Absolutely," replied West. "And I have no regrets ... no malice whatsoever. The Army has been my love for 20 years." West said that to have any anger against the Army would be to hate himself, because, he said, "It has made me what I am today." West concluded: "We have to stay within the law. I went outside that law, and I paid the consequences." This is Character on parade. I want to be like Mike.
Posted by: Dragon Fly ||
12/19/2003 6:56:00 AM ||
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#1
Right on. First Rate. So unlike his previous Commander in Chief.
#5
If he's willing, the Pentagon or perhaps the Bush campaign should hire him to do something. He's an obvious patriot with some measure of name recognition. I hope he lands on his feet once he's retired.
Posted by: Tibor ||
12/19/2003 10:51 Comments ||
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#9
Hmmm... I remember reading several weeks ago about a UT-grad serving in Iraq that had a water tower painted white with a big orange "T" facing west. Those Vols are everywhere (like the Army of Steves)!
Posted by: Dar ||
12/19/2003 14:12 Comments ||
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#10
Right you are, Dar. I didn't hear confirmation of whether he was an alum or just a big Vol fan. He was with the Screaming Eagles. A big chunk of Ft. Campbell lies within the borders of my beloved state. Someone e-mailed the picture to me. I never was able to confirm its authenticity, but it was a glorious site either way.
"Those Vols are everywhere (like the Army of Steves)!"
Right, again! I had a history professor at UT tell me that TN had the highest number of veterans per capita in every major U.S. conflict since the Civil War.
#13
I think he sets a good example for other officers by walking away. From a numbers standpoint, there seem to be a host of capable officers demonstrating ability and bravery. The pickings certainly aren't as good in Congress.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
12/19/2003 22:39 Comments ||
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Saddam Hussein has finally been caught, but with no letup in the attacks on coalition troops and the Iraqis who are helping them, the clock is ticking to get the former dictator to reveal all his secrets. CIA interrogators are now working on a plan to try to get Saddam to cooperate. "The CIA was given the lead to manage the organization because they have more capacity to do strategic intelligence," said Michael Vickers, a former CIA operations officer. Tactical or battlefield interrogations are normally handled by the military, but "the CIA can bring to bear a lot of psychiatrists, as well as Arabic-speaking operations officers, to do a lot of the sophisticated psychological stuff on Saddam," said Vickers.
The expert interrogators will prove useful because officials say Saddamâs grandiose ego has recovered and his defiance has hardened since his humiliating capture over the weekend. "I think the likelihood of Saddam being âbrokenâ is remote," said Jerrold Post, a psychologist who once profiled the former Iraqi leader for the CIA. "In fact, I would guesstimate that pressure to âbreak himâ will prove to be failures." Saddamâs bedraggled appearance when he was captured should not be taken at face value, Post cautioned. "This is a man who, atop that shattered self, underneath has a defiant psychology that has been hardened over the years," he said. "Indeed, part of his image which he hopes to enshrine in history is of the defiant Arab strongman standing up to the West."
U.S. officials say there are a variety of methods the CIA will likely try to make Saddam talk. Interrogators may wake him up at odd hours in order to disorient him and weaken him. They may show him torture videos âthe same ones he sent to relatives of his victims â to prove just how strong a case the United States has against him for a trial on charges of crimes against humanity.
Posted by: OMER ISHMAIL ||
12/19/2003 5:00:52 AM ||
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#1
Actually, I think he's singing like a bird, and all of these are typical CIA lies to make sure the people Saddam is really fingering don't think they've been fingered.
#2
Yep -- this is all just to keep Chirac calm while we gather evidence against him.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
12/19/2003 8:25 Comments ||
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#3
If they aren't doin the things I outlined earlier, then they have lost their edge, and someone really pulled their teeth worse than I thought since the early the 90's.
There were means available back then for high importance subjects. And the will to use them.
Now? I don't know if 8 years of atrophy under Blowjob Bill has been reversed. It already cost us 9/11 and solid shots at Binny.
#4
It will be interesting to see what, if anything, comes of these iterrogations - and whether we ever learn anything about them ...
The guy is clearly a psychopath. They tend to be pretty resistant to reality ... don't know whether we will get through or not. It does depend in part on how far the CIA is willing to go ...
A defiant, deranged Saddam Hussein is making outrageous statements to CIA interrogators, claiming his government never surrendered - and that he would win by a landslide in new Iraqi elections, The Post has learned.
They didn't have to surrender. They were trounced. They just quit coming to work in the morning, remember?
Saddam is also denying that his regime committed atrocities, charging that it was Iran that launched the murderous chemical-weapons attacks on the Kurds in the late 1980s, according to U.S. officials who have been briefed on the bizarre interrogation sessions.
The Medes and the Persians no doubt gassed their own troops, too...
Refusing to acknowledge the desperate circumstances in which he finds himself, the imprisoned, egomaniacal ex-tyrant is demanding to be treated with respect, the officials said.
"The ring."
"Eh?"
"Kiss the ring!"
"Oh, shuddup and eat your dinner."
The Butcher of Baghdad has repeatedly insisted during this weekâs sessions that he is still president of Iraq and said his military and government never surrendered during the war. At times, heâs the cocky killer who balks at the simplest orders from his jailers - such as being asked to stand during some of the questioning. "Heâs saying things like âIâd like to sit down now. Iâm the president of Iraq. You wouldnât treat your own president this way,â" said a U.S. intelligence official.
Sources said the American interrogators, in an attempt to break through that hubris, are repeatedly telling him that he is no longer president of Iraq.
I think the tack I'd take would be to tell him he never was president of Iraq. He's been sick, and he had some hallucinations while the fever was high, but he's getting better now...
They have also played him videotapes of Iraqis celebrating in the streets at the news of his capture and tapes of the uncovering of mass graves and former torture chambers. "His reply to this is to tell us to go ahead and organize elections and that heâd win big if we did," said a U.S. official.
"It's an illness, Sammy. It can happen to anyone. They used to call it brain fever. But you're getting better now. You'll soon be cured. Now, let's try and work out the details of those hallucinations. You had a tin hat and a beret? And who was it you thought was head of your elite suicide bombers? â Heh heh! Suicide bombers! That's a good one! Who in the world would blow themselves to smithereens for a... what did you call that party? Baath Party? And somebody'd kill themselves for that idea?... Weird. Here, have another pill. Nurse! I think Mr. Hussein needs another shot!"
Posted by: OMER ISHMAIL ||
12/19/2003 4:53:47 AM ||
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And them start taking him on a walking tour of the home - the quiet place, his fortress of solitude where everybody knows his name and remembers him has a great novelist, the young middle eastern Kafka, who tragically went insane in 1968. Let on that he's getting much better and that perhaps its time to get on with his life's work - the unfinished 3500 page novel The Mother of All Dreams.
#2
Fred, there was a retired AF Col on Britt Hume's show tonight. He speciallized in interrogation. I think his name was Stockport. He said that for Sadaam's type of personality the CIA would use expert psychologists for the inerrogation that would try to encourge him into furious railings to get teh names of the incompetent subordinants that had failed him He also said that the interrogators would have to do extensive research on Sadaam's life before the interogation because Sadaam is so egotistical that he would immediately refuse to talk to any interviewer that wasn't fluent in the most important subject of history - the life of Sadaam.
I wonder if the interrogators use a subtle form of hypnosis that I read about once that involves matching the actions of the subject. The interviewer synchronizes breathing, then synchronizes posture, gestures ect. Once everything is synched, the interviewer starts to steer the subject. It's an interesting concept simular to having a class only pay attention to a teacher when the teacher purforms a certin action.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
12/19/2003 22:51 Comments ||
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Agents for deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein have penetrated the U.S. command in Iraq, ABCNEWS has learned. As a result, they have the potential to undermine U.S. authority.
I think we may have guessed that...
Among the documents found in Saddamâs briefcase when he was captured last weekend was a list of names of Iraqis who have been working with the United States â either in the Iraqi security forces or the Coalition Provisional Authority â and are feeding information to the insurgents. "We were badly infiltrated," said the official, adding that finding the list of names is a "gold mine." Keep telling yourself that Saddam had nothing to do with the insurgents, Dr. Dean ...
The United States has been rapidly recruiting Iraqis to take over security in the war-torn nation. Some 162,000 Iraqis have been trained in the areas of civil defense, police and other security activities since May. On a recent trip to Baghdad, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was told by the commander of the U.S. Armyâs 4th Infantry Division that every two or three weeks the military discovers someone who should not have made it through the vetting process. William Rosenau, who once served in the Pentagonâs Office of Special Operations, says the spies could have caused great harm. "They could conceivably disrupt operations directed against you. They can throw sand in the gears, they can spread disinformation," said Rosenau. "They are going to be able to tell you what those forces are trying to do, what their equipment is like, what their tactics are going to be and so on."
That's why they used to kill spies. I don't know what they do with them nowadays. Give them counseling or something...
With the attacks continuing in Iraq, the U.S. military can now use the list to seek out the infiltrators and, officials hope, stop some of the damage they may be causing. Pentagon officials with whom ABCNEWS spoke were not surprised about the infiltration. It is a common tactic that certainly happened in Vietnam, they said. But what they continue to worry about are infiltrators whose names are not on the list.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/19/2003 12:43:53 AM ||
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I keep wondering how many different directions the American Socialist Party liberals will manage to spin themselves before they self destruct.
First, the war was a disaster and Baghdad would be Dubya's Stalingrad (oh those heroic iraqis). Oh shit, Thunder Run into Baghdad, no valiant stopping of American Fascism at the gates of Baghdad.
Then the 'occupation' was a disaster and it was going to be Dubya's Vietnam. Oh shit, the Army found the thug in a hole- woops. Vietnam? Who said Vietnam? "Not I" said Dr. Dean.
Ok then, bagging saddam is obviously a disaster, it only proves how inept the military has been in allowing itself to be 'infiltrated' by saddam's agents, no matter that since saddam carried around a list of them in a briefcase (huh? operation security, anyone? beuller?) they're all getting rolled up, too. That doesn't disguise the fact that this has been a complete disaster from start to finish.
These morons are so blinded by their idealogical hatred they can't even experience objective truth anymore, all they can do is try to warp reality into some twisted interpretation that fits their own distorted worldview.
#2
4thInfVet: God's own truth. I actually find myself wishing for a vibrant opposition that would help spark ideas and debate. However, the Donks only offer fear and doom: a complete lack of a coherent platform. They'll lose big for sure, but in the end we all lose a little as a result.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
12/19/2003 3:08 Comments ||
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#3
After 40 years of running everything the Dems in America got flabby and lazy when it came to arguing from anything resembling logic. All they know now is "Don't vote for them! They'll take your candy away!"
One day it will dawn on them that their message has been getting out loud and clear and that the majority of folks these days don't like it. In the meantime I'm rather enjoying their meltdown.
#4
Ohhh, there'll be an opposition: After the Dems disintegrate, the Republicans will split into the South Park and Conservative wings and we'll start all over again.
#5
The left and others have been screaming: WE NEED MORE TROOPS, WE NEED MORE TROOPS, WE NEED MORE TROOPS! However, our boots on the ground have said all along that we need good, solid intelligence to eliminate the terrorists.
Sammy is in the Jug. Why? Good, solid intelligence.
We know there are agents among our troops. Why? Good, solid intelligence.
It seems that the Left is really stuck in the Vietnam era. They will never learn to trust the judgment of the boots on the ground.
#6
Help me - wasntthis post about vetting iraqis working for the CPA - how did it get to about domestic politics - arent there several threads under homefront for that?
#8
I hate to tell you this, liberalhawk, but this is a 2-front war in more ways than one--there's the homeland and the culture war and the actual theatres of combat (which also includes the homeland).
It's no coincidence that Liberal Dimocrats have joined common cause with Islamist terrorists time and time again since 9/11 at least.
Winning the war of ideas is now every it as important as winning actual battles and in the long run, even more crucial.
Even the Iraqi bloggers are addressing American partisan political problems and sounding like Bushies.
Get used to hearing partisan domestic politics inextricably linked to foreign policy problems and discussed simultaneously.
Oh, and if there's a God who loves us, the Dimocrats will lose big in 2004, because their "ideas" are vapid and worthless and worse, are getting American citizens and soldiers killed now and will ensure that alot more Americans will die in the future.
The Bush Doctrine works.
#9
I dont mind that people discuss domestic politics in appropriate places, it just annoys me when an unrelated thread on WOT strategy and tactics gets threadjacked to the usual partisan sniping. I dont come here for partisan exchanges - quite frankly there are plenty of other places for that, with greater variety of opinons and much more insightful comments (no im not talking about liberal sights - im thinking more along the lines of Tacitus, an intelligent conservative blog) What this blog is BEST at is current events overseas, tactics and strategy, etc. And yeah, i know that Rush et al think that beating up on any and all Dems is Part of the WOT - I think thats vile, and as bad in its way as reflexive Bush bashing on the left.
#10
What is there really much to say about national workers? They are vetted the best you can but some infiltraters still get through. In Korea and Central America it was a rule of thumb that "If it is sensitive, you don't talk about it in front of the help"
#11
liberalhawk, when you have the Dimocrats beating up on President Bush and his Administration and the Bush Doctrine all day, every day, it doesn't take Rush to inform "the faithful" (Vast Right Wing Conspiracy, anyone?) that the partisan, political war of ideas is inextricably linked with the military part of the GWOIT (Global War on Islamist Terror).
It's a war of ideas, memes and winning hearts and minds.
As for making "everything" politically partisan, you can thank your idols the Clintons for that.
They started it, made it an international sport and are doing it--What time is it?-- to this moment.
Another superb column by Dr. Krauthammer. Just the first bits here.
The race is over. The Oscar for Best Documentary, Short Subject, goes to . . . "Saddamâs Dental Exam."
Screenplay: 1st Brigade, U.S. 4th Infantry Division.
Producer: P. Bremer Enterprises, Baghdad.
Director: The anonymous genius at U.S. headquarters who chose this clip as the worldâs first view of Saddam Hussein in captivity.
In the old days the conquered tyrant was dragged through the streets behind the Roman generalâs chariot. Or paraded shackled before a jeering crowd. Or, when more finality was required, had his head placed on a spike on the tower wall.
Iraq has its own ways. In the revolution of 1958, Prime Minister Nuri Said was caught by a crowd and murdered, and his body was dragged behind a car through the streets of Baghdad until there was nothing left but half a leg.
We Americans donât do it that way. Instead, we show Saddam Hussein — King of Kings, Lion of the Tigris, Saladin of the Arabs — compliantly opening his mouth like a child to the universal indignity of an oral (and head lice!) exam. Docility wrapped in banality. Brilliant. Nothing could have been better calculated to demystify the all-powerful tyrant.
More at the link. Watching Saddam take the tongue blade without complaint is going to do more to demoralize the jihadis than just about anything else we do.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/19/2003 12:43:05 AM ||
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mmmmmmm, Army of Steve. I've got an account from yet another foot soldier in the Army of Steve on the capture of Saddam...first hand account from the 101st. I'll post tomorrow a.m PST pm on this thread. For now...bedways is rightways...righty-right.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
12/19/2003 3:17 Comments ||
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#2
In all the focus on Saddam, what is lost in the shuffle is that, in previous times, he'd have been treated a lot worse than we treated him.
#3
In the old days the conquered tyrant was dragged through the streets behind the Roman generalâs chariot. Or paraded shackled before a jeering crowd. Or, when more finality was required, had his head placed on a spike on the tower wall.
#4
In the old days the conquered tyrant was dragged through the streets behind the Roman generalâs chariot.
Um, no. Roman triumphs (the parade that a victorious general was granted by the Senate upon his return) had a rigid order and procedure about them. The vanquished general/leader/foe, having been captured, to that point was always treated well -- clean, fed, etc. He was paraded in the triumph dressed in his best wardrobe, and either walked of his free will or was on what we today would call a float. Other portions of the triumph would depict the battles, show the loot, etc. About 2/3 of the way through the triumph, the vanquished leader would be taken out of the triumph to a special Roman prison (forget the name) where, out of sight of everyone, he would be stangled or cast into a deep, dark sewer pit.
The whole point was that if the vanquished foe was humiliated or mistreated it would cheapen the triumph and by implication lessen the Roman victory. The Romans didn't want that, they wanted to show the world just how great the victory was, so turn out the foe in his finest.
Which if you think about it is exactly what we're doing in the 21st century. Saddam is being treated properly -- no cruelty, no torture, etc. It shows even more the power of the US/coalition victory and the rightness of our cause. Very shrewd.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/19/2003 12:47 Comments ||
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#5
"...and standing behind the Victor would be a slave, whose job was to whisper in the ear of the Victor "Sic Transit Gloria Mundi"...
#6
No, the slave was telling him "Remember you are just a man". The Roman had a big fear of a general getting a swollen head and becoming dictator (in the modern sense). It ended happenning with Marius, Silla and later Cesar.
#7
Guys, when George C. Scott describes the Roman triumph the way you just did at the end of the movie "Patton" is my very favorite part of an all-time classic film about one of our finest generals.
President Arroyo on Friday reminded the military that she is their âmotherâ and, more important, she raised their salaries. Hi Mom! Thanks for the allowance! Can we have some milk and cookies too?
Addressing the troops Friday on the 68th anniversary of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in Camp Aguinaldo, the President told them in Pilipino: âAs a mother of the Armed Forces, do not forget, my children, that I am the one responsible for your salary raise.â So mind your mother like a good little boy!
Mrs. Arroyo acknowledged the role of the House of Representatives and the Senate in speeding up the passage of the law that increased the militaryâs salary.
She appealed to Congress to speed up the passage of another law, thus assuring bigger allowances for soldiers.
âAll this is to assure our people that our soldiers are well taken care of so that they can provide security to our peopleâs needs, and not toss me out on my earâ the President said.
Mrs. Arroyo has been trying to ease the growing discontent in the military following last Julyâs takeover by junior officers of an apartment building in the business center of Makati City. To this extent the muitny was sucessful in getting momâs attention.
The mutinous officers criticized the administration for failing to heed the grievances of the military.
The President also announced the release of P30 million to build houses for soldiers.
She said the government had spent around P1 billion for supplies and combat pay for soldiers.
The President commended Lt. Col. Amin Kandra Undog, who drew up the plan that led to the capture of the Abu Sayyaf leader Ghalib Andang alias Commander Robot on December 7 in Sulu.
She also awarded the Distinguished Conduct Star to Capt. Jonathan Obena, who defended a military camp in Maguindanao against an assault by Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels three years ago. Better late then never I guess.
The President said Obena, who belongs to the Philippine Military Academy Class â95 or the batch the July 27 mutineers came from, should serve as an example to his class and the rest of the Armed Forces.
Mrs. Arroyo also saluted the soldiers who held their ground in the face of a fierce attack by MILF guerrillas in Maguindanao earlier this week.
At least five soldiers were killed and nine others were wounded Monday night when the rebels ambushed soldiers who were pursuing Pentagon Gang members in Gawang village in Datu Saudi Ampatuan, Maguindanao.
The government and the milf have declared a cease-fire in preparation for the resumption of peace negotiations in January. And to allow the MILF to reload and resupply.
The Coordinating Committee on Cessation of Hostilities signed a cease-fire on Tuesday night to stop the fighting in Maguindanao.
Abaya, who flew Wednesday to Maguindanao with other top military officials for a close look at the situation there, said the signing of the agreement between the military and the milf has defused the tension.
Abaya said that to avoid misencounters with the milf, the milf leadership has agreed to temporarily move its forces out of the militaryâs area of operation
Kicking him loose, EFL:
Thirty months ago, Malaysian authorities locked up Mohammad Iqbal Rahman as a top leader of an al-Qaida-linked Muslim extremist group. The U.S. government called him the terrorist networkâs "primary recruiter and second in command." Now â after 2 1/2 years detention without charges or trial â Iqbal, once a suspected terrorist from the Jemaah Islamiyah group, prepares to go free. The government is deporting him as an "undesirable immigrant" to Indonesia, where he faces no charges or jail time. Dammit
Iqbalâs case has raised concerns about the future of scores of militant suspects jailed in Malaysia. His release also threatens to complicate already strained relations with the United States. U.S. Embassy officials in Malaysia said they were following the case with concern, but declined to comment further.
Iqbal, 46, was arrested in June 2001 at a mosque outside Kuala Lumpur, where he had been based since the mid-1980s, and the government ordered him detained for two years. His arrest was not revealed until January 2002, when Malaysian and Singaporean police announced the first of scores of arrests of Jemaah Islamiyah suspects and a foiled plot to blow up the U.S. Embassy and other targets in Singapore. Iqbal is accused of being a Jemaah Islamiyah leader who vowed to wage armed holy war to build a hardline Islamic state in Southeast Asia. At the time Iqbalâs detention was made public, officials also disclosed links between Hambali and senior al-Qaida operatives, including two Sept. 11 hijackers who used an apartment owned by former Malaysian army Capt. Yazid Sufaat, one of the jailed Malaysians, as a meeting place in 2000. The order detaining Iqbal expired in August, and Home Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, now prime minister, did not renew it. No reason was given, though the possibility of bureaucratic bungling has been raised. Instead, Iqbal was declared an "undesirable immigrant," had his Malaysian permanent residency revoked and was handed to immigration officials for deportation. "Git"
"OK"
The allegations against Iqbal relate more to fund-raising and fomenting extremism than bomb attacks. He is accused of recruiting Muslims to fight Christians in Indonesiaâs restive Muluku province. In August 2000, he became a senior leader of the Majelis Mujahidin Indonesia, an umbrella organization of fundamentalist Islamic groups headed by Abu Bakar Bashir, Jemaah Islamiyahâs alleged spiritual leader who is serving a prison sentence for treason. Iqbal said this week his detention and deportation were unjust.
"I am neither a terrorist nor a sponsor," he said in a statement from an immigration detention camp. "Islamic doctrines totally and unequivocally condemn any act of terrorism." "Weâre a religion of peace, havenât you heard?"
Iqbalâs wife, Fatimah Zahrah Abdul Aziz, said Friday that sheâs bought Iqbal a ticket to fly from Kuala Lumpur to Jakarta on Sunday, as ordered by the government. A Malaysian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press on Friday that Iqbal was not a wanted man in Indonesia. Indonesian police spokesman Col. Zainuri Lubis confirmed that, saying: "We do not plan to do anything special... . We do not have any criminal record on him." Swell, just swell. Iâm sure weâll be hearing from him again.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/19/2003 4:03:58 PM ||
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Indonesian police will charge the brother of Hambali -- a key Southeast Asian terrorism suspect with alleged ties to al Qaeda -- and three other Islamic students with "facilitating" terrorism. The police said the four allegedly helped Hambali, the suspected leader of the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) organization, which is held responsible for the Bali night club bombings that killed 202 people.
"They are formally arrested beginning today for deliberately facilitating acts of terrorism," police Brig. Gen. Sunarko told a news conference Thursday. "These people helped Hambali."
The four were among six Indonesian students deported last week from Pakistan, which accused them of having ties to JI. Two of the students were released Tuesday for lack of evidence.
Relatives of the four suspects, including Hambaliâs younger brother Rusman Gunawan, have said they were simply students and had no terrorist links. "Theyâre good boys."
But Pakistani authorities have said the men were suspected of being part of JI and believe Gunawan was running the Pakistan branch of the group. Gunawan also reportedly told Indonesian consulate officials in the southern port city of Karachi that he sent $50,000 to Hambali. But he has no connection to terrorists, nope, none.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/19/2003 3:36:10 PM ||
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A Cambodian lawyer says he has asked a court to release three suspected Jemaah Islamiah members because they had been held longer than the six month pre-trial detention period allowed by law. The three suspects, an Egyptian and two Thais, were arrested in May ahead of a mid-June visit by US Secretary of State, Colin Powell. Cambodiaâs 1993 penal code forbids detention of a suspect for more than six months without trial. Cambodian authorities say the three men were members of a JI cell that had been operating out of an Islamic school near Phnom Penh which allegedly was used as a front to channel al-Qaeda money into the country from Saudi Arabia.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/19/2003 12:35:20 AM ||
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Singapore has arrested two Muslims trained in Pakistan and Afghanistan to eventually lead the al-Qaeda-linked militant group Jemaah Islamiyah, the government said on Thursday. It said the two Singaporeans were part of a group called al-Ghuraba, a Pakistan-based cell of the Jemaah Islamiyah, which is believed by investigators to be the Southeast Asian wing of Osama bin Ladenâs al-Qaeda. Singapore said the two men were groomed by the brother of Hambali, a militant accused of masterminding bombings in Southeast Asia, in handling weapons and explosives and carrying out espionage and urban warfare. "The cell was set up in 1999 by Indonesian JI operations commander, Hambali, for the purpose of developing young JI members to become trained operatives and future leaders," the Singapore government said. Singapore, which operates Southeast Asiaâs most advanced truncheoning security apparatus, has already detained 33 suspected Muslim militants after foiling a Jemaah Islamiyah plot to blow up Western targets in the city state in 2001.
The two men, Muhammad Arif Bin Naharudin, 20, and Muhammad Amin Bin Mohamed Yunos, 20, are being held under the Internal Security Act, which allows for you donât want to know detention without trial, after their arrest on October 23 and 25 in Singapore. "Both Arif and Amin were among several students who were talent-spotted by the JI leadership to be groomed to become the next generation of key operatives and leaders in the JI organization," the Singapore government said. "There were also indications that Hambali was prepared to assign some of them to the al-Qaeda for operations," it said. âYah think?
Police picked the men up while they were on a trip home, a government official said. Officials of Pakistanâs interior ministry, however, denied knowledge of al-Ghuraba, whose name the Singapore government said means "scum of the earth" "foreigners". "During our investigation al-Ghuraba never came up, this is very sure," said Abdul Malik, deputy director of Pakistanâs Federal Investigation Agency which recently arrested and deported six Indonesian Islamic students accused of ties to militants. I sure hope Abdul made them swim home, but I doubt it.
"We donât know anything or any (group) code-named al-Ghuraba," he told Reuters.
Perhaps we should describe it as a "secret group," then. Do us a favor, and keep an eye out for it from now on?
Hambali, described by U.S. President George W. Bush as "one of the worldâs most lethal terrorists", was arrested by Thai and U.S. agents in Thailand in August. His brother, Gun GunRusman Gunawan, was among six Indonesian students detained in Pakistan in September for suspected terror links and returned to Indonesia this week. Iâm sure old Gunnyâll now take up a sedate life as a quiet, productive vegetable framer.
Shedding light on the schooling of Asian Islamic radicals, Singapore said al-Ghuraba was originally led by Abdul Rahim, son of Indonesiaâs radical Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir. Bashir has been accused of being Jemaah Islamiyah spiritual leader and was convicted of treason in September. Hambaliâs brother later took control of al-Ghuraba, the Singapore statement said. Arif and Amin originally studied in Johor, Malaysia, before they were handpicked to join al-Ghuraba, it said. Underscoring the genetic cesspool family links that often bind Asian Islamic militants, Arifâs father fought with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the biggest Muslim rebel group in the Philippines. Amin is the son of a Malaysian Jemaah Islamiyah member, it said. Arif spent university holidays studying with the Kashmiri militant group, Lashkar-e-Taiba, where he learned how to "handle weapons, conduct operational surveillance and make improvised explosives," the Singapore statement said. Jeez, what ever happened to drinking beer and chasing girls over spring break?
Amin was sent to Afghanistan where he completed five training courses at al-Qaedaâs "Camp Farouq". The statement said, "His last course on urban warfare was abruptly terminated when the U.S.-led coalition forces attacked Afghanistan." What a shame - I guess he just missed an oportunity for a little post-grad education at "Guantanamo U"
Posted by: Lone Ranger ||
12/19/2003 12:31:53 AM ||
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My guess would be that al-Ghuraba is the local JI outfit in Singapore the same way that the KMM is for Malaysia, MILF is in the Philippines, ect.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/19/2003 0:55 Comments ||
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#2
so philip k. dick----minority report--on the jihad tip--singaporean playa haters--ha ha
Posted by: son of tolui ||
12/19/2003 2:52 Comments ||
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#3
Dear "son of tolui," what the heck do you mean by:
so philip k. dick----minority report--on the jihad tip--singaporean playa haters--ha ha
The Palu District Court again delayed the trial on Thursday of Fauzan, a suspected member of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), after key witness Mustafa failed to appear there for health reasons. Mustafa is believed to be the commander of JIâs Chos militia group whose members are reportedly ready to launch suicide attacks.
He's the guy in charge of suicide attacks and he's worried about his health?
Prosecutor Firdaus Yahya said the key witness could not testify at the trial as he was sick.
"He got a note from his Mom..."
Firdaus brushed aside allegations that law enforcers were not handling the issue of terrorism seriously. "I promise to present the witness in next weekâs trial," he said.
"... if he hasn't exploded by then."
Mustafaâs testimony was necessary to uncover arms smuggling activities that allegedly involved JI members. The weapons were believed to be have been purchased from neighboring country, the Philippines. From MILF, no doubt, with the cash that Hanbali gave them.
Last week, the court also delayed the trial of Fauzan for the same reason.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/19/2003 12:15:40 AM ||
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Singapore will work closely with neighbouring Indonesia to combat international terrorism, visiting Deputy Prime Minister Tony Tan said Thursday. Tan, who is also co-ordinating minister for security and defence, was speaking after a meeting with Indonesia's senior security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. "Terrorism is a menace and terrorism today is international," Tan told reporters. "It is not possible for any one country to combat this menace and we have to cooperate together."
Up until the Bali bombings, Indonesia was the weakest link in a not very strong antiterrorism chain in Southeast Asia. Singapore's always taken it seriously — Lee Kwan Yew's a secular kind of guy, with a short fuse when it comes to nonsense. Bali highlighted what seems to be a very capable police organization in Indonesia (as opposed to the army and most of the government). Here's hoping cooperation will expand the sphere of competence within Indonesia, rather than end up degrading it in Singapore.
Earlier Thursday the Singapore government announced two more Singaporeans had been arrested for being part of the al Qaeda-linked Jamaah Islamiyah (JI). This brings to 35 the number detained in the city state for alleged JI links. Yudhoyono praised excellent intelligence and police cooperation between Indonesia and Singapore and said Indonesia would like to see its regional neighbours holding joint military and police training exercises in the archipelago. Tan is due to meet President Megawati Sukarnoputri on Friday.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/19/2003 00:08 ||
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I agree Indonesia had virtually no interest in policing Islamic militants before the Bali bombing, but do you really think they are a weaker link than Malaysia? My take is that the Indonesian government thought of all the Christian killing, etc. (e.g., the Aceh issue) as acceptable losses to keep the Islamic militants complacent. After the Bali bombings, the government recognized the miscalculation and took immediate steps to eliminate the threat (e.g., the current military action in Aceh, which up to that time was moving toward autonomy under a âpeace accordâ).
The great majority of Indonesians, perhaps especially those in the government, do not share the radical Islamofacist view of JI. In contrast, I think a much greater percentage of the government in Malaysia is sympathetic to JI. For that reason, Singapore really has to watch out. However, Singapore is quite good at internal and external security (one of the few countries to ever benefit from being under one-man rule).
#2
Megawati Sukarnoputri
I guess his parents lived near a power plant?
Posted by: Dar ||
12/19/2003 11:34 Comments ||
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#3
Her parents. Sukarnoputri = daughter of Sukarno(leader of Indon from independence in 1949 to his death in 1965 "The Year of Living Dangerously") More or less a princess - like all them Nehru-Gandhis in India.
The movie (which I think provides a fairly balanced, if entertaining, view of those times) deals with a reporter (played by Mel Gibson) who goes to Indonesia right before a fairly serious attempted communist coup of the country and lives through those times. The movie underscores some of the deep seated problems of that country, many of which remain to be addressed, but does not really flesh out the attempted coup and how it was suppressed. The coup plotters took out (i.e., killed) virtually all the military leadership in Indonesia, but missed Suharto. The story is that Suharto escaped over the wall of his house and saw them killing his kid as he fled. He rallied the troops and purged the country of all communists following that . . . and of anyone accused of being a communist . . . and of anyone who could have been accused of being a communist . . . and of . . .
His rather crushing (pun intended) victory is what gave him the power to become president of Indonesia following the coup, and the power to introduce nepotism and to exert a most pervasive control over all sources of revenue (often resulting in familial gain). Sukarno lost favor because he had been friendly with the communists, or so the story goes. Now Suharto and his family are out, and the Sukarno family back in. Oh well, at least these are known commodities. The islamofascist problem is more recent than the events described in the movie, but the movie gives a good overview of the culture into which the fanatics are trying to graft their poison.
Arabic television al Jazeera on Friday aired an audio tape purportedly from al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri, saying the United States was defeated in Afghanistan and his group was chasing Americans everywhere, including the United States.
Whoa! There they go now!
"America has been defeated (by) our fighters despite all its military might, its weaponry... With Gods help we are still chasing Americans and their allies everywhere, including their homeland," said the speaker who sounded like Zawahri, al Qaedaâs second in command. Zawahriâs warning came as a U.S. intelligence official said U.S. authorities were studying a terror threat to New York City and were "very concerned" by the volume of threats to U.S. interests at home and overseas. Brave words from a man who lives in a cave. So howâs the IRGC treating you these days, Ayman?
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/19/2003 1:44:08 PM ||
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#1
We're defeated everywhere? Including our homeland? That sucks. Where do I send my humble tribute check?
Posted by: Dar ||
12/19/2003 13:50 Comments ||
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#2
So that was the guy in the car behind me on my way to work.
Posted by: Matt ||
12/19/2003 13:59 Comments ||
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#3
Sounds rather Monty Python-esque. ("It's just a flesh wound!").
#5
Thanks for the heads up! I am leaving workearly to take by my teenagers hiphuggers,and will buy them someOld Navy Burqua's...
After that I will go home and clean my guns.
Pries.Bush just annouced(3:45pm MST):
Lybia wil give-up/destroy WMD and production faculties, invites U.S., U.K. inspectors to come to Lybia to inspect/verify. Publically renounces terrorism. Saddam Effect quote from MSNBC Mid-east expert. I thought it sounded good. Canât you just see NMMâs head exploding. Hey NMM I thought Operatiopn Iraqi Fredoom was wrong and made the world more dangerous, looks like you are wrong, Skippy.
Kahdafi has been trying to find his way back into the light for a while now. Just think, if Saddistam had one ounce of brains he would of taken this option when it was available to him. But no, he had to be the BFTG
#5
Oh and the moonbats at Democratic Underground are desperately trying to avoid making the connection - either to improved safety, or to any cause/effect between efforts in Iraq. Surprising this time around is the number of posters there who are conceding - begrudgingly - that there's probably a link...
Libyaâs leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi who will continue annoying the world with the spelling varieties of his name
has said his country sought to develop weapons of mass destruction capabilities but will dismantle this programme completely, Prime Minister Tony Blair has announced. "This decision is an historic one and a one of the less dumber courageous one and I applaud it," Mr Blair said. Colonel Gaddafi had told him the process of dismantling the programme would be not supervised by Hans Blix "transparent and verifiable", the prime minister said in a statement from Durham Cathedral.
The range of all Libyaâs missiles would be restricted to "no more then 300km", he added. The US and its allies have long known suspected that Libya had not so secret chemical and bio-weapons programmes, however Libya always denied such allegations saying it had only facilities for baby milk factory pharmaceutical or agricultural research.
Posted by: True German Ally ||
12/19/2003 5:48:30 PM ||
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Cool, now the rest of us Rantburg fans get to rate them all for style and wit.
Posted by: Carl in N.H. ||
12/19/2003 18:06 Comments ||
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#3
A good friend worked for years in Libya, and had a very low opinion of lets say, the average libyans technical competance.
To a hazard a guess, I would say their WMD program hadn't gone according to plan.
Otherwise this seriously good news for Bush and Blair. The left is going to really struggle to find a negative spin on this, and I look forward to Gadaffi detailing where he got help frm on his WMD programs.
#8
It's of the utmost importance that the UN General Assembly convene and find, once and for all, an international, multilateral, standard spelling for Gaddafi/Gadhafi/Qadhafi/Qaddafi/Kaddafi/al-Qaddafi/Khaddafi!
Seriously! TGA is right. Google on "Muammar Libya" and see.
Posted by: Dar ||
12/19/2003 20:00 Comments ||
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#9
OK "Howard" LOL
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/19/2003 20:56 Comments ||
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#10
CNN.com front page has mug of Gaddafi and I saw something in his face I haven't noticed in anyone since an acquaintance some years back, just before cancer ate thru his vena cava and he bled to death in his sleep. It's the look of the chemotherapy losing the battle. Or maybe it's just the look of Death. But hey, let's us look on the bright side! Not much way this can be bad news (:-o)>
#11
"Just beacuse you free two nations, depose a dictator,..."
ROTF. Dean's going to have to come up with a different line, because hopefully by the time of the Democratic convention that list will be so long it will take up all of Dean's airtime.
Posted by: Matt ||
12/19/2003 22:10 Comments ||
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#12
Dar - the reason behind the multiple spellings is that English has no equivalent ot the Kef that his name starts with - its almost a swallowed gutreal cross between a K and a hand G.
This is one of the most difficult consonants for an English speaker to learn in Arabic and one of the things that you have to master to not sound too obviously foreign, especially with the Iraqi dialect. If you learn Russian first it helps.
President Bush announced Friday evening that Libya leader Muammar Gadhafi has publicly confirmed his commitment to dismantle all weapons of mass destruction in his country. Bushâs announcement at the White House followed a similar one moments before by British Prime Minister Tony Blair in London. Gadhafi confirmed his country has sought in the past to develop weapons of mass destruction capabilities, Blair said. Blair said Britain and the United States had been engaged in talks with Libya for nine months. "Libya came to us in march following successful negotiations on Lockerbie to see if it could resolve its weapons of mass destruction issue in a similarly cooperative manner," the prime minister said in the northern English city of Durham. "Libya has now declared its intent to dismantle its weapons of mass destruction completely and to limit the range of Libyan missiles to no greater than 300 kilometers." The actions entitle Libya to ârejoin the international community,â Blair said. Blair said Gadhafi had promised that the process would be "transparent and verifiable."
The U.N. Security Council ended U.N. sanctions against Libya Sept. 12 after Gadhafiâs government took responsibility for the bombing of a Pan Am passenger jet over Lockerbie, Scotland, and agreed to pay families of the 270 victims $2.7 billion. The councilâs decision was largely symbolic, since the United Nations had temporarily suspended its embargo in April 1999. But the United States has kept its own 17-year embargo in place. Washington has said Libya is actively developing biological and chemical weapons, upgrading its nuclear capabilities and seeking ballistic missiles to deliver weapons of mass destruction, for which it is receiving help from countries that sponsor terrorism. "This decision by Col. Gadhafi is a historic one and a courageous one and I applaud it," said Blair. Looks like somebody got the message after all ...
Muammar got the message two years ago. He's been inching his way toward this position since 9-11 â he's bright enough to realize that the world has changed, and enough time has gone by to show him that Bush means business. The Talibs are gone, Sammy is gone, but Sudan and Yemen both remain in business without sacrificing their sovreignty (though I think Sudan's edging back toward openly allying with the other side). As I've said before, Muammar's decided he's a great African leader, not one of the Arab League talk-fest lemmings. His concerns are more dynastic at this point.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/19/2003 5:48:39 PM ||
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#1
What a difference a TV image of an exhausted, unkempt and handcuffed Saddam taking the US tongue depressor can make!
The Beeb didnât see fit to include any sneer quotes in the heading, but I thought them appropriate
Libyaâs leader Colonel Gaddafi has said his country sought to develop weapons of mass destruction capabilities but will dismantle this programme completely, Prime Minister Tony Blair has announced. "This decision is an historic one and a courageous one and I applaud it," Mr Blair said. Colonel Gaddafi had told him the process of dismantling the programme would be "transparent and verifiable", the prime minister said in a statement from Durham Cathedral. The range of all Libyaâs missiles would be restricted to "no more then 300km", he added. I guess Africans donât need long range missiles
The US and its allies have long suspected that Libya had secret chemical and bio-weapons programmes, however Libya always denied such allegations saying it had only facilities for pharmaceutical or agricultural research. Mr Blair said Britain had been engaged in talks with Libya for nine months. "Libya came to us in March following successful negotiations on Lockerbie to see if it could resolve its weapons of mass destruction issue in a similarly cooperative manner," he said. The decision entitled Libya to rejoin the international community, Mr Blair said. President Bush confirmed the announcement from the White House.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
12/19/2003 5:48:13 PM ||
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#1
Appropos of your sneer quotes, I say that we should NOT trust and verify!
Otherwise, Viva Bush and the Bush Doctrine!
Chalk up another victory achieved without firing a shot!
Libyaâs leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi has said his country sought to develop weapons of mass destruction capabilities but will dismantle this programme completely, Prime Minister Tony Blair has announced. "This decision is an historic one and a courageous one and I applaud it," Mr Blair said. Colonel Gaddafi had told him the process of dismantling the programme would be "transparent and verifiable", the prime minister said in a statement from Durham Cathedral. The range of all Libyaâs missiles would be restricted to "no more then 300km", he added. The US and its allies have long suspected that Libya had secret chemical and bio-weapons programmes, however Libya always denied such allegations saying it had only facilities for pharmaceutical or agricultural research. Gaddafiâs government took responsibility for the Lockerbie bomb Mr Blair said Britain had been engaged in talks with Libya for nine months. Yes, March was a busy month ...
"Libya came to us in March following successful negotiations on Lockerbie to see if it could resolve its weapons of mass destruction issue in a similarly cooperative manner," he said. The decision entitled Libya to rejoin the international community, Mr Blair said. President Bush confirmed the announcement from the White House. "Col Gaddafiâsâs commitment, once fulfiled, will make our country more safe and our world more peaceful," President Bush said. Wolf Blitzer noted that Bush basically said, do it the easy way or do it the hard way ....
#1
Also noted by Blitzer: Libya has excellent sweet crude oil. Carrot & stick both to the Middle East - watch for Libya's oil industry to surge if Gaddafi follows through.
#6
I can believe that Germany was influential in this as well. It's a big breakthrough - Libya is believed to have stocks of both biological and chemical weapons substances, plus a fair amount of nuclear know-how. No telling how much knowledge has migrated from them to others, but at least once the stocks are destroyed there will be one fewer source of off-the-shelf WMD for terror networks.
#7
TGA, do tell. Why don't you share with the class which other member of the Coalition of the Willing you think helped Momar reach this decision?
For my money, Momar's change of heart started when Ronald Reagan sent that missile up Khadafi's butt back in the '80's.
But clearly it was the TV image of Saddam taking the tongue depressor that put him back on the straight and narrow road.
Brought to you Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue: the Stars and Stripes and the Union Jack.
#8
Jennie, all beautiful colors, but this process started way before the "Coalition of the Willing", even before 9/11.
Reagan made Ghaddafi lay low (and actually made him push his WMD program). Ghaddafi's "conversion" started some time in 1999. He had been disillusioned with the Arabs before of course. There has been a lot of very quiet diplomacy (Germany, Italy, France) and I might say that most of the WMD intelligence comes from these countries as well. For good reasons because rogue companies from these countries have provided most of the (dual use) stuff that Ghaddafi now found out he no longer needs. The case of the underground chemical weapons plant in Rabta comes to mind.
Ghaddafis plans to return to the international society predate 9/11. It's just that until today the U.S. preferred not to believe a word he said and has ignored many signals from Libya. Gemany has been in rather close contact with him and Muammar's role in solving several hostage issues have something to do with that as well.
The TV image you mentioned is just the topping of the cake.
#9
I read a week or two ago that G'Daffy's son was greasing the skids for a trip for Mo to Russia thru Putin for serious medical treatment.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/19/2003 21:03 Comments ||
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TGA, I think you overstate your case when you say that the US "preferred" not to believe a word Ghaddafi said.
There were indeed signals coming out of Libya, but they were often contradictory. This is not a person or a regime that had showed itself to be open or trustworthy. The timing of the offer to close the Lockerbie negotiations was not coincidental ... Ghaddafi decided to play things straight now for several reasons. I don't doubt that getting older and desiring a legacy might be one of those reasons - now that I'm middle aged too, I realize how powerful a motivator that can be.
But just to put things in perspective, Reuters reports that Libya's nuclear program was more advanced than we suspected -- and, they were working with Korea on SCUDs.
And yes, it is true that much of his chemical WMD capabilities, especially both the plants themselves and the engineering expertise to use them effectively, did come from Germany, Italy and France.
From LGF - EFL:
US Ambassador to Egypt David Welch confronted journalists from Egyptâs government-approved rabidly anti-American newspaper Al-Ahram Weekly, and was wonderfully, unusually blunt and honest for an American diplomat. Here is the exchange immediately following a lengthy whine from the reporters on the âhumiliationâ to which all Arabs were subjected by the televised medical examination of Saddam Hussein: Close encounter with a US diplomat. (Hat tip: Baldy.)
Khalil: Then why were the Americans up in arms when the Iraqis showed US POWs on TV? You said POWs should not be treated this way. Why are you doing that now -- isnât he a POW?
Welch: Yes, there is a difference. Look at Saddam Hussein. I cannot believe you guys are defending this guy.
... snip ...
Nyier Abdou: Whether or not you want to call it abuse, there certainly is a distinction between showing somebody in this manner and showing them in a more dignified way. I think what makes people angry is that the US fails to see how this kind of imagery will inflame people, and that they do it anyway, and thatâs what really makes people angry. It is a misunderstanding of what is going to convince people.
Welch: I think your moral compass has gone crazy. I think you should be looking at the Iraqi people and their reaction to this. Your reaction puzzles me to be honest. Can we move on because this is boring...
Diplomacy was once describe as the art of saying "Nice doggy" whilst looking for a big rock. I think Welch has a pocketful of stones.
#1
The complete round table discussion between Amb. Welch and the Al-Ahram weekly can be found here.
I found this exchange amusing: Nevine Khalil: And what if there is democracy in the region and the people decide to elect governments that are not friendly to the US? What would you do about that?
Welch: You mean like France? This is a good opening. Forgive me because I am not a very good diplomat and I tend to say what's on my mind and I say it straight. It may at times bother you a little bit, but I don't mean any offense. I just believe in honesty. So I am going to be very honest.
#2
David Welch is my kind of Diplomat- which means the Saoodi payroll/Francophile asshats at Foggy Bottom will do all they can to sneer at and sabotage this fine ambassador
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/19/2003 21:14 Comments ||
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#3
I just finished reading the discussion between David Welch and Al-Ahram participants. Great read! Great ambassador! We need more discussions like these to clear the air and lower the walls between us. At least the effort should be made. Hats off to Ambassador Welch!
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/19/2003 22:47 Comments ||
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Israel Law Center Director Nitsana Darshan-Leitner has written a letter to Attorney General John Ashcroft, warning that the Palestinian put in charge of investigating the Gaza roadside bombing that killed 3 Americans in OctoberâRashid Abu Shabakâis probably the perpetrator.
In her letter, Darshan-Leitner writes: âIt is a disgraceful that the individual assigned by the Palestinian Authority to investigate the murders of Branchizio, Linde and Parsons is himself a leading terrorist suspected of numerous other roadside bombings in Gaza. If the United States is sincere about making arrests then it must not tolerate Rashid Abu Shabak heading up this crucial inquiry. The similarities between the October 15th roadside bombing and the roadside bombing of the Kfar Darom school bus in November 2000 cannot be ignored. We urge the Department of Justice to initiate its own investigation of Abu Shabak and his role in prior Gaza terror attacks, some of which have seriously injured American citizens.â ...
According to the Shurat HaDin letter, Abu Shabak, a protege of Palestinian leader Mohammed Dahlan, has an extensive terrorist past. Abu Shabak, along with Dahlan are the leading suspects in several other
Severely EFL
4. The United States and Islamic fundamentalist terrorist forces are both bracing for a decisive showdown in Iraq estimated to erupt in March-April 2004. Al Qaeda and the Iranian-backed Hizballah have secretly put their ace operative, Imad Mughniyeh, in place in Iraq to lead the Islamic side into battle as its chief of staff. Israel will not be left on the sidelines of this confrontation which could well peak in May or even June, six months hence.
5. As this showdown approaches, Washington is unlikely to let Syria continue to get away with furnishing its enemies in Iraq with arms and funds or shielding the Hizballah terrorists. The coming months are therefore expected to bring the Bush administration to its moment of truth with the Assad regime.
6. Within six months, Iran may have built itself a nuclear bomb â the most dangerous challenge of all to both America and Israel.
All six processes are due to come to a head in roughly six months. This is the dynamic at the back of Sharonâs mind. When that happens, he expects the controversial terms âunilateral,â âdisengagement,â âseparation,â âredeployment of settlementsâ and even possibly âroad mapâ â in a word, his own bombastic Separation Plan - to fade into irrelevance. With Debka, I can never figure out if they are a couple of guys sitting around in their basement making stuff up or do have access to sources. I incline towards the former, but tend to agree with their analysis in this case. I think the Middle East is heading towards a crisis and either Syria or Iran will mis-calculate. The USA has gone past the point of no return in the region and I donât see how it can end before both the Syrian and Iranian regimes are gone.
#1
A few months ago, John Loftus, a lawyer and former intelligence officer who has amazing intelligence contacts, said something to the effect that the US military invasion of Syria would occur in the Spring. The US wants to get Iraq's WMD, which are buried in Lebanon's (thus, Syria's) Bekaa Valley and in Syria at a site near Alleppo, and Assad's uncooperativeness (is that a word?) in controlling the infiltration of foreign fighters will be his downfall. He also said that Syria would fall in about three days to US forces.
Posted by: Tibor ||
12/19/2003 17:28 Comments ||
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#2
Gaddafi's move might put more pressure on Syria. I would not be that pessimistic unless Assad is a real dumbo. I mean, he probably won't have enough time to grow a beard. You know, THAT kind of a beard...
#3
If "ace operative" Imad Mughniyeh is even involved, I can almost guarantee he will "lead" the "Islamic side" into "battle" from the comfort of his Lebanese hideout.
There, that uses up my quota of sneer quotes for the day...
Posted by: Carl in N.H. ||
12/19/2003 18:16 Comments ||
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#4
...both the Syrian and Iranian regimes are gone.
Gone, as in, 'overthrown,' gone, or 'vaporized,' gone?
Noted while reading antique magazines in the doctor's office yesterday... Probably apocryphal, but inspiring nonetheless.
An interviewer asked Ann Coulter to respond to charges she was a grouch. Her reply: "That's the most asinine question I've ever heard. Get away from me, kid, or I'll sic the dogs on you! And stay off my lawn or I'll call the cops, see if I don't!"
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/19/2003 15:43 ||
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Well, against nukes in South Korea:
Pyongyang, December 19 (KCNA) -- The Puan County Peopleâs Measure Committee for Foiling the Plan to Build Nuclear Waste Dumping Ground and Eliminating Nuclear Power Plant, the "National Peopleâs Solidarity" and the Peopleâs Action against Nukes in south Korea reportedly held a rally of the residents in Puan demanding peace and existence against nukes in front of the Fishermenâs Cooperative in Puan County on December 13. The rally was attended by at least 20,000 people including residents of the county, workers, farmers and students from other regions of south Korea.
Tan Pyong Ho, chairman of the (south) Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, and Kim Je Nam, secretary general of the Green Federation, made speeches there. They reiterated the need to continue the struggle till the construction plan is completely cancelled, saying that the "government" agreed to conduct an opinion poll in face of the strong protest and denunciation of people from all walks of life but has not yet given up the plan to build the nuclear waste dumping ground.
Fr. Mun Kyu Hyon who has been on sit-in hunger strike in front of the cooperative office for the last more than 30 consecutive days called for joining efforts to frustrate the plan to build a nuclear waste dumping ground and build a beautiful society free from nukes, asserting that nuke means death and no nukes should be allowed to exist on this land.
A resolution adopted at the rally demanded the "government" authorities immediately cancel the plan, contending that the struggle against the building of the ground should not be limited to an action of the residents in Puan only but be a regionwide struggle. At the end of the rally, the participants held the 141st candlelight rally in protest against the building of the ground. Guess only North Koreans can be trusted with nukes.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/19/2003 1:42:27 PM ||
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After two world-renowned architects spent months debating the size and shape of the tower that will rise at the World Trade Center site, a compromise design was announced Friday for what could be the worldâs tallest building — and one that incorporates safety features like separate staircases for firefighters and âblast-resistant glazeâ on the lobby glass. Called the Freedom Tower, the structure will be a "soaring tribute" to the fallen heroes of Sept. 11, 2001, and to freedom, Gov. George Pataki told "Today". The Lower Manhattan Development Corp., which oversees the rebuilding, says the tower will rise 1,776 feet, culminating in a spire and evoking the Statue of Liberty. Liebskin told "Today" that the height, 1,776 feet, reflects "a date that speaks to the whole world" — Americaâs year of independence. Iâm crying here. The rest of the article contains some enviromentalist nonsense, but we should enjoy this day. We will be building an statement of life, not some senseless "memorial", or a smaller building as some rabid cowards proposed. Letâs enjoy the triumph of Reason.
#1
This is great news, but I'm curious what advances have been made--if any--in fighting high-rise fires since 9/11? Every other month or so I bring out the "9/11" DVD (the fire dept. documentary by the two French bros.) and still shake my head in disbelief as company after company of firefighters march into the lobby of Tower 1 and start their arduous trek up 70-80 flights of stairs--and what were they expecting to do with their handtools once they got to the levels on fire?
I think safety glass and separate staircases are hardly improvements that will matter if a fire breaks out on the 80th floor. The firefighters will have no more choices than they had on 9/11.
Posted by: Dar ||
12/19/2003 13:05 Comments ||
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#2
Worlds tallest... that's the best F*CK YOU ever.
#3
the problem with 9/11 was the massive amount of jet fuel, which completely overwhelmed the sprinklers/halon system and structurally weakened the steel frame. A normal highrise fire doesn't have the amount of combustible fuel, and can be fought... the only way to prevent the same occurrence is to stop the hijacking in the first place
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/19/2003 13:20 Comments ||
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#4
Make it the best, biggest, shining building. You go New York!
#5
We need four tall buildings in a row, with one of the middle two being forty percent taller than the others.
A two-thousand foot, "jihad this, buddy."
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
12/19/2003 13:48 Comments ||
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#6
Structurally, this building will be 70 stories high, shorter than the Empire State Building, or its predecessor twin towers, which were 110 stories high. (The amount of office space in the 9-building complex will be the same as before, with taller surrounding buildings making up for the shortfall).
#7
New York should get their architects to build bigger buildings all around. If every building in lower Manhatten was 1,776 feet tall none would stand out as a target.
#9
I don't think you'll ever see a hijacking quite like that again. For sucess the hijacking required that the passengers not have a conception that they might be used as a missile to hurt others.
The most likely case is that a cargo plane would be hijacked. Eventually we will need some kind of identification code specific to each pilot that is authorized to fly a cargo or passenger flight in American airspace. This will not be foolproof, but steady improvement should be the goal.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
12/19/2003 14:05 Comments ||
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#10
As Jonah Goldberg wrote in his NRO post shortly after 9/11, they should put the memorial to the victims on the roof of the building . . . right next to the anti-aircraft guns.
Posted by: Tibor ||
12/19/2003 14:14 Comments ||
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#11
1,776 feet -- that's gonna be a long way for Osama to fall.
Posted by: Matt ||
12/19/2003 14:22 Comments ||
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#12
New York should get their architects to build bigger buildings all around. If every building in lower Manhatten was 1,776 feet tall none would stand out as a target.
Above a certain height, each story costs a lot more money to build. Combined with the danger of another terrorist strike, I doubt we'll see too many other buildings as tall (structurally, meaning occupied floors) as the twin towers being built in the US. Probably the biggest practical problem is getting insurance against such attacks at an affordable price.
#14
While emotionally, a tall "fuck you" is very satisfying, you know, New York City has a surplus of office space, I believe a big surplus. So, who will finance a gigantic office tower and, after all the cheering dies down, will the other real estate interests in the City keep quiet about this huge dilution of their value?
Posted by: Seymour Paine ||
12/19/2003 15:12 Comments ||
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#15
Above a certain height
Zhang Fei what's the height and has it changed over the last say 30 years?
#16
the problem with 9/11 was the massive amount of jet fuel, which completely overwhelmed the sprinklers/halon system and structurally weakened the steel frame
I saw some program that placed the fire problem on the office furniture. The argument was that the jet fuel burned out relatively quickly, but that the combustible office furniture, etc., is what got the temperature so high for so long. Any thoughts on that?
#17
Another factor is that the asbestos insulation used in protecting the structural beams only went up to about the 65th floor. For thre up, the steel was basically bare.
Posted by: Tibor ||
12/19/2003 16:32 Comments ||
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#18
cingold, I heard the fire was fueled by all the paper.
Aside from commercial considerations of cost, insurance, and dilution of real estate value, who will be willing to work in the top stories now?
I think they should bag building another WTC-sited skyscraper and just build the Memorial. Make the rest a park--NYC could use the green space.
As patriotic and defiant as this new design sounds, 30 stories of windmills looks dumb and chickenshit to me, as if we're building it higher than the WTC, but not really.
The Twin Towers are gone, but their "place" in the NY skyline will always be there as will as a piece of the souls of the people who died there.
Bring back the Beams of Light, too, and turn them on every night forever.
Remember the 9/11 dead and the WTC, but don't build this.
#19
Seymour, the Port Authority certainly will need the space. They built the original WTC and occupied a huge chunk of it until retail demand caught up with the supply in south Manhatten.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/19/2003 19:44 Comments ||
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#20
"Who will be willing to work in the top stories now?" I'd have no problem working there; though I'd have a parachute stuffed under the desk for peace of mind.
Posted by: Les Nessman ||
12/19/2003 23:54 Comments ||
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In the past 48 hours, there has been an increase in terrorist threats to a number of cities in the U.S., including New York City, Los Angeles and Washington D.C., ABCNEWS has learned. Threat information is coming from intelligence intercerpts, interrogation of recent detainees and other methods intelligence sources say. Sources say the threat to New York City involves a suicide bomber, possibly a female, but no specific target has been identified. In the threats received for other cities, including Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., no mode of attack has been identified and no location or specific cells were named. Discussions between local and federal law enforcement officials are currently under way to develop a response. Officials around the nation were already actively engaged in serious discussions with the Department of Homeland Security about whether events, chatter, and the time of year warrant elevating the threat level inside the United States to orange for the upcoming holiday season that starts tonight at sunset. "upcoming holiday season." They canât bring themselves to say "Hanukkah," which starts tonight. Pray for us here in NYC.
#3
Strange--the terror alert remains at "Elevated"/Yellow. Hard to believe that they have anything substantial and haven't raised the level.
Posted by: Dar ||
12/19/2003 12:48 Comments ||
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#4
Anything OFFICIAL about this. I mean come-on this is ABC Entertainment News for crying out loud. I place them right above the National Enquirer and Weekly World News.
#7
I used to work in administration for a law enforcement agency (DOC) in NYC and I still have a few contacts there. I have not heard anything regarding an increase in threat level here, but I will ask again. I haven't really noticed a bigger police presence lately, but then again I live and work in Queens. I live in a predominantly Muslim neighborhood too and I have not noticed an exodus of people.
A few weeks ago, however, people I knew were worried because they thought something might be down around the end of Ramadan. Not sure if any of you living here noticed, but there were fighter jets circling the city, especially a few days after the Eid festival. You probably would have noticed them more in the evening or at night. That got me a bit freaked out, but I have not noticed fighters lately.
#8
Dar -- The threat level never moves until AFTER something has happened or been stopped. I suspect it has been abandoned.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
12/19/2003 14:05 Comments ||
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#9
Update from ABC's page:
"We have remained concerned about the volume of reporting of threats and that is why the Department of Homeland Security has sent out several bulletins over the past few weeks to homeland security officials and law enforcement personnel, urging all to continue be on heightened state of alert especially, as we enter the busy holiday season," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said today at a news conference.
[...]
Considerations underpinning the discussions include the capture of Saddam Hussein, information gleaned from online chat rooms, classified information arising from one of the former Soviet republics and increased concerns of authorities in Italy, the United Kingdom and Poland, sources say.
The discussions are part of an intense series of conference calls and personal meetings between officials that have been ongoing since at least Wednesday, as the nation enters the holiday rush.
An estimated 500,000 people are expected to flood into New York City for this year's Times Square New Year Eve's bash.
[...]
Mitigating against raising the level to orange are fiscal considerations. State officials say the cost of raising the threat level is too high unless there is a specific threat. Today in New York City, law enforcement officials began finalizing their plans for the New Year's security package, which will include the welding shut of manhole covers, the removal of post office boxes, and the preparation of a rodeo-like series of pens and gates that funnel backpack-less revelers into the area along Broadway.
Heavy weapons teams, bomb squads, city, state and federal weapons of mass destruction units, bioterror sensors, undercover agents, thousands of uniformed officers and so-called Arch Angel convoys â units trained to remove dignitaries in case of an incident â are all part of the plan.
Sources said there is only a "slight chance" the nation could go to orange and it is much more likely that additional alerts will go out and local officials can then choose how to respond on their own.
#10
Pardon a stranger for buttin in, but we are leaving for NY in the morning....and I do not for one minute intend to let this disrupt my Holidays.
You folks in NY be safe and careful and always diligent and if you see me walking down Broadway, give us a shout out. No place I would rather be if I'm not here in Texas....Holiday Greetings Ya'll
#11
I work in midtown Manhattan, and there have been lots of low-flying helicopters hovering over the city for the past month or two. I watched one this morning hover at about 1500 ft. over 5th Avenue for at least 15-20 minutes. Others seem to be circling around the island slowly. I guess they could be news or traffic choppers, but my guess is that they have radiation detectors or some other similar equipment. One can hope.
On a related note, I am on the 41st floor of my building, and my office faces east. Before 9/11, I never noticed the planes going by on their way to and from La Guardia and Kennedy. Now I hear every plane that goes by. Any time I hear one that is particularly loud, I immediately look up. I thought my sensitivity to this would diminish as 9/11 became more distant, but it hasn't. It's unsettling, but I do think it helps me to remember why we're at war and who we're fighting, and also that they brought this on themselves, the miserable pricks.
Sorry for the rant.
Posted by: Tibor ||
12/19/2003 14:24 Comments ||
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#12
"...information gleaned from online chat rooms..."
Very long article, go read the whole thing. Just a few lines:
Set against such rumination we consider the new Universal Heritage Foundation - situated in Orlandoâs tourist corridor â which will on Friday December 19, give locals an opportunity to combine both the fun of the Magic Kingdom with Islamic fundamentalism and the Muslim Caliphate. Now there is a mental picture.
Located just 15 miles from Disney World, the 31 acre campus of the Universal Heritage Foundation is sponsoring its âIslam for Humanityâ inaugural conference, which is expected to draw thousands of Muslims to Kissimmee Florida. Happening today, folks.
Editorâs note: As we go to press, the final location of the conference - like many of the other facts surrounding the story - seems to be in flux. Reports have been circulated that now the event will be held at a site in Oseola, Florida called the Oseola Heritage Park, apparently having been moved - unexpectedly - from its original location, the UHF Center itself. Various reasons for the sudden venue change have been offered, but the conflicting nature of these excuses merely provides further evidence of the subterfuge surrounding this event. In many ways, it simply provides punctuation to the question: "What are these people trying to hide?"
... for now.
The UHF is an Islamic âpropagationâ center founded by the Islamic Circle of North America and the Muslim American Society - two of the largest and most radical Muslim, organizations in the United States. ------ Snipped ------
Documents show Hamas officials have participated in previous ICNA events. UHF director Zulfiqar Ali Shah is past president of the ICNA. Ali Shah was also the principal at the Sunrise School of Islamic Studies whose co-founder, Mohammed Javed Qureshi, was "dirty bomber" suspect Jose Padillaâs direct supervisor at a local Taco Bell. Padilla, whose Islamic name is Abdullah al Muhajir, is being held in solitary confinement at a military brig in Charleston, SC. According to ABC news - "Al Muhajir later told him he had accepted Islam at a mosque and had taken the Muslim name Ibrahim. Qureshi said after that, he saw al Muhajir at the mosque at the Sunrise School of Islamic Studies and the Islamic Center of South Florida in Pompano Beach." ------------Snipped------------
If that is the case let us examine the ongoing story of Pastor Lee Wassonâs Kissimmee Christian Academy. The Academy provides a faith-based curriculum from second grade through high school. Unfortunately the Academyâs 6 acres of fenced grounds are adjoined by a 25 acre parcel that, by happenstance, serves as the location of the UHF compound. Nice neighbors
Together, the 31 acre combined properties comprise what used to be David Peopleâs, South Eastern Academy - a travel & culinary school - which eventually filed for bankruptcy. It was in this bankruptcy proceeding that Super Stop Petroleum Company became the landlord to both UHF and the Kissimmee Christian Academy, the chief corporate officer of Super Stop? Denise Qureshi. There is a possible alias with the name however, Muhammed K. Qureshi is another possibility. Qureshi [or the Qureshis, as the case may be] own an impressive list of holdings, at least one, apparently with Shahida A Siddiqui. Since the Pastorâs landlord became Qureshiâs petroleum company, he has been continuously harassed and the particular form of harassment has taken its toll on the students, the parents and the financial health of the school. --------Snipped--------
We are being asked to believe that their is no link between the events and facts in this case, that the new landlord, Qureshi â who just happens, apparently, to be an Arab in the petroleum business â the Islamic UHF center, whose adherents just happen to spout anti-Semitic, anti-Christian hate speech and the now constant harassment of the Kissimmee Christian Academy, are totally unrelated. Of course they are unrelated, donât you know Islam is the religion of peace?
Posted by: Steve ||
12/19/2003 12:02:59 PM ||
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#1
Mohammed Javed Qureshi, was "dirty bomber" suspect Jose Padillaâs direct supervisor at a local Taco Bell.
More Padilla info coming out....I think they done with him. Wrung him dry. Expect more dirty bomb fallout in your local papers soon.
Posted by: B ||
12/19/2003 12:27 Comments ||
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Update from WESH.com: KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- Leaders at a Christian school in Kissimmee canceled classes Friday because of concerns about a controversial Islamic conference that's in town.
The original site for the three-day event was on property shared by the Kissimmee Christian Academy and the Universal Heritage Foundation that is sponsoring the conference, WESH NewsChannel 2 reported. Anti-hate groups said the original guest list read like a who's who of Islamic extremists. The Islamic Society of Central Florida asked organizers to either cancel the event or change the guest list. Organizers later said some of the controversial speakers will not be attending. The event, entitled "Islam for Humanity," has been moved to the Silver Spurs Arena. Organizers said people of all faiths are welcome to attend.
Hah, they got too much attention. The speakers will now be all full of peace and love, in front of the cameras at any rate.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/19/2003 14:32 Comments ||
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#3
It's not what they say on the floor, but rather what's said in the break-out sessions that matters.
I hope some enterprising FBI agents have some rooms bugged and reliable translators at hand.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
12/19/2003 15:10 Comments ||
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Former FBI director Louis Freeh testified yesterday that he believed there was "overwhelming evidence" that senior Iranian government officials financed and directed the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia. Gee, Iran again. Go figure.
Freeh testified as a key witness on behalf of the families of 12 Americans killed in the bombing, who are suing the government of Iran. The former director took particular interest in the investigation into the bombing, traveling to Saudi Arabia soon after the June 25, 1996, explosion. The bombing ripped a dormitory in half and killed 19 Air Force servicemen and servicewomen. Freehâs testimony came at a fragile stage in the civil trial, which is in its third week and had been set to end today. U.S. Magistrate Judge Deborah A. Robinson said last week she might dismiss the suit if the plaintiffs could not produce Freeh and his former FBI counterterrorism chief, Dale Watson, the other critical witness in the case. Neither man got clearance from the Justice Department to testify until late last Friday night. Funny, I havenât seen any coverage of this trial. Youâd think that the press would be all over it, saying Bush failed to protect our troops in 1996 and failed to investigate......Oh, right, wrong president.
Freeh told Robinson he was "heavily involved" in the Khobar investigation, and had traveled to the bomb site hours after the explosion. He said he spent nearly two years trying to persuade Saudi diplomats to let FBI agents interview six Saudi citizens whom the Saudi government considered the bombingâs perpetrators, and he ultimately succeeded. They did talk to them? When did this happen?
"They admitted they were members of Saudi Hezbollah," Freeh said. "They admitted complicity in the act. And they implicated senior Iranian officials in the funding and planning of the attack." Robinson repeatedly questioned what led Freeh to his conclusion that Iran was responsible, other than the confessions of six Saudis. Freeh responded that other witnesses and evidence corroborated their stories. He said they also named leaders in the Iranian military and information agency who helped select the target site and pay for the groupâs training and explosives. Hummm, now who do you suppose gave clearance for Freeh to release this information?
Outside the courtroom, Freeh said in a brief interview that he rejects recent theories that al Qaeda may have had a role in the Khobar Towers attack. Interesting, is somebody winding up another clock?
Posted by: Steve ||
12/19/2003 11:18:32 AM ||
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#1
is somebody winding up another clock?
interesting, indeed!
Posted by: B ||
12/19/2003 11:33 Comments ||
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#2
especially since Assad seems a bit more compliant these days.
Posted by: B ||
12/19/2003 11:35 Comments ||
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#3
Bigger Fish to Fry maybe. AQ = rogue punks. Iran = nest of terrorist coordinating, passport faking, car bomb institutes with chow lines and dormitory houseing.
#4
I know it's the WaPo, but why do they have to include this little disclaimer supposedly of Freeh's at the end that Al Queda didn't have a role in this act of SA terrorism?
Where's Freeh going with this? That we're going after the wrong guys or what?
That Islamist terrorist groups don't work together and trade off doing attacks?
Also, let's not forget that Hezbollah was behind the bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut in 1983, too.
I'm sure the Marines with their boots on the ground in Iraq haven't forgotten either bombing, either.
Heheh.
#5
#5 During his tenure as director of the Bureau, Louis Freeh spent more time on the Khobar Towers bombing than any other single issue. That's a fact. The Iranian connection -- as I recall -- also involved an association between between Hani al-Sayegh (one of the suspects) and the Iranian MOIS (to include Ali Fallahian). The training, suuposedly, was conducted by the IRGC Quds Force at a camp near Qom in Iran and logistics were facilitated by and smuggled into S.A. with the assistance of the Lebanese Hizballah (Iran's long-time client group (since 1982, in fact). All of this has been published -- a bit here, a bit there -- over time but those are major linkages. Alos, recall that during that timeframe (1996), was when Iran intially established their policy of supporting Gulf Hizballah groups (Saudi, Kuwaiti, Bahraini) in order to destabilize those regimes. What is interesting is that prior to the attack at Khobar in June, a conference was held in Tehran attended by a rep from Al-Qaeda, the Egyptian Gama'a and IJ groups and the Lebanese Hizballah where allegedly the groups agreed to support each other (in word) which was a big breakthrough owing to the fact that this body included both Shia and Sunni adherents. A communique from this meeting was issued under the name of the Movement for Islamic Change. Following the June 1996 Khobar bombing, one of the claimers for the attack was made in the name of the Islamic Change Movement. Coincidence? Probably not. My take is that Saudi Hizballah did Khobar (just as the former director asserts), that the Iranian mullahs facilitated the operations through the use of their security organs and the Lebanese group, and that some support (mostly $$$) to "set in" the "shooters" in safehouses, do final prep them and to try to hide them/exfiltrate after the op was accomplished with money from channels either controlled by or utilized by Bin Laden (hence his connection...in addition to him praising the attack). Of course, we don't know much, because the Saudis did not provide access to those apprehended and blamed for the attacks (before they lopped off their heads) lest the royal family be embarrassed that they did handle business properly. Not much has changed except for the fact that today that hide the fact that they got a BIG problem. Back then, they still were able sing the Egyptian river song, "I'm in De-Nile." Haha. That cracks me up everytime. In any event...that's it....for what it's worth.
EDITED
Americans think the war in Iraq was the right decision by a 2-1 margin and are more inclined to approve of the job done by President Bush in foreign policy and terrorism following the capture of Saddam Hussein, an Associated Press poll found. They remain wary, however, of the continuing deadly conflict in Iraq. Note there are no facts to support this statement... but it sets up the theme that they are trying to promote....remember that line in 12:00 High? "Go home...you have already lost the war!" Here they modify it to: "go home you have already won the war! Beware the "deadly conflict" quagmire." Still direct and to the point, though.
Saddamâs capture appears to have given Bushâs re-election prospects a boost: The poll conducted for the AP by Ipsos-Public Affairs found that nearly half of respondents, 45 percent, said they would definitely support Bushâs re-election, while 31 percent said they would definitely vote against him. A month ago, people were evenly divided on that question, at 37 percent definitely for and 37 percent definitely against. Clever how they use the word "definitely" to keep the percentage "supporting" Bush at the absolute minimum.
More than six in 10 registered voters, 63 percent, said they approved of Bushâs handling of foreign policy and terrorism, up from 54 percent who felt that way in early December in an AP-Ipsos poll. Bushâs overall job approval among voters was 59 percent, up from 53 percent in early December but still far below his mid-70s war ratings from earlier this year. NO need to feel complete despair..there is still hope those numbers may drop again!
Two-thirds in the poll said they were confident the United States would capture or kill Osama bin Laden, who is believed to have orchestrated the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Thatâs up from about half who felt that way in a poll in September. ``Iâm confident weâll capture Osama bin Laden,ââ said Jill Chiccino, a surgical technician from Wilmington, Del. ``I still donât feel that will solve terrorism, but it may help.ââ Interesting quote choice, considering the thousands available. Itâs just downright staggering in itâs stupidity. duh... golllyyy... ya think?? Could it be Al Guardian is worried that Binny will turn up soon?? Or maybe there just were no intelligent quotes available to support their theme (without pulling a Jason Blair) and this was the best they had:
Asked whether they thought Saddamâs capture last weekend would cause violence against U.S. troops to increase, decrease or stay about the same, the biggest group, 47 percent, said they expected no change. A third, 33 percent, said violence would decrease and 19 percent said it would increase. Clap, clap...well done! They managed to hide that 80% think that the violence will not increase and that almost twice as many think violence will decrease, than will increase.
I think we'll see a short-term increase, followed by gradual decrease. Where does that opinion fit in the question?
People were evenly divided on whether Saddam would get a fairer trial from an international tribunal or from Iraqi courts. ``Iraqi courts will be controlled and run by the United States,ââ said attorney Adam Allen of Tampa, Fla. Evenly divided, and thousands of quotes...I know...letâs pick this one!
Six in 10 thought the government was likely to be embarrassed by some of the information disclosed by Saddam in a trial. That was higher than the percentage of people who felt Saddamâs disclosures would embarrass the governments of France, Russia, Britain or Germany. Does a stripper get embarrassed when you see her naked? Bottom Line:
Overall support for Iraq policy was strong in the poll. Seven in 10 said they believed the Iraq war was an important part of the campaign against terrorism rather than a distraction, as some critics have charged. And by more than a 2-1 margin, people said the war was the right decision and not a mistake. There is more good news in this report...read it yourself. Itâs tough to take overwhelming numbers of support and make them look negative....but Al Guardian did a good job of reporting the truth while still managing a subtle negative spin. I rate this one an 8.5.
Posted by: B ||
12/19/2003 11:07:49 AM ||
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#3
And this "information" would be....?
The back-door maneuvering by the likes of Jim McDermott, US Government officials on the Saddam payroll, United Nations payoffs to ignore or lift sanctions, Bill Clinton's ineffective behavior toward Saddam, the "useful idiots" like Sean Penn who were wined and dined by Saddam and fed so much shit they almost choked, how the money was diverted from the Oil for Food program to the Oil for Palaces and Oil for Weapons programs, who helped out when with WMDs... the list could be virtually endless. Coming from Saddam's mouth, it would be ten times more damning than if it came from captured intelligence documents or government files.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/19/2003 12:43 Comments ||
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#4
OP - It'd be great to hear corroboration from Saddam, but I wouldn't find his rantings credible without those captured docs and files to back them up. He could spout off all kinds of lies right now and accuse just enough of the guilty that he could throw in some innocent names for spite and really wreak havoc, or tell just enough of the truth that his lies seem credible. I would never trust anything he says without any proof or corroboration.
Posted by: Dar ||
12/19/2003 12:55 Comments ||
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#5
..US Government officials on the Saddam payroll,..
That would be the only thing that would genuinely be embarrassing, especially if it were administration officials being bought off. All the other stuff, however, is potential egg on other people's faces.
The Paris Club of creditor states can agree a debt relief deal for Iraq quickly but the agreement can be signed only when the country has an internationally recognized leadership, the Paris Clubâs president said on Thursday. Increasing hopes that a deal will be reached, Britain said during a European tour by U.S. special envoy James Baker that it backed the idea of a substantial reduction in debts estimated at $120 billion. The British comment echoed similar political pledges made this week by France, Germany and Italy after talks with Baker, who was visiting Britain and Russia on Thursday. This article makes no mention of Japan, even though they agree too.
I know all of this is old news to Rantburgers by now. But, I have a question I havenât seen addressed anywhere. What, exactly, did Baker tell/show France and Germany? Iâm thinking that the US has piles of info that could be damaging to those countries should it "leak." Maybe the threat of some arm-twisting was enough to make them fall in line?
Posted by: growler ||
12/19/2003 10:24:34 AM ||
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I'm leery of any notions about us twisting their arms with damaging info. A more likely cause of Frogreich's newfound spirit of cooperation, I suspect, is their realization that they're probably going to have to be dealing with Bush for another 5 years- that, and their increasing perception of having been outsmarted.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
12/19/2003 10:40 Comments ||
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#2
Looks like they left themselves a bit of weasel room.
but the agreement can be signed only when the country has an internationally recognized leadership,
Posted by: B ||
12/19/2003 11:53 Comments ||
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#3
One of the other posts implies that the contracts for rebuilding are being used as a lever. I am skeptical but, economically speaking, all three countries are experiencing nearly flat growth. Putin appears safe, but Chirac and Shroeder may need the contract and a percentage of the debt paid up to help their economic woes.
If this was the intention of the administrations quite generous rebuilding package from the get-go, this is a masterstroke. It will force the dissenters will have to acknowledge the new Iraq as legitimate and good.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
12/19/2003 12:05 Comments ||
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#4
An internationally Frogistan recognized Iraqi leadership could also repudiate the debts as odious, so these guys are playing with fire. Presumably hoping that if they have a pre-cut compromise deal on the table, the new Iraqi gov't will take it. That leaves us plenty of capability to spend the next few months 'reminding' the Weasels that our recommendation in that matter could vary, depending on their behavior. Conclusion: Baker may not need to use Saddam intel or reconstruction contracts as leverage - simply the statement 'this is the best you are going to get, perhaps you should take it.'
Forgot all about this arrest:
A suspected arms dealer accused of supporting terrorists in a missile-smuggling plot also offered to deliver tanks, anti-aircraft guns and a radioactive "dirty bomb," prosecutors said after the man was indicted Thursday. Hemant S. Lakhani also offered to broker a deal for several tons of C-4 explosive, according to the federal indictment. Lakhani, 68, an Indian-born British citizen, has been held without bail since his arrest in August following a sting operation. His lawyer, Henry E. Klingeman, said his client is not a terrorist and has no history of illegal arms trafficking. Klingeman added that Lakhani had no ability to obtain a "dirty bomb" or the military equipment. "The plot constituting the governmentâs case was conceived, planned and executed by government agents. Mr. Lakhani was set up by a paid informant and induced to participate," Klingeman said. "Lies, all lies!"
Prosecutors say more than 150 covertly recorded conversations prove that Lakhani was trying to deal arms to terrorists. One video taken minutes before Lakhaniâs arrest shows him handling an anti-aircraft missile in a hotel near Newark Airport, U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie said. He added that Lakhani believed he was obtaining the weapon for a man representing a Somali terrorist group. The shoulder-fired missile was a fake, provided by undercover Russian agents working with the FBI. "The evidence makes clear that Lakhani had the intention and ability to put a missile into the hands of a terrorist," Christie said. "It also shows that he suggested a plan for multiple attacks on American cities with the missiles he was willing to sell to people he believed would do it." The prosecutor said Lakhani said the missiles could be used most effectively in terrorizing America if 10 to 15 commercial aircraft were shot down simultaneously across the country. Charges against Lakhani include money laundering, providing material support to terrorists and unlawful brokering of foreign defense articles. The two money-laundering counts carry the longest maximum sentence: 20 years in prison. They are also the easiest to prove.
Lakhani is expected to plead innocent when arraigned, probably within the next two weeks. Still got time to cut a deal.
Also arrested in August were Yehuda Abraham, 76, a New York diamond dealer, and an Indian citizen, Moinuddeen Ahmed Hameed, 38. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Clark declined to say why they were not indicted with Lakhani. Abraham, who is free on $10 million bond, and Hameed, who is being held without bail, remain charged in an FBI complaint with conspiring to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/19/2003 10:22:08 AM ||
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dirty bomb? Is he related to Padilla? Now that Padilla is going to the civilian courts, I suspect his intel is either used up or not as useful. Maybe we'll see more on the dirty bomb case/connections now.
Posted by: B ||
12/19/2003 11:31 Comments ||
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Bhutanese troops have captured seven senior Indian rebel leaders during fierce fighting. Five other leaders, including the founder of a rebel group, have died fighting the troops in southern Bhutan.
Hurrah for Bhutan!
More than 130 people have died since the Bhutanese army launched its first offensive against three Indian rebel groups on Monday. The rebels have for years used Bhutan as a base to strike against India. For their first operation, this is pretty damm good.
All the senior rebel leaders killed and captured in the latest fighting belonged to the United Liberation Front of Assam (Ulfa), a Bhutanese military official told the BBC. One of the dead rebels is the founder of (Ulfa), Bhimkanta Buragohain. Among those arrested is Bening Rabha, who was in charge of the Ulfa bases in Bhutan and a top leader of the groupâs military wing. Senior leaders Apruba Deka, Satish Hazarika and Ranjit Hazarika are reported to have been killed. Sounds like they nailed most of the leadership.
Bhutan has rejected an offer by the rebel groups to move out of their bases if the army operation against them is halted. "Weâre winning, why stop now?"
"Troops have arrested more than 150 rebels, including some leaders, and many more are expected to surrender," a Bhutanese official said. The Royal Bhutan Army has started handing over the rebels to India, the Indian army chief said. "The first batch of seven arrested militants has been handed over. The rest will follow," army chief Nirmal Chand Vij told BBC. The three rebel groups have called for a two-day strike beginning Saturday demanding the return of the bodies of their fighters to the families. A joint statement by the groups said the strike would be "indefinite" if the bodies of the fighters were not returned. I donât think you have much leverage about now.
A rebel group in the north-eastern state of Tripura told the BBC that they would be sending 100 fighters to join the rebels fighting Bhutanese forces as a "mark of solidarity". Oh, thatâs a real smart move.
The group All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF) has shared a close relationship with Ulfa. The three rebel groups involved in the fighting are Ulfa, the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) and the Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (KLO). Ulfa is fighting for Assamâs independence from India while the NDFB and the KLO are bandidos fighting for separate tribal homelands. Why canât you all just get along?
About 6,000 Bhutanese troops have destroyed almost all of the 30 rebel camps in the country during the offensive. The camps were said to have sheltered about 3,000 rebels. Indian troops have been deployed on the countryâs border with Bhutan to prevent rebels from fleeing into India. "We are sealing the border on our side so that anyone who is trying to escape this side can be apprehended," said the Indian army chief. Hammer, meet anvil.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/19/2003 9:46:44 AM ||
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Bodoland?
Posted by: Matt D ||
12/19/2003 13:30 Comments ||
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EFL
Jonathan Chait
...I realize that there is a certain irony here. Earlier this year I wrote a piece for TNR [The New Republic] that defended hatred of President Bush. (I argued that hating Bush may lead to irrationality â rooting against the capture of Saddam Hussein, or, say, nominating Howard Dean â but itâs not irrational in and of itself.) But recently Iâm finding that Dean hatred is crowding out Bush hatred in my mental space... Bush is like the next-door neighbor who lets his dog poop on your lawn and his kid shoot bbâs at your house and who says something irritating to you every day on his way to work. Dean, on the other hand, is like the neâer-do-well whoâs dating your daughter. You realize the neighbor is a worse person than the boyfriend, but the boyfriend (and the frightening prospect that heâll become your son-in-law) consumes more of your attention... The writer kindly provides a chronicle of his own descent into madness. Could be a nobel prize for literature except that Tennessee Williams already did it.
Posted by: mhw ||
12/19/2003 8:25:35 AM ||
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Chait is a prime doofus. He represents the triumph of glibness over reason, and is a perfect illustration of why liberalism is a spent force in the US. Chait is the main reason I am letting my subscription to TNR lapse, and I have been a reader for over 20 years.
Japan will begin building a missile defense system, the government said Friday, the first step of long-discussed plans to protect the country amid concerns about the threat from North Korea.
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumiâs Cabinet and his top security advisers approved the project, citing ``a spread of missiles and a rise in weapons of mass destruction,ââ Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said in a statement. ``Ballistic missile defense is a purely defensive - and the sole - means of protecting the lives of our countryâs people and their property against a ballistic missile attack,ââ the statement said. "Our other choice was developing nuclear weapons."
"EEEEEEEKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!"
"My apologies, I forgot the Chinese ambassador was attending this conference."
Fukuda did not explain details of the program. Media reports said the plan calls for refitting four Aegis-equipped destroyers with sea-based anti-missile rockets and purchasing Patriot anti-missile rocket batteries starting next year. The new system will be deployed from 2007 through 2011, Kyodo News reported. And by 2007 the Aegis/Patriot system may have a few new wrinkles.
The government will allocate $935 million for the program in the next fiscal year beginning April, while the cost for the entire program was estimated at $4.67 billion, the agency said. Thatâs big money by Japanese defense standards.
The project will not fully shield Japan from incoming missiles, however. Analysts say the sea-based missiles and the Patriot missiles have imperfect success rates for shooting down projectiles. Their limited number also means they cannot provide cover for the entire country.
Oh. Well. In that case, don't defend any of it...
Fukuda stressed missile defense was not offensive in nature and wouldnât be a menace to others. That statement appeared aimed at allaying the concerns of China and other neighbors that the system could signal a move toward building greater military power. "No, no, certainly not!"
``It will not threaten neighboring countries, and will not have a detrimental affect on the regionâs stability,ââ Fukuda said. He added it would not violate Japanese laws against defending other nations, since the system would be used exclusively by Japan for its own protection. You South Koreans are on your own!"
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/19/2003 12:47:58 AM ||
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Hmmmmmmmmm....
We've seen what the Asians can do when they really, really want to accomplish something. The Japanese are ready to do whatever it takes to defend themselves from NKor. I would be very surprised if the Aegis/Patriot systems they deploy are identical to the ones the US government sold them. I also expect to see some negotiations with the Israelis over the "Arrow" system under development there. If Bush is any kind of heavy thinker (or if Rice or one of his other advisers do some skull work), we may see a "cooperative agreement" worked out where the free nations of the world share their joint information about missile defense, with improvements being developed in many different countries. Those improvements may or may not be implemented throughout the free world, but I'm sure they WILL be discussed.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/19/2003 1:01 Comments ||
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Japan said Thursday it was reviewing its self-imposed ban on arms exports to develop sophisticated missile defense systems with the United States. The government is expected to lift the ban for parts that could be used by the United States to produce missile defense-related equipment, the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper reported Thursday.The system will comprise US-developed SM-3 missiles launched from Japan's high-tech Aegis guided missile destroyers and land-based Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) anti-missile systems.
Going to be joint development and production program, that'll save money on both sides.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/19/2003 8:44 Comments ||
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#3
I am glad we exported Aegis technology to Japan. I don't have a problem with providing Patriot batteries to Taiwan, but I would prefer to keep Aegis radar systems from proliferating.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
12/19/2003 11:46 Comments ||
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#4
SH is it true that the radar is what really does the missle killin? Are the SM3s are just like a magicians slight of hand. Follow the smoke trail and ignore the death-ray!
#5
SH is it true that the radar is what really does the missle killin?
Homey don't think so. I think they still use a 55 radar for terminal guidance. Those things make me nervous. I imagine they can cook you from the inside close-up, but I don't know how far out the effect will project.
I posted yesterday that maybe the Israeli's were using a 55 radar to explode suicide bombers before they got to target, but I was obviously wrong. It has been nearly 24 hours and I haven't been stranggled by a Mossad agent. I must have been barking up the wrong tree. :-)
Posted by: Super Hose ||
12/19/2003 14:18 Comments ||
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#6
SH, their not killing you may be a subtle form of disinformation.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
12/19/2003 15:01 Comments ||
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#7
You got it RC. Not killing is one of the 3 weapons of the Mossad along with killin, sabotage, disinformation... wait one of the 4
#9
Friend of mine worked on the only ABM system we deployed, up in North Dakota, in the 1970's. Said they had a perimeter fence 750 feet from the base of the radar, not for security but because anyone getting closer than that not coming through the concrete-lined accessway would be cooked in 2-3 minutes. One of the big problems was dead birds - they'd fly up into the beam and "poof", instant, fully-cooked crow - feathers and all.
I took a radar course for non-specialists from GWU back in the 1980's. Some of the stuff they taught us would scare the crap out of half the lefties in the world. Some of the things you can do with radar, given the right frequency, the right antenna, and enough power...
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/19/2003 18:59 Comments ||
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#10
OP, sonar is the same way. In Norfolk there is often one ship allowed to use active sonar for testing and training. I made the mistake of going to inspect a empty storeroom on the hull of my ship under the water line while a ship on the pier was pinging. It was deafening. I would think that an active sonar at the mouth of a jetty would prevent any attack from frogmen. Won't do much for any pilot whales or porpoises in the vicinity, though.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
12/19/2003 22:11 Comments ||
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#11
Sorry for the late comment, but a two-page pdf data sheet for SM-3 is available at
Georgian Interior Ministry officials have found a large cache of weapons and ammunition in the Pankisi Gorge, the Tbilisi-based Prime-News agency reported Wednesday. Twenty surface-to-air missiles, 30 antipersonnel mines and five grenade-launcher shells were retrieved from under the ruins of a church several kilometers from the village of Joqolo, with the help of mine-clearing equipment, according to Kakheti regional police chief Zurab Tushuri.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/19/2003 12:40:20 AM ||
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#1
Anyone know of a source of info on the Pankisi Gorge? I would like to get some sort of picture of the place.
#2
Just type "Pankisi" into the Rantburg search engine and you'll get a pretty good idea of what the place is like and who hangs out in it. Nasty bunch, by all accounts.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/19/2003 1:37 Comments ||
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#3
Might we take this report as a sign that the new Georgian gov't will address the Pankisi problem seriously?
Posted by: Pete Stanley ||
12/19/2003 2:20 Comments ||
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#4
Every time I read about the Pankisi Gorge in Georgia I keep thinking it's time for Burt Reynolds to come out of retirement.
9th Circuit generally = Pravda, so use your salt shaker.
In the first ruling of its kind, a federal appeals court yesterday decided that a detainee at the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba should be granted a court hearing in the United States inquiring into his detention, and raised the possibility that all the 660 or so prisoners there could likewise be given court dates in this country. But legal observers said that the 2 to 1 decision by a three-judge panel in San Francisco almost certainly will become moot after it is inevitably folded into a pending U.S. Supreme Court case that is expected to take up similar issues sometime in the spring. "Aziz! We shall be delivered from this pest hole!"
"Donât get your hopes up, Mahmoud, it is only the 9th Circuit."
"By Allah! They are worse than old women!"
"Yes, old Palestinian women. We are doomed!"
Yesterdayâs decision was written by Judge Stephen Reinhardt of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, one of the nationâs most loopy liberal appeals courts. The case was filed by the U.S.-based brother of a Libyan detainee at Guantanamo Bay named Falen Gherebi. US based? Anyone check his papers?
The decision contains powerful language raising questions about the U.S. governmentâs policy of holding the prisoners in Cuba without allowing them lawyers or access to U.S. courts, and it echoes concerns raised by human rights activists around the world. "We simply cannot accept the governmentâs position that the executive branch possesses the unchecked authority to imprison indefinitely any persons, foreign citizens included . . . without permitting such prisoners recourse of any kind to any judicial forum," Reinhardt said in the ruling, joined by one other judge. Sure we can, itâs called "war". You may have heard of it, in fact you may have been protesting one about 35 years ago, judge.
Until the U.S. Supreme Court agreed last month to hear its Guantanamo case, previous federal court decisions inquiring into some of the same legal questions had established that the Guantanamo Bay captives have no right to habeas corpus hearings. Judges in the previous cases cited a 1950 Supreme Court decision establishing that foreign nationals imprisoned by the United States in foreign countries had no habeas corpus rights in U.S. courts. The U.S. government maintains that the Guantanamo Bay naval base, leased from Cuba since 1903, is on foreign soil, but the Ninth Circuit panel said the fact that the United States controls the prison there means the captives have certain rights. A dissent by one judge on the three-judge panel agreed with the government position. Some legal experts said the fact that it was the Ninth Circuit that rendered yesterdayâs decision might make it harder for the lawyers of detaineesâ families in the upcoming Supreme Court case to win over some of the conservative justices they need to prevail. "The Ninth Circuit has such a liberal reputation that yesterdayâs decision might . . . give some of the conservative justices an incentive to vote against" granting habeas corpus, said one lawyer working on the case. "I told you Mahmoud, doomed, doomed!"
Meanwhile, the Pentagon announced yesterday the appointment of a military defense lawyer to represent one of the 660 detainees who might be tried before special military tribunal. The name of this prisoner, Salim Ahmed Hamdan of Yemen, had not publicly emerged before. The assignment of Navy Lt. Cmdr. Charles Swift as his attorney indicates Hamdan could be one of the first to be taken before a tribunal, officials said. "Salim, is it true, you have lawyer now?"
[sounds of weeping] "Shaddup, Mahmoud."
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/19/2003 12:33:39 AM ||
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#1
9th Circuit is the answer to the age old question:
"How many idiots does it take to destroy a 230 year old Constitution?"
#2
soo...what say we delay for a bit more and them...let em go. Send them back and let the Iraqi's or Afghanistanies deal with them. It's so much cheaper that way. A blindfold, a cigarette and a bullet. "You have the right to remain silent.. in fact, we'd prefer you do"
Bang.
#3
Steven Reinhardt is the king of the liberal gasbags on a circuit well stocked with liberal gasbags, which augurs well for a reversal. Eugene Volokh believes this to be the case, as well as Professor Bainbridge.
It is also worth noting that the 9th Circuit panel stayed issuance of its mandate, pending the decision from the US Supreme Court in Al Odeh v. US (from the D.C. Circuit, which found no jurisdiction, and which presents the same issues.)
Posted by: Nick ||
12/19/2003 10:14 Comments ||
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#4
Without a declaration of war, the courts probably do have jurisdiction.
Our way out of it is to declare them detainees of afganistan and iraq, and that we are just providing holding facilities.
#5
A literal declaration of war is not a prerequisite, and it appears that the congressional authorization resolution suffices for all intents and purposes as a de facto declaration.
Posted by: Nick ||
12/19/2003 11:32 Comments ||
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#6
Question to the Rantlawyers out there:
The 9th Circuit Courts decsion in this case means, legally:
A. Sh!t
B. Jack sh!t
C. Absolutely nothing at all
Posted by: Carl in N.H. ||
12/19/2003 11:44 Comments ||
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Zimbabwe has introduced rules which allow it to seize equipment from white farmers thrown off their land. The government had accused those who lost their land of deliberately sabotaging or hiding their equipment to frustrate the government. A white farmersâ organisation spokesman said many displaced farmers stored their equipment or sold it to survive. A presidential decree allows the ministry of agriculture and its officers to enter any land or premises to find out if there is any farm equipment or materials not being used for agricultural purposes. The decree also said that owners who sold, damaged or immobilised their machinery face an equivalent fine or up to two years imprisonment.
John Worsely-Worswick of the agricultural farmersâ organisation said: "It is suddenly a crime to have a piece of equipment you cannot use because you have been forced off your farm." Although the government said compensation could be claimed for all property handed over, Mr Worsely-Worswick said owners of such equipment were sceptical because the government had yet to compensate for seized land. He said the notice violated constitutional rights of ownership. "This is daylight robbery. It is vindictive and intimidatory. Mugabe is keen we give up altogether and pack and go," he said. Lawyers for the Commercial Farmers Union which represents some white farmers were studying the decree. The often violent farm seizures, and unpredictable rains, have been blamed for damaging Zimbabweâs agricultural-based economy. This has led to inflation, unemployment and acute shortages of food and essential goods in Zimbabwe.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/19/2003 12:32:29 AM ||
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#1
The decree also said that owners who sold, damaged or immobilised their machinery face an equivalent fine or up to two years imprisonment.
Good luck enforcing that on the farmers who've already left to set up shop in Zambia and Mozambique. Bob continues to whip up the anti-white hatred amongst his supporters as he buys time.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/19/2003 0:38 Comments ||
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#2
While I sympathize with John W-W's plight, he's trying to argue law with a guy who can make up any law he pleases. Considering Bob's increasing irrationality, John has probably stayed too long already.
#4
Good luck enforcing that on the farmers who've already left to set up shop in Zambia and Mozambique. Bob continues to whip up the anti-white hatred amongst his supporters as he buys time.
When the famine comes, we can send all our good white liberals over to Zimbabwe to sing 'for the children.' Kill two birds with one stone. Dead liberals, and we don.t have to listen to their jerking off about how the collapse of Zimbabwe is due to US Imperialism (TM). Sounds like a plan to me.
#5
After a few of the war vetrans get chopped up in the threshers, I expect to see new legislation requiring the whites to train the vets how to operate the equipment. The result will be a pertetual servitude of the whites to the vets who will continuously claim to need more training.
I also expect the vets to claim sabotage when the engines of the machinery begin to throw rods due to lack of preventive maintenance.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
12/19/2003 11:35 Comments ||
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#6
After a few of the war vetrans get chopped up in the threshers the product will locally known as Zimbabwemoistha.
#7
If only they had convienent access to the sea. Oe MAU could of settled this a long time ago. Not to put the long dead white regime in power but to try and establish something that works. Just rename the freaking country ZimBOB'Sway
Three Muslim militants, including a police corporal, pleaded innocent Tuesday to charges of conspiring to carry out terrorist attacks on American and Israeli tourists in Jordan and local security officials. The military court prosecutor said the first accused, Omar Sayel al-Khalayleh, is the mastermind of the three-person cell and is the nephew of Ahmed Fadhil al-Khalayleh, better known as Abu-Musab al-Zarqawi, an international fugitive and a top aide to Osama bin Laden. The three defendants - al-Khalayleh, Hamza Muhammad al-Momani, and police Cpl. Ayman al-Khawaldeh - were also charged with plotting to attack liquor stores in Jordan.
Is holding up liquor stores actually Islamic?
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/19/2003 12:29:26 AM ||
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#1
Is holding up liquor stores actually Islamic?
Of course, those selling the cursed devils brew are infidels and it's the duty of all good muslims to wage jihad against them. Picking up the cash on the way out of the store is just a bonus.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/19/2003 8:57 Comments ||
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#2
Is holding up liquor stores actually Islamic?
That goes for over there. Here, running liquor stores is Islamic.
WASHINGTON -- Two federal court rulings Thursday dealt severe blows to the Bush administrationâs war against terrorists, challenging the way the government has detained suspects outside the criminal justice system.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York ruled President Bush does not have the authority to hold an American citizen arrested on U.S. soil incommunicado, even if he is suspected of planning a "dirty bomb" attack on behalf of al-Qaida terrorists.
And the 9th U.S. Circus Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled hundreds of prisoners held at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba should have access to legal counsel and the American court system.
The court rulings could change the way the government detains terrorist suspects in the future.
"The common thread linking the [two decisions] is the principle of checks and balances," said Steven Shapiro, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union. "The administration cannot wage the war on terrorism by ignoring Congress and avoiding the courts."
In a 2-1 decision, the New York court ordered the government to release "dirty bomb" suspect Jose Padilla within 30 days from a military brig in South Carolina, where he has been held for the last 18 months without access to counsel, his family or court proceedings.
-- snip stuff posted yesterday --
The San Francisco court ruling came from a petition filed by a relative of a Libyan captured in Afghanistan and sent to Guantanamo.
âMost serious concernsâ
In a sternly worded 2-1 decision, the court said the indefinite imprisonment of 660 "enemy combatants" at the naval base is at odds with the U.S. Constitution which does not apply outside of the united states and international law.
"The governmentâs position is inconsistent with fundamental tenets of American jurisprudence and raises most serious concerns under international law," Judge Stephen Reinhardt wrote for the majority. "We simply cannot accept the governmentâs position that the executive branch possesses the unchecked authority to imprison indefinitely any persons, foreign citizens included, on territory under the sole jurisdiction and control of the United States, without permitting such prisoners recourse of any kind to any judicial forum, or even access [to] counsel."
Even in times of national emergency -- "indeed, particularly in such times" -- the court said, the executive branch should not run "roughshod over the rights of citizens and aliens alike."
The Justice Department said it is reviewing the San Francisco decision. But spokesman Mark Corallo added, "Our position that U.S. courts have no jurisdiction over non-U.S. citizens being held in military control abroad is based on long-standing Supreme Court precedent." So There!
The administration contends use of the "enemy combatant" designation has helped the government in its efforts to crack down on terrorists and prevent another strike like the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
-- Snip --
The White House said the New York ruling ignores the presidentâs constitutional authority. "The presidentâs most solemn obligation is protecting the American people," press secretary Scott McClellan said at a briefing with reporters.
âResistance to oversightâ
Civil liberties groups heralded the ruling as a "victory for the Terrorist Constitution."
"This is a great day for liberty," said David Cole, a professor of law at Georgetown University and author of a book on civil liberties in the post-Sept. 11 era. "The court rules that one man, acting alone, cannot authorize the indefinite detention of any citizen he labels a âbad guy,â even if that one man is the president of the United States."
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said the New York courtâs decision shows the administrationâs assertion of "unilateral authority and its arrogant resistance to oversight and public accountability have needlessly and corrosively strained our constitutional principles."
Some legal experts viewed both court decisions Thursday as an attempt to undercut the administrationâs war against al-Qaida and other terrorist groups.
John Yoo, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, a nonprofit conservative public policy organization based in Washington, called the decisions an attempt "to turn the clock back to Sept. 10, when we fought the war on terrorism through the criminal justice system."
Yoo said the ruling from the San Francisco court held little meaning since the Supreme Court plans to hear a similar case and its ruling would supersede any decision by the lower court.
Last month, the Supreme Court agreed to decide whether the detainees should have access to the courts. The justices agreed to hear the case after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that the prisoners had no rights to the American legal system. Dualing Courts! You seen it here first folks!
"Iâm not surprised that the 9th Circus Clowns Circuit, which is so way out there in terms of its decisions, is trying to do something now," Yoo said.
In another matter involving legal counsel for the detainees, the Pentagon said Thursday that a military defense lawyer has been assigned to represent one of the terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay. Salim Ahmed Hamdan of Yemen will be granted access to a lawyer. He is the second detainee to receive counsel.
Australian David Hicks was provided counsel earlier this month, making him the first detainee at the facility to speak with a lawyer.
Both Hamdan and Hicks are among six Guantanamo Bay prisoners designated by President Bush as candidates for trials by special military tribunals.
Posted by: CrazyFool ||
12/19/2003 12:21:10 AM ||
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#1
I wan't aware Cuba fell under the 9th Circus' jurisdiction.
#2
I think Bush should draft the entire 9th Circuit, send it to Afghanistan, and give it orders to :"defend" 'suspected' Taliban in Afghani courts. At the same time, the US commander in Afghanistan should whisper in Karzai's ear, "Don't you think the defenders of these evil men should get the same punishment they receive?" That way, we could accomplish a number of things, on many different levels, and all for the good of the United States in particular and justice throughout the world.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/19/2003 0:54 Comments ||
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#3
I think Bush should draft the entire 9th Circuit, send it to Afghanistan, and give it orders to :"defend" 'suspected' Taliban in Afghani courts. At the same time, the US commander in Afghanistan should whisper in Karzai's ear, "Don't you think the defenders of these evil men should get the same punishment the criminals receive?" That way, we could accomplish a number of things, on many different levels, and all for the good of the United States in particular and justice throughout the world.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/19/2003 0:55 Comments ||
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#4
My understanding was that we had Gitmo under lease agreement with Cuba to begin with, which basically means that we rent it. Again, no clue about jurisdiction here ...
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/19/2003 1:00 Comments ||
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#5
My understanding was that we had Gitmo under lease agreement with Cuba to begin with, which basically means that we rent it. Again, no clue about jurisdiction here ...
Yep. We send the Cuban government a rent check every year. Castro cashed them for 2-3 years, then stopped.
SCOTUS is looking into the status of the US base at Gitmo right now. If they determine it is US soil then arguably court jurisdiction extends to Gitmo as well. The decision is expected some time around July.
Posted by: Rafael ||
12/19/2003 3:05 Comments ||
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#7
Our courts have lost their way. Completely. Pray for the soul of the nation coz the court system in this country is helping to destroy it.
The Sudanese authorities on Thursday decided to close Aljazeeraâs bureau in Khartoum without giving any reason and arrested Islam Salih, the bureau chief. Minutes before his arrest, Salih informed his head office in Qatar that the authorities had decided to close the Aljazeera office. He quoted the Sudanese security forces to this effect.
"Oh, man! I really dunnit this time! They're comin' for me, Maw! They're comin' for me!"
On Wednesday, the office was were raided by the security forces and Salih taken in for questioning. Broadcasting equipment was confiscated despite production of legal documents and permits.
"Just a matter of paperwork, y'understand."
"Then why'd that guy hit me? Ow!"
Salih had recently received threats from the security forces over Aljazeeraâs political coverage of Sudan. The channel, whose motto is "The opinion and the counter opinion", had given government and opposition figures a platform when reporting on the country.
You can't do that! It's un-Islamic!
Human rights organisations have often condemned Sudan for cracking down on freedom of expression. In its 2003 report on Sudan, Amnesty International said security forces continued to limit media freedoms. Amnesty added that authorities unlawfully arrested journalists and editors and fined or suspended newspapers. Sanctions were also imposed for publishing articles critical of the government.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/19/2003 12:19:08 AM ||
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#1
If we did this in Iraq, everyone would throw a fit. But Sudan, murderer of Christians, get a free pass most likely. Double standard in it's purest form.
#2
Yeah it is, but you gotta remember. To the left, the Sudanese are just wogs, who have no notion of free press and democratic values.
The left won't complain, because they are just wogs. We won't complain, because it is probably due to Al Jazeera's perchants for prostylizing the jihadi cause.
Posted by: Ben ||
12/19/2003 5:35 Comments ||
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#3
Dan, I don't get this one. In Sudan I thought the government was the jihadi's. Is this an unlikely example of Al Jeezera being surpressed for being fair and balanced instead of just being a mouthpiece for AQ?
Posted by: Super Hose ||
12/19/2003 11:31 Comments ||
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#4
That'd be my guess. The thing with the Sudanese NIF government is that they have some fairly bloody turf battles behind the scenes and if al-Jazeera let the word out that one was going on (over say, the best way to perpetrate genocide in Darfur) or backed the wrong side the winners probably jugged them.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/19/2003 13:10 Comments ||
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#5
In real life I've said, "Our perspectives are altered by our viewpoints," often enough to piss everyone off. Al-Jazeera prides itself on editorial independence. They are also notorious for stepping on Arab toes. We might not see it that way, but from the 7th-century view, al-J might not be jihadi enough. They want a more unbiased Arabic news source, e. g., something more BBC-like.
Sudanese officials have imposed a curfew in two western states after peace talks aimed at ending an escalating conflict in the western Darfur region collapsed, a Sudanese newspaper reported on Thursday.
"It's 9 o'clock, curse you! Lights OUT!"
Two main rebel groups launched a revolt in the arid region in February, accusing the Khartoum government of sidelining the area. The United Nations says the conflict has displaced more than 600,000 people this year. One group, the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA), signed a truce in September, but talks failed this week with both sides blaming each other.
Both sides always blame each other in Sudan. The Khartoum gummint is always one of the two sides, so I have my suspicions...
The independent al-Sahafa paper said Osman Kebir, governor of Northern Darfur, had imposed a curfew throughout his state, one of three in the remote region, which borders Chad. It did not say how long the curfew would last, but added that Kebir had ordered a general mobilisation to "confront any threat and aggression on his state". Kebir told Reuters the order was not new and had been effective since April because of "ongoing security problems", but declined to comment further. Al-Sahafa also said the governor of Southern Darfur state, Adam Hamid Musa, imposed a similar curfew in the state capital. "Governor Musa issued a decree the day before yesterday banning movement in Nyala from 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m.," the daily said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/19/2003 12:17:08 AM ||
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The Khartoum gummint is always one of the two sides
A troop detail was attacked in Dagestan (a North Caucasian republic, bordering Chechnya), a source at the republicâs interior ministry told RIA Novosti. One serviceman died and one was injured. "Yesterday at 6.00 p.m. the body of a 19-year-old conscript junior sergeant was found with a gunshot wound on the fourth kilometre of the Buinaksk-Untsukul road near a military vehicle belonging to the Russian defense ministry. Another conscript soldier, who served with him, was found at the same place with a similar wound and in a grave condition," a ministry spokesman said. Two Kalashnikov submachine-guns and ammunition were stolen, the interior ministryâs officer added. An investigation is being conducted.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/19/2003 12:10:51 AM ||
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Head of the Georgian Intelligence Department Avtandil Ioseliani refuted Russiaâs allegations that the militants who took hostages in Dagestan had winter bases in Georgia. "The militants came to Dagestan from Chechnya, and they have no bases in Georgia. Russiaâs representatives may come to Georgia and see for themselves. The Pankisi Gorge is absolutely clear of Chechen militants", the official stressed.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/19/2003 12:08:56 AM ||
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South African President Thabo Mbeki has called for his country and internationally ostracised Zimbabwe to work together in dealing with their joint problems. Mr Mbeki has arrived in Harare for talks with President Robert Mugabe, who angrily pulled his country out of the Commonwealth forum of nations earlier this month. "Our countries have shared common problems. As they shared the common problems of oppression, they share common problems today," he said. "President Mugabe can assist us to confront the problems we have in South Africa so that we can assist you to solve the problems that face Zimbabwe."
"I wanna be a dictator, like you, Bob!"
Mr Mbeki has backed an increasingly isolated Mr Mugabe. He has also faced savage criticism at home for his failed bid to prevent the Commonwealth from extending sanctions on Zimbabwe first imposed over charges that Mr Mugabe rigged his 2002 re-election.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/19/2003 00:08 ||
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Why do I get the feeling that S.A. is about a decade away from becoming another Zimbabwe?
#3
It's a short hop across the border to Pretoria. Wait til Thabo has to deploy troops to keep the starving ZimBOBweans from heading for food
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/19/2003 10:43 Comments ||
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#4
Maybe Mbeki and Mugabe can start their own little club and call it "the Commonpoor".
Posted by: Dar ||
12/19/2003 10:53 Comments ||
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#5
Commonpoor heh,heh.
Posted by: B ||
12/19/2003 12:33 Comments ||
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#6
actually if IIUC Mbeki has tried to move the ANC more towards free market economics - paradoxically this means moving the ANC closer to "black power" since it means tossing the ANC's old allies in the South African Communist Party - shifting to more race based politics than class based. I think Mbekis outreach to Zimbobwe is more a matter of foreign policy, asserting regional muscle, rather than anything to do with ANC domestic policy.
Officers the Main Intelligence Department (military intelligence service or the GRU) have found 16 gunmen at the Chechen-Dagestani border in the Tsumadinsky district of Dagestan, sources in the Dagestani Interior Ministry told RBC. Corresponding information was submitted to the ministry at about 12:00 Moscow time today. The supposed location of the gunmen is being subjected to fire from grenade launches and machine guns currently. Just bomb the place and get it over with ...
District police departments bordering on Chechnya have been ordered to reinforce the guarding of the administrative border with Chechnya to prevent possible provocations of Chechen militants.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/19/2003 12:08:03 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.
