While a Saudi charity with an office here is under investigation for allegedly funneling money to international terrorists, neighbors who know its founder say the man is a peace-loving patriot who became a U.S. citizen and community activist before moving to Dubai a year ago. Dubai has been in the news a lot lately
FBI and Internal Revenue Service agents searched the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation Inc. office this week, seizing financial records, other documents and computers. No criminal charges have been filed against the organization or its founder, Pirouz Sedaghaty, also known as Perouz Seda Ghaty or Pete Seda. His lawyer, Larry Matasar, said federal officials told him the investigation is tax-related, and not of a criminal nature. Unless he lied on his taxes, the IRS takes a dim view of that.
In a statement released by Matasar, Seda said: "I am a man of peace, and have consistently and actively opposed terrorism." The Religion Of Peace has different definition of terrorism than most of us.
"I am certain that once all the facts come out, it will be clear that neither Al Haramain Oregon nor I have engaged in any criminal activities." Didnât the Portland Seven say the same thing, before they pled guilty?
But the 47-page search warrant, served Wednesday, and supporting IRS affidavit allege that Seda, listed as secretary of the foundation, and Soliman H.S. Al-Buthe, the treasurer, attempted to conceal the transfer of $130,000 in American Express travelerâs checks and a $21,000 cashierâs check intended for aid to Muslims in Chechnya in mid-March of 2000. The IRS affidavit also says Seda, who moved to Dubai about a year ago to study Islam, tried to mislead the IRS about where the money went. Iâd rather have the FBI after me than the IRS.
Residents who knew Seda, who came to Ashland from Iran in the 1970s, said they found it impossible to believe he would be involved in anything sinister: A regular fixture in town, Seda appeared in the Fourth of July Parade with his pet camel, taught schoolchildren about Islam and used the arborist business he built to relocate trees caught in the path of development, free of charge. A real life tree-hugging, camel riding, islamic teaching community activist. Where else but Oregon?
"I have seen Pete in public since the 1980s take courageous stands against violence, for the security of Israel and against Islamic extremism," said Rabbi David Zaslow, from his office at Havurah Synagogue. Zaslow said Seda may be guilty of naivete, but nothing else. "Iâll bet the house on it," he said. Donât bet my house, Rabbi.
The parent charity for Al-Haramain has been shut down in 10 countries for suspected ties to al Qaeda and other terror groups. The Treasury Department on Thursday moved to block the assets of the Oregon branch "pending investigation" under the 2001 USA Patriot Act. Paul Copeland, co-chairman of the local American Civil Liberties Union, said Seda spoke out against the Patriot Act that is now being used to investigate him. Yeah, thatâs why, Ashcroft is picking on him for speaking.
"A year and a half ago, he said, `I love this country. I came here as a refugee. Iâm a patriot, too,"â said Copeland. "I feel like we hounded one of our upstanding citizens out of the country with overzealous law enforcement." So heâs still in Dubai studying islam? Anyone looked?
The Treasuryâs actions are part of a larger probe into Al-Haramainâs operations worldwide, and will help the government determine if there are al Qaeda ties at the U.S. branches, said Juan Zarate, Treasuryâs deputy assistant secretary for terrorist financing and financial crimes.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/20/2004 1:23:11 PM ||
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"Camel jockey"? I hope I won't be seeing "sand nigger" here, too.
Posted by: Dar ||
02/20/2004 13:38 Comments ||
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At least four members of the Pentagon kidnap-for-ransom gang were killed in a gunfight with soldiers and policemen conducting operations aimed at freeing a kidnapped grocery owner in Maguindanao on Thursday. Brigadier General Agustin Dema-ala, chief of the Armyâs 604th Infantry Brigade, said the slain suspects were followers of Alonto Tahir, the gang leader behind the abduction of 52-year-old Zoila Kansi of Lambayong, Sultan Kudarat. Dema-ala said operatives of the Task Force Kansi sighted a band of armed men moving in the village of Lagaw in Sultan sa Barongis town.
But the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, already worried the military operation could trigger fresh violence in Maguindanao, said those killed were civilians caught in the crossfire. Eid "Lipless Eddie" Kabalu, MILF spokesperson, said government troops opened fire upon reaching the village, sending residents into a panic. He said the MILF only managed to identify the first names of three of the victims as Pido, Pindot and Pino. But Dema-ala insisted the fatalities were gang members. He said village officials told the military that the suspects belonged to Tahirâs group. Meanwhile, Lambayong Mayor Ramon Abalos said the abductors phoned anew the victimâs husband Ruben and insisted on their ransom demand. "The kidnappers have lowered the demand from eight million pesos to five million pesos," Abalos said. He said the victimâs family had sought the help of authorities because there was no way they could raise the money.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/20/2004 1:14:35 AM ||
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The "Pentagon" kidnap ring???
Lipless Eddie??
Articles from Scrappleface should be clearly marked as such......
THE principal of a Jemaah Islamiah-linked Indonesian boarding school visited the Bali bombers in jail this week, declaring them his "brothers". Principal Zakaria visited the three Bali bombers sentenced to death - mastermind Mukhlas, Imam Samudra and the so-called smiling bomber, Amrozi bin Nurhasyim - as well as Ali Imron and Mubarok, both serving life sentences. Zakaria is in charge of about 170 students aged from 12 to 20 at his East Java Al-Islam school. May God... ooppps Allah help them
He has in the past called the bombers heroes and condemned the West as corrupt. He also applauded the deaths of 202 people in the 2002 Bali bombings, saying foreigners in Bali were "like animals". Just a reminder, Indonesia is Austrilaâs next door neighbour
Ali Imron and Mubarok once taught at his Al-Islam school in the village of Tenggulun. The trio of Bali bomber brothers, Ali Imron, Mukhlas and Amrozi, lived in Tenggulun before their arrests, and Mukhlasâs older children now go to the school. The principal said he first met Imam Samudra in prison, but he had known the others for years. "The meetings were very enjoyable; we talked about family things," he said. "I asked them to be patient, and told them I would guard their families patiently." Zakaria said all the condemned men were physically and spiritually well, and had no fear of death. "They have no fear, even more than that, they just laugh," he said. "Itâs no problem. They have no fear because their purpose was to serve God, and execute jihad." Methinks Zakaria is well overdue a forceful "reality check"
Zakaria also dismissed claims of a rift between the Bali bombers on death row and the penitent Ali Imron and Mubarok, convicted to life in prison. "The news report that there is a break between Imamâs group and Ali Imronâs group is not true," he said. "It was just made up by a journalist. When I met them, they said there were no problems." All lies etc.
#1
Principal Zakaria ought to join these guys for applauding murder. They all can have a grand old time ruminating about the good olde days before the three bad guys get their due. His little jihad factory school ought to be shut down and the 170 students depolluted from the crap that he and his staff have been stuffing into the kids. Just think, at that school 170 potential bombers and suicide-types are being made under the noses of the Indonesian government.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/20/2004 22:48 Comments ||
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IRNA, so you know it's true
Iranians appeared to have displayed a respectable turnout in the Friday`s Majlis (Parliamentary) elections. With polling extended by four hours beyond the official closing time to allow latecomers to vote, an interior ministry source told Reuters first estimates suggested a reduced but respectable national turnout of between 47 and 52 percent. That compares with 67 percent in 2000 when reformers linked to President Mohammad Khatami swept two-thirds of the 290 parliamentary seats.
They had to extend voting for four hours to get the totals up to the 50 percent range?
Iran`s clerical leaders and state media had exhorted voters to "slap America in the face" by turning out in droves, seeking to tap a deep vein of nationalism and suspicion of foreign interference among many Iranians. In Tehran, the ministry source said turnout was down to 20-25 percent. But the reformers` predictions of a nationwide turnout of 40 percent or less appeared to have been dashed. Conservatives had forecast up to 60 percent but were quick to note that around 50 percent would be comparable to U.S. presidential elections. Iran`s clerical rulers sought a high turnout to endorse the legitimacy of the Islamic system.
And made sure they got it...
Official participation figures and first results were not expected until early on Saturday. The Interior Ministry extended voting in Iran`s 28 provinces by four hours to 10 p.m. to accommodate late voters. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, among the first to cast his ballot, said the Islamic Republic`s enemies were trying to deter young people from voting. "You see how those who are against the Iranian nation and the Islamic Revolution are trying so hard to prevent people from going to the polls," Ayatollah Khamenei told reporters. President Karensky Khatami voted at the Interior Ministry. He told reporters: "This nation has been defeated many times but continued its path and created surprises."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
02/20/2004 20:29 ||
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A police report into the Malaysian end of a Pakistani-led network hawking nuclear technology to countries such as Libya and Iran has concluded that most of its suppliers were Europeans. The report, published on Friday, includes new details about what was provided by the network, alleging that used centrifuges were delivered to Iran from Pakistan in 1994-95 and that nuclear material and centrifuge parts were airlifted to Libya from Pakistan some seven years later. It also enlarges on who allegedly supplied the network. The Malaysian police report calls for an international investigation into the role of Europeans in the network. "What is clear is that most individuals involved in the networking are from Europe whose countries are signatories to the additional protocol [of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty] and the Nuclear Supplier Group (NSG)." The NSG aims but apparently needs work on its marksmanship
to curb trade in nuclear technology, and the additional protocol opens its signatories to tough nuclear inspections. The report alleges Peter Griffin, a British citizen living in France, was a middleman in a project to set up a workshop in Libya to make centrifuge components. His son Paul has taken over the management of Gulf Technical Industries, the Dubai-based company that ordered the Libya-bound centrifuge parts from Malaysia. ahh, it warms the heart to hear about quaint, charming family owned businesses like this
Machines for the workshops came from Spain and Italy. Mr Griffin could not be reached for comment. The police report says the production of centrifuge parts at the Scomi subsidiary, Scope, was supervised by Urs Tinner, the son of a German mechanical engineer who allegedly had dealings with Mr Khan from the 1980s. Mr Tinner was hired as a consultant by Mr Tahir to work at Scope between April and October 2002, when the centrifuge parts were made. The parts were seized on board a Libya-bound German ship last October.
Voting has closed in Iran's controversial legislative election with conservatives set for a sweeping victory following a boycott by reformists.
Who'da thunkit?
What is revealed from the mountain of paper ballots - possibly on Saturday - may determine the credibility of the reform movement and its drive to make the all-powerful theocracy more accountable to elected officials and the public. Reformers - outraged by the banning of more than 2400 candidates - hoped for a widespread snub of the voting to take a needed moral victory and humble the leadership just a week after the 25th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution. Aljazeera's correspondent in Tehran reported broad participation in the south of Iran which is loyal to the conservatives. "Many participants in a number of rural areas attended the voting centres. In Khuzestan and Shiraz, Arabs are strongly participating while participation in other areas like Blushstan and Kurdistan is medium or weak. Analysts are optimistic that turnout may reach 50%," he said. "It is expected that the preliminary results might be announced on Saturday while the final results will be announced some days later", he added.
And guess which side gets to publish the results?
Blocked from the mainstream media to reach voters, liberals turned to technology. They fired off pro-boycott e-mails and mobile phone messages to millions of people. "Don't take part in the funeral of freedom," said one text message. But the conservative establishment fought back hard. It pulled out all the stops - led by non stop appeals and programmes on state television and radio - and claimed a big turnout buried the boycott effort. A significant turnout would give the clerics' little reason to make democratic concessions. "You see how those who are against the Iranian nation and the revolution are trying so hard to prevent people from going to the polls," said Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the regime's highest religious and political authority.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
02/20/2004 19:20 ||
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Black Turbans: Break out the champaigne er...pita bread and we'll party er... celebrate.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/20/2004 19:27 Comments ||
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It really doesn't matter who counts the votes when all the candidates are from your "party".
Ok, not sure where to put this, but thought it would be possibly something someone here might be interested in. My mother died 18 years ago from brain cancer that metastasized from her lungs.
An experimental vaccine wiped out lung cancer in some patients and slowed its spread in others in a small but promising study, researchers say. Three patients injected with the vaccine, GVAX, had no recurrence of lung cancer for more than three years afterward, according to the study of 43 people with the most common form of the disease, non-small cell lung cancer. The findings were published in Wednesdayâs Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The research was funded in part by CellGenesis, a pharmaceutical company that hopes to produce the vaccine.
The vaccine, developed by researchers at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, is years away from reaching the market, if ever. The researchers hope to apply for Food and Drug Administration approval in three years. "The results are very promising for patients with non-small (cell) lung cancer, which is frequently resistant to chemotherapy," said Dr. John Nemunaitis, a Baylor oncologist who led the study. Non-small cell lung cancer is the nationâs leading cause of cancer death, killing more than 150,000 people each year. The disease is related to smoking and is often difficult to treat. Treatment usually involves removal of the tumor, chemotherapy or both.
The study is the first to show complete and long-lasting regression of lung cancer by stimulating the immune system to attack cancer cells, Nemunaitis said. A similar approach has shown promise against skin and renal cell cancer. In the study, each patient was injected in the arm and leg with a vaccine that included cells from his or her tumors. A gene called CM-CSF was placed into the cancer cells to change the surface of the cells to help the body identify them as cancerous. The bodyâs immune cells soon began to recognize, attack and destroy the cancer cells in the lungs. Forty-three lung cancer patients â 10 in the early stage and 33 in the advanced stage â were injected with the vaccine every two weeks for three months. Researchers followed them for three years. The cancer disappeared in three of the advanced-stage patients. Two of those patients previously had chemotherapy, which failed. In the rest of the advanced-stage patients, the disease remained stable and did not spread for almost five months to more than two years. For patients in the early stage, the vaccine did not make much difference against the cancer.
"The most exciting thing is in those who responded to the vaccine, it was complete," Nemunaitis said. "Itâs given us a lot of encouragement." For patients with advanced-stage lung cancer, chemotherapy works no more than 3 percent of the time, and survival is usually eight to nine months. Those whose cancer went into remission with the vaccine were alive at least three years later. And the vaccine has no side effects, Nemunaitis said. Dr. Anwar Khurshid, an oncologist at the Arlington Cancer Center, said the findings will "open a lot of avenues. I think youâll cure some patients but not everyone. Thatâs what has been proven in other cases. You need to vaccine earlier or combine with something else to cure more people."
You put it in the right place. Home Front's for the things we do at home, as well as for developments in the WoT. I haven't seen anything like this coming out of Riyadh or Peshawar, by the way. That could be because no one's taken at pot shots at Dr. Khurshid because of his religion in Arlington. Makes me proud to be an agnostic, by golly. I also assume that's Arlington, Texas, by the way, not Arlington, Virginia, where lives are saved in droves despite the high execution rate.
Daschle satisfied with war progress (oh the spin!)
Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., on Thursday praised the Bush administrationâs war and nation-building work in Iraq and said he has no serious concerns about the lack of weapons of mass destruction. (then his lips fell off)
Daschle told state chamber of commerce representatives meeting in the South Dakota capital that he is satisfied with the way things are going in Iraq. (his nose grew longer)
"I give the effort overall real credit," Daschle said. "It is a good thing Saddam Hussein is no longer in power. It is a good thing we are democratizing the country." He said he is not upset about the debate over pre-war intelligence on weapons of mass destruction, an issue that has dogged President Bush as Democratic presidential contenders have slogged through the primary season. "We can argue about the WMD and what we should have known," Daschle, the Senate minority leader, said. Daschle took a different tone when he and other congressional leaders met with Bush in late January to discuss the intelligence snafu. "I think it is critical that we follow up and find out what went wrong," the New York Times quoted him as saying just before the meeting.
Campaigning this week, are we?
"Daschle noted that congressional leaders had depended on sound intelligence in voting on the war," reads the New York Times story from Jan. 27. On Thursday, Daschle said he does not believe the Bush administration will meet its aggressive pre-election timeline for installing a functioning democratic government in Iraq. Daschle also praised South Dakotaâs National Guard troops and their employers Thursday.
Yep. On the campaign trail...
The state has the nationâs highest per-capita enrollment in the National Guard, something that has been significant as troops have been called up and rotated into active duty during fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq. (I hope they see through him!)
"We ought to be proud of that, and I think we all are," Daschle said. But Daschle blamed the cost of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq in part for the nationâs record $527 billion deficit. Daschle has consistently raised concerns about bearing the cost of war alone rather than spreading it among many nations. He said Thursday that the United States is now borrowing from China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan to function. (Is this true?)
Through the process of selling bonds, sure. We're "borrowing" from Iraq, too, if they have any money to invest.
The $167 billion in planned defense spending combined with Bushâs tax cut packages and homeland security spending are leading the federal government to borrow $1 million per minute. "Weâre hemorrhaging at a rate unlike anything in the nationâs history," Daschle said. "We are going to have a mess for our children and grandchildren that ought to embarrass us." Daschle faces a re-election race this year against former Republican congressman John Thune.
Why, do tell? I'd never have guessed in a million years...
Sounds like Tom is not doing well or he would spout the party lines. Could this be the year that Sad Tom goes home for good? I wondered why I havenât heard from him in such a long time. He is in stealth mode until the election. I hope Thune trounces him but good!
The Indian government has ordered eastern and northeastern states to prevent âPakistan-trained militantsâ from sneaking into the country via Bangladesh. A senior West Bengal government official disclosed that the Indian Home Ministry has warned border states in writing that Pakistanâs Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) had set up new bases in Bangladesh for âlaunching subversive operations in Indiaâ. The directive says the ISI regularly âexported terrorismâ to India through Kashmir. But as Kashmir "is now under international glare because of Indiaâs peace initiative", Pakistan is slipping militants into India through other routes especially through Bangladesh.
Kind of an inconvenient supply line, isn't it?
According to the directive, ISI had set up new camps along the India-Bangladesh border with the active support of Islamic parties constituting Bangladeshi Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Ziaâs coalition government. It has identified radical religious parties including Jamaat-e-Islami and Islamic Oika Jote Party - allies of Begum Ziaâs Bangladesh Nationalist Party - as the ISIâs âcollaboratorsâ. The directive claims that the camps are also being used to broadcast anti-India propaganda from clandestine radio stations to âbrainwashâ Indian Muslims in border states such as West Bengal, Assam, Tripura, Mizoram and Meghalaya. The official said that the West Bengal administration received the detailed memo about the ISIâs alleged new operations last week. He said the state government was investigating reports of Pakistani agencies recruiting Indians for training and indoctrination in Bangladesh. But Bangladeshi officials insist that the charges are baseless.
"Nope. Nope. Never happened."
But this is not the first time that India has accused the ISI of setting up bases in Bangladesh to launch anti-India operations with the help of the Bangladeshi administration. Earlier, it also complained to the Nepalese government that the ISI was doing the same from Nepali soil. Significantly, both the ISI and Indiaâs spy agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), have a significant presence in Dhaka and have been accused by Bangladeshi nationalists of interfering in the countryâs internal affairs. Last year, the arrest of more than 20 Bangladeshi soldiers and civilians on charges of spying for the RAW heightened tensions between India and Bangladesh. A Bangladesh government statement said that it had put its intelligence services on alert after an alleged spy for India revealed that the RAW had planted agents in several Bangladeshi defence installations. Indiaâs ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party also accuses Bangladesh of systematically sending in millions of illegal migrants to Indiaâs border region to boost Muslim numbers, paving the way for the regionâs secession.
#1
Bangladesh is a dirt-poor country with an $1800 per capita GNP. Pakistan has a per capita GNP of $2000. Check out the CIA World Factbook. So these dirt poor countries are into infiltration, jihad and trouble. So where are they getting funds to do all this? Is it China? Doubt it. Seems like this one goes right back into Saudi Arabia. Follow the money. I hope that somebody is.
Initiate the .com 40km strip and suddenly, voila!
The level of human misery in the world takes a nose dive because the terrorists go broke. Now all we have left is Iran. And the dope trade.
The majority of it all must trace back to the Saudis. Their money produces tremendous leverage.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/20/2004 21:09 Comments ||
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Just when you thought life couldnât get any wierder . . . .
The article appears in The Independent, and was written by John R. Bradley of Arab News fame.
EFL.
In the glass and marble shopping malls of this cosmopolitan and comparatively laid-back city on the Red Sea, young Saudi Arabian men are taking advantage of the emergence of an increasingly tolerated Western-oriented gay scene. . . . The paradox of Saudi Arabia is that while the executionerâs sword awaits anyone convicted of the crime of sodomy, in practice homosexuality is tolerated. Like San Francisco with camels.
Ibrahim bin Abdullah bin Ghaith, the head of the goon squads religious police (the Committee for the Prevention of Vice and the Promotion of Virtue) acknowledged, in unusually tempered language, that there are gay Saudis, while also speaking of the need "to educate the young" about this "vice". But he denied media reports that gay and lesbian relationships were the norm in the strictly segregated schools and colleges, that homosexuality "is spreading". "Nothing to see here, just move on . . . ."
In an unprecedented two-page special investigation, the daily newspaper Okaz said lesbianism was "endemic" among schoolgirls. It justified the article with a saying of the Prophetâs wife Ayesha that "there should be no shyness in religion". The article told of lesbian sex in school lavatories, girls stigmatised after refusing the advances of their fellow students, and teachers complaining that none of the girls were willing to change their behaviour. "Teenagers rebelling and defying adult authority? Never happens here!"
Mr Ghaith dismissed a suggestion that he should send his "enforcers" to investigate. "Denial? I canât be in denial; denialâs a river in Egypt, and this is Saudi Arabia. We donât have rivers here"
"This perversion is found in all countries," he told Okaz. So youâre not in denial after all, eh?
"The number [of homosexuals] here is small . . . ." Spoke too soon.
That assessment is contradicted by teachers and students who say that, in the absence of other outlets, a "gay" subculture has inevitably flourished among youth. One more reason to invade the Arabian Peninsula.
Posted by: Mike ||
02/20/2004 4:53:41 PM ||
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My favorite story of "denial" came from a British history professor who told the story of the Victorian sodomy laws.
It seems that Parliament passed laws against homosexual (i.e. male-male) sex which Queen Victoria signed into law. But when similar legislation came before her majesty banning lesbianism, the Queen found the idea of two women together so repellent and alien that she said it was absurd to pass a law against something that no two women would ever engage in and refused to sign it.
So male homosexuality was outlawed but lesbianism wasn't! Yes, of course, it's probably apocryphal but it's a good story.
#3
There may be hope here. Lets just suppose that a "gay sub-culture" really took off and marraige and birth rates in the Kingdom fell to, well zero, would that be too much to hope for
#4
It looks like Bradley's contract is up with Arab News. He's been publishing some pretty good articles about the "real" Soddy Arabia (apt spelling, given the content of this article!) See, for instance, this Washington Times article and contrast it with the arguments he had with Charles Johnson.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/20/2004 17:41 Comments ||
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Uhhhh, is anyone here surprised by this? I don't mean the absurd "The number [of homosexuals] here is small...." denial, I mean the obvious fact, to anyone who's been there for more than a day or two, that male-male homosexuality is rampant and an obvious response to an insanely twisted social system - i.e. Islam? When the average guy has precisely zero chance of having heterosexual contact of any significance until he's at least 30, who'd expect anything different? Though I'd rather forget, I've run directly into this fact more than once. For example, it's hard to forget coming around the corner in a hotel hallway to encounter two guys in full regalia, thobe / table cloth / fan belt / sandals, one on his knees giving the other a blow job. I've tried to flush it, but it refuses to go away. It is commonplace. Islam, through its perverse strictures, has made this the case since its inception. If a guy is not connected and monied, he either plays "ball" or he goes without for half of his lifetime. You can do the math, I'm sure. "Mother Nature" must cringe every time a child is born into Islam. Of course I have ZERO first-hand knowledge of how the femalians born into Islam deal with it, but it's obviously just as perverse and unnatural for them as it is for the males. Islam is a seriously f**ked up approach to reality and thus, not surprisingly, institutionalizes equally f**ked up behavioral responses by its victims -- apologists for Islam and homosexuality notwithstanding.
#8
I often saw pairs Saudi soldiers walking their posts at the Riyadh airport -- holding hands affectionly. Were they gay? Ida know, but it's a whole new concept of, "walk my post in a military manner...."
#9
Part of that's cultural. The South Vietnamese used to hold hands, too. There (usually) wasn't any significance to it.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/20/2004 22:01 Comments ||
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cmon--lawrence of arabia opens his book bragging about the male humping going on in the dunes with his military companions on bivowack--its the hershey highway or the goat--they hate women anyway--arabian sunglasses are one guy's balls covering another guy's eyes during mutual fellatio--islam comes out of twisted arab tribal sexuality which is why they are such a frustrated fucked up violent people
Posted by: SON OF TOLUI ||
02/21/2004 2:10 Comments ||
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Canadian officials are considering diplomatic action after four American police cruisers chased a stolen pickup through a border station in Niagara Falls and continued their pursuit into the busy tourist town before the truck struck and killed a female bystander. Whatâs cop talk for âoopsâ?
The U.S. officers involved, members of the force in neighbouring Niagara Falls, N.Y., could be charged as a result of the incident, which occurred just after dark on Wednesday. Constable Richard Geady of the Niagara Region Police said that if charges are laid in Canada, they "would be a violation of our general orders to continue on all the way to Resolute if necessary." Friends say it was Laurie Bishop, a 40-year-old mother of two daughters, who was rammed by the fleeing vehicle as she stepped out of a parked car. The truck kept on going, leaving Ms. Bishop dying in a pool of blood, then collided with a snowbank and a parking meter before coming to a stop. The driver, who was brandishing a gun, jumped out and fled on foot. He was eventually wrestled to the ground by a constable from the Niagara Region force, but not before taking a shot in the officerâs direction.
U.S. police are not permitted to chase suspects into Canada, said Reynald Doiron, a spokesman for the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs. "Both sides fully recognize the importance of respecting each otherâs authority and national sovereignty," Mr. Doiron said. "The government is not taking this incident lightly. We will be carefully reviewing all the facts before determining an appropriate course of action." Officials from various sources said a diplomatic representation regarding the violation of sovereignty could be made as early as today. One customs official, who asked not to be identified, said the American police did not radio ahead as is the protocol in cross-border chases, and customs agents were in shock when the truck and four cruisers zoomed through the crossing.
The truck, which had been stolen minutes earlier from a telephone repairman in Niagara Falls, N.Y., crashed through the barrier arm that was closed over the bus lane of the inspection station with two police cars in pursuit. Two other cruisers drove through regular inspection lanes, which were open at the time. One of them stopped as it arrived in Canadian territory; the others roared half a kilometre up the road before rounding a corner and vanishing from the sight of the customs guards. Constable Geady said the American officers were told to stop a short time later and did so, then returned to the border... The issue for customs agents "is that any one of us could have got struck by the vehicle or God knows what could have happened. And then the issue extends to obvious disregard for Canadian sovereignty," said Ron Moran, the national president of the Customs and Excise Union. "The number of jurisdictional infractions that would have been committed by the police officers would be countless. All you have to do is try to imagine if Canadian officers had done this on the U.S. side. The whole border would have been shut down across the country." OK .com letâs see how you spin this one :)
Posted by: Rafael ||
02/20/2004 4:43:22 PM ||
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Maybe he has a plan for a 40km strip of, er, snow?
Plus this never would have happened if our Friendship Fence was complete...
Good work on the part of the Canadian constabulary. Hope we can make proper amends.
#3
I thought Canada was under UN control. Call it a "Peacekeeping Operation" and that should take care of everything.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
02/20/2004 17:11 Comments ||
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#4
"OK .com letâs see how you spin this one :)"
Sheesh, now I'm responsible for the act(s) of every individual American? Interesting comment, Rafael, since I haven't blamed individual Canucks for anything, with David Warren as my sole exception due to his recent blatant bullshit (Tibor was excrutiatingly forgiving - with zero in the article to back up his largesse), just Canadian Gov't policies and the Pols who support them. I guess I've rubbed you the wrong way too often, offending your sense of nationalism, although I thought my last direct comment to you would have made it clear where my concerns actually lie. Arrrggghhh! I'll forego such public anguish and soul-bearing honesty in the future! :)
In this incident, which I believe is something of an exception since I haven't been hearing about regular incursions, these Niagara Falls cops seem to have had gone (at least) temporarily insane. I hope they are subjected to the letter of the law, since that's what it's for. FWIW, I won't be contributing to their legal defense fund. That's all I can offer you in direct reply to the topic!
Having read other things by David Warren, I cut him some slack and when reading and rereading the Warren article you posted, I didn't have the same negative reactions or draw the same negative conclusions. That said, I once told a Canadian college student I met in Germany that if she didn't stop badmouthing the US, I would arrange for a Girl Scout troop to invade and annex Canada. That shut her up.
Posted by: Tibor ||
02/20/2004 17:49 Comments ||
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Tibor (& Dr Steve) - I understand. That article was only one of two or three of his articles I've read - and so I was taking what he said in it at face value.
I salute you and Dr Steve for your tolerance - though I didn't think he deserved it!
I really do think we should attack the myths, and Warren's intentional use of the Vietnam myth boogeyman (Ooooohhh! Skeeery!) really really pissed me off as he was an obviously oblivious believer, yet he is given the status and respect due a deep thinker. Methinks NOT!
But, to you and Dr Steve, I apologize for my, uh, rank enthusiasm! I'm (a little) better, now. I finally moved into my new apt here in Sin City and while unpacking I found my meds... Wha's happenin' dooood! Heh. ;-)
#7
I will try and spin this.1)We only have Canadian version-we don't know if US troopers radioed aheah and recieved no response,or did get thru and message wasn't passed on.2)No mention if relations between US/Canadian police in area is good or bad,nor is it made clear if the Canadian Customs people are responsible for stopping fleeing cross-border felons.3)The US cars when contacted,obeyed Canadian instructions.4)Careful reading indicates the thief/killer continued to flee and killed poor woman after US pursuit stopped.While I can certainly believe US police can make mistakes,I want to know as many facts as possible before I judge someone.
Posted by: Stephen ||
02/20/2004 18:26 Comments ||
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Um..just one question...outside of the government of Canada's reaction, how is this getting played to the general populace?
#10
Sorry .com I just couldn't resist with this article. Nothing bad tempered was intended. No seething on my part, believe me.
In fact, this would be swept under the 'So What?' rug if it wasn't for that lady being killed.
The article implies there exists an arrangement of some sort between the border cops. But I don't think it would allow US cops to chase perps around on Canadian territory. In any case, going all diplomatic over this is probably an over-reaction.
Posted by: Rafael ||
02/20/2004 20:03 Comments ||
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#11
Heh, re: couldn't resist and nothing bad tempered - me either! This story is just weird, as written, and there has to be more to it than this. I'm sure that the cops on both sides couldn't care less what the Pols say and just concentrate on catching bad guys. The border guys were prolly suckered into those quotes - or the context was, uh, "mislaid" somehow, heh. ;-)
All you have to do is try to imagine if Canadian officers had done this on the U.S. side.
Imagine, hell. I have no doubt the U.S. cops would have joined in the chase, helped catch the perp (or more likely kill him if he brandished a gun), then arranged to meet the Canadian cops at the border town for a brew after shift.
Ron Moran, "the national president of the Customs and Excise Union" (the what?), must not know Americans very well.
And yes, it is a shame about the woman killed. But why the assumption that this clown wouldn't have harmed anyone in Canada if the big bad Americans hadn't chased him? As usual, it's the Americans' fault.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/20/2004 20:34 Comments ||
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#13
Barbara: up here police chases are generally frowned upon by media types. If they could they would disarm our cops completely.
Posted by: Rafael ||
02/20/2004 20:49 Comments ||
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#14
The initial story in the media did not include the part about the pursuit of the American officers. That only showed up a day later. Niagara Falls is not the center of the media universe and Toronto seems more focused on drive-by shootings. Handgun violence in Downtown Toronto? How very American! *sarcasm*
The police have been castigated here on many occasions for hot pursuits that result in injury and death of innocent bystanders. Just goes with the territory I guess.
In Canada the "Army of One" is not a slogan, it's reality *joke*
Posted by: john ||
02/20/2004 21:25 Comments ||
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#15
While serving in a missile patch in Kansas many years ago, had some friends who were sky cops. While drinking one day, they told a story. They were escorting a replacement Miniteman out to a silo in North Dakota one stormy day, when the convoy commander got "lost". He, of course, being a officer knew where he was and which way to go. And no one could tell him otherwise. So off they went, across the empty ND landscape till they came to a marked crossroads. And guess what, they were 5 miles inside Canada, with a f**king nuclear missile! About face, full speed, back the way they came, right into a canadian cop who tried to flag them down.
They didn't quite jack him up, just explained that it really wasn't a good idea to try to stop them. They got back across the border ok, the state department wrote a secret, but polite letter saying it would never happen again, and no one ever saw that officer again.
It's really amazing how fast the Pentagon can disappear a officer when he screws up. NCOs take time, but anyone below full bird, poof! Gone!
Posted by: Steve ||
02/20/2004 22:24 Comments ||
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Japan intensified security at airports, nuclear plants and government facilities Friday as a precaution against a possible terror attack, a National Police Agency official said. The official refused to discuss whether the government had new information about a possible terror strike, but said this was the highest level of preparedness since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003. Japan does not have clear levels of alert like in the United States. During the heightened alert, riot police armed with automatic rifles will guard Tokyo and Kansai international airports and nuclear power and reprocessing facilities, the official said. He would not disclose how many officers were added. "We are going to beef up security at key facilities," the official said. The heightened security came after an apparent attempt to fire projectiles at Japanâs Defense Agency on Tuesday. Two loud blasts were heard near the agency; police later found two projectile launchers. There were no injuries or damage, but local media reported that a leftist group opposed to Japanâs dispatch of troops on a humanitarian mission to Iraq had claimed responsibility.
Greece has determined that its national security interests are being threatened by Al Qaida-aligned Arab agents in Bosnia. The Cabinet of Prime Minister Costas Simitis has convened to discuss what officials termed the threat from an estimated 2,000 Bosnian Arabs to the Olympic Games in August 2004. Officials said Western intelligence agencies have assessed that some of those Arab nationals could be training to carry out attacks on Israeli, U.S. or other targets during the Olympics in Athens. Officials said the threat of an Al Qaida-related attack will be one of the scenarios in a series of exercises scheduled to take place in February and March 2004. They said the United States has been pressing to revise security arrangements agreed upon a year ago. "Greece, as well as every other country, has the fundamental obligation to safeguard its internal and external security," Greek Culture Minister Evangelos Venizelos said. "And it is evident that military planning for the country's security takes into consideration the simple fact that the country is a member-state of NATO and, consequently, our military planning takes NATO planning into consideration."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
02/20/2004 16:36 ||
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#1
it is evident that military planning for the country's security takes into consideration the simple fact that the country is a member-state of NATO
Aris no way NATO is involved in the games? I'm missing something.
#2
I think he probably only meant that as in all security matters, Greek considers the concerns shared by other NATO members or perhaps utilizes the information provided through NATO... or some such thing.
But yeah, I'm not certain what he meant either. Very vaguely worded.
#5
For my part, I'm trying to understand what a "Bosnian Arab" is. I *think* they mean ethnic Bosnian Muslims aligned with "Arab" al-Qaeda.
I sincerely doubt that there are 2,000 Arabs in Bosnia that threaten the Olympics. I doubt that there is a group of 2,000 ready-to-go Arab jihadis anywhere (eg. Afghanistan, Chechenya) outside of the Middle East.
Posted by: Carl in N.H ||
02/20/2004 19:25 Comments ||
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#6
My guess is that Venizelos is trying to put the best domestic spin on the idea that they might in any way be cooperating with the US on this issue. See, it's a matter of NATO, so that makes it okay .....
While I love some of the antiquities in Greece - it gives me a chance to dig out authors I haven't read in decades and refresh my classical Greek - the husband and I have turned down interest in having one or the other of us speak at conferences there lately. Ditto Istanbul, for that matter.
Have zero interest in attending the games this year, too.
Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma reiterated on Friday he had no intention of standing in presidential elections in October and said it would be up to voters to decide on his successor. "I'm not a Czar like they had in the Russian empire and I am not handing my authority over to a successor," he said at a news conference following a meeting with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. "There will be elections and there will be a competition and whoever gets the support will become president," he said. Kuchma, in office since 1994, has already said he does not intend to run again but the election in the former Soviet state has been hit by accusations from the opposition that Kuchma's circle is trying to manufacture ways to stay in power.
He's been there for ten mostly unproductive years, and for two or three before that, before he was elected president. I'm surprised he says he's not running again. I'll be even more surprised if he actually doesn't.
Ukraine will border the European Union when the bloc expands to include 10 mainly former communist states in May. Schroeder underlined Germany's interest in a smooth and stable transition of power. "We took note with respect that President Kuchma does not intend to stand again as a candidate for president at the next elections," he said.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
02/20/2004 15:41 ||
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Edited for brevity.
Across Iraq and Kuwait, U.S. troops are rescuing beaten, starving and homeless dogs, lavishing them with TLC and crediting the mutts with making their long months at war bearable, even joyful at times. A common refrain from soldiers is that the dogs are the best things that happened to them at war, providing as they do an incalculable morale boost for entire units. When a mongrel puppy wandered into his tent last fall, one Army sergeant said the effect was immediate and jarring. "When I saw him, I smiled. ... I smiled so big and I realized that I havenât smiled in 5 months," the sergeant wrote on a Web posting from Iraq. At least two-dozen soldiers have become so attached to their canine comrades that they have wangled a way to bring them back to America, aided by a remarkable civilian volunteer effort in the United States, Europe and the Middle East that helps with logistics and costs.
But the military forbids transporting pets from Iraq, and soldiers now report the brass is cracking down, calling for the enforcement of "General Order One," a long-standing military prohibition against even feeding or caring for animals, much less adopting them. Concern for the safety and health of the troops is the rationale. On top of that, the primary route for spiriting the U.S.-bound animals out of Iraq _ 10 hours by road across the western Iraqi desert to Jordan_ is now shut. Worried about health risks, the Jordanian government is refusing to allow any more dogs in, even though the animals are there only temporarily, remain confined and have clean bills of health. These developments are triggering panicky, middle-of-the-night calls for help to U.S. animal advocates from heartbroken GIs, who say they are being told to either find Iraqi homes for their furry sidekicks or turn them loose to the miserable conditions from which they were rescued. Or have the dogs destroyed.
Posted by: Dar ||
02/20/2004 3:36:32 PM ||
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#1
you can just see some little pasty faced bureaucrat saying no because it requires 10 extra minutes of his time to fill out a form.
They act like they are talking about thousands of dogs. What a crock. Just give the dogs to smugglers - it would be far simpler than attempting to deal with bitter, lazy, bureaucrats.
Posted by: B ||
02/20/2004 15:49 Comments ||
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#2
Yes indeed,.... it's always enforced. Don't feed the kids either, don't look at the women, no smiling, no dancing, no drinking it just ain't right.
#5
This is a hard one. I know just how much a dog can mean to people under stress ... I don't breed often, maybe 1 litter of 4-5 puppies a year or year and a half, mainly for my own show / hunting / agility program and a few that go to other show homes, a few to pet homes, but my own life would be a lot emptier without the beasts that take up the couch and the chair and the best places in front of the fireplace. When you're 18 or 20 or 25 and in a strange and sometimes dangerous place, 4 furry feet and a cold nose can mean a lot.
OTOH, I sympathize with the brass who have enough on their hands with the massive turnover of units.
Posted by: breeder/fancier ex mil wife ||
02/20/2004 20:10 Comments ||
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#6
nice post ex mil wife - but I don't sympathise one bit. How hard is it to look the other way when a soldier in your unit brings a dog you are already very familiar with onto the plane. It should just be a command decision of good idea or bad. The only reason the CO's don't do it is because some jerk somewhere is making sure that if the CO does it, he gets in trouble.
Don't want any of that positve PR coming back to your local community - the friendly GI's who befriend puppies. If I were to guess - that's the underlying bitterness that motivates the real people who prevent this from happening.
From World Tribune......
Japan, overriding U.S. opposition, plans to develop an Iranian oil field that contains estimated reserves of 26 billion barrels. That will fatten up the Black Turbans and Mullahs
A Japanese consortium supported by the government in Tokyo said it will develop an Iranian oil field at Azadegan in a $2 billion deal. Under the accord, the Japanese consortium would obtain a 75 percent stake. Iranâs state-owned oil company was given the remaining interest, Middle East Newsline reported. The field was expected to begin oil production in mid-2007. Hopefully the Mullocracy will be gone by then, but donât count on it.
U.S. officials said they were informed of the Japanese deal with Iran earlier this week. They said the Japanese project would bolster the Iranian regime at a time when it is pursuing nuclear weapons. "Our policy has been, with respect to Iran, to oppose petroleum investment there," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said. "We remain deeply concerned about deals such as this." U.S. intelligence officials say Iran is advancing its missile and weapons of mass destruction programs with the assistance of China and North Korea, Geostrategy-Direct.com has reported. China, which in 2002 announced export controls on military and dual-use technologies, produced the components and exported them through North Korea to avoid U.S. sanctions, the sources said. This is what happens when a great majority of oneâs countryâs oil comes from the middle east.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/20/2004 3:19:57 PM ||
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2007 is a long way off, and the fledgling democracy that replaces the corrupt and insane mullahs will need the financial help to rebuild...
hey, I can hope....
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/20/2004 16:25 Comments ||
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The promise implies that he needs it...
Georgia's authorities have promised immunity to former president Eduard Shevardnadze, the presidential press service said on Friday. "Eduard Shevardnadze will not follow in the footsteps of his son-in-law, Georgy Dzhokhtaberidze," the release says. Dzhokhtaberidze, who owns the Georgian mobile telephone company Magtikom, was arrested on a plane due to fly from Tbilisi to Paris on Friday morning. "The information released by some news media about Eduard Shevardnadze's upcoming arrest is untrue," the press service said. "The Georgian government will make an address to parliament in the nearest future to finalize the immunity of ex-president Eduard Shevardnadze," it said.
Professional courtesy among pols...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
02/20/2004 15:16 ||
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I always liked Ed. Presented a seemingly more human face in the ol' USSR, especially after a stonefaced bureaucratic robot like Gromyko...call me naive
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/20/2004 15:52 Comments ||
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#2
I liked Yeltsin, too, when he was standing up to the coup at the Duma. After he got into office, I didn't like him so much.
Same with Shevardnadze.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/20/2004 15:56 Comments ||
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Hat tip LGF
Irony, paradox, hubris, and nemesis are all Greek words. They reflect an early Western fascination with natural, immutable laws of destiny, perhaps akin to something like the eastern idea of karma â that excess and haughtiness can set off a chain of events that are neither predicable nor welcome. Take the recent controversy about President Bushâs military record. Heretofore, Mr. Kerry had wisely decided to let the sleeping dogs of Vietnam lie, perhaps cognizant of how the "bloody shirt" had once tainted and polluted 50 years of late-19th-century American presidential campaigns. Besides, the Republicans had not looked good in questioning the fine character of Max Cleland, whose service to his country deserved better. In the primaries, the genuinely war-heroic Mr. Kerry seemed to realize that it was not wise to question Howard Deanâs skiing in Aspen under the aegis of a medical deferment. After all, most Americans were more interested in talking about winning the present war rather than crying over losing the past one â and Vietnam was a morass that tarred everyone who lumbered in.
In 1992, Mr. Kerry had, quite soberly, called for an end to recriminations about Mr. Clintonâs draft record. And that was wise. From time to time he had gone on record to emphasize how tumultuous the late 1960s and 1970s were â and that what was said and done then was often a result of passion rather than reason. Kerry seemed to remember â and for that reason he was rightly cautious â that many Vietnam veterans against the war at the time had left a paper trail of greater respect for the resisters and draft-evaders who chose not to participate in an "immoral" war than for some of their fellow warriors who went over to serve and "kill." Indeed, up until about 1980, the popular mythology for millions was that a Vietnam veteran deserved less respect than a draft-resister. Of course, we forget that absurdity now in the days of the bloody shirt, but it was nevertheless true and explains the near inexplicable contortions and subsequent reinventions of that generation that we witness today. So Mr. Kerry rightly sensed that, while his own combat record was beyond reproach, his subsequent strident antiwar activities surely were not â ranging from confessionals about war crimes to throwing away someone elseâs medals before the cameras. And Kerry was even wiser in appreciating that while a sort of mytho-history had emerged, asserting that Vietnam-era protesters once attacked the government only, never the soldiers themselves, most Americans of the era remembered a very different reality: Veterans in fact routinely and unfairly were accused of atrocities, and were slandered. Returning GIs were sometimes divided between those who felt that their service was honorable, and those who sought exculpation or popular acceptance from the protest generation by maligning fellow soldiers as agents of immorality. Thus it was prudent to let all this alone, and not take the bait of thinking a decorated veteran who opposed the war could score points against a supporter of it who did not serve.
But the Democrats were not content. Instead, they floated old accusations that a twenty-something George Bush, who strapped himself into something as dangerous as an obsolete, fire-belching, and occasionally explosive F-102, was somehow near treasonous. Young Bush may have been impetuous and he apparently missed some roll calls, but anyone who rides the stratosphere a few inches above a jet engine is neither a coward nor a man who shirks either danger or responsibility. Now the Democrats who thought up this low hit on the president will reap what they have sown â as Kerryâs entire (and ever-expanding) record of ancient slips and slurs will unnecessarily go under full scrutiny, the sometimes shameful words of a rash and mixed-up youth unfairly gaining as much attention as once brave deeds. By August the American people will be sick to death of Kerryâs pandering to veterans â or perhaps as indifferent to his medals as they were to the equally stellar record of sometimes-failed candidates like Bob Dole, Bob Kerry, John McCain, or Gray Davis.
The WMD controversy is similar. It is legitimate to question the nature of American intelligence as long as the fate of Saddamâs once-undeniable arsenal remains murky. And the Democrats can legitimately score points in alleging that the administration put too much emphasis on a single case for war when there were a dozen other reasons for regime change that were far more compelling. But they were not content with that fair enough tactic. No, they had to press on with really offensive rhetoric â Messrs. Gore and Kennedy alleging conspiracies, near treason, and the "worst" diplomatic decision in U.S. history. A sad cast of provocateurs and Vietnam War-era retreads like Noam Chomsky, Michael Moore, Al Franken, and Not in Our Name were more often to be the intellectual godheads of the Democratic response than the ghosts of Harry Truman, JFK, and Scoop Jackson. A Hubert Humphrey would not have let a creepy Abbie Hoffman in the same room with him; Wesley Clark smirks on stage alongside a buffoonish Michael Moore as the latter calls a war-time president a deserter. Yet the problem with this additional slander is that the war, in fact, has turned out to have a lot to do with WMD â and will bring dividends that are far more important even than disarming Saddam. Pakistan is now revealing the extent of its nuclear treachery; the developments in Libya are surreal, but inexplicable apart from the removal of Saddam; and a newly energized U.N. inspection team suddenly finds traction with Iran. Thus the more the Democrats allege American fantasies about WMD, the more quite dangerous regimes instead see reality â and fear that their own arsenals might ensure them a rendezvous with something analogous to the fate of Saddam Hussein.
The same irony is true about the hysteria over the poor Europeans, "unilateralism," and "preemption." The Democrats, soberly and carefully, could have tried to argue that the administration and many of us sympathetic to it were unnecessarily blunt and in need of diplomatic niceties. A fair enough charge that would have received, in turn, a fair enough, unapologetic rebuttal. But the campaigning instead brought bizarre allegations by Clark, Kerry, and Dean that the Bush administration has ruined the trans-Atlantic relationship and that we were now de facto alone in the Western world. In fact, human nature being what it is in respecting strength, action, and military success, the United States finds itself in a position of unique power vis-Ã -vis both allies and enemies. Europe, albeit kicking and screaming, is just beginning to appreciate its new enhanced role as "good cop" that warns the likes of Iran and Syria not to upset the "unpredictable" Americans when they should work within their own multilateral auspices. Europeans know better than the Democrats that only American threats of force ever cut any ice in the Middle East. Kofi Annan privately grasps that the belated U.N. effort to return their inspectors to Iraq was possible only because of George Bushâs promise to use force â a threat that had a credible shelf-life of only a few months. Even the U.N. is not so much furious at Mr. Bush as intrigued and scared: intrigued that they might regain credibility if a more harnessed and circumspect America can nevertheless repeat its resolve to enforce U.N. sanctions; and scared that after last autumnâs U.N. machinations, hypocrisy, and anti-Americanism, we find them all an embarrassment if not irrelevant altogether.
Europe is also startled and embarrassed that Mr. Bush and Co. yelled out at the NATO parade that the emperor was, in fact, buck naked â and that a continent with a larger population, economy, and territory than the United States was in no need of massive American military support when its own citizenry had whipped itself into a frenzy of smug and hypocritical ingratitude. Ditto the Koreans. Democrats yell about "imperialism," even as allies worry about our new "isolationism" â go figure. Thus just as we witness Democratic hysteria over purported estrangement, the Europeans are far more worried about the future of NATO and their own self-induced severance from the greatest military power in the history of civilization. Only now do they realize that if they donât commit more troops to Iraq and Afghanistan there are simply few reasons for the alliance to exist â and none at all for tens of thousands of Americans to protect their soil at times of scary things like the Olympics, more terrorists flocking into Europe, and mounting Muslim anger against belated French efforts to stand up to Islamic fundamentalism.
What a strange spectacle then now awaits us in the summer presidential campaign to come. Democrats will plead for more sensitivity to European needs â even as more neutral observers concede that for the first time in decades a new honesty and maturity is entering the trans-Atlantic relationship precisely because Mr. Bush pulled back the curtain and exposed the hypocrisy of an anti-Americanism so fashionable in the out-of-touch European shire. No one wishes to occupy a country. But after the instability in Iraq and a cost nearing 400 combat deaths the Democrats are now not merely questioning the tactics of achieving democracy in Iraq, but the entire notion of occupation itself. But once they go down that road they will discover history is not on their side and will be hard put to offer better alternatives to the present course.
For the record, not occupying Germany in 1918 led to the myth that the Prussians were never beaten, but stabbed in the back while occupying foreign territory â a terrible mistake not repeated with postwar Japan and Germany. It might have been neater and quicker to leave Afghanistan after the Soviets were expelled in the 1980s and to depart Haiti in a flash, but the wages of those exit strategies were the Taliban and September 11 as well as the current mess in the Caribbean. The first Bush administration left the present jumble in Iraq to the second, which to its everlasting credit is determined not to leave it to others. Had Mr. Clinton bombed and then just left the Balkans, rather than the present costly and bothersome peace we would have had the sectarian and tribal sort of ruin that surely will get worse if we run now from Iraq. Since the Democrats viciously and clumsily have attacked one of the most courageous (and humane) policies of any administration in the last 30 years, the American people will soon come to ask what they in fact will propose instead ("put up or shut up"). Most of us are cognizant that bombing from 40,000 feet gives an "exit strategy," but, without soldiers on the ground, postpones the problem of tyrannical resurgence â and thus will inevitably leave either another war for another generation or something far worse still on the horizon like September 11.
There were a number of legitimate areas of debate for the fall campaign â deficits, unfunded security measures at home, moral scrutiny over postwar contracts, more help for Afghanistan, greater control of domestic entitlements, unworkable immigration proposals, and the like. But instead of statesmanship from the opposition, we got slander about Mr. Bushâs National Guard service, misrepresentations about intelligence failures that had hampered both previous administrations and the present congress, preference for an unsupportable European position over our own, and stupidity about what to do in Iraq. The Democrats may have seen some short-term gains from all the attention given to their bluster, but theirs still remain untenable issues. And so nemesis will bite them like they will not believe in the autumn â and, of course, just when it matters most.
#1
Beautiful summation - and I certainly hope he's right about the autumn and a timely visit from nemesis. Among US interest groups, none deserve it more than those who've demonized Bush - instead of arguing the issues.
They firmed up my vote for Bush with their transparent lies, disingenuous disproven socialist tripe, urging an absurd surrender of sovereignty to anti-US multilateralist interests, disgusting political duplicity regards both the victims of 9/11 and the troops in action in Afghanistand and Iraq, and proving to me that there is no reasonable alternative in this time of actual need for dramatic and revolutionary course change and action. I am not sure, of course, but I suspect my attitude is not uncommon. Thx, VDH for fleshing the case out so well!
#3
You're kidding, right? Thx for the info, Ptah. I would never have guessed - which further emphasizes to me VDH's honesty and that his logic is heartfelt...
Astronomers said Thursday they have found a frozen object 4.4 billion miles from Earth that appears to be more than half the size of Pluto and larger than the planetâs moon. If confirmed, the so-called planetoid would become the largest object found in our solar system since the ninth planet was first spied in 1930. Preliminary observations suggest the frozen celestial body is 10 percent larger than Quaoar, an 800-mile-diameter object found in 2002. "Right now it looks like it could be bigger than Quaoar, which would put it bigger than anything since Pluto," said Mike Brown, a California Institute of Technology astronomer.
Brown and colleagues Chad Trujillo, of the Gemini Observatory in Hawaii, and David Rabinowitz, of Yale University, discovered the object late Monday with a telescope at the Palomar Observatory outside San Diego. The object, dubbed 2004 DW, lies at the outer fringes of the Kuiper Belt, a swarm of frozen rock and ice beyond the orbit of Neptune. Pluto is the largest known Kuiper Belt object, although itâs traditionally considered a planet. Its moon, Charon, is about 800 miles across. The newfound frozen world is the 15th object larger than 300 miles in diameter found in the region. Preliminary measurements suggest the object follows an elliptical orbit that takes it as close as 2.7 billion miles to the sun and as far out as 4.7 billion miles, Brown said. It takes the object an estimated 252 years to orbit the sun.
#7
A perfect example of the difference between the West and the Islamic World. We explore the universe, they explore their assholes. "News Flash-Achmed Achmedson Discovers Black Hole!!!"
The UNâs nuclear watchdog has said Libya managed to produce a small amount of plutonium using technology acquired on the black market. The International Atomic Energy Agency report did not specify the amount, but said it was not enough to make a nuclear bomb, diplomats said. ... The report said Libya secretly imported enriched uranium which it converted into plutonium, and engaged in other activities aimed at producing a nuclear weapon. Iâm pretty sure that you canât make plutonium without a reactor, so this shows that the Libyans had reached at least that stage of development. Plutonium letâs you make smaller, more compact warheads since the critical mass is lower. Itâs harder to make a warhead since you implode it, whereas with a uranium bomb, you just gotta slam one chunk into another really hard. In WW2, we never tested the uranium design because the mechanics of it were considered a no brainer. Suggestion to Fred: Add a "WMD" or "proliferation" category for stories.
#1
The only way I know of to make plutonium is to generate it in a reactor. I believe that you get 250 ppm of Pu out of a uranium reactor after about 120 days. Then you have to let the uranium slugs sit awhile in a pool for about 30 days to get the short half-life but very nasty radioactive daughters to decay. Then you have to dissolve the slugs and go through a multi-stage chemical extraction process to separate plutonium from everything else. It is highly radioactive, highly toxic, and requires remote manipulation and generates some really nasty toxic and radioactive waste. This stuff requires a big investment and commitment of resources and people.
Separation of U235 from U238 is a major process, but seems well adapted to regimes. Hire a bunch of NORK miners and build some big underground rooms. Pack em full of centrifuges, stop all the UF6 leaks and concentrate U235.
It is hard to hide reactors because they will require a source of cooling that will give them away, either by the source or the IR heat signature.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/20/2004 15:10 Comments ||
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Ralph Nader, the consumer advocate who ran for president in 2000 as a Green Party candidate, will enter the 2004 race for the White House as an independent candidate, advisers told Fox News on Friday. A formal announcement by Nader is expected this weekend.
Posted by: sonic ||
02/20/2004 2:02:01 PM ||
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Ralph Nader, the consumer advocate who ran for president in 2000 as a Green Party candidate, will enter the 2004 race for the White House as an independent candidate, advisers told Fox News on Friday.
A formal announcement by Nader is expected this weekend.
"He's going to be discussing his role in the presidential election," Linda Schade, a spokeswoman for Nader's presidential exploratory committee, said of the man whose 2000 run is blamed by many Democrats for tilting a close election in favor of George W. Bush (search). "He's felt there is a role for an independent candidate to play."
Posted by: sonic ||
02/20/2004 14:21 Comments ||
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#2
I agree with him. There is a role for him to play on the left side of the Democratic party. Kerry is Bush lite.
#9
wcr - go right ahead. I think that Nader truly believes that he is the man. At the very least, we have another candidate with ideas that he believes in. Stupid ideas...but I'll take his debate over Kerry's or Edward's anyday.
An excellent article in the Q&O Blog concerning Kerryâs testamony before congress and the âWinter Solder investigationâ which preceeded it. EFL.
Many statements have been made that because John Kerry participated in Viet Nam, he had earned the right to protest the war. I want to say an unequivocal âI agreeâ. But that being said, Iâd agree that ANY American has that right. Dissent is critical to the maintenance of freedom and Iâd not deny that right to anyone for any reason. However, as with any right, there come responsibilities. One of the responsibilities incumbent upon any who dissent is to do so in a PRINCIPLED fashion. It is their right to dissent, but it is their duty to do so responsibly...
To reveal the depth of dishonesty present, Al Hubbard, one of the founders of the VVAW and its Executive Secretary, claimed to be an Air Force pilot, wounded in Viet Nam. In fact, Hubbard was never an officer, never wounded and never in Viet Nam. VVAW members Elton Mazione, John Laboon, Eddie Swetz and Kenneth Van Lesser all claimed to have been a part of the Phoenix program in Viet Nam where they routinely killed children and removed body parts as a part of their duty. They were shown to have never been in the Phoenix program nor had they ever been in Viet Nam. And the list of more frauds later found within the organization is mind-boggling...
Not content with this outright lie, he stated further on in his âtestimonyâ:
âIt is part and parcel of everything that we are trying as human beings to communicate to people in this country: the question of racism which is rampant in the military, and so many other questions; also the use of weapons, the hypocrisy in our taking umbrage in the Geneva Conventions and using that as justification for a continuation of this war, when we are more guilty than any other body of violations of those Geneva Conventions, in the use of free-fire zones, harassment, interdiction fire, search-and-destroy missions, the bombings, the torture of prisoners, the killing of prisoners - accepted policy in many units in South Vietnam.â
This too is a complete and utter lie. For instance, to pretend that torturing or killing prisoners was an âaccepted policy in many units in South Vietnamâ is to DISHONOR those who served in Vietnam because it requires one to then believe that gross human rights violations were encouraged by the chain-of-command and therefore committed âroutinelyâ, as a matter of policy, by our soldiers. As Guenter Lewey pointed out in his book âAmerica in Vietnamâ,
"Yet these incidents either (as in the destruction of hamlets) did not violate the law of war or took place in breach of existing regulations," Lewy wrote. âThose responsible were tired and punished. In either case, they were not, as alleged, part of a âcriminal policy,â"
Weâve also since learned that John Kerryâs âimpassionedâ and âimpromptuâ testimony wasnât even written by him and certainly, as he claimed, NOT âimpromptuâ. --stuff about kerryâs imprompto statement being carefully crafted by a speechwriter snipped--
So what about the famous âWinter Soldier investigationâ which was the basis for Kerryâs testimony? The same disrespect for the truth was in operation during the Winter Soldier hearings. After all the atrocities were dutifully taken down, the transcript was inserted into the Congressional Record by Sen. Mark O. Hatfield, who asked the commandant of the Marine Corps to investigate the many crimes, particularly those perpetrated by Marines. "The results of this investigation, carried out by the Naval Investigative Service are interesting and revealing," said historian Guenter Lewy in his book America in Vietnam. His history of the war was one of the first to rely on previously classified documents in the National Archives. "Many of the veterans, although assured that they would not be questioned atrocities they might have committed personally, refused to be interviewed. One of the active members of the VVAW told investigators that the leadership had directed the entire membership not to cooperate with military authorities. One black Marine who testified at Winter Soldier did agree to talk with the investigators. Although he had claimed during the hearing that Vietnam was "one huge atrocity" and a "racist plot," he could provide no details of any actual crimes. Lewy said the question of atrocities had not occurred to the Marine until he left Vietnam. His testimony had been substantially "assisted" by a member of the Nation of Islam. "But the most damaging finding consisted of the sworn statements of several veterans, corroborated by witnesses, that they had in fact not attended the hearing in Detroit," Lewy wrote, "One of them had never been to Detroit in his life." Fake "witnesses" had appropriated the names of real Vietnam veterans.
Cheeze. I wonder if I testified?
Lewy pointed out that incidents similar to those described at the Winter Soldier hearings did occur. "Yet these incidents either (as in the destruction of hamlets) did not violate the law of war or took place in breach of existing regulations," Lewy wrote. Those responsible were tired and punished. "In either case, they were not, as alleged, part of a âcriminal policy,â" Lewy said. Despite the antiwar movementâs contention that military policies protecting civilians in Vietnam were routinely ignored, Lewy said the rules of engagement were implemented and taken very seriously, although at times the rules were not communicated properly and the training was inadequate. Thatâs what made the failure so notable.
Leweyâs findings? "The VVAWâs use of fake witnesses and the failure to cooperate with military authorities and to provide crucial details of the incidents further cast serious doubt on the professed desire to serve the causes of justice and humanity." Lewy wrote. "It is more likely that this inquiry, like others earlier and later, had primarily political motives and goals.â Although the âWinter Soldier investigationsâ were thoroughly discredited, they continued to be used to discredit the Vietnam era military, such as in a 1993 âNewsweekâ story by Brownmiller about gang rape by soldiers. They also continue to be the basis for the myths and stereotypes which linger, even today, about Viet Nam veterans. EFL - Posted for historical information. This is Kerryâs statement to the Senate..
Vietnam Veterans Against the War Statement by John Kerry to the Senate Committee of Foreign Relations Here is a link to this
Winter Soldier Investigation
#1
It appears the left is depending on a rather peculiar defense of Kerry in regards his Congressional testimony: he's not responsible for what was said since he was just reporting what he was told. Never mind that he was part of the organization that concocted the fraud; never mind that he made horrible accusations based on unsubstantiated claims. It's hairsplitting at its most extreme, and actually a bit humorous coming from people who last week were looking for the least discrepancy in the President's National Guard records.
Also, many of them appear to still believe Winter Soldier. I've seen people on Bill Hobb's site and on LGF actually defending the "information" in Winter Soldier and attacking its critics!
It's gonna be an ugly campaign if the modern Democrats are gonna be buying into discredited Soviet propaganda.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
02/20/2004 14:09 Comments ||
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#2
R.C. It depends on what your meaning of 'is' is.....
#3
I agree with RC on this for the same reason. Kerry can claim "That's what I was told" and the press will give him a pass. I listened to his speech on Hugh Hewitt and I could not believe what he said. He claimed that we "could not defeat Communism." Now that statement should get a lot of play because it's relevant today as it was then. Overlap that statement with the ones about not being able to defeat terrorism and you have one strong commercial. The tag line could be: "Wrong then and worng today!"
Will Ralph Nader do to John Kerry what he did to Al Gore and Ross Perot did to G.H.W. Bush? Itâs looking increasingly likely a spoiler will upset this yearâs presidential election. Yaah!
"Nader will announce Sunday whether he will make another run for the White House, but all signs indicate the consumer advocate plans to jump into the race as an independent," the Associated Press reported today. The AP! Well, it must be true then, no?
Nader make the announcement on NBCâs "Meet the Press," said Linda Schade, a spokeswoman for his presidential exploratory committee. "Heâs going to be discussing his role in the presidential election," Schade said. "Heâs felt there is a role for an independent candidate to play." Siphon those Dean voters!
She said Nader, who has chosen not to run again as the Green Partyâs nominee, would be available for interviews after the television appearance and planned to hold a press conference Monday morning "to discuss his communications" with the Democrats and Republicans, things noncandidates normally donât do. Pretty pllleeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaase!
#6
The best part is how splintered/anti-Dem the Dean-Green vote is -- according to a poll, only 35% would be satisfied with Kerry, there are PLENTY of Dean-holdouts (some even believing that they, at the convention, could use the delegates to secure Dean's nomination), and I've even heard of a Deaniac who'd vote Bush over Kerry ...
Posted by: Lu Baihu ||
02/20/2004 13:19 Comments ||
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#7
Time will tell, but I suspect that Mr. Nader won't get anywhere near as many votes as he did last time. The only Nader voters I know (and that's an admittedly non-scientific poll) have been adamant about not making the mistake of voting for him again.
So as much as we might hope, I don't think Mr. Nader will have the same effect on the next election as in the last election.
Posted by: Patrick Phillips ||
02/20/2004 13:21 Comments ||
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#8
If I were a member of the DNC, I would be begging Nader to run a full campaign and drop out and endorse Kerry on the eve of the election. His antics will invigorate the kooks and keep them in a lather long enough to get them to the polls. Bush will be forced to address the enviroment in a campaign where the American people mistrust his agenda.
With Nader in the race, Kerry can no longer be defined as far left with respect to Bush. Nader then appears as the candidate of the far left in opposition to Bush's far right with Kerry looking like a centrist.
Remember that Gore was able to run as a Centrist with Nader in the race. Luckily, Buchanen was the "far-right" candidate.
I think Nader's quasi-candidacy makes Kerry a stronger candidate. In this case, as in many others, I am a contrarian.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
02/20/2004 13:37 Comments ||
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#9
The only problem with our pride is that I haven't heard of any Deaniacs who had explicit Green/Nader-as-alternate leanings ...
P.S. Sorry about the double-post, this is my actual URL. Please give it a look?
Posted by: Lu Baihu ||
02/20/2004 14:13 Comments ||
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#10
Hmmm...SH...I suppose you could be right. But considering that Kerry and Gore were poured from the same batch of plastic, I think Nader believes that it is his duty to offer up his services to prevent one of these walking/talking Ken dolls from representing his party.
It's truly a wild card...but maybe Nader, like Perot, believes in himself enough to give it a shot.
Posted by: B ||
02/20/2004 16:01 Comments ||
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#11
I think the greenies baby power structure just wants to cruise and collect the pure dime and board fees.... Just a guess.
#12
He prob'ly couldn't decide which Green Party to lead. He ran on a Green ticket last time, but so did Jello Biafra.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/20/2004 18:37 Comments ||
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#13
From what I gathered on FOX tonight the Green party is split over him running and may keep some donors from donating. McAlluff said he has met with him several times asking him not to run. But then the FOX gang believes Nadar really won't be as decisive a figure as last time, if he was even then.
I don't remember where I saw it yesterday (some Dem blog), but the Deaniacs are really upset about Dean dropping out and many of them will not vote for Kerry. A few of them even said they would hold their noses and vote for Bush.
Posted by: AF Lady ||
02/20/2004 20:11 Comments ||
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EFL Putinâs much-publicised appearance at military exercises is marred by missile malfunction on two days running
President Vladimir Putin oversaw one of Russiaâs largest strategic military exercises in years for a second day on Wednesday, and, for a second day, something went wrong. An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) fired from the nuclear submarine Karelia in the Barents Sea veered wildly off course 98 seconds after launch and then self-destructed, a navy spokesman said. The cause of the malfunction would be investigated.
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
02/20/2004 12:21:41 PM ||
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#1
Is this bad luck, or political pressure forcing 'em to test before they're ready for Prime Time?
#5
Was this one of the new missiles that make "missile defense useless?" I suppose self-destructing before we can hit it would give them a moral victory.
#7
The Stategic Rocket Forces used to get the best of every thing the Soviet Armed forces got... which was the best that the Soviets produced... where are they in the pecking order now?
My wife had rotator cuff surgery earlier this year, and the recovery is terribly painful. Then, she developed a staph-epi infection, and they had to cut the same scar open and operate on her again. Just thinking about the pain and anxiety of facing that painful surgery a second time in the same wound, makes me cringe. That experience, however pales in comparison to what I am going through right now, in my heart.
The old hurts are surfacing and the feelings of betrayal by fellow citizens, and their leader stirring them up, are breaking my heart again. I am being cut in the same scar. How did we who served in Vietnam suddenly become cold-blooded killers, torturers, and rapists, of the ilk of the Nazi SS or the Taliban? Most of us were American soldiers who grew up idolizing John Wayne, Roy Rogers, and all the other heroes. That was why I volunteered. But for political expediency, John Kerry has rewritten history, again. After spending only four months in the country of Vietnam, John Kerry testified before Congress in 1971 with these exact words about incidents he supposedly witnessed or heard about from other vets: âThey personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads, taped wires from portable telephones to human genitals and turned up the power, cut off limbs, blown up bodies, randomly shot at civilians, razed villages, shot cattle and dogs for fun, poisoned food stocks, and generally ravaged the countryside of South Vietnam."
I was a green beret officer who volunteered for duty in Vietnam and fought in the thick of it in 1968 and 1969 on a Special Forces A-team on the Ho Chi Minh Trail, just for starters. We were the elite. We saw the most action. Everybody in the world knows that. But we did not just kill people, we built a church, a school, treated illnesses, passed out soap, food, and clothing, and had fun and loving interaction with the indigenous people of Vietnam, just like our boys did in Normandy, Baghdad, Saigon, and everywhere American soldiers ever served. We all gave away our candy bars and rations to kids. Our hearts to oppressed people all over the globe.
My children and grandchildren could read your words, and think those horrendous things about me, Mr. Kerry. You are a bold-faced, unprincipled liar, and a disgrace, and you have dishonored me and all my fellow Vietnam veterans. Sure, there were a couple bad-apples, but I saw none, and I saw it all, and if I did, as an army officer, it was my obligation to stop it, or at the very least report it. Why is there not a single record anywhere of you ever reporting any incidents like this or having the perpetrators arrested? The answer is simple. You are a liar. Your medals and mine are not a free pass for lifetime, Senator Kerry, to bypass character, integrity, and morality. I earn my green beret over and over daily in all aspects of my life.
Eight National Guard green berets, and other National Guard soldiers, have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, and you totally dishonored their widows and families by lumping National Guard service in with being a draft-dodger, conscientious objector, and deserter, just so you can try to sabotage the patriotism of our President who proudly served as an Air National Guard jet pilot. I have a son earning his green beret at Fort Bragg right now, and his wife serves honorably in the Air National Guard, just like President Bush did, and I am as proud of her as I am my son. I volunteered for Vietnam and have no problem whatsoever with President Bush being our Commander-In-Chief. In fact, I am proud of him as our leader.
John Kerry, you personally derailed the Vietnam Human Rights Bill, HR2883, in 2001, after it had passed the House by a 411 to 1 vote, and thousands of pro-American Montagnard tribespeople in Vietnam died since then who could have been saved, by you. Earlier, as Chair of the Senate Select Committee on MIA/POW Affairs, you personally quashed the efforts of any and all veterans to report sightings of living POWâs, when you held those reins in Congress. You have fought tooth and nail to push for the US to normalize relations with Vietnam for years. Why, Mr. Kerry? Simple, your first cousin C. Stewart Forbes, CEO, of Colliers International, recently signed a contract with Hanoi, worth BILLIONS of dollars for Collierâs International to become the exclusive real estate representative for the country of Vietnam.
âHanoi John,â now that it works for you, you beat your chest about your Vietnam service, but to me, you are a phony, opportunistic, hypocrite. You are one of those politicians that is like a fertilizer machine: all that comes out of you is horse manure, and you are spreading it everywhere.
Medals do not make a man. Morals do.
Don Bendell
Posted by: tipper ||
02/20/2004 11:08:01 AM ||
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#1
You tell him, Don!
Posted by: Steve from Relto ||
02/20/2004 11:19 Comments ||
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#3
There is a Vietname Human Rights Bill apparently stalled on the house side, HR1587, that was referred to subcommittee in April 2003. I'm trying to find out what the status on that is.
#5
Collier's International could well turn out to be Kerry's 'Conflict Of Interest' fiasco, Lucky. Much like the Dems want us to believe their Cheny/Halliburton rants. But 'Collier's' is much more well documented. A real estate conglomerate owned by Kerry's cousin. Whose major asset is most of what was South Vietnam!
Posted by: Jack Deth ||
02/20/2004 12:46 Comments ||
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#6
Doesnt it make sense to have Viet Nam as an ally, in view of the growing strength of China? Has the Bush admin taken a different stance than John Kerry on Viet Nam?
Posted by: Michael ||
02/20/2004 14:02 Comments ||
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#8
Thank you, Don, thank you!
There's probably at least a book, here. How about The Mythology and Conventional Wisdom of the Global Conscience Machine as a working title?
I've been wondering how long it would take before someone with credentials and dignity refuted Kerry's face-saving lies and guilty duplicity. I have no doubt Kerry thought, as those who are too full of themselves to see any other perspective always seem to do, that no one would seriously challenge his rose-colored memories of himself as hero and self-righteous Socratic conscience of a generation.
After all, 99% of the movies (the social myth-making machinery run by Hollywood's hapless heroes, loveless Lotharios, drugstore cowboys, and REMF warriors) about Vietnam were made by people who weren't there, have no clue, and swallowed this bullshit whole when they were dodging their own service obligation - cuz it soothed the wounds of their cowardice.
It takes a bigger lie (service in Vietnam was wrong) to cover and assuage the guilty sum of the teeming knot of nasty little lies (they were frightened kids who, when they discovered it was possible, stopped at nothing to manipulate the system to avoid dangerous service) that threatens to shatter the self-image of righteous indignation. The Vietnam myths abound. In fact, so great has been the effort that Vietnam has reached the status of icon, a symbol loaded with predigested (and, therefore, unchallenged) conventional wisdom and meaning: guilt and failure, both factually and morally. To challenge any aspect of such an iconic myth is to invite attacks from all who buy into it... The machine has much invested in this myth, this boogeyman...
So the machine succeeded. It has succeeded so well that the myth has grown until it encompasses the entire world. Since the vast majority of people are, in fact, fearful of conflict and loathe to confront evil - unknowns frighten most, the Vietnam myth has been embraced - swallowed whole - for the same reasons that it appealed to a generation of frightened teenagers (and their parents) of the US almost 40 years ago. The US is the planet's media giant. Our media machinery has manufactured myths for global consumption for more than half a century - and in this case we've fed them the same steady diet of half-truths and half-lies that we "needed" to "forgive" ourselves in the Vietnam era.
So there should be little wonder that any event or circumstance which challenges this global conventional wisdom, this myth of Vietnam, would result not just in a heated debate within the US, but would take on global proportions. Where this debate spills over and serves the vested interests of other societies and governments and even powerful business interests, such as George Soros and his ilk, we see the addition of well-funded and even state-run media attacks. So much for dignity and honesty in the debate.
Obviously, the Vietnam myth is ripe for debunking and the process has begun - hell, we owe it to ourselves to clean out the collective closet, now and then. Perhaps the WoT will provide the collective experiences, the solid evidence and proof to do it. It certainly needs some light-of-day exposure - for today, given the lethality of weaponry and its proliferation, it is incredibly dangerous for a society to replay old tapes of irrelevant history. And mere irrelevant history it is, complete with machine-generated myths and bullshit and vested interests and manipulation.
Back on topic to this particular episode of manipulation and bullshit, Don Bendell has challenged one of the beneficiaries of this myth eloquently (Kerry's been feeding at the public trough and propagating the bullshit with every vote in the Senate) and with the dignity that the pretenders, the myth's True Believers, can only dream of possessing.
Now let's see how long it takes for a major press outlet to pick up Don's challenge and make it common knowledge. Since propagating the myths are their bread and butter, I won't be holding my breath. Apologies to all for my pedantic ranting. Some topics just scream for a big pic airing, IMHO, lest we forget. Perspective is second only to the truth in importance, methinks.
#11
Ship - Hey, I apologized at the end! I know this is preaching to the choir, etc, and that everyone here knows the bits and pieces ring true, but when drawn together they provide a context within which responses like Mr Bendell's can really make sense to the fence-sitters who know something's not quite right and can't quite overcome the myth's grip. Oops, I'm doing it again. Sorry! ;-)
#12
.com, I'm with you on the myths being created and propagated by those who were not there or were there and somehow failed, in order to make sense of their absence or failure.
I concluded sometime ago that the only way to get past the myths is to read first hand accounts by people who were actually there.
Fred, I think we need a seperate Nuclear Black Market file. EFL: Kazakhstan has opened an investigation into the nuclear black market that helped Iran, Libya and North Korea, exploring suspected ties in the country that housed much of the Soviet Unionâs atomic arsenal. Kazakhstanâs intelligence agency is examining the Almaty office of a Dubai company linked by President Bush to the market headed by the father of Pakistanâs nuclear program, the officials said. Bush accused Sri Lankan businessman Bukhary Syed Abu Tahir of brokering black-market deals for nuclear technology using his Dubai-based company SMB Computers as a front. That firm also has an office in the Kazakh commercial capital, Almaty. Well, isnât that interesting.
The Kazakh intelligence agency, the National Security Committee, is investigating allegations that SMB Computersâ affiliate was dealing with highly enriched uranium, spokesman Kenzhebulat Beknazarov said Thursday. "Upgrade now to Version U.235!"
SMB Computersâ office in Almaty was closed Thursday. Tap, nope
According to a receptionist in the building where the company rents a room, the only person who staffed the office hasnât shown up there for a week. The receptionist said he had been planning to "wrap up business" and move out. "Feet, donât fail me now!"
The Dubai headquarters of SMB identified the head of its Almaty office as Shaul Hameed, but said they didnât have any further contact details for him. "Well, he does head that office, but we donât talk to him. In fact, we donât see a lot of people who run this company."
A receptionist there said "our company has nothing to do with this," regarding allegations of nuclear smuggling. Honey, Iâd be looking for a new job. And Iâd consider not putting SMB on my resume.
Bush named SMB Computersâ owner Tahir as a key link in a clandestine network run by Abdul Qadeer Khan. Tahir was described as the networkâs chief financial officer, money launderer and shipping agent - using the firm as a cover to ship parts for centrifuges, used to enrich uranium. Tahir has been telling Malaysian police much the same thing about Khan.
Kazakhstan transferred all its Soviet nuclear warheads to Russia by April 1995, and destroyed its nuclear testing infrastructure at the major Semipalatinsk weapons test site by July 2000. About 1,320 pounds of weapons-grade highly enriched uranium was removed to the United States from the Ulba Metallurgy Plant in 1994. Yet the Central Asian nation still holds weapons-grade nuclear material, including 3.3 tons of plutonium at a mothballed breeder reactor in the countryâs west, and small amounts of highly enriched uranium at two nuclear research institutes, according to the Web site of the Nuclear Threat Initiative, a U.S.-based foundation. Need to get that stuff out of there.
Still, Kazakh nuclear officials denied the chance of any weapons-grade uranium leaks. "It is impossible to illegally take any uranium out of Kazakhstan," said Shinar Zhanibekova, spokeswoman for Kazakhstanâs national atomic energy company, KazAtomProm. "Itâs inconceivable!"
The Atomic Energy Committee, which grants licenses for the export of nuclear materials, said it had never done any business with SMB Computers and never granted it a license. Thanks, I feel so much better.
Kazakhstan has 30 percent of the worldâs uranium reserves and is the fourth biggest uranium producer, according to KazAtomProm. She said all uranium exports from the country were monitored by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog, and tightly controlled by Kazakh nuclear and security agencies. So much for feelin better
A Europe-based Western diplomat working on issues of nuclear proliferation questioned the reliability of Kazakh safeguards for its nuclear assets. "Nobody can pretend that everything is perfectly secure," the diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity. However, he had no further information on SMB Computersâ possible activities in Kazakhstan. "I can say no more"
Posted by: Steve ||
02/20/2004 10:37:52 AM ||
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An Iraqi leader accused of feeding faulty prewar intelligence to Washington said his information about Saddam Husseinâs weapons â even if discredited â achieved the aim of persuading the United States to topple the dictator. Ahmed Chalabi and his London-based exile group, the Iraqi National Congress, for years provided a conduit for Iraqi defectors who were debriefed by U.S. intelligence agents. But many American officials now blame Mr. Chalabi for providing what turned out to be false or wildly exaggerated intelligence about Iraqâs weapons of mass destruction. During an interview, Mr. Chalabi, by far the most effective anti-Saddam lobbyist in Washington, shrugged off charges that he had deliberately misled U.S. intelligence. "We are heroes in error," he said in Baghdad on Wednesday. "As far as weâre concerned, weâve been entirely successful. "Our objective has been achieved. That tyrant Saddam is gone, and the Americans are in Baghdad. What was said before is not important."
Actually it is, since we're going to eventually go into Iran, and probably Syria before the terror ediface collapses. Screwing around with the mechanism for Iraq may have put a serious crimp on the mechanisms for subsequent operations.
Mr. Chalabi added: "The Bush administration is looking for a scapegoat. Weâre ready to fall on our swords if [President Bush] wants." His comments are likely to inflame the debate on both sides of the Atlantic over the quality of prewar intelligence, and over the way it was presented by Mr. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair as they argued for military action. U.S. officials said last week that one of the most celebrated pieces of false intelligence, the claim that Saddam had mobile biological-weapons laboratories, had come from a major in the Iraqi intelligence service made available by the INC. U.S. officials at first found the information credible, and the defector passed a lie-detector test. But in later interviews it became apparent that he was stretching the truth and had been "coached by the INC." He failed a second polygraph test, and intelligence agencies were warned that the information was unreliable in May 2002. But analysts missed the warning, and the mobile-lab story remained firmly established in the catalog of purported Iraqi violations until months after the overthrow of Saddam. The United States at one point claimed to have found two mobile labs, but the trucks were later reported to have held equipment to make hydrogen for weather balloons. Last week, State Department officials conceded that much of the firsthand testimony they had received was "shaky."
"What the INC told us formed one part of the intelligence picture," said a senior official in Baghdad. "But what Chalabi told us, we accepted in good faith. Now there are going to be a lot of question marks over his motives." Mr. Chalabi remains an influential member of the Iraqi Governing Council, though he has failed to develop the popular following in Iraq that his most enthusiastic sponsors once expected. Those were US lives lost there. I am not happy about this.
Posted by: rkb ||
02/20/2004 10:31:14 AM ||
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#1
So how did Chalabi convince the Germans the Brits, etc. that Saddam had WMDs.
For that matter, how did Chalabi convince the Clinton Admin.
#5
Chalabi may in fact be an Iranian plant, according to the STRATFOR analysis that I posted on my blog.
I don't think that this affects the rationale for going to war, but it does raise some interesting questions that need to be answered as far as Chalabi's allegiances go.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/20/2004 11:57 Comments ||
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#6
It didn't matter. The only thing that could have saved saddam was his turning over what the had or what they did with WMD. saddam was a brinkmanship player. His ego wouldn't let him do what Bush demanded. Bush knew this. Thats why the build up to war was unstoppable. And I'm glad for that.
That Iraq will prolly be in a state of conflict for a long time is for the Iraqi's to handle. There isn't alot we can do. Other than pick a side and ensure victory for that side.
#8
where in the above does it show that Chalabi deliberately misled US intel??? It shows that some of the defectors he passed on were unreliable - but was it Chalabi's job to vette them? It shows that he doesnt particularly care that the info was wrong - since it freed his people - well who the hell can blame him for that??? Damn, id feel the same way. Hell, Im not even Iraqi and I DO feel the same way.
He's self-serving - sure - hes a POLITICIAN - thats what makes democracy tick.
Is he a swindler - he was convicted by the Jordanians, at a time when Jordan was in bed with Saddam. He disputes the conviction to this day.
#9
btw - dan, Stratfor does NOT say that Chalabi is an Iranian plant - they DO say "That Chalabi had close relations with Iran is not in itself startling. He is a Shiite who was deeply opposed to Saddam Hussein; he took friends where he could get them. It is somewhat more surprising that his extensive dealings with Iran were not regarded as a hindrance to a U.S. relationship with him prior to the war. He was in rather deep with the Iranians. After the war ended and the guerrilla campaign began, Chalabi was clearly useful in negotiating Iraqi Shiite cooperation with Tehran. The postwar relationship was visible and reasonable" They then go on to imply that Chalabi was responsible for the WMD information, and thus for the current reevaluation of the war. Which makes no sense, as the US had its own resources to evaluate Iraqi defectors, and further many defectors came NOT from Chalabis INC, but from Allawi's INA. Note that the CIA informed Cheney of the incriminating (yet per Stratfor, reasonable) Iranian ties. Who is CIA's favorite Iraqi? - none other than Mr. Allawi - who seems to be getting a free pass as far as unreliable defectors is concerned.
Note also that Stratfor implies that Chalabi is somehow responsible (hint, hint, hes an Iranian plant) for US reliance on the Shia - despite the fact that the INC includes Sunni as well as Shia. The Shia make up 60% of the population of Iraq - they would be dominant in ANY conceivable democratic circumstances (but who said the CIA was committed to democratic circumstances - for years theyve wanted Saddam overthrown through a coup by Baathist officers which would leave in place a UNDEMOCRATIC Sunni led regime - which would be friendly to Saudi and a "bulwark" against Iran) Furthermore the widespread Sunni opposition to the liberation (surely not Chalabis fault) further emphasizes the role of the Shia -with Kurds firmly pro-US, and Sunnis largely anti-US, the Shia would be the natural holders of the balance even if their numbers were lower.
Stratfor does state that a Shia dominated Iraq means an Iranian dominated Iraq - despite abundant evidence that Sistani and others are not interested in an Iranian dominated Iraq, and that Sadr is alone in pushing for that - you have to have an elaborate good cop - bad cop routine to make sense of that, and for now at least that calls for a nice shave from Mr. Occam.
I wouldnt put that much faith in Stratfor. Its a good read, with a definite sense of grand strategy, and more reliable than Debka I suppose, but theyve been wrong about major things. In particular their pessimistic take on Afghanistan ultimately proved wrong.
Which are no more valuable than the Iraqi civilian lives that were also lost there. But you supposedly considered the outcome well worth the lives lost, didn't you? Did anything change in the meantime?
Even if Chalabi outright *lied* about the WMDs (something nowhere stated), what kind of obligation did he have not to deceive the United States if that was needed in order to free his nation? His primary obligation is supposedly to his own nation, ain't it? How would that make him a scumbag, even if he outright lied and manipulated the US?
Chalabi is not an American citizen. Even if he deceived a foreign nation into helping him free his people, then that may make him untrustworthy for future relations, but it doesn't make him a scumbag. It makes him a quite clever patriot.
I didn't agree with the whole thing and on my blog I even took issue with their characterization of Sistani. I simply noted the possibility because right now, we do need to be asking these kinds of questions.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/20/2004 15:24 Comments ||
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#12
sorry - i read the SF article, didnt read all your comments (or at least didnt read carefully enough)
#13
Agree with you to an extent Aris. I hope it all works out well in the Athens games If it dosen't I'll be right here to tell you what went wrong. I've been learning from 'ya!
#19
excuse me... saddam wanted people to believe it...saddam has no responsiblity in this...really?...and saddam wanted people to believe he had this to keep the sanctions up...i see alot of real us dollars coming out of iraq and it isn't fake...wow...but i guess that doesn't matter
Thousands of Palestinians took to the streets in Gaza City on Friday to urge President Yasser Arafat to free four militants who are on trial for the killing of three U.S. security guards last October. Dozens of armed and masked activists of the militant Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) were among those who marched to Gazaâs main prison where the suspects are being held in custody. Demonstrators accused the Palestinian Authority of bowing to pressure from the United States and Israel in holding the men. The suspects told a military court earlier this month they had nothing to do with the October 15 bomb attack against a U.S. diplomatic convoy in the Gaza Strip in which the three American guards were killed. The hastily convened hearing was called days after U.S. officials complained the Palestinian Authority had not cooperated fully in its investigation of the bombing. U.S. officials voiced dissatisfaction over the military proceedings and the Palestinian Authority announced the trial would continue in a civilian court, where the suspects would have better access to their lawyers. One of two things is true:
1. they believe these people committed the murder yet want them to be released anyway. If this is true then their behavior is akin to dancing in the streets on 9/11.
2. they donât believe these people committed the murder and therefore believe itâs a travesty of justice. If this is true, why arenât they trying to overthrow their own ineffectual, spineless, corrupt leaders!!??
Posted by: PlanetDan ||
02/20/2004 10:14:27 AM ||
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thousands marched yet only dozens were masked militants? So much for the "innocent paleo civilians" caught in the crossfire. They are part of the problem and should suffer their fate - trapped in a stinking hellhole of civil war and sick, broken-down society with only their own to kill. A Death cult eating its own
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/20/2004 12:28 Comments ||
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thats easy PD = "their innocent, but the PA arrested them to assuage the evil Americans and Jews - no fault on Yasser"
You cant get nearly as far with syllogisms as youd like there.
The China Daily spins this story as indicative of US and British deceit. But the subtext, which it never mentions, is the following question: can either Britain or the US trust former Chinese nationals to handle top secret material? Or are they fatally compromised by their pre-existing allegiance to China and Chinese positions on foreign affairs? Political correctness notwithstanding, is it time to reassess vetting procedures for recruits - especially those with links to hostile foreign powers - to the intelligence services?
A report in the British newspaper The Observer about Britain aiding the United States in conducting a secret and illegal spying operation at the United Nations (UN) prior to the Iraq War is more frightening than shocking. It raises new questions about how far the two countries had gone before pulling the trigger that launched the invasion of Iraq. The issue was brought to light during the trial of Katherine Gun, a translator formerly employed at Britainâs secret global listening facility. Gun was arrested for violating Britainâs Official Secrets Acts. Her disclosure of classified documents concerning attempts by the British secret service to bug UN delegates in order to help the United States better "negotiate" support for invading Iraq made a furor last March. For sure, Gunâs conduct embarrassed the US and British governments. A highly classified US National Security Agency memo outlined the operation, which included e-mail surveillance and taps on home and office telephones. Gunâs revelations may have been critical in denying the military strikes on Iraq a cloak of legitimacy. However, that did not prevent the war. The case is another example of illegal and immoral behavior by the United States and Britain concerning the war. It should not be a surprise, given US President George W. Bushâs clear-cut mentality at the time of the invasion, when he told the rest of the world community "You are either with us or against us."
Actually, Bush said that in the wake of 9-11, when he declared the war on terror, not when he was preparing to invade Iraq.
Nor is it surprising that a man who referred to the UN Security Council as "the so-called security council" treats such an august body with contempt. Based on the fact Gun is considered an expert translator of Chinese, there is speculation that China, a permanent Security Council member, was likely a target of the operation. The memo, dated January 31, 2003, stated the National Security Agency wanted to gather "the whole gamut of information that could give US policy-makers an edge in obtaining results favorable to US goals or to head off surprises." The operation was ordered before deliberations over a second UN resolution and targeted the so-called "swing nations" on the Security Council -- Chile, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Angola, Guinea and Pakistan -- whose votes were needed to proceed to war. The information was intended for US Secretary of State Colin Powell before his presentation on weapons of mass destruction (WMD) to the Security Council on February 5, 2003. It was sent out four days after the UNâs chief weapons inspector, Hans Blix, produced his interim response on Iraqi compliance with UN resolutions. Such action was certainly a breach of the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations, which strictly outlaws espionage at the UN missions in New York.
It doesn't "outlaw" coverage of the home countries, though.
The Convention stipulates that "The receiving state shall permit and protect free communication on the part of the mission for all official purposes... The official correspondence of the mission shall be inviolable." In the wake of the Hutton report on the absence of WMD in Iraq and the establishment of inquiries into intelligence failures on both sides of the Atlantic, the Gun case has dropped yet another cluster bomb on US and British credibility over the Iraq War. It shows how far the two nations were prepared to go in their ultimately unsuccessful attempt to persuade the world of the case for UN support for their invasion. The Gun trial has reopened questions about the legality of the Iraq War. On March 8, 2003, the office of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said the UN had started a top-level investigation into the bugging of its delegates by the United States. No results from that investigation have been made available. When Daniel Ellsberg leaked the "Pentagon Papers" to the New York Times in 1971, he blew the whistle on the deceptions and lies of the Nixon administration and other forms of official misconduct relating to the war in Viet Nam. There are expectations Gunâs case will have a similar impact -- and unveil truths rather than tricks.
Posted by: Zhang Fei ||
02/20/2004 9:59:35 AM ||
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What the Chinese really ought to be focused on is the possibility that Kerry/Edwards will become President on a protectionist trade platform.
Posted by: Matt ||
02/20/2004 11:12 Comments ||
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My flabber just gasted...
Pakistani officials met Hizbul leader Syed Salahuddin on the eve of the three-day official-level talks that concluded on Wednesday with the agreement on timetable and roadmap for resumption of the composite dialogue, and told him that jihad is no more a good strategy to seek the settlement of the Kashmir dispute," Hizbul sources were quoted as saying by The Friday Times weekly.
"Sorry, Syed. We have to let you go."
"But... I'm the voice of jihad in Kashmir! Who could possibly replace me?"
"Hi, guys!"
"William Shatner?"
The meeting between Hizbul leaders and Pakistani officials was part of the "back channel" diplomacy launched by government from January 6, the day India and Pakistan issued a joint statement after the meeting between Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and President Pervez Musharraf during which the general expressed his commitment not to let Pakistani territory to be used for terrorist activities against India. During their meeting with Salahuddin, Pakistan government representatives told him that the rapidly-changing geopolitical circumstances require a change of strategy and jihad was no longer feasible. Salahuddin was also told that jihad had achieved its purpose. "It has revived the dead issue of Kashmir at the global level. Now the time has come to employ diplomacy and politics to resolve this issue," he was told.
Posted by: TS ||
02/20/2004 9:49:10 AM ||
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wabting to quiten down the kashmir frontier zone so he can concentrate his army on the Afghan border for the summer perhaps,just speculation
An Israeli businessman accused of being a middleman in the nuclear black market worked to supply not only Pakistan but also its archrival India, court records indicate. So he sold technology to anyone with cash.
South Africa-based Asher Karni faces felony charges of exporting nuclear bomb triggers to Pakistan. But court files in the case also include e-mail exchanges between Karni and an Indian businessman who was secretly trying to buy material for two Indian rocket factories. "Be careful to avoid any reference to customer name," warned one message from Karniâs Indian contact, Raghavendra âRaguâ Rao of Foretek Marketing (Pvt) Ltd.
The messages offer a rare glimpse into such dealings. Federal prosecutors filed them in court as part of their attempts to persuade a judge to keep Karni behind bars before his trial. That would be a good idea.
After conferring with US Magistrate Judge Alan Kay on Thursday, lawyers for both sides agreed to postpone a bond hearing for Karni until next Tuesday. L Barrett Boss, one of Karniâs lawyers, declined to comment. "We, ah, need to confer with our client."
Karni, 50, has pleaded innocent. Federal agents arrested him on New Yearâs Day when he arrived in Denver for a ski vacation. "Welcome to Denver, git your hands up!"
Authorities accuse Karni of using front companies and falsified documents to buy nuclear bomb triggers in the United States and ship them to Pakistan. This is the case where the FBI had the manufacturer give him inoperative triggers so they could follow the trail.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/20/2004 9:47:51 AM ||
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An Israeli businessman accused of being a middleman in the nuclear black market worked to supply not only Pakistan but also its archrival India, court records indicate.
Let me get this straight. A Jew was selling Muslims BOMB parts. I say turn him over to the Israelis
(2004-02-18) -- Former Democrat presidential frontrunner Howard Dean today formally ended his bid for the party nomination, and delivered one final inspirational message to his enthusiastic band of grassroots supporters.
The following is the text of that speech:
"To all those who have followed me for the past year, pouring out your hearts and your money for something you believed in, I have this to say: You got punkâd!
Did you really believe that a career politician like me was some sort of idealist who was going to change the system? Psyche!
This campaign was about one thing -- my burning desire to be the most powerful man in the world, or at least to feel the rush of spending $40 million in one year.
My advice to you now is Control-Alt-Delete, baby! Ciao.
P.S. Iâm selling your email address to John Kerry."
Mr. Dean said he would devote the next several weeks to writing a book called "Grassroots Movements for Dummies," and to forming a 527 committee called MoveAlongNow.org.
Posted by: Steve from Relto ||
02/20/2004 9:45:29 AM ||
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Woohoo, Scrappleface!!!... Your story captures the Dean ego perfectly. And is flowery and flambouyant enough to be true!
Posted by: Jack Deth ||
02/20/2004 12:57 Comments ||
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Awesome! "MoveAlongNow.org" (suckers) just sings!
Hat tip LGF.
President Bushâs Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) provides the right solution, but to the wrong problem. Nuclear proliferation is merely a symptom; the real issue is the nuclear weapons themselves. And, in this sense, the PSI is no more than a Band-Aid, and a quite small one at that. The recent scandal in Pakistan, where a mad corrupt scientist sold nuclear secrets for profit, only demonstrates that such traffic is much too lucrative to be stopped by increased policing. For 60 years, ever since Hiroshima, the U.S. and the world have tried to control the spread of nuclear weapons. Weâve tried treaties, economic sanctions and moral persuasion. And weâve failed. We could not stop the Soviets from getting nukes. We chose not to resist, and actually ignored, Israelâs nuclear program. We looked the other way when India went nuclear and, thus, could do little when Pakistan followed suit. And we merely fumed when North Korea flexed its nuclear muscles. In the meantime, we have built and maintained the worldâs largest nuclear stockpile. Ever hear of Mutually Assured Destructionâ¢, keanulint-brain?
Can we contain Pakistanâs nuclear program? Yes, we can. But first we will need to contain Indiaâs. To do that, however, India will need to see Chinaâs program rolled back. How does that happen? For that, we will need to start looking at our own. As my grandmother used to say, "If you point one finger at someone, at least three will point back at you." No one said this was easy! Are we really surprised that the rest of the world rolls its eyes when we pontificate about the dangers of nuclear weapons or weapons of mass destruction in general - as when Bush referred to them as "the greatest threat to humanity today"? What other countries doubt is our sincerity. It is hypocritical to tell the rest of the world that nuclear weapons are good enough for us, but not for them. We canât have a world part nuclear and part not. PSI prevents that scenario, asshat.
Perhaps the fathers of our own atom bomb - Robert Oppenheimer and his colleagues from the Manhattan Project - were correct in believing that the only real way of dealing with nuclear proliferation is to ban nuclear weapons altogether. Everywhere. When nukes are outlawed only outlaws will have nukes. International Atomic Energy Agency head Mohamed ElBaradei understands this reality. He recently wrote: "We must abandon the unworkable notion that it is morally reprehensible for some countries to pursue weapons of mass destruction yet morally acceptable for others to rely on them and indeed to continue to refine their capacities and postulate plans for their use." We must insist on a nuclear-free world. We must make a sincere commitment to it at home and demand it abroad. Rather than better mousetraps for proliferating nations, we need an approach to eliminate nuclear weapons. Some may argue this is unrealistic. But no more so than the misguided, even naive, hope that a feel-good Band-Aid called PSI will make the world a safer place. He said that a ban on nukes would make even rogue states disarm. Immediately, his harp bent until a string snapped. Adil Najam is an associate professor of international negotiation and diplomacy at the Fletcher School at Tufts University
Adil's making the assumption that once nuclear weapons have been developed they can be undeveloped. The Greeks knew that once you take some actions they can't be undone — ask Pandora, or more to the point, look in her box. Prior to WWI chemical weapons had never been used on the battlefield. Despite the fact that there were treaties barring their use, treaties that rose out of the experiences of both sides, both sides in WWII maintained chemical defense units. The Japanese, I believe, did use chem weapons in China. More recently, a group of nut cases in Tokyo used a chem weapon in a subway in Tokyo and Sammy and the Iranians gassed each other in their war, after Sammy started it. Sammy also famously did in the Kurds with chem weapons, which I believe might be the first documented use against a civilian target. (Hitler doesn't count — the gas wasn't used in military operations.) We've also been actively looking for al-Qaeda chem weapons and finding indications of them. And yet the treaties remain in force.
The same principle applies to nuclear weapons. Even if all sides disarm themselves and destroy all stocks of weapons, rogue states and rogue organizaitons remain not only a possibility but a probability. A rogue state, like Pakistan or Iran, is aware of and probably even dimly comprehends the concept of assured destruction, whether mutual or not. Rogue organizations, like al-Qaeda and its subsidiaries, discount the concept. Being stateless, it doesn't matter to them if somebody's state is destroyed. They expect to be able to move on to the next one. Settling in someplace like Afghanistan or Mali, where there's nothing much to destroy, simply results in holding somebody else's population hostage. The only threat of destruction that will actually stay them is someplace they care about: Mecca, Medina, Qom, Najaf, Karbala, or one of the other seven million holy places of Islam. And destroying them brings its own downside: it doesn't get us the perps, and it cheezes off the great Islamic unwashed.
Luckily, we have a weapon that's better suited to dealing with the enemy. The U.S. military has shown itself in three campaigns to be an unstoppable force, and not once in Gulf War I, Afghanistan, or Gulf War II has it had to resort to unconventional weapons. The only thing that can stop it would be a force of similar size, capability, and level of coordinated command and control. There ain't no sech animal as of today, and the only thing I can think of that would cause it to gag would be the Chinese PLA — based purely on size. Certainly a gun-waving, eye-rolling mass of Iranian cannon fodder doesn't qualify. Nor do any other of the various "armies" of the Middle Eastern states, geared as they are toward suppressing their own people rather than winning wars.
Posted by: Steve from Relto ||
02/20/2004 9:43:01 AM ||
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Ban nuclear weapons and make the world safe for conventional warfare.
#2
This entire article goes under the assumption that all of the people trying to get nukes are rational and perhaps just a bit misunderstood.
Fact is its a dog eat dog world and some of those dogs have rabies. The US is the Alpha dog, the one keeping many of thelm in check, the one many of them want to take down. The US would be foolish to defang itself under those conditions.
#3
What a f*cking moron. Let's tell all the thugs in the world we're no longer armed. What planet does this idiot live on? Again, what a f*cking moron.
#4
Nations make treaties and agreements through negotiations. Negotiations require some semblance of goodwill and a commitment to honor the proposed agreement. There are some nations and people that will not honor agreements, so instead of negotiations one has to use the threat of a big stick. Depending upone someone's goodwill only is suicide. One must always verify. Who knows, a change in govt could bring in someone who will try to go around an agreement. Of course this would not apply to France, as they are always consistant....
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/20/2004 14:57 Comments ||
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I can't remember what wise man said it first but here it is: "To have peace, you must prepare for war".
Posted by: Brian ||
02/20/2004 16:11 Comments ||
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EFL
As the South Korean tour bus rattles across the demoralized demilitarized zone into the Hermit Kingdom worldâs most isolated country, the guide recites the rules. 1) No teasing the children with candy bars, 2) No teasing little Kim with strip bars.
"Donât point your finger at the portraits of Kim Jong-il and Kim Il-sung," says Park Chae-eun. Better not to use the names of North Koreaâs leader or his late father, she adds, but if itâs unavoidable, "always use honorifics. For example, it should be General Kim Jong-il or President Kim Il-sung." Always avert your eyes!
A visit to the Diamond Mountain resort is a journey through minefields in more ways than one: real ones in the DMZ, linguistic ones for the unsuspecting visitor and commercial ones for Hyundai, the deeply wounded conglomerate that runs the tours. The Lonely Planet Guide did not mention this!
Once tourists disembark, they climb valleys, bask in a hot spring, watch a North Korean acrobatic show and shop at duty-free Hyundai stores packed with Western liquor and North Korean brand Red Star and Paradise cigarettes. ...gaze upon the concentration camps, practice sprinting to the fall-out shelters...still no mention in Lonely Planet!
But the place is hardly tourist-friendly. Ya think?
One trip was suspended for two hours because a minder inspected the shiny pebbles neatly arranged at the foot of a Kim monument and found one missing, said Hwang Mi-jung, a South Korean tour guide. In 1999, North Korea held a South Korean tourist for six days, accusing her of "preaching defection" to a North Korean minder. I was once kicked out of a church in Ethiopia. I looked suspicious.
The number of tourists is fewer than one-third of what Hyundai had expected. Many South Koreans find it a hassle to apply 10 days in advance while their government vets them before letting them cross the Cold Warâs last frontier. Not much interest huh? Give it time. Maybe some glossy pamphlets would help. Highlight their nuclear program and cuisine.
Posted by: Dragon Fly ||
02/20/2004 9:34:53 AM ||
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Who lives in the bigger fantasy world? The SORKs or the NORKs? I was stationed there for a year. I know I'm being culturally insensitive but S. Korea is "The Land of Not Quite Right"
EFL
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide declared yesterday that he was "ready to die" to defend his country, indicating that he would not resign as demanded by political rivals and a bloody rebellion in the north. Be careful what you wish for. I was just in Haiti last year. My sense is the people there are more than willing to make these arrangements for Msr. Aristide.
"I am ready to give my life if that is what it takes to defend my country," he said. "If wars are expensive, peace can be even more expensive." Dead or alive little will change.
He also asked police officers to help Haitians preserve democracy. "I order the police to accompany the people courageously with the constitution as their guide," he said. "When the police are united to the people, they are invincible." Remember the Tonton Macoutes?
Posted by: Dragon Fly ||
02/20/2004 9:19:29 AM ||
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So I guess he won't be hightailing it to Miami at the earliest possible moment? Sure. Right.
#4
Great!!! Aristide wants to die for his country?... Let him! The Marines can always take the island back. If necessary. Then install a 'Bought & Paid For' ruler once Aristide is dead!
Posted by: Jack Deth ||
02/20/2004 13:03 Comments ||
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Jack, like Colin Powell I have no enthusiasm for any American involvement in Haiti. Although many people watch and enjoy Gilligan's Island, very few of us want to be the dude getting hit in the head with the coconuts.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
02/20/2004 13:14 Comments ||
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No, no, no!!! I said "ready to fly"! Fly! Not die! No, no, no! None of that!
Posted by: J-B Aristide ||
02/20/2004 13:27 Comments ||
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Dragon Fly -
I didn't realize Baby Doc had shuffled off this mortal coil. On the other hand, in Haiti that isn't necessarily a problem...
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
02/20/2004 13:45 Comments ||
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I might be wrong but Baby Doc fled to France and spends his loot on the Cote d'Azur there. Wouldn't know if he died already but then again... he's Haitian.
As for Aristide dying for his country... err I remember another dictator saying this... before he got checked for lice.
The Treasury Department has ordered U.S. banks to freeze the assets of the American branch of a Saudi charity with suspected links to terror financiers. Treasury said federal agents had executed a search warrant on property purchased for the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation Inc. in Ashland, Oregon. Searching property, huh? Have to look and see what kind of property. Fundraising office, mosque or paintball range?
Posted by: Steve ||
02/20/2004 8:43:37 AM ||
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All of the above, in one.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
02/20/2004 8:51 Comments ||
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Now both the Moslems now living in Ashland might move away.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
02/20/2004 9:28 Comments ||
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One of them has, already. See above story.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/20/2004 15:31 Comments ||
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.... Initially created to defy the nationâs tight control on media, these Web journals have turned into a cyber-sanctuary â part salon, part therapistâs couch â for the vast pool of educated, young and computer-savvy Iranians. As Fridayâs parliamentary elections approach, however, thereâs a distinct tone of worry that conservatives expected to regain control of parliament would step up pressure to censor the Internet. "It will be the end of the blog era in Iran," said a Tehran-based blogger who operates pinkfloydish.com, the name indicative of her love of Western music.
But thus far, the Internet has managed to avoid the hard-linersâ choke hold on media, which has silenced dozens of pro-reform newspapers and publications since the late 1990s. Thousands of Iranian blogs have cropped up since late 2001 when an Iranian emigre in Canada devised an easy way to use the free blogging service Blogger.com in Farsi. Though several English blogs outside Iran are read by Iranians, the most popular ones are in Farsi and operated inside the country. Blogs offer a panorama of whatâs whispered in public and parleyed in private. People vent, flirt and tell jokes. They skewer the ruling clerics with satire and doctored photos â such as Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei donning a Western business suit instead of his usual turban and robes.
The anonymity of e-mail addresses and use of pseudonyms strip away any timidity. "We always wear masks in our society." said Lady Sun, who started her blog in November 2001 and later married one of its readers. "This is a place to take them off." .... Even the Iranian vice president, Mohammad Ali Abtahi, has a blog, though hardly anti-establishment â itâs mostly to gauge the sentiments of Iranians. "Ordinary people read his thoughts and give him feedback â directly through e-mail," said Hossein Derakhshan, the Toronto-based blogger who devised the seminal guidelines for Farsi characters. "This is very rare for an Iranian politician." ....
Bloggers in Iran have sidestepped censorship efforts, in part, by running sites through multiple servers and using foreign-based blogs as portals to Iranian ones whose locations may keep changing. But more importantly, officials have not countered with their ultimate weapon: bringing all servers under government control. Plans to outlaw privately run Internet service providers were announced last year but were never followed through. Some suspect officials feared too much public outrage. But a new parliament could change the dynamics. ....
In a country full of paradox, the Internet has been one of the biggest. Authorities allowed it to expand in the 1990s without any serious controls â even as they hunted for illegal satellite television dishes and Western movie videos. The huge online appetite has been fed by thousands of Internet cafes, low-cost computers from East Asia and a rush of entrepreneurs offering Internet accounts. Other tightly run nations â such as Saudi Arabia and China â keep reins on the Internet. In Iran, almost anything is a click away. Beside blogging, Iranians spend time in chat rooms, download music, read poetry, visit any of the countless Farsi news sites or even surf the erotic offerings. At its present course, Internet usage in Iran is expected to grow sevenfold to 15 million users by 2006, according to studies cited by the Middle East Economic Digest. More than half of Iranâs 65 million are under 25 years old and hungry for the Web. ....
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
02/20/2004 8:39:51 AM ||
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could be important, as the reform movement is pushed out of above ground politics, and newspapers are shut down - blogs could be used to coordinate non-violent resistance.
The prosecution is preparing to abandon the case against a former GCHQ employee charged with leaking information about a "dirty tricks" spying operation before the invasion of Iraq, the Guardian has learned. (we so bad) Katharine Gun, 29, is due to appear at the Old Bailey next week where she has said she will plead not guilty to breaking the Official Secrets Act. (plead guilty of being a lefty)
She has said her alleged disclosures exposed serious wrongdoing by the US and could have helped to prevent the deaths of Iraqis and British forces in an "illegal war". Sources familiar with the case last night strongly indicated that the prosecution will ask the court to drop the case against her at a pre-trial hearing at the Old Bailey on Wednesday. (Donât drop it hang her!)
Ms Gun, a translator at GCHQ, was arrested in March but not charged until eight months later. The long delay suggests that even then there was a fierce debate in government and GCHQ circles about the advisability of a secrets trial against an employee who said she acted out of conscience over an issue which divided the country. The NSA told GCHQ that the particular targets of an eavesdropping "surge" were the delegates from Angola, Cameroon, Chile, Bulgaria, Guinea and Pakistan - the six crucial "swing votes" on the security council. A memo sent by Frank Koza, a senior NSA official, said the information from the eavesdropping would be used against the key UN delegations. (I hope so!)
In a statement when she was charged, Ms Gun said: "Any disclosures that may have been made were justified because they exposed serious illegality and wrongdoing on the part of the US government which attempted to subvert our own security services. Secondly, they could have helped prevent wide scale death and casualties amongst ordinary Iraqi people and UK forces in the course of an illegal war." (Spying is legal here, as long as we are doing it)
Senior Mexican and Chilean diplomats at the UN have since claimed their missions were spied on. (really?)
High-profile usual suspects figures in the US who have signed a statement backing Ms Gunâs case include actor Sean Penn, civil rights activist Jesse Jackson, president of the Newspaper Guild Linda Foley, and Daniel Ellsberg, who leaked the Pentagon Papers containing evidence of US involvement in Vietnam in 1971. Ms Gun is currently on unconditional bail. For those that donât already know it, the U.S. spies on other countries (surprise meter 0.0). Not some Countries, ALL COUNTRIES. Ms. Gun ârevelationâ that the U.S. was spying on UN members could only come from a elitist linguist such as herself. Note: Every linguist (Military or Civilian) I ever working with were the MOST arrogant people I have ever met. Also they do one hell of a job under some very difficult circumstances. Ms. Gun did not reveal anything that was already common knowledge to anyone who can read. She sounds like some left wing elitist that thought she was outing the great Satan. Sorry honey, James Bamford had a really good book called the âPuzzle Palaceâ that outlines an intelligence effort by the U.S. So the U.S. was targeting countries on the UN Security Council during a critical time in history? If they werenât I would want George Tenet's head on a platter! The UK should close the doors, try this whore, and throw her in the dungeon! She doesnât deserve the publicity she is getting.
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02/20/2004 8:37:16 AM ||
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High-profile figures in the US who have signed a statement backing Ms Gunâs case include actor Sean Penn,
Idiot.
civil rights activist Jesse Jackson,
Thuggish extortionist, racist and antisemite.
president of the Newspaper Guild Linda Foley,
Who? All I can get from this is that she's the union thugboss of a pack of leftist liars, but there has to be more to her story.
and Daniel Ellsberg, who leaked the Pentagon Papers containing evidence of US involvement in Vietnam in 1971.
Traitor.
Nice group she's got supporting her. I'm surprised Mumia and Sami al'Arian haven't chimed in, too.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
02/20/2004 8:50 Comments ||
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Great wahrks! A spy agency spying! Oh hold me, Lalen!
File this as a Classic.
Posted by: Steve from Relto ||
02/20/2004 10:13 Comments ||
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Secondly, they could have helped prevent wide scale death and casualties amongst ordinary Iraqi people and UK forces in the course of an illegal war."
For someone who worked in Intelligence, she doesn't seem smart enough to read the newspapers right after the liberation: very few UK forces died, and damned few civilians. That sorta just slipped past her intelligent nose, I guess.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/20/2004 15:21 Comments ||
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I can neither confirm nor deny the accuracy of any of the aforementioned data, but suffice to say this person took an oath when she got her clearance. She knew the consequences of breaking that oath, and breaking the the law.
Put her away for the prescribed sentence. Period. You dont give away what you believe to be sensitive methods and sources over a political snit.
If it means that much, you do the honorable thing, resign your position and ask to be debriefed and give up your clearance.
The ONE thing you do not do is spew info that could hurt other things.
From the Walkers to Pollard to the FBI scum to this woman,I have very low tolerance to traitors, and even less sympathy.
A U.S. Air Force refueling jet was forced to land at Indiaâs international airport on Friday, apparently due to technical trouble, officials said. A spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi said the KC-10 refueling jet had flown in with the F-15C after joint exercises in central India. After the squadron took off again, the jet returned for technical reasons. The United States and India have been holding joint air combat exercises in Gwalior, 155 miles south of New Delhi, since Feb. 16 in which F-15C aircraft and 150 American airmen from the Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska are taking part. According to media reports one of the engines of the jet was on fire when it landed, but that there were no injuries. Fire on a KC-10, that rates a "9" on the anal pucker factor scale.
The exercise code-named ``Cope India 04ââ is slated to run through Feb. 25.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/20/2004 8:37:00 AM ||
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I thought I read something just this week saying that everything with the tanker fleet was hunky-dory and we didn't really need to be replacing anything?
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
02/20/2004 21:18 Comments ||
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Abdul Qadeer Khan sold Iran nuclear centrifuge parts worth $3 million in the 1990s, Malaysian police said today, citing evidence from a suspected middleman. Police said Sri Lankan B.S.A. Tahir, who is suspected of helping Khan sell illicit nuclear technology, told them his involvement with the man dubbed the father of Pakistanâs nuclear bomb began some time in 1994 or 1995. Sounds like heâs being "debriefed". I guess his dropping out of sight may not have been entirely his idea.
"B.S.A. Tahir organised the transhipment of the two containers from Dubai to Iran using a merchant ship owned by a company in Iran," police said in a report. KHAAAAAANNN!!!!!
Posted by: Steve ||
02/20/2004 8:32:19 AM ||
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Additional from Times of India: Libya received enriched uranium from Pakistan in 2001 for use in nuclear programmes, police said on Friday, citing the alleged chief financier of an international trafficking network.
Buhary Syed Abu Tahir, a key operative in the alleged black market nuclear network run by Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan , said Khan told him that "a certain amount" of enriched uranium was flown to Libya from Pakistan on a Pakistani airliner, Malaysian police said in a report released. Tahir is in Malaysia and has been questioned by local authorities in connection to his activities on Khan's behalf in this Southeast Asian country. The police released their report into the investigation on Friday.
Tahir told investigators that Khan also said a "certain number" of centrifuges - sophisticated machines that can be used to enrich uranium for weapons and other purposes - were flown to Libya direct from Pakistan in 2001-02. In addition, Libya set up a workshop inside the country to produce centrifuge components that could not be supplied from outside the country, the report says. Machines for the workshop, identified as 'Project Machine Shop 1001,' were obtained by Peter Griffin, a Briton who once owned Dubai-based company Gulf Technical Industries, who also prepared plans for the machine shop, the report said. Tahir told investigators that Libya contacted Khan in 1997 for help in building centrifuges.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/20/2004 9:39 Comments ||
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More from BBC: Malaysian police have been questioning Mr Tahir, a Sri Lankan who is based in Dubai, over his role in Dr Khan's network. They released a report into their investigation on Friday.
In it, Mr Tahir is reported to have said a "certain amount" of uranium was flown to Libya in a Pakistani jet. He said he was told of this by Dr Khan around 2001. A nuclear expert told the BBC that the amount of uranium involved - assuming the transfer did take place - would be crucial in determining its use. He also said it was not clear whether the UF6 uranium in question had been enriched, a key stage if it was intended for weapons use.
The police report said that from what Mr Tahir "could recall", Libya contacted Dr Khan in 1997 "to obtain help and expertise in the field of uranium-enrichment centrifuge". He also says an "unnamed Iranian" paid $3m for two containers of centrifuge units to be sent from Pakistan to Iran. Mr Tahir said he was asked to arrange this in the year that his involvement with Dr Khan started - 1994/5.
"The cash was brought in two briefcases and kept in an apartment that was used as a guesthouse by the Pakistani nuclear arms expert each time he visited Dubai," Mr Tahir reportedly said. Malaysian police have said Mr Tahir obtained the components from Scope, part of a publicly listed company controlled by the Malaysian Prime Minister's son, Kamaluddin Abdullah. The police report clears Scope of culpability in the case, saying that the company's management had no idea what the components would be used for.
The report's other findings include:
Several meetings took place between Mr Khan and representatives from Libya regarding Libya's aspirations to get hold of enriched uranium. These took place between 1997 and 2002 in Instanbul, Casablanca and Dubai.
Most of the components were supplied by a series of European middlemen, some of whom are believed to have been aware of the components' potential use.
There was also a project to set up a workshop within Libya to make centrifuge components which could not be obtained outside the country.
Mr Tahir said the middleman in this project was Peter Griffin, a British citizen who was based in Dubai and has now retired to France, the report said.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/20/2004 9:59 Comments ||
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More from Channel News Asia, with names: The latest revelations in the scandal were made in a 12-page police report on investigations into an alleged Malaysian link to the nuclear weapons black market and the role of Tahir, a Sri Lankan businessman married to a Malaysian. Tahir, 44, named by Bush as Khan's "chief financial officer and money launderer", appears to have spoken in great detail about the shadowy network.
According to the report, Tahir and Khan met Libyan representatives named as Mohamad Matuq Mohamad and Karim in Istanbul in 1997 when the Libyans asked for centrifuge units. Between 1998 and 2002 several more meetings were held, one in Casablanca and others in Dubai.
The enriched uranium was sent from Pakistan to Libya by air around 2001, and "a certain number of centrifuge units were sent in 2001-2002".
The report says Khan developed a "network of middlemen" that involved not only Tahir, but "several people and companies from Europe seeking to make profits by selling certain materials and equipment." It recommends that the IAEA should launch investigations into "several individuals from Europe allegedly involved in the proliferation of nuclear weapons".
Tahir named a Swiss citizen, Urs Friedrich Tinner as being "actively involved in the manufacturing operations" of the Malaysian factory which was the subject of the police probe. The report clears SCOPE of breaking any laws, saying the company was unaware that the components were part of a centrifuge unit for Libya as Tahir and Tinner did not declare "the true nature of the business".
Tinner was always careful to take back his drawings once a component was finished, saying he was safeguarding trade secrets and no suspicions were aroused at SCOPE, the report says. The report made no mention of whether any action would be taken against Tahir and a police spokesman contacted by AFP refused to comment.
Another report today says that the Swiss police are looking into the actions of certain "un-named" swiss citizens. Bet we can put a name to them.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/20/2004 11:14 Comments ||
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One more, Boston Globe: One operative named as working for Khan is Peter Griffin, a Briton whom Tahir alleged designed the Libyan workshop and sent eight Libyan technicians to Spain to learn how to use lathes for centrifuge parts. According to the report, two others were Freidrich Tinner, a Swiss engineer whom Khan met in the 1980s, and his son, Urs Tinner, 39, who allegedly worked with Tahir in getting Malaysian company Scomi Precision Engineering, or SCOPE, to produce centrifuge parts. SCOPE engineered more than 25,000 individual parts for a Dubai-based company owned by Griffin, Gulf Technical Industries, under a contract negotiated by Tahir, and shipped them between December 2002 and August 2003.
Swiss authorities have launched an investigation into Urs Tinner's alleged role, officials there said Friday. The Tinner family sent The Associated Press a statement saying Urs Tinner worked for SCOPE in Kuala Lumpur as a technical consultant for the last three years. It said he controlled the manufacture of machinery parts, but that ''information about the customer or the purpose of the goods was unavailable to him during the whole period.'' The parts, in boxes marked with SCOPE's name, were seized in the Mediterranean last October en route from Dubai to Libya.
The family statement said Urs Tinner stopped working for SCOPE last October because he had not been paid his consultancy fees for several months.
A unpaid worker is likely to be a unhappy worker, willing to talk.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/20/2004 16:04 Comments ||
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Bihnam Mithaqi and Kayvan Khalajabadi, two believers in the Bahai faith, were released from prison after serving almost 15 years on charges related to their religious beliefs .... Imprisoned on 29 April 1989 for associating with Bahai institutions, the men were initially sentenced to eight years in prison, but their sentences were subsequently reduced to three years and 50 lashes. They appealed again, and in April 1991 were sentenced to death; that sentence was confirmed in February 1996. In February 2001, the judiciary chief reportedly reduced the sentences to 15 years and set a release date of February 2004.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
02/20/2004 8:28:58 AM ||
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Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/20/2004 11:47 Comments ||
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I think the charges are pretty bogus, but I am intrigued by the result of the appeal being an increase in the sentence time after the second appeal. The appeal process in America has always struck me as arbtration with no downside. The system, as it is, probably should be left alone, but in teh cesspool that is the Islamic Judiciary this may be a nugget of gold - or maybe its a call for an increase in dietary fiber.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
02/20/2004 14:05 Comments ||
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three years and 50 lashes. That's 16.67 lashes p.a., or do you want them all at once, sir? They appealed again, and got some more/less, now without being spanked, although threatened with a spanking. Mum's the word, not a whisper from your dead body.
#6
.com---Kafka's work was pretty bizarre, but not as insane as Sharia. I was thinking of The Trial, but its content was pretty tame compared to the wierd changes of sentence in the article above. The Castle was one about this nameless bureaucracy that finally obsessed a surveyor who was called to work for the Castle. The Metamorphosis was the one about the bank clerk that woke up one day and found out that he had turned into a giant insect.
Franz Kafka had turbuculosis and died relatively young. Themes like why do the innocent suffer go through his stories.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/20/2004 20:47 Comments ||
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AP - I was trying to be tongue in cheek -- but I think it would be rather interesting to re-read at 50+ what blew me away at 16-20... I agree Shari'a Law is Around the Bend - to quote the title of one of my all-time favorites from someone a tad better rooted in reality than Franz, Albert, or Little Mo! ;-)
Afghan Deputy Minister Mohammad Ghaws Bashiri reported that 198 Afghan children have been repatriated since being smuggled to Saudi Arabia, adding that the Labor and Social Affairs Ministry is in the process of returning those children to their families. In October, some 40 Afghan children were returned from Saudi Arabia, and authorities in the northern Afghan province of Takhar in September rescued more than 50 boys who were abducted with the suspected intention of trafficking them to Iran or Pakistan for induction into religious schools or for sale as sex slaves.
Or both...
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
02/20/2004 8:24:00 AM ||
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Well no wonder, Muhammed himself approved of sex slaves and indoctrinating the infidels children after slaughtering or enslaving the parents. So to the Saudi mind, God wants them to do this sorta stuff.
#2
Why isn't stuff like this reported in the media? I mean of a self-proclaimed terrorist (oops I mean 'resistance-fighter') farts it is front page news.
Oh... they dont want to 'offend' their islamic readers...
#3
This type of activity in Saudi Arabia is probably so common that it barely qualifies as news. I'm sure that there are children being held as sex slaves somewhere in the US, but that type of sick deviancy is quite a bit harder to hide in an open society. To accomplish that type of crime you would need a large ranch, maybe with an amusement park on it to lure the kiddies. Sorry, couldn't help that one.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
02/20/2004 11:57 Comments ||
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Shows you Bush was right by establishing a military base in Iraq. Something needs to be done about this backward society and region. Enough barbarity is enough.
#5
These sick Saudis that indulge in this activity should be considered Weapons of Mass Psychological Destruction WMPD. The psychological trauma burned into children by these guys just boggles the mind. RoPMA.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/20/2004 16:49 Comments ||
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I know how to fix those sick bastards! Send Gloria Allred over there, a WMD.(Woman of Mass Destruction)
Some soldiers have discovered they donât need to put college plans off until after their Operation Iraqi Freedom deployment. Whatâs more, their teachers are also soldiers, often credentialed âin the fieldâ as college professors by major universities. Soldiers with a masterâs degree can teach undergraduate courses after they have been accredited to teach, said Capt. Michael Malone, adjutant for the 368th Engineers Combat Battalion, a Reserve unit from Londonderry, N.H. When home in the Silicon Valley, Malone is the vice president of software integration for Star Technologies Inc.
College has had to be put on hold for most soldiers deployed for OIF. Although the Camp Doha education center offered courses, usually taught by civilian instructors, most soldiers couldnât get there. Malone, a software expert from San Jose, Calif., researched how to get classes running for soldiers stationed at Camp Arifjan and found out about the teaching program. âI called the Camp Doha education center and found out what it would take to teach. Basically, it took a masterâs degree and filling out a form, which was sent to a satellite branch of the University of Maryland in Germany for accreditation,â Malone explained.
Malone also needed to find a place to teach. Since he was in an engineering unit, it wasnât hard to find some soldier craftsmen to put together some tables and benches out of plywood. After a tent was procured, all that was left was to set up some classes and get soldiers signed up. âWe worked with the University of Maryland to set up registration in the community center,â Malone said. âThe first semester it was 99% our battalion. We had about 100 students. This semester we posted flyer and got about 200. Weâre putting on ten classes this quarter. Weâve also recruited other teachers. Capt. DeFeo is teaching a course on ethics and criminal justice this semester.â Capt. James DeFeo, an intelligence officer with the 368th Engineers, is a police officer in his civilian career and has a masterâs degree in criminal justice.
Most classes are worth three credit hours. They last eight weeks, and classes are held twice a week for three hours each. Classes are also being set up at other bases, such as Camp Udairi recently, near the border with Iraq. In addition to filling the night hours and broadening the mind, teachers are also paid by universities for their work, as long as it is not in conflict with duty hours. EFL
During the past 24 hours 4thID soldiers raided three locations and captured six individuals, four of them suspected of involvement in anti-Coalition activity. The dawn mission targeted individuals suspected of mortar attacks on Coalition forces near Balad on Wednesday. Soldiers also confiscated one automatic weapon and two AK-47 assault rifles. In a separate event, one attacker was killed after he fired an automatic weapon at soldiers from C Company, 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment Wednesday morning 6 kilometers west of Balad. An AK-47 assault rifle was recovered near the body of the attacker. The remains of the attacker were turned over to the Iraqi police.
"Here y'go, Officer al-Friendly. Dispose of this, wouldja?"
Soldiers were in the area searching for individuals believed to be responsible for attacks against Coalition forces and captured two individuals. An Iraqi child was killed in Tikrit when a rocket propelled grenade, aimed at soldiers from 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, missed them and exploded near the child Wednesday afternoon. The child was killed instantly, and soldiers were unsuccessful in their attempts to capture the attackers.
That's too bad. The intel guys really wanted to talk to them, followed by the Iraqi coppers, followed by the kid's family...
Members of the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps and soldiers from 3rd Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment raided a building in Bayji just after midnight Thursday in an attempt to capture former regime loyalists. Nine people were captured including two individuals specifically targeted for suspected involvement in anti-Coalition activity. Soldiers located and confiscated four AK-47 assault rifles, two rifles and one pistol. They went to another location and captured an additional two individuals carrying a bag of AK-47 assault rifle parts, knives and axes.
Mildly edited for length
Here are my problems and suspicions:
John Kerry was in-country less than four months and collected a Bronze Star, a Silver Star and three Purple Hearts. I never heard of anybody with any outfit I worked with (including SEAL One, the Sea Wolves, Riverines and the River Patrol Force) collecting that much hardware that fast, and for such pedestrian actions. The Swifts did a commendable job, but that duty wasnât the worst you could draw. They operated only along the coast and in the major rivers (Bassac and Mekong). The rough stuff in the hot areas was mainly handled by the smaller, faster PBRs.
He collected three Purple Hearts but has no limp. All his injuries were so minor that he lost no time from duty. Amazing luck. Or he was putting himself in for medals every time he bumped his head on the wheel house hatch? Combat on, the boats were almost always at close range. You didnât have minor wounds, at least not often. Not three times in a row. Then he used the three Purple Hearts to request a trip home eight months before the end of his tour. Fishy.
The details of the event for which he was given the Silver Star make no sense at all. Supposedly, a B-40 was fired at the boat and missed. Charlie jumps up with the launcher in his hand, the bow gunner knocks him down with the twin .50, Kerry beaches the boat, jumps off, shoots Charlie, and retreives the launcher. If true, he did everything wrong.
Standard procedure when you took rocket fire was to put your stern to the action and go balls to the wall. A B-40 has the ballistic integrity of a frisbie after about 25 yards, so you put 50 yards or so between you and the beach and begin raking it with your .50âs.
Did you ever see anybody get knocked down with a .50 caliber round and get up? The guy was dead or dying. The rocket launcher was empty. There was no reason to go after him (except if you knew he was no danger to you just flopping around in the dust during his last few seconds on earth, and you wanted some derring-do in your after-action report). And we didnât shoot wounded people. We had rules against that, too.
Kerry got off the boat. This was a major breach of standing procedures. Nobody on a boat crew ever got off a boat in a hot area. EVER! The reason was simple: If you had somebody on the beach, your boat was defenseless. It coudnât run and it couldnâ t return fire. It was stupid and it put his crew in danger. He should have been relieved and reprimanded. I never heard of any boat crewman ever leaving a boat during or after a firefight.
Something is fishy.
Posted by: badanov ||
02/20/2004 7:32:51 AM ||
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Interesting Bad. I've been focusing on his activities after he came back which were deplorable. I just can't beleive this stuff isn't getting more press. The guy dishonored his uniform and his country, aided the enemy and is thumping his medals now. I wonder how many vets are gonna vote for this guy ?(not counting the AFLCIO - now there is an organization that doesn't care about anything else except thier fat wallets.) In any case this is one NAM vet who won't vote for him and will do his best to make sure people are aware of this Benedict Arnold. Where the hell did honor go?
#2
Reminds me of a joke picture in MAD magazine. The picture shows JFK (Kennedy) addressing the Brigade of Midshipmen at Annapolis with a dialoge bubble having a mid say, "What's so great about him, he lost the PT boat?" In fact looking at the facts surrounding the loss of the PT it is interesting he did not get court martialed.
Kerry's stunt sounds just like a stunt. Theoretically, the shock of a hit anywhere on the body from a .50 will kill. Kerry jumped ashore, shot a corpse, and grabbed a souvenir, for that he got a medal. The facts look more like cause for relief.
Posted by: Bruce ||
02/20/2004 7:48 Comments ||
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None of this matters. The press won't cover any skepticism about Kerry's record during the war, and I suspect they'll actually support his acts afterwards. God knows I've seen enough on the left actually defending his lies to Congress AND the communist agitprop he based them on.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
02/20/2004 7:58 Comments ||
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Wow, I knew he went home before his eot but didn't know he wasn't even there 6 months. Sounds like Gore's gig. Though three purple hearts allowed servicemen the option of going home early. OTOH, 3 ph's in 4 months without missing any combat duty is pretty amazing, sounds like someone was trying to get the third in a hurry so they could go home. The facts of him jumping ashore to go after a VC are damning as well.
#5
Bruce, I have seen officers and senior enlisted mildly reprimanded for derliction in getting themselves into trouble and then receiving hardware for the way they got themselves out of trouble. That was the way I always rationalized JFK's heroism - except that he never got any reprimand but that's OK because he had good hair.
I read an excerpt from Kerry's book a while back in the Atlantic Monthly and was struck by affectation in the tone.
My Dad has taught students at a midwestern prep schools for years, so I can recognized the viewpoint of a priviledged punk from the way he writes(or speaks to his ghost-writer). There is a tranparent element in that type of outlook that comes across as a "the war was staged to provide me with a backdrop for my heroism" attitude.
I doubt that he was too happy on a destroyer bridge getting yelled at by a crotchety captain. I think that's why he decided on swift boats - they were rarely ever brought under fire until their mission was changed after he had already transferred over. Funny how he made his way so quickly stateside after the transfer. It makes me very uncomfortable to offer my views because I respect VN Vets and medals, in general.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
02/20/2004 8:20 Comments ||
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the press won't cover the fact he went home before his eot or that he was only there for 6 months because they are too busy trying to find out if Bush missed one day of reserve duty.
#8
I would treat this the same way I treated the AWOL claims. Everything this man said may be true but he was NOT on the boat with LTjg Kerry. So everything is pure speculation on his part. There are many the CLAIM Lt Bush was AWOL from the Guard, but nobody has any proof of that. If LTjg Kerry's crewmates came forward and said he endangered them, then we would have a story. If he wasn't on the boat then he is only offering his opinion. Don't give this story any more life than you would tha AWOL story, we are better than that. P.S. IF I had been in Vietnam and someone told me that I could go home eight months early, I would be be gone.
#9
Sarge you are right there is no first-account report on his actions or inactions. I would, however, like him to 'put-up' and open up his military record like Bush did.
It would be interesting what his old CO, crewmates, and offical record have to say about him.
#10
2 points.
I have listened for months about John Kerry being in Vietnam and all of his heroism. Question: Who put Kerry in for the Silvere Star and why did an Admiral (Zumwalt) award it??
Question 2: Having read a few excerpts of his book (while standing in Barnes and Nobel) he states that he was in charge of a boat that fired on a sampan with .50's. Passengers were blown overboard and presumed dead.
By his own testimony and words before congress this probably constituted a war-crime Since he was in charge of the boat perhaps he should be charged???
Just as an aside, I served 2 1/2 tours and can honestly say that I never committed a war crime and never witnessed a war crime.
#11
CS, I agree except for the fact that you need a crewmember to get a true account of what happened. Kerry has published his own account in his own words. I am only assuming that the autobiographical material (letters released to Atlantic Monthly that are in the process of being turned into a book) that he has released is truthful. I think he also wrote another book a while back about his war experience, but I don't care enough about him to wade through a copy of that cesspool.
As for leaving VN early, he should be judged as an officer. There was one NFL player that died in VN. He was an officer. One of his corporals was interviewed for an NFL films piece on NFL players who served our country in different wars. The corporal said during the interview that he was wounded in the same fire-fight that the NFL guy - a back-up tackle for the Bills - dies in, but he kept on fighting because he noticed that his officer, a hero, was wounded worse then he himslef had been and yet continued to fight on. Eventually, a mortar round killed his Lt as he continued to fight on. The NFL did really pay much attention to his passing, but his new wife and unborn child were crushed. It would be interesting to know howmany decorations that guy received posthumously as compared to Kerry.
My point being that Officers are supposed to lead. If he ran a scam to get out of service, at least a swift boat captain only sets a bad example for four guys. Its much worse when a destroyer's captain engages in hi-jinks prohibited under the UCMJ in front of the crew.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
02/20/2004 9:37 Comments ||
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Buzzard -- 2 1/2 tours? Were you injured and had one cut short?
Thanks for your service, by the way!
Posted by: Dar ||
02/20/2004 10:18 Comments ||
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#13
Couple of points. (1) I think Kerry joined small boats because that's what his hero JFK did. I doubt there was much more to the decision than that. (2) I sure as hell would have gotten out of Nam if I'd gotten 3 purple hearts. The fault lies in the military that gave him those purple hearts if they were undeserved.
Having said that I think his post-Vietnam record of anti-war slurs against vets and his anti-military votes in the Congress ensure he'll get slaughtered on the foreign policy side of things.
#14
Normally, I'd give the servicemen the benefit of the doubt -- applies to both Bush & Kerry. Since the Democrats have decided to rake Bush over the coals, however, Kerry's military services deserves a similar analysis.
As I understand it, his Silver Star was a single boat action. The commendation would have been written up from the after action report he wrote & the crew's testimony. Since the crew still reported to Kerry, and received Bronze Stars as well, I'll admit that I'm from Missouri when it comes down to whether he and his crew ran a scam.
At the time, I imagine Zumwalt (and Nixon, on down) needed some heroes to counteract what was happening at home. Giving Kerry & his crew medals was one way to do that (especially if they didn't suspect Kerry's ambition and future direction). Not a knock on them, just real-life politics...
All that said, I want to see the full details of Kerry's service receive the same kind of analysis that Bush's has had. What were the wounds he received, and was there any confirming evidence that they were combat related? What was the story behind his medals, and was there any corroboration (sp?) of the actions? Who wrote the commendation, and did he personally witness the actions? etc.
I can't imagine the servicepeople reading this being especially happy with my skepticism... just understand that it's a direct result of what Kerry et al. have made Bush endure -- nothing more.
#15
Here's a link to the Vietnam Veterans Against John Kerry website. They're organizing demonstrations against him, which of course, won't be reported by the press.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/20/2004 11:32 Comments ||
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#16
Snellenr, Kerry's direct superior would have drafted the justifications for the awards for approval by higher authority - depending on the award an admiral, Secnav, congress or the President. He was the only officer present so he probably drafted and submitted the justification. I would think that his story would have been corroborated by his crew. Personally, I think Kerry must have done something good over there. That one guy in Iowa came forward and said that that Kerry saved his life.
Also from a personal standpoint, USNA midshipmen treated and continue to treat combat veterans with highest honor. The stories about heroic VN Vets are venerated at all service academies. They are something for the rest of us non-heroes to aspire to and emulate. For instance, my interest in service began with hero-worship on my uncle who did several tours in Nam as a Ranger.
That said, my problem with Kerry comes from his own charecterization of his service. While many of us would have been quite happy to get out of Nam in a minimum of time due to three flesh wounds, we are all regular people not heroes. His own charecterization of his service is inconsistent with the label of hero and more consistent with the rest of us. When we call a non-hero a hero, we cheapen the actions of guys like Bob Dole (who isn't my favorite guy but did rush a machinegun nest.) In our society this watering down of definitions, usually out of sensitivity to peoples feelings, undercuts the American idea. Heroism is yet another value under attack in our country.
Signed Super Hose, non-hero
I now await the written beating that will surely be delivered.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
02/20/2004 11:49 Comments ||
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#17
While I agree with Cyber Sarge that both Kerry and Bush's service record 30+ years ago is not relevant, I am confident that someone is going through Kerry's record with a fine tooth comb. If there is something real there it will come out. I am surprised that Ed Gillespie did not ask Kerry to release his service records when Bush released his.
Regardless, Kerry has enough of a record since he left VN that should torpedo any national security credentials he might present. He is a socialist that has a record of blaming America first. Not who we need in a time of war.
Posted by: remote man ||
02/20/2004 12:48 Comments ||
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#18
What's your beef with the Bobster? You guys have very similar senses of hourmor.
Bob Dole on seeing former Presidents Ford, Carter and Nixon together at a funeral... "Look there's hear no evil, speak no evil and evil"
#19
If I remember correctly. Most medals and awards went to the 'Brown Water Navy' during Vietnam. I guess 'Awards & Decs' was having a slow month back then!
Posted by: Jack Deth ||
02/20/2004 13:12 Comments ||
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#20
Shipman, I like Bob the man. Politically, I never understood where Bob's bedrock was. I define bedrock as principles that will not be surrendered or compromised. I try to stay away from presidential candidates that appear to me to be wishy-washy. As a man, I trust Bob Dole's integrity.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
02/20/2004 13:45 Comments ||
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#21
#8 CyberSarge
He was an officer who chose to leave his men fighting in Vietnam eight months before his tour was done. That's pretty damming.
A international flight was diverted to Bangor (ME) International Airport overnight when a Chicago investment banker alerted his family that he had been kidnapped by Al Qaeda. The aircraft, over the Atlantic, was turned around and landed in Bangor about midnight EST. A bomb sniffing dog then cleared the aircraft and the banker was detained. The aircraft was wheels up about 3 hours later.
If he was blowing smoke, he's gonna have a hard time of it...
The Royal Morocco Jetliner flying from New York to Morocco was diverted to Bangor International Airport last night. A spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration says it was diverted because "there was a person aboard who they felt was a security risk." The FBI has identified the passenger as Chicago investmane banker Zubair Ghias, who had been reported missing almost a week ago. His family says they haven't seen him since last Saturday when he told his pregnant wife he was going to the office to do some work. Since then he was spotted on surveillance tapes buying two rings on a jewelry store in Chicago, and identified as the man who later bought drywall, tape and glue at a store in Brooklyn Height, New York. His family says Ghias called them last night and told them he'd been kidnapped by Al-Qaida, and was being forced to board a flight to Morocco.
Zubair, you got some 'splainin' to do...
Posted by: Bogeybob ||
02/20/2004 6:43:31 AM ||
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#1
huh? This doesn't make any sense and there is no link.
A detective looking for the banker alleges the banker called his wife from the plane to say "I'm on flight 201 to Morocco. I've been captured by al-Qaeda, they want me to do something for them. I love you, I just gotta do this."
#3
"I'm on flight 201 to Morocco. I've been captured by al-Qaeda, they want me to do something for them. I love you, I just gotta do this."
(hangs up phone) "Ok, she bought it. What were those girls names, again?"
Posted by: Steve ||
02/20/2004 10:54 Comments ||
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#4
His disappearence has been visible news in Chicago all week. Even the PI hired by the family thought this was going to go down as a car jacking, and a body would turn up.
The guy is a 30something, living in a great upscale neighborhood, range rover driving yuppie, not typical profile of AQ operatives...but maybe working in the finaincial world as a Muslim, he was sucked into doing some finaincial favors for some "brothers"...
Buying drywall in NY makes no sense at all, but neither does going back for your security deposit on a "stolen van" that happened to contain a bomb in WTC I...
This story is weird, and should be most interesting!
#5
Umm, Occam told me while shaving that it is clear that Zubair ditched his family to shack up with a girlfriend in NYC.
Posted by: Carl in N.H ||
02/20/2004 13:00 Comments ||
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#6
Newsday now says 2 people were taken off the flight, seated together. the banker borrowed another passenger's cell phone to call home - maybe while his buddy / kidnapper / ??? was in the john
Posted by: on the ground ||
02/20/2004 13:34 Comments ||
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#7
Let's not forget the reports from Iraq of people being forced to commit terrorist attacks by having their families threatened. It's not unreasonable that they might try to do it here, too.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
02/20/2004 14:32 Comments ||
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#8
His story could be true. The guy sitting next to him could be his al-Qaeda kidnapper. We're just discussing the likelihood that it's true.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/20/2004 14:37 Comments ||
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#9
Looks like it was a domestic dispute. Don't know that it was wise to get the feds involved via the claim about alQ though.
#10
From the Bangor Daily News...www.bangornews.com
Two passengers removed from plane in Bangor
PORTLAND - Airport and law enforcement officials in Bangor said Friday that two people, not one, were removed from a Morocco-bound flight that was diverted to Bangor Thursday night.
The jetliner resumed its route to Casablanca early Friday, federal authorities said. The remaining passengers were rescreened and the plane was refueled before taking off at 3:52 a.m.
One of the two passengers who left the plane - 27-year-old investment banker Zubiar Ali Ghias, who had been reported missing to Chicago police last Saturday - was in Bangor Friday and is not under arrest, FBI spokeswoman Gail Marcinkiewicz said.
"The investigation is continuing and he continues to be cooperative," she said.
There were 82 passengers and 10 crew aboard Royal Air Maroc Flight 201 when it took off from New York's Kennedy International Airport Thursday evening, officials said. Federal authorities diverted the Boeing 767 to Bangor, where it landed about four hours later.
Tony Caruso, Bangor International Airport's assistant director, and Bangor police Sgt. James Owens said Ghias and a second passenger were taken off the plane and questioned. The second passenger was not named in police reports.
"It was two people," Owens said. "The guy in question and the guy in the seat next to him."
The Bangor airport was notified 10 to 15 minutes before the plane landed, Caruso said.
"The pilot originally told passengers he was diverting to Bangor for mechanical reasons so the passengers wouldn't get upset that there was a bomb threat on the plane," Caruso said. "We got a call that there was an irate passenger on board, and also a bomb threat."
Marcinkiewicz cited calls from Chicago-area media to an airline security desk in New York reporting a possible bomb.
#13
4 hours into a trans-atlantic flight puts you about half way there. But the plane returns and lands at what appears to be the nearest US airport. Certainly not the nearest airport. An airplane in trouble would head for either Gander or Shannon (or maybe Iceland).
Methinks the US authorities wanted this guy for something important.
The Basque separatist group ETA is reeling from so many setbacks that some are daring to hope it may be the start of the end of decades of political violence. When Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar recently visited the region, Maria San Gil, a Basque municipal official, welcomed him saying: "Now we feel safer and thatâs thanks to your anti-terrorism policy." Aznar is convinced that "It wonât be long before the killers of ETA are defeated." Such claims have been confounded repeatedly over the years. Aznar himself survived a car bombing in 1995, the year before he was elected prime minister. But the cautious optimism is evident this time around. It follows mass arrests, weapons seizures, cooperation from neighboring France and the banning of ETAâs purported political front. Also, U.S. and European Union authorities have added ETA to their lists of terrorist organizations, undercutting its legitimacy and funding. The relative lull in violence is seen in the numbers. Three people died in ETA attacks last year, one of the lowest tolls since university students founded the group in the 1950s to compel Spain to grant independence to the prosperous, three-province Basque Country. Last year, Spanish police detained 187 men and women on suspicion of belonging to or collaborating with "Euskadi ta Askatasuna," or Basque Homeland and Freedom. Another 65 were arrested on the French side of the Pyrenees border, which used to be a relatively safe haven.
"The continual detentions mean that those joining are younger and lack experience," Javier Balza, the interior minister of the Basque regional government, said in his office in Vitoria, 37 miles south of Bilbao. ETA has claimed responsibility for more than 800 deaths since 1968. After the 11th cease-fire ended in 2000, Aznarâs government stepped up the crackdown, striking also at alleged sources of Basque support by shutting two newspapers and a radio station. One editor-in-chief, Martxelo Otamendi, alleged he was tortured by police. For all that, "ETA still has money, weapons and many youths willing to risk long years in prison," said Javier Ortiz, a political analyst at El Mundo newspaper.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
02/20/2004 2:50:36 AM ||
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I recall a post several days ago, where the ETA cried for a truce. I recall yelling, "Don't Bite Aznar!" Good to know he didn't: it may not have been called a Hudna, but it sure smelled of one.
From MEMRI, usual caveats apply. Just the first few paragraphs as the article is way long.
On January 25, 2004, the Iraqi independent daily Al-Mada published a list of approximately 270 individuals and entities who were beneficiaries of Saddam Husseinâsoil vouchers. The report evoked reactions from many of those included in the list as well as from the Arab media, among them apologists for Saddamâs regime. The fact that so many have opted for silence may give credence to the listâs authenticity. A former undersecretary in the Iraqi Ministry of Petroleum, Abd Al-Saheb Salman Qutb, said that the ministry possesses documents proving the authenticity of the list published by Al-Mada. The list was originally the property of the State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO), which was responsible for marketing Iraqi petroleum. Mr. Qutb also said that the ministry was collecting the information for submission to Interpol, which could then pursue the voucher beneficiaries.
The Iraqi Governing Council has focused on 46 foreign individuals and organizations included on the lists, primarily from neighboring countries, to determine appropriate action. Council member Muwwafaq Al-Rabi said during a visit to Beirut that the council has "tons of documents" but emphasized that the publication of these documents will be handled in a constructive way and not "for the sake of vengeance and revenge." In describing what it called "the curse of the Iraqi vouchers," the London Arabic-language daily Al-Hayat said that it expects more names and details to be made public in the near future and anticipates the revelation of a scandal of vast dimensions transcending countries and continents, implicating many prominent individuals and organizations.
Read the rest, the article is superb.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/20/2004 2:12:27 AM ||
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Shaker Al-Khaffaji is one of two individuals in the US who were beneficiaries of this voucher scheme. Shaker Al-Khaffaji (7 million barrels) advanced $400,000 to Scott Ritter, former U.N. weapons inspector in Iraq. Ritter produced a documentary purporting to tell the true story of the weapons inspections, which in his telling were corrupted by sinister U.S. manipulation.
So Ritter was just another cog in the Saddam propaganda machine. He should be held accountable for this.
Being an Anglophile and an avid reader of contemporary British literature, I'm usually pretty astute with English slang but 'nonse' has me puzzled...Do you mean 'wasn't Ritter a pervert/paedophile?'
Actually, he was picked up by police outside of Albany, NY, a couple of times after arranging meetings on the internet with individuals he believed would be teenaged girls. The 'girls' were in fact police who websurf chatrooms looking for child molesters. Ritter intended to masturbate while they watched.
Many have speculated that perhaps Saddam had some proof of perversion that Ritter engaged in that was able to 'turn' Ritter against sanctions.
INSURGENTS pounded the main prison in Baghdad with 33 mortar bombs and five rockets late Wednesday before US troops shot dead one person and arrested 55 others. "Between 6:30 pm and 6:50 pm, insurgents fired 33 mortar rounds and five rockets" at Abu Ghraib prison on the western edge of Baghdad, a military spokesman said. "Coalition forces engaged and killed one enemy, 55 people were detained for questioning," he said. One soldier was lightly wounded and treated for his injuries, he added. Abu Ghraib is one of the largest US-run prison facilities in Iraq and was a notorious centre under former dictator Saddam Hussein. I wonder if these guys had any connection to those who crushed the FALLUJAH police/jail station last week and freed all the prisoners?
Posted by: CobraCommander ||
02/20/2004 2:05:49 AM ||
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Little credence is given in Tehran to the official claim that the colossal train explosion which killed at least 300 people and razed five villages in the northeastern Khorassan province Wednesday was caused by colliding wagons carrying industrial chemicals and fertilizers, as well as diesel fuel and cotton. Such flammable freights are usually shipped separately in Iran. DEBKAfileâs sources note that Iranian officials, two days before a highly controversial parliamentary election, are doing their best to play down the disaster outside Neyshabur which rocked houses 50 miles away in Mashad. The Islamic Republican News Agency tried to blame an earth tremor of 3.6 magnitude, but the US Geological Institute in Colorado said no seismic activity was recorded in the area.
Most of the dead were fire and rescue workers, but also the cityâs governor Mojtaba Farahmand-Nekou, its mayor and fire chief. DEBKAâs sources in Tehran have heard unconfirmed reports that the disaster was no accident, but possibly sabotage carried out by anti-government forces in Khorassan province, which borders on Afghanistan. This report ties in with another that claims the train was not carrying innocent industrial cargoes but hundreds of tons of explosive materials Iran was smuggling into Afghanistan via the Shiite city of Herat to be used by Iranian saboteurs and agents for guerrilla attacks on US troops and the forces of President Hamid Karzai, as well for supplying the Taleban in their Kandahar stronghold. DEBKAfileâs sources report that there were a series of blasts; the first inside the Neyshabur train station was powerful enough to trigger a second explosion in the remote station of Khayyam. There, it set ablaze another train carrying fuel and other flammable material.
Iran has long used Khorassan province as a conduit for smuggling thousands of its agents into Afghanistan. But the province is also home to nearly two million Afghan refugees, some of whom hire out as agents to the Kabul government or the US military. The suggestion is that a group of these agents were ordered to blow up the train when it pulled into Neyshabur. Their mission: to deter the Iranians from further meddling in Afghanistan. It would not have been hard to persuade Afghan refugees to undertake the mission. As Sunni Muslims, they harbor strong feelings of resentment against their discrimination at the hands of Iranâs Shiite majority. Three years ago, Afghans were responsible for a large explosion in Mashad, an attack launched after Iran ordered the destruction of a makeshift mosque the refugees had built. Several weeks later, a similar blast occurred in Zahedan, capital of Iranâs Baluchestan province, where Iranian authorities had pulled down another mosque constructed by the refugees.
Posted by: CobraCommander ||
02/20/2004 1:52:33 AM ||
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#1
This report sounds sensational! I'd be cautious until I hear more.
#4
Herat is not Shiite. It is Dari- (=Farsi=Persian) speaking, but it is mostly Sunni. Afghan Shiites are the Hazaras, who (unlike other Afghans) look East Asian (supposedly the descendents of Mongols). There are some Hazaras in Herat, but they are not dominant.
#5
Herat was a place where the TAliban and Al Quaida perpetrated horrendous massacres. It is controlled by Ismael Khan who, AFAIK, has no deud with eth US and a few ones with the Taliban and Al Quaida. I don't think Iran would find many people in Herat willing to help her in supporting Al Quaida and the Taliban.
Honey, I shrunk the surveillance plane!
Military planes will be shrunk to the size of a bee, and could even fly with flapping wings, thanks to a new programme of research at Bath University. The universityâs Department of Mechanical Engineering will study the flight of insects and birds in a series of five research projects over the next two years to find ways to extend the range and improve manoeuvrability of micro-planes, borrowing from techniques that have evolved over millions of years. The goal of the researchers is to develop mini-planes weighing about 50 grams and capable of staying aloft for up to an hour and flying a few miles. One of the main challenges the researchers face is the vulnerability of small craft to high winds. Current unmanned miniature craft are too large to carry out the kind of fine manoeuvres the projectâs backers need; and, because of their larger power requirement, their range is still too short to be really effective in the field.
One approach the researchers are working on is to get the micro air vehicles to flap their wings in a similar way to insects such as bees, flies or birds. Considering that until relatively recently there was no explanation for the flight of the humble bumblebee, this research will greatly expand our understanding of small-scale aerodynamics. According to Dr Ismet Gursul, the Head of the departmentâs Aerospace Subgroup, the main problems the researchers will tackle are poor lift, inefficient propulsion and unsteady aerodynamics. "We are looking for the most efficient way of flying, and the rapid flapping of a flexible wing is one of these, and in this respect we are imitating nature and the flight of insects and birds." he said. The teams will also investigate the possibility of using micro jet engines which send out small puffs of air, pushing the aeroplane forward.
The research is backed by BAE SYSTEMS and the Ministry of Defence. The US Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) has also provided funding. The micro-planes will be up to six inches long [That is a bee I donât want to meet â Ed] and will be equipped with sensors and cameras. They are to be designed for use in a variety of military missions such as reconnaissance and surveillance, targeting and bio-chemical sensing. The aircraft could also make non-military tasks easier, such as traffic monitoring, border surveillance, fire and rescue operations, wildlife surveys, aerial photography, monitoring of seismic activity and hazardous substance detection
Posted by: tipper ||
02/20/2004 1:41:38 AM ||
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Told 'ya Wilbur flapping wingz was the way to go.
#3
Now we'll really have to look out for that famous "fly on the wall". Doesn't sound viable for military recon, but the CIA will love it.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/20/2004 8:09 Comments ||
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#4
So that's why that neocon next door set up that hummingbird feeder. Now the government will realize I oppose Bush and haul me off to Gitmo and I'll never get another bong.
#5
Yawn, old news. DARPA has had MAV (micro air vehicle) programs using an ornithopter design for quite a while. Here a press release dating back to 1998. Google will get you a lot more. Local reporter, local story, more euros trying to catch up.
Ugandan troops said today they had killed 37 Lordâs Resistance Army rebels in northern Uganda and rescued 22 people abducted by the cult-like group. Government soldiers backed by aircraft killed the insurgents after hunting them for several days, army spokesman Lieutenant Chris Magezi said. ââAn infantry force has been pursuing the rebels for the last few days,ââ he said by telephone from northern Uganda. The rebels were killed in Pader district 300 km north of the capital Kampala yesterday afternoon.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/20/2004 1:17:50 AM ||
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Till he kills them too, that is ...
FOUR of the girls abducted from St. Maryâs College Aboke in Apac district on October 9, 1996, by LRA rebels are married to Joseph Kony, The New Vision has learnt. One of the girls, Palma, who recently escaped from captivity, said three of the girls had delivered babies with Joseph Kony. She said 20 other girls were married to rebel commanders. "Ten of them are moving with rebel commanders currently in Uganda and eight are in Sudan. Most of the girls are restricted and not allowed to move freely," Palma said. On October 9, 1996, the LRA rebels commanded by Lagira attacked St. Maryâs College Aboke and abducted 139 girls. Some 109 were released after the headmistress followed the rebels to the bush and pleaded for the release of the girls. She said two of the captives were killed in 1999 for allegedly collaborating with the West Nile Bank Front of Juma Oris.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/20/2004 1:16:32 AM ||
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West Nile Bank Front
The West Nile Bank has a front? Damm, I can just imagine their penalty for bouncing a check!
Posted by: Steve ||
02/20/2004 8:14 Comments ||
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#2
The more I read about Kony the more I think JimJones and David Koresh. (sp?)
Posted by: Super Hose ||
02/20/2004 11:51 Comments ||
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Yet another violation of their cease-fire. Is anybody keeping track here?
Four Muslim separatist guerrillas were killed after they attacked a village in Mindanao, police said Friday. About 30 members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) raided the home of the district chairman near Midsayap town Tuesday, but armed residents fought back killing four of the attackers. Soldiers and police helped the residents. It was not clear why the MILF launched the attack, which came despite a ceasefire in place between the government and the MILF in order to pave the way for the resumption of peace talks.
I like the fact that the locals fought them off, too...
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/20/2004 1:12:21 AM ||
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Rebel attacks killed five Russian soldiers and two policemen in Chechnya over the past day, an official in the Kremlin-backed administration in the warring republic said Thursday. Three of the soldiers died and 10 were wounded in attacks on Russian military positions, the official said on condition of anonymity. Two other soldiers were killed when a military truck was blown up near the village of Nozhai-Yurt and two policemen died when assailants opened fire in the Chechen capital Grozny, he said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/20/2004 1:10:21 AM ||
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Senior Iraqi intelligence officers believe an Islamic militant group which has claimed responsibility for two suicide bombings in Irbil and a spate of deadly attacks in Baghdad, Falluja and Mosul is receiving significant help from Syria and Iran. The officers, who have been tracking the activities of domestic and foreign jihadists in northern Iraq, claim that members of Jaish Ansar al-Sunna (the army of the supporters of the sayings of the prophet) have been "given shelter by Syrian and Iranian security agencies and have been able to enter Iraq with ease". The group is suspected of training suicide bombers and deploying them against US forces in Iraq and Iraqis considered to be collaborating with the US-led authorities.
Jaish Ansar al-Sunna was one of a dozen Islamic militant organisations which issued a joint statement two weeks ago in Ramadi and Falluja warning Iraqis against cooperating with the occupation. It distributed CDs carrying video footage of some of its operations, which included roadside bomb attacks on US military convoys. US officials believe that since Saddam Hussein was captured in December the insurgency is being increasingly fought by Islamic guerrillas rather than former regime loyalists. While the Iraqi authorities are struggling to establish an effective intelligence operation in the centre and south of the country, in the north they have been able to build on the existing intelligence network in the Kurdish ruled area.
Then why not expand the Kurdish network to cover the whole country?
An intelligence officer in the northern city of Kirkuk said: "We have arrested a number of foreign Arabs that we believe may be connected to the global terror network. They all seemed to have Iranian or Syrian visas in their passports. A number of them told us they had received assistance in those countries." He said Hassan Ghul, a suspected al-Qaida operative found to be carrying a document urging the fomenting of civil war in Iraq, had been arrested by Kurdish forces on the Iraqi side of the Iranian border near the town of Kalar. Jaish Ansar al-Sunna is suspected of coordinating the infiltration of foreign militants - experienced terrorists and young footsoldiers - from Europe through Syria, the intelligence officer said. "We are not talking huge numbers, perhaps 100 since the war, but that is too much," he said. "We believe that there is a safe house for them near Damsacus. They are crossing the border west of Mosul, then heading for Mosul before dispersing to other cities."
He said Iran and Syria wanted to use the militant issue as a bargaining point in their relations with the US. Hoshyar Zebari, the Iraqi foreign minister, said: "There are incidents of infiltration from the outside. "I do not want to accuse anyone, but we are not getting sufficient cooperation from our neighbours. If they believe they can play with the security of Iraq, they are playing with fire. Itâs very dangerous."
Iraq-Syria war?
Damascus and Tehran reject the allegation they are harbouring or facilitating jihadists and point to their increased cooperation with George Bushâs global war on terror. The Iraqi intelligence officers, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Jaish Ansar al-Sunna was believed to be a splinter group of Ansar al-Islam (supporters of Islam), an extreme Kurdish group with suspected links to al-Qaida. The groupâs leader is identified on its website as Abu Abdullah al-Hassan bin Mahmoud, thought to be the brother of a leading Ansar al-Islam fighter. Ansar al-Islam was ousted from its stronghold at the beginning of the war by a joint operation involving PUK peshmerga forces and US air power. About 200 fighters fled to Iran, the intelligence official said. They had now had time to reorganise and had been filtering back into Iraq, where they had joined Sunni Arab extremists to form the new group.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/20/2004 1:09:00 AM ||
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Al Guardian. Pfeh. What a snot rag. This deserves a derisive f**kin Duh.
And there will undoubtedly be no bargaining with Iran or SyrLeb regards their infiltrators - if it doesn't stop, then Tehran and Qom whould be the appropriate point of response. SyrLeb is just a poor puppet pool of cannon fodder. Tipping Black Hats may prove to be more fun, and definitely more rewarding, than tipping cows, methinks.
#2
... arrested a number of foreign Arabs ... been arrested by Kurdish forces ...
This is not a good time to be an Arab in Kurdistan.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
02/20/2004 8:02 Comments ||
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After the election,and assuming the Americxan people are wise enough to re-elect GWB,GWB has a list of f**kers that he's going to deal with...Syria is quite high and its grip on Lebanon will be pried loose at a minimum...Iran's mullahs ' animosity will increase but if they don't turn over Saad and al-Zawahari,so will W's and Rummy's.
#4
My prediction is that the I MEF will make its way to Iraq through Lebanon and Syria this Spring, while the 3ID will be on the road to Damascus at the same time. I am not sure what role Israel's military will play in the operation (besides defending its borers), but I fully expect Mossad types to be depolyed with US Special Forces units operating in those countries.
Posted by: Tibor ||
02/20/2004 14:27 Comments ||
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Several U.S. Muslims who traveled to Pakistan to train with a militant Islamic group improved their military skills through a series of paintball games played in Virginia in 2000 and 2001, according to trial testimony Thursday. Wyman testified Thursday that one member of the alleged conspiracy — Ibrahim Ahmed al-Hamdi, who traveled in 2000 to Pakistan to train with a group called Lashkar-e-Taiba — returned later that year and described his experiences to others with whom he had played paintball. Hamdi told the others that "the paintball training had been helpful" to him at the Lashkar camp, according to Wyman. Hamdi has already pleaded guilty to his role in the conspiracy.
Defense attorneys have said the games were innocent fun and that the government is unfairly tarring the whole group with sinister motives. Hamdi also urged others, including Caliph Basha and Hammad Abdur-Raheem, to join the Lashkar group. According to Wyman, Caliph Basha told FBI agents that he never intended to engage in such training, and Hammad Abdur-Raheem said he considered it but decided against it.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/20/2004 1:06:46 AM ||
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As a former paint-ball-enthusiast i can inform everybody here the effect that playing paint-ball has on your military skills is zero or less than zero, except, off-course for some QCB scenarios.
(your barbecuing skills improve vastly but thats a completely different story)
#3
Ahhhhh yes, paintball. Still play occasionally. Agreed, never saw much of a military application for it. Just a great way to spend a day and work up a thirst for a cold brew-ha while pissin' off the local LLL crowd.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
02/20/2004 12:29 Comments ||
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#4
...improved their military skills through a series of paintball games played in Virginia in 2000 and 2001,
This means they now can hit the broad side of a barn...
I say, Holmes, how do you do it?
United Nations nuclear inspectors have discovered components for sophisticated uranium enrichment equipment that Iran failed to declare, deepening suspicions that Teheran is seeking an atomic bomb. The unravelling of the nuclear network operated by Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of Pakistanâs bomb, has exposed Iran to ever more damaging disclosures of its attempts to hide nuclear-related facilities. "We have serious concerns about these reports," said the White House spokesman, Scott McClellan, yesterday. "We have long said that our belief is Iran is pursuing a nuclear weapons programme under the cover of a peaceful effort."
A senior diplomat said recently: "If all you want to do is enrich uranium for nuclear fuel, then the G1 centrifuge is enough. The G2 could point to a military programme." According to diplomats familiar with investigations by the International Atomic Energy Agency, inspectors have found designs and parts for a G2 uranium enrichment centrifuge - a more advanced version of the G1 system previously declared by Iran. Some reports said the components were found on an Iranian air force base. If this is confirmed, it would create a possible link between Iranâs nuclear programme and the military, despite claims that nuclear facilities are entirely civilian and designed to generate electricity. The IAEA is due to report formally on its findings in the coming days. But the leaks corroborate a report by the Telegraph this month which quoted American sources as accusing Iran of trying to operate a parallel enrichment programme.
I expect the report will be pretty different from the leaks...
Under pressure from the IAEA, Iran has repeatedly been forced to change its story in the past year. In recent days it has admitted for the first time to carrying out "research and development" with G2 centrifuges. But it insists it disclosed the work to the IAEA. Hamid Reza Asefi, spokesman for the Iranian foreign ministry, said: "Iranâs nuclear activities are entirely peaceful and Iran has not had and nor does it have military nuclear activities." The USA Today newspaper reported yesterday that the G2 components had been found at a military base identified as Doshan Tapeh. But Mr Asefi said: "In none of Iranâs military centres is a nuclear programme being pursued and [G2] centrifuges do not exist in such centres."
"Nope. Nope. Never happened."
Under a deal brokered by European countries last October, Iran admitted to violations over 18 years. In return, it was spared a referral to the UN Security Council. Iran admitted it had made small "laboratory scale" quantities of weapons-grade uranium and plutonium - offering two possible routes to a bomb. Teheran also promised to "suspend" the operation of its large enrichment facilities in Natanz based on the G1 design using aluminium tubes. G2 centrifuges are made of a high-strength, lightweight alloy that can spin much faster. Both versions are based on designs stolen by Khan from Holland in the 1970s and used to make fissile material for Pakistanâs nuclear weapons.
Libya admitted buying the G1 and G2 versions from Khanâs network, as well as a design for a nuclear warhead provided by China to Pakistan. Diplomats suspect that Iran failed to make a full declaration. One said: "Libya bought three items on sale - the G1, the G2 and a weapon design. The Iranians admitted to the G1, and now to research with the G2. The question is whether they also have a weapon design." America will seize on the IAEAâs findings to demand that Iran be referred to the Security Council for possible sanctions when the IAEA board meets next month. But the European countries negotiating with Iran to come clean - Britain, France and Germany - fear that this would be an empty gesture unless Russia and China agreed to take tough action.
And that won't happen because neither country expects to ever be on the receiving end of an Iranian nuclear weapon.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/20/2004 1:04:19 AM ||
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We're going to have to be very careful w/this since our name is "Mudd" at this point in time.
--The IAEA is due to report formally on its findings in the coming days. But the leaks corroborate a report by the Telegraph this month which quoted American sources as accusing Iran of trying to operate a parallel enrichment programme.
#3
"The question is whether they also have a weapon design."
We had best assume that they do, and that they are currently working frantically to put it together. They look at the Norks and figure that possesion of a nuke keeps the Marines at bay.
Unless the black turbans get themselves overthrown shortly (which might actually happen)US foreign policy will have to contend with a nuclear Islamist Iran.
That thought should be enough to pucker a few butts.
As prospects for early elections faded, several Iraqi leaders said Thursday that they wanted the American-appointed Iraqi Governing Council to remain in place after the United States transferred power back to the people on June 30. Plans are already under way to expand the council. The leaders, including representatives from the major ethnic and religious groups and members of the council, said a consensus had emerged to increase the current council of 25 people to as many as 125, and to keep it in power until United Nations-assisted elections could be held in early 2005.
The IGC is the closest thing Iraq has ever had to a representative government. Ever.
Several council members said the plan appeared to have cleared a potentially major obstacle: Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraqâs most powerful Shiite cleric, indicated that he would accept an enlarged council as long as this was part of the United Nations recommendation. It was the ayatollahâs call for early elections that brought the United Nations to Iraq in the first place. "We have no other choice now," said one of the leaders, Yonadam Kanna, head of the Assyrian Democratic Party and a council member. "We are in the middle of a process and we canât have Iraq go in a random direction. The key now is to reach out to more groups so the people feel we represent them."
I think expanding it too much more would make it too unwieldly, though I guess if you think of it as a proto-legislature rather than as a cabinet with a rotating presidencey it makes sense...
Although council members have not decided yet how new members should be selected, several agreed that it would be important to demonstrate independence from the Americans to win the peopleâs trust. The move to extend the councilâs rule represented another complication in the Bush administrationâs vision for a quick transfer of power. As late as this week, American officials were still clinging to an agreement, signed with Iraqi leaders in November, that called for the council to be replaced on June 30 and for a new Iraqi government to be selected by nationwide caucuses.
I guess it could be replaced by an expanded version of itself, perhaps with functions widened to include legislation...
Several Iraqi politicians said the caucus plan was dead because it was too cumbersome and too foreign a concept to work here. "The caucuses have been discarded," said Adnan Pachachi, a member of the Iraqi Governing Council. At a news conference on Thursday, L. Paul Bremer III, the top American administrator, said there were now "dozens" of possibilities of how to transfer authority. But the one fixed point was the June 30 deadline. "The date holds," he said.
Sounds like most of the likely alternatives will be acceptable, implying none involve bloody-handed dictators or glowering ayatollahs.
Several times on Thursday, Mr. Bremer deferred to the United Nations, saying he was not going to make any decisions until the organization issued its recommendations on what to do about Iraq. "On all of these matters, we are going to wait until we hear what the secretary general has to say," he said.
Which tells me we don't particularly care. Things are set up so that it'd be hard for the UN to screw them up...
Senior United Nations officials said they might not be ready to share their recommendations for another week, past the Feb. 28 deadline for an interim constitution. "Itâs a bit disappointing that the U.N. canât make a recommendation, and that in fact imposes a delay," said Feisal al-Istrabadi, the legal adviser to Mr. Pachachi, who sits on the constitution committee. "They took a long time to come out here."
They're not known for blinding speed. Or for competence. Or for effectiveness...
The interim constitution is a crucial milestone in the transition to independence. Before it can become law, the document must spell out how a new government will be selected by the end of 2005. On Thursday, a fiery Shiite cleric, Moqtada al-Sadr, said Iraqis might rebel if the constitution did not enshrine Islamic law, in answer to Mr. Bremerâs earlier comments indicating that he would veto a constitution that did so.
On the other hand, Moqtada's opinion counts for nothing. He's an irritant, not a factor...
The members of the Governing Council, appointed in July by American administrators, have long sought to remain in office. Many are exiles who had not lived in Iraq for years. Some people, even within the Governing Council, said it was time to move on. "For many of my colleagues, their ideas about what is best for Iraq are clouded by their desire to keep their own jobs," said Mahmoud Othman, a council member and leader of the Kurdish Socialist Party. "Itâs quite selfish."
Typical, but selfish...
Mr. Othman said several of his colleagues had used the issue of early elections as a way to press American administrators to keep the council intact. He said that when the council signed the original agreement on its formation in November, many members hoped to negotiate to keep their own jobs. But when American officials refused to budge, Mr. Othman said, discontented members went to Ayatollah Sistani and encouraged him to call for elections, knowing they were not possible. "Heâs the most powerful man in Iraq, and they manipulated him," he said. Senior Shiite leaders dismissed Mr. Othmanâs remarks, saying they wanted elections for their own sake. Mr. Othman said he would prefer disbanding the council and replacing it with a much larger assembly of tribal elders, professional leaders and religious figures. "But my view is the minority," he said.
I doubt it'll disband. I suspect it'll grow, by adding in those tribal elders, professional leaders, and religious figures. My preference would be that the religious figures be excluded, not that anyone gives a fig about my preference...
Mr. Pachachi said the leading plan called for an expanded council to preside over the country while United Nations experts begin laying the groundwork for nationwide elections. Many council members said this week that members of the United Nations team, led by an Algerian diplomat, Lakhdar Brahimi, had told them they would need about nine months to get the country ready. That, Mr. Pachachi said, probably means that nationwide elections for a new government could be held in January 2005, to be followed by a constitutional convention and elections for a more permanent government later in the year. Ideas for expanding the council range from doubling its current size, to 50, or even expanding to 125 members. Some Iraqi leaders said a larger council would probably serve as a national assembly and would choose a cabinet and a prime minister, calling upon tribal leaders and religious figures to nominate candidates.
That's what I suspect is going to happen. I wonder how long it'll be before Saddoun Hammadi runs for office?
Members said the crucial test would be whether the new council was viewed as legitimate by Iraqis. The current council is seen by many as a tool of American interests. "Now, the Americans have to stay away," said Abdil Abdul Mahdi, a senior leader of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, a leading Shiite party. "Anything we do, we have to be able to defend in front of our people."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/20/2004 12:54:11 AM ||
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So Dan, the "pro-Iranian" Sistani and SCIRI are going along (now that Brahimi and Annan have given them political cover) and Moqtada is saying no. Is it real or is it an elaborate good cop - bad cop game???
The Shiite holy cities of Najaf and Karbala are back in business - teeming with thousands of pilgrims drawn from across the Middle East and Asia. After decades of persecution by Saddam Husseinâs regime, the Shiite resurgence in these two holy cities presents new opportunity - and a potential challenge - for the Shiite leadership in neighboring Iran. Amid preparations for pivotal elections Friday in Iran - and later this year in Iraq - analysts see two Shiite visions of democracy vying for dominance. Some say the traditionally "quietist" clergy represented by Iraqâs Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani is growing more influential at the expense of Iranâs all-embracing system of clerical rule embodied by Iranâs Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. "There is a strong possibility that over time large numbers of lay religious Iranians will switch their allegiance to Sistani, and some of the [Iranian] reformers are said already to have done so," says Juan Cole, professor of history at the University of Michigan and a specialist in Shiite affairs. "But the Khamenei establishment is extremely wealthy and offers scholarships, so the seminarians and clerics in Iran would have difficulty defecting en masse. Sistani does not have nearly as many monetary resources."
But Khamenei faces other, nonfinancial challenges. The powerful ruling clergy in Iran is under attack from a growing number of Iranians frustrated at the faltering attempts to achieve greater openness and political freedom. Iranâs Wilayet al-Faqih doctrine (governance of the religious jurist, preached in the Iranian city of Qom) was devised in the mid-1970s by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and served as the ideological underpinning of the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran which he led. It grants absolute authority over all matters - religious, social, and political - to a marja who has earned the title of mujtahid, a blend of judge and theologian.
Although the Wilayat al-Faqih system was successfully introduced into Iranâs homogenous Shiite society, exporting the doctrine elsewhere has proved difficult. Its most successful adaptation outside Iran is by Lebanonâs Hizbullah organization which considered Khomeini and then his successor Ayatollah Ali Khameini as the groupâs marja. Establishing an Islamic state in Lebanon on the Iranian model remains one of Hizbullahâs ideological goals, on paper at least. But Hizbullah long ago accepted that the tiny countryâs multiconfessional character mitigates heavily against the creation of an Islamic state.
They have to kill all the Christians and Druze first...
So, too, with Iraq. Iraqi Shiites represent around 60 percent of the population. The remaining 40 percent is comprised of Sunni Muslims, several Christian sects and a tiny Jewish community. Furthermore, many Shiites are avowedly secular and have little enthusiasm for an Islamic state, whether governed by Wilayet al-Faqih or a less comprehensive form of Islamic rule. Even groups such as the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), which was supported by Iran during Saddam Husseinâs regime, has begun to distance itself from Tehranâs clerical rulers to boost its appeal among Iraqi Shiites. "The Iranians have their own problems and that is not a model for us," says Sheikh Humum Hammoudi, a senior member of SCIRIâs leadership. "We want our religious leaders to be advisers not [political] authorities."
A rare insight into Sistaniâs views on Iranâs Wilayet al-Faqih system was posted on the Internet last week by an anonymous Sunni tribal leader who met with the reclusive Shiite cleric at his home in Najaf. "He does not believe in âWilayat al Faqeehâ as the clergy in Iran do.... He repeatedly stressed that religion has to be separated from government," the letter said. "He said that he firmly believed that the clergy should not interfere with the running of peopleâs lives, with government or with administration. He had forbidden his followers from putting their noses into the stateâs affairs. He said that clearly and categorically (several times to stress the point!)"
According to Sheikh Jalaleddine as-Saghir, Sistaniâs representative in Baghdad, the ayatollah recommends a multisectarian government for Iraq. "He suggests that the government should represent all Iraqis," he says. "The Iraqi people should be the marja of the Iraqi government." As for the future constitution, Sistani favors one that does not contradict sharia (Islamic) law but is not derived from it, Sheikh as-Saghir says.
Yet Sistani does not speak for all Shiite clerics. The Wilayet al-Faqih system is embraced in Iraq by followers of Mohammed Baqr al-Sadr and Mohammed Sadeq al-Sadr, two prominent clerics who were killed in 1980 and 1999 respectively for defying Mr. Husseinâs regime. "Of course, there is much sympathy for the Wilayet al-Faqih among the Shiites because the two Sadr martyrs called for it and both died for their beliefs," says Sheikh Hamzi al-Tai, who heads the Kerbala office of Moqtada al-Sadr, a young extremist cleric and son of Mohammed Sadeq al-Sadr.
"That's where the money is, after all..."
Nonetheless, few believe that the Wilayet al-Faqih system has enduring appeal to Iraqi Shiites. "Apart from Mohammed Baqr al-Sadr, no one in Najaf agreed with Khomeiniâs Wilayet al-Faqih," says Jaber Habib, a professor of politics at Baghdad University. "Thereâs no great challenge from Moqtada al-Sadr as most Iraqis follow Sistani. Moqtada has support only because of his father. He is not a marja and is not advanced in religious studies. He is a flash in the pan."
Other than ideological differences, the Sadrists also harbor suspicions of Sistaniâs Iranian background - he speaks Arabic with a thick Persian accent. Many senior clerics in Najaf are of Iranian descent, whereas the Sadrs are Arabs of Iraqi-Lebanese origin. Distrust of Iranian marja appears to have been behind the killing on April 10 last year of Ayatollah Abdul Majid al-Khoei, son of a noted Iranian scholar who returned to Iraq from exile in England and was stabbed to death in the Imam Ali shrine in Najaf. Followers of Moqtada Sadr have been blamed for the murder, and there are fears that Sistani could be next. "As a Muslim, Sistani has a right to ask for the rights of Muslims. But he does not have a right to interfere in the affairs of Iraq," says Sheikh Tai. "We wonât cause problems, God willing, but we wonât allow anyone to interfere in Iraqi matters because this is a subject for Iraqis."
Still, while the resurgence of Najaf may have some impact on Iran, many analysts believe that it will not undermine the ruling clericsâ grip on the country. "I donât think [Sistani] is a threat to Iranâs religious institutions," says Mohammed Hadi Semati, a Tehran University political scientist currently at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington. "I donât think there will be a rivalry between Qom and Najaf ... though in the long-term, there could be rival doctrines [about clerical rule]." Instead, any influence exerted by Iraq over Iran is more likely to stem from the successful introduction of a stable and democratic system of rule in Baghdad rather than from differences in Shiite theology. "Itâs difficult to change the regime [in Iran]," says Professor Habib. "The Iranians stick to Islam more than Iraqis. The Iranian clerics have more influence over the people than the clerics in Iraq. But if the situation in Iraq develops and we succeed in democracy and prosperity, it will have a great influence on Iran. Iraq influences Iran, not the other way around."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/20/2004 12:49:24 AM ||
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#1
Sistani is always referred to as Grand Ayatollah Sistani.
Khamenei (also spelled Khameini in this same article, heh) is referred to as merely Ayatollah Khamenei (in Google searching)...
Hey, a Grand Ayatollah trumps a regular old Ayatollah in any Believer's book, eh? And one good look at Sistani will tell you he's totally gone - his body may be on Planet Earth, but the rest of him is definitely elsewhere, so he wins the thousand yard stare contest, too. I've seen people on a $50 pop of horse who were more clued in than GA Sistani, heh. Sadr had better not miss again, or the zombie-master of Betcha al-Farku will waste him with a glance...
Ooga Booga, folks. There's a full moon every night in Islam.
#3
Sistani needs to invest in some really reliable car starters.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/20/2004 8:26 Comments ||
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#4
If a Grand Ayatollah beats a regular Ayatollah, are there even highter levels? . . . Grand Dog Ayatollah . . . Double Grand Ayatollah . . . Double Grand Dog Ayatollah . . . and the mother of all Ayatollahs, the Triple Grand Dog Ayatollah.
Posted by: Mike ||
02/20/2004 8:45 Comments ||
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#5
'He repeatedly stressed that religion has to be separated from government," the letter said. "He said that he firmly believed that the clergy should not interfere with the running of peopleâs lives, with government or with administration.'
There's the Ayatollah, of course, and then there's the Grand Ayatollah. Period. Of course, there are different models of each: DX, LX and EX. Both the Ayatollah EX and the Grand Ayatolla EX comes with standard leather seats and deluxe sound system. Also, both stop 5 times a day and face Mecca.
#9
It's a health conscious world and today's worshipper demands choices. That's why we're proudly introducing the low-fat "McLean Ayatollah" and the "McLean Ayatollah Deluxe" which comes with cheese. And don't forget our "Ayatolla Grande" or our "Extreme Ayatolla" available for a limited time only.
#10
You forgot the new, Atkins-compatible Low-Carb Ayatollah, with only 4g net carbs! (The "Grand Ayatollah Deluxe" comes with extra pork fat on the side.)
Posted by: Sofia ||
02/20/2004 13:53 Comments ||
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#11
I'll see your Ayatollah and raise you a Grand Mufti...
Posted by: J-B Aristide ||
02/20/2004 14:39 Comments ||
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Excerpted from a larger article ...
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan ruled out holding of elections in Iraq before US forces hand over power in June. âThere seems to be general acceptance of the fact that it is not going to be possible to arrange an election between now and the end of June,â Annan said in an interview with Japanese daily Yomiuri Shimbun. Elections had to be properly organised and the conditions had to be right with security, and the political and legal instruments ready for the elections, the UN chief told Japanâs biggest-selling daily at UN headquarters in New York. âSo I think the conclusion then will have to be that elections before the end of June may not be possible, but there will have to be better organised elections later on,â Annan said. âOnce the interim or caretaker government has been established, we will work with them ... but a secure environment has to be created for us to carry on that,â he said.
Mr Annan was to meet on Thursday with his special adviser Lakhdar Brahimi, who led a one-week fact-finding mission to Iraq and poured cold water on the hopes of Iraqi Shiites seeking elections before June 30. âWe are still waiting for the findings of Mr Brahimi and the final decisions of Mr Annan, Mr Brahimi and the United Nations,â said Haytham al-Husseini, a top official with the main Shiite political party, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/20/2004 12:46:12 AM ||
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We probably told him that the UN would have to have observers at each polling place if the elections were to be held in June. That sealed his decision.
EFL
A National Guardsman accused of attempting to share military intelligence with the al-Qaida terrorist network has been formally charged, an Army spokesman said Wednesday. Spc. Ryan Anderson provided information about U.S. troop strength, equipment and tactics, as well as methods of killing Army personnel, to people he thought belonged to the terror network but who were actually U.S. military personnel, the military alleges.
"Blindfold?"
"Yes, thank you."
"Cigarette?"
"Ummm... It ain't gonna ruin my health, is it?"
Anderson was arrested Feb. 12, just weeks before his brigade was to leave for duty in Iraq. He reported to Fort Lewis for active duty on Nov. 15. The conduct alleged in the charges occurred between Jan. 17 and Feb. 10. In the first count, Anderson, also known as ``Amir Abdul Rashid,ââ is accused of disclosing ``true informationââ about U.S. Army troop strength, movements, equipment, tactics and weapons systems, as well as methods of killing U.S. Army personnel and vulnerabilities of Army weapons systems and equipment. Anderson is also alleged to have communicated by ``oral, written and electronic communicationââ to the supposed al-Qaida contacts in essence, ``I wish to meet with you, I share your cause, I wish to continue contact through conversations and personal meetings.ââ The second charge alleges Anderson passed sketches of the M1A1 and M1A2 tanks, as well as a computer disc with such personal IDs as his passport photo, weapons card and military ID card. The last charge alleges he ``wrongfully and dishonorablyââ provided information on Army troop strength, movements, equipment and vulnerabilities. YUCK !
Posted by: cingold ||
02/20/2004 12:44:32 AM ||
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#1
He's a regular Benedict Arnold! Damn him if he gets someone killed!
#2
I wonder if this mutt will meet the constitutional requirement for a treason charge? Time of war, witnesses, all that.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/20/2004 2:07 Comments ||
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#3
This kid is proof positive that capital punishment must always remain a viable option to deal w/scum. He's a traitor pure & simple, makes my blood boil. I would be more then happy to carry out the sanction on him.
Qatar said today it has arrested two suspects in the assassination of former Chechen President Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev. Yandarbiyev, 51, was killed Feb. 13 when a bomb ripped through his car. His teenage son was wounded. The Interior Ministry said two suspects are being questioned in his death. No further details were available in the ministry statement, carried by the Gulf stateâs national news agency, QNA.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/20/2004 12:44:00 AM ||
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An affirmation of what we already know here at Rantburg.
Americans have a better opinion of France and Germany now than when the two European countries opposed the war in Iraq, but France is not quite out of the dog house, according to a Gallup poll. While only 34 percent of Americans saw France in a favourable light last March, 47 percent view the French favourably now, according to poll released Wednesday. The figure, however, is still a far cry from the 70 percent to 79 percent ratings France enjoyed in the 1990s, and many Americans, 49 percent, still view France unfavourably. Politically, Republicans dislike the French the most. While 58 percent of Democrats view France favourably, 64 percent of Republicans have a low opinion of the war opponents. Germany is more popular than France. Surprise meter is 0.0000.
Last March, 44 percent of Americans viewed Germany unfavourably, but only 26 percent feel that way now. The poll shows that 69 percent of Americans view Germany favourably. TGA, youâre winning us over.
Most Americans disliked Iraq until last yearâs US-led invasion, when 93 percent of Americans viewed Saddam Husseinâs Iraq unfavourably. In the latest poll, 21 percent view Iraq favourably while 74 percent do not. Saudi Arabiaâs image continues to deteriorate, a trend that began in 2001. Two-thirds, or 66 percent, of Americans view the kingdom unfavourably. Last year, 61 percent viewed it in an unfavorable light. Only 28 percent of Americans have a favourable opinion of Saudi Arabia, a two point drop from last year. S.A. should request a refund from their PR firm. Of course, cleaning up their act wouldnât hurt either.
Australia, with 88 percent, and Britain and Canada, both with 87 percent, remain the United Statesâ favourite countries. They are followed by Japan (75 percent), Germany (69 percent), Mexico (68 percent), Brazil (66 percent), India (61 percent), Israel (59 percent), Russia (59 percent) and Egypt (58 percent). The Gallup Organization has asked for 20 years if Americansâ overall opinion of a country is "very favourable, mostly favorable, mostly unfavorable, or very unfavorable."
Posted by: GK ||
02/20/2004 12:17:03 AM ||
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The interesting aspect of this poll is how Iraq is viewed less favorably than Saudi Arabia. The American public is getting tired of the carping and ingratitude. If the Iraqis don't shape up soon, we may soon be departing from Iraq, under a Kerry administration, leaving the various factions to duke it out.
Posted by: Lu Baihu ||
02/20/2004 3:37 Comments ||
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#5
nah, ZF, i dont think its that sophisticated. Its more like most just think of Iraq as the "enemy" and simply arent following post-war iraqi politics like we do here. IIUC some folks in the '70s took a dislike to Viet Namese refugees, cause "those were the gooks who were killing our boys" even though said refugees were the fleeing victims of the Communists.
#6
and further, why should we be surprised. One thing that the left has in common with the more stupid folks on the right (some of whom post here) is an inability to distinguish some Iraqis from others. The leftists for months kept denouncing the admin for being willing to shed Iraqi blood, ignoring the actual opinions of ordinary Iraqis wrt to the war, and the fact that Saddam was the biggest killer of Iraqis. And on the right, when there is a big attack on our forces in say Falluja, instead of saying we should get tough on the insurgents, or the Sunni triangle, there are folks who want to get tough on Iraqis in general. If we our troops had gone in and overthrown the apartheid regime in South Africa, and were then attacked by racist whites, we'd all understand that the majority in the country was against the insurgency. Skin color being obvious, and something we understand from our own history. The hatred between Sunnis and Shiites is incomprehensible to most Americans, the last time Christians have slaughtered each other over this sort of thing (outside of Northern Ireland, at any rate) was like 300 years ago - and even Christians who remember that history have difficulty with the Sunni-shia split, since it is not over the kinds of theological questions that split christianity, but more over questions of authority - its more like the Catholic-Orthodox split (perhaps Croats and Serbs understand better?)
#10
asked if Americans' overall opinion of [Iraq] is "very favourable, mostly favorable, mostly unfavorable, or very unfavorable."
That's an easy one. Let's see, costing billions, hundreds of soldiers lives, incessant whining from all directions, not ending anytime soon...UNFAVORABLE. Important work isn't always pleasant.
#12
Actually, I'm pretty surprised by the increase in France's standings. WTF have they done since last year that would make Americans think they are any better than the other Arab countries? I keep thinking of Dominique Galouseau telling journalists that "Americans will soon get over this." I ain't ever getting over this sh*t.
#13
Liberalhawk, free-flying? The hatred between Sunnis and Shiites is incomprehensible to most Americans? Pass the bong, it's religeous tribal warfare.
Although the Church is very broad, I don't think there are any messages to go and kill unbelievers and lapsed members, either targeted or indiscriminlately. As the Asian shop-keeper said, "I don't know, they all look the same".
Saudi Arabia decided to halt the construction of a barrier on its frontier with Yemen after Sanaa agreed that the two sides would conduct joint patrols to curb cross-border smuggling and infiltration, an official said yesterday. âSaudi Arabiaâs main concern is to control its borders with neighbouring countries, including Yemen, by whatever means possible. If the joint security measures agreed with Yemen can ensure border security, then there is no need for sandbags,â the Saudi official said, requesting anonymity. But Saudi Arabia doesnât seem to be doing so well on control of its border with iraq.
Word that Riyadh was calling off construction of the controversial barrier, which began last fall, first came from Sanaa on Wednesday at the close of a visit to Riyadh by Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Yemenâs official news agency Saba quoted Foreign Minister Abu Bakr Al Kurbi as saying Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdulaziz had âgiven instructions to stop construction of the barrier on the Saudi side of the borderâ. Seems to be conflicting reports as to which side of the border the wall was actually built.
A joint Saudi-Yemeni statement said the two sides had agreed on a series of measures to tighten border controls without mentioning the barrier, which Sanaa considered an infringement of a June 2000 agreement that ended a decades-long territorial dispute between the two Arab neighbours. The Daily Times (Pakistan) is reporting that Saudi Arabia agreed on Wednesday to dismantle the recently begun fence - which Yemen says already extends around 75 kilometres - after complaints from Yemen that it violated their border treaty, Yemeni Foreign Minister Abubakr al-Qirbi said.
Posted by: GK ||
02/20/2004 12:09:23 AM ||
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Don't the Saudis need Pakistan approval for any type of change to miltary assignment for their troops?
Posted by: Super Hose ||
02/20/2004 11:53 Comments ||
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#2
Why would you need to consult the hired help?
Posted by: Steve ||
02/20/2004 15:25 Comments ||
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#3
When you're paying the bills, you can pretty much decide who goes where.
"Curiouser and curiouser..."
Underworld don Dawood Ibrahimâs security cover provided by Pakistanâs Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) has been withdrawn, according to Indian intelligence reports. The proximate reason is pressure from America, which recently designated him a terrorist and located him in Pakistan. There were about 12 men from the ISI who formed a security ring around Dawood at Karachiâs Tony Clifton area, his office and wherever he moved around in Pakistan. The ISI had been providing Dawood with this cover for the last 10 years since the don shifted base to Pakistan after the Mumbai blasts in 1993.
Does this mean he's soon going to be blown away while munching a breadstick in an Italian restaurant?
The home ministry has tried to find out whether Dawood has undergone plastic surgery to hide his identity, but intelligence reports say that thereâs no evidence to support this. It would be interesting to see just what kind of role Dawood Ibrahim really does play in international terrorism. The Indos project his crime syndicate as a major pillar of support behind the ISI, Lashkar-e-Taiba, AQ Khan and others.
According to intelligence sources, he had moved out of Karachi and was shuttling between Rawalpindi and Lahore, where he was believed be at present. However, given his utility for Pakistanâs agencies, the scepticism persists that all these could be just a camouflage to fend off international pressure. Dawood might be trying to leave Pakistan after the withdrawal of his security cover. Dubai, where he has holed up before, is no longer a safe haven that it used to be. Relations between India and Dubai have improved and thereâs an extradition treaty in place now. Dawood is on the US and UN lists of terrorists. The Dawood issue is not being discussed publicly by the governments of India and Pakistan. While Indo-Pak peace talks were initiated on the diplomatic level, Dawood and other criminal offenders are being discussed at covert meetings between RAW chief C D Sahay and ISI chief Ehsan-ul-Haq that have been going since January.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
02/20/2004 12:07:42 AM ||
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Tony Clifton area
Was Tony Clifton the developer?
Despite an official ban on the collection of sacrificial hides by jihadi outfits â banned as well as those put on the watch list â the groups have managed to collect hides by changing their tactic. Hide collection has been a major source of revenue for various parties and groups in the past and only in Karachi the leather industry purchases hides worth millions of rupees during and after the three days of Eid-ul Adha. This year was no different, only the bulk of these hides was collected and sold this year by seminaries and Islamic charities. This time round the groups did not advertise their hide collection drive and instead stayed in the background. Most of the work was done by students from various seminaries, many of whom are ideologically affiliated with one or the other group. The majority of the seminaries are Deobandi, as are the jihadi groups.
A police officer TFT spoke with confirmed this finding. According to him, thousands of Karachi seminaries, majority of whom belong to the Deobandi/Salafi schools, mobilised their students to collect hides. These students were supervised in the field by activists of the banned outfits who moved about in the city posing as officials from the seminaries. The groups that made the biggest collections included the banned Jamiat al-Furqan and Khuddam ul Islam and the Jamaat-ud-Dawa, which the government has put on the watch list since last November. Investigators say it is difficult to estimate how much money the groups must have made through hide collection but it is safe to guess that countrywide this must run into a few billion. Not a bad racquet
Reports published last year suggested al-Dawa alone had raised some Rs 710 million by collecting 1.2 million hides of animals sacrificed on Eid across the country. Sources said 40 per cent of the total hides of the animals sacrificed on Eid had gone to the collection centres of al-Dawa. At the time it was easier to estimate the money made since these figures were put on the al-Dawa website. This year the group remains quiet on its hide collection activity. However, an al-Dawa spokesman based in Lahore told TFT the peopleâs response was âbeyond expectationsâ. âWe have collected more hides than we had collected last year,â Abu Mujahid Nadeem of al-Dawa says.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
02/20/2004 12:01:39 AM ||
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Whew! They're animal hides. When I started reading about jihadis collecting sacrificial hides, I thought, well, you know...
Family planning and Punjab assembly
According to Khabrain, women blushed when men members of Punjab assembly asked embarrassing questions about contraception from welfare minister Nasim Lodhi. The hall went up with shouts of "shame, shame" as one member said his children watched ads on TV about family planning and asked what was said in them.
Well done Bangladesh!
Daily Insaf editorialised that Bangladesh government of Khaleda Zia had done a great service to Islam by banning all products by companies owned by Ahmedis. It did not matter that the government had given in to the pressure of the mullahs, what mattered was that it had closed the door on the sources of strength of a sect that was an enemy of Islam.
Hameed Gulâs wealth
According to Khabrain, a representative of the PPP and adviser to Ms Benazir Bhutto, Dr Israr Shah said in Islamabad that the charge made by ex-ISI chief Hameed Gul that Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had taken $6 million from Libya to make the Islamic atom bomb was completely bogus. He said Gul should give account of the millions of dollars he made from the Afghan jihad which he ran as a commercial enterprise for ten years. He said Osama bin Laden was the âbabyâ of the ISI which he headed.
Jinn takes over maulviâs house
According to Khabrain, a jinn occupied the house of a maulvi in Tank in South Waziristan and was creating a lot of racket including throwing around copies of the Holy Quran. In the house of Abdur Rashid Burki the jinn takes over in the morning and starts fires all over the place. The jinn throws rubbish in the food the inhabitants of the house prepare for themselves. The jinn-breakers who were called in said the jinn was actually a deo (jinns are Muslims) and was a non-Muslim and therefore was not listening to the jinn-breakers. Three months earlier a maulvi was forced to leave the village by a group of jinns.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
02/20/2004 12:01:24 AM ||
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In the house of Abdur Rashid Burki the jinn takes over in the morning and starts fires all over the place
Hell I'd consider packing up and moving to Tony Clifton.
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.
