Itâs extremely long, so delete if needed, but it makes for some extremely interesting reading on the subject as far as the general WOT is concerned. A lot of the info weâve known or speculated about before, but this really ties the whole thing together.
Good morning, Mr. Chairman, Mr. Vice Chairman, Members of the Committee.
Mr. Chairman, last year I described a national security environment that was significantly more complex than at any time during my tenure as Director of Central Intelligence. The world I will discuss today is equally, if not more, complicated and fraught with dangers for United States interests, but one that also holds great opportunity for positive change.
Iâll begin today on terrorism, with a stark bottom-line:
The al-Qa`ida leadership structure we charted after September 11 is seriously damagedâbut the group remains as committed as ever to attacking the US homeland.
But as we continue the battle against al-QA`ida, we must overcome a movementâa global movement infected by al-QA`idaâs radical agenda.
In this battle we are moving forward in our knowledge of the enemyâhis plans, capabilities, and intentions. And what weâve learned continues to validate my deepest concern: that this enemy remains intent on obtaining, and using, catastrophic weapons.
Now let me tell you about the war weâve waged against the al-QA`ida organization and its leadership.
LIFEâS not fair, it seems, for sexy and controversial Indonesian singer Inul Daratista. âPeople look at Tina Toon and exclaim: âHow adorable! How cute!â But for me, they say something else,â she tells Life! in a slightly raised voice after her two-hour mini-concert on Sunday at Marine Parade Community Centre. Inul, 25, is referring to 10-year-old Tina Toon, who also performed at the concert. The Chinese-Indonesian girl can sing and shimmy just like her, and nearly stole the show. But it was Inul who drew the crowd of 700 to her debut concert here and went on to prove why she is the biggest entertainment phenomenon back in Indonesia.
She sang. She danced. She teased. A perfectly-timed flick of the hips, raised eyebrow or shoulder shrug was enough to make the audience roar. From the ends of her henna-dyed hair to the tips of her toenails, she was sex personified, and she knew it. Occasionally, she invited people to come on stage to learn how to swivel their buttocks like her. âSlower... lower... softer,â she commanded an embarrassed looking French expatriate. The crowd loved it. It is no surprise then that, in an interview after the show, she hits back at her conservative critics back home for labelling her performances âsluttyâ and âpornographicâ.
âItâs unfair to compare me to pornographic artists when I donât do pornography,â she says in Bahasa Indonesia. âThere are porn VCDs being sold openly on the streets of my country, yet Iâm the target of these vicious attacks.â Inul has been dogged by controversy since she rose meteorically from a poor village in east Java to stardom just over a year ago. Much has been made of how she was an itinerant singer who performed dangdut - a catchy blend of Malay, Indian and Arab music - in villages since age 12, for as little as $1. In January last year, she became famous overnight when she was invited to sing and gyrate in Jakarta on national TV. The ratings shot through the roof and, by February, she had grabbed the headlines and graced the covers of every major magazine. Publications rated her as the biggest phenomenon of 2003 and a symbol of its economic recovery and growing confidence since the 1997 fiscal crisis.
The backlash, however, was swift and savage. Some Muslim clerics denounced her provocative bump-and-grind dancing and tight costumes as âdegenerateâ and âpornographicâ. Dangdut veterans criticised her voice as weak. But her fans in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, which by now are estimated to be in the millions, rallied behind her by buying her debut album, Goyang Inul (Inulâs Shake), and continuously thronging concert halls and venues. Her album has gone platinum since its release last June (2003).
Indonesian politicians, gearing up for the countryâs elections this year, have been courting her support by asking her to sing at their rallies. She now performs 15 to 25 concerts a month, commanding between $60,000 and $70,000 per show. She also hosts her own weekly TV programme in which she sings and dances, too. Her success has not gone to her head for she reportedly makes generous donations to the poor. Still, people either hate her or love her.
At her Sunday concert, it became obvious to anyone watching her for the first time why she incites such extreme feelings. Her vocal range may be limited but her belly-dancing is a force of nature. During the fast numbers, she would writhe backward, forward, left and right repeatedly and rapidly like a human cyclone. In another signature move, she would hold her hands up as if she was clutching the handles of a motorcycle, then start to pump her hips titillatingly at breakneck speed. Defending her sexy image - she wore a figure-hugging red costume on Sunday - she said: âTo me, itâs just a performance. I wanted to put some sizzle back into the dangdut scene, which has been so boring and monotonous for so long.â
She has been married to her manager, Adam Suseno, 30, for five years. They have no children. Judging by the turnout in Marine Parade, her appeal crosses all socio-economic divides. Occupying the $100 seats in the front rows were distinguished-looking men in batik shirts and middle-aged women with bouffant hair and glittering jewellery. Standing at the back of the hall were ordinary people as well as small groups of Indonesian maids who screamed, gushed and sang the words to every song. Some even cleared a space at the back and sides of the hall to do their own bumping and grinding throughout the concert. Ms Suriani Gunamir, 24, a maid, said: âIâve been so homesick ever since I came here two years ago to work. Watching this concert has been the happiest day of my life in Singapore.â
After the show, as security guards escorted the star off the stage, some 30 fans surged forward and pushed themselves through the gaps between the guards, waving scraps of paper for autographs. Inul signed them and posed briefly for pictures, before exiting by a side door. âI know there will always be critics of my sexy image but as long as I have supporters like those at the concert, I will be all right,â she told Life! later.
EFL
A powerful earthquake killed around 450 people in northern Morocco on Tuesday, toppling mud-brick homes and burying residents in their sleep under tons of rubble. Warning that the death toll could still rise, the state news agency MAP said 447 people were killed and 250 injured in poor mountain villages around the Mediterranean port city of Al Hoceima. In the village of Ait Kamara, 11 miles to the south, many houses were flattened like cardboard boxes. The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake measured 6.5 on the Richter scale and struck at around 2:30 a.m. when people were asleep. Dozens of aftershocks and rain complicated relief efforts in the outlying villages in the foothills of the Rif mountains in a predominantly Berber area.
From Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
The Iraq Research and Documentation Foundation, a project of the Iraq Foundation, is collecting various documents and testimonies on human rights and endeavors to open "a unique window into the inner workings of the repressive state system evolved under the aegis of the Iraqi Baâath Socialist Party in Iraq since 1968."
The Iraq Foundation was established in 1991 by Iraqi expatriates with the purpose of working with Iraqis and non-Iraqis in promoting democracy and human rights. The site has sections on Iraqi NGOs, human rights reports, and links to various human rights campaigns.
The Iraqi Jurists Association (in English and Arabic). The site contains news, articles, and full editions of "The Jurist," the associationâs journal on law in Iraq.
The Crimes of War Project websiteâs sections on Iraq contain essays about internationalizing the process of justice in Iraq and legal issues related to the war.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
02/24/2004 8:33:46 PM ||
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The opening shots now fired by President Bush, the Second Front in the Culture War is underway (the First involves the defeat of our domestic enemies who are incapable of recognizing, let alone accepting the existence of evil that is Muslim extremism).
The Defense of Marriage Act is not only desirable but critical in this era of rampant moral relativism; nothing less than the future of the family and our children is at stake. Dennis Prager has described same-gender marriage as "sowing the seeds of destruction of our society.â And if we fail, he has said, "we do not deserve to survive."
Fortunately, the numbers appear in our favor... about 65-35 for those wagering in Vegas. Even the citizens of California have overwhelmingly voted to reject the idea of same-gender marriage. And let us state the issue in that way... it is not "gay marriage"; gay folks have always been able to marry---Rock Hudson, Anne Heche, Hillary Clinton, just to name a few... they just canât marry someone of the same sex.
Same-gender marriage is also as unnecessary as it is irrelevant. The so-called âcivil unionâ can be dashed together by any homosexual couple with more than room-temp IQs. That and a properly constructed will solves their problem and societyâs.
Marriage is social engineering⊠has been for thousands of years. Thus the homosexuals activists who want to change our society want to do so by the further social engineering of marriage. It is the attempted imposition of their will on us, despite the rule of law.
This should be a civil discourse, but the pathological narcissism of the homosexual activists does not allow quiet debate or for a belief in bettering society⊠its only goal is the bending society to the shape they desire.
And make no mistake⊠marriage is not about âloveâ as homosexuals insist.
I am sure that Jebediah Smith loved his six wives; I love my dog.
Beginning in 1849, The State of Utah sought to join the Union. It took 50 years before the Mormons controlling the territory finally and reluctantly acceded to the laws of the United States and ended polygamy; statehood followed.
Marriage is about the good of society⊠not the perceived right of the individual to do as she or she pleases⊠just ask Brigham Young.
So⊠marriage is not up to every Tom, Dick and Harry to define⊠it is defined by religious, historical, societal and mutually agreed-upon tenets that benefit the collective group⊠not the abnormal fringe.
I have nothing against homosexuals unioning civilly. Really, I don't care what they do in their bedrooms, though I'd prefer not to witness it in public parks. But I do worry about the effects of watering down or destroying every institution that goes into making our society what it is, or maybe what it used to be. Our enemy is a strain of Islam that makes the Puritans look frivolous. A hefty part of Western society is presenting a target for them to rail against, going to the other extreme. I'm old enough to remember when creatures known as "bachelors" used to inhabit the earth. Gone now, the way of the brotosauri, the confirmed bachelor lived his or her life, usually rooming with another bachelor "to share expenses." The rest of society wasn't particularly concerned, and bachelors were received in the most proper drawing rooms. There was at the same time a critter known as the "queer," who used to haunt public restrooms and accost people, who wasn't liked. It would have been my preference to go with the polite fiction of the bachelor, but nobody asked me.
#2
This guy gets why this is a problem, and a big one. I am sick of having the gay lifestyle shoved down my throat. I am tired of this small minority of our society using the media to leverage their numbers. As he states, there are lots of ways that gay couples can get the benefits of civil unions (taxes, wills, etc.). They are NOT being discriminated against in that way. I know that there is homophobia and interpersonal discrimination against gays and I'm not saying they are bad or wrong or anything like that. But Gays want the societal imprateur that says their relationships are no different than heterosexual ones. Sorry. That is just not true and never will be.
Posted by: remote man ||
02/24/2004 19:00 Comments ||
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#3
I am sick of having the gay lifestyle shoved down my throat.
??
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
02/24/2004 19:26 Comments ||
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#4
I am a heterosexual, male, recovering ex-Democrat for whom there is, unconditionally, one and ONLY one issue in this coming election: the survival of my country.
Since barely a few months after the 9/11 attacks--that is, from the beginning of the campaigns for the 2002 mid-term elections--the Democrats have been doing their level best either to force the war against Islamic totalitarianism onto the back burner so they can focus the public's attention on their usual class-envy politics, or cynically and dishonestly make a fraudulent political issue of the war itself.
I despise them for this, and not only do I consider Democratic Party politicians to be little better than traitors, but believe them to constitute, through their blind averice for political power, a clear and present danger to the very survival of the United States. They are an outright menace to our very lives.
That said, I have to add this: the Right, particularly of the fundamentalist Christian variety, is becoming just as much of a menace to our survival, by taking its eye off the ball and focusing on the "threat" to traditional marriage allegedly posed by the prospect of--GASP!!--gays joining up with one another in committed relationships.
We are in a fight for our lives, and we need to unite in that fight. Worried about the sanctity of traditional marriage? Then focus on the REAL threat: totalitarian, radical Islam.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
02/24/2004 20:01 Comments ||
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#5
Dave, this would not be an issue if it weren't for the Mass. supreme court and the San Francisco mayor.
In any case, all that Bush has done is said, "let's have a discussion about this, rather than letting the courts decide for us". Nothing wrong with that, is there?
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
02/24/2004 20:33 Comments ||
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#6
The institution of the family has been breaking down for a long time. I believe it really started when we began to teach values in the classroom. No longer was the family responsible for teaching the child moral values, but rather the school. First it was sex education, then drug and alcohol usage, then multiculturalism. And as the school took more and more of this responsibility, the families just said "okay, that way I don't have to do it."
The school is now responsible for nearly every aspect of a child's life that use to belong to the family. And in many ways the school overrules the family. The child is taught at home homosexuality is wrong, the school says "Bad parent! I'll teach your child something else and don't you dare complain about it!"
I see this as the final stand for those of use who believe in the sacredness of marraige. Between the school system and the government dictating how I can raise my child the only thing I have left is the fact that if I am married, it is a scared institution.
Our society is slowly, but ever more rapidly, splitting into two parts. If we do not start to fight some of us who are more traditionalists when it comes to the family will become the minority and lose all rights to teach our families the values we hold dear.
Posted by: AF Lady ||
02/24/2004 21:13 Comments ||
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#7
AF Lady - Freudian slip?
"the only thing I have left is the fact that if I am married, it is a scared institution."
just teasing...
I'm OK with civil unions, not "marriage", and I reaalllllyyy resent the Judicial branch activists usurping power that we never gave them. I support the DOMA as a executive and legislative bitch slap to the activist judges
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/24/2004 21:26 Comments ||
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#8
30 years ago this would have been a state's rights issue. Unfortunately, the Constitution is drafted in such a way that guarantees that a right granted you in one state must be respected in another state. The Defense of Marriage Act will be struck down because it is actually unconstitutional. If we were to use the Constitution correctly, Americans should amend the Constitution to grant the right of marriage to gays through a Constitutional Amendment.
Does anybody honestly think that 6 people in Boston should be redefining marriage for the rest of us? You can certainly find six irresponsible people in Boston to decide to destroy any portion of our society.
Bush says he welcomes Vermont's idea of civil unions. There have always been states that recognized common law marriages and other states that didn't. In Nevada prostitution is legal, for goodness sakes.
What has changed is the courts. It began slowly in the 40's, with the creation of the separation of church and state, is now gaining speed exponentially. The courts are creating rights and legislating from the bench at an alarming rate. It is now perfectly believable to me that my state will be forced to grant same-sex marriages by the courts.
Many liberals are now calling this a state's rights issue. I am personally skeptical that they mean to assist the people of Indiana in rejecting gay marriage. Logically, they should though. A state's rights issue, than mean spirited states will be fully supported as they individually reject gay marriage....right.
I don't find it so far fetched that the ACLU will be parading crack-ho's throughout the Midwest into court to make prostitution legal through the US. States rights are actually being attacked in this new way which will require constitutional amendments, one after the other, to prevent nationalization of everything allowed in Vegas. Itâs sort of funny until the donkey show appears in a neighborhood near you.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
02/24/2004 22:29 Comments ||
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#9
Frank - no offense... not a freudian but its hard to watch 24 and write at the same time. Many liberals are now calling this a state's rights issue.
Super Hose... funny that I had an arguement with my leftist boss today about this issue and what she threw in my face was "This is a state issue!" We use to be able to talk civially about issues but lately she practically screams in my face like how stupid are you. The liberals are angry and it is showing. In one way that scares me cause they might get really motivated in November. On the other hand they have been forcing down conservative throats now for so long they really can't stand it when we start standing up to them.
Posted by: AF Lady ||
02/24/2004 22:40 Comments ||
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#10
I'm with remote man and Dave D. I'm already tired of this. While I respect the civil rights aspect of their plight, we have bigger issues on our plate right now. The gays delivered an ultimatum and they lost.
The biggest irony here is that they forced Kerry's hand too, since the majority of Americans don't support this...doesn't matter if they are wrong, it's just the way it is.
And the even bigger irony is that if they don't back Bush, it gives the fundamental Islamists - who will grant no rights or respect to homosexuals - a real boost in their efforts to establish a caliphate.
Haste makes waste, as they say.
Posted by: B ||
02/24/2004 22:47 Comments ||
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#11
This decline is not just about marriage. My wife recently had our baby and the nurse insisted that we get the Hipititus B vaccine. Now Hip. B is transmitted much like aids -- unsafe sex or sharing needles and a small chance of it passing from mother to child during birth (my wife tested negative for hib B of course). So the default assumption this person was making was that we shared needles and engage in unsafe sexual practices. We (and I think the vast majority of people) don't do either. I read an article where someone was told to either give the vaccine to their baby or find another doctor (she went elsewhere).
My wife just received a questionaire from the state health department concerning her pregnacy. Several times they ask 'were you beaten by your husband before your pregnacy? were you beaten during it? After? Were you verbally or mentally abused? Allowed to eat right?' Of course the answer to all these (except the eating right) is no but it disturbs me that they assume that families are 'disfunctional' by default.
Now we have Governors and Mayors (and their Judges) who think they can 'pick and choose' which laws to enforce. "Oh we want affirmitive action so we will enforce those (so we can have a dependant class of voters), but not immigration laws so we won't enforce those -- we will just allow all these illegal immigrants do what they want -- we will even provide them medical care for free!". We need a few of these people to be arrested and thrown in jail.
#12
Interesting thing about all of this -- the President has nothing to do with a constitutional amendment, other than voting in his/her registered precinct.
Constitutional amendments require 2/3 approval by both houses of Congress and 3/4 of states approval. There is no "presidental signature" on an amendment to the Constitution.
All Bush can do, is vote in Crawford, TX when this gets on the Texas voting ballot.
Posted by: Just Me ||
02/24/2004 23:18 Comments ||
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#13
My wife recently had our baby and the nurse insisted that we get the Hipititus B vaccine
My son and his wife just had a baby and the same thing happened. They inquired further and were told that this was going to be a required vaccine for kids going to school.
Posted by: AF Lady ||
02/24/2004 23:24 Comments ||
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#14
What alot of very well thought out opinion. What it shows is how important this is. I've gone on record as saying marriage is about "who's the father" and I stand by that. Love is cool, respect, stable relationship whatever. But a marriage is the tree. The tree has roots. Who's you daddy.
If anybody has a better reason for marrige please spit it out. Because love, respect, whatever doesn't require a marriage. But a man fathering a child, whether his sperm or not, from a woman he is married, makes a marriage. Even freaks have roots.
Two alleged Al Qaeda operatives accused of working closely with Usama bin Laden have been charged with conspiracy to commit war crimes, U.S. officials announced Tuesday. Ibrahim Ahmed Mahmoud al-Qosi, of Sudan, was a paymaster for Al Qaeda, and Ali Hamza Ahmed Sulayman al-Bahlul, of Yemen, was a propagandist for bin Laden, military indictments unsealed at the Pentagon charge. The two men are among more than 600 foreign detainees held at the U.S. Navyâs Guantanamo Bay prison camp in Cuba. According to the indictments, both trained in terrorist camps and served as bodyguards for bin Laden. Their U.S. military tribunals, the first to be convened since World War II, are expected to take place at Guantanamo Bay, though the indictments do not indicate when. The brief documents also provide no documentation for the governmentâs accusations... Neither al Qosi or al Bahlul will be subject to the death penalty, but can expect long sentences if convicted, Pentagon sources said. Ah well...
[The indictment] alleges that bin Laden personally assigned al Bahlul to work at al-Jazeera in the Al Qaeda "media office," where he created videotapes used to motivate Al Qaeda members and recruit new terror soldiers. First one. Hopefully I didnât get aced as I navigated the controls. :)
#1
Neither al Qosi or al Bahlul will be subject to the death penalty, but can expect long sentences if convicted, Pentagon sources said.
This is pure, unadulterated, B.S.
Assuming that these worms are going to be imprisoned in a U.S. facility, is the taxpayer going to have to foot the bill to feed and clothe these scumbags? Why should the taxpayer have to pay for this when -- and I'd be surprised if this doesn't turn out to be true -- the detainees' home countries aren't going to do so?
Hat tip to AllahPundit. Huge EFL
by Sydney H. Schanberg
Senator John Kerry, a decorated battle veteran, was courageous as a navy lieutenant in the Vietnam War. But he was not so courageous more than two decades later, when he covered up voluminous evidence that a significant number of live American prisonersâperhaps hundredsâwere never acknowledged or returned after the war-ending treaty was signed in January 1973. Major snip...
I was drawn to the P.O.W. issue because of my reporting years for The New York Times during the Vietnam War, where I came to believe that our soldiers were being misled and disserved by our government. After the war, military people who knew me and others who knew my work brought me information about live sightings of P.O.W.âs still in captivity and other evidence about their existence. When the Kerry committee was announced (I was by then a columnist at Newsday), I thought the senatorâhaving himself become disillusioned about the Vietnam War, and eventually an advocate against itâmight really be committed to digging out the truth. This was wishful thinking. This is a must read. And from the Village Idiot Voice no less!
#1
Come on! What else would you expect from that Right Wing Extremist Rag!
Posted by: Daniel King ||
02/24/2004 16:50 Comments ||
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I have no idea if this is true, of course, and I've generally been skeptical of such coverup claims in general. But the Village Voice can hardly be dismissed as a Karl Rove outlet (nor can Schanberg be called a Bush booster), and this certainly puts a different cast on the whole "I served in Vietnam" business. Kerry may be wishing he hadn't made quite such a big deal of that now.
Posted by: Mike ||
02/24/2004 18:31 Comments ||
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#3
Allow me to blunt. While I am not fan of Senator Kerry, if Sydney Schanberg told me that the sun rose in the east and set in the west, I would be wary of that statement. Mr. Shanberg is the type of guy who thinks that everyone he doesn't like (politically or personally) is involved in Vast Conspiracy's that only Sydney! Schanberg! can save us from.
On the other hand, even a busted clock is right twice a day.
Posted by: Patrick Phillips ||
02/24/2004 21:24 Comments ||
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#4
"Come on! What else would you expect from that Right Wing Extremist Rag!"
Well the article was well written. It may surpass the ability of the left to comprehend though since their fixation appears to be one to elect at all cost this election. In any case with the cow toeing daily press and it's reluctance to even say anything detrimental about his Lordship Kerry, the POW MIA issue will remain a non-issue. Those who served in NAM haven't forgot or their families. Speaking for this NAM Vet I fully understand what MR Kerry is all about. It is sad but the NAM vets have been used and forgotten again. Open letter to you Mr. Kerry. You disgraced your uniform and your country and your flag when you returned. Your actions since have been despicable and I for one will never vote for a traitor to his country and to those men he left behind.
A sixth-grader started serving a three-day suspension Tuesday because he refused a lesser punishment for bringing the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue to school, the schools superintendent said. Justin Reyes had the magazine in the gymnasium at Belpre Middle School before classes Feb. 18, and Principal Kathy Garrison cited him for violating schoolâs policy on nonverbal harassment hey, what did you just not say?
and possession of lewd or suggestive material, Superintendent Tim Swarr said. Garrison ordered the 12-year-old boy to spend two days at an alternative school where students from several area districts are sent when they get into trouble. But Swarr said Justin and his mother, Nicole Reyes, refused to accept the alternative school punishment, so the penalty was increased to three days of out-of-school suspension. "Last time I checked, we were in charge of running down the schools," Swarr said. Nicole Reyes said the alternative school was too harsh a punishment. "Itâs not like it was Hustler, Playboy or Penthouse," she said. "The punishment doesnât fit the crime." If it doesnât fit, you must acquit!
Swarr said he had never seen SIâs swimsuit edition before. nope, never seen it, I swear
"I was shocked," shocked I tell ya!
he said. "It doesnât belong in pubic public schools." It belongs in my bathroom (wink, wink) Iâm glad to see our ed-u-ma-ca-shun officials doing some educatinâ for once. None of that readinâ and writinâ stuff here!
#5
If the kid had paraded about school wearing one of the featured suits, the school would have protected his free speech right even though he wasn't saying anything.
SI should fund his lawsuit, provide him with a lifetime subscription and award him an extra heavy duty jar of vaseline.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
02/24/2004 21:20 Comments ||
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#6
Sounds like a job for-------------------
The ACLU!
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/24/2004 21:44 Comments ||
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#7
AP. The ACLU wouldn't touch it -- the boy and the SI models are of different gender. Now if he was carrying around a Gays Life magazine or drilling 'glory holes' in the bathroom stalls.....
EFL A bronze statue of a soldier mourning a fallen comrade traveled from Tikrit, Iraq, to Fort Hood, Texas, this week to become the focal point of a memorial to the soldiers of Task Force Ironhorse who have died during Operation Iraqi Freedom. A statue commissioned by Task Force Ironhorse will form a focal point for a new memorial to task force soldiers killed in Iraq. The statue arrived at Fort Hoodâs Robert Gray Army Airfield Feb. 16, along with the first 60 soldiers in the task force to redeploy from Iraq, said Capt. Charles Armstrong, secretary of the general staff for the rear detachment.
Task Force Ironhorse soldiers donated the $18,000 to cover the cost of the statue, created by an Iraqi sculptor from the melted-down remnants of statues he had been forced to sculpt for former dictator Saddam Hussein, said Maj. Josslyn Aberle, public affairs officer for the 4th Infantry Division at its Iraq headquarters in Tikrit. The 4th Infantry Division at Fort Hood is raising private contributions to cover the $60,000 cost of the larger memorial project, Aberle said. Aberle said 84 Ironhorse soldiers have been killed in Iraq.
To donate funds for the memorial, write: Ironhorse Chapter of the National 4th Infantry Division Association, PO Box 5009, Fort Hood, TX 76544.
From an AP story on the death of Zarqawiâs bombmaker ...
U.S. troops killed a key lieutenant to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a militant with suspected ties to al-Qaeda, the military said Tuesday. Abu Mohammed Hamza, believed to have been a bombmaker for al-Zarqawi, was killed Thursday in Habaniyah after U.S. troops came under fire while distributing leaflets, Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt said.
Kimmitt, the coalition deputy operations chief, said several people were arrested. He said troops searching the house where Hamza was killed found "a large quantity" of bomb-making materials and explosives, pro-Saddam Hussein literature and pictures of al-Zarqawi. Troops found a Jordanian passport on Hamza but were still trying to confirm his nationality, Kimmitt said. The question then becomes, what exactly was a mid-level al-Qaeda leader doing with Baathist reading material given the meme that al-Qaeda would never cooperate with a secular infidel?
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/24/2004 3:19:13 PM ||
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#1
What if a member of Al-Qaida was caught with AMERICAN literature or pro-Geroge Bush literature?? IT WOULD MEAN ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. And this doesn't mean anything, either. Do CONservatives always have to hype and distort stories, turning them into propaganda??
#2
It's not propaganda.
Even by your own silly hypothetical, the guy's Al Queda ties would say it all, regardless of the literature he was carrying.
This is only one more piece of evidence, out of many already found, that Saddam and his Baathists were working with Al Queda to kill Americans and other "infidels."
I am very disappointed in the recently disputed parliamentary elections in Iran. The disqualification of some 2,400 candidates by the unelected Guardian Council deprived many Iranians of the opportunity to freely choose their representatives. I join many in Iran and around the world in condemning harshest language available in diplomat-speak
the Iranian regimeâs efforts to stifle freedom of speech -- including the closing of two leading reformist newspapers -- in the run-up to the election. Such measures undermine the rule of law and are clear attempts to deny the Iranian peopleâs desire to freely choose their leaders. Itâs the people v. the Mullahs. No question whose corner GWB is in. This is as close to a call for the people to rise up as Iâve heard, esp. from the highest levels. Does GWB know of something brewing over there beyond what we hear in the press?
The United States supports the Iranian peopleâs aspirations to live in freedom, enjoy their God-given rights, and determine their own destiny. ###
Nice touch: Allahâs representatives are denying the people their Allah-given rights
Only hard for the IAEA:
A report by the U.N. nuclear watchdog says uranium contamination finds make it difficult to determine if Iran disclosed the full extent of its nuclear program last year, a diplomat told Reuters Tuesday. The report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said a combination of highly-enriched and low-enriched uranium had been found at two sites in Iran and that this had not yet been fully explained. "Until this matter is satisfactorily resolved, it will be very difficult for the agency to confirm that there has not been any undeclared nuclear material or activities," the diplomat, who follows the IAEA closely, quoted the report as saying. IAEA is desperately trying to find a way out, for Iran that is.
Iran has explained previous finds of highly-enriched uranium by saying imported centrifuge parts were contaminated. But the report said this did not explain why there had been finds of both highly- and low-enriched uranium, the diplomat said. Under international pressure, Iran last October gave the IAEA what Tehran called a full declaration of all its nuclear activities. The United States says Tehranâs nuclear program is a front for building nuclear weapons. Iran says its nuclear program is aimed solely at the production of electricity. Got to plan ahead for when that oil runs out in 100 years.
The diplomat said he had not seen any report of new contamination finds in this report. "If it was all imported from one place, why are there different types of contamination at Kalaye and Natanz?" said the diplomat. Interesting, isnât it?
The report also said Iranâs nuclear disclosure last October did not include designs for advanced P2 centrifuges because of time pressures. The agency said this was "difficult to comprehend," the diplomat said. Well, they were rushed, you see. If we had given them a few more years, they would have had time to produce a full and complete report.
The report also said Iran had produced polonium, a substance that could be used to initiate a chain reaction for a nuclear explosion. "The issue of the purpose of Iranâs activities related to the production and intended use of Po-210 (polonium) remains a concern in the absence of information to support Iranâs statements in this regard."
Posted by: Steve ||
02/24/2004 2:54:34 PM ||
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The discovery of the fact that Iran had produced polonium is very significant. Polonium, along with another element (beryllium, I believe) serves as the neutron "sparkplug" that provides the initial neutrons to get the critical mass of plutonium going in a fission bomb during the initial implosion.
Back to intelligence. The IAEA deputy dawgs will not find the smoking gun (smoking hole?) in time. The evidence all points to nuclear weapons manufacture by Iran. Are they going to wait until it is too late?
Folks, we are approaching the critical time period for action. Iran is stalling. Thank goodness that Israel is getting their F-16I's. And I am sure we have a plan. Ready or not, it is getting near showtime.
Kandidate Kerry, any profound thoughts on the subject? What will you do vis a vis the Black Turbans, negotiate? Appease? I feel that the nightmare is not going to be a dream this time.
One final thought, what is the status of the Bushehr reactor? Is the project stalled? That is where the plutonium will come from. I'm sure that the U235 division is doing fine.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/24/2004 15:09 Comments ||
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#2
Why doesn't the IAEA use the Magic 8 Ball to answer some of these questions? I'd trust that before I'd trust them.
#3
Al Baradei(he is Egyptian, cant realy blame him corruption is as much a national sport as civil war is for the Afghanis) is a severely corrupt P.O.S.
Ukrainian border guards stopped a man trying to take nearly a pound of uranium into Hungary on Tuesday, an official said. Border guards arrested the driver of a passenger van at the Tisa checkpoint after finding a container containing the potential nuclear bomb fuel, said border guardsâ spokesman Yevheniy Bargman. It was unclear whether the uranium was in natural ore form or had been enriched for potential use in reactors or weapons. So you donât really know what he had, do you?
Bargman said the man told officials he was paid an unspecified sum of money by men at a nearby gas station to take the material to Hungary for use "by a dentistâs office." The Mother of All X-Ray machines?
Officials will send the material to Kiev, the capital, for analysis. Good idea.
It was unclear where the uranium originated.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/24/2004 2:24:16 PM ||
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"Hey, is that a uranium rod or are you just happy to see me?"
First lady wannabe Teresa Heinz Kerry sometimes describes herself as an "African American," even though she grew up amidst segregated privilege in colonial Mozambique. Throughout the 1990s, Heinz Kerry referred to herself as "African American," the Baltimore Sun revealed on Tuesday. And when her use of the term set off a firestorm of controversy in 1993, she defended the claim. "African-hyphen-American belongs to blacks," Heinz Kerryâs spokesman told reporters, insisting that it was proper for his boss to call herself African American as long as no hyphen was used or intended. What a semantical embarrasment.
The one-time Republicanâs depiction of herself as African rankles some who knew Heinz Kerry in the days when her father ran a medical clinic in Mozambique. Some say the wealthy "African American" has snubbed blacks in her homeland, because she has done next to nothing with her vast Heinz Foods fortune to improve living conditions there. "We are proud she is a daughter of the land," Neo Simbine, 75, a retired black nurse who worked with Heinz Kerryâs father, told the Sun. "But you have to live what you say. If she really loves Mozambique and has lots of money, why doesnât she build us a hospital?"
"Nah. You already got a hospital!"
Heinz Kerryâs fortune is equal to nearly a quarter of Mozambiqueâs annual Gross Domestic Product.
But aside from a contribution to her homelandâs Save the Children Fund, the woman who repeatedly invokes her Mozambican roots has limited her generosity.
#1
Good to see that the Kerrys are living up to their common people theme. At what point will panicked Democrats start exhibiting serious buyer's remorse?
Posted by: Right on ||
02/24/2004 14:14 Comments ||
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Well, if Clinton was the first "black" president, I guess she was just staking her claim to be the first African (non-hyphenated) American First Lady.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/24/2004 14:27 Comments ||
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#3
'Tis a bit early to be playing the race card, isn't it?
#5
Methinks the 'hyphen', 'no hyphen' argument is so much BS. Google "African American" and you'll get almost 5 million responses. Some have hyphens and some do not but all seem to speak of black Americans of African heritage.
But what do you call a white or Arab native of the African continent who immigrates to America?
Students in Omaha were disciplined last month for nominating a white student from South Africa as their school's "Distinguished African American Student Award". (Note the lack of hyphen.)
My suggestion to Teresa: "if you're not satisfied with being just a plain ole American then call yourself a Mozambican and let it go at that".
#6
One of our former fellows (now a wonderful colleague and friend) joked that he too was an "African American", since he was born in South Africa. Of course, he was white and Jewish, so he wasn't exactly what people had in mind when they use the phrase.
By the way, Jewish white South Africans are abandoning the country in droves, and have been doing so in the last decade. They got caught in the middle during the civil war and now find it rather uncomfortable there. Many go to Britain but a fair number come to the U.S.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/24/2004 15:20 Comments ||
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Posted by: Steve White ||
02/24/2004 15:23 Comments ||
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Sista be doin' it fo' herself!
So even if you were part of the European colonial power structure, you can be proud of your African heritage? Might want to ask the Angolans if they consider the Portugese that ran the place for awhile as "Africans". I seem to remember a bit of trouble between the two groups a few years back.
The Treasury Department on Tuesday added a Yemeni national described as a "loyalist" to Osama bin Laden to the governmentâs list of people suspected of supporting terrorist activities. Another Yemeni, must be the water.
The department said that Sheikh Abd-al-Majid al-Zindani, who also goes by a number of aliases, "has a long history of working with bin Laden, notably serving as one of his spiritual leaders." The department said he has actively recruited for al-Qaidaâs terrorist training camps and played a role in the purchase of weapons for al-Qaida and other terrorists. Sounds like a good target to me.
The designation means any financial assets belonging to al-Zindani found in this country must be frozen. It also means he is prohibited from conducting any financial transactions in the United States and Americans are barred from doing business with him. The United States also planned to ask the United Nations to add al-Zindani to its blocking list, which is honored by member countries. Well, more or less.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/24/2004 2:02:40 PM ||
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Another story you wonât see on your evening news.
The U.S. Army is helping Iraqis set up their nationâs first farm co-operative on âSaddamâs farmâ near Balad. Soldiers from the 308th Civil Affairs Brigade, based at LSA Anaconda, met Iraqi scientists and leaders from the Balad area, north of Baghdad, at the farm last week. The Iraqi Ministry of Agriculture used to operate the farm but locals say its produce benefited only Saddam Hussein and his family. Maj. Randy Fritz, public health chief at the 308thâs humanitarian assistance co-ordination center, said the goal is to create a collectively owned and managed farm so local farmers can get better prices for their produce. âWe all agreed we needed to do something to boost agriculture in country,â he said. âCo-ops were illegal under Iraqi law so this will be Iraqâs first farm co-op.â
The 308th started the project with a meeting in Balad, so the Iraqis could choose a board of directors to run the co-op. The Iraqis selected a soil scientist, a mechanical engineer, a food vendor, a veterinarian and a school headmaster to serve on the board. Fritz said the 400-acre âSaddamâs farmâ has been selected as the base for the co-op. âWe are looking at using it for demonstration [of farming techniques] and as a fish hatchery, but the big thing will be to use it as a consolidation facility for the small farmers who sell their fruit and vegetables from pickup trucks,â he said. âThey donât get good prices because they are competing with each other. We want to bring the produce to one place where it can be weighed, washed and graded to [U.S. Department of Agriculture] standards, then packed in boxes and, eventually, exported.â U.S. citizens have donated $20,000 worth of seeds, which are being distributed throughout the district, he added.
While southern Iraq is a land of sand and camels, the area north of Baghdad is a fertile, green place where the first farmers began working the fields thousands of years ago. Today more than 65 percent of Iraqis still live off the land, on small farms connected by a network of dirt tracks and irrigated by canals and aqueducts that run for hundreds of miles. The farm where the co-op will be based is reached along a winding driveway lined with tall gum trees. There are eight fishponds and 110 beehives there. There used to be 250 hives, but many were lost last year when people stripped the land of food to survive during shortages caused by the war. The farm still has Iraqi Ministry of Agriculture signs on several buildings, such as a large concrete block warehouse that will be used for grading produce. Dr. Radhi Al Safah, an agricultural engineer who sits on the co-op board, said the area around Balad is prime farmland. âThis area is very old, and it is the greenest part of Iraq. It is famous for grapes, cucumbers, tomatoes, watermelons, oranges and sunflowers,â he said. Al Safah said Saddamâs farms were bad places. âThey only benefited him and his family. No one could even go close to this farm,â he said. Al Safah said the co-op has applied for $2 million in U.S. government aid to build the facility, which could include the areaâs first supermarket, a gas station and a slaughterhouse for processing meat in another part of Balad. Excellent use of the funds.
The co-op will serve an area running from Taji in the south to Samarra in the north, which is home to 1 million people and 150,000 farm families. Another co-op board member, Sheik Shahab Ahmed, the headmaster of a local school, hopes farmers will eventually export their crops. However, it will take a big effort to get the land back to full production, he said. âThere is no fertilizer because everything is destroyed. We need to rebuild the infrastructure,â he said. âBefore 2000 we exported fertilizer. Now most has been stolen and the production for this year will be down because there is no fertilizer.â Humm, now what would you steal fertilizer for....oh, right.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/24/2004 1:39:18 PM ||
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Note this is a marketing cooperative, like Sunkist, or an israeli "moshav shitufi"(sp?) not a collectively owned farm, like a kibbutz or Soviet Kolkhoz.
Life in the balmy tropics has made polar bears Inuka and Sheba go green with envy? algae. The usually white coats of Sheba and her 13-year-old son Inuka, Singapore Zooâs two polar bears, turned green a few weeks ago from algae growing in their hollow hair shafts, said Vincent Tan, a spokesman for the zoo. "The harmless algae is the result of Singaporeâs warm and humid tropical conditions," Tan said. Polar bears have clear hair shafts which appear white because they reflect light. ZsaZsaâs Shebaâs coat was successfully bleached with hydrogen peroxide 2 1/2 weeks ago and Inuka will be given a similar treatment in 3 weeks time, Tan said. The zoo wanted to observe Shebaâs reaction to the treatment before bleaching Inuka, he said. For now, Inuka remains mottled with bright grass-colored splotches behind his ears, on his back and legs. Maybe the Earth Mother Gaea is helping her ursine children to adapt to local conditions.
Three polar bears at the San Diego Zoo developed similarly green coats in 1979 but were cured with a salt solution, according to the Web site of Polar Bears International, a nonprofit conservation group based in North America. I guess next weâll find out that Yogi and Smokey the bears wore hats to hide pattern baldness. Neither must have had enough head fur for a quality bear combover. The Hearcair Club for Mammals is experimenting with plugs.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
02/24/2004 1:26:02 PM ||
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#5
they probly dont mind the green color but im sure they dont like morons pouring peroxide on them as they have sensitive noses! make them look pretty at the anmals expense.
#8
Sheba and Inuka feel confined in their enclosure- dyeing their fur is simply a way to express their individuality. Don't worry, Momma Bear, its just a phase.
Posted by: Miss Gunn ||
02/24/2004 15:22 Comments ||
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#9
I thought Yogi was a brown bear...? Well maybe since they moved to Baltimore who knows.
#11
I think the Peta people are right in this case. Zoo cause too many unnatural chances for different animals to give other animals the wrong idea. A chameleon stands next to a polar bear in the lunch line, they start talking shop on predatory methods and we get a green polar bear. Looks like Mother Nature has taken up break dancing. Hopefully the animals are not exposed to CNN. With the Michael Jackson trial going on, things may get weird.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
02/24/2004 21:26 Comments ||
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Itâs become an all-too-familiar pratfall here at Camp New York. Tired soldier loaded with gear plops down on his cot after a long day of training. Crash! He lands on the floor with an embarrassed thud, while his buddies laugh themselves stupid. Some things never change, the Roman Legions would have done the same.
âTheyâre junk, thatâs all they are,â griped Pfc. Jonathan Bell, 20, of the 1st Battalion, 77th Armor Regiment, whose cot collapsed under his 205-pound bulk. âThe legs just cave.â The cot casualties are mounting. Spc. Shaun Smith, 27, of Atlanta, a supply clerk with the Georgia National Guardâs277th Maintenance Company, estimated more than 500 have been turned in for replacements in the past week. That doesnât count many more collapsed cots that soldiers still are using, propped up with boxes or their own rucksacks. Obviously, this demands a congressional investigation! I nominate Ted Kennedy to chair the committee, heâs spent more time falling on the floor than anyone else.
The collapsing cots do not respect rank. Lt. Col. David Hubner, the Task Force 1-77 commander who stands 6-foot-4, broke one. Capt. Jason Goodfriend, 6-3 and 235 pounds, has crunched two. In most places, soldiers are using standard Army-issue khaki cots. They arenât pretty, but theyâre strong. But Camp New Yorkâs come from a private contractor in Kuwait. The brightly colored blue and green cots fold up simply and come in easy-to-carry bags. They are made in China and carry the Saudi brand name Al-Sanidi. They look more suited for weekend camping than the rigors of Army life. A Saudi cot from China? Thatâs what happens when you go for the low bidder, should have gone for the Mark VII Haliburton Cot.
I prefer the Bechtel Airsprawl™, myself...
âThey arenât built for soldiers. Theyâre built for civilians,â Smith said. For soldiers, cots arenât only beds. They also serve as chair, sofa, dining table and dresser. âThis is one of the few times you cherish the good olâ Army stuff,â said Staff Sgt. Donald Ulbright, 42, of Pana, Ill. Camp New Yorkâs supply staff has issued new cots to replace broken ones. They are beginning to hand out the familiar khaki ones again. âIâm glad I have a real Army cot,â said Goodfriend, 26, of Flemington, N.J. âIt just goes to show, the Army knows how to make stuff.â Built to last, not for looks. Wouldnât surprise me if their fathers slept on the same cots being issued.
Soldiers are hoping when they head north to Iraq soon, theyâll leave behind the newfangled cots. âIâd rather sleep on the floor,â said Bell, of Franklinton, La. âThis is the worst camping trip Iâve ever been on.â If a soldier ainât bitching about something, they arenât happy.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/24/2004 1:24:37 PM ||
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From the âI Love It When a Plan Comes Togetherâ Dept. Edited for brevity.
Palestinian terror organizations in the Gaza Strip are now developing an artillery weapon that would allow them to continue attacking Israeli towns even after the implementation of Prime Minister Ariel Sharonâs unilateral disengagement plan and evacuation of the Strip, Shin Bet security services Director Avi Dichter said Tuesday. This weapon could be fired over the security fence separating the Gaza Strip from Israel. Speaking to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Dichter noted the groupsâ efforts to develop such a weapon are liable to push Israel into carrying out a military operation in the Gaza Strip resembling Operation Defensive Shield, which took place in the West Bank in April 2002, following a suicide bombing at a Netanya hotel on the first night of Passover that killed 29 people. Palestinian terror organizations have upgraded their weapons and explosives and are planning to make use of chemical agents in the future, Dichter said. A little counterbattery should take care of any piece large enough to have any sort of range, Iâd think. Would even the Paleos be stupid enough to try to deploy something that vulnerable and immobile?
Dichter also said Tuesday that there has been an absolute halt in terrorist activities in the areas in which the West Bank separation fence has been constructed. Speaking ahead of the start of the second day of the hearings on the barrier at the International Court of Justice, Dichter said that infiltrations into Israeli territory have been from areas where the fence has not yet been completed, such as Kafr Qasem and Jerusalem. Dichter said that most of the terrorist activity had originated in the Samaria area of the West Bank, but maintained that "since the barrier has been constructed, terror in the area has ceased completely." According to the Shin Bet chief, Israeli cities that had been subjected to a large number of terrorist attacks in the past, such as Kfar Sava, Netanya and Hadera, had been quiet since the fence was erected.
Posted by: Dar ||
02/24/2004 12:26:10 PM ||
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#1
Would even the Paleos be stupid enough to try to deploy something that vulnerable and immobile?
Yes, they would and are that stupid. That's why they make us laugh so much when we aren't crying.
Posted by: Mr. Davis ||
02/24/2004 12:32 Comments ||
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#2
Why do I keep visualizing the "cow catapult" from Monty Python? Maybe strap a homicide bomber top it and fling it over the wall...
#4
This would be a very bad development for the Paleos. They would move from suicide bomber to a fielded military force that could be countered easier than a goat abuser serching for virgins.
And if they do use chemical weapons I do not see how the eurors could continue the pretense of paleo as the victim.
Posted by: Dan ||
02/24/2004 13:35 Comments ||
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#5
This would be a very bad development for the Paleos. They would move from suicide bomber to a fielded military force that could be countered easier than a goat abuser serching for virgins.
And if they do use chemical weapons I do not see how the eurors could continue the pretense of paleo as the victim.
Posted by: Dan ||
02/24/2004 13:35 Comments ||
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#6
"2 Why do I keep visualizing the "cow catapult" from Monty Python? Maybe strap a homicide bomber top it and fling it over the wall...
Posted by: Capsu78 2004-2-24 12:44:18 PM"
Why do I keep thinking pig fat being launched over the wall.
#9
And if they do use chemical weapons I do not see how the eurors could continue the pretense of paleo as the victim.
Really? The Euros are actually buying into the morality of the "we slaughter children because the Israelis have powerful weapons" argument; you don't think the judenhass is strong enough in Europe to let them buy into "we used gas because the Israelis drove us to it"?
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
02/24/2004 18:47 Comments ||
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#10
The Paleo idea of artillery-type weapons over the wall, as Dar commented on, will be annhilating counterbattery fire on the part of the Israelis. Or an air strike. I feel that the previous attempts of Israel trying to do surgical counterattacks at great risk to her troops are over. The Israeli answer to an artillery attack will be a smoking crater covering the originating location plus change. If the Paleos go chemical, they better watch out. The gloves come off, and the wind could blow back into their faces, too.
The Paleos are just too pathetic to be believed.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/24/2004 19:08 Comments ||
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Hat tip: InstaPundit. Edited for brevity.
Crystal Lewis hadnât the slightest idea what "MOPIRG" was. Each semester, she says, the mysterious phrase was listed on her tuition bill at Meramac Community College in St. Louis, Missouri, and each semester the school billed her six dollars. Then she read the fine print. "If you opt not to support MOPIRG, please deduct this amount from your payment," it said. But her tuition bill gave no explanation of what exactly MOPIRG was. In researching this piece, I got similar reactions from students at colleges across the country. PennPIRG, MASSPIRG, and CALPIRG - students in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Colorado and California had been paying small fees to all of these groups, and almost none of the students knew at first what it was they were paying for. If youâre putting a kid or two through college, or putting yourself through, thereâs a good chance youâre donating to a PIRG, too. And Ralph Nader would like to thank you for your support. Read the rest--especially if youâve got kids in college.
Posted by: Dar ||
02/24/2004 11:34:48 AM ||
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#1
Wow, what a hypocrite! Bad Nader - no humus for you!
#5
Some years (maybe twenty) back Forbes did a journalistic investigation into Nader's various organizations and ended up in a major legal battle in the process. The impression I got from the article was that it had been going on long before the investigation started.
#7
This is no different then most teacher's union who, at least in Washington State require teachers to contribute to the Democratic Party even if they dont want to.
You will contribute or you will not teach in this state.
#8
Nader came to my school back around '81 or so and gave his pitch that we needed to set up (and fund) a local student run branch organization like this. My impression at the time was that it was a way for his national org and possibly him personally to profit from the naivety of students who had youthful desires to do something good for the world. Sad to see that his little ego kingdom goes on.
Andy Rooney set the phone and e-mail lines at CBS buzzing over his commentary â in which he said God was speaking through him â calling Mel Gibson and the Rev. Pat Robertson "wackos." Translation: If you donât agree with the snarks at CBS you are insane (heh)
CBS said Monday it received its heaviest audience response to a "60 Minutes" report since Rooneyâs commentaries on the Iraq war last spring. Iâll bet it did
The network wouldnât specify how many calls or e-mails were received. "60 Minutes" spokesman Kevin Tedesco said it was "several times the normal feedback." Quick! Turn off the phone bank!
On Sundayâs broadcast, Rooney commented on Robertsonâs January statement that he believes God has told him that President Bush would be re-elected in a "blowout" in November. Rooney said God had spoken to him, saying, "I wish youâd tell your viewers that both Pat Robertson and Mel Gibson strike me as wackos. Theyâre crazy as bedbugs, another earthly expression. I created bedbugs. I tell you, theyâre no crazier than people." Well Andy I created senile dementia myself....
Rooney showed clips of Gibson talking to ABCâs Diane Sawyer about Gibsonâs film "The Passion of the Christ." Robertson didnât seem too upset about the commentary on Monday. "Mel Gibson has, without a doubt, created the finest motion picture on the life of Christ of all time," he said. "I am very happy to be linked by Andy Rooney to a talented genius of the order of Mel Gibson." That was a relatively witty and restrained response. Good -- no need to fight senile with senile.
I have little patience with Robertson, myself â a clichÚ oily preacher with a practiced smile and a liking for other people's wallets. Gibson is, in my uninformed opinion, very talented, a lot moreso than is Andy Rooney, who only makes it to being occasionally amusing.
Posted by: Secret Master ||
02/24/2004 11:19:15 AM ||
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so Andy is senile. I think that's too bad.
Posted by: B ||
02/24/2004 11:21 Comments ||
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#2
Rooney has outlived his intelligence. He's becoming an embarassment to this nation, but "just fine" for CBS. I doubt Andy Rooney would know God if He tapped him on the shoulder.
I haven't seen "Passions", and I don't plan to see it. I don't listen to Pat Robertson, but I don't consider him anywhere near as senile as Rooney. Now if Rooney had included Buchanan, I might have had to give him a point...
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/24/2004 11:25 Comments ||
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#3
So, the guy who's channeling God is calling who a wacko?
#4
I think all those critics need to see the movie - it looks like they're jumping to conclusions: Michael Wilmington in the Chicago Tribune wrote: It's a film furiously controversial already because of charges of anti-Semitism fed by early reports, charges that are â based upon viewing the movie â somewhat exaggerated and questionable. ...director-writer Gibson, clearly doesn't intend to arouse or play to any anti-Jewish bigotry here â though how his film is used by others may be beyond his calculation.
#5
Apropos of channeling God, here is one of my favorite Lileks Screeds, fisking a San Fran Chronicle columnist who channels Jesus.
Posted by: Carl in N.H ||
02/24/2004 11:59 Comments ||
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#6
IMHO, the entire cast of "60 Minutes" is proof that "journalists" should be shot if they are in a given position for more than five years. I mean, Christ, what's the average age on that show -- 75? 80?
And does anyone remember when one of the "big three" got a new lead anchor? I remember Jennings and Rather being the leads in the 80's; didn't Brokaw move up sometime in the mid-90s?
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
02/24/2004 12:47 Comments ||
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#7
Watch what you wish for. Brian Williams will replace Brokaw and he's dumb as a stump and deep as a puddle.
This will be the most talked about movie in the last 20 years - and it's an event that shaped 2,000 years of human history. I want to see it for myself.
Posted by: B ||
02/24/2004 13:28 Comments ||
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#9
CBS markets Andy Rooney as a lovable curmudgeon, but he's actually got a rather vicious anti-Catholic (or at least anti-Christian) streak. I remember a syndicated column by him a few years back that viciously cheap-shotted the Pope.
Posted by: Mike ||
02/24/2004 13:39 Comments ||
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#10
My favorite group of protestors are the ones saying "The Passion" is too violent.
Hello... You folks know, they nail the guy to a cross at the end, don't you? After whipping him and making him carry the cross all the way out of the city, right?
#12
I seem to remember that the book version had a happy ending to the whole thing.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
02/24/2004 15:21 Comments ||
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#13
It's folks like Andy Rooney who make me kneel in prayer, thinking God that our country had the founders it had. The First Amendment is a modern miracle. Mel can make his movie, and Andy can look stupid popping off about it -- it has to be a miracle!
I haven't seen Mel's movie, so (unlike so many in the media!) I don't yet have an opinion. I'll check it out and make up my mind.
Mojo and tu: best laugh I've had all week.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/24/2004 15:30 Comments ||
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#14
Persecution comes with the territory, and it has since the beginning. Feel blessed, Brother Mel.
#15
You know what I hate about Andy Rooney? It's the same damn thing day in day out, get the mail feed the dog sort of video columns. When I was a lad we typed for free and didn't whine if Mr. Sorenson forgot to pay us for shoveling off his walk. Times were different then, we didn't feel the need to beat the bejesus out of republicans. And when I say that I mean with a little r. You know what I hate? Getting suspended, yeah it's happened to a lot of us... Geee... you'd think they could take a joke.
Did you know I'm a vet? Sorta?
#16
Actually, I liked Andy Rooney's book "My War" about his time in WWII as a correspondent. It was a good read. You don't have to agree with everything he says.
Sitting poolside and fingering assault rifles, rebel leaders bent on ousting Haitiâs president said Monday his big mistake was sending them home years earlier with their guns. All three have a vendetta against Jean-Bertrand Aristide. "We donât want any more bloodshed. We just want Aristide to leave," Guy Philippe told The Associated Press in an interview. "Of course, if he doesnât, then weâll string him up by his puppyâs guts with a baby duck jammed in his mouth!"
He used to be the police chief in Cap-Haitien, Haitiâs second-largest city of 500,000 that rebels seized with little resistance on Sunday, the biggest prize in their 18-day revolt. "I think Cap-Haitien was fairly easy to take," Philippe said. "No one wants to fight for Aristide anymore. We want the people to take advantage of their freedom." The only ones fighting for Aristide are those who profited from his rule.
Philippe has relied on guerrilla tactics, following a strategy crafted by ancestors who launched Haitiâs revolution to halt slavery from this city two centuries ago. The rebels, whose size has tripled with new recruits added in each town they seize, have systematically driven enemies out, won over the population and moved onto the next target. Wash, rinse, repeat.
They effectively control the north now and the central Artibonite District where more than 1 million people live. The triumvirate of leaders that has emerged to command a 300-strong rebel force has a vendetta against President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who in 1995 disbanded the army that had ousted him.
"He made a big mistake sending us home with our guns" said Remissainthe Ravix. "Thereâs no such thing as the former Haitian army now. We have the weapons and the expertise to take the country. Nothing can stop us." Aristide thought he might need their guns at some point, took a risk that came back to bite him.
The commanders are Philippe, an Ecuadorian-trained army officer who listens to Motown music, plays ping-pong and is a self-proclaimed ladiesâ man; Louis-Jodel Chamblain, a leader of a former army death squad accused of killing thousands who has a penchant for gold-rimmed aviator glasses; and Ravix, a muscle-bound ex-army corporal trained in guerrilla tactics. Sitting poolside and fingering assault rifles, eyeing each other, wondering who to trust and who to kill first when the time is right. Itâs "Hatian Survivor", next season on Fox!
Their next target is Port-au-Prince, the real prize for the commandoes who plan on arresting Aristide and say Haitian history has taught them how to do it. It was in the forests outside Cap-Haitien that a former slave named Boukman in 1791 began and uprising that spread throughout the country until the French were driven away 12 years later, their plantations left in smoking ruin. Another fine example of French military history.
On Monday, smoke billowed from the colonial mansion of Mayor Wilmar Innocent, police stations, the courthouse and other government buildings torched by rebels and residents. Soon to be rebuilt by Halliburton Construction, Inc. Well, some body will say it.
"We have the same blood running through our veins as Boukman, who was fighting for his freedom and fighting for his countryâs freedom," said the slight and fresh-faced Philippe, 35, reclining on lounge chair at the poolside. Using the hillside Mont Joli Hotel as their temporary command center, the rank-and-file rebels are told to stay sharp and steer clear of alcohol. The commanders, however, take breaks to sip Prestige, Haitiâs national beer, and coordinate their assaults. That "not drinking" stuff being for the little people.
Some rebels are using the submachine guns, assault rifles and pistols they had in the army. Others have new weapons, some confiscated from police stations, others donated by secret backers. "We cannot be outgunned," says Chamblain, switching from Creole to Spanish he learned in neighboring Dominican Republic. Some rebels are Haitian-Dominicans. Philippe fled there in 2000 when he was accused of coup-plotting. Chamblain has lived there for eight years. Haiti had convicted him in absentia for his role in a 1994 massacre and the 1993 assassination of Aristide financier Antoine Izmery and sentenced him to life imprisonment. "Weâre back!"
The rebels have asked for volunteers to keep government services running until they oust Aristide. After that, they want to hold presidential and legislative elections, and say they will not fall back into Haitiâs historic pattern of military dictatorships. "Weâre not plotting a coup," Chamblain says. "Weâre plotting to liberate the people." "ken u han be mi lips? âanks."
Many in this city of 500,000 have cheered in support of the rebellion â a sharp contrast to three years ago when the city was an Aristide stronghold. And if Aristide took the city back, theyâd cheer him as well. Whoever has the guns, rules.
Some, however, say the rebels are no better than Aristide or any other leader that Haitians have suffered through 32 coups dâetat (during) the 29-year Duvalier family dictatorship. "Itâs all the same," said Solomon Ronel, 25. "Itâs all terrible." Yup
Posted by: Steve ||
02/24/2004 10:56:49 AM ||
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#1
sooo..tell me the benefits of gun control again?
Posted by: B ||
02/24/2004 11:14 Comments ||
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#2
This has little to do with gun control and more with making sure always to take good care of the guys with the guns.
#3
Hiryu, had the local citizens been armed, then you are right, they would have taken care of the guys with guns - but not in the way that you mean it.
A well armed citizenry can stop roving bands of thugs when the government can't or won't do it.
Posted by: B ||
02/24/2004 13:36 Comments ||
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#4
beep beep--ungowa--black power!!
Posted by: SON OF TOLUI ||
02/25/2004 3:29 Comments ||
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EFL
CNN
With his poll numbers slipping and Democratic candidates hammering him, President Bush struck back Monday night, characterizing his potential opponents as negative, inconsistent and "uncertain in the face of danger" when it comes to world affairs. Bush cast the upcoming November election as a choice between the "same old Washington mind-set" and a brighter future in a speech to the Republican Governors Association. "So far, all we hear is a lot of old bitterness and partisan anger," Bush said. "Anger is not an agenda for the future of America. We are taking on big issues with strength and resolve and determination -- and we stand ready to lead this nation another four years." (Applause!)
Bush, who has been the focus of sustained Democratic criticism for months, described Democrats as favoring higher taxes and more bureaucracy -- common GOP themes.
Which doesn't make the description inaccurate in the least...
"Itâs that same old Washington mind-set -- theyâll give the orders and youâll pay the bills," Bush said. (I love that line!)
Bush called his Democratic challengers "an interesting group with diverse opinions -- for tax cuts and against them; for NAFTA and against NAFTA; for the Patriot Act and against the Patriot Act; in favor of liberating Iraq and opposed to it. And thatâs just one senator from Massachusetts!" (LMAO!)
The president drew his most sustained applause of the night when he directly confronted Democratic criticism that he ignored the views of other countries when he decided to invade Iraq. "Our opponents say they approve of bold action in the world, but only if no other government disagrees," he said. "Iâm all for united action, and so are the 34 coalition partners we have in Iraq right now. Yet America must never outsource Americaâs national security decisions to the leaders of other governments." (Amen)
Speaking of his Democratic critics, Bush also said, "They now agree that the world is better off with Saddam [Hussein] out of power. They just didnât support removing Saddam from power. Maybe they were hoping heâd lose the next Iraqi election." (LMAO AGAIN!)
While various Republicans have leveled criticism at the Democratic presidential contenders, Mondayâs speech marked Bushâs most direct and personal involvement in the campaign yet. Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie said Monday it was part of a "tactical shift" in the presidentâs re-election campaign. "Democrats have run in the course of this campaign $17 million in attack ads against the president," he said. "The lionâs share of the advertising run in the Democratic primary has been directed at the president, not at each other. With the outside groups -- third-party groups like MoveOn.org and their $12.2 million -- itâs over $29 million spent so far attacking the president. So I think it is important that we get the presidentâs message out." (ABOUT TIME!)
Earlier in the day, Bushâs speech got the attention of [John-Pierre] Kerry and [John] Edwards. "We have George Bush on the run," Kerry told supporters in New York City, where he was campaigning. "He is going to go out and start their campaign tonight before we even have a nominee for the Democratic Party." (WAAAH! WAAAH!)
And Edwards released a statement, challenging Bush to talk about the future. "Itâs not about John Kerryâs past or the presidentâs past," Edwards said in a statement. "This election is about the future and the new ideas we have that will change America so that it works for all of us.â (Especially if you are a lawyer.) I repeat myself: ABOUT TIME! Having said that Kerry will claim that Bush is trying to torpedo him because HE is the candidate that will beat Bush. So after six month of one-sides attacks on the President they are in a dead heat in the polls. Folks the worm is a bout to turn and the Dems are going to not know what hit them. I actually saw a Lefty pundit get shouted down on a show because she thought the âguard issueâ wasnât resolved. NONE of the Democrat press people deviate from the talking points and they really donât have a policy or a plan. Iâll ask you Ranters: Does anyone know what the Democratic Party is standing for this election season? Other than the obvious: âAnybody but Bush.â I think that his father waited too long before he attacked Clinton and it cost him the election.
Posted by: Cyber Sarge (VRWC CA Chapter) ||
02/24/2004 10:37:47 AM ||
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#3
"And thatâs just one senator from Massachusetts," snicker!
You can't help but wonder if the democrats thought - that by refusing to allow the Republicans the luxury of knowing who their opponet would be, while collectively bashing Bush instead of each other - that these Baby Booming Ken Dolls, lacking male parts, thought they could stay out of the intense limelight that would cause their plastic to melt.
Doesn't look like GOP fell for it. Expect the Democrats now to try and cause fractures within the GOP itself. They've already announced a policy of getting into conservative chat rooms to pretend to be against Bush because he is not conservative ENOUGH!
He's not supportive ENOUGH of 2nd Amendment;
He's not supportive ENOUGH of pro-life;
He's not supportive ENOUGH of the military.
Do me a favor. Next time you hear someone telling you they WON'T vote for Bush because he's not conservative ENOUGH...tell your Democratic cyber-friends hello for me.
Posted by: B ||
02/24/2004 10:58 Comments ||
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#4
This garbage isn't just in the national media. I read two or three letters to the editor a week that are directly from the Democratic talking points. I've made it a habit of going through the newspaper, finding these far-left lies, and contradicting them with facts. I've had three letters to the editor published in the last two months refuting this bs. It's tiny, it's below the major party radar, but if it isn't countered, it'll have at least some effect. My local newspaper is now requiring one of its "local contributers" to provide sources for his stories, something they didn't require before. The reason is he took the words DIRECTLY from speeches by Nancy Pelosi and Lane Evans, changing fewer than 50 words in a 1500-word article. The real kicker is that, if you read the article closely, you could put 90% of the blame for what he was accusing Bush of on Clinton.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/24/2004 11:08 Comments ||
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#5
Right on B! I have seen/read the interviews with the 'disenfranchised conservatives' and they are RINOs. The are 'one issue' voters and probably make up about 1% of the electorate. The libs make it out to be 'widening divide' in the conservative ranks. Anyone seen that? I sure haven't. Has bush done everything I would like? No. However he is the BEST person for the job and has done an outstanding job so far. Satan would start ordering thermals before I vote Democrat.
#6
Cybersarge:
Old H. Ross Perot lost Bush Sr. that election, not Clinton. If Perot handn't run Clinton would never have gotten into office. Much like a certain perennial Green Party candidate I can think of....
Posted by: Charles ||
02/24/2004 11:38 Comments ||
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#8
It's still early. The Dems have two fairly lackluster contenders left. I've said it before, I'll say it again : If Bush looks beatable in July or August, Hillary will get in the race.
Posted by: Les Nessman ||
02/24/2004 11:49 Comments ||
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#9
Unfortunately, last night's strong points will be obliterated in the wake of this:
Jumping into a volatile election-year debate on same-sex weddings, President Bush on Tuesday backed a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage â a move he said was needed to stop judges from changing the definition of the "most enduring human institution."
"After more than two centuries of American jurisprudence and millennia of human experience, a few judges and local authorities are presuming to change the most fundamental institution of civilization," the president said in urging Congress to approve such an amendment. "Their action has created confusion on an issue that requires clarity."
Marriage cannot be severed from its "cultural, religious and natural" roots, Bush said in the White House's Roosevelt Room. It was a statement that was sure to please his conservative backers.
Bush, who has cast himself as a "compassionate conservative," left the door open for civil unions as an alternative to same-sex marriages.
[...]
At least 38 states and the federal government have approved laws or amendments barring the recognition of gay marriage; last week, the Utah House gave final legislative approval to a measure outlawing same-sex marriages and sent it to the governor, who has not taken a position on the bill.
White House press secretary Scott McClellan said Bush believes that legislation for such an amendment, submitted by Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, R-Colo., meets his principles in protecting the "sanctity of marriage" between men and women. But Bush did not specifically embrace any particular piece of legislation in his announcement. White House officials have said that support for Musgrave's proposed amendment has been unraveling in the Senate.
The amendment that Musgrave and other lawmakers are backing in the House says that marriage "shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman.
Bush's comment that the states should be left free to define "legal arrangements other than marriage" indicates the president does not favor using a constitutional amendment to enact a federal ban on civil union or domestic partnership laws.
#10
The only people excited about voting for John Kerry are John Kerry, Ted Kennedy, and the serfs who work their land.
Edwards is in the race because he thinks that winning the election will entitled him to 33% of the federal budget. He' s gone as soon as someone tells him it's a flat salary."You're kidding me, right? A defense lawyer could make that much."
Posted by: Matt ||
02/24/2004 12:22 Comments ||
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#11
"Itâs that same old Washington mind-set -- theyâll give the orders and youâll pay the bills," Bush said.
(I love that line!)
I love that line too, but it seems to me we'll be paying GeeDubya's bills for some time. C'mon GWB, warm up that veto pen already!!!!
#12
Time is on UU's side (that's double U for "unvanquished & undefeatable). He has the money and the Dem's don't have a true presumptive candidate yet. What the President's people were hoping for was to get Kerry to sew this up on Tuesday so he gets less and less mega-media attention and really has to shell out the bucks to pay for getting his views out (ads). There is no contest in that competition. So, the late spring and summer will be interesting - do you spend (including the 527 money)to keep the pot and your visibility boiling or do you lay back and wait until after the conventions. UU can go either way (makes him BC/AC - before or after convention).
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
02/24/2004 12:35 Comments ||
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#13
Bush should wait till Kerry KOs Edwards first.
#14
"After more than two centuries of American jurisprudence and millennia of human experience, a few judges and local authorities are presuming to change the most fundamental institution of civilization"
I thought that "slavery" was the most fundamental institution of civilisation? Or was it perhaps "monarchy" that was the most fundamental institution of civilisation?
But it's perhaps the difference between the conservative and the progressive -- that progressives don't consider millenia of tradition to be much of an argument in favour of retaining an institution unchanged.
"indicates the president does not favor using a constitutional amendment to enact a federal ban on civil union or domestic partnership laws."
Because, obviously, moral clarity comes when we are using different words to indicate the exact same thing -- the societal recognition of a couple's mutual commitment to form a new family unit.
If that's moral clarity, then I don't know what moral obfuscation would have been.
#15
On the gay marriage amendment (about which I couldn't care less), GWB should borrow Ken Starr's line (this is paraphrased) -- "If judges would stop misinterpreting the Constitution to suit their own purposes, we wouldn't have to keep threatening to amend it."
Posted by: Tibor ||
02/24/2004 13:24 Comments ||
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#16
Bush's soft spot is jobs, NAFTA, outsourcing, Enron, etc. Edwards has a captive audience when he talks about rich vs not-so-rich. There is enough truth to it to make it resonate.
#17
Bush's soft spot is Enron? How do you figure that?
Enron commits crimes under Clinton's watch, is caught, arrested and will be sentenced under Bush's watch.
(Enron gave money to BOTH Dems and Reps, too.)
Posted by: Les Nessman ||
02/24/2004 13:51 Comments ||
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#18
Tibor - well said!
One more point - as someone who also could care less...meaning I just don't care one way or the other...(I don't think that Bush really cares that much either. I think he just did a numbers crunch on this one.)
Sorry gay people, I hate to say this, but there are probably more people interested in issues such as, should we allow the local dog park, than there are in issues like this. While gays ARE vocal and have an impact in politics....
ya know...
there are times when you should count your chickens before they hatch.
Posted by: B ||
02/24/2004 14:12 Comments ||
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#20
Aris:
Uh, I'm in downtown San Francisco right now and I've got to tell you that the only gays wearing chains and harnesses here are... well, into it man. So comparing the lack of legal gay marriage to legal slavery is.... hell, insane by ANY stretch of the imagination. Climb down off your high horse.
#21
So, Aris, does Greece have legally recognized gay marriages?
Honestly, I have no idea.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
02/24/2004 15:06 Comments ||
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#22
RC, I don't believe I'd go there.
The Greeks have always been "funny" about things like their boys, going way back.
IOW, if you're going to the Olympics in Athens and you drop your keys, keep kicking them until you get to Rome.
#23
This thread is one for the ages. Bush is just getting warmed up. Kerry is ripe material. I hope the GOP really takes the gloves off this time. The Dems have been spoiled by the constant soft-shoeing by Frist and Co. It's high time for good ol' fashion bitch-slap.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
02/24/2004 15:23 Comments ||
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#24
Now, Jennie, that's not my point! I'm honestly curious as to the status of gay marriages in Greece.
I mean, if they DON'T recognize them, then maybe Aris should keep his nose out of our business and take care of his OWN nation.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
02/24/2004 15:41 Comments ||
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#25
Growler is right: the FMA is getting all the attention.
I like GWB a lot but this issue has "loser" written all over it. First off, he didn't need to say a world about San Francisco; Arnie is happy to carry the water there (by enforcing state law which bans such marraiges). And most states have laws prohibiting same-sex marraige so GWB didn't need to say anything -- let the states and their 10th Amendment rights do the job.
Problem is, the religious conservatives were very unhappy, and GWB apparently thinks he needs to keep them happy with him. Dumb, dumb, dumb politically. This now guarantees that the FMA will be an issue in the fall, and that helps the Democrats. Check out Andy Sullivan for details.
In case anyone wants to know: I really don't care who marries whom. If two guys or two gals want to make a life-long commitment, sure, go ahead, beats the likely alternatives. Just don't do the horizontial tango in the street, I really don't care to watch.
I want GWB to beat Kerry like an old blanket. But he can't get the media focus he wants with these spoiler issues out in front. The FMA keeps the media locked onto an issue that can't help GWB and it takes the media away from pointing out all of Kerry's idiocies.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/24/2004 15:50 Comments ||
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#26
I guess it depends on which Kerry idiocy your talking about: Last year, Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee following this weekâs primary victories in Virginia and Tennessee, proudly announced his support for a range of gay rights issues â from support for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act to opposition of a federal marriage amendment.
This year, with the primary season just about over, itâs time to tweak the message for the broader masses and head back to the political center. In an interview this week on National Public Radio, Kerry expressed support for a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.
His campaign staff quickly reassured a Blade reporter the next day that Kerry was talking about an amendment to the Massachusetts state Constitution and that he maintains his opposition to the federal amendment. Of course the national radio audience that heard Kerry didnât learn of that distinction, because the question was not specifically addressed to the Massachusetts state Constitution and neither was Kerryâs answer. It was the second time in recent weeks Kerry has fudged the gay marriage issue.
Asked by ABC News after the State of the Union address to respond to President Bushâs opposition to gay marriage and his call for a constitutional amendment, Kerry said his position was the same as the presidentâs, never clarifying for the national television audience that he was referring to Bushâs position on marriage, not a constitutional amendment.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/24/2004 16:23 Comments ||
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"Moreover, Italy, Spain, Greece, Ireland Luxemburg and Austria do not recognize any form of gay civil union. As a result hospitals may refuse partners visiting rights because they are not recognized family members."
Aris: I don't think you've got any standing on this matter, which is a domestic American issue. (we have LEGAL civil unions in many places here, by the way.) You want gay marriage? You may want to get your own house in order first.
#28
Look - no matter what you think about gay marriage - this was a stupid move on the part of gays. They demanded Bush choose one side or the other, "me or your wife and family" calling a bluff they KNEW they would lose.
Gays were forewared by both Democrats and Republicans re: the unpopularity of their cause. Rather than pushing the GOP forward, gays forced the democrats to back down.
Like or no - it was a poltical move that will work in Bush's favor....no matter how it turns out. Gays were foolish to issue the ultimatum.
Posted by: B ||
02/24/2004 16:51 Comments ||
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#29
have to agree, gays got too aggressive, they will win in the long run cuz the younger generations are mostly pro-gay rights, jumping for it now could delay things for 'em
#30
I don't think Andrew Sullivan's issues are the issues of any large sector of voters who otherwise would vote for Bush. Nor doe I think an FMA will happen any time soon.
However, I do think the gay community will lose out on this one because they are sparking a quiet backlash among otherwise tolerant people who have had it with causes being shoved down our throats, especially by judges (or other officials) who are not accountable to voters for their actions.
#31
Robert Crawford> Greece is probably the most socially conservative nation in Europe, so I'm betting that we'll see gay marriages in Greece around the same time we see them in Utah or Alabama.
And I assure you that I *am* taking care of my own nation in Greek political forums -- my participation in political discussions isn't limited to (or even primarily centered around) Rantburg.
But I somehow don't remember *ever* claiming that my country was any better than yours in this respect. Actually I don't remember ever claiming that my country was any better than yours in any matter. Except death penalty, perhaps.
We also don't have separation of church and state, btw. And I'm currently listening to a political discussion about what I can only call fascist-like restrictions on Greek media. I could go and on, but wouldn't it be a bit more useful to keep my Greece-centered political rants to political forums which Greek voters frequent that might actually help make a difference?
#32
And Secret Master, I think I was quite clear in comparing institutions that lasted for millenia to each other. The primary common element was "they lasted long" and the secondary common element was "it was time they changed".
In short, I didn't mean to compare "oppression" I meant to compare "outdatedness", so to speak.
#34
Sounds like old Dubya is leading the fight to make sure that John F Kerry is not going to be President. Keep fighting for the people of America GWB!!!!
#35
Aris, Both of our countries have thing to be proud of: Greece INVENTED Democracy and The U.S. spread it. I would give anything to go back to Irakilion and Gouves on Crete. Memories of sitting on the beach drinking wine and watching the nude babes frolic! Also I crave a Peta with pork and zatziki, MMM, MMM! We donât have that in the U.S.! Adio, feelos.
American investigators were given the first name and telephone number of one of the Sept. 11 hijackers two and a half years before the attacks on New York and Washington, but the United States appears to have failed to pursue the lead aggressively, American and German officials say.
Was it just the one? Or was it on a list of about 1200 names and phone numbers?
The information â the earliest known signal that the United States received about any of the hijackers â has now become an important element of an independent commissionâs investigation into the events of Sept. 11, 2001, officials said Monday. It is considered particularly significant because it may have represented a missed opportunity for American officials to penetrate the Qaeda terror cell in Germany that was at the heart of the plot. And it came roughly 16 months before the hijacker showed up at flight schools in the United States.
What data accompanied the name? Was there anything to bump it up in priority?
In March 1999, German intelligence officials gave the Central Intelligence Agency the first name and telephone number of Marwan al-Shehhi, and asked the Americans to track him. The name and phone number in the United Arab Emirates had been obtained by the Germans by monitoring the telephone of Mohamed Heidar Zammar, an Islamic militant in Hamburg who was closely linked to the important Qaeda plotters who ultimately mastermined the Sept. 11 attacks. After the Germans passed the information on to the C.I.A., they did not hear from the Americans about the matter until after Sept. 11. "There was no response" at the time, the official said. After receiving the tip, the C.I.A. decided that "Marwan" was probably an associate of Osama bin Laden, but never tracked him down.
Not a particularly common name, but try tracking down someone by his first name sometime. Not easily done. Try "Bernardo" or "Alcir" or "Heriberto."
The Germans considered the information on Mr. Shehhi particularly valuable, and the commission is keenly interested in why it apparently did not lead to greater scrutiny of him.
My guess is the reasons had something to do with the three questions above...
The information concerning Mr. Shehhi, the man who took over the controls of United Airlines Flight 175, which flew into the south tower of the World Trade Center, came months earlier than well-documented tips about other hijackers, including two who were discovered to have attended a meeting of militants in Malaysia in January 2000. The independent commission investigating the attacks has received information on the 1999 Shehhi tip, and is actively investigating the issue, said Philip Zelikow, executive director of the commission.
That's cuz hindsight is really, really good, and there might be a few wounded to shoot...
American intelligence officials and others involved with the matter say they are uncertain whether Mr. Shehhiâs phone was ever monitored. An American official said: "The Germans did give us the name `Marwanâ and a phone number, but we were unable to come up with anything. It was an unlisted phone number in the U.A.E., which he was known to use."
UAE's not a backwater, so there are lots of people with telephones. So the phone number goes on a bingo list for coverage by a great radio Hoover in the sky. Something may or may not come out of an effort to copy it. The alternative is to sneak a gremmy in to put a tap on the phone's landline connection. Today we might well do that. 16 months before 9-11 we probably weren't putting a lot of bugs on private phones in other people's countries.
"The Hamburg cell is very important" to the investigation of the Sept. 11 attacks, Mr. Zelikow said. The intelligence on Mr. Shehhi "is an issue thatâs obviously of importance to us, and weâre investigating it," he added. Asked whether American intelligence officials gave sufficient attention to the information about Mr. Shehhi, Mr. Zelikow said, "We havenât reached any conclusions."
I'd guess it got the same amount of attention every other lead got. Read up on intel "grass," for instance in the events leading up to Pearl Harbor. Basically, data of potential value gets overlooked because it's buried in junk data.
The joint Congressional inquiry that investigated the Sept. 11 attacks was told about the matter by the C.I.A., but only a small part of the information was declassified and made public in the panelâs final report in December 2002, several officials said. The public report mentioned only that the C.I.A. had received Mr. Shehhiâs first name, but made no mention that the agency had also obtained his telephone number. Officials involved with the work of the joint Congressional investigation made it clear that the publication of a more complete version of the story was the subject of a declassification dispute with the C.I.A. A former official involved with the Congressional inquiry acknowledged that having a telephone number for one of the hijackers was far more significant than simply having a first name.
But it would have been even better to have an idea who the hell he was.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/24/2004 10:12:43 AM ||
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#1
Despite the fact that the name, "Clinton" is not ONCE mentioned in this article, this piece certainly shows how the demand for an investigation has backfired on the Democrats.
Don't worry...I'm sure they'll manage to explain to us how Clinton didn't have enough time or information and Bush had plenty of both.
Posted by: B ||
02/24/2004 11:20 Comments ||
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#2
Hard Humint? OBL's guys? What was Bubba thinking?
Its the economy stupid!
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
02/24/2004 12:44 Comments ||
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#3
Good point, B. The timeframe of "two and a half years" places it firmly in the middle of Clinton's second term.
Drawing on absolutely NO insight whatsoever, I predict the Donks will blame Republicans for Clinton's lack of action.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
02/24/2004 12:50 Comments ||
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#4
This one really isn't a Bush-Clinton thing. I think it's a Rummy repelled our attack so on to the next. Let's bring down the intelligence community!!!
Just what our country needs; the CIA answering questions about why they didn't follow up an unexplained name and phone number that the Germans gave us with no othe informaiton.
I would have passed them back the Washington DC phone book and told the fuckers that one of the clowns in this book might be plotting something against the German Governemnt. If they asked for more help, I would have told them that we already vetted Jiffy Lube and Crispy Cream.
As Americans how can we continually buy this total baloney from the morons in our press. First the NYT wants us to help out the House of Saud with its ever diminishing oil supply and then they want us to beleive that intelligence community is incompetent because the Germans gave us just enough information on a terrorist to give him a crank phone call. What were we supposed to do, call him and tell him we were the pizza guys and needed directions including the country in order for us to deliver a pie? How were we supposed to recognize him once we pulled up with the Papa John's sign on the roof of our Vega? Oh, that's right; he's the guy with the AK blowing out our windshield.
Sorry, lost it there.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
02/24/2004 22:44 Comments ||
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Coalition forces in Iraq killed an aide of suspected Al-Qaeda operative Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and arrested several other people in a raid last week, a US general told AFP Tuesday. "There was a terrorist stakeout of Zarqawiâs at Al-Ramadi that we were able to raid and kill one of his operatives and arrest others," Major-General Charles Swannick said. Swannick, commander of the 82nd Airborne Division, said items including suicide vests, bomb-making equipment and passports were seized in the raid on February 19. He was confirming a report in the Baghdad daily newspaper that a Zarqawi deputy it named as Nidal Arabiyat Agha Hamza was killed in an operation conducted last Thursday north of Baghdad.
G'bye, Nidal. Give our regards to Himmler.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/24/2004 10:10:27 AM ||
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Confirmation from AP: Abu Mohammed Hamza, believed to have been a bombmaker for al-Zarqawi, was killed Thursday in Habaniyah after U.S. troops came under fire while distributing leaflets, Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt said. The troops returned fire, killing Hamza, he said.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/24/2004 10:24 Comments ||
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OVER the coming weeks, a quarter of a million U.S. troops will move into or out of Iraq. The logistics of such a transfer would be formidable even under peaceful conditions in a country with Western-quality infrastructure. No other power in the world could do it in Iraq - or anywhere else. Our military is going to execute the mission with such skill that it wonât make headlines. Thereâll be brief reports buried in the back pages of our newspapers and a few human interest stories on TV. But the only way this massive event will get onto the front page will be if terrorists pull off a stunt during the operation.
Theyâll try. There are no guarantees of safety where peace is still being made. And the terrorists desperately want to be the lead story at the top of the hour again. But even if a bomb or a missile takes American lives, the real story will remain how much our military can do - and how much our troops have accomplished over the past year. Recall how the pundits insisted that our troops were bound to fail, that Iraq was another Vietnam, a quagmire that would only worsen. Shamelessly, American ideologues who had been too good to serve in uniform themselves pretended that their only concern was the safety of our soldiers, who they wished to bring home immediately. Morale was going to break down, civilian "experts" insisted, our military would dissolve. It wasnât just going to be Vietnam. It was going to be Oliver Stoneâs Vietnam.
Our soldiersâ response? They broke the back of the Baâathist insurgency. They captured Saddam. That deck of cards? Saddam and the boys were playing on credit - and G.I. Joe called âem. When our soldiers were attacked, they hit back with such ferocity, precision and determination that even hardline al Qaeda operatives in Iraq have admitted to the masters of terror that the U.S. Army cannot be dislodged. But our soldiers didnât only fight. They built. The contractors with their snouts in the Iraqi trough have a mixed record, but our soldiers have been consistently effective - and economically efficient - in their own reconstruction efforts. And yes, damn it. Our soldiers did win hearts and minds. And they continue to do so.
Terrorists rushed to Iraq, dreaming of a quick triumph that would send the Great Satan fleeing back to Americaâs shopping-mall Hell. Well, al Qaedaâs intelligence failure dwarfed any errors the CIA ever made. Far from discouraging anyone, the terrorists only stiffened the resolve of Iraqâs Kurds, Shiâas and even many Sunnis not to let foreign assassins shape their future. Operationally, the skills and fortitude of the American soldier quickly forced the terrorists to shift their efforts to targeting our allies - in an attempt to drive them from the Coalition - or to strike Iraqis committed to rebuilding and reclaiming their own country. That hasnât worked, either. Iraq is moving forward. Our Coalition allies have shown admirable resolve - and adaptability. After a few early successes against our partners, recent terrorist attacks have failed. A sophisticated suicide bombing a few weeks ago didnât even penetrate the Polish compound it targeted, but only killed civilians.
Does anyone imagine that the terrorists are winning hearts and minds? Iraq remains a brutally dangerous place, a country that will struggle for years with its disastrous past. Progress will be imperfect. Success will be inconsistent. Disappointments will intoxicate the media. But, when all is said and done, Iraq is now the only major country in the Middle East with hope for a better future. Our soldiers created that hope.
Far from the crude babykiller of campus legend, the American soldier has proved that he is as humane as he is competent, as creative as he is valorous, and as optimistic as the best traditions of his - or her - country. Our troops have tracked down war criminals, turned the tables on ambushers, faced countless roadside bombs - and built schools, created jobs, picked up garbage and set an example that even those Iraqis anxious for us to leave will not forget. The American soldier has an immeasurably greater impact than American bombs.
For the soldiers themselves - including our superb Marines - conducting this massive "relief in place" in Iraq, the on-the-ground reality will often be frustrating. Especially to the soldier heading home, the complexities of such a huge transfer of forces will have a hurry-up-and-wait side that will draw out the enlisted manâs blackest reserves of humor. But the new troops will go in, the veterans will come home, intelligence and operational techniques will be handed off, the "newbies" will master the local environment and this great campaign for freedom will continue to march. Iraq is working. Attacks on our troops and American casualties are down. No Iraqis argue about whether the old regime should return - only about the rules for future statehood. A broken country is recovering from a generation of shock and misery. Their hopes may take a number of different directions, but the peoples of Iraq have hope.
I only wish that those Americans so anxious to use our soldiers as political pawns in election campaigns actually knew our troops. Not as an abstract concept, but as people. The American soldier is a historical anomaly - not a grasping conqueror, but a man or woman of courage and good heart who wishes only to do what must be done, and then go home. Our troops are inspiring in ways that no campaign speech or campus rally will ever rival. They live the virtues - courage, patriotism, love of freedom, self-sacrifice, honor - of which their critics are embarrassed to speak. They have a wicked sense of humor. Theyâre exuberantly politically incorrect. Theyâre part of the most thoroughly integrated, representative American institution - our military. And when the American people and our leaders stand behind them, they can do any job on earth. Defying countless predictions of disaster, our soldiers have accomplished more in Iraq than we had any right to expect. And they did it not because of some brilliant master plan - there was none - but because they took a look at the bloody mess they inherited, rolled up their sleeves and went to work to fix it. Theyâre the best weâve got.
Posted by: tipper ||
02/24/2004 10:08:04 AM ||
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One can hope, I still see great potential for this to be a bigger uglier Somalia; not that this will be any fault of our people on the ground.
#2
I still see great potential for this to be a bigger uglier Somalia
I don't. Its not even close. There was(is) no will to make something of Somalia by its people. The Iraqis have that motivation and conviction to move forward. It will take time a blood, but in the end Iraq will prosper.
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
02/24/2004 10:37 Comments ||
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#3
I still see great potential for this to be a bigger uglier Somalia Only if Kerry gets elected will it turn ugly...
#4
These young men and women are our best. I see them and then I see the slackassed, lazy, selfish people in this country tearing down everything that these soldiers have done in the name of electing a traitor to the Whitehouse. They disgust me and I truly believe disgust any Americans. John Fonda Kerry has done one thing though. He has managed to give our enemies comfort once again. (Must be habit-but a traitor to his unform understands how to do that very easily)That of course should bring great cheers from the left. I have a feeling this time though it isn't 1972 anymore boys.
#5
Hiryu you are amoungst friends here and you can say what you really mean which I know is a bigger uglier United Nations. I know that Somalia is a code word for the UN. And the great triumph of the United nations is nothing is anybodies fault except of course if you happen to be a jew or work for Haliburton or Rupert Murdoch.
#6
Well, with Fort Carson to the south, Peterson AFB, NORAD, and Schreiver to the east, the Air Force Academy to the North, and Cheyenne Mountain to the west, anything that happens with our troops (especially those deployed from Ft. Carson or the Guard and Reserve components called up from Colorado) makes the front page of the Gazette. It's not the best paper in the world, but it's head and shoulders above the pink rags from Denver. No subscription required for their online version. Chuck Assay, a regular feature on the Editorial page, is perhaps the premier conservative cartoonist in the United States.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/24/2004 11:22 Comments ||
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Somalia??? What?? Are you on drugs?
We had a full scale military invasion of Iraq. We are attempting to completely restructure their government.
How..at this point ... can this become "like Somalia"????
Oh...I'm sorry..I guess what you really meant to say was "quagmire". My bad.
Posted by: B ||
02/24/2004 11:28 Comments ||
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I don't know if I'm among friends, as I'm more liberal then most of the people who post here, but I keep seeing stories about Sistani getting ready to call jihad(tm) if he doesn't get his way. This is even today in the at this English-language Turkish news site.
The thing is this, I suspect that we're spread so thin on the ground that we really couldn't deal with a serious Shi'ite uprising, not without finishing off administration assumptions of doability.
I also wouldn't put it past our good buddies in Tehran to screw with matters; assuming that Chalabi is not their shill all along.
At the end of the day Iraq is a black box and we're flying blind so far as I'm concerned.
#10
quigmire quigmire run run, ah a soldiers been killed, pull em all out of that quagmire.Seriously though the liberal lefties seem to have got every prediction of how this war would go completely wrong.They claimed there would be famine,disease,the whole middle east will turn into one big nuclear testing range,Iraq will be Vietnam,the skys gonna fall in,the list is truly endless.
#11
Somalia is the wrong analogy, historically the Somalia's never had a central government. Iraq has always had a central government. The analogy that comes to my mind is Haiti. If we give up too quickly and don't ensure democracy takes root Iraq might have a Haitian type crisis every decade or so.
#12
Don't worry Fellers, as you know, I spent 8 1/2 months in Iraq and Kuwait, and the situation over there is pretty much opposite of what you see and hear from places such as LiberalDemocratic National Public Radio, CNN, and the such. We (and the Iraqis) have got our collective shit togather over there pretty well, but that kind of stuff isn't newsworthy. John Q Public only wants to see drama, the stuff that puts the folding stuff in TT's pocket. (viz. American Idol, Survivor, ect.)
More like Midway than Somalia. Soryu don't remember June 4, 1942.
We'll endlessly debate whether Iraq was the end of the beginning or the beginning of the end. But you feel free to worry about getting into Akagimire. Kagamire is the constant worry of the turtle afraid to stick out its neck.
Posted by: Mr. Davis ||
02/24/2004 12:48 Comments ||
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#14
One can hope, I still see great potential for this to be a bigger uglier Somalia; not that this will be any fault of our people on the ground.
No comparison. One thing that Saddam and the King before did was engender a pretty strong middle class merchant society (albeit scared shitless). You have a well educated, enterprise focused spawning democracy in a previously secular religious environment. Sure, Iran was that way before the Shah left but then we didn't have boots on the ground and a big financial, political and military commitment at risk.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
02/24/2004 12:49 Comments ||
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Slightly OT, but I just came home from a visit to Peterson AFB, here in Colorado Springs. During the little less than one hour I was on base, two C-17s, one C-141, and one C-5 landed, all bringing equipment back to Fort Carson from Iraq. What other nation could do that, and keep it up, hour after hour, for several WEEKS??? Makes goosebumps of pride break out all over my body...
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/24/2004 15:46 Comments ||
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Hiryu, you aren't "more liberal", you're just a sensible fella like most everyone else here.
I think Sistani is a master politican who knew just what levers to nudge on the elections issue. Fine with me, we can deal with a master politican without complaint.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/24/2004 15:53 Comments ||
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Bodyguard -- thank you, and please keep posting. Any details would be appreciated.
Samar Haddad watches her reflection in a TV monitor as she remolds her black hair into a pert flip. Beside her, Talal al-Sada whispers into his mike to check the decibel level. The two sit ready to deliver the evening news in a state-of-the-art studio just across the Potomac from Washington. But the banks of black-framed lights, cameras, and speakers donât belong to yet another American cable news channel. This is Al Hurra, a US-government-sponsored satellite channel thatâs now broadcasting to 22 countries in the Arab world. Its purpose is to offer a more balanced, alternative view to what is currently presented in the region - news that has deepened distrust of US policies. "We have a huge leap forward in people responding negatively about American foreign policy as a result of the things that are shown on TV and in the way they are reported and visually enhanced," says Andrew Hess, a Middle East expert at Tufts Universityâs Fletcher School in Medford, Mass. "Now that Al Jazeera and other channels have come online, surveys indicate there is a massive dislike of American foreign policies, especially in these Middle East hot spots."
No one thinks most Arabsâ visceral dislike of US foreign policy is purely a result of watching television. But it is, experts say, a combination of policies themselves, the somewhat sensationalist way they are presented, and the emphasis on the two thorniest problems in the Middle East - Iraq and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Thatâs where Al Hurra - which means "the free one" - comes in. It is building on the success of its sister program, Radio Sawa. Set up two years ago to target Arab youth - the most disaffected and largest proportion of the population - Radio Sawa now attracts as many listeners as mainstream Arab stations. "Al Hurra will have the look of a CNN, a FOX, or an MSNBC," says Norman Pattiz, a member of the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), which oversees this start-up. "It will also have the look of Arabic satellite TV stations. But in terms of production value, it will raise the bar."
This week, Al Hurra ramps up to 19 hours per day, and will go to 24/7 around March 1. Itâs the latest brainchild of the BBG, which was set up by the US Congress to deliver - depending on your view - balanced news coverage or the US party line. Unlike the Pentagon-sponsored broadcasts and the State Departmentâs effort to win hearts and minds through an advertising campaign, Al Hurra was set up outside government to stay as independent as possible. Though federally funded with $62 million from Congress, eight of its nine board members come from outside government - four Democrats and four Republicans who oversee US broadcast activities, including Voice of America and Radio Free Europe. The secretary of State serves ex officio, with a vote.
Al Hurraâs newsroom bustles with some 75 staffers, most of them handpicked by Pattiz and his news director, Mouafac Harb. Most are experienced anchors, writers, and producers from Middle Eastern television stations. Ms. Haddad, for example, is from Lebanon; Mr. Sada is from Qatar; and Mr. Harb, also from Lebanon, has worked in both print (the Saudi-owned Al Hayat newspaper) and television (ABC News). Imad Mousa, a senior producer, is an American of Palestinian origin and came to Al Hurra from Al Jazeera. These staffers say they want to bring a more moderate approach to covering world news for the Middle East. They say Arabs are deepy humiliated by the repression of Muslims in Iraq and the Palestinian terroritories, and the television emphasis on those issues only exacerbates the problem. Harb and others say they cover all the news, including the negative and dismal. But they also want to offer a platform for moderate and alternative views, including more in-depth historical perspectives. Most of all, they say, they want to build a relationship with their audience and cultivate a mutual respect. "When you tell the truth, itâs a signal of great respect.... Friendly relationships should be based on respect," Harb says. "Weâre aiming to get their respect, then you can go on toward changing attitudes."
Besides the straightforward newscasts, they say, they are running "connectors." In these 15-, 20-, and 30-second spots, anchors explain how they came to Al Hurra - an attempt to build connections. They have an array of programs ready - including top-of-the-hour news broadcasts and talk-show formats. Free Hour is patterned after Nightline and Larry King Live: Last week, for example, one program examined the US-Libyan relationship and what caused Col. Muammar Qaddafi to dismantle his weapons program; another looked into whether Al Qaeda has spread into Iraq. Weekend talk shows run on Fridays (the Arab equivalent of American Sundays) and are patterned after NBCâs Meet the Press and CBSâs Face the Nation.
So far, reactions from Middle Eastern viewers - mainly journalists - are fair to critical. But even the negative publicity is helpful, Pattiz says. "It gets people looking at us for themselves." Al Hurra wonât shy away from any important news, he continues, and he believes viewers will recognize that. "There will be times when some governments [in the Middle East] get their noses out of joint with us," he says. " And there will be times when some members of Congress or members of the administration might get a bit of heartburn from what we do. But thatâs the price of credibility and a free press."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/24/2004 10:04:49 AM ||
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More "censorship" in Iraq, no doubt.
Posted by: The Commissar ||
02/24/2004 12:53 Comments ||
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Ok, who wants to bet that this station turns anti-american within 5 years and we'll continue to fund it as leftist scream freedom of speech and censorship when people call for us to discontinue funding?
#3
DPA - if they haven't planned for that - then they are stupid! I'd put 100% on your prediction were someone to set up a "futures" on that.
What they need to do is to fund it with a definite end date, completely dismatle it and then, if they want to start it up again, let the US military start the project over from scratch. Otherwise it will be infiltrated and abused!!
Shame on US if we don't plan for that.
Posted by: B ||
02/24/2004 13:49 Comments ||
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Free Hour is patterned after Nightline and Larry King Live
#5
I was looking at Hammorabi's blog...he likes Al-Hurrah and has a wonderful, very well illustrated article about the history of the Shi'a sect. Well worth the visit, if only for the pictures!
Continued fighting in Sudanâs Darfur region, is denying aid agencies access to victims of the conflict, a member of the European parliament has said. Richard Howitt, said only 15% of the victims of the war have access to humanitarian aid in the region. Mr Howitt a British member of the European Union delegation that toured the area in western Sudan told the BBC that the area is still unsafe. "There is direct evidence that military confrontation is continuing. The Islamist militia, the Janjaweed, supported by the government are running riot in most of the countryside," Mr Howitt said. Mr Howitt said at least 40% of the area is out of bounds for aid agencies, despite the rising number of people being driven out by the fighting. "There has been a systematic pattern of denial of travel to aid agencies and journalists by military intelligence to Darfur in western Sudan." he said.
"That doesn't call for any measures on our part, of course. We're just... ummm... noting it."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/24/2004 10:01:14 AM ||
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Young nationalists disrupted a solemn St. Petersburg commemoration on Monday of the 60th anniversary of the deportation of the Chechen and Ingush people. Formerly the Soviet Army Day, Feb. 23 is now called The Day of Defenders of the Fatherland. On the same date in 1944 Stalin deported the North Caucasian ethnic groups, allegedly for collaborating with the German invaders during World War II. "It is a tragic day for our country," said Sergei Khakhayev, chairman of the local human rights group Memorial. "We are often told not to spoil the holiday, but how many people know that Army Day was used against the Chechens back in 1944: it was an excuse to gather them together so that they could be put in railway wagons and sent away. Every third person died on the way to exile."
Not everyone in Khakhayevâs modest audience agreed. "Those nations [Chechens and Ingush] shouldnât exist at all," a young man suddenly shouted during Khakhayevâs speech. He struggled with several companions who prevented him getting closer to the speaker. Some of the youngsters started distributing a nationalist newspaper. The meeting organizers tried to remove the nationalists, but the youngsters resisted, shouting out more insults against Chechens. The organizers asked the police, who were monitoring the meeting, for help. Several people were detained.
A wonderful time was had by all...
In Moscow, authorities banned a rally on Lubyanskaya Ploshchad, where another Solovetsky Stone stands in the center in front of the headquarters of the Federal Security Service. However, people still went to the stone to lay flowers and light candles and eventually a political meeting took place that was quickly broken up by the police. Lev Ponomaryov, chairman of the all-Russia movement For Human Rights, was arrested and is due to appear in court on Tuesday, radio station Ekho Moskvy reported. Many speakers at Mondayâs meeting expressed serious concern over a recent trend to blame the entire Chechen nation for the actions of a few individual terrorists. They said this trend is growing across Russia and can be seen in St. Petersburg. A bloody vendetta against a particular Caucasian is seen by local nationalists as a successful support of Russian soldiers in Chechnya, they said.
It's only the Islamist portion of the entire Chechen nation that's causing trouble, except for the non-Islamic portion that's made up of crooks and hard boyz. Since they all look, act, and speak similarly, and since they don't provide programs to tell the players apart, perhaps they should blame the Islamists and the hard boyz for their problems. I'm suffering a sympathy shortage this week. Maybe my shipment from Belgium will get here soon.
Human rights advocates said they were frustrated both by the appearance of nationalists and the low turnout of people. "Thousands of Russians marched against the war in Iraq last year and look at our tiny, wretched gathering - it is shameful," said Peter Rausch, a member of the Committee For Peace in Chechnya and a representative of the League of Anarchists.
That makes sense. If anybody's going to identify with Chechnya it'll be the League of Anarchists. I'm not sure it's a recommendation, though...
"Everyone prefers to turn a blind eye to this problem and just hope to miraculously escape from the next terrorist attack."
"We should give them what they want. Maybe they'll leave us alone!"
Yuly Rybakov, a democratic politician and former State Duma deputy, said the Day of Defenders of the Fatherland should not merely be a remembrance day for Red Army soldiers who fought against fascists during the World War II, but also as a memorial day for all soldiers who fought for the independence of their native land.
Perhaps it should also serve as a reminder of the joys of fascism and a renewal of the dedication to wiping it from the face of the earth...
Khakhayev said aggression and intolerance against Caucasians has become widespread. "Didnât you all hear that young man shouting that all Chechens must die," he said. "There are dozens of nationalist groups in town that hold the same views. But imperial ambitions in any country anywhere in the world only result in mass killings, on both sides." At least one voice at the meeting was strictly self-critical. "When we hear about another blast in Moscow or elsewhere and begin to feel hatred against Chechens growing inside our heart, we should suppress it - and if everyone wins this little battle with themselves, then there will be more peace in the country," said Pavel Viktorov, who edits a pacifist newspaper in St. Petersburg.
"Group hug, everyone!... No, not the dead guys."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/24/2004 9:58:42 AM ||
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League of Anarchists
Isn't any kind of organization of anarchists a oxymoron?
Posted by: Steve ||
02/24/2004 11:07 Comments ||
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As I recall a Sherlock Holmes story featured the League of Anarchists. So they outlasted the Soviet Union.
A standing-room-only crowd watched, teary-eyed but smiling, as a Florida Army National Guardsman was ceremoniously retired from military service at Walter Reed Army Medical Center here Feb. 21. Soldiers, civilians and children filled the conference room for the occasion. Staff Sgt. Dustin Tuller sat at attention in a wheelchair, his Class A uniform trousers neatly folded beneath his left hip and right thigh, as his battalion commander read the official orders retiring him from the Army.
The 28-year-old college student, father of four and infantryman, had both legs amputated after being wounded in an attack in Iraq in December. Army officials expedited his medical retirement when doctors feared he wouldnât survive his injuries. "I was in a coma when I got my retirement papers," Tuller said. "I wanted to have a retirement ceremony, because Iâve been in the Army for 10 years. I always wanted to be a soldier. If they hadnât retired me, Iâd still wear the uniform, even with no legs." The Company B, 3rd Battalion, 124 Infantry Regiment, soldier was almost killed and two others were injured during a raid in an area of Baghdad that the Army had designated simply "Section 17." Tuller had just positioned his squad outside a building to provide security during the raid when the soldiers came under fire. It was two days before Christmas. Weeks later, and 2,000 miles away from the streets of Baghdad, Tuller awoke from a coma in a German hospital. He had been shot four times in his legs and pelvis... Tullerâs prognosis had been so grim, Army officials decided to retire him from military service in a procedure called "imminent death processing." This can be applied when a soldier is expected to die within 72 hours from a medical condition incurred or aggravated in the line of duty. Imminent death processing allows the Army to retire the soldier, even with fewer than 20 years of service, thus providing additional benefits for the soldierâs family.
#2
A friend of mine got such a retirement back in the early 1970's (1973, I believe) for injuries sustained in Vietnam in 1971. He died in 1975, leaving a wife and two children. SSgt Tuller and his family will have a permanent place on my prayer list.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/24/2004 12:52 Comments ||
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Kudo's to the Army for doing this for the family. Someone is thinking over there!
When Sri Lankan businessman Buhary Syed Abu Tahir was scouting around three years ago for a country where he could manufacture parts for making nuclear weapons, he initially planned to set up shop in Turkey. But Tahir, who helped Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan build a secret international network for supplying nuclear material and equipment, changed his mind, according to police in Kuala Lumpur. He decided instead to locate a crucial element of the operation in another developing Muslim country: Malaysia. Tahirâs choice was no surprise, say Malaysian and Western analysts, because Malaysia was a stable, relatively industrialized country that had been aggressively promoting business with the rest of the Muslim world. Its liberal visa policy, modern communications and welcoming environment for practicing Muslims had long made it a crossroads for political activists, militants and deal makers from the Middle East, Central Asia and Southeast Asia. "Itâs easy, quick, efficient. Do your business and disappear fast, in and out," said Karim Raslan, a Malaysian columnist and social commentator. "Countries that open their borders do become natural crossing points. Theyâre a much easier place to do business. Theyâre a much easier place to hatch dastardly plans."
"He found it relatively easy to get this thing going in Malaysia. We wanted to get business, and he was in a position to do that. He probably felt Malaysia was sympathetic to exports to a Muslim country, and he exploited that," Baginda said. Tahir, 44, who gained residency in Malaysia when he married the daughter of a mid-level Malaysian diplomat in 1998, has not been charged with any crime by Malaysian police. His business proposal -- to manufacture advanced machine components -- was especially attractive to Malaysia, Baginda said, because the country has been seeking to promote itself through economic incentives, infrastructure and marketing as an international center for advanced engineering. "It really fits into Malaysiaâs policy," he explained. "It fits nicely into our niche area we are trying to build."
With Malaysia pushing hard to attract foreign investment, local officials apparently did not press Tahir about the ultimate use of the components, Baginda said. Malaysian and Western officials said authorities here -- and even employees of the company he had invested in, Scomi Precision Engineering -- were unaware that the components being manufactured in the companyâs plant at Shah Alam, outside Kuala Lumpur, were meant for building centrifuges, used in producing weapons-grade uranium and ultimately bound for Libyaâs nuclear program.
One of the main investors in Scomi Precision Engineering is Kamaluddin Abdullah, the son of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Kamaluddin and a school classmate, Shah Hakim Zain, are controlling shareholders in two investment companies that own the majority of stock in Scomi Group. After arriving in Malaysia in the mid-1990s, Tahir came to know Kamaluddin and befriended several influential members of Malaysian society. He moved into an upper-middle-class suburb of the capital and earned a reputation among local businessmen for driving flashy cars. Tahir became a shareholder in one of the investment companies along with Kamaluddin. Later, Tahirâs wife took his place, becoming a major shareholder. After Malaysian authorities began their investigation into Tahirâs role in the international nuclear network, company officials asked her to sell her shares. Tahir left the Scomi staff "with the impression" that the parts were meant for the oil and gas industry, according to Malaysian investigators. Though the components were also usable in the nuclear industry, Malaysia does not ban the export of so-called dual-use products, making it even more appealing to Tahir as a manufacturing site.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/24/2004 9:35:20 AM ||
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Damm, beaten by three minutes!
Posted by: Steve ||
02/24/2004 9:39 Comments ||
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Hundreds of police, supported by US forces, searched door to door through a village yesterday for the lone gunman who opened fire at a US companyâs helicopter over the weekend, killing the pilot and wounding three others. Kandahar police General Salim Khan said police arrested 30 suspected Taliban members and seized five AK-47 assault rifles in Taloqan -- thought to be a hotbed for Taliban and supporters of renegade warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a key Taliban ally. Hilferty urged tribal elders and other locals to hand over the assailant. He said he thought the attack was carried out by "one bad person" and was not coordinated.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/24/2004 9:30:30 AM ||
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that's the "bummer" for these dudes...isnt' it?? In order to fight the Americans - they have to stick their heads up. If they stick their heads up - they get noticed.
Posted by: B ||
02/24/2004 11:13 Comments ||
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2004 is going to be a turbulent year ....
The Russian president Vladimir Putin has announced that he is dismissing his government, less than three weeks before presidential elections. Vladimir Putin: plans to set out policy In a televised address, he told Russians: "In line with article 117 of the Russian Constitution, I have decided to dismiss the government. This decision is not linked to the governmentâs achievements, which on the whole I consider satisfactory. This is linked to my wish to set out my position on what the countryâs course will be after March 14, 2004." He has appointed deputy prime minister Viktor Khristenko as acting prime minister to replace the former premier Mikhail Kasyanov, according to the Kremlin press service.
"Pack your briefcases and get the hell out!"
Posted by: rkb ||
02/24/2004 9:28:22 AM ||
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#1
In today's news, President Putin dismissed the government...
"Hail! Hail! All hail Tsar Putty! All for one and, er, that's me! So let's hear it for me! May I live forever!"
#8
Rafael, dictatorships are bad regardless of whether people like the dictator or not. The problem comes in when that dictator leaves that the people liked and is replaced with someone they may not like so much. Also, dictators (anyone in a position of power for that matter) tend to become more corrupt and power hungry the longer they are in power. This is part of the reason that term limits are such a smart idea.
#9
Guys, I have news for you. The jury is still out on democratic political systems. Not everyone (who is otherwise normal) is so keen on democracy. It's all good if you live somewhere with an established democratic tradition. But in the Russian context, for example, as long as the 'dictator' embraces capitalism and free market economics, resulting in relative prosperity, you'd find that the people would care less about democracy. The assumption of course, is that the 'dictator' is wired right to begin with.
Believe it or not, the old tsarist system would be a good setup for Russia. With backing from the Church you'd have moral guidance, a leader that the people look up to, and modern economics to keep everyone prosperous and happy. I suspect a lot of Russians would be extremely happy with this arrangement.
The problem of course, is the old adage "absolute power corrupts absolutely". In this respect democracy is useful in getting rid of a would-be tyrant. But if the pool of candidates is already filled with aspiring tyrants, with no bright star in sight, what good is democracy?
Comparing Putin to Hitler is not really fair because there was no doubt about Hitler's agenda already early on. Unless Putin starts executing people left and right, top and bottom, I'm willing to give him a pass, within the Russian context.
Posted by: Rafael ||
02/24/2004 21:29 Comments ||
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A suicide bomber exploded a white Oldsmobile outside a police station in this northern city yesterday, killing at least seven policemen and wounding as many as 52 other people. It was the fifth suicide attack in Iraq this month. The bomber detonated his 1990 car as police were changing shifts at Rahimawa station, according to the stationâs chief, Colonel Adel Ibrahim. Colonel Thamer Abdul-Masih said the bomberâs car followed policemen driving to the station in a Kurdish neighborhood and "ran into the last car in the convoy and exploded." US command in Baghdad said Iraqi police fired on the car but were unable to stop it. Police Chief Torhan Yousef said seven policemen and the bomber were killed and 52 people were wounded. The US military said 35 people were wounded. The blast devastated nearby buildings and injured civilians in a passing bus. "I fell on the floor of the bus," said Awen Aras, 11, as she lay in a hospital bed, her leg in a cast. "Everything was flying around me after I heard a very loud explosion. There was a big fire, and policemen carried me off the bus."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/24/2004 9:28:18 AM ||
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"This is a new sign of the Crusader hatred which Westerners harbour against Muslims while they boast of freedom, democracy and human rights," the voice, which sounded like previous audio tapes attributed to Zawahiri, said on the Dubai-based Al Arabiya. "France is the country of freedom which defends freedom to show the body, and to be immoral and depraved; in France youâre free to show yourself but not to dress modestly," Zawahri said. "This is a campaign planned by the Crusader Zionists with their agents in Egypt, Turkey and Tunisia and other Islamic countries," Zawahri said, in an attack on Muslim countries which have made moves to secularise their societies along Western lines.
Zawahri also cited Israelâs treatment of Palestinians, the US occupation of Iraq and detention of Muslims in Guantanamo Bay, where foreign terrorism suspects are held. "America has given itself the right to kill or detain anyone anywhere and to deport anyone to anywhere for any period, without anyone daring to ask why, who, where or until when," he said. "Atomic weapons are banned for everyone except Israel," he added, referring to US ally Israelâs presumed weapons arsenal. Banning the veil (in France) conforms with all these crimes and the moral and ideological hypocrisy of the Zio-Crusaders."
Seems like al-Qaeda's given itself the right to kill or maim any one anywhere, without daring to ask why. What'd they think we were gonna do? Shoot a missile at one of their camps?
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/24/2004 9:24:24 AM ||
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#1
Whenever this asshat starts bloviating, all I have to do is read this article and smile.
#3
"Atomic weapons are banned for everyone except Israel," he added, referring to US ally Israelâs presumed weapons arsenal."
Now really Mr Zawahri do you really think Islamic countries are able to hold this geni in check since you have so many "holy" jihads going on at once. Besides, I trust the Israeli's. I don't trust you. In fact, the worse mistake that could be made by ISLAM is detonating one of those nukes somewhere. How do you say burnt to a crisp when the US and Israel respond. It will happen sadly.
#6
Rawsnacks---OBL is out in the backyard, using his Master and Commander Spyglass⢠7x50s, watching SF types mucking about on distant ridges and mountain tops. Or maybe he is protein paste, but I do not think so.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/24/2004 21:39 Comments ||
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(2004-02-22) -- The new, more efficient, proxy election system in Iran allowed about 20 million citizens to cast ballots for hard-line conservative candidates yesterday without actually going to the polls or marking a ballot of any kind.
Under the proxy system, President Mohammad Khatami determines which candidates the electorate supports by consulting with a small group of leading Muslim clerics. The president then delivers a proxy ballot, on behalf of the voters, to an election official.
"It saves time, money and hassle," said Mr. Khatami. "The free people of Iran enjoy the proxy system because it allows us to have huge voter turnout, without the inconvenience of actually voting. We tallied 20 million votes, with no traffic jams, no long lines, no pesky decision making to trouble our people."
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
02/24/2004 9:21:23 AM ||
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And no hanging chads, with just a few hanging "reformers"...
A former Baath Party security chief suspected of financing anti-U.S. activities and working with top fugitive Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri was detained by U.S. soldiers, the military reported Tuesday. Khatan al-Anber was apprehended late Monday night during a raid by 4th Infantry Division forces in Baquba, Maj. Josslyn Aberle said. Al-Anber, the former security chief of Diyala province, is suspected of financing a terrorist cell in the city. Aberle said al-Anber had been providing logistics for al-Douri, the highest ranking figure still at large from the U.S. list of wanted people in the former regime of Saddam Hussein. Logistics, huh? Hope he kept records.
Al-Douri, the former vice chairman of the ruling Revolutionary Command Council and a member of Saddamâs innermost circle, is No. 6 on the U.S. most-wanted list. If he hasnât already died from whatever it was (cancer? heart?), heâll have to move, thinking al-Anber will give him up.
The Fedayeen militia that al-Anber was suspected of financing served as Saddamâs private army and was one of the groups believed to be behind the ongoing insurgency against the U.S.-led occupation authority. Nice catch.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/24/2004 8:54:40 AM ||
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Hope we get that Al-douri bastard alive, so that we can prolong his agony. ( he is suffering from leukemia by the way, could not have happened to a nicer bloke )
Posted by: B ||
02/24/2004 11:32 Comments ||
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#3
tick, tick, tick,
Each day, we round up another one, and that leads to two more, and that leads...
It's a slow, steady, wearing-away process - with the same capacity for effecting change as the Colorado River had on the Kaibab plateau. Eventually, there will be "no Little Indians" left, and Iraq can get on with rebuilding.
In the meantime, we're also weakening the threat we might face if (when) we go into Syria, Iran, and/or Saudi Arabia, taking the pressure off the guys in Afghanistan, and "destabilizing" the Wahabbi forces in the Middle East. It's going to be a long battle, and I pray to God we don't give up before it's over.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/24/2004 11:55 Comments ||
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#4
looks like old al-douri will be grassed up by this captured fella
EFL
Fashion in Afghanistan usually involves little more than throwing on a burqa before leaving the house. But two Americans are introducing Afghans to western ideas of womanhood by teaching them the finer points of applying lipstick. The eight-month Beauty Without Borders course run by Debbie Rodriquez and Patricia OâConnor is wildly popular. About 400 women queued around the block to sign up for about 25 places on a programme starting next week. It turns out the one of the few socially acceptable means for a woman to make a living in Afghanistan is by being a beautician. And the pay isnât bad by local standards. Got this story via Winds of Change.net
Posted by: Patrick Phillips ||
02/24/2004 8:52:51 AM ||
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Thanks, Patrick! What a great story!
Here's a shout out to my sisters in Afghanistan!
Wish I could send them all the many lipsticks I'm not using.
One of the most powerful pieces I saw on this was a film shown just after 9/11 on CNN called "Beneath the Veil," which showed the Afghan ladies wearing makeup under their burqas to spite the Taliban.
Some things are universal like the human quest for freedom and women wanting to look pretty.
I'm proud of these 2 American beauty warriors!
Many of the Afghan ladies are beautiful and won't need much enhancement.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
02/24/2004 12:19 Comments ||
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#5
Hey...I've got nothing against a little fun in matching lipstick and fingernails, but are they sure they want to borrow from western values of womanhood??? Our culture demeans motherhood, maturity and menopause and defines womanhood something like this:
if you don't look sexy, you might as well put on a burka.
Again - nothing against their explorations in sexuality, but maybe they might benefit in expanding their own ideas of womanhood, rather than copying a culture that defines it only in terms of youth, beauty and sex.
Posted by: B ||
02/24/2004 13:22 Comments ||
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#6
So.. something in a nice burnt sienna, infidel?
#8
raptor - well I have to agree with you raptor ...at least if you meant what I think you did...but maybe you were just saying you needed to use one ;-)
Posted by: B ||
02/24/2004 23:07 Comments ||
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#9
I simply meant now they can wear make-up,befor these women would have won a free all expense paid trip to the Soccer stadium.
Iran denied Tuesday it was allowing militants to cross its border into Iraq, saying allegations to the contrary from US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld only showed he was "incapable of understanding Iraq or the Middle East", a foreign news agency reported. Thatâs very "unhelpful" of them.
âIran has always worked towards security and stability in Iraq, which is important for security in the region as a whole,â foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said. Then his lips fell off...
âThe Islamic Republic of Iran will not allow any group to use its border to enter Iraq, and we will act against anything illegal,â he added. "ken u han be mi ips? âanks."
Asefi said it was âsurprising that the American defence minister is so incapable of understanding Iraq or the region.â Well, he sure knew what button to push.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/24/2004 8:35:19 AM ||
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#1
I understand it pretty well. A bunch of Turban wearing bomb throwing anarchists whose main source of idealogoy is an anti world religion.
#4
The Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi is rumoured to be traveling around with several sets of back-up underwear in his handbag, since learning of the comments made by US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld earlier.
#5
Yeah JT, No "sea of fire" or "dying at the gates of the city" needed. As my granpappy blue collar redneck said, (after smacking me on the back of the head) "Always mean what you say".
#8
"#2 Hamid Reza Asefi appears to be incapable of understanding Donald Rumsfeld or the United States. That is a potentially lethal form of ignorance." Understanding the idiot Rumsfeld is a potentially lethal form of ignorance for the world.
Posted by: Michael ||
02/24/2004 9:50 Comments ||
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#9
Asefi understands perfectly, as do the rest of the world's thugs.
They know that SecDef Rumsfeld, as the able head of the finest military on the planet of the globe's only hyperpower, means business when he speaks for the United States of America.
The "idiots" are the bad guys that continue to do their evil anyway (Ahem!) in spite of Rummy's heads up that they are surely doomed.
#10
#8 LOL! The "idiot" gets your shorts all in a bunch, eh? Wotta maroon.
Momsie and Popsie apologize to Fred & RB. We told the new Nanny that Michael was not to go "out" without his meds. He's very excitable -- and special, too.
#12
"Iran has always worked towards security and stability in Iraq, which is important for security in the region as a whole," foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said.
#13
Ya the GI's helping to rebuild at their own jeopardy, handing out clothing to kids wearing gunnie sacks, giving food. What does Rumsfeld or the US Armed Forces know of being human. Allah's religion is what they need. Bombings, killing, maiming. Ya that's the ticket.
[...]
For decades, that has largely been true. Ever since its rich reserves were discovered more than a half-century ago, Saudi Arabia has pumped the oil needed to keep pace with rising needs, becoming the mainstay of the global energy markets.
But the countryâs oil fields now are in decline, prompting industry and government officials to raise serious questions about whether the kingdom will be able to satisfy the worldâs thirst for oil in coming years.
Some you RBers know way more than I do about the Saudi oil situations but I think this is SA-funded PR, courtesy of the Gay Lady:
Itâs my understanding that the Saudi reserves are still huge.
Even if they werenât there are still plenty of other countries with reserves almost as big, one of which weâre occupying at the moment. (Wink!)
This is a "2-fer" for the Slimes: it stirs up pity(?) for the evil Sauds and manages to get in a few hits about Americansâ greed for oil and our "rape" of poor countries like SA who feed our rich, capitalist, oil-hungry lifestyles. (For shame, USA.)
Whatâs really in decline, methinks, is the Saudsâ grip on power and worse still, their oil revenues, which they must split an increasing number of ways amongst all the bazillions of members of the Saud family!
$100,000, 000 billion will only buy so many cousins of Crown Princes houses on the French Riviera with hot and cold running French hookers!
Posted by: Jennie Taliaferro ||
02/24/2004 8:16:53 AM ||
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Any oil field is in decline as soon as you start pumping from it. You abandon it only when the economics makes some alternative preferable. It's not time to shed tears for the poor Saudis. Their little welfare state will still be dripping with oil for many, many years to come. Unemployment and demographics is their problem. Idle hands are the devil's workshop. Of course, if we have to nuke the place, all bets on oil output are off.
Posted by: Tom ||
02/24/2004 8:33 Comments ||
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#2
Yes, its complete horses***t. The saudis have actively discouraged searching for new reserves, which they should have plenty of based on geology and previous experience with other oil provinces.
#3
I'm a programmer, not a petrofizzisist or other specialized oily creature. I once got paid to mangle modeling code -- and saw the input data. This latter item is my source of info. My info can be trumped by anyone who worked for Mobil in Reservoir Simulation during or after 1979 - or Aramco, once they took over their own sim code, whenever that occurred. Mobil was the developer of the Saudi Royal Model, so that's where this begins. As I said, I got a peek at the proven reserves of the 6 (at that time) Royal Saudi fields...
The terminology must be understood (and I'm sure others can explain it better... but I'll kick it off) to make sense of the numbers but, customarily, you can make the following assumption: "proven" reserves (there are other terms in use for those additional resources which are less certain; i.e. probable, possible, etc.) are quantities that are estimated to be recoverable using current (at time of estimate) technologies and if produced at current rate. Note: increasing prod rate may lower amt recovered overall. Since technology improves steadily, the "proven" number is usually conservative. On top of this, there are conditions wherein companies and countries understate or overstate their numbers - for financial and / or political reasons.
Okay, all of that said, I saw numbers in 1979 which indicated that, at the 1979 rates of prod, SA could continue production based on proven reserves alone for 120 years. This precluded other resource probability categories, any new resources located, new technologies which might yield a higher percentage return, and altered prod rates.
Several authoritative sources (Google yourself silly!), though varying on the numbers in a range of about 10%, seem to actually agree on a general theme: the world can sustain its oil economy until approx year 2100. This takes all of the obvious and not so obvious factors (trends of consumption, exploration, tech improvements, etc.) into account. Very likely true. And just about the last to be out of the game among current prod leaders will be the fields of Eastern Saudi Arabia.
I hope this muddies the water sufficiently so that someone who knows much more can come in and save the day with a simpler and more authoritative answer! My info is now about 25 yrs old! We're always in need of a hero! So c'mon down!
#7
I worked in the oilpatch a bit, in seismic data processing - again, back in the 1970's. I have to agree: it'll be generations after my grandchildren are dead and gone before the world runs out of oil, if then. One of the reasons the Greens want to lock up so much real estate against exploration and development is because they KNOW there are humongous reserves, enough to last generations. They want to force the world to get off its oil diet not because we're running out, but because of other items on THEIR agenda that we're not privy to.
Just to complicate matters, there is enough coal in Colorado (not to mention Wyoming, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Montana, Idaho, and elsewhere) to supply the WORLD with the current production of natural gas for 800 years (the conservative estimate). About half of it isn't profitable to mine, or is too risky (the entire southern half of Colorado has a coal seam about 500 feet thick - down about 26,000 feet).
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/24/2004 12:14 Comments ||
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#8
I'm more worried about the motivation than the reality of how much oil is in the ground. I'm seeing more and more clues out there that the Saudis are getting ready to use the oil weapon again. Not like 1973. But in graduated response mode. If they can slow down our growth enough, make us turn inward like in the 1970's that gives them time. Time for us to lose interest in Iraq. Time for Israel to become demoralized. Time for the "population weapon" to kick in. Plus the extra revenue helps keep the youngsters out of trouble at home, too.
Graduated response didn't work for McNamara and it probably won't work for the Saudis. But what other choice do they have? They can't let any more 9/11's happen or they get crushed. It's our growth (cultural and economic) vs. theirs (cultural [dawa] and population).
#12
Economically speaking, it will be harder and harder for SA to produce oil competitively. For instance, how will they keep pace with the Iraqis now that Sadaam is gone. Carrying a non-transparent despotic regime on their backs is an incredible disadvantage to Aramco.
Nucor had the same type of advantage when they set-up mini-mills to compete with Bethlehem and US Steel. How could the old steelworks compete against a young challenger that didn't have to bankroll the hierachy of the Steelworkers union?
Saudi Arabia is going to need the help of all Western Nations. If we don't get large amounts of free money headed towards Saudi Arabia, how will they continue to fund the crushed velure upgrade to the captains chairs in the fleet of Leer Jets. They might have to cutback on safety and preventative maintenance on their piping systems. Next thing you know we'll be asking them to stop exporting worldwide terrorism.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
02/24/2004 21:55 Comments ||
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#13
I seem to always get the headlines wrong. Must be reading too fast:
I read:
NY is tired of Saudis having oil fields...
Al-Qaida leader warns of new attacks
Usama Bin Ladinâs top aide, Ayman al-Zawahiri has warned the US of fresh attacks in a new audio tape aired by Aljazeera.
(I wonder how long Al-J had possesion of this tape before they decided to air it, last time it was at least two months)
In the tape aired on Monday, al-Zawhiri also lashed out at US President George Bush. Al-Zawahri accused Bush of misleading the world, spreading "fear"
(GOOD)
in the Middle East and appointing "corrupt" leaders. He has also denied Bushâs allegations of cracking down on two-thirds of al-Qaida network.
(We are as strong as we where on 9-11 our recent victories in the belly of the eagle prove, uhm, ehhh, never mind.)
In this audio tape, al-Zawahri has undermined the US claims of achieving freedom and security in the world. Shifting on to the Iraqi issue, the top aide has said Iraq was under the rule of an anti-Islamic secular governor (referring to Saddam Hussein) and is now under an anti-Islamic occupation. He then warned the United States of new attacks carried out by what he called "Death Brigades".
(Shudder)
In his audio tape, al-Zawahri referred to Bushâs State of Union Speech, which is normally delivered on 20 January, indicating that al-Zawahriâs tape was recently recorded.
I dunno. It'll be pretty hard for them to top the way they destroyed the United States on February 2nd...
Posted by: Evert Visser ||
02/24/2004 8:16:10 AM ||
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#2
Well, well. Fresh Attacks (were the old ones getting stale?)I am shaking in my boots. Don't you all remember the hundreds of thousands who died on 2/2/2004? Or was it 2/4/2004 or perhaps 2/15/2004...
Would you beleve 2/3/2004?
Unfortunately the media will play this as a 'serious' threat (Duck and Cover!). And we will need to take this seriously.
#3
thier credibility went out the window a long time ago,when i was sat at work earlier and this came on the radio my first and spontanious reaction was simply to laugh
#4
thier credibility went out the window a long time ago,when i was sat at work earlier and this came on the radio my first and spontanious reaction was simply to laugh
#5
Wow! It sure is great that you folks are so confident about Al Qaeda's complete lack of capabilities. I feel much better now. Nothing to worry about. Nope. I'm glad that those who work in our intel and defense organizations feel differently.
#8
whatever... I did say we need to take this (and all other threats) seriously.
But this alledged guy is blowing smoke out his ass again. He has been making these threats for months now. First it was Thanksgiving, then Christmas, then Feb 2nd, then Feb 4th.....
Every time this person makes a 'Dire Prediction' which falls through it proves that Al-Q is being beaten down.
#11
Usama Bin Ladinâs top aide, Ayman al-Zawahiri has warned the US of fresh attacks in a new audio tape aired by Aljazeera.
Wait a minute. The last promised attacks haven't arrived yet, so how does this guy get off issuing warnings of "fresh" attacks? Ohhhh, I get it - it's the promises that are fresh. Oooooookay.....
Pakistani forces have arrested a number of suspects in a major operation to flush out al-Qaeda and Taleban fighters near the Afghan border. "There are up to 20 people arrested, and there are some foreigners among them," army spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan told AFP news agency. The operation, mounted in Pakistanâs tribal belt, was now over, he said. Officials would not say if al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden or Taleban chief Mullah Omar were among the targets. US forces in Afghanistan have said they are stepping up the hunt for the two men, who are believed to be in the border area.
From dawn on Tuesday, hundreds of Pakistani soldiers backed by helicopter gunships swept through several villages in the deeply conservative South Waziristan tribal agency of North West Frontier Province. Reports say the soldiers blew up houses believed to be used as hideouts by foreign militants. A military statement said "weapons, ammunition and audio cassettes" as well as documents were recovered from the houses. "The arrests... confirm that some foreigners had been living there," Major General Sultan told the Associated Press. "We will not reveal the identity or nationality of any arrested man until the investigations are complete."
Pakistani intelligence officials said Bin Laden was not the immediate target of the current operation in the semi-autonomous South Waziristan region. But they hope to glean clues leading to his ultimate capture. The operation came hours after US President George W Bush pledged to hunt down al-Qaeda militants and just ahead of a visit by US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to Afghanistan later this week. About 500 suspects have been detained in Pakistan, and many sent to US military detention at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. Earlier this month, CIA chief George Tenet paid a secret visit to Islamabad to share information on the al-Qaeda leader, reports say.
But don't tell anybody, cuz it's a secret.
Pakistan has stationed tens of thousands of troops along the porous Afghan border to hunt al-Qaeda and Taleban suspects. The last time Pakistani forces were involved in a major crackdown in Waziristan, in October 2003, US helicopters patrolled the Afghan side of the border to stop suspects escaping.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
02/24/2004 8:15:17 AM ||
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"We will not reveal the identity or nationality of any arrested man until the investigations are complete."
#2
"We will not reveal the identity or nationality of any arrested man until the investigations are complete."
Or, in the case that bin Laden and Zawahiri have been captured, until the appropriate concessions vis a vis nuclear proliferation have been extracted from the US.
#3
I do believe Usama bin Laden is a genuine dumb ass.The abjectly stupid fellow attacked sovereign US territory abroad and lost his sanctuary in the Sudan.The dolt attacked the American homeland and lost his sanctuary in Afghanistan.Then the retard attacked General President Musharraf and is in the process of losing his sanctuary in Pakistan.THREE STRIKES and, God willing, the IDIOT is near death, or near captivity then death.
#4
Ive seen reports the captured included arabs, from Egypy, Yemen, Saudi, as well as Uzbeks and Chechens. So at least their grabbing AQ and not just Pashtun locals.
Probably just getting cannon fodder at this point. Their was sufficient advance notice for the higher ups to run. Possibly this was deliberate to get them to run into Afghanistan so they could be captured there by Americans, sparing the Pakistani govt embarrasment.
#5
I think Musharraf's plan is to round up all of the foreign al-Qaeda fighters and leave the locals alone. He can sell this to his hardline islamic opposition by saying; "Look, these outsiders attract too much attention. WE clean them out, the US is satisfied, loses interest in Pakistan, and you can go back to sending jihadis to Kashmir in peace. After all, these arabs don't care about Pashtuns, they're just using you."
And, he'd be right.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/24/2004 9:50 Comments ||
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From the thirty-five-page handwritten prison diary of Omar Saeed Sheikh
On July 26, 1994, I arrived at Indira Gandhi International Airport. My instructions were to spend the first night in some good hotel and then the next day call the two phone numbers I had been given. I was to ask for a "Farooq." Maulana Abdullah (a Harkat operative in Pakistan) had given me these instructions over the phone... Sultan (an accomplice) took me to a guest house in the Jamia Masjid bazaar area. After we checked in, Sultan became much more friendly. I asked him if Mr. Zubair Shah (the chief of my mission) had arrived, and he said not yet but he would soon.... He reminded me that the instructions they had received from Pakistan were that I was supposed to do the job I was sent for, namely kidnapping, and not interfere in what they were doing. ....
Nearing the end of August, I was told by Sultan that "someone has come â meet me tomorrow at Jamia mosque and weâll talk with him." I knew it must be Shah-Saab. ... "Your responsibility is the foreigners," he said. "Iâm pursuing the other channels also, but the people concerned wonât know about you and you wonât know about them. Remember, American first priority, then British and French"... The next day, I saw a foreign chap wandering about. I asked him where he was going. He said Dehra Dun, and I quickly made up my mind. So I said, "What a surprise! Iâm going there too!" and got with him on the bus. His name was Richard, and he was a British student who had arranged to teach at Doon School, Dehra Dun. By the time we got to Doon School, I had not only initiated a friendship; I had put forward the idea of spending time together touring India. I spent the night at Hotel Relax at Dehra Dun but failed to start up a conversation with the foreign couple staying there. ....
It was about the third week of September when Shah-Saab told me that he had finally managed to arrange a house in a remote area in Saharanpur where the neighbourhood was Muslim and undeveloped to the extent that it was unlikely to have an effective system of informers. When I saw the house, my heart sank. How the hell was I supposed to bring a foreigner all the way here? And unnoticed by the local people? Siddique was jumping up and down in joy and making little gestures with the pistols. Sultan beamed at me and said, "Like it?" ....
Shah-Saabâs next instruction was to hunt down an American. I set off for the YMCA. By evening I had established rapport with a chap I thought to be American and had told him about my village when to my annoyance I found out he was German. I was about to leave when an American joined in the conversation. The American, whose name was Daniel Skinner, had been teaching English as a volunteer and was leaving India because of lack of funds. I turned to him and said, "Hey, I need someone to teach English at my village school." I arranged to meet him a couple of days hence and confirm the details. When we spoke again, he agreed to accompany me the next day. ....
For my part, I thought, it was finally over, success or failure lay with Him above. Siddique and I wandered about the nearby roads and talked philosophically and not so philosophically. We talked about Afghanistan, Kashmir, Bosnia, and England. We talked about Shah-Saab and the other comrades and the great days we had had in India, the jokes that would be remembered for years to come. He told me about the girl back home he was engaged to, I told him about the one I wasnât engaged to. ....
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
02/24/2004 8:15:11 AM ||
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A question I ask a lot, but why are these pricks still alive?
At a memorial service marking the 26th anniversary of the terror attack on a passenger bus on Israelâs coastal highway, in which 37 Israelis were killed, Deputy Minister of Defense, Zeev Boim (Likud), said, âWhatâs wrong with Islam? Whatâs wrong with the Palestinians in particular that drives them to commit such horrific crimes? Is it a genetic flaw, a lack of culture or something beyond explanation?â
Posted by: SamIII ||
02/24/2004 8:09:07 AM ||
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What drives Palistinians to commit such horrific crimes? It is the result of CHARLES MANSON in the form of Yassir Arafat getting control over a few million people.
#2
Calling Zeâev Boim a "racist" for these remarks seems rather over the top. The questions he asked are legitimate and relevant.
After nearly a half-century of watching Palestinians and their atrocities, I've reached a point where I have an extremely difficult time even thinking of them as human beings. Frankly, whatever Israel decides to do about them is fine by me. And I mean, WHATEVER.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
02/24/2004 9:54 Comments ||
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#3
Over the top to be sure, contrasted with the slurs that Israelis endure continually from "enlightened" artiste wankers worldwide.
Posted by: Carl in N.H ||
02/24/2004 12:43 Comments ||
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#4
Well at least he didn't call them "descendants of pigs and monkeys".
Oh, that's right. That one's already taken. I think our Arab friends have it copywrited.
A tape recording attributed to Osama bin Ladenâs top deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, criticized Franceâs decision to ban Islamic headscarves in schools, and described it as "part of the Westâs campaign of hatred against Islam." ...
Yeah, yeah. And banning the kids wearing flip-flops to school is a part of the West's campaign against Vietnamese...
"Banning the headscarves in France is in line with burning villages with its inhabitants in Afghanistan, bringing houses down on the heads of sleeping Palestinians, with killing children in Iraq and robbing their oil using false pretexts ... (and) torturing [Muslims] in the cells of Guantanamo," the tape said.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
02/24/2004 7:57:49 AM ||
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Well, I guess we could try the latter and compare, if they insist...
Posted by: Dar ||
02/24/2004 8:24 Comments ||
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#2
I think the French should promote distinctive fashions. It will make it easier to see the dulution of their #@&%^($ culture by another ^%$&^* culture.
Posted by: Tom ||
02/24/2004 8:40 Comments ||
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#3
Chiraq's fruit harvested from decades of appeasement of radical Arabists, extreme Islamists and fanatical Mideast fascists turns to excreta. Now, his once good friends in al-Qa'ida have turned against him.
#4
Poor Jacques! He can't he'p it! He was just trying to make everyone happy...
Now, Osama's opened his can of hot-aired, aerosol Whoop Ass!
(Nice to see France, instead of the rest of us, take it in the culottes for a change!)
#5
IMHO, it appears that AQ is seething at the fact that more muslims don't jump on the jihad bandwagon with 'em. First they simply blamed "the west." Then, when muslims everywhere weren't shahid'in fast enuf, they try to drum up business by blaming Israel for all their problems (remember, AQ didn't talk much about Israel till AFTER Sept 11). So, when that didn't do the trick, it became France's turn.
And I love it. I love how dramatically and publicly France demonstrated and empathized with the arab experience, chastizing the USA for being bulls in a china shop. I love how, for years, France has attempted to cultivated positive relations with arab countries. And now, I love how beautifully this situation illustrates the futility of appeasement!!!
#6
He is an infidel afterall. Isn't it just soooo French? Once the Arab masses overrun the establishment, they will run around screaming, "Off With Their Heads".
#8
I'm surprised that AQ is making a big stink about this now. They have proven themselves to be nothing if not persistant and patient. They tried to bring the the WTC in '93, failed, learned from their mistakes, plotted, planted moles, and finally finished the job on 9/11.
Now, take a good look at France: Despite their being a western country, they take pretty much blanket anti-western positions in the U.N. They have an immense Arab and/or Muslim population ( I believe it's like 16% ), one that's growing exponentially because in the socialist utopia that France is, families that are not earning an income are subsidized (read : welfare) and supported by the government. The more children per household, the bigger the check. In just one generation, that 16% figure is going to be much, much larger, as will the size of that particular voting block, and then ...
#9
Al Quaida and their friends in Algeria, Afghnistan and Sudan have done all of this and more both to Muslkims and non-Muslims (although only the former is blamable for those hypocrit pigs).
Off Topic & EFL
A Dunedin bar is under fire for its "wifebeater Wednesday" theme night aimed at attracting students. You wanna startâum young. Breakâem in.
The promotion is based around a kiwiana slang term for an item of clothing - the black shearersâ singlet. Over several weeks the singlets will be given to students every "wife-beater Wednesday". All that build up for that. Some Kiwi sheep lovin shirt?
But police and womenâs groups say the theme is highly offensive. The Womenâs Refuge has called it an insult. Cheeze! Man canât have a tall frosty and sport his wifbeater without women getting all in a froth!
"It minimises the family violence, it minimises the impact on victims, it says itâs ok," says Annette Gillespie. But the pub owner said it was a sheep thing little lassie.
The pubâs manager Mat Hilton says itâs just a bit of fun. "Itâs not about wifebeating, itâs a wifebeater, the name of a singlet. We do not encourage domestic violence at all," says Hilton. Then his testosterone shot through the roof and sheep all over New Zeland could be heard being sheared.
Posted by: Dragon Fly ||
02/24/2004 7:20:11 AM ||
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FYI translation for everyone:
A "wifebeater" is an armless tee-shirt - you all know the type. They're more commonly called muscle-tees here.
#2
My, now 18 year-old, son and his friends have been calling these shirts "wifebeaters" for a couple of years now. None of the girls that hang around with them seem to mind, and my wife and I were surprised at the name, but not shocked (and no, I do NOT beat my wife!!!).
#3
Actually, they've been calling sleeveless t-shirts "beaters" -- as in "wife-beaters" -- for lo, these many years in Philadelphia. Must be one of those cultural universals.
Posted by: Jonathan ||
02/24/2004 9:29 Comments ||
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#4
good grief - the Islamist's are trying to acquire nuclear bombs to destroy civilization as we know it and make a woman's standing in the world less than a donkey's. Slavery exists in the Sudan, sex slavery exists worldwide, they hack of the breasts of nursing mothers in Africa and rape them.....and they get in a hissy fit over a bar having a tee-shirt promotion?
#6
Ah! Dunedin, New Zealand where the men are men and the sheep run scared!
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
02/24/2004 12:17 Comments ||
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A little "non PC" historical context here:
I have heard this term going back to the early 60's, and often as a subtle barb assigned to those of Italian decent (All you Dago's and WOP's know already know who you are!)
"Momma" would make "Papa" take off his good shirt because he would inevitably spill "gravy" (spagetti sauce) on it during the typical Italian American family dinner. After dinner Papa would continue to drink the homemade "Dago red" wine and sit around with the other men smoking cigars so the women had the priviledge of cleaning up all those pots and dishes they messed up making dinner!
Add a little more after dinner cheer and even the kids knew it was time to stay clear of the old man... which sometimes progressed to the reason the shirt became known as the "wifebeater"...
The Irish didn't have a shirt named for them... they were just known as "mean drunks"
#10
We grew up in upstate NY calling them "wife beaters" but when I lived in Chicago, the guys (even Italians) called them "dagotees" (Dago Tee's). Took me a while to figure out what that meant.
#11
I am anti-PC as the next Rantburger, but lets use some common sense. This just makes things harder on us overweight sloppy couch potatos that drink a lotta of bear. Use an acronym or something - maybe WB or something.
It's hard to take the morale anti-PC free-speech highground in protecting icons like the name Cleveland Indians when they decide to bring back the red-face cartoon indian, Chief Wahoo for their mascot and official logo - even the resteraunt Sambos wasn't that stupid.
Let's simplify things for Mucky.
Good Name - Seminole. Stupid Name - Redskin.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
02/24/2004 21:33 Comments ||
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EFL
An American National Guardsman serving in Iraq was castigated for writing a letter supporting President Bush, with one critic suggesting that he did not exist but was a fictional character dreamed up by the administration. Fictional in the minds of cowards, yes.
Spc. Joshua Madsen, 26, of Indian Harbor Beach, Fla., is serving as a rifleman with Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 124th Infantry. Hoorah!
He is stationed at a base called The Combat Outpost in the eastern section of Ar-Ramadi, one of the toughest parts of the Sunni Triangle of Iraq, and has dodged explosions and bullets on patrol, according to the St. Augustine Record. Once...
Madsen, in civilian life a Brevard County firefighter, set off a minor firestorm when he wrote to his wife, Rachel, expressing his support of President Bush and his Iraq policy and asking her to share its contents with his veteran friends back home. Twice, two times a hero... Mobythe Dick, 39, told his boyfriends fans: "In an earlier e-mail, I mentioned fake letters that the Bush administration sent to local newspapers around the U.S. These letters supposedly came from soldiers in Iraq, but the truth is they were generated by the Bush administration. I think youâll agree with me that Bush and his cronies have reached a new low in distasteful and despicable behavior. This letter has made me despise the Bush administration more than I ever thought possible. It is utterly disgusting." Then his testosterone level dropped... oh, wait. He has none! Say, Spc. Madsen, what do you have to say to the buttweevil?
Madsen heard of this and fired back at Moby: "At first, I couldnât believe it," he said. "I was appalled. What was he saying, that a soldier couldnât write a letter like that? I responded with a letter to my wife to forward to him." And Moby the Dickâs response...?
Of course Moby has not responded, nor has he posted the letter, nor has he recanted his ridiculous statement regarding a patriotic soldier. There is more. See here.
Posted by: Dragon Fly ||
02/24/2004 7:09:00 AM ||
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#1
Lack of beef is making you stupid, boy! Eat a burger and STFU.
#2
I'm not surprised coming from the left. It is a despicable vile act by cowards. I guess the far left can't get it through their heads that most of us Love President Bush.
#4
Should we start a pool on when the left starts either spitting on returning soldiers or calling them "baby killers"? Or does Kerry's lead in the primaries mean that's already happening?
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
02/24/2004 8:18 Comments ||
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#5
The latter one RC. He helped sabotage us in Vietnam and they're hoping he'll do the same in Iraq.
Posted by: Charles ||
02/24/2004 8:42 Comments ||
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RC: Don't know about you, but if I see some scum spitting on any returning soldier, it'll be MY turn to defend THEM. An assault charge is a small price to pay in thanks for service...
#8
With a FORMAL DECLARATION OF WAR from the US Senate, emergency provisions would allow subversives to be ordered held in concentration camps for the duration.
#11
Moby you can get stomped by Obie,
you 39 year old bald headed fag blow me
You don't know me,
you're too old let go
its over, nobody listens to techno
#12
Maybe Andy Rooney, Michael Moore and Moby can all sit on a claymore. Don't want to waste a good weapon on just one mentally deranged liberal. Michael Savage is correct...liberalism is a mental disease.
#13
I support Dubya with all of my heart. If he nukes the entire middle east I will support him. Even as stupid and corrupt as he is he can see the way to do things: make the rich richer and let the middle class pay. I am rich and I benefit from his policies and the hell with the bleeding hear liberals. Get It On Dubya!!!
#14
Troll alert!
Between their offerings to unseat the popular and successful President Bush of John F'n Kerry, the flipping Fonda fan, John Edwards ("Only my hairdresser knows for sure.") and Ralph Nader (Not like a Dem or Pubby! Whatever.), they're just so bitter.
#16
Come on KTM, sarcasm should contain an element of humor. A pun, word play or even downright silliness is appropriate. You receive an "A" for spelling and grammar; a D- for content.
#19
We really shouldn't be too hard on trolls, lefties and Dims in general. After all they have given us John Fonda Kerry. Who else could lead our troops and nation in a full fledged retreat from their duties and obligations? They have no honor.
Mo-byProper n.
1. fictional "great white whale" of the classic sea novel Moby Dick (1851) by Herman Mellville (1819-91)
2. alleged singer-songwriter (b. 1965) of techno-disco-style music, responsible for such audio atrocities as "Southside" and "We are all Made of Stars;" still at large as of publication date of this volume
Posted by: Mike ||
02/24/2004 13:49 Comments ||
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#27
I'm still in the middle of writing the lyrics to Mall Fair Lady it's a musical about an undereducated K-Mart shopper with a thick southron accent but with social ambitions.....
#29
Excellent examples of Rantburgian sarcasm and satire all. KTM, please write "My sarcasm will contain humor" 100 times during recess tomorrow. Class dismissed.
Travel firms, with expatriates galore, are the next priority. EFL and clarity.
Saudi Arabia has begun enforcing new rules, which ban foreigners from working in its lucrative jewelry trade. Inspectors began visiting shops in Riyadh, the capital of the kingdom, on 21 February, closing down some, which still employed foreigners. The 6,000 or so shops which make up the gold and jewelry business have about 20,000 foreign staff, mostly from Yemen and South Asia.(Mostly Indians see related story.) More than two thirds of Saudi Arabiaâs population is under 30 and unemployment is soaring to 20% or more. The government fears the jobs situation may be making extremism more attractive to Saudi young people. The ever-increasing numbers of school and university graduates flooding onto the job market are the catalyst for the governmentâs âSaudisationâ policy. The policyâs intent is to gradually replace many of the 6-7 million foreign workers with Saudis. The process has thus far been slow, with some businesses saying the Saudi education system is failing to produce people with the skills they need. Too busy teaching âotherâ subjects, no doubt.
Despite its oil wealth, Saudi Arabia harbours considerable poverty. For years the royal family, with its hundreds of princes and their entourages, has used oil revenues as their personal funds - although the largesse has also been liberally spread throughout the population. Rapidly-increasing public debt has cut into the ability of oil money to create jobs. As .com has often mentioned, Saudis are more capable of âoccupyingâ management positions than performing work. (Thatâs what expatriates are for.) If these young graduates are to sell and trade, maybe this will work, but if it entails the manufacture of jewelry, Iâd be skeptical.
Posted by: GK ||
02/24/2004 1:01:42 AM ||
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#1
so effendi--you want me to wait on you?--hokay--you wait right there--i'll be back after koran recitation and falconry--see you in a few days
Posted by: SON OF TOLUI ||
02/24/2004 1:22 Comments ||
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I'm in tears. 20% unemployment and they need to occupy the jewelry trade. Artsy bunch. Zionist!
Riyadh Governor Prince Salman bin Abdul Aziz initiated the construction of a new leisure resort set to cost over $650 million. The resort will also receive about $26 million from the government, which also provided the land, over a five year period on infrastructure. The new resort, located 30 miles northeast of Saudi Arabiaâs capital, will feature a safari park, a car racecourse, an aviation club, a nature museum and a theme park when completed. Wymin days are Tuesday and Thursday, if they can arrange to get there. Saturday, Sunday and Wednesday are reserved for myn. Friday is family day.
Prince Sultan bin Salman secretary general of the Supreme Tourism Commission said the suicide bombings last year did not affect tourism since it does not depend on foreign tourists. He also said that domestic tourism would rise within the next two decades within Saudi Arabia. HMMmmm. Thought they were going to grow the foreign tourist trade.
Posted by: GK ||
02/24/2004 12:54:50 AM ||
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Domestic tourism? Yeah, you bet. Disney saudi style. Bow down here. And again here, yes. Very good. And here also, you must bow. Now go, have fun, yes frolic, now bow down. So very good! Soda 2.50 each.
#2
i wonder where the cash for the $10,000 dollar a week blond eurohookers is buried in the budget--probably under infidels/blond/arab needle dick arbitrage
Posted by: SON OF TOLUI ||
02/24/2004 1:16 Comments ||
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#3
SOT. If your going to account for the shit. Thats the way to do it.
#4
Hey, the Muslims will love it. Just cuz we think it's wacked won't affect their intended market. "If we build it, they will come." Is that the line? But, due to the Shari'a declarations against representations of certain types of figures, I have the sneaking suspicion that they won't have a Snow White roaming the park... ;->
#5
I look at it a bit differently. If, say, once again some Saudi group of youths lose control of themselves and go molesting the wymin, they could always blame Snow White and be found not guilty.
Posted by: Rafael ||
02/24/2004 2:43 Comments ||
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The seven dwarfs, poor guys, for all the years they lived with her, never even got to see her face (to tie it all in with yesterday's jawdropper thread :).
#8
Will women get to drive bumper cars, or is that illegal too?
Posted by: Lil Dhimmi ||
02/24/2004 9:49 Comments ||
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#9
Not if it's in Riyadh, unless Fahd stops drooling long enough to issue a decree. Abdul Aziz issued unique rules regards Aramco Camp - the original housing area for the infidels that made them rich - but these applied ONLY within the camp in Dhahran.
#10
Me thinks that the Tragic Kingdom is falling in line with the State sponsored EuroFun(TM) era of Volks Marches, Oktoberfests,and the such that were so popular during the days of the Wall. Had a great time in Europe back then, though things seemed a little staged. Question; how do you get 5 million Europeans to clap all in unison for 10 minutes? Climb to the top of the tallest mountain in Bavaria, hoist up a 1 litre Beer, and chant "PROST!! Olay, olay olay olay,Olayyy, Olayyyy!!!" Attention all Subjects of the Baden Wuertenburg region, Attention! You are too report to the Bier Tent Immediately! Just funnin' TGA!
#11
Step right over here for the Grenade throwing at the school bus painted with the Star of David. When done go to our next attraction- blowing up vehicles with your own remote control. After that there is the ever popular stoning pit. And to whet your whistle the grand finale-you too can launch a rocket at the infidels and they won't shoot back area.
#13
you all are making like this is funny when it not. this can be a good idea for meking less terrorists. you have to realize the arabis dont have any outlet for fun in there country. they cant even look at a godd piece of ass or watch tv or go to the movie or listen to hip hop or anything. you be mean spirit to if you have nothing to look atr but sand and alla all day and wash the camel. maybe this park will give them some happines in there life and there be less terrorism.
#15
muck - You don't know diddley-squat about it, so stop flapping your gums keyboard.
There are small "carnivals" (small Ferris Wheel, & other typical rides) set up in high foot-traffic areas of cities along the Gulf shore, such as Al Khobar & Dammam in the Eastern Province. I've read about similar in Jeddah along the ocean walks there. Not sure about Riyadh, but why not? Also there are city "parks" with the usual monkey-bars, slides, etc.. There are other venues, such as theme restaurants and similar and picnic emplacements along the Gulf / ocean shore - with refreshment outlets & sundry. This stuff is particularly geared toward children - so for family activities there is some measure of "entertainment" available.
For adults there are coffee shops, restaurants, and shopping - including limited-selection book stores and music stores. The inventory is heavily censored - nothing like buying an Enya CD and finding the CD cover has been bathed in 10 layers of black marking-pen ink so you can't see her shoulders or bare arms. Never bought a Britney item, but I can imagine it was completely blacked out.
The tough one is the adolescent - young adult segment. Officially and in tough social circumstances, they are not allowed contact. In practice / slightly more liberal areas (such as Al Khobar), however, they have a venue uniquely theirs: the mall games. In Al Khobar, and I'm sure this varies according to the architecture and imaginations of the kids, the Rashid Mall is the place. It is a 3-story structure. The girls & young women go up to the 2nd and 3rd levels in the central atrium and drop pieces of paper to the boys / young men down below on the 1st floor. Looks like a snowstorm when the place is packed. I have no idea how they handle the misfires, heh. The info runs the gamut from tease to name to cellphone number. I know this because of a Saudi "friend" who was having trouble with his 15 yr old son and asked me for some advice. It all started when he got him his own cellphone and...
You can work the rest out yourself: tons of talk with almost no action - until the males have the means (good job and ready cash) to get hooked up in some arrangement. This can range anywhere from early 20's to mid 30's. That's a looong time to go without hetero hoochie.
There's more about Saudis raised elsewhere, such as America, going back to SA to get a subservient pet married. Those darn American girls are too smart and independent - so many go home to buy their dog. Much much more where this came from - I knew a lot of Saudis and heard a lot of their stories while outside smoking with them.
The Center for the Prevention of Genocide has confirmed the arrest of tribal leaders in Darfur by the Sudanese government. In a clear case of minority and political oppression, the leaders were arrested in the town of Nyala following their meeting with representatives from USAID. A Sudanese government official confirmed that the detainees are being held indefinitely. The arrests occurred after Sudanese Fur tribe representatives met with US officials to provide first hand accounts of the genocidal violence and humanitarian crisis in Darfur. Among the detainees is Mr. Salah Eldin Mohamed Fadul, the Acting Sultan of the Fur tribe.
No source on this...
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
02/24/2004 12:55:20 AM ||
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Sudan looks like it's the perfect place to field test those MOAB weapons (after we take out the Soviet-supplied air defences). No government is better than the bunch of lunatics running the place now.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/24/2004 10:46 Comments ||
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U.S. forces investigating allegations of mistreatment of Iraqi detainees at a prison west of Baghdad have suspended 17 soldiers including a battalion commander and a company commander. Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, commander of ground forces in Iraq, last month ordered an investigation into reports that prisoners had been abused at Abu Ghraib, a jail which was notorious during Saddam Husseinâs rule and which is now run by U.S. forces. The Army gave no details of the alleged abuse. On January 5, the U.S. Army said three soldiers had been discharged for abusing Iraqi prisoners of war at another detention camp.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
02/24/2004 12:49:14 AM ||
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which is why we need to bring in turkish prison guards--midnight express anyone
Posted by: SON OF TOLUI ||
02/24/2004 4:25 Comments ||
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After a year of hearings and depositions, lawyers for Zimbabweâs government and its main political opposition will begin closing arguments on Tuesday in Harare, the capital, in a curious treason trial. The leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, Morgan Tsvangirai, is charged with plotting to assassinate President Robert Mugabe. The evidence, a videotape in which Mr. Tsvangirai is seen relishing the prospect of power in a post-Mugabe era, is said by the government to be unimpeachable. The authors of the videotape, however, are anything but. One is Alexandre Legault, an American who disappeared last year after being sought for extradition on charges that he masterminded a $13 million swindle in Florida. The other is his business partner, Ari Ben-Menashe, a self-professed former Israeli intelligence agent who was described in a United States Congressional report in the 1980âs as a talented liar. Operating as Dickens & Madson, a Montreal-based consulting firm they had taken over, the two men struck a $100,000 deal with Mr. Tsvangiraiâs party in 2001 whose purpose is at the core of the trial.
Mr. Tsvangirai has insisted in court that his party hired the firm to lobby for its interests in the United States. His supporters say he was duped: that Dickens & Madson was running a sting operation for Mr. Mugabeâs authoritarian government, seeking to entrap Mr. Tsvangirai. Court records show that Dickens & Madson received $615,000 from Zimbabweâs government in the period surrounding their covert videotaping of Mr. Tsvangirai. What the five and a half hours of tape says depends in large part on defining the word "kill." In court, Mr. Tsvangiraiâs lawyer, George Bizos of Johannesburg, argued that Mr. Ben-Menashe ambiguously referred only to the "elimination" of Mr. Mugabe. Mr. Bizos also argued that up to 30 percent of the video tape is illegible or inaudible. The most damning parts show Mr. Tsvangirai stating, "We can now definitely say that Mugabe is going to be eliminated," and speculating that afterward the government, the Movement for Democratic Change and the army should work together.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
02/24/2004 12:46:27 AM ||
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By Dr. Anthony H. Cordesman
SAUDI-US RELATIONS INFORMATION SERVICE A cup of coffee and snacks are recommended when reading the full analyses. Only lead paragraph of each part is posted here.
This (three part) analysis addresses the short-term stability of Saudi Arabia in 2004 and the steps the Kingdom must take in the mid and long-term to ensure its stability and development. The resulting risk assessment sees little immediate threat to the Kingdomâs stability, notes it has taken substantial steps to deal with terrorism, projects a good economic forecast for 2004, and describes a continuing process of economic reform.
At the same time, it makes it clear that Saudi Arabia has only begun a process of counter terrorism and reform that must continue for years to come and that it must sustain such reform to remain stable and meet the needs of its people. A detail list of near and long term issues and problems is provided with special attention to economic and demographic issues.
[Part I] Reducing the Threat of Terrorism
One must be careful about overreacting to current events in Saudi Arabia, both in terms of terrorism and economics. The Kingdom has both short and long-term problems it must come to grips with. It must do more to fight terrorism, and it will not have another boom year like 2003 or experience any sustained reduction in its need for economic and social reforms. The regime, however, is scarcely at risk and short-term economic prospects remain good. This has several major impacts for U.S. and Western policy
[Part II] The Saudi Economy in 2003 and 2004
The best forecasting of the Saudi economy in recent years has come from Brad Bourland of the Samba Financial Group. His forecast for 2004 in no way indicates that Saudi Arabia can afford to slack off on economic reform, but it also indicates that forecast oil revenues will create an economic climate favorable enough to have a stabilizing effect
[Part III] The Issue of Political, Economic, and Social Reform
The fact that Saudi Arabia has time is particularly important because it is in the process of significant political, economic, and social reforms. These reforms are still moving much too slowly â a grim reality that affects every country in the Arab world. At the same time, Saudi performance during 2003 is striking in that reform continued in spite of a massive increase in oil export revenues. During the year, Saudi Arabia sustained a process of reform that had begun to sharply accelerate shortly after Crown Prince Abdullah became the de facto leader of the government.
Posted by: GK ||
02/24/2004 12:43:49 AM ||
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#1
Sorry, GK, but I don't trust the source site nor have I agreed with Cordesman on several occasions in the past when ABC News has used him as an expert. He got almost everything wrong during the Iraq War, for example. I think he's a paid Saudi apologist. He is very quick to credit them - and very slow on the negatives. The site is an arm of the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations -- and, I believe, yet another slick Saudi PR effort which has greased more palms in the US that Exxon has little ball bearings. As I've said before, I call it Friction Management.
From the article: "It should be stressed that this chronology is drawn from Saudi government sources, although the broad factual nature of each event has been confirmed with U.S. experts. It does put the best face on many measures and exaggerates the degree to which they have been implemented to some extent. The Saudi government has also understated the level of arms and explosives flowing into the country in many of its official statements, although Saudi officials are much more frank on a private level."
Apologies, but it's my take on these guys and on Cordesman - I just don't trust or believe either.
#2
. com, it's always good advice to have the salt shaker handy when reading anything that uses lotsa green banners or green ink.
For example Cordesman leads Part III with "The fact that Saudi Arabia has time is particularly important because...." I'm not sure that S.A. (i.e the Saudi family) has that much time.
Also, part III lists law after law that S.A. has adopted in attempts to reform, but when it came to human rights (Oct 2003)it seemed to be more of a suggestion. Much of which is contrary to Islam teachings, but sounds good to the American ear.
Until your 40km plan is implemented we need to watch what is going on through our Rantburg bullshit filter.
#3
GK - Re: having a cow lick handy...
Lol! Amen, bro. I got the feeling, reading it through again this morning, that you were baiting us - daring the RB crowd to dump on Cordesman! But either way - tons of stimulating goodies in there!
One of the major things that galls me about the assumptions underlying the report content is that everything hinges on OPEC's ongoing rape of Western economies. $27-$36 bbl? WTF? If we weren't paying this exhorbitant price (just a 15% reduction would be a huge boon to the entire world economy) life would be a helluvalot better! Hell, even Phrawnce would have a snowball's chance of pulling out of its nosedive.
So many factors like that kept pulling me away from his themes and assertions. Grrrr. Good thing there was no one around to hear me cuss it as I read it! This is "fun" stuff - and I'm glad you put it out there for discussion. During run-up and during the war I watched Jennings almost fellate Cordesman on the air - really disgusting display of softball queries and Royally-acceptable PR responses... You could say I've had a thing for Cordesman ever since... sorry to pounce on your post!
My guesstimate: Royals will last between 2-5 more years before clerics / crazies send them packing - assuming no increases in Iranian-based AlQ fueding with Nayef and that he's actually in control of the Wahhabist imams. Funny to consider that we can extend the Royals' tenure dramatically if we tip over the Black Hats, too, removing the only real external threat other than the US to Royals... and that may happen by 2nd - 3rd Qtr 2005, IMHO. So many factors, so few neurons! I need more processing power - no surprise to you (and others, heh!) I'm sure!
#4
It must do more to fight terrorism, and it will not have another boom year like 2003..
lol, al-Qaida Mission Statement? Making every year a boom year!
Posted by: john ||
02/24/2004 12:29 Comments ||
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#5
.com,
I'm all for destabilizing the Saudi government in 2005, preferably with two Marine and two Army divisions, backed by naval and air support.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/24/2004 15:36 Comments ||
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#6
OP - Agreed! I think tipping the Black Hats will be quite economical, in terms of boots - they're digging their own graves rather well, IMHO. In Saudi, the forces you describe would be overkill, bro! You could take the strip with the Colo Nat'l Guard and some local Boy Scouts, heh. '-)
For all the legitimate criticism that can be made of the corruption of politicians like Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, the Army has virtually taken over Pakistanâs economy, and the Generals have been siphoning off billions for officers to retire on for decades.
Besides ruling Pakistan and controlling its nuclear, defense and foreign policies, the military is also that countryâs largest and most profitable business conglomerate. This is at least part of the reason why its stranglehold over the countryâs politics and its vested interests in the nationâs continuous militarisation, will not cease. Pakistan, it is useful to recall, expends over a third of its annual budget on the Defense, and its military has historically defined the countryâs direction and destiny through periods of both democratic and military rule, to the detriment of civil governance. Today, nearly 1,200 serving and retired military officers - mostly from the army - run a web of banks, transport, road building, communication and construction businesses worth billions of dollars, which comprise the Armyâs commercial empire. More specifically, the âFaujiâ or soldier foundations also own and operate a private airline, countrywide transport corporations, hundreds of educational institutions, power plants, steel, fertilizer and cement factories, and even produce consumer goods like sugar, electronic items and breakfast cereals. Some of these commercial operations have also been directly involved in gun-running and drug smuggling, generating huge hidden resources for Pakistanâs campaigns of terrorism and subversion in Afghanistan and India.
Security sources disclose that personnel drawn from these Foundations worked with the Inter Services Intelligence Directorate (ISI) and the extremist Islamist organizations training, arming and motivating Mujahideen cadres to fight the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan through the 1980âs. A few years later they raised and installed the Taliban in Kabul, providing the Islamic militia financial and logistic support till it was displaced by the US in 2001. Analyst Satish Kumar who edits Indiaâs National Security Annual Review said the Pakistan Army is not only the largest real estate owner, but also the countryâs âbiggestâ commercial player. "It is not just a defense force, but a ruling class oligarchy with substantial economic interests to safeguard," Kumar stated, adding that it is unlikely that the military will relinquish this role in the foreseeable future.
Who gives up significant swag unless forced?
Military juntas have ruled Pakistan directly for more than for half its life after independence in 1947, appropriating large tracts of hugely expensive urban land at throwaway prices to establish grandiose housing colonies. Pakistanis joke that if every serving and retired military officer protects his own property, their country would be one of the best defended in the region.
The Armyâs business interests broadly fall into three categories: those controlled directly by the Chief of Army Staff; the formalized military sector, like ordnance and state-owned armament factories managed by the defense ministry; and the four âcharitable trustsâ (Fauji Foundations) that operate autonomously like private corporations in which serving and former Servicemen run factories and manufacturing units producing a range of goods and services. The first group includes the National Highway Authority (NHA) and Frontier Works Organisation (FWO), each headed by a two-star General; and the Special Communications Organisation amply supported by the Signal Corps and the National Logistics Cell that operates a significant, if seldom discussed, country wide trucking operation.
The Logistics Cell is possibly the armyâs most profitable operation. Established by Pakistanâs former dictator, General Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq in the late 1970âs, the Cellâs trailer trucks would pick up armaments and ordnance, including assault rifles and Stinger missiles, the Soviet Unionâs eventual bete noire in Afghanistan, from the southern port city of Karachi. These convoys ferried their lethal cargo to the North West Frontier Province and neighbouring Balochistan, bordering Afghanistan, to Mujahideen groups fighting the Soviet Army. After 1996, this massive fleet of trucks, controlled mostly by Pashtun tribesmen, was effectively used by the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) Directorate to supply the Taliban with weapons, fuel and food. The trucks and their plucky drivers played a major role in establishing Taliban control, an operation that has been only sparsely documented. Intelligence sources said these trailers also transported heroin from numerous laboratories in several of the tribal Agencies along the Pakistan-Afghan border to various cities like Karachi, from where the narcotic makes its way to the West. Pakistani sources reveal that the heroin-loaded convoys were provided unprecedented security and were rarely, if at all, checked en route.
But the Fauji or Solider Foundation, the largest industrial conglomerate with an annual turnover of $500 million and profits of over $41 million is the âjewelâ in the Armyâs crown. Headed by a three-star General, it provides âwomb to tombâ facilities for nearly nine million retired servicemen that include re-settlement and re-employment schemes in military-run cement, power, fertilizer and sugar factories. It also grants retired soldiers land in villages along the line of control (LoC) strung across Pakistanâs eastern frontier with India, providing the disturbed region with a trained reservoir of manpower in the event of hostilities. Having retired soldiers in the border regions also makes it easier for the Pakistani Army to infiltrate armed militants across the LoC into Kashmir to fuel the ongoing insurgency. Most of the Jihadi training camps across the country are operated by retired officers, especially those from Pakistanâs SSG special forces. The retired soldiers are also given land in strategic areas of Baluchistan and Gilgit, which is why those underpopulated areas with seperatist leanings have now become Pashtun/Punjabi majority areas. The Chinese do the same with settling their retired soldiers in Tibet and Xinjiang.
The Army Welfare Trust, managed by General Headquarters (GHQ), employs around 6,000 former soldiers and runs the Askari Commercial Bank, one of Pakistanâs most profitable Banks. Like his predecessors, the Chief of Army Staff General Pervez Musharraf who also doubles as President, heads the Bankâs governing board, which comprises senior officers. The Trust runs around 25 other projects worth around $354 million. Former Pakistan Air Force officers run the 26-year old Shaheen Foundation, with an annual turnover of Rs. 600 million, that operates Shaheen Airways, the countryâs profitable and only âprivateâ airline. Naval officers are in-charge of the Bahria Foundation that manages around 20, mostly civilian, projects also at great profit. This is, at least in part, why the Pakistani Army is reluctant to make way for a civilian administration. Its economic and, by extension, political interests lie in perpetuating the bazaar they control. Beyond internal supervision, moreover, there is no public accountability for the moneys the Army controls. Worse, private enterprise and overseas investment is also hostage to military diktats. Prime land and jobs for retired officers are starting to run out, causing more dissension within the ranks than Musharaffâs pro-American policies. As a result, the Army is putting pressure on businesses to hire ex-officers to executive positions. The army has also been buying government land at below market rates, and then giving them to Generals and Brigadiers. This has lead to clashes between landless tenants and paramilitary units in places like Okara Farms.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
02/24/2004 12:41:54 AM ||
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#1
Got'a love the rank and file. After the trenches nothing is the same!
#2
jeez--have any smart wall street or silicon valley honcos tapped the pak army or chinese army for venture capital investments--forget time and newsweek--musharoff should be on the cover of fortune
Posted by: SON OF TOLUI ||
02/24/2004 1:31 Comments ||
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#3
Actually quite a bit of budget for building and planning in a lot of third world countriesplants/factories/whatever includes "goverment fees and dues" (or whatever variant of this term) which is basically another way of saying they are bribes. This usually pays for everything from having the government ignore ya so you can work in peace, but also to be allowed to sell your products often enough. In China for instance the biggest holder of factories and other major industries is the military as well. In a way this military involvement in buisness life is little better than calling it another mafia but with better guns.
#5
So I wonder what the annual revenue breakdown is for:
1) US Aid that gets siphoned off
2) Saudi aid that gets siphoned off
3) Taxes and bribes paid by legitimate businesses
4) Revenue from the sale of nuclear materials and plans
Would it be fair to say that without US and Saudi money, Pakistan would be a total basket case, except for the dope trade?
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/24/2004 14:07 Comments ||
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From the Spectator, registration required
Reposted as requested
âwants to make your flesh creep,â is the Fat Boyâs refrain in the Pickwick Papers. In Berlin last week, I was at a conference which the Fat Boy would have enjoyed. The subject was terror; the threat that weapons of mass destruction in terrorist hands would pose to the West, during the foreseeable future. One point impressed itself, instantly and forcefully. The proceedings were dominated by scientists, discussing anthrax, smallpox and chemical weapons in the most matter-of-fact manner. There was agreement that given the difficulty of acquiring plutonium or enriched uranium, the terrorist nuclear threat was still over the horizon. But as for all other threats, horizons contract and dangers close in. Everyone there seemed convinced of the inevitability of terrorist outrages.
Among the speakers, there was a recurrent contrast between the Americans and the British. When Americans were speaking, optimism kept on breaking through. It was as if they believed that there could be an answer, if only the authorities would find enough money. One American claimed that since 9/11, albeit including Afghanistan and Iraq, the federal government has spent $450 billion on security needs. He did not give the impression of regarding this as excessive. Indeed, it seemed as if he thought that another few hundred billion or so might provide an answer. All this gave one some insight into the reasons for the Bush administrationâs profligacy over the federal deficit.
By contrast, the British seemed prim, priggish â and realistic. Partly because we could not afford American levels of expenditure, there was a radically different emphasis. The Yanks wanted to outspend their foes; we preferred to out-think ours. We did not believe that we could drown them in gold.
We were also more pessimistic. One word, in a British expertâs presentation, seemed to summarise all this: resilience. The Americans gave the impression of believing that money could avert danger. The British had no such illusions. Our scientists of terror are working in a world in which everything is being done to counteract the threat. If the answer lay in vigilance, high technology and the practical applications of intelligence in both senses of the word, there could have been comfort in the Berlin proceedings. A lot of conscientious public servants are devoting their best efforts to protecting the rest of us.
But they would be the first to admit that this is not enough. Dispassionate academics, they did not want to assert more than they could prove, but their conclusions were inescapable. They expressed a breezy inevitability about the forthcoming onslaught. When it came to terrorism, the question was not whether but when.
Eliza Manningham-Buller, the director general of MI5, evidently agrees. In the gentlest possible way, she too has been trying to accustom her political masters to the inevitability of a major terrorist assault on the UK. Last Wednesday, I had lunch with an ambassador. I told him about the conference and the universal belief in not whether, but when. His reply was chilling: âYouâre the fifth person this week whoâs said that to me.â We looked out of a library window in St Jamesâs, across stucco and statues and the first spring blossom, to the towers of Whitehall and Westminster. We wondered if we were looking at a future slaughterhouse.
There are four reasons why we are exceptionally vulnerable to the new terror. The first is technological progress. With every passing year, it becomes easier to create terrible weapons. The second is hatred. For at least the next few decades, the Islamic world will produce very large numbers of fanatics who loathe the West and all its inhabitants. Reasons three and four follow on, and are closely linked. Most previous terrorist organisations had to acknowledge some restraining factors. ETA, the Basque separatist movement, was reluctant to kill large numbers of Basque civilians. The IRA suffered when it murdered women, children or ordinary Catholics. But this does not apply to Islamic terrorists. They regard the whole of the West as a free-fire zone.
If they should kill innocent Muslims, Allah will make amends once everyone arrives in Paradise. Moreover, unlike almost all previous terrorists, the Islamic zealots are happy to die. A ready availability of suicide bombers who are content to commit indiscriminate butchery among people whom they despise makes life hard indeed for the security services. Hence their grim and resolute pessimism.
Yet I thought that I had discovered one possible method of counterattack. In many countries, the illicit drug trade is the treasury of terror. The IRA and the Protestant paramilitaries both finance themselves from drug proceeds. So does al-Qaâeda. In Afghanistan today, German troops are protecting poppy-growers who merely want to live off the proceeds of the heroin traffic from the warlords who might plunder the poppy harvest in order to finance terrorists. According to a UN report published two years ago, the illegal drug trade has an annual turnover of $500 billion. Most of us distrust such rounded figures, but then again, most UN employees whom I have met are conscientious, hardworking individuals who would try to deal in facts rather than grotesque exaggerations. Anyway, even if they are overestimating by 100 per cent, a quarter of a trillion dollars would finance a hideous amount of terrorism and crime.
In 1939, confronting Europe, Britain faced a pair of dreadful adversaries. In moral terms, there was a strong case for arguing that Stalin was a worse leader than Hitler. But there was an even stronger case for insisting that the United Kingdom should not try to deal with too many enemies at once. Hitler was the immediate threat. It made sense, therefore, to ignore Stalinâs crimes and to do everything possible to appease him, preferably at other nationsâ expense.
When dealing with our latest foes, life is easier. We have to fight the terrorists, because they insist on fighting us. But as regards the drug dealers, there is no such necessity. We are not compelled to make war on them; it would be much easier to destroy them by legalising the drug trade on which their revenues depend.
The British government could not accomplish this on its own. If, in breach of several international conventions, we made it legal for adults to purchase drugs under strictly regulated conditions, this would have only a marginal effect on the illegal drug trade turnover. We would also be roundly condemned on all sides. But the logic of our position would be irresistible. Within 10 years of Britainâs deciding to legalise drugs, condemnation would give way to imitation.
I made those points in Berlin. Hardly anyone from the floor agreed with me. Afterwards, large numbers of fellow delegates came up to discuss the subject. Hardly any of them disagreed with me. They generally prefaced their remarks by saying: âI couldnât possibly say so in public, but Iâm glad someone had the courage....â
There is nothing admirable about taking drugs. Nor is there anything admirable about legalising the drug trade out of weakness. But we are weak: given the nature of the terrorist threat, and the difficulty of combating it, we are as weak in strategic terms as we were in 1939. We are entitled to limit our vulnerability and to shorten our front line.
We are not certain to defeat the terrorists, but we have to fight them. We have been fighting the drug traffickers for years, and are no nearer to defeating them. Let us therefore pick and choose our foes. By legalising drugs, we would make it easier to fight terrorists and we would increase our hope of winning, or at least of minimising our losses.
Posted by: tipper ||
02/24/2004 12:28:27 AM ||
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#1
Fun read. The whole "legal" thing is still a damned if you do and damned if you don't. Thats cool, planet earth. The real vs the ideal and all.
Remember, when you import free food. Local farmers are punked.
#2
I agree with the writer, but would go further and have widespread mandatory drug testing and compulsory rehab in prison like facilities. And if they are incorrigible and don't want rehab then maybe put them in secure facilities, like the lunatic asylums of old wher ethey wouldbe given their junk. It would do wonders for crime rates.
#3
This is a very calm sensible look at the situation - and thus chock-full of PC-unacceptable components -- today. I think this is one of those classics where a few years down the road everyone will accept these statements as tenets of fact - and obvious.
I wonder, as he and his fellow attendees do, how bad it will be. It is coming cuz they haven't stopped trying. It will be bad - one innocent life lost to the Izzoids is bad. A clarion call is needed to break us out of the gamesmanship between the LLL 9/11 deniers and the realists that has taken root. That call will be what it always is: us leaning into the next punch, all chin and no brains. So I agree, it's when, not if.
Taking the money away from them is, indeed, the best way to slow everything down. From the legalization of drugs to taking away that 40 km strip with the Wahhabists' oil.
The craziest part is human nature. The longer between attacks on targets in the West, the further back into their phantasy that it's all overblown they go. Success breeds opposition. Sigh.
#4
Alas, if the decadent West recognizes that there is a disparity between the price of production for agricultural commodities and the spot price for illegal drugs...they will drive the narcoterrorists out of business.
#5
"The Yanks wanted to outspend their foes; we preferred to out-think ours."
Cheeze, attitudes in old Blighty sure haven't changed since WWII...
While you're sitting there in your Thinkers pose thinking all the brilliant thoughts to be thunk, you won't mind if we unthinking Yanks get started on nailing these Islamofascist buggers before they can strike ?
pace phil_b, Jon Shep, Tony, Bulldog, et alia British Rantburgers...
Posted by: Carl in N.H ||
02/24/2004 12:39 Comments ||
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#6
We have to fight the terrorists, because they insist on fighting us.
This statement is the gem of the entire document. Unfortunately, the LLL refuses to accept this. They believe we can appease these flaming islamofascist murderers. If another serious strike does happen, I hope it happens in the center of the loony left enclaves, so we can get rid of the dead weight.
One major difference between the US and the UK approach is the size of our country. If the UK loses an area 50km in radius, it's an almost cripling blow to the nation, regardless of where it is. The US has the size and diversity to accept such a blow, work around it, and strike back with all the lethal force we possess.
Unfortunately, no one is immune to lunacy. Islamofascism is religious state-sponsored lunacy. In order to survive, we must force those who support this lunacy, as well as those that participate in it, to change, something they are unwilling, perhaps even incapable, of doing. If they refuse to change, or are incapable of changing, the only remaining alternative we have as a free people is to destroy them and the society that supports and encourages them. The faster we do it, the fewer lives will be lost on both sides.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/24/2004 12:44 Comments ||
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#7
No problem there Carl. I thought that comment was a bit daft too. Now, if we got rid of most of our welfare state, then we could 'spend like the Yanks too' (proportionally! :). Thing is, and I have to keep reminding RantBurgers of this, the government in power in the UK at the moment is a socialist government, with all that implies. They recently decided to drop the 'New' in 'New Labour', implying that the transformation from the old, leftist Labour party to the new, centrist Labour party was complete. Not a bit of it. Scratch the surface of a 'New Labour' supporter (bloody awful thought that!) and you'll find all the old Marxists and Troskyites lurking below.
Blair has done the right thing as regards the WoT. But domestically, he's a lame duck PM.
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
02/24/2004 14:14 Comments ||
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Mai Mai warriors have slaughtered some 100 civilians and seven military officers in southeastern Congo since January, often mutilating bodies and draining their blood, Congolese military officials said Monday. The killings near the town of Kitenge, about 435 miles north of the provincial capital Lubumbashi highlight the challenges for a 10,800-strong U.N. peacekeeping mission deployed in the Democratic Republic of Congoâs lawless east.
Somehow I don't normally equate being slaughtered and having my blood drained after my body's been mutilated with a "challenge." I might find a stronger term...
"It would be lying to say that these atrocities are not happening. We think at least a hundred people have been killed within a 100 kilometer radius of Kitenge since January," Gen. Alengbia Nzambe, Katangaâs military commander, told Reuters in Lubumbashi. The killings have largely been perpetrated by men belonging to a Mai Mai group led by Gen. "Chinja Chinja," literally translated as "The Ripper," who commanded troops hostile to the previous government during Congoâs war, Nzambe said.
Mutilating bodies and draining the blood sounds pretty hostile to me...
Congolese military officers did not ascribe political motives to the attack, but said "Chinja Chinja" was trying to make a name for himself by creating a cult of fear and brutality.
Doing a bang-up job of that, I'd say...
Many of the bodies found were severely mutilated and disemboweled, with their sexual organs cut off and their bodies drained for their blood, according to Nzambe and civilians who had fled to Lubumbashi. Congolese military officials say "Chinja Chinja" is the last remaining militia leader in the north of Katanga province who is unwilling to integrate into the new Congolese army. I wonder how many other "Chinja Chinjas" have integrated into the new Congolese army..
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
02/24/2004 12:15:20 AM ||
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#1
I will not go to southeastern Congo this spring. No, my mind is made up. Me thinks, North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Or Bryce.
#7
Many of the bodies found were severely mutilated and disemboweled, with their sexual organs cut off and their bodies drained for their blood, according to Nzambe and civilians who had fled to Lubumbashi.
I thought all these indigenous dudes were all 'noble savages' endangered by exposure to Western Culture. Not even Yasser Arafat's crew disembowels people and cuts off their sex organs. I'm glad the new tunnel is going to Spain and not headed CONUS.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
02/24/2004 21:43 Comments ||
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EFL
Six months after the ceasefire between the Government and the rebel Communist Party of Nepal - Maoist (CPN-M) broke down, the fighting has bogged down to a stalemate with neither side making any headway. In the countryside, Government presence is still limited to the district headquarters and a few armed garrisons. And although the security forces - under the unified command of the Army - have been making forays into areas outside the secure zones, they have not been able to hold any territory permanently. For its part, neither has the âPeopleâs Liberation Armyâ of the Maoists been able to prevent incursions by Government troops into areas supposedly under their control. This seesaw battle has come at a large human cost. Of the almost 9000 people killed in violence related to the CPN-M-led âpeopleâs warâ begun in 1996, the outbreak of fresh fighting since August 2003 accounts for almost a quarter: nearly 1500 people (ostensibly Maoists) have been killed by the security forces; over 300 soldiers and policemen have lost their lives; and civilian victims are also in the range of 300.
Notwithstanding the military impasse, the Maoists are as active as ever. In a defiant move in January, they began creating âautonomous peopleâs governmentsâ to correspond with ethnic or regional homelands. Among these are the âMagarant Autonomous Peopleâs Governmentâ in the Maoist heartland of western Nepal, inhabited largely by Magars, the largest ethnic group of Nepal; and the âMadhesi Autonomous Peopleâs Governmentâ for the Tarai plains that stretch across the southern part of Nepal. (Unfortunately for the Maoists, a member of the former, Suresh Ale Magar, and the head of the latter, Matrika Prasad Yadav, were arrested in India on their way to a rally in New Delhi, and immediately handed over to the Nepal Army.)
It seems clear from the two years of the Armyâs engagement in the fighting that its role cannot go beyond containment. The security forces have begun venturing into Maoist areas in an apparent bid to counter the impression that Maoist âgovernmentsâ are at work in areas outside direct Government control. But these actions have not been able to inflict much damage on a guerrilla force that simply retreats in the face of superior firepower; the military strength of the Maoists remains pretty much intact. The Government of Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa, appointed in June 2003, is currently fighting on three fronts - the Maoists; his own party, which wants him to quit; and the alliance of five parties that want an end to the rule by proxy by King Gyanendra through a handpicked Prime Minister. The Opposition parties have been threatening to launch a movement against the monarchy itself, if the King does not revert to being a constitutional monarch. Anti-government rallies are routine, and the streets of Kathmandu ring with anti-monarchy slogans, the likes of which have never been heard before. But, instead of being conciliatory, the King has made it very clear that he is not going to limit himself within the boundaries laid out in the Constitution. Nepal is bracing up for a new round of protests, as the political parties re-think their agitation strategy. Apart from the strike the day before, the 9th anniversary of the âpeopleâs warâ on February 13 was peaceful enough. That is a date that is etched deeply in Nepali public consciousness. Last year, it was a different sentiment that greeted the anniversary. A ceasefire had just been declared and the various protest programmes of the Maoists had been called off. Peace seemed imminent and hopes soared high. One year later, it is back to the killing fields in Nepal.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
02/24/2004 12:11:42 AM ||
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Perhaps a collectivist interprise where half the people live in bondage and the other half live in protest. Those protesting win.
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.
LIFEâS not fair, it seems, for sexy and controversial Indonesian singer Inul Daratista. âPeople look at Tina Toon and exclaim: âHow adorable! How cute!â But for me, they say something else,â she tells Life! in a slightly raised voice after her two-hour mini-concert on Sunday at Marine Parade Community Centre. Inul, 25, is referring to 10-year-old Tina Toon, who also performed at the concert. The Chinese-Indonesian girl can sing and shimmy just like her, and nearly stole the show. But it was Inul who drew the crowd of 700 to her debut concert here and went on to prove why she is the biggest entertainment phenomenon back in Indonesia. 
A bronze statue of a soldier mourning a fallen comrade traveled from Tikrit, Iraq, to Fort Hood, Texas, this week to become the focal point of a memorial to the soldiers of 
