I'd say if somebody needs an anti=terror law, it's probably Yemen...
The Yemeni government is planning to pass a law that will deal with the countryâs campaign against terrorism, Justice Minister Adnan Al-Jifri said. He told US Ambassador Edmund J. Hull that his ministry was drafting a âlaw on fighting terrorism in Yemen,â according to Saba news agency. The minister said the new law would include a âprecise definitionâ of terrorism. It would also establish legal procedures for counter-terrorism. Yemen, a close ally with the United States in the fight against terrorism, has been widely criticized by human rights groups for detaining dozens of suspects without trials.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/21/2004 09:02 ||
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RIYADH: Loud explosions were heard today in the Saudi capital, witnesses said. The explosions came from the vicinity of the General Security building, which is affiliated to the Interior Ministry, in al-Nassiriyah neighborhood in central Riyadh, the witnesses said. A police official confirmed the explosions but did not provide details. Witnesses said the explosions, which occurred about 2 p.m. local time, shattered windows and damaged walls in surrounding buildings. It was not immediately known whether there were any casualties. Additional from BBC: Reports say the explosion blew off the facade of a security forces building and destroyed a number of cars. Unconfirmed reports from witnesses say at least 10 people have been killed and dozens of others wounded. Police have repeatedly clashed with Islamic militants around Riyadh in the last two weeks and have intercepted five vehicles packed with explosives.
Dire Revenge for the "militants" the Saudis have banged lately.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/21/2004 8:58:04 AM ||
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Interesting, since it's my belief that Prince Nayef is behind most of the "militants". This may be prince on prince action, though it will be blamed on al Qaeda.
#3
Here is a picture.
The facade of the building is torn away. If you look closely, you'll see one of the first story supports has buckled. If the building was occupied, there's alot more than 10 casualties. Expect something on the magnitude of OK City.
In light of this, guess the Saudis missed a few in their car-bomb roundup of the past few days.
The thousand-pound chickens have come home to roost.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/21/2004 13:13 Comments ||
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Official Saudi cover story checklist:
1)Alchol smugglers still exploded
2)Propane truck collided w/taxi
3)Construction mishap
4)Jordanian/Yemeni/Pakistani who acted on his own out of his own twisted madness
5)Misguided patriots who thought Americans lived there
6)Cleverly concealed Israeli plot
7)What Explosion?
Posted by: Stephen ||
04/21/2004 15:25 Comments ||
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Stephen - it's clearly a Mossad op (/sarcasm)
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/21/2004 15:48 Comments ||
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Two car bombs blasted the Saudi security headquarters Wednesday, killing at least two and wounding dozens, police said. Facades were torn off buildings near the explosions, revealing rooms still ablaze. Cars were smashed by debris. Clouds of dust and black smoke rose from the building and settled over the neighborhood. "The explosion resulted from two car bombs that were parked about 50 feet from the building," a police official told The Associated Press. He said "a number of charred bodies" were carried away from the scene.
Guess they haven't found all the car bombs, huh?
The General Security building, the administrative headquarters of the Saudi domestic security service, was severely damaged in the bombing that came just days after the United States warned of possible terror attacks in the kingdom. The explosions, which occurred about 2 p.m., hit when workers would have been leaving for the Saudi weekend. Saudi television showed the General Security building, about seven floors, with its glass facade shattered and severe damage inside. Firefighters worked to extinguish the blazes, and more than 20 ambulances had arrived. Two helicopters flew above the site. Police blocked the area and evacuated the surrounding buildings.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/21/2004 08:37 ||
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EFL
Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard, yesterday reaffirmed that Islam is a religion of peace and moderation. Except when they are killing innocent people and beating their wives. Other than that, Islam is like a deer lapping water from a creek.
âIslam condemns all forms of terrorism except angainst the infidels and joooos and we must strive to correct correct wrong perceptions about our religion,â he said. âThis is my vision.â No word yet on their condemnation of 9/11 or expression of regret that most of the hijackers were soddies. Iâll keep yaâ posted.
Islam is a religion of peace, and I'm slender and svelt and have a full head of hair. Everybody knows that...
Posted by: Dragon Fly ||
04/21/2004 7:59:36 AM ||
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When we repeat a lie a thousand times becomes a true statement(A. Hitler). This is one of many things that Muslims do to emulate the Nazis.
Posted by: LENA ||
04/21/2004 9:06 Comments ||
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I think Goebbels said it, but the rest is spot-on.
#4
The full article is a hoot. Abdullah, whom I believe to be a good man unfortunately incapable of adjusting to a post Sept. 11 world, shows that he has at least been reading his Post-Modernism syllabus/Oprah's Book Club list with such gems as asking conference attendees to correct "wrong perceptions" and then revealing his "vision". How futile.
Then the revelations that the Imam Saud University has produced a few terrorists? What a surprise. But don't worry, there's a women's branch and a language center being set up. That'll take care of it, for sure.
The most opaque battle of the next decade will be the prince-on-prince war. Check out which buildings are bombed to see who's sticking the knife to whom. Prince Naive's Minsitry of the interior took a hit today. Abdullah getting back at he who bombed A's National Guard complex last year? Who knows. The compounds where foreigners live? Which prince owns them? We'll have to resurrect the jokes on "factions" so as not to go insane. Just don't go wobbly, W. We're counting on you, so don't count on Bandar so much.
Posted by: Michael ||
04/21/2004 14:01 Comments ||
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This might be a good thing.If they are to busy killing each other,maybe they won't have the incination,time or money to mess with anybody else.Thier is also the benifit of thinning the herd.
#7
Take Abdullah at his word. Fine, Islam is a religion of peace. Those violent Muslims who parade under false colors are an affront to all Islam and must be killed as blaphemers, right? Don't worry, Abdullah, you needn't get your precious little royal hands dirty, we'll do all the killing for you.
The governments of Britain and Ireland are warning Sinn Fein, the Irish Republican Army-linked party, it must end all IRA activities or face growing financial and political penalties. Britain announced Tuesday it was cutting $215,000 in annual taxpayer-provided funding to Sinn Fein as both governments jointly published an report on current activities of the IRA and a half-dozen other illegal groups in Northern Ireland. The Independent Monitoring Commission, which includes a former deputy director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, blamed the IRA for a range of violent activities this year — and said some Sinn Fein leaders were also IRA commanders able to influence the underground group's actions. "Sinn Fein must bear its responsibility for the continuation by PIRA of illegal paramilitary activity and must recognize the implications of being in this position," said the report, using the IRA's formal name of Provisional IRA or "PIRA."
Britain and Ireland empowered the commission in January to issue reports on paramilitary activity. Arguments over IRA activity have repeatedly undermined wider goals of Northern Ireland's 1998 peace accord, particularly its hope of reviving a Catholic-Protestant administration that fell apart 18 months ago. In a surprising development, the four-member commission announced it plans in future reports to name the alleged commanders of the IRA and Northern Ireland's other underground gangs. John Grieve, a member who once directed London's anti-terrorist police unit, said it was essential to "shine a spotlight" on people he called "thugs."
Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams — who, according to several histories on the subject, has been an IRA commander since the early 1970s — responded with fury. "We don't accept any of the recommendations of this puppet commission," said Adams, who called moves to restrict his party's rights and privileges "the road to nowhere."
One word, Gerry: Rantissi.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/21/2004 08:48 ||
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im just finish reading code duello again ima worried about erie
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/21/2004 19:30 Comments ||
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Britain needs to return the Six Counties to Ireland so it can be United. The IRA exists for a reason the methods they use are definetly not right as you know I am against all war etc.
SAYFUL ISLAM was born in Britain, educated in Britain, became a father in Britain and lives off the generosity of the hard-working people of Britain. On the face of it 24-year-old Sayful owes a lot to the country which turned him into the intelligent, articulate man he is today. But in reality he is the face of extreme Islamic fundamentalism - what Britainâs police chiefs have termed "the enemy within" in the global war against terror. Sayful - a name he has recently affected, meaning Sword Of Islam - is the self-styled leader of the Luton branch of al-Muhajiroun, a radical Muslim organisation led by the ranting Sheikh Omar Bakri. Publicly he insists his group have entered into a "covenant of security" which forbids them from taking part in terrorist activity in Britain. "When I watched those planes go into the Twin Towers, I was elated."
"When they fly into Big Ben or Buckingham Palace, I'll probably have an organism!"
But behind closed doors Sayful - real name Ishtiaq Alamgir - and his fellow al-Muhajiroun brothers preach a doctrine of hate which is abhorred by most of Lutonâs 28,000 law-abiding Muslims. He looks forward to when Osama Bin Ladenâs thugs launch their first terrorist strike on the streets of the country of his birth - and he hopes it happens soon. (EFL) Now I know where my taxes are going I might start doing a daily spot on these guys. Iâm sure weâre using them as a fly-paper to help MI5âs monitoring but itâs beginning to get beyond the pale. Any headhunters reading this please remember the face and act accordingly if it appears in your neighbourhood. I think this was also the cock who burnt the Union Jack in Regentâs Park recently. Letâs fuckin âave âim!
Posted by: Howard UK ||
04/21/2004 5:24:14 AM ||
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Muslem public outcry and rejection of this butthead in 5,4,3,2....5,4,3....5,4,....
Ahhh,nevermind
#2
The rest of the article indicates that the Moslem community does reject him. Here's another excerpt:
... members of the Muslim community in Luton branded al-Muhajiroun as Islamâs "lunatic fringe". And they say Sayfulâs father ... has been driven to despair by his sonâs extreme politics. Mohammed Bashir, an independent councillor in Luton, says: "Sayful Islam represents no one. He is making a nuisance of himself and giving a bad name to the community. We have condemned his views. His father is an old man now who has worked hard all his life here and raised a family. But he came to me and says his son is now making trouble for the whole family..
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
04/21/2004 7:22 Comments ||
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But he came to me and says his son is now making trouble for the whole family..
Have you considered honor killing, or is that just for your daughters?
Posted by: Steve ||
04/21/2004 12:01 Comments ||
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Hunted by an assassination squad, a founder of Colombia's right-wing paramilitary movement was on the run Tuesday in a remote corner of the country after members of his own group stripped him of power and allegedly turned on him. Assistant Attorney General Andres Ramirez said rival factions of the feared paramilitary forces appear to be behind the attempt to kill Carlos Castano, a well-known figure who has waged a brutal war against leftist rebels. On Friday, paramilitary gunmen attacked a ranch in the humid lowlands of northwestern Colombia where Castano was hiding out, killing at least six of his bodyguards. The description of the attack came from one of Castano's bodyguards who was wounded in the leg during the shootout and is being guarded by Colombian security forces in a hospital in Apartado, in northwest Colombia. "What we can say up to this point is that (Castano) fled with two of his bodyguards," Ramirez said. One leader of a paramilitary faction told The Associated Press that two other paramilitary figures had ordered Castano killed, believing he was trying to turn them over to U.S. authorities for drug trafficking.
Castano himself is wanted in the United States for trafficking tons of cocaine to American shores. Fellow paramilitary leaders apparently suspected he sought to cut a deal and identify other paramilitary members involved in drug trafficking in exchange for leniency. The leader of the paramilitary faction, who was interviewed on condition he not be further identified, put the number of bodyguards killed in Friday's attack at seven, and said some were executed after being wounded. Castano's wife Kenia Gomez and their 16-month-old daughter — who were not at the ranch during the attack — were under the protection of the government Tuesday at an undisclosed location.
Castano, whose United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, or AUC, is battling Colombia's two leftist rebel groups, initiated peace talks with the government more than a year ago and pledged that the 12,000 militia fighters would disarm if paramilitary leaders avoided extensive prison terms. But the AUC's high command on March 31 named a 10-member negotiating team, and did not include Castano, underscoring his increasing isolation. Three years ago, Castano abruptly resigned as supreme commander of the AUC and named himself as the outlawed group's political chief. Some paramilitary commanders privately wondered if Castano, who was hiding out in the jungles and cattle-lands of northwest Colombia, was becoming unstable.
"Miguel! We gotta do something about Castano. I think he's becoming unstable!"
"Dis is Colombia, boss! How can youse tell?"
Posted by: Fred ||
04/21/2004 08:48 ||
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Time wounds all heals..â¢
Posted by: dorf ||
04/21/2004 18:02 Comments ||
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Mueller apparently is confused (not an unusual condition for him, apparently). The Eastern Turkestan Islamic Movement was declared a bin Laden-affiliated terrorist group in Sep 2003, reportedly based on information obtained from Guantanamo detainees. According to this report (apparently emanating from a single source of undetermined reliability), there are ETIM cells in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kirghizstan and Uzbekistan, and they have received the usual line-up of arms, money and training from OBL.
Right now there is now proof of this, at least that has been made public. Interestingly, prior to the Sept 02 announcement, the US had been the harshest critic of China's policies and operations in East Turkestan (which the Chinese call Xinxiang Province) against the 6 million historically Moslem Uighurs (East Turkics), making public accusations that China was using its participation in the WOT as an excuse to clamp down on political dissent. China claims the group has staged more than 200 attacks since 1990, causing 162 deaths. All these attacks were in China and there has never been any suggestion that the group had or would targeted anyone or anything besides the Chinese.
All of this can be blamed on China forcibly occupying the region in 1949, thus dividing the territory known as Turkestan. Western Turkestan now of course is better known as the former Soviet Central Asian republics of Kazakhstan, Kirghizstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, so it's not surprising - other than to the FBI - that there would be east Turkic activists in those countries. Nor is it surprising that they would also be active in Pakistan and Afghanistan, since both countries contain parts of the traditional Turkic state. I note that there have been no attacks or indications of Uighur terrorist activity in any of those nations either, nor in any country with large Uighur expat populations - Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the US.
There are about 6 million Uighurs in "East Turkestan," together with about 6 million ethnic Chinese resettled there by the communist government. Things have been really unsettled since the Soviet Union fell apart and the East Turkics could see just how bad things were for them in comparison to such garden spots as Uzbekistan.
I don't think AQ is stupid enough to risk his own life or "his" people's there, but he certainly is calculating enough to try, at least, to get the
Uighurs to do his dirty work for him. The Chinese would go after the Uighurs, which they're doing anyway. There aren't many potential Western targets in their AOR but it could help keep the Chinese too tied up at home to help out much in the WOT - though if they are inclined to do so, I haven't seen a lot of evidence.
And - sorry, there I go again. I visited the area in 1999 and loved it, despite its many hardships and poverty. When we were in China, the Uighurs were wonderful, the Chinese were absolute shits.
Sofia (The Librarian)
Posted by: Sofia ||
04/21/2004 15:46 Comments ||
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PS Two Uighur "activists" were deported from Kirghizstan to China in May 2002 after Kirghiz authorities claimed to have evidence they were planning to bomb the US Embassy in the Kirghiz capital of Bishkek. The State Dept's "evidence" is not considered reliable by the rest of the intelligence and security agencies involved in counter terrorism for the federal government.
Posted by: Sofia ||
04/21/2004 15:49 Comments ||
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Diplomats and foreign experts say most violence in Xinjiang blamed on separatists isn't politically motivated and appears to stem from personal disputes.
Without belittling the importance of quashing terrorism, it also needs to be considered how the Chinese are running out any locals prior to developing large ore deposits and other natural resources in Xinjiang. The Chinese do not have a reputation for open-handedness when it comes to how they divide the pie with regional minorities.
As I said yesterday, the Chinese told His Nibs, "You do anything stupid, and you are on your own."
This may explain the lack of happiness on Kimbo's face.
Furious Gordon Brown will sensationally BLOCK legal aid payments to hook-handed cleric Abu Hamza, it emerged last night. The Chancellor is to ensure taxpayers do NOT foot the bill for the ranting anti-Western preacherâs battle against deportation. A Whitehall insider insisted: âWeâre not going to play these games. Weâre not going to allow him to string out the legal process. Weâve no intention of giving him this money.â
One-eyed firebrand Hamza was originally told to leave the country a year ago because of his extremism. But he has lodged a string of appeals. He was first refused legal aid but the ruling was overturned by the Legal Services Commission. However Hamza still has to apply to the Treasury for the cash because he is listed by the UN Security Council as an al-Qaeda supporter.
His three-week court fight begins on Monday and The Sun has learned Mr Brown is determined to block any cash. Hamza, 46, already costs taxpayers more than £1million each year. The battle to kick him out eats up £250,000 in legal fees. He is given police protection costing £250,000 a year when he delivers his weekly anti-British rants in Finsbury Park, North London. And MI5 surveillance costs a further £500,000. Meanwhile his family gets £1,030.65 a week benefit. .... Shadow Home Secretary David Davis said: âThe public are rightly scathing over legal aid grants to this man. Legal aid should be only be granted to those who are genuinely in need. Abu Hamza is costing us a fortune as it is. âThe sooner this man is deported the better. He brings nothing to this country other than hate.â
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
04/21/2004 11:58:18 PM ||
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If he won't leave the UK, make him choose Gibraltar or the Falklands.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
04/22/2004 2:44 Comments ||
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However Hamza still has to apply to the Treasury for the cash because he is listed by the UN Security Council as an al-Qaeda supporter.
Too easy. There exists a remote chance that any money given to him might be directed into the hands of al Qaeda. Sorry hook boy, now go and wipe your @ss with wrong hand.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
04/22/2004 4:10 Comments ||
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Perhaps the Government is coming to its senses regarding Hamza and his ilk.
I find it appalling that someone can preach in favour for the downfall of the very system which provides them subsistence. The British government are effectively paying for Hamza's protection and for the food on his table whilst he preaches hate against the hand that feeds him.
It is frustrating that the UK can't simply put him and his family on a flight back to wherever he came from but the judicial process has to be seen to be carried out and it's refreshing that the Home Office have effectively made their mind up about the enemy within, the only issue remaining is to deport him having followed the correct legal process.
Well done HM Government, itâll be a great day when Hamza is no longer a drain on the nationâs resources.
#5
Wouldn't a .22 LR fired into the braincase at the back of the neck be a tad cheaper? At any point in the process you decide you've had enough fun, I'm sure the economics would still work out favorably.
This is it. Time for hard boyz to do hard things. Quietly.
"Ladies and Gentlemen of the Press, sadly we must inform you that the imminent Muslim Cleric Abu Hamza was, apparently, 'mugged' last evening. His wallet and Passport are missing, so we are treating it as a robbery gone wrong. Yes, it's tragic. He should've just given them what they wanted."
The Dutch government has been ordered on appeal by Amsterdam Court to pay EUR 45,000 in damages to suspected terrorist Mullah Krekar, who was falsely arrested in the Netherlands in 2002. The compensation bill is about eight times more than the initial EUR 5,510 in damages Haarlem Court ordered the Dutch government to pay in August 2003, news agency ANP reported. Lawyer Victor Koppe â who revealed on Wednesday that Amsterdam Court had recently awarded the higher damages bill â said he had demanded on appeal a larger sum because the Dutch government had treated his client "scandalously". Victor Koppe is the "go-to" lawyer for terrorists in trouble in Holland.
Krekar is the leader of the militant Kurdish group Ansar al-Islam, accused by the US of having links with terrorist network Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. US forces heavily bombarded the groupâs bases during the March 2003 invasion of Iraq. Krekar is also fighting an expulsion order from Norway and claims he is no longer the leader of Ansar al-Islam. He also denies terrorism allegations, but the US claims his group continues to train, and possibly deploy, suicide bombers. I am seeing a slow change in the reporting on Mr. Krekar. The media used to call him a "spiritual leader." Now theyâre calling him a terrorist.
Posted by: Seafarious ||
04/21/2004 10:49:04 AM ||
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Hold this court ordered award in abeyance until an exhaustive search for any claims arising out of Krekar's terrorist activities has been conducted. If anyone has a successful judgment for damages arising from Krekar's terrorist operations, redirect his "award" to those parties.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/21/2004 09:04 ||
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I'm surprised; I didn't think they had the guts to actually do anything. I think, though, that thinking this means there's still hope for the French is a bit too presumptive . . .
Posted by: The Doctor ||
04/21/2004 17:02 Comments ||
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#3
How kind....it's ok to beat a woman, but not in the face. Bet he still wouldn't find anything wrong with that Saudi guy who beat the crap out of his wife.
Yup, stuff like this really makes me want to convert.
Little Green Footballs reports:
This Friday the terror-enabling morons of the ISM are converging on Caterpillar headquarters in Peoria, joined by the parents of Rachel Corrie, to demand that Caterpillar stop doing business with Israel: Stop Cat Coalition. (Hat tip: ism_truth.)
Oh yes; they also want a âfair contractâ for Caterpillar workers. . . . after they put them out of work with their boycotts and protests.
Thatâs how much they care. According to a letter from Caterpillar management posted on the Stop Cat website, 96% of Caterpillarâs shareholders voted against their anti-Israel resolution. Iâd call that a crushing defeat, but that would be in poor taste.
I'd call it a flat-out victory for common sense.
Posted by: Mike ||
04/21/2004 9:18:28 AM ||
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And in other news: Catepillar demands ISM stops sending impressionable young Marxists to their deaths.
#2
If I was Caterpiller, I'd let the union factory workers off for the day, and explain to them that a bunch of whacked lefty trust-fund idjits are gonna be protesting their work product, and trying to put the company out of business..... heh heh
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/21/2004 10:31 Comments ||
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Caterpiller should rename the company Flatterpiller just for spite.
Posted by: Tibor ||
04/21/2004 10:45 Comments ||
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Maybe there should be a Caterpillar parade of fine products around their plant on that day...just a thought! Maybe there can be a whole convent of St. Pancakes!
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/21/2004 11:01 Comments ||
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Why exactly are we referring to pancakes? Wouldn't matzot be more appropriate?
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
04/21/2004 11:07 Comments ||
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Remember what March 16th is! National Caterpillar D9 Day! Thanks again, Rachel!
#10
Excavation is the sincerest form of flattening.
Posted by: Mike ||
04/21/2004 13:43 Comments ||
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I have a pair of steel-toe boots that I wear when putting around on my motorcycle that say CAT on them. Maybe I should paint Rachel Corrie's name over the yellow sole.
#20
Seafarious - maybe the ads are different depending on where you're at. Every time I pull up this article here in Phoenix it shows ads for used Caterpillar parts. But IHOP or Bisquick would work for me, too! ;)
The Mississippi River Gulf Outlet is a long way from the Mekong Delta, but it brought back memories for Democratic presidential hopeful and Vietnam War veteran John Kerry on Wednesday.
Standing at the bow of a 25-foot power craft called "Fishing Magician" inspecting coastal erosion in southern Louisiana reminded Kerry of his days as commander of a Navy "swift" boat 35 years ago.
"I looked out at the shoreline and I commented that parts of it looked a lot like the rivers and coastline that I went through in Vietnam," the Massachusetts senator said.
He told about 100 supporters sweltering in the heat on the banks of the Mississippi that he had spent a lot of time "in a habitat that looked a little like this" as a young Naval officer. He said the 50-foot gunboat he commanded was built "right here in Louisiana."
#1
This guy is starting to remind me of those stories of Japanese pilots that crashed on deserted islands and thought the war was still going on forty years later. Let it go already, Senator Shellshock!
Posted by: Cthulhu Akbar ||
04/21/2004 18:09 Comments ||
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Did the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet smell like nuoc mam? Could you smell burning shit in the distance? Was there a naked 4-year-old with his finger shoved up his nose on the shoreline staring at you as you cruised by?
Yeah, buddy. Every time I go to Mississippi, it's just like being in Vietnam. Every time I go to Alabama, too. Or Georgia. Or Wyoming. Took the Little Woman to Niagra Falls a few years back. Saw all that water, first words out of my mouth were, "Sure does remind me of the time I spent in Vietnam. Can you smell the nuoc mam? Can you smell the burning poop? And lookit dat kid over there, Honey, scratching the inside of his head..."
Kerry seems to lug Vietnam around with him about the same way Jesse Jackson lugs around Selma, Alabama.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/21/2004 18:17 Comments ||
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Kerry served in Vietnam?
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
04/21/2004 18:18 Comments ||
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Hmmm... I could see getting really, really sick of this asshole after 4 years of him in the White House.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
04/21/2004 18:26 Comments ||
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Keery outa come to Dekle Beach (my homa town) he'd feel right at home.
#6
Did he get any civilian kills this time? Take any ears? Rape or kill any civilians? (according to his congressional testamony that is how he remembers Vietnam....).
Kerry reminds me (again) of the middle aged man who still brags and tells everyone about when he caught the winning football pass back in shithole high school. Give it a farking rest already!
#7
Ya man. Did I tell you lately I served in Nam? I came home and buddy fucked all my fellow Vets in front of a commission. The media loved me. Why don't all you Vets love me now?
Posted by: Bill Nelson ||
04/21/2004 18:52 Comments ||
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#8
Wow, only April and Kerry has already descended to the level of self-parody.
#10
When the "Fishing Magician" reached shore Kerry leaped off the boat, chased down and shot a local Cajun shrimper. "That reminds me of how I won the Silver Star" said the Massachusetts senator.
Posted by: H.D. Miller ||
04/21/2004 19:32 Comments ||
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#12
smitty: LOL!
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/21/2004 19:34 Comments ||
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#13
does this guy have anything else to stand on??? always pushing vietnam.....
Posted by: Dan ||
04/21/2004 20:11 Comments ||
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#14
does this guy have anything else to stand on??? always pushing vietnam.....
Posted by: Dan ||
04/21/2004 20:14 Comments ||
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#15
Hmmm... any other "Duckman" fans around? Anyone else remember the episode when Duckman was having Vietnam flashbacks? Remember how they turned out to be flashbacks to movies about Vietnam?
Remember the story about Kerry watching over and over the filmed re-enactment of his return to the Phillipineshis shooting a wounded man the action that earned him his Silver Star?
Anyone want to bet he can't distinguish his memory of the film from his memory of the actual event?
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
04/21/2004 20:33 Comments ||
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#16
Get down Fred man, bring out the issues, work 'em over and send them all to landfille of your soul.
#17
I hope y'all (and he) realizes that we have a lot of Vietnamese refugees here; in fact, a lot more than he said were going to be caused by the American surrender....
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
04/21/2004 21:01 Comments ||
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#18
Y'know, I've been to the mouth of the Mekong, and I've been to the mouth of the Mississippi, and they don't look ANYTHING alike to me. I wonder if John-boy might not have more than a couple of screws loose.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/21/2004 21:16 Comments ||
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#19
Mike - you've gotta forgive Kerry, after all, it was 4 months spent, almost 40 years ago....
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/21/2004 21:18 Comments ||
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#20
I watched Bush closely in the footage after his carrier landing. You could see from his body language and enthusiasm when he was talking to the other pilots that he is a pilot also. He wasn't posing for the camera either. I don't know what it is about pilots, but it cannot be faked.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
04/22/2004 2:58 Comments ||
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APRIL 21--John Kerry was "unofficially credited" with killing 20 enemy fighters during his six months in Vietnam, according to military records just released by the Democratic presidential candidateâs campaign. The body count reference is included in a glowing 1969 Navy report that noted Kerry, a 25-year-old junior grade lieutenant, exhibited "all of the traits desired of an officer in a combat environment." The Navy document, a copy of which youâll find below, was among hundreds of pages released today by the Kerry camp in response to requests from reporters and criticism from Republicans demanding full disclosure of the U.S. Senatorâs military record. (2 pages)
Document at the Site, hat tip to Drudge
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/21/2004 11:31:12 AM ||
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#1
How many of them were wounded at the time?
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
04/21/2004 11:35 Comments ||
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#2
Who's enemies were killed, America's or Kerry's?
Posted by: Chris W. ||
04/21/2004 11:36 Comments ||
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#3
Who was this officer who rated Kerry in the report? Some college buddy of his dad?
This guy nearly has Kerry walking on water.
Where are the rest of the docs?
"Oops our scanner is having trouble. We need another million in contributions before we buy another. The rest of the documents have to wait"
#5
Maybe they were the mamasans he claimed in 1971 to have killed.
Posted by: ed ||
04/21/2004 11:53 Comments ||
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#6
Meanwhile, today's NY Post reports:
Kerry aides said they'd post 150 documents on his Web site but weren't able to locate a full report on the wound that led to his first Purple Heart - which Kerry's commander in Vietnam says he didn't deserve.
#7
I notice his visit to Vietnam grew by two months, too...
Posted by: Fred ||
04/21/2004 12:00 Comments ||
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#8
Bwahhahaaahahaaa....I wonder how the LLL will react to this! Kerry the mass murderer, baby-killer. This has got to cause the aging hippies some consternation. Vote for GW, who successfully avoided the war and killing of babies - or Kerry - who gleefully mowed them down.
snicker. The blinding light of reality is harsh for those who've spent a lifetime sheltering their eyes from it.
Posted by: B ||
04/21/2004 12:03 Comments ||
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#9
Saw elsewhere that this may be a rope-a-dope by Kerry similar to Bush - wait for public demand and then release the records which makes him look good. We'll have to see if any negative data comes out or if it is all positive. The details behind the 3 purple hearts will be the most interesting.
#10
heh..heh...but I'm sure they will give him a pass. Afterall, he killed them, but then later changed his mind and felt bad about it.
Posted by: B ||
04/21/2004 12:14 Comments ||
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#11
Actually AWW the three purple hearts medical info has been released. #1 - Shrapnel in the left arm. #2 - Shrapnel in the left thigh. #3 - Shrapnel in the left buttock. Its always on the left.
#12
Who was this officer who rated Kerry in the report? Some college buddy of his dad? This guy nearly has Kerry walking on water.
Never take seriously anything written in a Navy fitness report. They never serously evalutate performance. They are used to get a subordinate either promoted or fired (by non-promotion). Even reports that are meant to sabotage a career appear to a casual reader to make the subject look good. No one gets outright trashed. The difference between a good report and a bad report is subtle. It can come down to the number and type of superlatives used and the recommendations. Did the reviewer STRENUOUSLY recommend the officer for command at a young age? Did he STRENUOUSLY recommend the officer for sought after billets and post-graduate school? ANY mark on the report that is not the highest available indicates the reviewer is trashing the reviewee, especially for a lieutenant on a second tour. Notice his "command" grade (among others)is not perfect. Come time for selection for command, this report would get him left behind and the reviewer knows it. This report is THOROUGHLY mediocre. It would ensure he gets no where in the Navy.
first, I agree with your description of the fitness report philosophy as it exists today and for the past 20 years or so; however, this fitrep was done 35 years ago and the philosophy then may not have been what it is now
second, even a mediocre fitrep nowadays would probably not be enough to prevent promotion from LTjg to LT.
third, I don't understand the 'unofficially credited with killing 20 enemy...' comment - the 20 number has never come out in any of the interviews with his crew (all but one of whom praise Kerry btw), this may be an estimate of the crew's cumulative record over the 4 months he was skipper or it may be a swag that was standard for the time
#14
I can see this as a rope a dope of sort. But think if that is the case how they will spin it and what the outcome will be will be different. You know if a leftist thinks of it, it will be bass ackwards in the outcomes.
F'rinstance: Kerry spins himself as a brave warrior for the Navy who gained a conscience and protested against the war, coz it was wrong, then became a socialist to help mankind.
Planned outcome: Voters see Kerry as a brave warrior for the Navy who gained a conscience and protested against the war, coz it was wrong, then became a socialist to help mankind, they vote for him in record numbers and we get our first true socialist government.
Possible outcome: Voters see Kerry as a brave warrior for the Navy who gained a conscience and protested against the war, coz it was wrong, then became a socialist to help mankind; his backers weigh in and tell folks they with Kerry will end the war coz the US is really such a giant, they don't need to fight terrorists overseas. 911 was an abberration. Lay down our arms coz we want to be a good world community 'citizen.' Voters buy part of the argument, and vote for Bush.
Probable outcome: Voters see Kerry as a socialist opportunist whose unwillingness to back troops still in Viet Nam, and unwilling to back troops now which will translate into 10 percent more votes for Bush and 20 percent more for Nader (5 percent tops)
Best outcome: Kerry gets before the demo convention telling the dems his socialist views all these years were wrong, and he is becoming a republican just as soon as he can convince the Heinz Foundation and the Ray Kroc Foundation to defund NPR and the Bush family pastor can schedule a baptism for him and Teresa.
Hillery becomes the 'presumptive nominee. In Nov. American socialism is dead for all time from a Bush super-landslide.
#16
Zpaz, I used to write evaluations on people and unless your were going to courts-martial them, they usually had glowing reports. I could even make it seem that troop performed miracles but his only accomplishment was not get lost on his way to the latrine. While I am sure officer reports are of a higher standard, you can tell by the verbiage if the person is a zero or a hero. The part that I donât get is that Kerryâs people say that the Navy requested he get shipped out, rather than he requesting a transfer. Why would the Navy want to ship out an Officer that: âexhibited "all of the traits desired of an officer in a combat environmentâ ? Sounds like they were happy he didnât get anyone under his command killed and didnât sink his vessel. Just my two cents.
#18
Zpaz, I just read the fitrep and itâs a ZERO not a hero. Anyone know if he got the SS with âVâ device or an end of tour one? For you non military: You usually get a medal/award when you leave an assignment and these are called End of Tour awards. If you are awarded a Medal for an act of heroism, the award is considered to be with Valor and you get gold âVâ attached to it. Giving out Bronze and Silver Star awards as End of Tours was common practice in some branches in Vietnam.
#19
mhw - You are right. This report is not bad enough to prevent promotion to LT. It would kill him when it comes to selection for ship command or even selection for Lieutenant Commander. A defintite zero Cyber. The higher you go in rank, the more competitive the selectees become. A selection board is forced to look to the early career reports to find tie breakers. An early ZERO report can be the decision maker for a board.
#20
Re promotion: It all depends whether the military is hiring or firing. A lot of real bad officers were promoted in the 60's. The old timers told me that all you needed was a "satisfactory" eval to advance. That all changed during the early 70's. In the late 80's and early 90's, one less than perfect "front side" rating (these were 1-5 ratings of questions like, "Does the officer exhibit tactical competence.") got you passed over to CPT (O-3). Right now the Army is masking all lieutenant evaluations. In other words, when you go to the major's or lieutenant colonel's board, the board members can't even see the LT eval when they consider your file.
#21
Lame eval full of boiler plate phrases, bet it only took the rater five minutes to write.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/21/2004 14:24 Comments ||
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#22
I could be wrong but I never heard that he served a full tour. I thought he was halfway through his first and only tour when the 3rd purple heart got him a trip stateside.
#23
Anonymous4052 - thanks. I'm not military and was too young for Vietnam so I don't want to criticize Kerry's war record. However, I was led to believe the Purple Heart is for significant injuries. The documents show Kerry was certainly wounded by shrapnel but I wonder how many stitches these injuries took.
Only TWO reports were released. His first "injury," which is still under question, has no report to go along with it. From the AP:
Besides the citations and certificates posted on the Internet, Kerry's campaign provided The Associated Press with declassified reports that briefly explain the injuries that led to Kerry's final two Purple Heart awards.
They show Kerry had shrapnel wounds in his left thigh after his boat came under intense fire on Feb. 20, 1969, and he suffered shrapnel wounds in his left buttock and contusions on his right forearm when a mine detonated close to his boat on March 13, 1969.
The campaign could not locate a similar report for Kerry's original Purple Heart. As evidence that Kerry was wounded, campaign spokesman Michael Meehan showed The Associated Press a "Sick Call Treatment Record" from Kerry's personal files that included a brief written note dated Dec. 3, 1968, and stamped from the naval support facility at Cam Ranh Bay.
#25
How insensitive. I could never ever vote for someone who could take a precious human life.
At least George W. Bush had the moral courage to stay home and not do the evil bidding of the US Government to go off and kill our little yellow brothers.
Guess I'll just have to vote for GWB
oh yeah
Posted by: Michael ||
04/21/2004 16:21 Comments ||
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#26
Warning: the following is in devil's advocate mode ie I am looking for everything bad about Kerry like a devil's advocate worth his salt
1) Swifts were small, small boats. A crew of four + an officer. Meaning that Kerry had only four witnesses for his actions. Four witnesses who
were his subbordinates and got Bronze Stars through their commendations. And he was rich respective to mere sailors.
2) This guy had travelled in Kennedy's yacht. When Kennedy was President. A guy wih _lots_ of contacts in high spheres of the Johnson administrations. Contacts who can greatly accelerate or hinder the career of his commanding officer.
3) Am I the only one who, when told about Kerry accidentally killing a squad of South Vietnamese soldiers and a South Vietnamese family thinks that this is the behaviour of a terrified youngster jumping 10 yards high at the slightest noise and firing towards its source? That it is unlikely this nervous youngster could have been hero material?
4) Am I the only one who thinks that not one, not two but three wounds so small are far too much luck. Wounds who had only four witnesses, wounds who get him out of Vietnam. Am I the only one who thinks this smells self-inflicted wounds?
Yes on 1,2,3. After all, how many people do you know who can get out of theater early to be come an admiral's aide in their hometown, blow him off to commit treason, and then enter politics.
As for 4, he probably got hit by splinters twice (fiberglass boat, bandaid and bactine as mentioned in a previous article) and once by some shrapnel (stitches and 1 day off?). A self inflicted wound would have much more serious. He was in the line of fire and shot back. Have to give him credit for that.
Posted by: ed ||
04/21/2004 16:40 Comments ||
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#28
If Kerry's wounds were severe enough to warrant a decoration for bravery, I would imagine it took more than a sick call visit to treat. Perhaps the press should simply ask him to show the public his 'war wounds.' 'Contusions' are simply bruises and generally don't warrant a PH.
I know, from experience, that in some commands/branches of service, PHs do get handed out rather casually. A good friend (female, assigned as a cook while in the Army) was awarded one after having a fragment of eggshell fished out of her eye. After protesting that she hadn't been wounded or done anything to deserve it, she was shown the 1650/3 (that's what we called it in the Navy, Recommendation for Award) and it said "shell fragment in eye." You'll note other politicians with Purple Hearts (i.e., Bob Michel, retired Democratic congressman of IL) are both very casual and entirely open about it; Michel's
biography (www.dirksencenter.org) mentions but doesn't dwell on it.
The key part of the eval is at the bottom of page 1, where Kerry is ranked against his peers: he is ranked 7 of 8. That is, there were six other officers of his rank performing similar duties who were doing a better job than he was. I asked my husband - who was active duty during Vietnam and was there several times, though wasn't specifically assigned there (his ship visited) about evals (fitreps, in Navy parlance) way back then. He said the real "kiss of death" would have been that Kerry didn't have all his check marks in the second-from-left column (known as the 1% outstanding or "one percenter" column) and wasn't recommended for accelerated promotion ahead of his peers (RAP'd). He also found it telling that the narrative on page 2 highlighted Kerry's "imagination" rather than something like "coolness under fire" or "courage," and that the "unofficial" kills were credited. He suggested, based on his experience as a CO, the reporting senior was trying to send a subtle message about Kerry's tendency to prevaricate and exaggerate. His analysis was that Kerry would probably have been promoted to Lt (O-3), which is pretty much a warm-body promotion any way (i.e., if you have a body temperature near normal and you've served 4 years without doing something really awful, like grounding the ship, you'll get promoted) but he would not have been promoted after that.
Of course, I don't like the guy, but I won't be satisfied till he releases his medical records and 1650/3s.
Sofia
Posted by: Sofia ||
04/21/2004 17:06 Comments ||
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#29
JFM - Kennedy connections didn't get you too far with either the Johnson or Nixon admins, which is when Kerry was on active duty. A rich boy willing to actually serve (not a shot at GWB, the Guard counts for me) may have been enough of a curiosity to get him some breaks, though.
#34
A friend of mine has 11 Purple Hearts, 3 Bronze Stars, and a Silver Star, earned in three tours in Vietnam as a Navy medic attached to a Marine unit. Each one of those Purple Hearts resulted in his being hospitalized for a MINIMUM of three days, and one put him in a hospital for two months. John Kerry's "wounds" and "medals" don't impress me a bit. He should talk to some of the REAL heros from the Vietnam war - except most of them would spit in his face.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/21/2004 21:33 Comments ||
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#35
The extra months might be from the fact that he was in theater on a tin can as well, but that time should have shown up on his transfer fitrep.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
04/22/2004 4:34 Comments ||
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"His allegations that people committed war crimes in that unit, and throughout Vietnam, were lies. He knew they were lies when he said them, and they were very damaging lies," said OâNeill, adding that other former sailors from the same unit also plan to come forward to take on Kerry, whose Vietnam service has figured prominently in his campaign for the White House.
This past weekend, Kerry said that his use of the word "atrocity" in a 1971 interview was "inappropriate," and he added that he never intended to cast a negative light on the sailors with whom he served. Clintonesque bullsh*t. He never âintended to cast a negative lightâ on the Navy. This conveniently manuevers around the fact that not only did he intended to cast them in a negative light, he was willing to lie to do so. The worst part is Russert didnât call him on this.
Speaking on NBCâs "Meet The Press," Kerry said Sunday, "The words were honest, but, on the other hand, they were a little bit over the top." Even more Clintonesque bullsh*t, not called by Russert. The words were not âhonest.â They were lies and lies spoken even when Kerry knew the truth. And Kerry will not own up to them or to the agenda the caused him to utter them.
Asked whether Kerryâs expressions of regret were sufficient, OâNeill pointed to the fact that Kerry on Sunday characterized his 1971 charges as "a little bit excessive." âA bit excessive?â Cast in a rational light they were treasonous. As I have written before, Kerry abdicated his qualifications to be president and commander in chief in 1971, continued to do so while in the senate, and has not repudiated his words in toto since that time, nor does he appear to be willing to do so now. Kerry is still playing to his socialist support. This needs to be hammered on. Kerry canât be allowed to continue this lying and twisting of his very words until his planned âmoderateâ switch in September and not be called on it.
"Itâs really not a matter of forgiveness. Itâs a matter of fitness to be the commander-in-chief of all U.S. forces," he told Blitzer. "The damaging lies that he told about war criminals have haunted peopleâs entire lives. So itâs just a little bit late, in the course of a presidential campaign, to say itâs a bit excessive."
IMO opinion especially while we are in the middle of a war, Kerryâs remarks and his current lies spoken to cover lies spoken in 1971, needs to be hammered on. Folks who are seeing their kids go to war need the assurances, that socialists like Kerry wonât be able to hijack a debate on national defense that will needlessly endanger their kids in combat. This has to be dealt with somehow, and not in September. Kerry has to be shown to be the liar he is, how his love of socialism in 1971 has translated into a poilitical career all built on lies uttered 30 years ago. Those men and women fighting in Iraq deserve nothing less than that.
Posted by: badanov ||
04/21/2004 9:06:50 AM ||
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#1
Y'mean those statements are "no longer operative", John? How Nixonian.
Do you think this Beatles song fortold the coming of John Kerry?
Day after day alone on a hill
The man with the foolish Grin is keeping Perfectly Still But no body wants to know him They can see that he is just a fool And he never Gives an answer
But the fool on the hill
Sees the sun going down
And the eyes in his head
Sees the World spinning round
#4
Either Kerry witnessed war crimes or he didn't.If he did,he covered them up by not reporting them(soon we will hear from spinmeisters that everybody knew what was going on,and refused to tell-pure B.S.;more importantly still doesn't excuse Kerry for not reporting).If he didn't,he lied.I bet the spin will soon be: by using word "atrocities",he didn't mean war crimes,oh no,what Kerry meant was he was shocked by how awful war was and what it did to people caught up in it,that it was an "atrocity" for Americans like him to be fighting in an unjust war.
Posted by: Stephen ||
04/21/2004 15:05 Comments ||
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#5
Kerry flops around like a fish gasping for air. He has the personality of a cold fish too. And he stinks.
Posted by: B ||
04/21/2004 15:40 Comments ||
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EFL - The Post has been less of a Donk mouthpiece than the NYTimes but the bluntness of this editorial is surprizing
Mr. Kerry Revises
Wednesday, April 21, 2004; Page A22
...Where once he named democracy as a task to be completed, and the alternative to "cutting and running" or a "false success," Mr. Kerry now says democracy is optional. Where once he warned against setting the conditions for an early but irresponsible withdrawal of U.S. forces, now he does so himself by defining the exit standard as "stability," a term that could describe Saudi Arabia or Iran -- or the Iraq of Saddam Hussein.
....
The past weeks of violence have been, or should have been, sobering to any observer. Yet on goals Mr. Bush is right, not only in a moral sense but from the perspective of U.S. security too. Iraq is a country of diverse communities; if its differences are not arbitrated by some form of democratic politics, then it can be held together only by brute force.
Posted by: mhw ||
04/21/2004 8:40:29 AM ||
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The Post is and always has been a liberal newspaper, but for the most part it's under adult supervision, and its editorial board wants America to win the war even if its boy doesn't win the election. (NOTE: preceeding sentence does not apply to columnists E.J. Dionne or Richard Cohen.) The same is not true of the once-proud New York Times.
Posted by: Mike ||
04/21/2004 10:08 Comments ||
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#3
Yet on goals Mr. Bush is right
On GOALS. WaPo still criticizes Bush on methods. But they want a democratic Iraq, and much of their discomfort with Bush is that it often seems he isnt really commited to this. They have hit the nail on the head wrt to Kerry - not that Kerry talks of cutting and running - Kerry has wisely made clear he understands that we cant afford to lose Iraq to Al Qaeeda - but Kerry has NOT outlined whether he really wants to achieve a WIN in Iraq, whether he sees a democracy in Iraq as possible, and whether he is commited to seeing it through - important, since the methods, costs and risks of pushing through to Iraqi democracy will be somewhat different than just going for stability. But that would mean conceding some part of the admin case for going to war in the first place, and particularly the neo con case, and so would outrage many of his supporters. Yet failing to do so is a problem for his liberal hawk supporters, like the ed page of the WaPo.
The WaPo, myself, and others continue to wait for Kerry to define himself on this.
to some extent Kerry has already defined himself on Iraq, unfortunately it is somewhere between "internation man of nuance" and "master of disguising his real intentions"
#6
whoa! What's the catch? I noticed that one headline, yesterday (not positive it was WaPo) said something to the effect of "polls show that American's consider WOT to be of primary importance - both sides agree"
Kinda ticked me off and tipped me off at the same time. Donk's (meaning DNC as represented by their news outlets) realize they've made a horrible mistake on their position on WOT and now are trying to find a way to pretend they've been on board all along.
I wonder if they are planning to dump Kerry, the loser man, and select someone else as their official nominee at the DNC convention. Considering the the sudden shift in the tone from the usual suspects, we should be watching to see somebody else from that party suddenly emerges *cough* hillary *cough* as a big supporter of the war.
Posted by: B ||
04/21/2004 12:45 Comments ||
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#7
Kerry's grand plan for Iraq is to turn it over to UN.If UN refuses?He has no plan if that happens.Based on his past history,as soon as he gets criticism,Kerry will pull troops out.
To a large degree whatever Kerry says his policy on Iraq will be is irrelevant.The people he chooses to staff a Kerry administration will determine what will actually happen.To date Kerry is surrounding himself w/Former Clinton administration members.Anyone believe these people would prosecute a vigorous War on Terror?Or will they slide back into the old,comfortable,head-in-the-sand ways of 1992-2000?This is why Kerry must be defeated in Nov.-if you believe the Islamic Terrorists pose a threat to America.
Posted by: Stephen ||
04/21/2004 15:37 Comments ||
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#8
"The WaPo, myself, and others continue to wait for Kerry to define himself on this."
Why? Doesn't his failure to define his position so far tell you he really doesn't have any? Other than what his political calculations tell him will play well with whoever he needs to impress, of course.
That's the problem: John Kerry is the antithesis of a leader: he is, first and last, a follower, cut from the same flimsy, diaphonous material as Bill Clinton.
Even if John Kerry took a position, what makes you think he'd stick with it? Or even that he really means what he says?
This ex-Dem ain't going to believe him NO MATTER WHAT HE SAYS, that's for damn sure.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
04/21/2004 16:06 Comments ||
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#9
" I wonder if they are planning to dump Kerry, the loser man, and select someone else as their official nominee at the DNC convention. Considering the the sudden shift in the tone from the usual suspects, we should be watching to see somebody else from that party suddenly emerges *cough* hillary *cough* as a big supporter of the war."
Who knows? Hillary, for public consumption anyway, has often talked a lot tougher line on the war than Kerry (among others), and, most definitely unlike Kerry, she's actually visited Iraq and Afghanistan (though it was, of course, for her own political purposes, and of course, she got magnificently upstaged by GWB).
Posted by: Joe ||
04/21/2004 18:11 Comments ||
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#10
"The Post is and always has been a liberal newspaper, but for the most part it's under adult supervision, and its editorial board wants America to win the war even if its boy doesn't win the election. (NOTE: preceeding sentence does not apply to columnists E.J. Dionne or Richard Cohen.) The same is not true of the once-proud New York Times."
You might add William Raspberry to that list, though with an asterisk; when he's not bloviating about what an awful quagmire the war is, Raspberry is actually fairly solid, especially in his willingness to challenge liberal civil-rights shibboleths and his strong support of real education reform (he's black). Howard Kurtz, the Post's media writer, is another OK guy; he's the one who broke the story yesterday where Woodward himself, along with Bandar bin Sultan, demolished the meme that there was any "Saudi oil deal" cut with GWB, and provided the "Larry King" transcript excerpts to prove it. The Post's editorial board seems to be getting increasingly critical of Kerry as the campaign grinds on, and not just on the war; I pretty clearly recall an editorial just the other day where they really took him to the woodshed on some economic-policy matter or other. They _might_ want the Democrats to win in November, yes, but unlike the Times, they're well aware of his faults and more than willing to call him on them.
Posted by: Joe ||
04/21/2004 18:18 Comments ||
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An Indian citizen has pleaded guilty in a US court to attempting to transfer hundreds of thousands of dollars to be used to buy anti-aircraft missiles. Moinuddeen Ahmed Hameed, 40, admitted conspiring to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business. He was charged after FBI agents arrested suspected UK arms dealer Hemant Lakhani in New Jersey for allegedly trying to sell the missiles. Hameed said he handled money for the deal but did not know what it was for. He faces up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 when he is sentenced on 6 July.
With time off for spilling his guts.
Hameed was one of three people arrested in a sting operation by the FBI, British and Russian intelligence. However, prosecutors accepted that he was a financial middleman who did not know the transactions involved illegal weapons.
I'm sure he knew it was for something illegal, but not any details. He can tie Lakhani to the money trail.
Mr Lakhani, 68, of London, was arrested near Newark airport in August last year by an FBI agent posing as a Muslim terrorist. He has pleaded not guilty to charges of trying to sell 50 shoulder-fired missiles, which were capable of bringing down airliners. He also denies offering to procure anti-aircraft guns, tanks, armoured personnel carriers, radar systems, C-4 explosives and a radioactive "dirty bomb". Mr Lakhani, who was born in India, is due to appear in court again on 26 April. He faces up to 25 years in jail if convicted.
Prosecutors are expected to submit more than 150 audio or video tapes as evidence against Mr Lakhani. New York diamond dealer Yehuda Abraham, 76, has pleaded guilty to money-laundering in connection with the alleged missile smuggling plot and awaits sentencing.
How many years he gets depends on his testimony at Lakhani's trial as well.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/21/2004 9:32:42 AM ||
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Lakhani had explicit prior knowledge that the intended end use of the shoulder launch missiles was to bring down loaded civilian passenger airliners.
He should be jailed for the duration of his natural life.
Three homemade explosive devices went off in the area of Pioneer Street in Rochester on Tuesday night, injuring three youths as well as two city police officers who had responded after the first explosion. All of the injuries were minor, said Sgt. Steve Ward. He did not release the names or ages of any of the injured.
The bombs appeared to have been made of plastic bottles with corrosive material, Ward said. Police were called to Pioneer Street â off Brooks Avenue â about 9:20 p.m. for a report of âsuspicious noise,â Ward said. Two more explosions occurred once police arrived. Rochester firefighters decontaminated all of the injured at the scene.
Police did not have anyone in custody late Tuesday. Ward said the injured youths âmay have knowledgeâ of the explosions, but he said police would get them any needed medical attention before deciding whether charges would be filed.
WASHINGTON (AFP) - A senior Republican lawmaker said that deteriorating security in Iraq (news - web sites) may force the United States to reintroduce the military draft. "There's not an American ... that doesn't understand what we are engaged in today and what the prospects are for the future," Senator Chuck Hagel told a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on post-occupation Iraq.
er, Michael Moore? Sean Penn?
"Why shouldn't we ask all of our citizens to bear some responsibility and pay some price?" Hagel said, arguing that restoring compulsory military service would force "our citizens to understand the intensity and depth of challenges we face."
Yes, perhaps, but it would also re-introduce problems into our military that we don't need right now.
The Nebraska Republican added that a draft, which was ended in the early 1970s, would spread the burden of military service in Iraq more equitably among various social strata. "Those who are serving today and dying today are the middle class and lower middle class," he observed.
They're the ones who volunteer. I'd like to see a young Kennedy volunteer.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/21/2004 1:02:05 AM ||
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Do not often agree with hagel, but would like to see a WWII style mobilization of human and material resources to attack ALL the nations harboring our ENEMIES. Hitting Iraq while leaving Iran and Syria unmolested is getting our PEOPLE killed in Iraq.
#2
There's much talk regards the things we should do, from Iran to Syria (a redundancy, methinks, Iran is the key to Syrian activity) to Saudi. Expanding the boots inventory certainly makes sense, both in this light and in what we're seeing in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Given recent quota fulfillment reports, it seems apparent that we can find who we need without a draft. Personally, I have come to admire the hell out of the current volunteer military - and see no overriding logic to change its nature one iota, as long as the non-idiotarian segment of our youth keeps signing up. They have restored my faith, in fact, that we aren't going to hell in a handbasket. These kids are awesome!
What worries me, actually, is the materiel aspect. To do even half of what is being bandied about, seriously increased production of those items we have seen run short, from HQ ceramic body armor to GPS-guided munitions to armed UAV's, just to mention the most obvious, had better already be a fact, not a talking point for some future planning meeting. And a bunch of these seem appropriate, as well.
If our people are willing to risk all, then we are duty-bound to give them sufficient stocks of the best tools to do the jobs we ask them to perform. They rock - and we should certainly do no less.
#3
(Hi, Dotcom! Where've you been? I've missed you!)
Oh, and Megadittos to everything you said above!
Our military is the best and they deserve everything they need to do the job right!
On to Victory!
Posted by: Jen ||
04/21/2004 3:34 Comments ||
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#4
Hey, Jen! Been around, but just don't have much to say. Simply put, I'm waiting to see whether we are serious about Iraq - and the Bush Doctrine - or not. Fucking domestic politics, that UN jackoff Brahimi, bullshit cease-fires, negotiating with Al Sadr, Shitsani the Shi'a SuperPrick -- the whole thing leaves me semi-speechless. So I'm just waiting to see if we have the stomach (per article I posted yesterday from Canada.com) for what's coming and the cojones to back our people. I hate politics - all forms. I've posted multiple articles today - but they're in quarantine until an RB god approves. One is on partitioning - you may find it pretty persuasive. In sum, it's time to get off the dime and for the US to follow through or wimp out. This waffling shit gets good people killed - and ours deserve better. BTW, keep whacking the moles - you're doing a great job of it! I'm too pissed off to be in civil company, at the moment. Sorry!
#5
It is obvious to anyone whose brain is not pickled in cheap bourbon and suffering from faux-bravado there are not enough human resources in uniform to fight the global war on terrorism in the Mideast, Asia, Africa and beyond. Syria is a problem in and of itself. Iran is a separate problem. Attacking Iraq and leaving the Syrian and Iranian regimes standing, is little different from a WWII entailing taking down Italy and leaving Germany and Japan to the diplomats. This nation needs to be engaging in ALL OUT WAR on all fronts simultaneously without regard to international law, global public opinion or any other consideration not related to neutralizing the REAL and PRESENT dangers to the USA.
#6
I hear you guys, both dotcom and Anon4391.
The problem isn't with the military--it's the morale on the homefront, largely as created and perpetrated by the Lying Liberal Left media.
If we could either get them to shut up or give up on their "cause" of Orwellian "New World Order" peace-by-appeasement plan and finally let we "chickenhawks" and "neocons" be the new men and women of the hour, we might get somewhere.
I feel the worm turning slowly, slowly but building to something for the election.
It could go for Lurch and the whining peaceniks but I doubt it.
America--the silent majority that Nixon talked about--is finally "getting it" that we're at war and that it's a war they want us to win.
If we can get the megaphone from the Left and tell the world we're really behind this thing and do so by re-electing President Bush in November, which is also a big "Yes" vote for the Bush Doctrine, then we will have won about 90% of the GWOIT (Global War on Islamist Terror).
I live in hope...which is why my blog motto is "We can do it!"
Posted by: Jen ||
04/21/2004 5:47 Comments ||
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#7
Damn, I don't where to start. I agree with all you guys (and Jen). It looks like we really do need to just hammer hell out of any, and every, friggin jerk off country that harbors terrorists of any breed. I mean bomb the hell out of them and don't look back, don't give a good God damn about what anyone thinks. When it's all over we'll have more friends than we can provide drinks for. You guys don't know me but I'm a Yank here in China working for major US oil and have been for close to 8 years. I can get RB on internet sometimes and thankful for that. I thirst for comments and news about my country. Just keep it up. I have a bad feeling about that 9/11 commission and what the final report will be. I'm like Bubba in Forest Gump, Why is this happening? Why is that commission happening? No good can come from it. Anyway,Good luck, and keep the words flowing. Chiner, reporting from, Yep, China.
#8
Chiner, hold the fort over there--Can you give us any scoop about Kim Jung-Il's recent visit for a woodshedding to talk about his problems?
I wouldn't worry too much about the 9/11 Commission; it's become more than obvious that it's a partisan witch hunt with the purpose of blaming Bush and exonerating Clintoon, but the opposite happened and the polls bear that out!
Posted by: Jen ||
04/21/2004 6:04 Comments ||
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#9
They're the ones who volunteer. I'd like to see a young Kennedy volunteer.
#10
Yes but a war on terrorism is primarily won in the hearts and minds. That means not only showing that you are a nice guy but also destroying the image of the opposition.
Far too many people still seebin Laden as a kind of Robin Hood. Let's remind them he is for slavery, that he lives in stolen money (from Shia's oil) or how little he cares about the lives of Blacks (remember the embassy bombings: 200 dead Blacks, 4000 wounded for the sake of killing 12 americans).
Encourage Muslims to ask questions like: "Whare in Koran it is said that the money of pilgrimage must end in Arab pockets?"
Have non-Arab muslims see wahabism and other variants of radical islam as instruments of Arab domination.
Encourage the Arabic speakers of North Africa and Middle East to no longer consider themelves as Arabs (just as Mexicans don't consider themselves as Spanish or Americans as English)
But above all we must forget about political correctness, we must be able to tell the unfiltered tyruth instead of cowing unless the target is an american WASP We must have our media opensly speaking about the negative aspects of Islam in general and radical islam in particular instead of fearing being accused of hate speech.
We _need_ Hollywood churning movies defending our values, depicting the heroic actions of service men or valiant resistants trying to escape Iranian or Syrian secret police instead of giving Oscars to any unwashed loser who hates America. Remember the movies "Casablanca" and "Objective Burma". That is what we need and we need it now.
#11
Amen, JFM!
And what illustrates best what you're talking about than what happened today in Basra--3 (or maybe it was 5) Islamist bombs that killed Muslims, including at least 10 little school children.
Muslims killing Muslims. Shame.
Posted by: Jen ||
04/21/2004 6:34 Comments ||
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#12
Looks like no one else wants it... Grrrrr, A4381, how can you get so much right and so much wrong in one tiny post? You must've edited it for an hour - or you're a... well, I won't go there.
Iran and Syria are not separate problems. Iran funds and plays the Spiritual Leader game for Hizbullah and funds Hamas in Syria. Go back about a year or so to when Khomeini paid a little visit there and then read your ass off and you'll find this is accurate. Tip the Mad Mullahs over and Baby Asshat is just a whimpering puppet with no one to pull his strings - or pay the tab for the toys they've been lugging over the border.
Allied efforts in WW-II began with Operation Torch in North Africa. In those days we had to have a base of operations - and N. A. allowed us a starting point to get to Europe - and divide Hitler's European resources to make the D-Day Invasion possible. You gotta start somewhere. In the M.E. and with our capabilities today, we started smack dab in the middle of Arabic Islam. There are at least a hundred good strategic advantages to doing Iraq first, if we follow through and finish the job. If we don't, then where didn't matter at all.
Afghanistan made perfect sense - I hope you don't disagree with that... otherwise it's apparent you don't know jackshit about the WoT.
You're right we need more people, but we will do it incrementally because the US PC public is not ready for all-out global war. Not yet. I'm at least as frustrated as you are, believe me. If we are hit with something nasty inside the US, you'll get your wish in one go - but I'd rather pass on that motivator, thank you very much. If we can manage to avoid it, yet keep the US public on-board in support of our troops and Dubya's gutsy scrapping of the failed policies of the past for a real WoT, i.e. The Bush Doctrine, we will knock them out, one by one, as resources and necessity allow.
First we have to go medievel on Iraq. Then Iran - prolly by year-end and only a Mad Mullah structural beheading assist to the Iranian people, I hope. Then Saudi Arabia - I suggest we simply take their oil away - and let the Wahhabis flop around like landed fish while the Royals skeedaddle with the loot. Then, if needed, Pakistan - their Izzoids are almost totally dependent upon Saudi funding. The rest fall (or are effectively neutered) because they have no funding - and yes, this assumes that Izzoid funding coming from the West will dry up with the defeats. The "military" leaders of the Izzoids are 90% mercs. Much of the fodder is full of romantic BS that will wear thin when the cash runs out and they have to fight with rocks and sticks.
BTW, regards that faux-bravado - you're right that there's a lot more talk than action - everywhere. It's one reason why I'm scarce these days - there's nothing much more to say regards Iraq until we see if CENTCOM still has the green light and has the will to finish the job -- or has Dubya decided to allow the pols (UN, Iraqi, whomever) to fuck it up (translation: get good people killed to no effect and, thus, for no good reason), for whatever reason. I wish he'd go ahead and gut State - call it pre-emption, if you like - I prefer to think of it as long overdue maintenance.
If all else fails and the tide of idiocy can't be stopped through conventional means - or if the US public loses its footing and falls for the Socialist BS - some poor soul sitting in the Big Chair is going to be faced with the worst choice in history: dhimmitude or genocide. That would suck, but it'd be a no-brainer for Dubya. Skeery doesn't have a brain of his own, so that would be a terrifying prospect.
I feel like Jeremiah Johnson when he said it had been a long time since he'd had so much of the English language spoke at him. Toodles.
#13
I was midway through my stint in the Army as an instructor in the signals school (then at Ft. Monmouth, NJ) when the draft ended. Based on what I saw then, I wouldn't want to return to a draft; frankly, I think it would be a disaster. Much of our forces' effectiveness, it seems to me, derives from their voluntary nature. Having freely chosen to serve, that service becomes a profession--and those who serve do so more professionally and more effectively.
As to not having one's brains pickled in cheap bourbon, please note that the president of the United States cannot simply invade other countries whenever he feels like it: Congress must approve. And in an election year, with a Democratic Party that has made a cynical calculation that it can make political gains by opposing everything Bush does, including the war, such Congressional approval would be extremely unlikely; and even seeking that approval would tip off our enemies in Syria, Iran, and Saudi Arabia (yes, them too).
OIF had numerous objectives, few of which actually relied on our being totally successful in establishing a democratic regime there (though that would obviously be nice, both for us and for the Iraqis). One key objective was to secure a supply of oil that was not subject to cutoff, a la 1973, by pissed-off Arab despots--and we're going to need it, because once the WoT begins in earnest after the election, they're going to be REALLY pissed off at us.
Another key objective was to establish a land base for our military forces, strategically located near our enemies; without that, subjugation of Syria, Iran and Saudi Arabia is impossible. We simply can't do that from the sea alone, and even Iraq couldn't be taken without use of land facilities in Kuwait, Qatar and elsewhere in the region. But now we are in Iraq, in force. Syria is to the left, Iran to the right, and SA down below. Once we get Iraq settled to the point where it's mostly governing itself in a reasonable semblance of order, the WoT can begin in earnest.
I'm impatient, too; because it is indeed obvious that Syria and Iran (and SA, too) are the "real" enemies. But that impatience has to be tempered with some sober, strategic thinking.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
04/21/2004 6:44 Comments ||
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#15
Dave D, awesome answer--and it got us focused again!
Bless you.
Posted by: Jen ||
04/21/2004 7:13 Comments ||
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#16
Dave D's got it. The draft would be an unmitigatged disaster. Raise the pay and form 4 more divisions. At one time the all-volunteer army had what.... 16 divisions?
#17
I'm not really in favor of a draft right now. It worked in World War II but in the kind of war we are fighting now I don't believe it's a good idea. I don't want to be in a very tight situation with someone beside me who is just going through the motions until his time is up. I want someone who is as motivated as I am and who I can literally trust with my life. Most of the people I served with back in the late '60s and early '70s were just the type I don't want to be around when the shit hits the fan. The only things on their minds were the next meal, when they were going to get out, and when they could smoke the next joint. The reason our military is so good is beacuse it is volunteer. These guys are good people.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
04/21/2004 7:42 Comments ||
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#18
Aside: (Like Jen, I was wondering where you got to, .com...but I saw you over at the commandpost so I figgered you were alive and connecting...)
Blather: I'm going to chime in on this one although I've nothing insightful to say. Most of the time I don't like to run up Mr. Pruitt's bandwidth. But today...something is different.
Self-examination: It could be that I only pause in VRWC echochambers. It could be I don't want to pull my head out of the sand. But I can barely stand to watch the news. If it looks bad for us, or if I hear that slant (I think they call it 'bias' today) rolling out of the newsreader's mouth, I tend to change the channel. This began years and years ago during the insistent, leftward bleating on Vietnam. (And I remember reading an article that claimed there WAS no Vietnam bloodbath when we pulled out...geez)
I used to think I was a coward (although I did keep turning up in the mil recruiter's office...for their part, they kept persuading me to hit the road, sometimes tossing me into the street...). Nowadays, I think I'm just fed up.
Where I stand: I'm of the Jen-Chiner-.com school of thought. "Go there, kill them." Don't let politics run the war, let the military run the war. I'm anxiously waiting to see if this Bush Doctrine will track true. I'm not doubtful, I'm hopeful which is a worse condition.
Results of standing: I'm weary. Weary of chattering nincompoops on the news, in the papers...on the internet. Weary of the US always being the bad guy. Don't we EVER get redeemed? Don't we EVER do good? How is it that so many people around the world want to immigrate to this country when we're so awful?
On the Draft: Of course, the reason for the draft-yammering from the left is obvious. Most of the opposition to the Vietnam war was really opposition to the draft (don't take our boys to fight YOUR war!). When the draft ended, so did most of the vocal opposition to our engagements abroad. Additionally, the Vietnam conflict was winding down at the same time the draft ended. (That's the way I remember it, anyway.) So now the Left, fer goodness sakes, wants a draft? Why? Answer: Because the institution of the draft will gin up opposition to the war. Simple. Effective.
The draft will have the added value of undermining our military's potency. Sometimes I think those folks just have glass heads. The fact that enlistments and re-enlistments continue to be high only rubs salt in their self-inflicted wounds. They must have a draft or they'll never be able to de-throne Bushitler. See? I know you do.
Conclusion: In the meantime, I hope Mr. Bush can get Iraq under enough control that we don't lose out from our fifth column, America-hating media convincing Americans that 'we've lost, it's time to get out.'
I'd like to see some good war movies, too. I think they'd be overwhelmingly lucrative. Kinda like the big whack-upside-the-head Hollywood just received from Mr. Gibson.
The last hope is this (and I tell myself every day): "These kids are awsome!." --.com Yup, I'm around them from time to time and I've been pleasantly surprised. They aren't buying the media gibbering. Their attitude seems to be "we need to win". For the most part they seem to believe in America, the US military and Our-way-of-life. I think they are proving it in Iraq.
THe Senator is gravely mistaken about the draft - his thinking is still back in the Korea/Vietnam era military where he gets outdated concepts like "levee en mass" and a large questionably-motivated conscript army.
The modern US military is mobile, very quick, and very much technologically oriented. It is an military of force multipliers.
It is not a large grunt military designed to attrition the enemy - Sen Hagel would have us return to the days where the job of the military was bleed the enemy to death while bleeding itself, like all conscript armies do.
Somone needs to take the Sneaotr adn drag him into the latter quarter of the 20th century and learn about modern warfare, especially the kind of wars we now fight.
On a more philosophical front, if we cannot supply enough Americans willing to go do what is neccessary, then we do not deserve to continue as a nation. Like the Greek's hoplites, if we lose the core of people who are willing to live by "Come home with your shield or on it", then we have failed as a society.
As a practical matter, NOBODY wants draftees.
The military today is not the Vietnam military. It requires intelligent, motivated and well trained people. You are not going to get that from a bunch of people who never asked to be there. Examine the All-Volunteer military - as a whole it is much better educated than the general populace, much more patriotic, and much more dedicated than the nation as an average.
And finally, the services are meeting their needs now with recruiting, and are not calling for as large a force structure as would require a draft.
Bottom line, a draft is not only unneeded, and unwanted - it would actually be very detrimental to the military, filling it with people it would normally have rejected and who didnt want to be there or ask to be there, and this woudl rapidly destroy the elan and esprit de corps that makes our military such an effective PROFESSIONAL fighting force.
NO DRAFT. Peroid. Someone take Sen Hagel to school.
#20
I think if Congress developed a Letters of Marque system against terrorist targets, for missions such as recon, sabotage, intelligence gathering, and so on, and isued them not only to private American companies and individuals, but also to foreign companies as well, this war could be ended faster and in a shorter time and with the victory we must have.
#22
"But I can barely stand to watch the news. If it looks bad for us, or if I hear that slant (I think they call it 'bias' today) rolling out of the newsreader's mouth, I tend to change the channel. This began years and years ago during the insistent, leftward bleating on Vietnam."
I don't even bother with television "news" anymore, not even Fox. Even with them, the medium forces them to both succumb to sensationalism and alarmism, and oversimplify the story as well. Occasionally I'll watch Brit Hume's show, but that's about all.
The best thing I've found is to use online newspapers to get a feel for what's happening, then make the rounds of the blogs to de-spin the newspaper stories--i.e., what facts did the newspaper conveniently omit; what parts were factual and what parts were just the author's opinion; what other stories are related to the item, perhaps shedding additional light; what other stories has that author written, and what other misrepresentations has he made in the past; and so forth.
Frankly, I find online news a lot less aggravating than TV: I'm not forced to sit there like a lump, just taking in whatever bilge the talking head wants me to hear.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
04/21/2004 8:38 Comments ||
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#23
I know that military service is a well established way to get a Green card. Just expand the program. Not only will it get you good motivated troops it will get you the right kind of citizens.
Posted by: Phil B ||
04/21/2004 8:46 Comments ||
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#24
I'm sorry but we don't need more troops in Iraq, we need to change the ROE (Rules of Engagement). Stop playing nice. Tell Sadr, 'Turn yourself in, or whatever mosque you are in loses its protected status and you die.' Then bomb the hell our whatever building he's in. Our troops are fighting this fight with one arm tied behind their back, let our boys (and girls!) bring the pain.
#26
Thanks, Quana, for so thoroughly summing up exactly the way I feel ... I force myself through one or two BBC radio news hours a day, along with as much NPR as I can stomach (and this is from a former dollar-a-day guy) and then turn to RB and other web outlets to reassure myself that sane people still exist.
#28
We also need to consider the source. Hagel gets on the talking head shows because he consistently goes against the standard Republican line. That's his sole claim to fame: he's the media's "voice of reason among the Republican warmongers" guy. This call for a draft is just more grandstanding on his part. I believe the draft is immoral because it is coercive; more to the point, it is inefficient because it is expensive and volunteers are far, far better motivated than draftees. NO TO THE DRAFT.
Posted by: Jonathan ||
04/21/2004 10:19 Comments ||
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#29
I'm sitting here in Colorado Springs, with Fort Carson (which until about a week ago had 10,000 troops in Iraq), Peterson AFB (Space Command), Shriver AFB, and Cheyenne Mountain AFB, and the Air Force Academy, plus about 50,000 retirees from all branches. The military in general and the WoT in particular is always a hot topic, and a lot of the people here have more than a passing knowledge of the subject. Most of my friends are retirees, ranging in rank from an Air Force Major General through a medically retired Private First Class from Vietnam. Quite a bit of what I post here is consensus from what we discuss when we get together.
One thing we all agree on is that the "Peace Dividend" cuts in the military were too much, too soon. The Cold War may be over, and we may not need those divisions to fight a land war in Europe, but thanks to the way the world has aligned against us, the PEOPLE are needed elsewhere. Those million-plus military slots that were eliminated between 1990 and 2000 would certainly come in handy right now. Having them filled with well-trained, experienced warriors would be even better! That's spilled milk, there's not much we can do about it but chalk it up to experience, and move on. However, we need to start adding those troops back in. I think it's imperative that we begin increasing our military strength by 5000 Army, 500 Marines, 300 Navy, and 500 Air Force a quarter (about all that can be added to the training schedule without some major reshuffling) until we double its current size. That's about the force levels my friends and I feel is necessary to meet current worldwide commitments (including Korea, the Middle East, Europe, and other hot spots), establish a reserve of forces for unexpected needs, allow for better troop rotation, provide a better training environment, and take some of the burden off currently deployed personnel. Those troops should be split 60% active, 20% active reserve, 20% national guard. The biggest problem is funding, which will have to be approved by Congress. There's going to be a huge cost, both to support the increase in personnel, the increased cost in training and support, and the cost to properly equip these people to fight. The idiocy of base closures will have to be addressed, or there won't be anywhere to put these people.
Someone needs to also knock some heads at the very top, too. I'd love to get Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Rice, and Powell all in the same room with myself and a few good friends, and let them have it with both barrels. As much as I respect some of the things they have done in the last four years, they all have blind spots that get them and their boss in trouble. Even the wisest man can be a fool at times, and all of these people have been fools at least once. This is no time to allow foolishness to go unchallenged.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/21/2004 10:28 Comments ||
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#30
I think the military should actively persue the "embedded journalist" idea again. It seemed to work well during the invasion. Now the news corps is running around looking for their own stories and anyone who will talk to them - which turns out to be mostly Iraqis. I think this would change allot of the journalistic views.
I'm growing impatient with our interactions with Syria and Iran. dotcom had it right - go after Iran and Syria will fall inturn. I think a big reason we aren't doing anything now though is because we are restocking our supplies. We used up allot of the 'cool-guy' stuff already and smart munitions are in short supply. I remeber reading articles of how theres is only 1 plant to make ammo, smart bombs, t-hawks etc. This is a problem inherited by this administration from previous admins with cold war downsizing.
I don't think a draft is necessary right now. Besides, it would take at least a year to get it up and running and the quality of soldier it would produce would not be the caliber we have in theater now.
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
04/21/2004 10:28 Comments ||
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#31
Old Patriot
I can see the tip of Pikes Peak and Devil's Head from my office - I'm an hr north of you!
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
04/21/2004 10:33 Comments ||
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#32
1. "dont let politics run the war"
Occupations are political by nature. That was true in Germany and Japan, it was true when the Brits ran their empire, its true everywhere. You want to have your troops fight on military grounds only, unconstrained by politics, then you need to go back to the Powell doctrine and stop occupying countries (I DONT agree with the Powell doctrine, and believe it was necessary to occupy Iraq, but I think that means we DO need to be political in running the occupation - frustrating as that is. Now that doesnt mean you cant be tougher in a given situation - but even then you need to be political. Even Rome had to be and was political in their occupation.
2. Do we need more ground pounders - yes.
3. Do we need a draft - no. If A. We expand the number of troops, so that rotations are shorter and more predictable, and improve pay, benefits, etc we can get enough troops without the problems of the draft.
4. Can we afford to do 3, and also to equip our troops as needed? Yes, but see 5.
5. Did the US cut taxes during WW2 - NO, taxes were raised, rationing was imposed, liberty bonds were sold, the entire economy was mobilized for war.
6. Can you get the people to take the war seriously when the economy is run as if it were peacetime? - I doubt it.
#34
Quana - I agree that Hollywood could stepup to do its part. Think movies that develop future focus scenarios; i.e., this is what Islam will look like, if you maintain the Jihad. Show those responsible for maintenance of the jihad, being killed remotely via Predators, and by dirtect SF operations. Name the characters that will be on the list, and subject to our rising wrath.
Surely, there must be Directors and Producers in Hollywood who could this the story accurately, and embed our goals in the storyline. Should be a boxoffice blowout. Maybe Mel Gibson will do it.
I'll disagree: wars ARE political. There's no way around that. Non-military politics failed to deal with Saddam so we went to war. Wars are ALWAYS political, in that the politics in the end decides when one fights and when one stops fighting. So what are the political goals in Iraq right now? I'll venture 1) stable, democratic government 2) federal state in which the major players aren't at each others' throats 3) no more than low-level insurrection in any location that is important to us 4) Iraqi police / milita handles 95% of all security 5) Iraq re-builds an economy sufficient to keep most everyone hopeful for the future 6) implementation of personal liberty protections for the population.
THAT'S political. And that tells the military what to do and how to get the job done.
On expanding the military: OS and OP note the need and OP notes the limitation, how quickly we can train people properly. We're looking at a new brigade or two each year, tops. So let's get to work on two new divisions over the next five years. Dedicate one (93rd Vol. Inf.) as a light, peacekeeping/peace-enforcing/ass-kicking-if-you-violate-the-peace division. Expand AF transport capability, sea-lift and support units.
And we need to encourage the Shi'a on the west bank of the Persian Gulf to establish the Republic of Eastern Arabia, a country about 40 km wide. That 2nd army division I want would be real handy to help implement the mutual defense treaty I'd have with the RoEA.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/21/2004 11:48 Comments ||
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#36
Quana is right, the whole draft idea's a way to sabotage the home front of the war effort. Doesn't deserve any consideration at all.
#37
No draft. Not now, not ever again.
First and foremost, there will never ever be any widespread public support for such a move. The legal challenges alone (and yes, I know that a draft is 100% legal, and it will not matter)will paralyse any attempt for so long that by the time the legal decision comes down, it'll be too late.
OP points out that the system cannot train any more than it already is. USAF as a for instance cannot possibly train more than about a thousand people a month...and that system is so overloaded with extraneous crap that if you suddenly started pumping in even a few more bodies, it would collpase under its own weight.
The Army - and this is no reflection upon the brave men and women who run the outfit - could not possibly DO anything with thousands of new draftees, most of whom would be actively fighting any effort to put them INTO combat. It would take at best two YEARS to put together an effective division, and that assumes they had the equipment to do it with...and since a 'for the duration' law is damned unlikely, they will leave en masse two years after that.
A draft is really nothing more than a way to end any public support for the war without flat out announcing it. It will be infinitely far more trouble than it will be worth.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
04/21/2004 12:11 Comments ||
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#38
5. Did the US cut taxes during WW2 - NO, taxes were raised, rationing was imposed, liberty bonds were sold, the entire economy was mobilized for war.
Yes, and how long ago was that? Wasn't there a reasonably clear consensus of who the enemy was, across the U.S. political spectrum?
6. Can you get the people to take the war seriously when the economy is run as if it were peacetime? - I doubt it.
I doubt that you could get "the people" to take the war seriously if the economy was placed on a war footing. That would require more than a kick in their wallet. Even if the economy were "war-timed", the military wouldn't have been any more improved. Too many political forks in the pie.
#40
The Draft and 'McNamara's 100,000' did more damage to the US than the NVA ever could have. I'm all for keeping the Services voluntary, because I'm part of them. 'Freeloaders', 'Non-Hackers' and 'Slack-Asses' would suffer numerous 'accidents' and 'injuries' in the dark of night... If there is going to be a Draft. Close ALL the loopholes and Deferrments and EVERYBODY goes. No Exceptions. For the Duration Plus Six Months! Just like WWII. Men on the Front Lines. Women in the rear, or Stateside. Let's see how well the Dems will let THAT fly... Or, finally... Here's an idea... Induct Illegals into service for four years. With Citizenship attached at the end of that time.
Posted by: Jack Deth ||
04/21/2004 12:41 Comments ||
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#41
Liberalhawk: Did the US cut taxes during WW2 - NO, taxes were raised, rationing was imposed, liberty bonds were sold, the entire economy was mobilized for war.
This comparison is both facile and misleading. There is a reason for draconian WWII measures - the US started WWII with military expenditures at 1% of a depression-level GDP, compared to the 7% (of a much larger economy) over decades of Cold War, followed by a decrease to 4% today. That 1% number for the Department of War (what Defense was called before the era of political correctness) went up to 50% after Pearl Harbor. The prewar 1% number was why American spending went up to 50% - to catch up with allies and enemies alike. The US's thriftiness up until Pearl Harbor meant that:
- the US started the war with arguably the worst equipment of all the major powers in the war, and this in the smallest amounts.
- the other powers fielded armies in the millions - the US army numbered 100,000 troops in total when Pearl Harbor took place.
Another important difference with WWII is this, at that time, we fought large scale naval, air and land battles with hundreds of thousands of uniformed enemy belligerents in multiple theaters thousands of miles away from the American mainland. These were conflicts that consumed huge amounts of fuel, equipment and men.
Among other things (this is only a partial list), we
- fought the Japanese in the Central and South Pacific
- kept up a steady aerial bombardment of Japanese cities
- resupplied Chiang Kai Shek's men by flying lumbering transport planes over the Himalayas
- sent ships in convoys across the Atlantic to resupply the British and the Soviets, at the cost of thousands of ships sunk
- sent men to take North Africa back from the Axis powers
- bombed German cities with thousand bomber raids, suffering 5% losses with each raid (that's 50 planes per mission)
- spent huge amounts of money on a bomb whose practical effects were unknown at the time of the research - some scientists thought it would destroy the earth by sucking all the oxygen out of the atmosphere
What comparable effort would require the expenditure of 50% of our annual GDP today? Are we going to invade every Muslim country in the world? Even if such a campaign were in order, would these militarily weak countries require anywhere near this kind of expenditure? Or is this a jobs program for security guards? The fact of the matter is this - security guards will not win the War on Terror - the terrorists can lie low until our economy sinks under the weight of the additional expenditures. (Why do you think Truman demobilized the military as soon as the war was over? To get the economy going again). The only way to ensure decisive victory is to forcibly change every Muslim government out there and perhaps forcibly convert them to some other faith. Unless a nuke is detonated on US soil, we're not going to invade every Muslim country out there. GWB's program may need a little calibration in one direction or another, but the essentials are just about right.
Note that rationing was mentioned in the earlier passage. What wasn't mentioned by Liberalhawk about WWII measures was that social programs were drastically cut back - and this was when they were at the spartan levels of the Depression era, before the Great Society programs of the 1960's provided welfare payments, free medical care and free food to the able-bodied. If the country is going to make sacrifices, social programs should be cut back drastically. Saying that we should raise taxes today is simply ludicrous - in the 1930's, tax rates were far lower than they are today - back then, there was significant room to raise them, whereas today, the government is already taking roughly 40 cents out of every dollar of income. What we need are more tax cuts, not tax hikes.
#42
The major reason taxes were raised during WWII (aka The Big One) was to soak up excess money. There were few consumer items for all the money being dumped on the economy to buy. Taxes weren't raised to pay for the war.
#44
Liberalhawk -- there are enough people who object to treating unlawful combatants as anything less than criminal defendants to make it a political issue, and you think there's political will to mobilize to the extent of WWII?
Raising taxes and instituting a draft won't convince people there's a war on; those things can only happen AFTER they're convinced. Why don't you work on convincing your party there's a war -- and that it's NOT against Republicans?
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
04/21/2004 14:17 Comments ||
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#45
Like most politicians, Hagel's comments are mostly misdirection intended to get him on TV rather than fixing a problem. If we need more troops, all Congress has to do is authorize AND FUND a higher endstrength. Recruiters are having no difficulty in filling their quotas.
A more useful discussion for Congress would be the ratio of reservists to regulars in the total force. I was talking to a Congressional staffer a few weeks ago who reacted to the thought of increasing the regular forces and reducing the reserves with horror. "We couldn't possibly afford it." Well, the "total force" concept currently screws reservists and guardsmen by using them like the regular forces but providing second class benefits. The reserves and the guard are making significant financial sacrifices to help Congress pinch pennies.
People like Hagel should just sit in a corner until the urge to make unhelpful and uninformed comments goes away.
#46
A lot of good points. I think a few of you are unnecessarily impatient though. The draft is stupid, the military should have increased enlistment goals and expand again. Volunteers are far better than unwilling draftees.
Yes, Syria and Iran are enemies and the Administration should be using political and diplomatic heat on them now, but they can wait a bit.
If we invade Afghanistan and Pakistan reforms her ways to avoid being on our bad side we get two for one. If we invade Iraq and Libya changes her ways we get another two-fer.
Right now we are draining the swamp. The hotheaded fools are coming to Fallujia to die, making it easier for other nations in the region to modify their ways without worrying about these hotheads turning on them. If we declare war on everyone we announce our intentions and inflame everyone so that we have to fight for all of our gains. In that scenerio we are unlikely to make the same rapid progress, slow as it may seem right now.
Of course that's just my opinion, I could be wrong.
#47
S'okay - ruprecht, heard about the failed Arab League meeting? The Tunisian hosts wanted to talk Westernization and the old cronies balked ...
Posted by: Edward Yee ||
04/21/2004 15:21 Comments ||
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#48
The old cronies balked because they might get killed by those hotheaded fools at home if they came out as too western. But those hotheaded fools are likely to be slaughtered in Iraq over the next few weeks and months.
I bet the Arab League meeting goes a bit smoother next year. Perhaps they don't get very far but the conversations will happen and some progress will be made.
#49
geoffg, I would settle for a sci-fi story showing life in San Francisco after Osama has won his Jihad. Knocking down the walls of Castro street to take out gays. Forcing the women to wear Burqas and beating them, killing a few in Pac Bell park. Perhaps a stoning because a slut allowed herself to be raped by her cousins. The banning of music and kite flying.
Hollywood spent the 80s and 90s creating post-apocolyptic or Corporations are evil type pictures. Why not make a film showing how everything they cherish is in danger and is worth fighting to defend.
We all know the answer, and that's what is so pathetic.
#50
Geez...Don't you folks have jobs? Clausewitz(sp?) already. Who knew?
LH, Steve...I reckon I wasn't clear when I wrote "Don't let politics run the war". I meant that goals should not change on account of domestic sqabbling amongst our political brethren or opponents as they howl, grandstand or whine.
Make the plan, stay the course, be flexible, be agile, be mobile (hell, be hostile...whatever it takes) and be determined. Don't change the objective on account of domestic political buffeting. Don't hamstring the military.
Don't let domestic political sniping interfere with the military winning the war.
Cease fire in Fallujah to see if the CPA can talk the "town fathers" into helping them run down the terrorists? Fine by me. As long as we are on the offensive, as long as we are in control, as long as we don't give up ground, gain or lives in order to pretend to "play nice". Sure. Git after it. Politick all day long.
I believe there's a plan, so if you think I'm carping about "we're in, we're out, we're in, we're shaking all about...", be clear: I understand this ain't the hokey pokey. I'm just a watcher on the sidelines in the horseshoe so I'm going to miss some plays. I just want to know that we're all headed for the same goalposts.
(Apologizing in advance for such decrepit and cliched analogies)
P.S. (kidding about the jobs thing)
P.P.S. Dave D: right! Anon4409: right! AllahHateMe: right! ruprecht: right!
Yep. And the job includes an internet connection on my PC- and it's extremely important, naturally, that the internet connection be continually exercised to ensure we haven't gone offline...
Regarding the discussion topic, my attitude continues to be (with occasional lapses in bad moments) to just keep the faith. Bush has emphasized, again and again, that he means what he says and says what he means; and I'm willing to assume, for the time being, that he does. And if I see something that worries me, I'm willing to assume--for a while, at least--that there's either a good reason for what I'm seeing, or perhaps that I don't have complete information.
I counsel patience, and at least a little bit of trust in those who are running the show. In any case, they're doing a damn sight better than John Kerry would do--of that, I am certain.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
04/21/2004 17:31 Comments ||
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#52
Quana most all of us have jobs..... now work is another matter entirely.
#53
Brigadier General Mark Kimmit is a guest on the Laura Ingraham show this evening. She happened to ask him what he thought about reviving the draft. As a serving officer, he had to be careful about his answer, but he did say basically that the draft was inconsistent with the kind of military that we have tried to build over the last 30 years, and that has been so successful in recent conflicts.
Ingraham also asked what he thought of this stereotype of military service as primarily a middle-class and lower-class phenomenon.
He said that he didn't know, since he was much more interested in urban warfare than in class warfare just now.
#54
I had a job but nowhere as cushy as you guys who cna post all day here. There was no open internet access there. Nor cellphones. Nor cameras. Nor recording devices. Nor electronic devices. And plenty of armed guards.
Five people, including two Rochester police officers, were hurt when three homemade pipe bombs exploded in the cityâs 19th Ward Tuesday night. The officers and three other people suffered what authorities called minor injuries when the explosives went off around 9:15pm on Pioneer Street, near Weldon Street. The explosion happened in a square block area south of Brooks Avenue just west of Genesee Valley Park.
Police continued to investigate the scene late Tuesday night and did not offer details of the circumstances that led to the bombs exploding. Breaking News
#1
Pipe bombs tend to indicate criminals/nutcases/domestic wacko groups. We shall see.
Posted by: Jonathan ||
04/21/2004 10:28 Comments ||
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#2
This report is wrong. I watched a clip from a Rochester news station. They were "soda bottle bombs" made with "common household chemicals."
Three teens were involved.
For some reason I suspect one (or more) of them does a lot of websurfing, and came across this posted on the b3ta newsletter at the start of April:
STUFF NOT TO DO OVER THE EASTER WEEKEND
Unless you're bored or suicidal
>> Build a bottle bomb <<
Kids - never mix chlorine and alcohol in a
bottle and shake it up for kicks. This is what
happens. One of the best videos we've ever seen.
The comic timing is masterful.
http://snipurl.com/5lv5
Even the NYT has taken notice of the elephant in the UN parlour.
Russia has dropped its objection to a proposed investigation of the scandal-ridden United Nations oil-for-food program in Iraq, clearing the way for Paul A. Volcker, the former Federal Reserve chairman, to take up his post as chairman of the inquiry on Wednesday. The allegations of corruption and cover-up have damaged the reputation of the United Nations just as it is being asked to take the lead in shaping the interim government that is to take power in Iraq on June 30 and to assist the country in planning elections and drawing up a constitution. Critics of the United Nations have said the charges raise questions about the fitness of the organization for the Iraqi assignment and cast doubt on the willingness of Secretary General Kofi Annan to permit a thorough investigation.
According to a report last month by the General Accounting Office in Washington, Saddam Husseinâs government pocketed more than $10 billion from the program between 1997 and 2002. An accusation that United Nations officials themselves might have benefited emerged in February when documents from Iraqi ministries reportedly cited Benon V. Sevan, a career United Nations official who led the program, as having accepted oil allotments himself. He denied the charges in a written statement. ABC News reported Tuesday that a letter it had obtained from the Iraqi Oil Ministry described Mr. Sevan as giving directions indicating which company should handle his personal oil deal, estimated to be worth as much as $3.5 million. Two other people identified only as "senior U.N. officials" were suspected of taking "multimillion-dollar bribes," ABC reported. Responding to the news report, Stephane Dujarric, a United Nations spokesman, said Tuesday night, "An extremely important aspect of the U.N.âs inquiry is to investigate allegations against any U.N. officials."
#1
I think the goal should be to perform a better audit than the EU did investigating where their contributions to the PLA ended up. My motto is: see the bar low its better for one's self-esteem.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
04/22/2004 4:21 Comments ||
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Posted by: Fred ||
04/21/2004 08:51 ||
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UNSC blasts Israel and US for Hamas killings
So what does this mean? That the U.S. dictates Israeli policy? Please. If our government actually encouraged the Israelis to go after Rantisi and Yassin, I'd be ecstatic.
It's amazing how dozens of Jews can be blown up by suicide/murder bombers and the UN says little about it, but when the murder meisters get what's coming to them, the Security Council gets all hot and bothered, even to the point of condeming the U.S. for Israeli actions in self-defense??
Roger Simon and Austin Bay make no attempt to hide their support of the U.N. Quite frankly, I don't see any point in continuing to support such a worthless organization.
April 20 â At least three senior United Nations officials are suspected of taking multimillion-dollar bribes from the Saddam Hussein regime, U.S. and European intelligence sources tell ABCNEWS
the article goes on to retell the news that has been in RB and other blog resources for several months now. The real news is that a branch of Big Media is finally reporting it. Of course this is still just online. The breakthrough will be when Peter, Dan and Tom are forced to say the words âUN scandalâ on the evening network broadcast. Incidentally here is yet another opportunity for Kerry to have a sister Souljah moment by denouncing UN Corruption
Posted by: mhw ||
04/21/2004 8:20:59 AM ||
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Do they mention the al'Qaeda ties to some of the UNSCAM recipients?
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
04/21/2004 8:23 Comments ||
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#2
RC,
No they don't mention the AlQ ties. They do list about 40 names (of the 300 or so that have been noted elsewhere) of people who received multimillion barrel oil trading rights.
#3
They did show this in TV last night - then even named that Sevor or whoever. But they implied that it was somehow the U.S. fault. Anna Koffie was not mentioned as being involved (or that his office was running the entire program at the end). No mention of Al-Qaeda or the fact that very little of the 'aid' was given to the actual Iraqi people.
They never did link the mess that was in Iraq (no water, medicine, etc...) with this corrupt program.
#4
Very interesting that ABC would report anything like this scandle.
I did hear on their radio broadcast, on the half hour, yesterday that Malaysians have more sex in their bedrooms than other folks from around the world. Can you believe that. I was floored. What a slimey excuse for a news org.
JPost - Reg Reqâd
Lebanese President General Emile Lahoud on Wednesday warned Israel against attempting targeted killings of Hamas leaders in Lebanon, AFP reported.
"Israel should know that any violence on its part inside Lebanese territory would mean a violation of the Blue Line (border). In a case of this sort of violation, Israel will be responsible for the consequences," Lahoud said. BFD - a state that allows Syria to use it as a condom while it screws Israel is no sovereign state
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Israelâs âhit listâ was not a short one, and that terrorist leaders would continue to be targeted. :-)
Israel killed Hamasâ top two leaders, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and Abdel Aziz Rantisi, within one month, and has threatened to harm those who plan to harm Jews - including references to Hizbullah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah.
Overall Hamas leader Khaled Mashal is currently residing in Damascus, Syria. Syria is the de facto power in Lebanon.
"We have proved to them [the terrorists] that they are the ones who will need to run and hide from our long arm, which will not stop hunting them," the prime minister said
Hey Khaled: watching your six? sleeping well?
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/21/2004 8:18:35 PM ||
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That scratching noise you hear in the background is Sharon penciling in Lahoud's name on Israel's dance card.
HEADLINES
Last Updated on April 22, 2004, 12:08 AM (GMT+02:00)
Bush says a nuclear-armed Iran would pose an intolerable threat to Middle East peace and mortal danger to Israel. He was speaking to newspaper editors and publishers in Washington
Havenât seen this anyplace else but it shouldnât be too hard to run down. Another piece in the "whoâs next" puzzle.
#2
it's about time - I really thought Bush would hold off on these types of statements till after november. Kerry and the dems have really put a damper on the WOT with thier rhetoric..and American soldiers are dying - cause and effect - our enemies hear bullshit and have grown bolder - alot bolder since last summer.
Posted by: Dan ||
04/21/2004 19:05 Comments ||
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#3
The admin are no idiots, they know that Iran is the real threat. I'm thinking that there is a nuclear complex that is about to become trash.
Posted by: remote man ||
04/21/2004 19:13 Comments ||
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#4
Now this is NEWS. I scanned all 3 networks tonight, suffering through their news. Nada, zero, nuttin..Now it seems to me that this is a significant policy statement. Oh well. Get your paper here. The internet is alive!
Posted by: Bill Nelson ||
04/21/2004 20:00 Comments ||
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#5
"He was speaking to newspaper editors and publishers in Washington."
No wonder it hasn't made the networks. Read it in the morning.
Posted by: Mr. Davis ||
04/21/2004 20:11 Comments ||
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#6
Bush: Iran on the way to becoming "intolerable threat"
"On the way"? How about "already there"?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/21/2004 21:25 Comments ||
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#7
Jeff Jarvis was there. I asked him about the quote, but he's not had time to reply.
(Hey, I finally figured out this embedded link thing. Yay, me.)
#8
I think his statement is even stronger than just 'intolerable.'
BUSH - "One of my jobs is to make sure they speak as plainly as possible to the Iranians, and make it absolutely clear that the development of a nuclear weapon in Iran is intolerable, and a program is intolerable, otherwise there would be -- otherwise they will be dealt with, starting through the United Nations.
***SNIP***
I think the message is getting delivered to them that it's intolerable if they develop a nuclear weapon. It would be intolerable to peace and stability in the Middle East if they get a nuclear weapon, particularly since their stated objective is the destruction of Israel."
Daneshjoo Information Services
April 14, 2004
Deadly clashes rocked, today, the Omid district, part of Tehran-Pars, located in the eastern part of the Iranian capital. The regime forces used of bullets and tear-gas in order to smash the popular protest which took place against the illegal appropriation of lands. Residents retaliated to the savage attack by throwing pieces of stones, Molotov cocktails and setting tires ablaze. At least one protester has been killed and several other have been injured or arrested.
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
04/21/2004 1:30:47 PM ||
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Summer is a-comin' on...
Posted by: Fred ||
04/21/2004 13:50 Comments ||
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#2
It would sure be nice if the Iranian opposition got their s--t together and put some real heat on the Black Turbans. That would take half the heat off Iraq and us.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/21/2004 14:19 Comments ||
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#3
Is it me, or are they starting to nibble around Tehran's edges?
That is precisely why Iran and Syria are supporting insurgents in Iraq.The more we are tied down in Iraq,the less likely the US will attack Syria or Iran.I believe if current Pres.Bush had Pappa Bush's 14 divisions,those extra 4 would be on Syrian border right now.
This is also reason why UN is most unlikely to "take over" Iraq.Iran,Syria and Venezuela are all doing damnest to ensure UN doesn't,cause if UN relieved US,American forces might stop by.
Posted by: Stephen ||
04/21/2004 15:14 Comments ||
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#6
nitroglycerin
Posted by: B ||
04/21/2004 15:35 Comments ||
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#7
nitroglycerin
Posted by: B ||
04/21/2004 15:35 Comments ||
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#8
As much as I'd like to see one, I'll believe the reports of an uprising in Iran when I see the ayatollahs' turbans on spikes in Tehran.
I've been fooled by too many false and/or overly optimistic reports over the past year.
#13
The mullahs play hardball while the protesters are mostly dilletantes (though keep an eye on the Kurdish minorities). Absent organized military involvement or a serious attempt at developing and leading a force of Iranian exiles, none of these stories will amount to anything.
Still, Iraq is becoming what many of us hoped it would be: an opportunity for decisive conflict with Iran and Syria. They have no other options but to attack us via the insurgents because they are truly threatened by our presence and potential to foment reform in their region.
Unfortunately, Syria and Iran sense that we too are desperate as we are leading a shaky alliance, are overextended in terms of ground forces, our strategy is unpopular in the Western media and it's an election year.
In this sense, Iraq is for all the marbles. Hopefully we understand this and demonstrate that 2 can play the destabilization/insurgency game.
Spot-effing-on, Alaska Paul. Thank you for openly admitting our steel plated moral obligation to topple Iran's mullahs. A nuclear armed Iran would represent the greatest threat to world peace since the Cold War.
TEHRAN: Iran has arrested two atomic experts for passing nuclear secrets to infidels foreigners in what could be the first such arrests inside Iran's disputed nuclear weapons program industry, a newspaper reported today.
Talked to the IAEA, I'll wager. And I'll double down that somebody in the IAEA leaked their names to Iran.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/21/2004 8:53:36 AM ||
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Odds are it was Baradei that leaked their names. Hell, he probably told his controller in Cairo, who -- as part of Egyptian government policy -- passed it along to their cousins in Iran.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
04/21/2004 9:03 Comments ||
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#2
Baradei's moral authority is fatally compromised by his own inability to investigate his native Egypt's nascent nuclear weapons program. His ineffectuality is basically green-lighting Iran's weapons program.
Nuclear power generating technology is essentially an open book. There are no secrets to it. If Iran is arresting people for "passing nuclear secrets" odds are that they relate to weapons. But wait! Iran isn't developing atomic weapons, right? What a load of horsesh!t.
Syria is "facilitating" the movement of foreign fighters into Iraq and helping supply them with arms, according to U.S. military officials with access to intelligence reports. The sources said the reporting has not been clear on whether hard-line Syrian President Bashar Assad is involved directly in ordering the aid. But they say he has much to lose if Iraq becomes a pro-U.S. democratic country. The bloody fighting in Fallujah, for example, is inspired, in part, by well-armed foreign jihadists who crossed the Syrian border and have committed some of the most gruesome attacks against Americans and their allies. Officials said Syrian help includes facilitating their border crossing, arming them and allowing them to return for fresh supplies.
Asked how conclusive U.S. intelligence is on Syrian aid, one official said, "No doubt about it." It is not clear, however, whether Damascus is actively organizing the influx. Publicly, the Bush administration has stopped short of accusing Mr. Assad's socialist Ba'ath Party regime of facilitating the terrorists' migration. But it has accused Syria of inaction in stopping the flow of foreigners along its 600-mile border with Iraq. Secretary of State Colin L. Powell last week sent a strong message to Mr. Assad through the U.S. ambassador in Damascus. "It urged Syria to work closely with the rest of the international community to promote a stable Iraq," said State Department spokesman Richard Boucher. "It also made clear to Syria that it needs to control the transit of its border by terrorists and people supporting the insurgents in Iraq. It is a message that we have delivered to Syria in the past. What prompted it now, I think, is that it's an ongoing problem. It's something that we feel needs to be reiterated until it's taken care of, and it's not taken care of yet."
Mr. Powell said last week, "Our message to President Assad is that it is in our mutual interest to deal with this problem. It is not in Syria's interest to be seen as a base from which infiltrators can come across â come across to kill innocent Iraqis or to kill coalition troops." Mr. Powell faces a decision soon on whether the administration will slap economic sanctions on Syria. Officials said Syrian agents are aiding the Iraqi insurgency because it is not in Damascus' interest to have a pro-U.S. country on its border. Mr. Assad fears that a free Iraq could spur a wave of democracy in his country, jeopardizing his rigid socialist rule, officials say. Mr. Assad also realizes that Washington is limited in how it can react. The U.S. military is overcommitted globally. It would be politically difficult for President Bush to launch military strikes, thus opening up yet another front in the war on terrorism. "The Syrians know America can bark a lot, but what else can we do?" said one military source.
Fang them...
"To stop the source, the Marines did put a very intense effort, and it still continues up there," said Maj. Gen. John Sattler, chief of operations for U.S. Central Command. "We had an extreme amount of success on the front side, meaning that we did find, fix and ultimately finish a number of cells that were out there, that were facilitating this type movement."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/21/2004 1:03:32 AM ||
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If Assad doesnt clean up his side of the border, the way out of Iraq for the Marines and the 1st Armored Division will be thru Damascus.
#3
OldSpook, I honestly believe that Syria's liberation will happen even sooner. The thwarted attack in Jordan, the continued border skirmishes and interference in Iraq and the fact that they have the WMD hidden in Syria and Lebanon's Bekaa Valley is enough of a causus belli to my mind. I think it's no accident that our troop strength is as high as it's been in Iraq since last April.
Posted by: Tibor ||
04/21/2004 2:06 Comments ||
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#4
Fallujah : Syria :: Najaf : Iran
But Iran's more important. Besides, what's the plan to clean up Syria & Lebanon after booting Assad?
#5
I am not much of an army expert, but wouldn't the terrain in Iran be a headache? Theoretically, Iran's army should be numerous enough to cause more problems than the Taliban. Sadaam's forces melted, but GW I was a pretty effective object lesson to his forces.
When I was ready to move, I would start by demanding that the Security Council pass a resolution for Syria to get out of Lebanon.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
04/21/2004 4:11 Comments ||
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#6
It is not clear, however, whether Damascus is actively organizing the influx.
They don't have to. These things take on a life of its own. The border with Syria is probably the most uncontrolled points of entry into Iraq (and the quickest if you're coming from Europe or North America). There's was a story some months ago about a Canadian who was caught crossing that border with a large amount of cash. Legitimate or not, this was no accident.
Posted by: Rafael ||
04/21/2004 4:15 Comments ||
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#7
Baby Assad probably does not have the control over things. Think Hezzbalah which gets its marching orders from the Mad Mullahs in Iran.
It's way past time to start furnishing covert support to people in Iran who want to end the Mullahs control. If a big enough revolution gets started in Iran look for most of the other stuff to dry up.
Posted by: Michael ||
04/21/2004 5:16 Comments ||
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#8
You know, fuck invasion. What Syria needs right now is a good old-fashioned, imperial demonstration of what the British used to call "Butcher and Bolt". Form up the First Cav, with max logistics, and do a long thunder run through the eastern Syrian provinces. Break every force that resists, burn every Baathist Party headquarters on the way, and go back to Iraq. Suggest afterwards through diplomatic channels that it might be in Syrian best interests to cease hostilities.
Syria is probably more susceptible to a punitive expedition than the Iranians.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
04/21/2004 7:40 Comments ||
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#9
You're suggesting tactics similar to Israel's in Gaza?
My own answer would be a rotund yes. But on a much larger scale and without the kid gloves taken by Israelis: something like Sherman's march to the sea but with B52s supporting it.
#12
"The Syrians know America can bark a lot, but what else can we do?" said one military source.
Patience grasshopper - Early 2005 after the elections - count you virgins baby assad!
#8 has it correct - we've had operations in the area for a year now - time show assad what the US military can do. resources are def there for this type of show of force.
Posted by: Dan ||
04/21/2004 10:47 Comments ||
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#13
There's no point in saying things that aren't actually gonna take place. You don't have the troops to take out and occupy Syria (and certainly not Iran) as long as you are occupying Iraq.
The beast is Islamofascism, its fangs are terrorism. Iran is the heart of the beast, Syria is its teeth. Iraq was a random nearby critter that you expended half your power in subduing and now you are seeing it being devoured by the beast which didn't have to waste a breath itself.
You don't have the strength to either kill the beast or defang it before it feeds upon the carcass -- at which point it will probably become so powerful that it'll be very difficult to take it down *afterwards*.
Only chance I see as halfway doable is to try and scare the beast away for the time being.
Declare war on Syria.
Don't actually *invade* it, because in that case Syria's regime will know they won't have a chance of surviving unless they launch a full-scale counterattack in both Iraq and Syria, and as I said it doesn't seem you have *nearly* enough strength to occupy both countries at the same time.
So, the only solution I see is that you declare yourselves in a state of war with Syria -- reasons being its support to Terrorists in Iraq and because of its support to the rest of the terrorist organizations.
Make it clear that though the state of war exists, you may nonetheless withhold your hand (your bombs, your troops) depending on Syria's attitude.
For a threat to work the threatened party must know that both possibilies are possible. If you invade on the other hand, there's no way you'll stop before the regime is overthrown -- so the threat won't be credible. It seems paradoxical but that's the way I see it.
You've already chosen the battlefield to be Iraq -- I've said from the start that it was a very foolish battlefield to choose (rather than go for Syria itself), the possible gains of a victory small, and the possible losses of a defeat tremendous -- but what's done is done.
And I don't think you should declare war with Iran because in that case you'll just be laughed at. The point is to make threats that are halfway believable and nobody out there believes you can launch a war at Syria and Iraq *and* Iran at the same time.
#14
Gentlemen,
I think the reason the US is not doing anything balatant about the Baby Doc support for insurgent infiltration is the known fact that Asshat has a proven nerve gas tactical capabilities (originally prepared as a balance of terror weapon against Israel). I think Bush cannot sustain the political damage of a large scale syrian CW counterattack with many American casualties in case of a major American force inading Syria. If Bush get's reelected I think this is going to change, which may then actually make a real attack unnecessary.
I also agree that Iran and not Syria is the real problem! Take the Mullahs out, and watch Assad crawl back into his hole.
Posted by: Colton L. ||
04/21/2004 13:16 Comments ||
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#15
I agree with the analysis that we don't want to risk a chem weapons attack from Assad the younger. The Syrian-Iraqi boder is less problematic than the Iraq-Iran one thanks to the Brits and Froggys artificial "line in the sand" of 1918. Just monitor the thing, like the Marines are doing, and anything that does not come across at ONE ot TWO approved crossings is Yassined as soon as it is on Iraqi soil. Then in early 2005, if Assad hasn't learned the Daffy Khadaffy lesson . . .
#16
Aris yours is not a bad plan, but, I doubt the US will ever formally declare war again. A congressional declaration implies a nuclear strike by the US.
#18
I agree mostly with Aris but I'm a bit more aggressive. Syria is run by a minority among minorites. It wouldn't be hard to topple Assad and I think it might be even worse than Iraq trying to hold the place together afterwards. The US doesn't want to invade.
I would suggest a modified version of the Afghanistan plan. Special Forces and CIA ops working with the local anti-Assad tribes. I'd also have a backup plan with Jordan so that if Syria falls into anarchy the Jordanian military can move in and heroically occupies Syria to stabalize it and protect it from Israel and America imperialists. Of course Jordan would do so with American funds and logistics and Israel's blessing. The Jordanian option would also be a backup plan in case Iraq goes bad.
Jordan is the most reasonable and Western Arabic government. I think they could be induced into the role of saving their Arabic brothers (and their oil revenues) and I think in such a role many of the factions throughout Iraq and Syria would accept them gladly.
#20
Syria or Iran? Which will be the October surprise? Too many variables to make predictions.
Iran? My guess is that midnight oil is burning on how to trigger and then support a popular uprising to displace the theocracy. That would certainly disrupt any nuclear programs, terrorist support, etc. and take Iran off the table for at least 18 months.
Syria? There has been a steady drumbeat in the media indicating that Syria is next on the list. However, if we conquer Syria what would we do with it? The objective there should be the elimination of the Baathist state and its network of affiliated terrorist organizations. The simplest way might be to let Israel take the gloves off and have the IDF eliminate Assad and his cronies.
Posted by: Random thoughts ||
04/21/2004 15:15 Comments ||
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Jordan has the dubious honor of being the only national entity to be defeated in battle by the less-than-awe-inspiring Syrian Army, in a cross-border catfight during the fall-out of the Black September of 1970. Even the Lebanese militias managed to give the Syrians more of a black eye, in the course of Syria's 1977 "intervention" in the Lebanese Civil War.
To put it another way, Jordan seems to be doing a good job keeping the terrorists from gassing their royal family, and anyone else who might get in the way. Let's let the Jordanians concentrate on what they're capable of.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
04/21/2004 16:00 Comments ||
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#22
It's time to make it clear to Baby Assad that leaky borders leak both ways. Maybe we can't use the Iraqi Kurds in Fallujah, but I'll bet they could be inspired to help out their mates in Syria...
There was a knock on the door at four in the morning above a take-away food shop in Manchester this week. People in the neighbouring flat reported being held under virtual house arrest while armed police led away the "friendlyâ, "hard-workingâ guys who ran the kebab place and then searched their premises. In simultaneous raids across the Midlands, 10 people were arrested in an operation involving four police forces and 400 officers. These co-ordinated arrests were apparently based on information gathered by surveillance of e-mails and mobile phone conversations. Is this a Britain that you scarcely recognise? Perhaps. Does it worry you? I doubt it.
I suspect that you recognise that we live in extraordinary times - much more extraordinary than the period from which we are now emerging when the parochial terrorism of the IRA was a feature of daily life. As George Bush and Tony Blair keep saying, we are in a new kind of war. Anybody who saw the unretouched photographs of the Madrid train bombing will know that this is not hyperbole. This is a fight to the death with forces who - quite explicitly - have no regard for the value of human life and who make no demands coherent or consistent enough to be comprehensible. This is not politics as we know it. It is not war - or even terrorism as an act of war - as we have previously understood it. It is a kind of mystical nihilism. Defeating it is going to take all of the organised energy and commitment that the rich, decadent West can muster. It will also involve quite a few concessions with what we regard as our ancient freedoms. But that's how it is. The right to live is not just the most important entitlement in a free society: it is the one on which all the other rights are predicated. There are no civil liberties in the grave.
All of this is mixed up with the local difficulties in the Middle East: the Arabists of the Foreign Office (and the BBC World Service), not to mention the governments of Old Europe who have their own Muslim ex-colonials to appease, cannot see why we have to go to the brink for what one French ambassador famously called the "shitty little countryâ of Israel. They have not yet grasped that al-Qa'eda with its lunatic raving about a new Muslim ascendancy has made Israel's struggle central - both practically and symbolically - to the survival of Western interests. When Mr Sharon assassinates the leaders of Hamas who have committed themselves to a non-negotiable programme of murder and extermination, he is doing no more than accepting the rules of the game as laid out by al-Qa'eda and practised by its franchised Palestinian branches.
Not to mention, France's expulsion of radical imams. However, I want to see their reaction after a succesful terrorist attack in France.
Posted by: Daniel King ||
04/21/2004 13:18 Comments ||
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#2
It will take more than force to "crack terror." Terrorism relies upon random application of barbaric savagery. A spiked club of monstrous proportion must be held over their heads, poised to retaliate against any further atrocities. Such a deterrent does exist. It is up to our leaders to overcome any squeamishness concerning the brutal repression of those who seek to commit global cultural genocide.
This is a fight to the death with forces who - quite explicitly - have no regard for the value of human life and who make no demands coherent or consistent enough to be comprehensible. This is not politics as we know it. It is not war - or even terrorism as an act of war - as we have previously understood it. It is a kind of mystical nihilism.
I am forced to wonder how long and how many atrocities it is going to take before the world's population finally understands this.
It will also involve quite a few concessions with what we regard as our ancient freedoms.
And this is pure horseradish. The only concession which must be made is recognizing that it will take a really, really big stick to club Islamic fundamentalists into submission.
When enough tens of thousands of people have died and enough trillions of dollars have been bled out of our world by way of flat economies and forcible regime change, maybe then the world's governments will realize that there does exist a credible deterrent to terrorism.
A Spanish base in south-central Iraq came under mortar fire twice overnight but suffered no casualties or damage, a multinational force spokesman said Wednesday.
Coalition forces were unable to find the attackers, who fired several mortar rounds at the Najaf base of the Spanish-led Plus Ultra brigade, which also includes troops from El Salvador, Dominican Republic and Honduras.
The radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who has waged an insurgency against the U.S.-led occupation in the area around Najaf with his large militia, has announced he wonât attack troops from countries planning to withdraw and it wasnât clear who staged the attack.
Posted by: Rafael ||
04/21/2004 18:15 Comments ||
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#2
just a little kiss goodbye
Posted by: Dan ||
04/21/2004 18:19 Comments ||
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#3
A parting shotbon voyage gift from those who continued to attack your country after you caved in to their demands. Beginning to sense a pattern here yet, Spain?
#6
Man, if only Montazuma has shown a little pluck we'd all be speaking Aztec now.
Posted by: Michael ||
04/21/2004 18:50 Comments ||
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#7
I guess the Spainards aren't pulling out fast enough to appease the jihadi-fascists. Vaya con Allah, Senor Zapatero. The word 'machismo' should be stricken from the Spainish language. Next up: motar fire on the Honduran contingent.
Posted by: Mark ||
04/21/2004 21:00 Comments ||
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Article from Agencie Weasel France Presse; EFL to get to the most interesting (to me, anyway) point.
"I feel satisfied with the five months I spent here. For me it was a great professional experience and I would do it again," said Captain Jose Miguel Garces, who is scheduled to leave Iraq in one week.
Private Marco Antonio Laguna, who leaves in three days, said he was proud to have helped bring security to Iraqis as he showed a wound in his hand sustained in an attack on his patrol 12 days ago by militia loyal to wanted Shiite radical leader Moqtada Sadr.
But privately some said the "honour of the Spanish army" might have been tarnished by the sudden withdrawal, especially in the light of recent attacks by Sadrâs Mehdi Army militia. . . .
On the streets of Diwaniyah some Iraqis also felt that Spain was caving in to "terrorism both at home and in Iraq," and that the troop pullout would lead to lawlessness and would leave them at the mercy of mobs and militias.
Some of the same sentiments were echoed on the streets of Najaf, where Sadr has been holed up for the past two weeks despite the presence of Spanish troops.
. . . Some soldiers felt they were leaving with a lot of work still to be done in helping Iraqis rebuild their country.
The Spanish contingent was involved in many community development projects in Diwaniyah funded by the government. The biggest project was a 1.5 million euro rebuilding and modernisation for the cityâs maternity hospital. The project only started in November and doctors at the hospital felt Spain was pulling out too soon.
The spokesman for the Spanish troops in Iraq, Lieutenant Guillermo Novelles, said the fate of such projects would be decided in Madrid.
Aside from the military code of honour and their desire to finish the job, some Spanish troops said they were also sad to be leaving some of the Iraqi friends they had made in Diwaniyah.
Thereâs plenty of good reason to criticize the Zapachicken Zapatero government, but as for the Spanish troopers themselves, all we can really say is thanks for a job well done, albiet one you were not allowed to finish.
Posted by: Mike ||
04/21/2004 5:29:33 PM ||
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Yup - these guys can leave with their chins up. They have nothing to be ashamed of, they don't control their government or the people's vote.
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
04/21/2004 17:47 Comments ||
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#2
Agreed, but I'm glad to see they're concerned about their honor. El Zappo ain't gonna be around forever.
Posted by: Matt ||
04/21/2004 17:57 Comments ||
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#3
Sound like good troops. Perhaps they'll get another chance.
#9
Ah, that explains everything: El Cid's true descendants were out of the country, doing a REAL man's work in Iraq, while the cowards at home voted and made the decisions.
Good job, Guys, and many thanks to you and Aznar. Hold your heads high, and be patient for the day when your countrymen will spit after mentioning Zapatero.
While telling half of the story is bad enough, there is substantial evidence that outlets like Al Jazeera are in fact acting in concert with terrorists to generate overtly false and misleading news reports. Colonel William Rabena, who commands the 2d Battalion, 3d Field Artillery Regiment Gunners in the Adhamiya region of Baghdad, related a scam coordinated between anti-Coalition elements and Al Jazeera in his area of operation. A gunman would go to the mosque, where Al Jazeera, as luck would have it, would be setting up. The man would open fire in order to draw fire from the Coalition. After he was inevitably taken down by the Coalition, a bystander would rush over to check his condition, and in the melee secret away the firearm. Al Jazeera then would swoop in for the story: Coalition guns down unarmed man in front of mosque! And as in Falluja, they would have the pictures to prove it.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
04/21/2004 1:53:07 PM ||
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Like I said several times. We need a video of this happening. Any guesses the 'bystander' is Al-jitzz itself?
#2
I have a better idea for a story: Coalition Guns Down Al-Jazeera Scam Artists! That'll stop the presses in more ways than one...
Posted by: Just John ||
04/21/2004 14:53 Comments ||
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#3
jam their satelite channels or take out the whole damn thing - never know when space debris will hit something....
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
04/21/2004 16:20 Comments ||
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#4
Al Jaz may also be an accomplice in the hotel bombing in Baghdad (the hotel was only a block from Al J's office which might have been used for surveillance.
The more general problem is that virtually every media outlet in the Islamic world (and much of Europe for that matter) has a world view that is blatently pro terrorism; namely,if the victims are Americans or Jews they deserved it the victims aren't Americans or Jews than the Americans or Jews caused it.
#12
Al Jizz... always playing in my local shop. Cheap beers , bad politics. Will steal beer before firebombing... await the call.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
04/21/2004 19:26 Comments ||
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#13
It's easy to see how the intense humiliation of failing to destroy tiny Israel after all these decades would wear on the collective Arab psyche and cause all kinds of psychotic symptoms.
Imagine for a minute that Harry Truman had sworn to annihilate, say, Costa Rica back in 1948, that the destuction of the evil Costa Ricans had been the sole object of our policy ever since, that we had the support of most of the world's media and other elites in this noble endevour, that our people were united as one by anti-Costa Rican religious hysteria and so dedicated in their hatred of all things Costa Rican that suicide attacks were a viable tactic, that we had crushed all internal dissent against the war and killed or imprisoned all Costa Rican sympathizers, and that we had revived methods of warfare not seen since the Dark Ages.
Imagine that we had done all this and had still failed utterly, with the CRs consistently routing our armies and, indeed, with diplomatic pressure from Costa Rica's allies being the only thing that keeps THEM from destroying US.
Under this intolerable shame and degradation, a culture of avoiding all responsibility and self-examination would be the only way of avoiding complete despair.
#14
Antiwar, does the feebleness of your authoritarian pronouncements really never cross your mind?
How you claim to find something is not a substitute for facts or rational exposition. Sorry, but that's how it is.
#18
Antiwar, here's a slogan I heard last night for the channel:
"FOX News, the truth. We report -- you don't like it, TOUGH SH*T." - Luke Thomas
Posted by: Edward Yee ||
04/21/2004 21:35 Comments ||
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#19
Most excellent post, AC. The best part is how vividly all of this points up the utter stagnation and moral decay that the Islamic Middle East embraces like a spring lamb.
#20
arabs are liars, and cowards. You'd think the whole world would know this by now. I think it's time for an "accidental" cruise missile strike on aljazeera headquarters....BOOM....OOPS!
Posted by: Halfass Pete ||
04/21/2004 23:57 Comments ||
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#21
I find Al-Jazeera informative unlike Fox News for example.Fox news fair and balanced? HA!
WARSAW, Poland (AP) - Poland is not considering a troop pullout from Iraq, despite the outgoing prime minister's comments on the subject, the government spokesman said on Wednesday. "Poland will be in Iraq as long as it necessary, until the situation there is stabilized," spokesman Marcin Kaszuba told The Associated Press. "Poland has not and is not considering a troop withdrawal."
Earlier, the Polish news agency PAP quoted Prime Minister Leszek Miller, who leaves office early next month, as saying Poland "cannot turn a blind eye" to the Spanish pullout. The comments suggested Warsaw might be rethinking its Iraq mission. But Kaszuba said Miller only meant to restate the government's position "that the government is not considering increasing its contingent" in Iraq.
Poland leads a multinational force of 9,500 troops in central Iraq, including 2,400 Polish troops. The 1,300 Spanish troops that the new Madrid government is withdrawing are in the same sector.
Miller told PAP that the Spanish pullout was a problem that required decisions. He said his government was discussing the issue with the Americans. "We will not make any rash gestures," Miller told PAP, apparently referring to the fact that the Spanish pullout was announced hours after Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero was sworn in Sunday. "The final decision about the pullout will be agreed and thought over, but the problem exists." Miller is stepping down on May 2. His likely successor is Marek Belka, who has said Polish troops will stay in Iraq until the situation stabilizes. Until last month, Belka directed economic policy in Iraq for the U.S.-led coalition.
Thank you, Poland!
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/21/2004 12:02:47 PM ||
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Poland continues to act in the proud tradition of Prince Sanguszko's war cry - Z przekonania! ("Out of conviction!")
Posted by: Mike ||
04/21/2004 12:23 Comments ||
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The Polish stand for Freedom and self determination, so long denied, is truely awe inspiring. Thank you Good Polish People.
While 6.8mm is the hot new rifle round being promoted for next-generation American assault rifles, two companies are quietly promoting a "mini-50" .50 caliber (12.7mm) round as a supplement to currently rifle calibers. The mini-.50 would be used by special forces and law enforcement officers against re-enforced structures, vehicles, and advanced body armor. The U.S. Coast Guard has already bought a quantity of these weapons for use against "Go-fast" boats and some have reportedly appeared in Afghanistan.
To create the mini-.50, a .50 caliber bullet is put into a smaller casing (than the standard .50 round used in machine gun and long-range sniper rifles). The smaller casing trades off less propellant for softer recoil, less accuracy over longer distances, but less stress on the barrel and user. The recoil for the mini-.50 is described as being similar to a 12-gauge shotgun. It also makes for a weapon that is easier to carry and faster to employ than the full-sized .50 caliber rifle designs. The Barrett Light .50 M82A1 rifle employed by the U.S. Army and Marines weighs in at 28 lbs unloaded and is 57 inches long while a mini-50 weighs in at around 8-12 lbs loaded and a little over 36 inches long.
Like various 6.8mm projects, gun designers built a hybrid rifle using AR-15/M-16 designs to provide some compatibility with existing hardware. For example, a 30 round M-16 magazine will hold 12 of the fat mini-50 rounds. Conversion kits are available, for around $1600 each, to convert an M-16 type rifle into one firing the mini-.50.
Portability and round penetration of the mini-50 family are the key traits to this weapons family. Armored glass that resists 7.62mm fire, yields to the mini-.50, as do doors, locks, jihadis and cinder blocks, and engine blocks. Since the rifle is only slightly longer and heavier than a 5.56mm design, it can be used in close range combat and other rapid fire encounters. Two Virginia companies are currently making mini-.50s, the Leitner-Wise Rifle Company in Alexandria (a stone's throw away from the Pentagon) and Alexander Arms, on space leased from Radford Arsenal.
I have a birthday coming up, if anyone is feeling generous.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/21/2004 11:49:16 AM ||
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The smaller casing trades off less propellant for softer recoil, less accuracy over longer distances, but less stress on the barrel and user.
Jeebus, I would hope so.
Posted by: Cthulhu Akbar ||
04/21/2004 12:07 Comments ||
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#2
Dr. Eugene Stoner's operating system for the venerable M-16 has always been a marvel of simplicity. Though, it is past time to re-tool this fine weapon for .30 caliber, 7.62 NATO, 308. Or better. I understand the Canadians have done so. With surprising results!
Posted by: Jack Deth ||
04/21/2004 12:19 Comments ||
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#3
The perfect Father's Day gift.
Posted by: Mike ||
04/21/2004 13:44 Comments ||
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#4
I thought one of the points of the 5.56 is that more rounds can be carried (meaning more firepower), but here they are trading 30 for 12. What gives?
#5
This new 12.7mm is for specialized use and will not replace the 5.62mm.Never liked the idea of replacing 7.62mm for 5.62mm.liked the heavier slug.Seems they are drifting back to heavier slugs because of experiences in Iraq.
#6
I saw this on the cover of some gun magazine the other day, it was called (appropriately enough) the Beowulf. Here's a link to a site some pictures:
Posted by: H.D. Miller ||
04/21/2004 14:29 Comments ||
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#7
re-tool this fine weapon for .30 caliber, 7.62 NATO, 308.
Don't need to retool, the original ArmaLite AR-10 was designed for the 7.62. It was downsized to become the AR-15 for use by the Air Force. Army picked it up and turned it into the M-16. AR-10s are still being made, picture here.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/21/2004 14:31 Comments ||
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#8
Ummm... Make the casings smaller, I guess, but the idea of a .50 cal M16 on autogettem makes my shoulders hurt...
Posted by: Fred ||
04/21/2004 14:32 Comments ||
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#9
The website for Leitner-Wise is http://www.leitner-wise.com/ . There are a few good 'conversions' for the M-16, mostly centered on increasing knockdown power. The 5.56 is not a 'knockdown' round. Even under 100 meters, the round produces an inadequate wound cavity. Having lots of light rounds available is nice; having somewhat fewer rounds that are effective, and that are still effective beyond 150 meters is nicer.
Me, I WANT one of these things. Moderate velocity, highish mass (300+ grains), LOTS of energy that can be effectively transferred to the target; what's not to like? Most grunts have put multiple rounds into a body and watched the target not notice (delayed by a few crucial seconds, sometimes longer). They'll 'notice' this, immediately.
And this will be used more widely than the article mentions as soon as the troops can get their paws on them.
Notice that they're calling this a .499 on the website. Is there some bureaucratic limit? Sounds like it.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
04/21/2004 14:33 Comments ||
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#10
If you already have an AR-15 (come on, who doesn't?!?) here's an upper receiver for the .50 Beowulf that drops right on your AR lower with no modifications:
#11
Whiskey Mike: IIRC, .50's are not supposed to be used against personnel, only equipment (so my DI told us to aim for the belt buckle ;) Maybe the .499 is a way around this limitation?
Posted by: Cthulhu Akbar ||
04/21/2004 15:53 Comments ||
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#12
Rich, feet per second is the key to the 5.56 concept (fragmenting and traveling along bones it impacts), and most of the time it just doesn't work at extended distances (due to fps loss) or with a short barrel (poor coming-out-of-the-muzzle fps). I think the minimum's over 2600fps, whereas M4s' 14.5in barrels deliver sub-2500fps performance, rendering them grossly overrated (except in the hands of SOCOM troops who go for headshots anyway).
I've heard about the Beowulf, though, and it's reportedly semiauto only. If you configure your sights for the caliber -- good stuff, take it along as a secondary weapon!
Oh yeah, I'm enthusiastic about the 6.8x43mm -- it reportedly outdoes both 5.56x45mm AND 7.62x51mm ...
Posted by: Edward Yee ||
04/21/2004 16:10 Comments ||
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At the top of my wish list is the new AR-10 Ultra. It is now chambered in the .300 Remington Ultra Mag, Short Action. Makes the 7.62 kinda weak and is pretty close to the same weight. See the link at www.armalite.com News Release
Regarding your comments on fps, IIRC the muzzle velocity on the original M-16 was well north of 3,000 fps. Considering that force = mass x velocity, the short-barrel M-4 is giving away an awful lot of "oomph" compared to the original.
Posted by: Mike ||
04/21/2004 16:37 Comments ||
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Heard on the radio that the Marines have declared the cease-fire over; one or more firefights underway. Closest online story is from Fox:
Up to 40 Iraqi insurgents attacked U.S. Marines in northern Fallujah on Wednesday, setting off a heavy gunbattle as an agreement bringing peace to the besieged city hit snags a day after implementation began. Explosions were heard coming from the scene of the fighting, and Cobra helicopter gunships were blasting from the air. Tanks moved into the Julan neighborhood from which Marines said insurgents their positions. Marine Lt. Col. Brennan Byrne said high-level commanders viewed the battle as a "major breach" of the agreement. "The implication of that I don't know yet," he said.
In response to what the Marines called a disappointing disarmament showing, the Marines halted a key commitment on their side in the deal -- the return of Fallujah residents to the city. The Marine commanders would not say how many weapons had been turned in. About 10 families made it back into the city in the morning before Marines announced to some 600 Iraqis waiting at the checkpoint that no more would be allowed to enter. The crowds massed behind concertina wire, with women and crying children pressing forward, demanding to be let in. Nearby trucks were stacked high with families belongings and other goods. Some 70,000 people -- more than a third of Fallujah's population of 200,000 -- fled the city during the fighting since April 5, flooding Baghdad (search) and nearby areas.
Wednesday's battle began with an ambush by 13 insurgents on Marines, who called in Cobra gunships that killed 10 of the attackers, Byrne said. Nearly three dozen insurgents then joined the fight with Marines in a running battle that lasted four hours. It ended when warplanes dropped two 500-pound bombs. Ten more insurgents were killed, Byrne said.
Thoroughly killed, in fact...
U.S. officials have said the deal's success hinges on whether the Fallujah negotiators -- a group of local civic leaders -- can convince the guerrillas to comply with the call to hand over their arsenals. The military has warned it may resume its assault on the city if the agreement falls through. Implementation of the deal reached by U.S. officials and Fallujah civic representatives began with a spirit of optimism on Tuesday. Several hundred Iraqi police and security forces moved back into the city, and a curfew was pushed back by two hours to 9 p.m. Announcements aired in the city detailed how residents should turn in to police and city officials any heavy weapons such as rocket-propelled grenades, machine guns, rockets and bomb-making material. By noon Wednesday, Byrne said no weapons had been turned in. "These may be early indications that the insurgents may not be living up to the requirements of the agreement," he said.
... dryly...
Later, commanders said some weapons had been surrendered, but almost all were useless. Insurgents opened fire with small arms overnight and fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the Liaison Office where Iraqi security forces are suppposed to hand over to the U.S. military any weapons they collect. During the day, some 300 members of the police and security forces who had left the city were lined up to "re-enlist," said Capt. Steve Coast -- meaning they would receive new documents certifying they are members of the force. Fallujah's mayor was also working from the site. Several hundred other security forces moved into the city Tuesday. U.S. commanders have warned that they could launch an all-out attack on the city if the agreement -- announced Monday after negotiations between U.S. officials and Fallujah civil leaders -- falls through. So far, the U.S. response has been the halt to the return of families who fled Fallujah during the fighting -- a top concern of the Fallujans. A day earlier, U.S. officials allowed 50 families back into the city as provided for under the deal. From the start, the fragile agreement had depended on how much the city's guerrillas complied with a call by city officials for them to turn in heavy weapons.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
04/21/2004 9:32:47 AM ||
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Is Fallujah burning? I hope they don't make the marines fight block by block. I hope they mop up after blocks go drop.
#2
Prediction: We'll fight for a few days or more and then another cease-fire will be called.
Repeat and rinse.
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
04/21/2004 11:35 Comments ||
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#3
You are now free to exterminate the enemy.
Posted by: Chris W. ||
04/21/2004 11:37 Comments ||
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#4
Lucky, mops take too long. If the chunks are small and won't clog the drains, I recommend a one inch diameter hose with a hard jacket that is available on a spool for this application. Note - this hose requires an adaptor for use with most hydrants but is small enough to be used by a single operate.
If the chunks are medium-sized, I would try a Zamboni and two guys with squeegees. Note - Zamboniing after-battle chunks has not been tried to my knowledge and mishaps would probably void any warrantees on the equipment.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
04/21/2004 11:42 Comments ||
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#5
Water presure might be a bit weak for an effective hosing. But if you do get the ground clear enough the Zamboni could make sense. The Falluja Flames of the mid-east conference.
#6
Turban hunting season has reopened. No limit. No fire-arm or ammo restrictions.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
04/21/2004 12:30 Comments ||
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#7
Those of you with Abrams tanks are authorized to use the 120-gauge cylinder bore with either the APERS or the depleted uranium "super-size deer slug."
Posted by: Mike ||
04/21/2004 12:35 Comments ||
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#8
Well now, you wouldn't need to mop up after dropping a few daisey cutters, or MOAB's.
Posted by: Bill ||
04/21/2004 13:13 Comments ||
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#9
Y. Sam, I agree. At the civilan political leadership level, we have lost the concept of "momentum".
I wil be that we will see cycles of the following:
1. News reports US Marine actions
2. Followed within a day or so by Al-Jizz reports of civilian casualties/US atrocities
3. Which are repeated in "Westenr" media in a day or so
4. Then, calls from CPA, etc for a ceasefire in order to get the "negotiations" "back on track"
5. Halt of US offensive operations
Repeat.
Posted by: Carl in N.H ||
04/21/2004 13:20 Comments ||
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#10
I hope that we have equipped the marines with video cameras (or any cameras) so they can record the 'noble rebels' hiding behind women and children, using them as human shields, shooting them in the back, etc...
We have to start fighting this war on the airwaves as well as on the ground. As morbid as it sounds people will flock to see some 'rebel fighter' hiding behind a woman or little girl or even some civilians being killed by the 'noble freedom fighters'. Once people start seeing this for real the less 'noble' they will be perceived.
You can bet your ass Al-jitzz will have the hospitals and clinics staked out to get that all-important (now disarmed) 'civilian' with some bloody wound. One or two videos in some press conference (or even available on the net in the media refuses to report it) showing how the 'civilians' get 'wounded' would take the wind out of Al-jitzz's sails.
#13
If the "cease-fire" is indeed over, then whenever the Marines find these insurgents, they should shoot to kill. Take no prisoners. They'd be a waste to feed anyway.
#14
losing military momentum on the ground is a concern. OTOH keeping the IGC together is also a concern. What good does it to take Fallujah, and have half the IGC resign on us??? Do we then postpone handover??? Resulting in more discontent from folks who are still with us?? Things ARENT as bad in Iraq now as the headline writers in the mainstream media imply, but they COULD go south real fast. We're doing tolerably well cause the insurgencies probably have the support of only about 25% of Iraqis (about half of the Sunni Arabs, and about a quarter of the Shia, at most) IF there were truely to be a general rising, we DONT have enough troops in country to control it, and would have difficulty assembling enough troops. In which case going Roman on Fallujah might make the rest of Iraq hate us, but WOULDNT make them fear us.
Current approach seems best - give the locals a chance to negotiate, show the iraqis you DONT want to destroy Fallujah, but WHEN the baddies come at you, kill as many as possible.
#15
Later, commanders said some weapons had been surrendered, but almost all were useless.
Then they aren't "weapons." Ceasefire over. Open season.
I'm still waiting to see some actual numbers revealing the gender of these "civilian" casualties. If an overwhelming majority of the Fallujan wounded and dead are men of fighting age, all the media pissing and moaning means squat.
Our military really needs to publish these figures immediately in order to counter any accusations of atrocities being committed by our troops.
#16
Isn't the IGC going to now be desolved on 6/30 and replaced with a "UN-backed caretaker goverment?" . . . yeah, that'll work.
But, if that is in fact the new plan of record (no sure it is, but . . . ), doesn't it seem less relevant whether the IGC mutinies over a real siege of Fallujah?
#17
Not clear, spiff. It'll definitely be a caretaker govt. And I hope the UN backs it, but that doesnt mean theyll pick it. IGC will probably still have a role in picking the new govt, and many will go onto it.
In any case, if the IGC falls apart pre-June 30 that pretty much takes away most of the leverage we have over what happens post June 30.
#19
Generally agree with the idea that we need to ba a bit pragmatic, but ging 'Roman' on Fallouja would probably increase our support in many parts of Iraq. Not sure the Kurds and Shia would shed that many tears if we liquidated the worst of the Sunni Baathists who had been oppressing them for decades.
#20
Shipman: Carl you seem to be a little down recently
Yep. I think that the decision to call a ceasefire in Falluja was the latest and greatest misstep:
a) it killed the momentum of the troops on the ground
b) the people we are fighting are not negotiable with, so any "ceasefire" is one-sided and meaningless; what's the point ?
c) it is *not* going to stop Al-Jizz atrocity porn -- that will always be a feature in that culture no matter what we do
d) it gives the enemy the source for their own legends about stopping the mighty Yankees and boosts their morale. And recruitment.
e) it makes us look indecisive in the eyes of the rest of the world, and confirms stereotypes about Mogadishu, Vietnam, etc: "kill a few Americans, and they give up"
f) it is the latest manifestation of the political hesitance which I have started to suspect in this administration at home and abroad. The main reason I thought Bush was The Right Man was because he had his eye on the ball. Now I am not sure.
So, I see this as an inflection point. I would be surprised to see any vigorous and positive action against the enemy, and instead expect things to bump along past June 30, maybe into the next year, pretty much along the current pattern of reacting to enemy initiatives.
This is not a way to win.
Posted by: Carl in N.H. ||
04/21/2004 23:03 Comments ||
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#21
Carl: how about PR and resupply/consolidation/sharing of intel?...don't be so down....
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/21/2004 23:09 Comments ||
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#22
g) Gives the leaders plenty of time to exfiltrate and live another day.
The PR bit I tried to cover in c) i.e. we are painted pretty badly by the locals no matter what we do, so a PR appeal to them is a waste of time. Dragging out a "siege" just adds more fuel to their sick little fantasies. Getting things done so fast their heads spin is the only way to alleviate the PR hit.
Resupply & consolidation: I don't have any experience in the area, but I would hope that 1) we didn't use up our stocks that fast (the marines just got in theater, right?) and 2) anyway, we should be able to keep the initiative while getting supplies forward.
Intel gathering I can understand, but a certain amount of such activities can be done while moving forward and keeping the enemy fighters off balance and on the run. Plus, once you get the killers out of the neighborhood, you could have locals come out as new sources of intel.
11A5S: To your comment, I recall reading something in the past day or so to the effect that the cordon, such as it is, only covers main roads, so losing the leaders is a distinct possibility. I assume that this is the best we could do with the forces at hand. I don't know what the perimeter of Falluja is, but I am sure it is substantial.
Posted by: Carl in N.H. ||
04/21/2004 23:51 Comments ||
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Liberal talk radio must find new Los Angeles, Chicago stations When your check bounces, you don't get to use the facilities, no matter how much you bitch...
It was on, then it was off, then it was on again, and now it will be off again. Al Franken and the gang at Air America Radio, the recently launched liberal talk-radio network that became embroiled last week in a financial dispute with the owner of its Chicago and Los Angeles stations, will broadcast over WNTD-950 AM in Chicago for the last time on April 30, the CHICAGO TRIBUNE is reporting in fresh runs.
TRIB reporter John Cook: "The network also said it will remain off the air for the time being in Los Angeles, where it was yanked off its station there, KBLA-1580, last week by owner Multicultural News Radio. "The announcement settles an acrimonious legal and public relations battle between Air America and Multicultural. It also means that Air America must seek new homes in the nationâs second and third-largest markets less than three weeks into its short life." Guess that cheque didnât clear after all...
Posted by: Raj ||
04/21/2004 9:58:52 AM ||
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#1
Bouncing Checks, Check Bouncers, and the Bouncing Check Bouncers Who Write Them.
Posted by: Chris W. ||
04/21/2004 11:34 Comments ||
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#3
Shipman: That's our mucky! He's giving 'em fits, lol. I wonder if Garafolo knows she looks like Special Ed in that helmet?
"Yay! Yay! It's great!"
Posted by: Cthulhu Akbar ||
04/21/2004 11:50 Comments ||
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#4
Is there an element of this project that is simply nostalgia for college. I'm sure that many of the headliners were college DJ's and remember the experience with fondness because it was social interaction for them without worrying about hygiene or facing rejection. If so, this attitude is reflected in the poor quality of the product.
I know that we should be happy that their endeavor is therapeutic for them, but I doubt that it will end up paying the bills. I base this statement only on the observation that ESPN has not yet dedicated a separate channel to highlight great performances in the Special Olympics. Air America as a business venture is kind of like MTV airing endless hours of Kayoke.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
04/21/2004 11:59 Comments ||
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#5
I listened to the O'Franken Factor on XM radio on Monday. He had McCain in the studio and G. Gordon Liddy on the phone. Franken and Liddy were supposed to talk about guns, but Al being Al and G being G, they got distracted by stuff from Liddy's days in "the joint", mostly the definition of a "knockabout" (a ne'er do well non-violent criminal.) It was funny and unintentionally informative. Liddy said, "Bill O'Reilly can kiss my ass." The McCain interview was dull. They were bound and determined not to disagree with each other. Franken has a co-host whose sole function seems to be to keep him on schedule and make sure he spouts the party line periodically. I think she kicks him under the table. Franken is not vicious enough for them, he doesn't have the mean heart to do raw propaganda and actually listens instead of interrupting and spewing.
#7
Here's Sacred Cow Burgers's illustration of ARR's rubber check. Along with a portion of the Butcher's earlier comments: Seems that the Leftists are sticking to their tried-and-true formula: spend money they don't have and file lawsuits when they don't get their way. It just seemed fitting to depict Air America's rubber check as a packet of condoms. After all, Albert Liu (owner of Multicultural Radio Broadcasting) is probably feeling pretty screwed right about now.
Our little Mucky has converted to Islam on the thread....
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/21/2004 18:10 Comments ||
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#14
Trust me on this one, M4D is a pro I've been tracking his weirdness from day 3... I still don't know who it is. At one point he was a multipersonality, say 5 or so.... then he became pure mucki. It ain't me babe.
The performance of the 36th Iraqi Civil Defense Corps Battalion during recent combat operations in Fallujah is worthy of note. In the view of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, the battalion distinguished itself as a trustworthy and capable Iraqi security force and will serve as a benchmark for ICDC performance in the future.
Posted by: Matt ||
04/21/2004 9:31 Comments ||
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#2
As I understand it, ICDC battlns are regionally recruited. This unit was recruited in the Kurdish north, though not all members are Kurds. The intent was that ICDC units would defend their own regions, a sensible thought, but this one was brought south to assist us. The CPA states emphaticly that ICDC units are not intended to be exclusively from one ethnic group, but are Iraqi and subjuect to deployment anywhere in Iraq if needed.
Two employees of Al-Iraqiyah Television Network were killed and one wounded after their vehicle was fired upon by coalition forces in Samarra yesterday at about 4:15 p.m. The individuals were observed filming Iraqi Civil Defense Corps and Iraqi police checkpoints, a coalition base, and routes to and from these locations.
While filming outside their vehicle, coalition forces fired warning shots into the river. After the warning shots were neglected, the individuals got into their vehicle and drove towards the coalition base. As the vehicle approached the base, additional warning shots were fired, in attempt to halt the vehicle. The vehicle, apparently disregarding the warning shots, drove towards the soldiers and their base.
After more warning shots, the vehicle did stop and continued to approach the baseâs gate and was engaged with direct fire. Five signs clearly prohibiting filming and stopping near the base were displayed in the area as part of local force protection measures.
After examining the vehicle, coalition forces discovered two individuals had been killed, one was wounded, and a fourth individual, an Iraqi police officer, was unharmed. The three casualties were discovered to have Iraqi Media Network press credentials. The two dead individuals were moved by ambulance to a Samarra hospital. The wounded person was treated by coalition forces. He and the unharmed individual were questioned and then released at approximately 6 p.m. last night. April 20, 2004 transcript
#2
Think of it as evolution in action. (Niven/Pournelle)
Posted by: Jonathan ||
04/21/2004 11:08 Comments ||
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#3
wonder if it was an attempt at killing public favor (think headline "Soldiers Murder Journalists") they blow themselves up to get a couple civies, so it doesn't seem to far fetched.. tho it might be giving them too much credit
Posted by: dorf ||
04/21/2004 18:18 Comments ||
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#7
Some poor bloke had a heart attack at the wheel outside my flat. He took 300 yds to stop and it needed two heliicopters to evacuate the carnage. This really could happen anywhere.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
04/21/2004 20:03 Comments ||
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#8
Good Heavens Howard... was that today? I always figured I'd have the big one going over a bridge and have decided to aim to the right (away from the traffic) and make a spectacular demisse. I'm figuring it'll be like this
AMMAN: Authorities stormed a basement in a poor neighborhood of the Jordanian capital, killing four men believed to have ties to an al-Qaida-linked cell that plotted simultaneous bombing and chemical attacks against the US Embassy and other targets, a foreign news agency reported on Tuesday. Three other men were detained Tuesday at the hide-out, according to the foreign agency photographer at the scene. It was not immediately clear what relationship the detained men had with the slain terror suspects.
Well, they were in the hideout with guys who wanted to shoot it out with the cops. I'm sure they are as innocent as the driven snow.
Three of the dead were foreigners, government spokeswoman Asma Khader said without giving their nationalities.
Ask the guys who were shacking up with them, when they stop screaming.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/21/2004 9:01:41 AM ||
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Sudan will let a UN team into the country within days to probe alleged atrocities by government-backed militia in the Western Darfur region after initially blocking them, a UN spokesman said yesterday. Khartoumâs U-turn over the UN visit came a day before the United Nationsâ top human rights forum was due to vote on a resolution condemning widespread violence in Sudan. It also prompted the mission to postpone the release of a report yesterday on the situation following their initial mission to see refugees who had fled Darfur into neighboring Chad. âWe have just learned from the Sudanese authorities that they will allow now the team to go to Khartoum and Darfur,â said UN human rights spokesman Jose Diaz. âThe team will be going we hope in the next coming days.â
The five UN experts had been in Chad since April 5 interviewing Sudanese refugees who escaped alleged ethnic cleansing by Arab militia in Darfur, but they had been forced to return to Geneva last week after being denied entry into Sudan. The same UN team will travel to Sudan to finish their work but their schedule is still being fixed and it was unclear how long they will stay. Upon their final return to Geneva, the mission will issue a report containing âconclusions and recommendations for further action on the very serious situation in that part of the world,â Diaz said. On the ground, talks set between the warring sides in Darfur were delayed 24-hours until today, a member of a Chadian mediation team told AFP. A Sudanese government delegation is expected to meet representatives from the rebel Sudan Liberation Movement and the Justice and Equality Movement in Nâdjamena, the Chadian capital, the mediator said.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/21/2004 09:05 ||
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Three terrorists, two of them non-Jordanians, were killed yesterday in an exchange of fire with security forces in a northern Amman suburb, according to the official news agency, Petra.
"Non-Jordanians"? Swaziland is infiltrating Jordan?
âAll three members of a terrorist group, two of them non-Jordanians, were killed by policemen who stormed their hide-out in the Hashemi neighborhood this afternoon,â Petra quoted a security official as saying. âThe terrorists were first ordered to surrender but they refused and opened fire on the security men who were forced to return fire and storm the house where they were hiding,â he added. The incident coincided with information that an Al-Qaeda-linked terror cell, which was discovered and disabled by the countryâs security forces two weeks ago, planned to launch âchemical attacksâ on embassies and government departments, thus threatening the lives of âthousands of civilians.â
So they were connected...
Jordanian newspapers published pictures of three suspected terrorists two weeks ago and asked for public assistance in finding them. The security official quoted by Petra did not say whether the three armed men killed yesterday were the same three whose pictures were published earlier.
Is there enough left of them to check?
Earlier in the day, the pro-government Al-Rai daily quoted a police official as saying that interrogation of network members âwho belonged to Al-Qaeda planned attacks with chemicals that could have led to the deaths of thousands of civiliansâ. The official added, âAfter observations lasting two weeks, security men seized five cars loaded with explosives as well as raw chemicals.â The cell is believed to be the seventh to be found by the Jordanian authorities in the past two years, informed sources said. The countryâs State Security Court is currently trying at least two suspected terrorist groups which are accused of plotting to attack US and Israeli targets in Jordan.
I think they've got pretty good job security...
Posted by: Fred ||
04/21/2004 09:02 ||
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A video tape recorded by the two most wanted tribesmen in Pakistan vowed to continue an armed struggle™ against the military operation in the tribal areas and urged people to rise up against President General Pervez Musharraf. âWhat has been done to us is immoral and illegal,â said Haji Noor Islam. âWe condemn it. We will take such revenge™ that they (military personnel) remember for a long time.â The tape, with most wanted men, Naik Muhammad and Haji Noor Islam, was aired by a private TV network and held President General Pervez Musharraf responsible for bringing the military into confrontation with countrymen at the behest of the United States and urged people to rise against him.
"Yeah! Butt out! Waziristan's our country and you're not welcome!"
Naik Muhammad and Haji Noor Islam also vowed in the tape to continue the armed struggle against American FBI and CIA agents in the tribal areas. âWe are patriotic people. We have fought against British rule,â Haji Noor Muhammad said. âWe will also fight to kick the US agents out of the country. Our struggle will remain till the eradication of every last American.â He called the allegations against them âbaselessâ and vowed to resist any assault against them with full force and determination. Naik Muhammad criticised the government for taking action against its own countrymen.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/21/2004 08:54 ||
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#1
Actually, these guys have a point. Not that "eradication of every last American" stuff: a Waziri tribesman wouldn't know an American if one beat him with a hamhock. The Pakistan central government has a series of long standing agreements with the Pashtun/Waziri tribal leaders which give them a great deal of autonomy. Musharraf has now broken that agreement, in spirit if not in letter. Really, Waziristan actually is their country in every sense of the word.
Now, that said, if you know anything about the Waziri culture (which for several strange reasons I do) you also know that Musharraf is actually doing them a favor. These guys LOVE to fight. They live for it. When there are no outsiders to fight they fight each other. The standard home/compound in Waziristan is a mud fortress with a tower in the middle for sniping. These guys sit around the campfire at night and talk about how their ancestors kicked Alexander the Great's ass.
#2
On the other hand, they claim to be part of Pakistan, the most important part in their own not very humble opinion. If you're part of a country, you've got to act like it.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/21/2004 13:23 Comments ||
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BANGKOK: Thailand's senate voted to maintain the kingdom's 451 troops in Iraq despite mounting danger and withdrawal announcements by at least three countries from the US-led coalition, a senator said today. "The vote was 68 to 50 which means that my motion (to pull Thai troops from Iraq) failed," Karoon Sai-Ngam, the senator who sponsored the motion, told AFP about the closed door. Thailand's upper house, where a group of senators has pushed for the troop withdrawal, consists of 200 members, but only 124 attended the session, with six abstentions.
Bombing in 5..4..3..
Posted by: Steve ||
04/21/2004 8:51:08 AM ||
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The tribal lashkar (army) has ceased operations against Al Qaeda militants and their local supporters in the Azam Warsak area for three days and are waiting for the outcome of the âsecret talksâ between parliamentarians from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and the NWFP governor on proposals from the locals wanted by the government for supporting Al Qaeda militants, a Zalikhel elder told Daily Times on Tuesday. âWe have halted the operation to wait for the talksâ outcome. The temporary suspension is aimed at giving a chance to resolving the issue peacefully,â he added.
"We drove around in pickup trucks for a few days and waved our guns. Now we'll sit around and smoke and tell about how brave we are while they make some more yap yap. The guys we're looking for should be in Dubhai by now..."
A government official in Peshawar said Nek Muhammad, a wanted tribesman charged with supporting Al Qaeda militants in South Waziristan Agency, had asked for the operationâs suspension and wait for the results of the meeting between FATA MNAs Abdul Malik and Maulana Mirajuddin and NWFP Governor Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah in Peshawar. The meeting between them was being kept secret and no party was willing to divulge details. Sources told Daily Times that the tribesmen wanted by the government agreed to accept one of the three demands of the all-tribes jirga â to live peacefully. The jirga had earlier forwarded a set of three demands â to surrender, live peacefully or leave Pakistan. âIf the wanted tribesmen are ready to accept one of the government-backed jirgaâs demands, it will be difficult for the government to ignore their decision,â a tribal elder from Wana said. âTheir proposal(s) will be considered after consultations among the governmentâs political and military advisors,â sources added.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/21/2004 08:53 ||
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Twelve Taliban Pakistani prisoners who escaped from a northern jail with the help of a prison guard were recaptured in the capital on Tuesday and will be sent back to jail. The men, all imprisoned for fighting alongside the Taliban against the U.S.-led war in 2001, were found hiding in a house in northern Kabul, said Gen Baba Jan, Kabulâs police chief. The guard was also arrested, along with the owner of the house, Jan told the television station.
Now Mr. Guard can keep them company, huh?
About 500 Pakistanis remain in Afghan prisons, mostly in the north. The men recaptured on Tuesday had been held in a particularly notorious jail, called Sheberghan, controlled by northern Afghan warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/21/2004 08:52 ||
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EFL
Laboratory tests on the poison gas smuggled from Syria into Jordan by al Qaeda terrorists earlier this month could determine whether their weapons came from Iraq, intelligence expert John Loftus said Monday. "What they captured was a poison gas that consisted of several chemicals to be mixed together," Loftus told nationally syndicated radio host John Batchelor. "This has to be a poison gas of what they call the G-series; Sarin, Somin, Taubin and VX." The terrorism expert noted that, "VX is the only kind of nerve gas where the chemicals could be safely mixed together in the field."
On Saturday, Jordanian officials announced that they had seized WMD components from the cars of the al Qaeda terror plotters, which had been intercepted just 75 miles from the Syrian border. Experts said that had the WMD plot succeeded, it could have killed 20,000. Jordan's King Abdullah confirmed that the al Qaeda vehicles had come from Syria. Noted Loftus: "Syria dopes not make VX nerve gas - only Saddam Hussein did. So it looks as if now that Israeli intelligence and British intelligence were right - that Syria did indeed get a hold of Saddam's weapons of mass destruction just before the war."
So it would seem. I suspect this aspect of the story may evaporate, and I'm not sure why...
Loftus said lab tests of the al Qaeda weapons would be key to establishing a link between the WMDs found in Jordan and Saddam's missing stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons.
Maybe that's why the Iraqis didn't want to give Blix and his crew the details of their "disposal." Or it could be simply that they were stashed in the Bekaa valley and went from Hezbollah to Zarqawi...
Posted by: Dragon Fly ||
04/21/2004 8:49:18 AM ||
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#1
Wonder who gave them to the AQ types, Syria or saddam?
#2
I know that Debka is not always a good source, but this is what they have been saying since the war with Iraq started! Why we are not going in and securing Syria I do not know.
#3
So it would seem. I suspect this aspect of the story may evaporate, and I'm not sure why...
Sarcasm, Dragonfly?
No matter what WMD are either not WMDs or not from Iraq. Why Bush, and the allies would be right (Blair, etc.), and EVERYONE ELSE would be wrong. This does not fit with the worldwide Kerry for President campaign!
#4
"Laboratory tests on the poison gas smuggled from Syria into Jordan by al Qaeda terrorists earlier this month could determine whether their weapons came from Iraq."
Aside from the "Made in Iraq" label, how else would we be able to tell where the WMDs were made?
Posted by: Daniel King ||
04/21/2004 12:25 Comments ||
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#5
Daniel King :
They do have the lab stuff from the chems that Saddam admitted to, and were destroyed after Gulf War I in 1991. If the same methods were used, they would create the same chemical fingerprint.
Now, you might say that other places would use the same technology. But "Made in Iraq" would be determined from the impurities, etc that are location specific.
It is the same for any chemical process whether it is chem weapons, for food or whatever.
Saddam would follow the same cookbook at restart. No need to reinvent anything if the old recipe worked. Ask Kurds and Iranians about that aspect.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/21/2004 08:44 ||
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#1
The Pro-Holocaust Authority won't pay up; I'm certain of taht. Will they ignore it or boom the courthouse?
Posted by: Steve from Relto ||
04/21/2004 12:23 Comments ||
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#2
Garnish the settlement from any future Palestinian foreign aid packages. Or just seize Arafat's mulcted overseas accounts. Failing either of those, translate it into land value and secure the equivalent acreage from Palestine.
I really really like this. The liberal weenies would scream but it would probably work quite well.
Posted by: Michael ||
04/21/2004 6:07:31 AM ||
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#1
don't think we would ever do it, partioning would require other nations recognizing them as countries in their own right, you know they won't unless there in un approval, and you know that won't happen unless the un gets to run(screw up) the show.. and we arn;t gunna let that happen.. sides haveing a friendly regional power house other than isreal could be handy
#2
More importantly to the WOT, partitioning makes all too easy for the regional powers of Syria and Iran to play each region against the other and dominate the game themselves.
If Iraq is partitioned, whether in 3 or in 25 regions, the future of the Iraqis will be decided in an arrangement between Damascus and Tehran, not by the actual residents of these regions as the article suggests.
Why would anyone think Tehran or Damascus will be "tomorrow" what they are today?
Some scenarios for consideration. I've already considered them at length, so I'm not debating, just tossing out some fuel for anyone who wishes to make some fire with it. Have fun.
A. Does anyone here actually believe the Mad Mullahs will still be around pulling strings and funding Hizbollah and Hamas a year or 18 months from now?
A1. I suggest that, whenever the tea leaves indicate that a Black Hat nuke / missile pkg is imminent, that at the very least, they will find themselves with several piles of rubble where their nuke dick-extention facilities used to be.
A2. OR a coordinated decap strike against the Mullahs, Rev Guard, and Guardian Council and popular revolution where the Iranians take this golden opportunity to take back their country - mullahcracy to true republic in short order.
B. Baby Asshat is a puppet of the Mad Mullahs. After some action against his Masters occurs:
B1. Baby Asshat will go very very quiet and try to get off the radar screen - fast.
B2. The chinless child will get a bullet in the head and SyrLeb will be far too busy with internal power struggles for foreign intrigue.
I suggest that pair of events would go some way toward changing the stated dismal scenario.
Odds? I would guess the probabilities of each as:
A1 = 100%
A2 = 75%
If A1 occurs then
B1 = 80%
B2 = 20%
If A2 occurs then
B1 = 20%
B2 = 80%
Note: A1 means no revolution and overthrow, just the castration of the Mad Mullahs' Mad Dreams. This will make Scenario C necessary.
C. In this case I predict a "Phase II" - the Mullahs will go absolutely apeshit and abandon any pretense that they are not supporting Iraqi insurrection - in effect, they will be declaring war against the coalition... thus, after some time period and much posturing and invective and as this becomes obvious to even the most willfully stupid morons, the shit will hit the fan:
C1. either they get very smart very fast and learn to STFU and accept their diminished status; low-grade insurrection continues; C is repeated until C2 becomes the obviously correct choice.
#4
Dividing Iraq has some advantages and I think it should be considered as a last option. If Iraq goes to hell the US moves in to support Kurdistan and promotes the Kurds in Iran and Syria to rise up (and then we support them). From that point on we play defensive.
The Syrians and Iranians can't just sit back and allow hunks of their nations to go independant so they'll have to try something. I don't think they'll get any help from the Kurds as they've been getting from the Sunnis and Shia. They will be slaughtered.
The only kink in the plan is Turkey and I think a treaty stating that the Kurds give up all claims to land in Turkey for perpetuity and active promotion of Kurd immigration from Turkey into Kurdistan might be enough to convince the Turks to play ball. After all it could solve their problem and give them a secure border.
#5
Unless the Iraqi's can get their act together soon, I think we will be forced to divide them or accept failure re: our attempts to establish democracy in the ME. We didn't go over there to form another Iran. Bottom line, if they can't grasp the idea of representative democracy rather than majority rules, then carve them up.
JMHO.
Three car bombs exploded in front of Iraqi police stations in the southern city of Basra on Wednesday morning, killing about 20 people and wounding more than 60, according to the police and witnesses. One of the blasts hit a school bus ... Bodies of schoolgirls were burning inside the bus. Iraqis helped pick up bodies of victims as ambulances wailed to the scene. Hospital workers brought burned bodies to the cityâs hospital. Witnesses counted between 15 and 20. Yesterday Jihad Unspun reported that the cessation of such bombing indicated CIA involvement.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
04/21/2004 7:06:48 AM ||
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Who's leaking, it smells like CID.
Posted by: Col Flagg ||
04/21/2004 21:00 Comments ||
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The US military in Iraq was yesterday on the brink of striking a deal with the radical Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr after two days of secret negotiations. An Iraqi political party that has been mediating said agreement had been reached on virtually all issues.
But the US was still insisting that Mr Sadr - who led the recent Shia uprising against the US occupation of Iraq, and is holed up in Najaf with thousands of armed followers - stand trial for the murder last year of a moderate Iraqi cleric. "We are trying to solve the problem. The US wants a guarantee that Iraqis will try him. But it is impossible for us to arrest him," a mediator, Jawad al-Maliki, said yesterday, before setting off to Najaf from Baghdad for further talks.
It's okay, we can do the arresting part.
Mr Maliki, a spokesman for the moderate Shia Da'awa party, added: "I don't think there is a power on earth that can detain Mr Sadr. The problem isn't him. It's his followers."
Send a Texas Ranger. One riot, one Ranger. Worked before.
With an agreement close in Najaf and with refugees trickling back into the besieged town of Falluja, tensions in Iraq appeared to be easing yesterday after the bloodiest month since the fall of Saddam Hussein a year ago. Witnesses said some shops had reopened and Iraqi police were going back to work. The returnees were venturing back a day after the US military said it would not resume offensive operations in Falluja - as long as resistance fighters inside the city gave up their heavy weapons.
"I am confident that the guerrillas will turn in their heavy weapons as long as the Americans provide the guarantees they promised," Fawzi Muthin, a member of Falluja's delegation said. He added: "I just hope we learn from the experience. The Americans have failed in Iraq over the last year. "They have to treat us with respect as humans and deliver on the promises they made."
You, on the other hand, have to turn over the thugs, jihadis and Ba'athists, or you won't have a country next year.
US commanders said they had no current plans to storm Mr Sadr's stronghold in Najaf, even though the cleric's forces continue to vex the coalition. Embarrassing pictures were broadcast yesterday on the al-Arabiya TV station showing jubilant fighters belonging to Mr Sadr's Mahdi army driving around in an ambushed American Humvee.
More reason to squash him like a wormy apple.
An aide to Mr Sadr, Sayed Hazem al-Araji, confirmed that "top secret" negotiations to end the standoff in Najaf were in progress. He said the cleric had several demands, including that coalition troops be placed under the control of the UN.
Time for another application of the ClueBat.
He also wanted a swift trial for Saddam. Sources close to the negotiations said Mr Sadr had agreed to the coalition's demand that his militia army should be turned into a political organisation. He had also promised to respect the authority of the new Iraqi government, due to take power on June 30.
"We want guarantees that the voice of Mr Sadr will not be marginalised," Mr Araji said. He maintained that the cleric was innocent of all charges against him, and added: "We are sceptical he can receive a fair trial. At the moment Iraqi law is subject to American law. There isn't an independent judiciary."
"He wuz framed!"
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/21/2004 1:19:40 AM ||
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Considering the source, I'd take all of this with a couple of tons of salt...
#4
I would think that the Yassin and Rantisi solution would be the best for dealing with Sadr. A video of a Predator-launched Hellfire impacting just below the black turban broadcast on all channels should do wonders for the negotiations.
#5
I would think that the Yassin and Rantisi solution would be the best for dealing with Sadr.
I concur. There has to be a clear demonstration that for now, the CPA is THE authority and that people like Sadr can't be allowed to undermine it. Whether that involves killing or imprisoning the him, well, whatever it takes.
He has been hounded through one country after another, but hopes to find peace and safety in South Africa. Libya believes that Ibrahim Tantoush has links to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network, and years ago stole a substantial amount of gold "to finance terrorist activities abroad". But Tantoush says the world after 9/11 is a hostile place for Arab Muslims and that South Africa is his last hope of finding a home. He says Libya has fabricated the gold-theft charge. Yesterday Tantoush looked out of place in the dock of the Pretoria Magistrate's Court. The unassuming engineer walked into court with a big plastic bag, and out again R8 000 in bail money poorer - but free for now. Tantoush was arrested in February after Libya asked for his extradition.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/21/2004 1:28:41 AM ||
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So, uh, how much exactly is R8,000 in real money?
Certainly sounds a lot, he's probs underwriting Mbeki's palace, a la Mugabe, his big china. Bodes ill for the future of South Africa.
A special police taskforce unit in the west Siberian city of Novosibirsk detained a group of militants in Chechnya who were allegedly planning a massive terrorist attack in Moscow this summer, NTV television reported, citing taskforce sources. The suspects were reportedly planning to carry out an attack using the same methods used at major outdoor events in the summer of 2003, NTV said. The militants allegedly had chosen the central Moscow district of Kotelniki, and central Russiaâs Volgograd Region for their planned attacks. Home-made explosive devices, which were said to be disguised as handbags, were confiscated from the detained men. These were the same devices used at the rock concert in Tushino last summer, when two female suicide bombers killed dozens, the channel quoted authorities as saying. Authorities say the detained militants are probably linked not only to the Tushino bombing but also to a militant group led by the warlord Ruslan Gelayev. Experts quoted by the news station have said the explosives used in the Tushino attack were made in Moscow. The TNT was heated and softened so that it could be used as a suicide belt.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/21/2004 1:22:33 AM ||
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An uninvited guest garbed in a golden tunic and towering white headdress strides into a wedding feast at the Sufi takiya, or lodge, of Hassan the Flying Man, a mystic famed for flying fromBaghdad to Turkey in the14th century. With a perfunctory nod at the groom, he shatters the jollity with an appeal for reinforcements for his hometown of Falluja.
"American forces are turning Falluja into a mass grave," says Mohammed Eissawi, a Sufi master who escaped from America's siege of the city he calls Iraq's Stalingrad. "Why are you abandoning the city of 200 mosques and 100 Sufi lodges? Your rice sacks are not enough. You must give yourselves."
For decades, Arab regimes have patronised Sufism, the mystical Islam born in 8th century Iraq, as a way to keep Islam out of politics. But now angered at the US's continued occupation of Iraq, Sufi masters are taking centre stage in a campaign to mobilise their hundreds of thousands of disciples and turn the resistance from a struggle led by small cells of militant puritans into a mainstream Sunni revolt.
"Falluja is the place for men full of spirit and free from the blemish of colonialism," says Mr Eissawi of the Qadiriya, Iraq's oldest and most populous Sufi order. He is also the preacher at the neighbouring Gailani mosque and thus one of Baghdad's more powerful clerics. He is concerned, he says, that some at the wedding feast were playing truant from his prayers.
Sheikh Mohammed Abu Khomra, hosting the feast and master of a smaller Sufi order, the Rifaiya, shuffles uneasily and calls on God to provide.
"Now is the time for patience not emotion," he says after Mr Eissawi has left. "The only Jihad in Sufism is jihad al-nafs, the spiritual struggle against the ego."
Who wins this theological battle for the Sufi lodges will largely determine the US's future in Iraq. From Nigeria, Sudan and Algeria in the 19th century and Chechnya in the 21st, Sufi murshids, or guides, have roused their disciples to revolt against non-Muslim rulers.
In most parts of rural Iraq today, however, Sufism is simply a form of "folk Islam" that differs from mainstream religion only in that dead holy men are worshipped in the same way saints are in Christianity, and prayers are often used to induce mild trances.
Twice a week, Sheikh Abu Khomra draws scores of working-class men and women to his takiya to rhythmically howl the name of god and rock themselves into states of rapture. Craftsmen, clerks and cleaners seek the touch of his staff to cure their marital problems, his herbs for their sexual ones, and his breath and spittle for their sick infants. Some bring empty plastic coke bottles to collect the waters which bubble up around the 14th shrine of the first Khomra.
But after the seance his followers join the thousands who turn out to hear Mr Eissawi deliver a fiery Friday sermon expressing his understanding of the anger of hostage-takers.
Flyers on the alley walls of Bab Sheikh, this rambling old quarter of Baghdad, hail the latest victories against Satan's forces at Falluja's gates: one tank, six helicopters, 120 juggernauts and many infidel prisoners. "Long live the Resistance" is scrawled in red beneath the few wooden lattice balconies that survive Saddam Hussein's brutal modernisation of the capital.
In the markets, peddlers hawk DVDs of Salah Hashem al-Janabi, a popular singer from Falluja who uses Sufi drumbeats and chants to recount the epics of the city's fighters.
"Sufism is again busy with jihad," says Sheikh Abdulwahab al-Toma, Arabic for Thomas, another influential Sufi imam with an office at the Gailani mosque. "All must participate if not with arms, then with alms."
The resistance to the US-led occupation of Iraq has created an odd alliance between Sufis and their hated enemies: the other dominant non-mainstream trend in Islam: Salafi, or Wahabi, fundamentalism. Before the war, Human Rights Watch condemned Ansar al-Islam, a Kurdish- led militant group sympathetic to Osama bin Laden, for destroying the shrines of Sufi saints in north-eastern Iraq. But now, says Sheikh Abdulwahab, the two movements have found common cause.
The broadening of the resistance from small Salafi groups to mainstream Sufis is adding to the worries of Iraq's US administrators. Last week, US troops launched a pre-dawn raid on the Sheikh al-Qummer takiya (lodge) in northern Baghdad, and uncovered 35 men, women and children seeking safe haven after fleeing Falluja.
They found no weapons but detained four men from Falluja, and two caretakers, including a 70-year-old man.
With each raid, US forces are increasing their array of enemies, says Thahir al-Sheik Qummer, the sheikh of the takiya. When he went to inquire about the fate of the 70-year-old, his uncle, he said US troops shouted: "Get out."
Mr Thahir contrasts insults from US rulers with that under British rule in the 1920s, when Sufis were courted and the head of the Qadiri order appointed Iraq's first prime minister.
"Sufis were the link between the British and the Iraqis," he says. "But America has made us into rebels. It will backfire."
Even so the British, who occupied Iraq in the 1920s, struggled to contain the Sufi brotherhoods. Falluja's Sufis still revere as a model Sheikh Dhari, who joined the Shia-led 1920 revolt against direct British rule. Fed up with Colonel Gerard Leachman, Britain's arrogant political officer in Falluja, the Sheikh shot him dead.
The Sheikh's grandson now heads the Muslim scholars' council, which has mediated between the hostages and their abductors but is demanding the withdrawal of foreign troops.
Sufi grievances dovetail with widespread resentment in the Sunni triangle at the toppling of Mr Hussein's Sunni-based regime, which financed as well as infiltrated their orders, says a newspaper editor under Mr Hussein now exiled in Jordan. According to the editor, who wishes to hide his identity, the ties have survived the regime's fall. He points to Ezzat al-Douri, Mr Hussein's deputy for whose capture the US-led coalition in Iraq is offering $10m.
Under Hussein, Mr Douri handled Iraq's religious affairs and claimed to be a Sufi devotee. DVDs of Mr Douri chanting at their takiyas still sell on Baghdad's roadsides.
Ahead of the war, Mr Douri lavishly restored Baghdad's shrines of Abdel Qadir al Gailani, the founder of the Qadiriya order and that of Sheikh Maarouf, an 8th century mystic revered by the Naqshbandiya order. Initially favouring Sheikh Abu Khomra's Rifaiya order, to which he had blood ties, in the 1990s he patronised the Kasnazaniya, a splinter group of the Qadiriya order, which claims 1m followers in Iraq and has been quick to reposition itself in occupied Iraq.
The sheikh's son has set up a political party in Baghdad, the Coalition for Iraqi National Unity (CUNI), and publishes al-Mashriq, one of the capital's best endowed newspapers that sprung up after the war. His brother, who previously supplied Mr Douri's bodyguards, now runs the Iraq Establishment Protection Company, a Sufi militia providing guards for the Coalition Provisional Authority base in Kirkuk.
"We take the morals of the Kasnazaniya and apply them to the security company," says the brother, Paishrow Abdel Kadir, whose dervishes reputedly walk barefoot over burning coals.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/21/2004 1:18:59 AM ||
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Before the war, Human Rights Watch condemned Ansar al-Islam, a Kurdish- led militant group sympathetic to Osama bin Laden, for destroying the shrines of Sufi saints in north-eastern Iraq. But now, says Sheikh Abdulwahab, the two movements have found common cause.
I against my brother; I and my brother against our cousin; my brother and our cousin against our neighbors; all of us against the foreigner.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
04/21/2004 1:54 Comments ||
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#2
Sufism is a fascinating subject, although my knowledge of it is only through reading the Sufi "pope" Idries Shah. From what I can tell, it is virtually a completely different religion than, say, Wahabism. It is a "spiritual", ie psychological interpretation of Islam, definitely not literalist. There is a long history of Sufis being persecuted by the more mainstream religion because they don't take the Quran literally. Some people have theorized that Sufism is a remnant of an older religion related to Hinduism and Buddhism, and there are a lot of resemblances. It is organized around spiritual masters and their students. This cell-like organization, which tends to be secretive anyway, lends itself to infiltration by poltical forces who then turn it toward subversive activities. For every genuine mystic or saintly master there are probably 10 or 100 false ones.
#5
several commentators e.g.,Stephen Swartz of the National Standard (who I think is a Sufi) and Winds of Change site, have given Sufi good PR for a couple of years. I always suspected that there was a dark evil side of Sufi ism.
Qazi Hussain Ahmad was sworn in as the Ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Pakistan for fifth term at Mansoora on Tuesday. A special oath taking ceremony was held in front of important personalities from the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) and other political parties. Qazi Hussain Ahmad, in his address, criticised the Aga Khan Foundation and warned it to stop interfering in the education system otherwise a movement would be started to declare them non-Muslims. âThey should avoid becoming American tools and learn a lesson from the Qadyanis,â he said.
The Ismailis, of course, don't knuckle under to Qazi, and they have their own money...
Mr Hussain accused President Musharraf of offering India a joint syllabus for the two countries. âIt is not only a conspiracy against the ideology of Pakistan, but also against its existence,â he said. On the presidentâs uniform, he said that after December 31, 2004, Gen Musharraf would not be the chief of army staff (COAS) even for one day. Condemning Hamas leader Abdelaziz Rantissiâs assassination, he declared Friday (April 23) as the Aqsa Day to pay tribute to him and condemn America and Israel. âIraq, Afghanistan, Philistine and Kashmir are the victims of American, Israeli and Indian terrorism, but the worldâs greatest terrorists are trying to fix this label on Muslims,â he said.
Qazi's so predictable...
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
04/21/2004 1:21:09 AM ||
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The Dominican Republic might follow Spain and Honduras in pulling its troops out of Iraq early despite a one-year commitment to the U.S.-led military force, the president said Tuesday. President Hipolito Mejia's announcement came just two days after he pledged to keep the Caribbean country's 302 troops in place through July, as promised.
More Spanish "diplomacy" at work.
The Dominicans have been serving with 370 Honduran troops under a Spanish-led brigade policing Iraq's al-Qadisiya and Najaf provinces since August. Mejia said it was Honduras' decision to withdraw, based on concerns about security without the Spanish presence, that prompted him to reconsider. Without the Spanish in command, it was unclear how the Dominicans would be operating. The president said he would consult with Dominican military and government officials before making a final decision. "It's not something that can be determined overnight." Many Dominicans have criticized Mejia's support of the war, particularly over the past two weeks: Dominican troops have been attacked more than a dozen times, though none have been reported injured. Opposition party candidates have derided Mejia's participation in Iraq ahead of May 16 elections. The president is seeking re-election.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/21/2004 1:15:21 AM ||
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THE Dominican Republic has decided to withdraw its 300 troops from Iraq in the wake of Spain's decision to pull out, defense secretary General Jose Miguel Soto Jimenez said. âThe armed forces' troops in Iraq will leave in a few days, in the next week,â the general said after talks with President Hipolito Mejia. They had originally been scheduled to leave in July.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
04/21/2004 1:34 Comments ||
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#2
Another good reason for returning would-be Haitian refugees to Haiti. If they want to emigrate, let them go to the Dominican Republic. It's just a short walk and these political milquetoasts won't be able to say no.
BASRA, Iraq (AP) - Near-simultaneous explosions ripped through three police stations in the southern Iraqi city of Basra on Wednesday and many casualties were reported, witnesses said. At one station in the Saudia district of Basra, four vehicles were seen destroyed including two school buses. At least one of the school buses appeared to have been full of passengers, an Associated Press reporter at the scene said. The facade of the Saudia station was also heavily damaged.
Police Maj. Ouda al-Jabiri, at Saudia, said the cause of the blasts was not immediately known. There was a hole two yards deep and three yards wide in front of the Saudi station.
More from the BBC, 12:30 AM CDT
Rush-hour blasts probably caused by car bombs have hit three police stations in Iraq's second city of Basra, killing at least 40 and injuring scores. Two school buses, one of them apparently full of children, were destroyed in one of the attacks, an AP correspondent reports from the scene.
Rat bastards.
A British officer said the three attacks had been near-simultaneous. A UK military official in the city suggested the three explosions, which all came at about 0715 (0315 GMT), had been caused by car bombs. "They were vehicle-based improvised explosive devices," said Squadron Leader John Arnold.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/21/2004 1:12:16 AM ||
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Two school buses, one of them apparently full of children, were destroyed in one of the attacks, an AP correspondent reports from the scene.
In this case, I'll try to believe the BBC.
A school bus full of children? What a legacy for "freedom fighters" to boast about with their grandchildren. If this is indeed the case, all Iraqis must stand up and take notice. If not, then there is no amount of brutality we can impose that could possibly match this heartless act.
#3
Steve, thanks for posting...
I'm thinking that the enemy can't go much past the Marines in Fallujah, so they're working on the British in Basra.
Posted by: Jen ||
04/21/2004 2:38 Comments ||
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#4
Hopefully we'll provide the same sort of opposition as the Marines.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
04/21/2004 4:11 Comments ||
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I hope and pray you're right, Howard!
God Bless the British (Army)-May He give them strength and fortitude to make their stand!
Posted by: Jen ||
04/21/2004 4:13 Comments ||
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Howard, I expect that your men have made enough friends in Basra so that you won't have to do the same type of meat-grinding that the Marines are having to do. I would expect that the residents of Basra would be interested in not having their children targetted, but then again, I'm not sure I understand Iraqis any better than I understand Antiwar.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
04/21/2004 4:15 Comments ||
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#7
Yup - didn't stop the Brits getting stoned when they turned up to help. Thanks for the words Jen - some of my boys are over there.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
04/21/2004 4:32 Comments ||
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Howard, didn't realize that Basra residents had taken leave of their senses again. Although it is likely that the rockthrowers were being herded by Iranians, you got to be some real saps to be herded past the Hizbollah office on the way to throw rocks at the Brits for the fact that your city has just been on the receiving end of a simultaneous triple car blast. Just ring the city with steel so that the contagion of stupidity can not spread to ... I guess it's too late.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
04/21/2004 5:40 Comments ||
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#9
I think the military get used to this in NI - just back off slowly and let diplomacy have a go.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
04/21/2004 5:57 Comments ||
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#10
Howard, you nailed it.
Actually, almost since we liberated Iraq, it's proven that the British Army's experience in Northern Ireland has been invaluable in Iraq--urban "peacekeeping" in a partially hostile environment and all that.
We Americans stand shoulder to shoulder with you chaps and don't you forget it!
USA! Rule Britannia!
Posted by: Jen ||
04/21/2004 6:10 Comments ||
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#11
Here we see the valiant Iraqi resistance attacking the hated oppressor-occupiers, right Murat?
Blowing up a school bus will of course only lead to more popular support for the resistance, right?
/scarcasam
Posted by: Mike ||
04/21/2004 7:03 Comments ||
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#12
This is what happens when you negotiate with jihadis.
Posted by: Rafael ||
04/21/2004 8:04 Comments ||
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Jen, I agree that British experience in northern Ireland is valuable -- in those parts of Iraq where the situation is similar.
In Basrah, there is and has been a large group of people who are friendly to the Coalition. They were allowed in some cases to wreak vengeance on the Baathists while the British forces either looked the other way or at least were not able to stop it. So that let off some of the steam.
The Sunni triangle is a whole 'nuther matter. Fallujah is the home of al Douri, a Baathist stronghold and the center of major arms caches. It is also on the highway from Syria.
Different situation, different response called for. I'm all for the British approach where it is likely to work, but frankly I think it's BS to believe it would have gone over well in some of the parts of Iraq where the US has responsibility.
About 35 Iraqi insurgents attacked U.S. Marines in northern Fallujah just after daybreak Wednesday, setting off a heavy gunbattle, the military said. There was no immediate word on casualties. The attack began with a massive barrage of rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire. Explosions were heard throughout the city. Marine forces here were put on high alert.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/21/2004 1:09:44 AM ||
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Ah yes, this is how Sadr and the Mahdi Army keep their word and truce.
They ahve now pronounced death sentences on themselves. They will leave Fallujah, toes first.
#2
Fallujah will have to be levelled, no question about it. Evacuate the old, women and children. Arrest the young punks (summer is almost here, keep them in an outdoor prison). Finish off anybody with an AK or RPG. Level the place. Let reconstruction begin. Repeat with next town.
Posted by: Rafael ||
04/21/2004 4:06 Comments ||
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Can't say I dislike your plan, Rafael...After all, we did give them a nice, long ceasefire to think about it.
And now that the deadenders in Falluja have found they can't get by the US Marines, they're trying a hit today in Basra to see how far the British Army can be pushed.
3 near simultaneous bombs, police stations and police academy hit ("they collaborate with the occupiers?"), 55 dead--at least 10 of them school chidren, and 200 wounded.
Bastards. Hope the Brits are ready.
Posted by: Jen ||
04/21/2004 4:11 Comments ||
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Fallujah should be treated as Carthage by the Romans. Not one stone to be left on top of another, the ground salted and the people scattered throughout Iraq as a lesson to the others.
#7
"It's tit-for-tat, we're not seeing tat." Marine commanders have an elegant way of summing up a situation. This is just the "insurgents" way of turning in their heavy weapons. My guess is that, barring some dramatic collapse of will by the "insurgents" , the Marines will begin clearing the city on Saturday.
#8
Old Spook, Sadr and his Mahdi army aren't in Fallujah, they are down in Najaf. Fallujah is filled with Sunni Ba'athists, Syrian knuckleads, and Al Queda fascists.
#9
I hope whoever is calling the shots overthere will realize all the ceasefire did was allow the "insurgents" to debrief each other, learn from their mistakes, regroup, resupply and preposition hot spots to launch these kind of attacks.
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
04/22/2004 10:19 Comments ||
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A deadline for the handing over of five tribesmen accused of harboring al Qaeda militants in Pakistan has been extended. Leaders of a 2,000-strong tribal militia told a prominent local fugitive accused of harboring the suspected terrorists and his followers to surrender on Tuesday. Naik Mohammed asked for three days to consult with his comrades before responding, tribal leader Malik Ghulam Nabi Khan said after a meeting in South Waziristan, The Associated Press reported. "Considering the performance of the lashkar (militia), we do not think there is any urgency for military action, and we are making an extension in the deadline," a senior military official in the main town in the region, Wana, told The Associated Press. The local militia hope to find the suspects, and avoid a repeat of last month's military operations, where more than 120 people, including soldiers, militants, and civilians, were killed.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/21/2004 1:08:00 AM ||
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WANA: Tribesmen suspended a hunt for Al-Qaeda fighters and their local allies near the border with Afghanistan in order to negotiate a surrender with a rebel leader, officials said today. "The tribal force has suspended demolishing houses of wanted militants for three days," local administration official Rehmatullah Wazir told reporters in Wana.
Yawn, wake me when something happens.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/21/2004 8:50 Comments ||
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The Moroccan group accused of carrying out the Madrid train bombings in March and the Casablanca suicide bombings last year is a "derivative structure" of Al-Qaeda, a press report here said Tuesday. Quoting the "confessions" of a Moroccan Islamic extremist, the newspaper Aujourd'hui le Maroc said the leader of the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group (GICM) told interrogators that the group is "a derivative structure of Al-Qaeda whose militants are supporters steeped in the murderous themes of the Saudi guru (Osama bin Laden)."
The pro-government paper cited the record of August 2003 police investigations, which it had obtained, containing "revelations" by Noureddine Nfia, who was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison for his role in the May 2003 Casablanca attacks that claimed 45 lives. The report said Nfia had met with Bin Laden's second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, in July 2000 in Afghanistan when the "GICM sought, through ... Noureddine Nfia, Al-Qaeda's support" for operations in Moroccan territory. "Ayman al-Zawahiri showed his willingness to help GICM in the political and military domains," Nfia is quoted as telling interrogators. Zawahiri's Jamaat al-Jihad al-Islami organization shared its "organizational experience to extremely well-trained GICM members," the paper said Nfia said. "They needed blessings and financing, and Al-Qaeda took them on," the paper said.
With Nfia in prison, the paper named Taeb Bentizi as the GICM's new leader, with Mohamed Guerbouzi as his deputy. Guerbouzi, whose name came up following the March 11 attacks in Madrid, was a top recruiter for GICM and the "main coordinator between its cells in Europe." Last Friday, Aujourd'hui le Maroc reported an initial series of "revelations" by Nfia, notably that GICM had sleeper cells in Britain, Belgium, France, Italy and Canada. Nfia drafted GICM's 33-page "doctrinal charter" setting out a consultative council, an executive council and commissions, he told his questioners.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/21/2004 1:02:37 AM ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
