A provocative, and offensive, filmmaker and columnist attacks Islam and pays with his life.
BY LEON DE WINTER
AMSTERDAM--It was only two years ago that an animal-rights extremist assassinated the populist Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn, explaining later in court that he did so, in part, to stop Fortuyn from using Muslim immigrants as "scapegoats." Now the Netherlands is once again in shock. On Tuesday, the filmmaker and newspaper columnist Theo van Gogh--a distant descendant of the artist Vincent--was murdered, allegedly by a Muslim immigrant (now in police custody). On Wednesday the police arrested eight Islamic radicals in connection with the slaying.
The Netherlands prides itself on being a liberal and tolerant country. What is going on? Like Mr. Fortuyn, whom he admired, Mr. Van Gogh was a radical libertarian, a champion of free speech who refused to be constrained by taboos or social codes. I know from personal experience what it felt like to be the target of his invective. Mr. Van Gogh's pen could be vulgar and radical, and he managed to offend me more than once. In 1984, after I directed a feature film called "Frontiers," about a Dutch journalist who goes abroad to interview a terrorist and discovers his own violent side, Mr. Van Gogh accused me of "selling out my Jewish identity," although there was not a single Jewish character in the picture. Writing elsewhere about Jewish writers or filmmakers, he made Holocaust-tinged jokes like: "Hey, it smells like caramel today--well then, they must be burning the diabetic Jews." Such attacks went on for almost 20 years. (Mr. Van Gogh was 47 when he died.)
To be clear: Mr. Van Gogh did not limit himself to Jewish topics. He attacked Christian values and symbols as well. Theodor Holman, another Dutch columnist, once wrote that "every Christian is a criminal," and a storm of controversy broke out. Mr. Van Gogh came to his defense by writing that people offended by those words were only "the fan club of that rotting fish in Nazareth." After viewing Mel Gibson's recent film, Mr. Van Gogh remarked in the daily Metro: "I just went to see 'The Passion of the Christ,' a film as bad as an LSD trip which shows once again that also in the sewers of Christianity collective daftness just leads to mud."
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Anonymous4724 ||
11/05/2004 8:46:58 AM ||
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This is a good read. This guy Van Gogh was a likeable curmudgeon and an equal opportunity bigot of sorts. He may have deserved a good ass beating more than once but no one had the right to kill him.
On the other hand, that a person will kill for their religious zealotry in the year 2004 is not acceptable. Reasoning with this cult is impossable. We are left with what, having to kill them one by one? Put them all behind a fence? After 9/11 we can't ignore them any more that is certain. How do we respond to them without becoming them? This is not the same thing as Afghanistan or Iraq. This is downtown not out in BFA. Do we walk around ready to drop the hammer on them if they look cross eyed? (hard as hell to do where I live.)
You got it! But the PC crowd is not stating the obvious: he insulted Jews and Christians and God knows who else but none of those recipients of his hatred killed him. It was a Muslim who did it and this act speaks volume for their lack of tolerance and their inability to understand freedom of speech or any other freedom, for that matter.
Posted by: Howard Uk ||
11/05/2004 11:16 Comments ||
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SPOD took the words right out of my, er, fingers.
No religion, other than islam, would encourage or condone such an act.
Freedom of speech, without fear of physical reprisal, is a foundation of life in the west -- Most non-middle eastern countries share that value to greater or lesser degrees. And, to our credit, it's mostly greater.
Not so in muslim countries.
A religion/culture like islam cannot exist in the west. It must adapt or be expelled. And I see no early signs of adaptation.
By the way.... Van Gogh didn't strike me as a "likeable" curmudgeon, SPOD. Which makes the whole freedom of speech thing even more poignant -- even detestable people have the right to say what they want without fear.
#5
Radical Islam will not co-exist peacefully with any other group that does not "submit" to them. That's almost their definition of Islam=submission="peace". That is the essence of the current conflict, both in the Netherlands and in the world. The other side of the conflict largely hasn't awakened to the true situation, although the cited article is a small step toward that awakening. Since Nov. 2, the MSM has been interpreting Bush's victory as a victory for evangelical Christianity. This view is a distortion. In the USA nominal Christians and nonbelievers alike are simply defining where they stand and acting on their basic beliefs concerning "all men are created equal", inalienable rights,and freedom of speech and religion, due to the worldwide Islamic supremacy movement. Freedom of speech means, among other things, tolerating scurrilous verbal attacks on what is held most dear without resorting to extortion or murder.
INDONESIAN prosecutors today called for a two-year prison term for a man accused of using his science degree and Islamic militant experience to run bomb workshops and plot terror attacks on Western interests. Adi Suryana alias Qital, a 41-year-old chemical engineering graduate and alleged member of the Jemaah Islamiah regional militant network, led a meeting in February 2003 to set up attack teams, South Jakarta district court was told. Prosecutor Helmi Tajuddin said Suryana was a veteran extremist who helped train militants in Afghanistan between 1986 and 1993 and returned to Indonesia to join the al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiah group. In 1999 he became an instructor at a military camp run by the Muslim rebel Moro Islamic Liberation Front in the southern Philippines, Tajuddin said. Suryana was also accused of giving several bomb-making classes for fellow Afghan alumni in 2003.
Make it 20 years and keep him in solitary.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/05/2004 1:03:35 PM ||
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Nine people, mostly Buddhists, have been killed within a 24-hour period as violence in southern Thailand flared after last week's deadly riot in Tak Bai. Two state railway workers, a policeman and a former official were shot dead Thursday, following the killing of five other people a day earlier, The Straits Times reported. A Buddhist monk from Songkhla province remained in critical condition after he was shot twice by a man on a motorbike. The latest attacks followed the beheading of a Buddhist village leader on Tuesday to avenge the death of 85 Muslim rioters in Tak Bai.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/05/2004 1:53:47 AM ||
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Wonder if it will go to open warfare. Can't see folks putting up with this stuff.
Security forces have taken into custody, Sadhuram Devkota alias Prashanta, said to be coordinator of the Maoists' Kathmandu bureau, in the capital Thursday morning, reports said. According to reports, few other Maoist cadres were also arrested along with Prashanta from Bhotebahal area this morning. Security forces have refused to confirm the arrest of Devkota and his comrades, reports said. Despite repeated attempts by Nepalnews, authorities were not immediately available for comments. The CPN (Maoist) is yet to comment on the reports of arrest of its senior cadres in the capital. The latest arrest , if confirmed, could be a serious blow to the secret network of the underground party, security analysts said.
Some 30 Iraqi nationals were arrested after they crossed the territorial borders into Iran from Arvandroud waterway, northwestern part of the Persian Gulf, Iranian border guards said on Wednesday.
The Iraqis were captured on board four trawlers. They had entered Iranian territorial waters while fishing.
The Iraqis have been handed over to the judicial authorities for necessary action.
Over 500 Arvandkenar fishermen had lodged complaint with the border guards against the illegal entry into Iranian territory of Iraqi nationals causing nuisance for them by fishing in Iranian waters.
Some 57 other Iraqis were arrested in the same area last month and were handed over to the justice system in Abadan.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/05/2004 5:08:10 AM ||
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The army pounded militant positions with artillery and heavy weapons on Friday, two improvised explosives went off near army convoys and militants fired rockets at military installations in South Waziristan. Five soldiers and two civilians were injured in the attacks. Military spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan told Daily Times from Rawalpindi that one soldier was injured by an improvised explosive device (IED) in Makeen. The attack followed another in Sarwakai on Thursday in which nine soldiers were killed. He said jammers and sweepers were required for countering IEDs. "The steps we have taken in this regard, I will not disclose," he said. Military experts had said the army should ask the US to provide it with the necessary equipment.
Militants set off another an IED in Khanigurram area, but there were no casualties. Sources said the army rounded up 150 tribesmen for questioning, but released all except three who were taken for interrogation. In Sheikh Ziarat, militants fired rockets at army picket late on Thursday night. The army retaliated with artillery fire from Jandola Fort, sources said. The Scouts Camp in Wana was attacked again with rockets on Thursday night and a civilian was reportedly wounded in the attack. Meanwhile, a military commander in Waziristan complained of "poor coverage of the army's achievements against the terrorists" and said. "Coverage of army's successful operations against the militants was not seen in the national media."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/05/2004 12:24:08 AM ||
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BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. troops urged civilians to flee Falluja on Friday and launched air strikes on the rebel city ahead of an assault seen as critical to attempts to pacify Iraq before January elections. U.S. forces sealed all roads to the city and used loudspeakers and leaflets in Arabic to tell residents they would detain any man under 45 trying to enter or leave the city.
"We are making last preparations. It will be soon. We are just awaiting orders from Prime Minister (Iyad) Allawi," Marine Colonel Michael Shupp told Reuters near Falluja.
Many residents have already fled the Sunni Muslim city of 300,000, about 50 km (32 miles) west of Baghdad. U.S. warplanes and artillery bombarded Falluja on Friday, residents said, and rebels fired mortars and rocket-propelled grenades at U.S. forces on the city outskirts. There was no immediate word on casualties. Ambulances were waiting for fighting to ease before venturing on to the streets.
The U.S. military said overnight air raids had destroyed a command post, arms caches and rebel positions. Hospital workers in Falluja said the strikes had killed three people, wounded four and destroyed five houses. The military also said two Marines were killed and four wounded in combat on Thursday in Anbar province, home to Falluja and the city of Ramadi, also expected to be part of any assault.
Allawi was meeting European Union leaders in Brussels on Friday and was expected to return to Iraq after that.
So, this weekend then.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/05/2004 3:01:38 PM ||
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Get the friendlies out of the kill box.
Posted by: Mike ||
11/05/2004 15:15 Comments ||
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Just saw on Fox interview with Marines outside of Falluja. Cleaning and loading weapons, couple of guys in the backround were taping lengths of primacord together. Getting ready to open a few doors, I expect. Plus they showed Kurdish Special Forces with them, practicing getting out of APCs in a hurry. This is the real deal.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/05/2004 16:24 Comments ||
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Fox had another guy on earlier saying these are not the same Marine elements who were involved in the April operation - those guys are back stateside at the moment. I know they deserve the R&R - but experience is important and true urban warfare experience is extremely limited. Hats off to these guys - may they go slow, go safe, and comprehensively wipe out the jihadis in toto. I wonder what the details of the ROE are...
FALLUJAH, Iraq -- Iraqi Security Forces and the I Marine Expeditionary Force continue to degrade and disrupt anti-Iraqi forces in the Fallujah-Ramadi area. I Marine Expeditionary Force employed U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Air Force air power to deliver precision munitions to destroy preplanned targets in Fallujah.
Nov. 4, I Marine Expeditionary Force conducted coordinated offensive operations in and around the Fallujah-Ramadi area, destroying a command post, insurgent positions, fortified barriers and a weapons cache.
At 4:40 p.m., Nov. 4, a U.S. Air Force aircraft, supporting a U.S. Marine Corps element, destroyed two buildings being fortified by armed insurgents in the southeastern part of the city as part of a preplanned target.
At 8:25 p.m., Nov. 4, a U.S. Marine Corps aircraft, supporting a U.S. Marine Corps element, destroyed barriers used to fortify an area in the southeast part of the city. This strike was also preplanned.
At 8:55 p.m., Nov. 4, a U.S. Marine Corps aircraft, supporting a U.S. Marine Corps element, destroyed another preplanned target -- an IED-laden offensive position in the southeast part of the city. Secondary explosions were observed.
At 10:40 p.m., a U.S. Air Force aircraft, supporting a U.S. Marine Corps element, destroyed barricaded fighting positions in the northern part of the city as a preplanned target.
Then, at 1:10 a.m. Nov. 5, U.S. Marine Corps aircraft, supporting a U.S. Marine Corps element, used precision munitions to destroy a known weapons cache. It was a preplanned target.
Since Monday, Nov. 1, Multi-National Forces-West personnel have recovered and destroyed 129 mortars, 42 artillery shells, 38 Rocket-Propelled Grenades, 12 rockets, seven mines, 126 detonators, 350 electronic timers, 16 blasting caps, 14 grenades, three sticks of dynamite, eight AK-47s and more than a thousand rounds of ammunition.
Notice all the strikes on "preplanned targets". Softening up the area before the assault kicks off.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/05/2004 10:25:00 AM ||
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Also notice the joint, joint, joint operations. Will the Air Force reconsider putting the A-10 in Davis-Monthan before there is a replacement?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/05/2004 10:37 Comments ||
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Kinda hard to set up fortifications that can't be seen by a spy drone, huh guys?
#3
Hell, these fools are so far behind the military curve they still think in 2 dimensions.
I would like to see A-10's added to the mix in the Sunni Triangle opns. Their low 'n slow capability added to the fact that they can take the ground fire make them ideal. Who says they're only tank killers? Like bullet-proof Sandies, heh. Man I loved those guys! The AF brass can be such short-sighted and self-defeating weenies. Old AF hands like OP and others here could flesh this out...
#4
The AF brass can be such short-sighted and self-defeating weenies.
Because since they're human, they like pretty. The A-10 was not pretty; it's effective, deadly, and durable. I'll pick those three over pretty any day.
Palestinian leaders have begun preparations to bury Yasser Arafat, being sustained Friday on life-support in a French hospital. Although Jordan and Egypt reportedly offered to let Arafat, 75, be buried in their countries, plans are being made to bury him in Gaza, where his sister is buried, the Jerusalem Post reported. Ahmed Qureia, Palestinian Authority prime minister, and Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath are expected to attend an urgent meeting in Ramallah Saturday of Palestinian Authority leaders. Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine will send representatives to the meeting.
Sigh, talk about your target rich enviroment.
Speculation about Arafat's condition, specific ailment and cause of that ailment was rampant. "I can assure you that there is no brain death," Leila Shahid, the Palestinian envoy to France, said. "He is in a coma. We don't know the type but it's a reversible coma." Shahid suggested the coma occurred after he was put under anesthesia to have additional medical tests, including an endoscopy, colonoscopy and a biopsy of the spinal cord.
"Smithers, send a thank you note and the usual check to the anesthesia technician. Then have him killed."
"Yes sir, at once"
"The doctors don't have a diagnosis," she said. "He could or could not wake up," she said, adding, "All vital organs are functioning."
Palestinian leaders, struggling to deal with a post-Yasser Arafat world, have patched together a two-office arrangement for running the territories. With Arafat, 75, in a coma and on life-support in a French hospital, Ahmed Qureia and Mahmoud Abbas have emerged as transition leaders of the Palestinians while Arafat's future remains uncertain, the Washington Post reported Friday. Under terms of a somewhat ad hoc arrangement, Qureia will run daily operations for the Palestinian Authority, the self-governing entity in the West Bank and Gaza Strip established 10 years ago by the Oslo peace accords. He will also head the National Security Council. Arafat is president of the authority and chairman of the council. Abbas, meanwhile, will run both the Palestine Liberation Organization, the umbrella group that represents Palestinians living in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and abroad, and of the Fatah political movement, the most powerful Palestinian political organization. Arafat is chairman of both.
Civil war scheduled right after the funeral
Posted by: Steve ||
11/05/2004 9:27:06 AM ||
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I hope this one will be as good as Khomeini's, where the crowd stormed the box and knocked him out of it. Coffin swarm!
elarsen - Had a decent Herzog from Calif a few weeks ago, and an Aussie kosher wine, forget the name. Yarden and Gallil from Israel are supposed to be could. Avoid anything that says "Yayin Mevushal" (wine pasteurized at high temp for additional ritual purity)
The combat hospital on the chief U.S. base near Fallujah has set up a morgue and doubled medical staff and supplies in preparation for an expected stream of casualties from an anticipated assault on the rebel stronghold. "We've had 20 to 30 casualties on a given day here. We expect maybe double that on a serious day. And we can handle them," Capt. Eric Lovell, a Navy doctor, said Thursday at the base hospital, a low concrete building announced by a sign saying "Cheaters of Death." The hospital added a Marine Mortuary Affairs team last month, a unit charged with identifying dead troops, cataloguing their personal effects and preparing their bodies for the flight to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. The morgue team counts 16 reservists trained in handling corpses of U.S. troops as well as Iraqi civilians and fighters that arrive at the hospital here, said Commander Lach Noyes, a Navy surgeon. The morgue team also travels to bomb scenes to recover body parts and corpses that need to be extracted from vehicles, Noyes said.
In hospital parlance, those killed in action are known as angels. In last weekend's suicide bombing of a truckload of Marines traveling south of Fallujah, the eight killed and nine injured came to the hospital. "We took care of angels and wounded on that one," Noyes said. The hospital's daily toil is grim. Patients arrive with devastating wounds. Common procedures include amputations or stabilizing broken bones or torn organs. The surgeons and staff say they cope, knowing the soldiers need them to be steady in the face of shocking carnage. "The first patient I had was six hours after I got here," Lovell said. "His heart was out of his chest. I said 'Whoa, that's a shaker. Welcome to Fallujah.' But I'm more confident now."
Recovering in a rear wing were six of the nine Marines wounded in Saturday's suicide bombing, in which the bomber drove his explosives-laden car into a truckload of troops. Staff Sgt. Jason Benedict, 28, of West Milford, N.J., said the truck was lifted by the titanic blast, which tossed Marines into the road. Benedict said he climbed out as a guerrilla ambush ensued and the Marines' own ammunition began exploding in the inferno. "I saw one of my Marines, a young lance corporal, he was crawling away into the ditch," said Benedict, his face still glistening with burn scars. Many of the Marines still recovering said they were eager to rejoin their units and expected to fight in the upcoming assault on Fallujah. "I'm nervous for them but I know for a fact they're going to tear the place to pieces," said Lance Cpl. Nicholas Peel, 19, of Boise, Idaho. "It's kind of a justice after what they did to us."
Posted by: Steve ||
11/05/2004 9:10:53 AM ||
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The US military has sealed off the rebel-held Iraqi city of Falluja amid speculation an assault is imminent. All roads in and out of the mainly Sunni Muslim city have been closed by US troops, Reuters reports. US and Iraqi officials say they need to flush out insurgents ahead of elections due in January. Many of Falluja's 300,000 residents are believed to have already fled the city, which has been repeatedly pounded with air strikes. "We are making last preparations. It will be soon. We are just awaiting orders from Prime Minister (Iyad) Allawi," Marine Colonel Michael Shupp told Reuters near the town.
When is Allawi scheduled to return from his trip? Think they'll wait till he's back or go ahead without him?
The combat hospital on the main US base near Falluja has set up a morgue and doubled medical staff and supplies in preparation for an expected stream of casualties, AP reports. US military said their aircraft had carried out five strikes within seven hours, destroying a command post, arms caches and rebel positions, Reuters reports.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/05/2004 8:59:59 AM ||
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They'll wait. But then that will be the first time the military has done what one would expect in Iraq, an unpredictibility that has been a key to its success.
They won't wait.
They'll make the Fallujans worry about it.
Maybe they're waiting for the reinforcements to get to the Syrian border?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/05/2004 9:23 Comments ||
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Sealing of Fallujah might also hurt the terrorists in Baghdad, Ramadi, etc.
I'm not sure why we hadn't sealed it off months ago.
#5
wire services report 10,000 US troops, including US army redeployed from Baquba and Baghdad. No word on Iraqi army or ING forces, but im sure theyre there as well.
I dont think they'll take long. Might go in this weekend, or might wait a couple of days, but we're not leaving 10.000 troops, that could be used elsewhere, out in the desert with vulnerable supply lines.
#6
"We are making last preparations. It will be soon. We are just awaiting orders from Prime Minister (Iyad) Allawi," Marine Colonel Michael Shupp told Reuters near the town.
I think this is funny. It used to be of utmost importance to surprise your enemy and give no indication of your actions. Col. Shupp knows that the terrorists have an damn good understanding of what his marines can and will do when they jump off. To be certain that marines are coming to stomp you has to be infinitely more terrifing than guessing if they will strike.
#8
Like Allawi getting off an airplane or Kofi entering Fallujah to start negotiations.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/05/2004 19:27 Comments ||
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stop it! Mrs D - you're teasing me
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/05/2004 19:39 Comments ||
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I still prefer the multiple ArcLight solution, myself. I wonder how many Buffs we still have in the inventory... Line 'em up in trail formation and let them fly across, one after the other, until there's nothing left but blood-soaked sand.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
11/05/2004 21:51 Comments ||
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Israel imposed a clampdown on the West Bank and increased security around Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound amid fears of an outbreak of unrest in the event of Yasser Arafat dying in a Paris hospital. These national security measures are in the event Hamas death marchers go on the rampage.
"The entry of any Palestinian man into Israel under the age of 50 is forbidden, even if he has an entry permit," an army spokesman said. In addition, only women over the age of 35 would be authorised to cross into Israel, the spokesman added. The measure is most likely to impact residents of the West Bank who want to enter east Jerusalem, occupied (won in battle) and annexed (secured ) by Israel in 1967. Large numbers of police reinforcements had also been sent to the mosque compound in the heart of Jerusalem's Old City, which also contains the Western Wall, regarded as the holiest site in Judaism. Israeli security forces operating in the West Bank and Gaza Strip were placed on maximum alert late yesterday as news emerged that Arafat was near death in a hospital on the outskirts of the French capital.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/05/2004 5:01:36 AM ||
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reasonable measures to make sure the seething and bloodshed is contained in the territories.
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/05/2004 8:04 Comments ||
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Mark,
This has got to be one of the most funniest images you posted.
Two days after a 16-year-old Palestinian suicide bomber blew up in the Carmel Market in Tel Aviv killing three Israelis, IDF forces overnight detained a 15-year-old teenager in Nablus, who defense officials said was about to perpetrate a suicide bombing in Israel in the near future. Following the Carmel Market attack, which also originated in Nablus, the IDF stepped up its pressure on the West Bank city, imposing a curfew and searching for wanted terrorists. Defense officials attribute multiple terror attacks to Mari, including sending the two "child-bombers" to the Hawara roadblock, and the detonation of an explosive charge in Masha. As of late, he was engaged in planning additional suicide attacks in Israel.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/05/2004 3:55:35 AM ||
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It still shocks me to see the haunting eyes of that "toddler" bomber put up to that propaganda task by the PAL's!
SRINAGAR, India - Thousands of slogan-shouting Muslims on Thursday joined the funeral procession of five militants killed by Indian troops during a mosque siege in the southern part of Indian Kashmir, witnesses said.
Wonder if they did a body swarm?
More than 6,000 men, women and children Thursday gathered in the village of Khilangung in Pulwama district for the funeral of the five militants, who died overnight in a clash with Indian troops. The five were killed by Indian troops hours after they barricaded themselves inside a mosque, police said.
Guess they built that one out of straw ...
The bodies were laid out Thursday as villagers showered them with petals and sweets, witnesses said. About a dozen members of two dominant rebel groups, Hizbul Mujahedin and Lashkar-e-Taiba, appeared on the scene, some with weapons, prompting shouts from mourners of "Long live Hizbul, Long live Lashkar". The slain rebels were members of one or other of the two groups, said police.
"We can't really tell anymore, there's so little left of 'em."
Meanwhile, a policeman was killed and four bank employees injured Thursday when suspected rebels raided a bank near Shopian town, 50 kilometers (31 miles) south of summer capital Srinagar, police said. "Casualties occurred when a solo police guard and employees resisted moves by gunmen to loot the bank," a police spokesman said.
Our heroic Islamic heroes rob a bank.
In other violence in the restive state, Indian troops shot dead four militants in three separate encounters in Anantnag and Budgam districts overnight, a police spokesman said. One of the slain rebels was identified as Muzamil Lone alias Furqan, who police said was a self-styled senior commander of Hizbul.
"He was always sounding off ..."
In another incident, suspected rebels shot dead an alleged police informer overnight in the northern district of Kupwara, bordering Pakistan-administered Kashmir, police said.
Meanwhile, residents in the southern Kashmir town of Anantnag staged protests Thursday over the arrest of 11 people earlier this week, police and witnesses said. Police say those arrested were behind last month's murder of pro-India politician Safder Ali Beigh and an assassination attempt on Omar Abdullah, the head of Indian Kashmir's main opposition National Conference. Residents say all those arrested are innocent.
"Lies! All lies!"
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/05/2004 12:10:11 AM ||
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The five were killed by Indian troops hours after they barricaded themselves inside a mosque, police said.
9/11 did not happen!
Quoted in Insaf, Dr Shahid Masood stated that Flight One that struck the North Tower in New York on 9/11 was supposed to carry 93 passengers but to this day only 86 are named and not one of them is of Arab origin. The same was true of the flight that struck the Pentagon in Washington. There were 10 passengers missing from the list which has no Arab names. In all the three hijacked planes 34 names are missing. There were supposed to be 19 Arabs in all who did the hijackings. How to account for the missing numbers?
Crying husband not acceptable!
According to daily Pakistan a lady named Salma Begum had approached a civil court in Lahore with the request for khula (divorce) from a husband who cried ceaselessly in sleep. She said that when she got married her mother in law told her that her husband had the habit of weeping loudly in his sleep and had to be looked after. She stated that at night her husband regularly shrieked in fear. When he came to her parents' home he did the same there too till all the household ran to their bedroom to find that he was bawling loudly with his eyes closed. After that, no one invited him. At his own house, the parents had separated the room of the couple. Salma said that it was impossible to carry on. When she asked him to see a psychiatrist he refused and became violent and beat her up quite a lot.
'Ghoonsay' at Nasrullah's anniversary
According to Khabrain, the death anniversary meeting of Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan in Lahore showed up the conflict of interests that existed between the ARD parties and the clerical alliance. The workers constantly abused each other for betraying democracy. PPPP's Sajida Mir kept shouting 'mullah-military alliance' as the phrase behind the abbreviation MMA. After that the workers rained thappar (slaps) and ghoonsay (fists) on each other. The MMA workers were dominant and helped the Jama'at-e-Islami leaders to take control of the stage. Leaders from the component parties were not allowed to finish their speeches because most of them had unkind things to say to the clergy. They asked the MMA to ask the nation for forgiveness for allowing the ruling party to gain a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly to amend the Constitution in favour of President Musharraf. ANP leader Mr Ghulam Ahmad Bilour got his opportunity for personal catharsis when he shouted that he was a Muslim but not a mullah because 'the mullah prayed for money'.
What they do in DG Khan
Quoted in Nawa-e-Waqt, lady member Punjab Assembly Zeenat Khan stated that her constituency Dera Ghazi Khan was known as the land of seven sardars (feudal lords) which meant only the seven got everything while the common people went without anything. She said DG Khan was a primitive place where boys were preferred over girls and when men killed men they offered their daughters in wini to their enemies. DG Khan believed in honour killing and was unwilling to educate its daughters. She said there was no hospital where to treat serious patients and no university for women.
Pakistan and its 'kaamyab dauray'
Columnist Nazeer Naji wrote in Jang that Pakistan was the only country in the world whose leaders did kamyab dauray (successful tours) in record numbers. Prime ministers Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto were not so good in governance at home but they did tours abroad to enhance the prestige of Pakistan. Similarly President Musharraf had just finished his nth tour of the US followed by another tour of Holland and many more after Holland.
Grandson of Grand Mufti becomes terrorist?
According to daily Pakistan, one Yusuf bin Yusuf in Peshawar jail was the grandson of the grand Mufti of Jerusalem and was doing a term after being convicted of terrorism. He was already 80 years old and was nearing death when his defender the famous Javed Ibrahim Paracha of Kohat approached the court for leave for immediate medical attention. Paracha paid the expenses for the care of Yusuf bin Yusuf.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
11/05/2004 12:09:30 AM ||
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"thappar" and "Ghoonsay" eh? Good upstanding Urdu words whose very sounds illustrate the actions behind them. There's a word for such kinds of words, but it escapes me at the moment.
Thappar and Ghoonsay.
"I've got some Thappar here, and if ya don't pay 'ttention, Ghoonsay ain't far behind, idjit!"
*comment on Paleo car-swarm photo of two guys fighting over a bloody femur* "Thappar and Ghoonsay! Thappar and Ghoonsay!"
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MMA->Military Mullah Alliance.
BERLIN: Information from a captured fighter now in Algerian custody may help authorities there mop up the remnants of the country's leading Islamist militant group, a senior US military official said. Neighbours of the North African nation will also take a close interest in whatever intelligence Algeria can obtain from Amar Saifi, whom it accuses of "numerous terrorist crimes". Saifi was number two in the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), which has pledged allegiance to Al Qaeda and is listed by the US as a terrorist organisation. He is also wanted in Germany in connection with the kidnapping of 32 European tourists in the Sahara last year. The ex-paratrooper had been held since March by a ChaÂdian rebel group but Algeria announced last Thursday it had taken him into custody after he was intercepted in Libya.
"Gotcha!"
"He obviously not only knows a lot, he probably holds the key to the kingdom — if he were willing to talk, he could probably tell them everything they needed to know to roll up most of the remaining folks," the US official said. He said nations like Mali and Niger, Algeria's neighbours in the largely desert Sahel region of north Africa, would also be keen to learn who Saifi was working with in their countries. He declined to answer directly when asked if the United States itself would seek access to Saifi, also known as Abderrezak Al Para. "Obviously we're interested but that is strictly an Algerian affair."
"No comment."
The military official said Saifi's handover was an "enormous victory" for the region, where US Marines and special forces have trained local armies in four nations this year as part of a strategy to help Africa boost its defences in the war on terror.
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.
Security forces have taken into custody, 
Palestinian leaders have begun preparations to bury 
Israel imposed a clampdown on the West Bank and increased security around Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound amid fears of an outbreak of unrest in the event of Yasser Arafat dying in a Paris hospital. 
Two days after a 16-year-old Palestinian suicide bomber blew up in the Carmel Market in Tel Aviv killing three Israelis, IDF forces overnight detained a 15-year-old teenager in Nablus, who defense officials said was about to perpetrate a suicide bombing in Israel in the near future. Following the Carmel Market attack, which also originated in Nablus, the IDF stepped up its pressure on the West Bank city, imposing a curfew and searching for wanted terrorists. Defense officials attribute multiple terror attacks to Mari, including sending the two "child-bombers" to the Hawara roadblock, and the detonation of an explosive charge in Masha. As of late, he was engaged in planning additional suicide attacks in Israel.
In other violence in the restive state, Indian troops shot dead four militants in three separate encounters in Anantnag and Budgam districts overnight, a police spokesman said. One of the slain rebels was identified as Muzamil Lone alias Furqan, who police said was a self-styled senior commander of Hizbul.
BERLIN: Information from a captured fighter now in Algerian custody may help authorities there mop up the remnants of the country's leading Islamist militant group, a senior US military official said. Neighbours of the North African nation will also take a close interest in whatever intelligence Algeria can obtain from 
