In other words, it's just like things were back in the pre-Riyadh days ...
Al Qaeda forces in Saudi Arabia have shifted their strategy and are now almost exclusively searching for U.S. and other Western targets in the kingdom while avoiding attacks on domestic institutions in a bid to strengthen their flagging network, according to security officials and Saudi experts on radical groups.
How's that fit in with their plan to blow up oil facilities?
While al Qaeda retains its primary goal of eventually toppling the Saudi royal family -- as Osama bin Laden made clear in an audio recording released Thursday -- an 18-month campaign of car bombings, gun battles and kidnappings has so far failed to generate many new recruits and has resulted in a backlash among many Saudis, even those who otherwise are critical of the government, the officials and experts said. More than 80 people have died in the attacks, the majority of them Saudis or non-Western immigrant workers.
Many people in the kingdom are not only angry over the bloodshed but also fearful of al Qaeda's attempt to turn Saudi Arabia, a deeply conservative tribal society, into an even more conservative Islamic theocracy, several Saudi reformers said in interviews. "People want government reforms and changes, but they are more scared of al Qaeda extremists," said Mansour Nogaidan, a former Islamic radical who has moderated his views but is still one of the most prominent critics of the Saudi government. "The common people -- those people who thought their life might improve if the government changed -- they are not ready to lose all this for what some young teenagers have in their minds as a utopia."
Despite an al Qaeda-sponsored attack on the U.S. consulate in Jiddah this month that left 9 people dead, including the four assailants, Saudi government officials expressed confidence that they are steadily gaining the upper hand in their fight with the militants. Security forces have arrested or killed 17 of the 26 most wanted militant leaders in the country. Two others on the most wanted list are believed to be dead or badly injured, while a key operational planner reportedly fled the kingdom, Saudi security officials said. Saudi officials said that they have dismantled three of four known al Qaeda cells and that the insurgents are finding it harder to obtain ammunition, weaponry and money. The size and scope of the attacks have also dwindled since last year, when car bombs in Riyadh blew up two Western residential compounds and caused more than 200 casualties. "The people who are still there are not as skillful as the ones who were there in the beginning," said Brig. Gen. Mansour Turki, a spokesman for the Saudi Interior Ministry. "We feel more confident than we did in the beginning of this fight. We thought it would take much longer to be in control. We cannot deny that there are still possibilities that the terrorists could execute more acts, but they are not as strong as they were a year ago."
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/19/2004 2:09:40 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[8 views]
Top|| File under:
Isn't this a little like killing the goose that lays the golden egg?
An Internet statement purportedly from the Saudi wing of al Qaeda has urged guerrillas to attack oil facilities in the world's biggest crude exporter. "We call on all the mujahideen in the Arabian Peninsula to unify their ranks... and target the oil supplies that do not serve the Islamic nation but the enemies of this nation," said the statement from the Al Qaeda Organisation in the Arabian Peninsula, which was dated December 18. Its authenticity could not be immediately verified. The statement also urged militants to strike at "all foreign targets, until the Arabian Pensinsula is free of these infidels and the tyrants".
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/19/2004 2:04:53 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
"Isnât this a little like killing the goose that lays the golden egg?"
They're still trying to sort out that trivial "cause=>effect" thingy.
I wonder, when was the last time anyone read a headline like:
"Red Brigades Ally with Al Aqsa, Build Dam"
"Al Qaeda Demands Right To Fix ruptured Pipelines"
"Zarqawi: Mosul Citizens Urged To Vote"
"EU Bureaucracy Rebels Against Unelected Status, Disbands"
Britain and the United States have warned of an imminent attack in Kuwait. The embassies of both NATO countries have warned their nationals in Kuwait that Al Qaida-aligned insurgents were preparing an imminent strike in the sheikdom. The embassies called on their citizens to be vigilant and lower their profile. "The embassy is issuing this message because it has credible information that terrorist groups are developing near-term plans for attacks against unspecified targets in Kuwait," the U.S. embassy said in a Dec. 14 warden message. "The embassy reminds all U.S. citizens to exercise caution, maintain a low profile and avoid areas where Westerners are known to congregate."
"From time to time, the U.S. embassy in Kuwait may restrict the travel of official Americans or suspend public services for security reasons," the warden message added.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/19/2004 4:58:46 PM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
A senior barrister, given special security clearance to act for suspected terrorists, is to resign in protest at the government's anti-terror laws. Ian MacDonald QC said he was stepping down after seven years "for reasons of conscience" because the "odious" laws were a "blot on the legal landscape". I agree with the man. The situation is far from perfect. Once flagged as suspect characters they should have been booted out of the country without further ado. In fact, I'm going to write to my MP to ask why taxpayers' money is being spent on feeding and housing men we don't want here, have no good reason to keep, and regard as potential threats to life and limb.
It comes after the House of Lords ruled the indefinite detention of terrorist suspects was unlawful. But the Law Lords have no power to strike out the anti-terrorism act. Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has attacked the decision by Britain's highest court. He said the right to life was the "most important liberty" and the government had a duty to protect people from terrorism. I don't feel that a Government too cowed by EU commitments to protecting scum from the consequences of their murderous activities abroad and PC notions of an obligation to protect suspected-would-be and murderers and convicted terrorists from their countrymen places my liberty at the top of its agenda. That's one reason why I'd be loathed to vote for it. It's just a shame that no other major party thinks my way either
The Law lords were "simply wrong" to imply the men were being held arbitrarily, he said. Mr MacDonald is one of the Special Advocates given security clearance to represent detainees before the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) - a secure court without jury, which tries terror suspects. Writing in the Mail on Sunday he said the law was fundamentally flawed and "contrary to our deepest notions of justice". "My role has been altered to provide a false legitimacy to indefinite detention without knowledge of the accusations being made and without any kind of criminal charge or trial," he said. They are 'detained' only in the sense that they refuse anything less than to wander freely in my country. They are free to return to their own country or to any other country that would take them. They are, therefore, nothing more than parasites here. They weren't invited and arrived unannounced. They are the 'asylum seeker' world's equivalent of inmates on the run from a psychiatric prison. They may tell you they are guilty of no crime, but you'd have to be nuts yourself to let them into your home. Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Bulldog ||
12/19/2004 8:52:42 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
The Prince of Wales is brokering efforts to end the Muslim death penalty on converts to other faiths, The Telegraph has learned. He held a private summit of Christian and Muslim leaders at Clarence House this month to explore the centuries-old Islamic law under which apostates face persecution and even death. His intervention follows mounting anger at the treatment of Muslims who have converted to Christianity in a number of Islamic states.
As an advocate of inter-faith dialogue, Prince Charles has come under pressure to criticise the religious law that, campaigners say, has resulted in hundreds of executions in countries from Iran to Sudan. Among the Christians at the confidential meeting was an Anglican archbishop from a part of Nigeria where Islamic Sharia law is enforced. Others included the Bishop of London, the Rt Rev Richard Chartres, and the Pakistani-born Bishop of Rochester, the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali. It is understood that the Muslim group, which included the Islamic scholar Zaki Badawi, cautioned the prince and other non-Muslims against speaking publicly on the issue.
"I'm warnin' you! Yer takin' yer life into yer hands!"
It argued that Islamic moderates could have more influence on the traditional position if the debate remained largely internal. A member of the Christian group said yesterday that he was "very, very unhappy" about the outcome. Patrick Sookhdeo, the international director of the Barnabas Fund which campaigns on behalf of persecuted Christians abroad, stressed that he was speaking on the record only because details of the meeting had already leaked. He urged the prince and Muslim leaders in Britain to criticise openly the traditional Islamic law on apostasy, calling for it to be abolished throughout the world. "My view, and I think the other Christians shared it, is that when something is wrong it must be stated as a wrong."
Other Christian leaders were more sympathetic to the worries of the Muslims that public criticism could prove counter-productive. Besides Dr Sookhdeo and the Bishops of London and Rochester, others Christian leaders at the meeting included the Archbishop of Kaduna in Nigeria, the Most Rev Josiah Idowu-Fearon, and a bishop from the Orthodox Church. Other Muslim leaders included Sayyed Yousef al-Khoei, the director of the London-based Al-Khoei Foundation, and Sher Khan, of the Islamic Society of Britain.
Posted by: tipper ||
12/19/2004 12:46:40 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Oh yeah, yewbetcha. The Muslims will change what they've consistently claimed for 1400 yrs is the direct word of God, Allah, cuz Charlie would like for them to do so.
It doesn't matter if they're correct about it, of course, it's a tenet of their screed so it ain't happenin'. Getting them to reform, i.e. back down on all sort of things, such as many specifics of Shari'a, will take just a bit more ooomph, methinks.
#3
I don't know what use "brokering" this issue could be to anyone, but at the least I applaud a figure such as the prince speaking out against the customary penalty for apostasy from Islam. Is there is ever to be a moderation of Islam, this change has to be the first step.
#4
"cautioned the prince and other non-Muslims against speaking publicly on the issue."Hope Bonny,Prince Charlie had a big enough banger to tell him to piss up a rope.
US President George W. Bush's bold, uncompromising leadership and clear-cut election victory made him Time magazine's Person of the Year for 2004, its managing editor said today. Time chose Mr Bush "for sticking to his guns (literally and figuratively), for reshaping the rules of politics to fit his 10-gallon-hat leadership style and for persuading a majority of voters this time around that he deserved to be in the White House for another four years," Jim Kelly wrote in the magazine. Mr Bush was also Time's choice to appear on the cover in 2000 after winning the presidential election despite losing the popular vote. His father, President George HW Bush, was named Man of the Year in 1990 for what Time called his mastery of foreign policy and his wavering domestic record. Last year, The American Soldier was the magazine's Man of the Year.
"Obviously many supporters of the president will be pleased, many people who do not support the president will probably sigh," Mr Kelly said. "But even those who may not have voted for him will acknowledge that this is one of the more influential presidents of the last 50 years." Mr Kelly said he and his staff debated giving the award to others, including Karl Rove, the president's influential political adviser, and filmmakers Michael Moore and Mel Gibson. The winner must be "the person or persons who most affected the news and our lives, for good or for ill, and embodied what was important about the year, for better or for worse," he said.
US aviator Charles Lindbergh was Time's first Man of the Year in 1927. Some selections have been notoriously unpopular, such as Adolf Hitler in 1938, Joseph Stalin in 1939 and 1942, and Iran's Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1979. This year the magazine named the conservative Power Line as its first Blog of the Year. Mr Kelly said blogs or web logs - websites that often mix news, gossip and opinion - are "here to stay".
Posted by: tipper ||
12/19/2004 10:24:02 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
websites that often mix news, gossip and opinion
#2
slap with the velvet glove. Cute way to slip in a "Bush-Hitler" snub and actually use the popularity of President to help their sagging sales. BTW, TIME, how are those circulation numbers doing?
#2
France, Germany and the UK are negotiating with Iran for the purpose of stopping Iran's nuclear-weapons program.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
12/19/2004 20:25 Comments ||
Top||
#3
? Jeebus, Mikey - will your moral rationalization cover NO crime? Zero-ing out for no UN crimes is no f&^king excuse
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/19/2004 20:27 Comments ||
Top||
#4
just to add - the mewling excuse that the Euro-3 are trying to stop the active tech movement of such programs? You sick bastard - how can you possibly equate the two? I feel ill even conversing with you...
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/19/2004 20:32 Comments ||
Top||
#6
France, Germany and the UK are negotiating with Iran in hopes of averting what they see as the U.S. spiraling out of control for at least four more years. They think it's a poker game and they're hoping to close it down before the U.S. pulls a revolver out from under the table and blows the mullahs right out of their seats. But, like Mikey and the U.N., they under-estimate our memories and our resolve. The mullahs have abused us continuously since Jimmy Carter days and now they've failed to recognize that they've pushed too far. Great Satan indeed. They'll soon see Hell.
Posted by: Tom ||
12/19/2004 20:42 Comments ||
Top||
#7
The USA is negotiating with North Korea. The USA maintains continual relations with Saudi Arabia, which condones executions of young girls just as Iran does.
The Bush adminitration will not attack Iran.
.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
12/19/2004 21:13 Comments ||
Top||
#8
oh, thanks, Mike. I guess that makes it all ok. I can sleep better now, knowing that there are people like you, quick to excuse the Mullahs with a shake of the shiny keys and a change of the subject to note an unrelated fact, that we have to keep diplomatic relations open with bloody dictators.
#9
Only Mike S could expect us to trust the word of child killers.
Your attempt to devert my comment with your references is lame. The NORKS are not Iran, we have considerably more leverage with N. Korea vis a vis the 6 nations involved one who is China their magor supporter. The Euro 3 are trying to negotaite what? With what leverage? So far it looks like a trade deal. The MMs publicly reject in the Irianian Press and in Farsi in public any restraints on their nuclear program. What ever relationship we have with the Saudi government is totaly outside of any statement I made or the scope of the article.
#10
Europe is negotiating with Iran with the intention of stopping Iran's nuclear-weapons program. The negotiations involve trade deals.
The USA is negotiating with North Korea with the intention of stopping North Korea's nuclear-weapons program. The negotiations involve trade deals.
.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
12/19/2004 22:47 Comments ||
Top||
#11
Timing is everything. A lot of these learned judges are going to find life very trying when the government that protects them is sentenced to death by JDAM. I'll be surprised if the mullahs are still in charge by 2006.
Lebanon said that it was considering the possibility of retaliating against French and U.S. media after they banned Hezbollah's Al Manar TV broadcasts.
"Awright! That's it! Gilligan is toast!"
Lebanese Information Minister, Elie Ferzli, said that "at the recommendation of parliamentary foreign affairs committee, we are studying the possibility of taking retaliatory measures against the U.S. and French media,"
He noted that "careful study is needed and any decision has to be in Lebanon's higher interests. This is an attempt to shut all voices that oppose Israel and describe it as a terrorist state."
Lemme try to 'splain it to you: the world is slowly taking sides. We're on this side, even the Frenchies, when they're not trying to construct a third side. You're on that side.
Farif Abboud, Lebanon's ambassador to the U.S., said that "It is unacceptable to censor a media just because it defends positions in which it believes by taking a stand in the Arab-Israeli conflict." He accused Washington of "seeking to liquidate a media by accusing it of being the voice of Satan". Their statements came after Washington classified Al Manar TV channel as a "terrorist organization" and after France banned the broadcasts of the station. Al Manar management said in a statement Saturday that the U.S. decision was a "blatant attack on free media, an obvious attempt to repress freedom of expression and thought terrorism to stifle the voices that do not agree with the American and Israeli policies." The statement also accused the U.S. of "intellectual terrorism", saying that Al Manar was under an "orchestrated Israeli campaign," but vowed to "defend its voice and picture by all legal means available, whether in the United States or elsewhere."
"Intellectual terrorism" is an interesting concept, isn't it? What do intellectual terrorists do? Blow up trains of thought? Brutally chop off flows of ideas?
Posted by: Fred ||
12/19/2004 11:56:41 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
By Haider Saeed
A year ago, US forces arrested Saddam Hussein in a hideout in Tikrit. But he did not live up to our expectations of committing suicide or being killed in a last battle against his enemies. The novels of dictators usually end with personal honour. But Saddam did not get even this honor. Saddam surrendered happily because he was too cowardly to commit suicide. The last chapter of Saddam's novel is still open. And nothing remains of Saddam for the future. Hitler left Nazism. Saddam left nothing but death and destruction.
(Al-Mada is issued daily by Al-Mada institution for Media, Culture, and Arts.)
Caught on to that, didja? Brilliant! And it's only been a year...
Posted by: Fred ||
12/19/2004 12:28:39 PM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Ismail said that Khartoum will ban U.S. officials from entering Sudan in response to a similar measure taken by the United States. "We will treat them likewise and we will forbid them from entering Sudan", the Saudi daily Okaz cited Ismail as saying. "I don't believe we will be the main losers, especially if they want to have a role in achieving peace and restoring stability in the region," he added.
Ismail also warned Washington against taking a harsh stance against Sudan, saying that "Any sanctions against Khartoum will further strain relations and this is what the U.S. administration should avoid." The United States had banned the entry of Sudanese officials to show its disapproval with the way Khartoum handles the situation in the western region of Darfur.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/19/2004 12:05:54 PM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#3
I'm sure a Mark-24 on Khartoum would end the entire Sudanese problem. Not to mention giving Asshat and Mu-uh-uh-barak and the Iranians something to think about. It would also end the foolishness that the United States WON'T use nukes in our self-interest. Even little kimmie might get THAT message.
The Aswan Dam would prevent much of the radiation from reaching Cairo, but even if it did, that wouldn't necessarily be a negative.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/19/2004 14:49 Comments ||
Top||
#4
IS the ban just on "officials"...or ALL U.S. citizens? I mean, my wife and I just got our "dream vacation" all planned out, and this could jeopardize it! Drat!
I 'm getting seriously worried about anti-Americanism. Anti-Americanism in America, that is. Here are just a few of the things that I've heard travelling through blue, ie liberal, America over the two weeks since George Bush won the election. "The truth is, they just are stupid." (A New Yorker, of people in the red, ie conservative, states.) "The snakes." "Fascism." "Christian fascism." "I wanted to make a film about a time when young Americans fought against fascism and not for it." (A producer, explaining why he commissioned a film about the Spanish civil war.)
For some days after John Kerry conceded, Democrats were telling me that the vote may have been rigged. The Diebold automatic counting machines were manufactured by a Republican crony; perhaps they were programmed to undercount Democratic votes. The Democrats' own exit polling showed them well ahead in counties they then lost. And so on.
Some felt impelled to apologise to the rest of us. If you go to the website sorryeverybody.com, you can see a young American holding up a hand-written sign saying "Sorry World (we tried) - Half of America." Others, despairing, talked of emigration. A liberal radio host told me he had started looking at homes in New Zealand. "Oh yes," said another journalist, "a lot of my friends are talking about New Zealand." Visits to the Canadian immigration website soared - giving a new meaning to the cartoon map that showed the blue states of the west and north-east coasts joined with their northern neighbour in the "United States of Canada", and separated from "Jesusland" in the south. There's also jocular talk of the blue north seceding from the southern states of the Confederacy, thus reversing the story of the American civil war.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: tipper ||
12/19/2004 9:19:50 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
"Others, despairing, talked of emigration.."
Promises, promises.
Posted by: Matt ||
12/19/2004 11:36 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Anti-American is the geopolitical equivalent of penis envy.
Posted by: Capt America ||
12/19/2004 22:45 Comments ||
Top||
#1
This must be where Warren got his optimism. I say build the fence. When it's completed and properly manned, surveilled, etc, then maybe the Paleos will have to learn how to make and keep deals. Does the time it will take to accomplish this fit with Bush's timeline in this article? Hey, who knows. I find this amazing - and have to say I doubt it is being reported accurately.
#2
I, too, am confident there will be peace between Israel and the Palestinians. Someday. Hopefully before the Palestinians all have committed suicide -- in vain. Bush's timeline is hope and hype, as he well knows, but he is giving the Palestinians the minimum time necessary to accomplish their goals, should they choose to hold up their side of the bargain. Which they won't: they aren't yet ready to join the real world.
This I find a more interesting quote from the article. "Syria is a very weak country, and therefore it cannot be trusted. For now, Assad should wait; first peace between Israel and Palestine, and then we will see what should be done with Syria," Bush told Yedioth. Message sent, in the most insulting terms possible. I doubt Assad enjoyed receiving it.
Posted by: JImmuah the C ||
12/19/2004 14:54 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Sorry Jimmy - Powerline got Blog of the Year as well
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/19/2004 15:01 Comments ||
Top||
#7
President Bush may be be coming down with the ghost of Clinton past. Particularly since Abbas has refused to negotiate any peace deal unless "right of return" is included. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
We need realists not dreamers.
Posted by: Capt America ||
12/19/2004 22:38 Comments ||
Top||
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said in an interview published on Saturday that he hopes tensions over Iran's nuclear programme will not lead to a US attack on the country - a move that would be "a mistake of catastrophic proportions." Washington believes Iran has a secret nuclear weapons programme and has been pressing the UN atomic agency to refer Iran to the UN Security Council. "If the United States were really to attack Iran, that would be a mistake of catastrophic proportions," Mubarak was quoted as saying by the German weekly Der Spiegel, responding to a question about Middle Eastern fears of such an attack. "Terror and violence in the Middle East and, shortly afterward, in the whole world, would then overshadow everything we have seen so far," he added. "I hope it doesn't come to that."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/19/2004 12:56:19 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
...for Iran.
Posted by: Capt America ||
12/19/2004 1:00 Comments ||
Top||
#2
And I say that if the US does not attack
Iran, that would be a mistake of catastrophic proportions.
Posted by: Elder of Zion ||
12/19/2004 1:19 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Iran itself is a mistake of catastrophic proportions. Attacking it could not possibly worsen anything.
#4
Der Spiegl? Enough said. One of the main hate America first propaganda organs of our former friend Germany. Not saying we don't have German citizens who are our friends we certainly do. However many who lead the government view Bader-Meinhof as heros and the iron curtain and cold war the fault of the US people. The chants that have been going on for over 25 years of "Death to America" do not translate from Farsi to German. The German government wants Iran as their ally apperently and not the US. Anything that Der Spiegel publishes is to be taken with a grain of salt. But the average German gets whatever it says regurgitated as the message passed along in the rest of the popular press.
If the Islamic world and Mubarak want and to see Iran left alone they better convince them to get smart. At some point we will take the MMs out. It's a matter of self preservation. Mubarak needs to watch his own ass as I am sure there are Saudi and Iranian agents and surrogates in his own counrty plotting against him and his ruling clique.
The US has no more allies. We are fools to think the anglosphere well stick together. Look at the popular press in the anglosphere and tell me we are united? Where is the Anglosphere on Iran?
#6
âIf the United States were really to attack Iran, that would be a mistake of catastrophic proportions,â
The attack will create 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,
000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,
000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,
000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,
000 Bin Laden's.
#8
Okay, that was really hurtful formatting-wise, Poison Reverse.
Fred, to prevent this from happening again, may I suggest automatically breaking up words that contain more than 50 or so characters? It shouldn't be too difficult to code.
The last thing I need is some eeeeeeEUCrat, anti-American, sissy boy telling people how to run their web servers. Why don't you go and do what you Eurosissies do best, hand out free needles in Amsterdam, become anti-Christian, and make friends with jihadi's? I thought Frank, .com, Old Spook, lex and I tore you a new one yesterday? Go back to your EUroHole. You are nothing but a liberal PIG.
#14
raptor> "Guess you haven't noticed,Aris,but around these parts Liberial is an insult."
I doubt that liberalhawk sees it as such. So, nope, it's only *some* people around these parts that treat "liberal" as an insult. And I have contempt for all of them. So there you go.
#15
I can't think of a single element at Rantburg, outside of Aris and LiberalHawk, who would consider the moniker 'liberal' to be anything other than fighting words.
#16
"Iran insists that it is only pursuing a peaceful nuclear energy programme."
No, No, surely Not!!! I promise by the Great Allllan, that we are not producing the dangerous Plutonium bombs, but reserve the right to produce the very very very innocent and harmless Uranium bombs.
It is long over due, for the destruction of these nuclear factories that threaten Israel. There is no reason to invade. All we need to do is attack. The Iranian public will take care of the rest. Unlike the ungrateful Iraqi public.
"Mubarak also asked the US to push forward the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process."
I wish these Mooselimbs would take some responsibility for themselves and stop tying global warming to constipation, on the Paleo-Israeli roadkill process.
Liberalhawk is NOT as liberal as you think he is. Hence, the word "hawk". May I suggest www.dictionary.com. Good try though, to drag bring in LH to take your side. But, not good enough.
#19
Aris, Liberalhawk is NOT as liberal as you think he is. Hence, the word "hawk".
So you now think you know how much of a liberal I believe Liberalhawk to be?
Yeah, hence the word "hawk". Which could just as easily apply to me, since I've also been hawkish in relation to Afghanistan, Syria, Iran and Sudan. But whatever, clueless boy. Keep on with your prejudices, false assumptions and whatever else pleases you.
#20
Thinking in the middle, it will be safer for the West in the long term, but there's going to be a hell of a fight. Iran is a large country, very rocky, unlike flat and smooth Iraq. Iran has alot of money too.
Tehran is one of the most densely populated cities in the world, has a fresh functional army as well many more suicidal volunteers. They also heavily support some Palestinian groups, so expect something from them as well.
I really hate Iranian leadership and they shouldn't have a nukes, period, but I think we need to be preparing very well because this is the mother wasp nest.
Here's an interesting but mythic story, a shite kuwati female friend told me that one of the shite prophecies from long ago, there is to be a evil leader who hides behind govt leaders, who through others, preeched hate and falsehoods and war, but never seen for years and hiding in Afghanistan or Iranian caves for years. He was the real leader while others were just his public puppets, he was barely seen but ruled a nation of a false religion. Anyway he's supposed to be the 3rd anti-christ. Interesting Muslims have a story about an anti-christ. Not sure if he's Mullah Omar, or someone not known. Anyway it goes on to say the new war with the west last about 22 years but they will be defeated. Grain of Salt.
You are right, it will be a HELL of a fight. But, it will be a fight the U.S. Military and Israel can win. Everyone knows that Iran is the kingpin of terrorism for over 30 years now. There is no choice, we have to take away their threat. We cannot allow a nuclear or terrorist Iran. As GW have already stated, we have to take the fight to them. I don't want to walk on pins and needles for years to come. That does NOT mean, we have to attack every rogue country that possess nuclear weapons. Just the ones that immediately danger our and Israel's sovereignty.
#22
Just the ones that immediately danger our and Israel's sovereignty
Since when did Israel become our 51st state? If we begin fighting pre-emptive wars against every country that hates Israel, we can be fighting wars on Israel's behalf from now until eternity.
#23
When the Islamic regime of Iran falls apart, then the rest of it collapses in on itself. Iran is the lynchpin. Remove it, and the whole rotten terrorist structure comes tumbling down.
Then, Israel and that whole region can get down to talks to settling these disputes with those willing to abide by their agreements and statements.
#24
Gents, I do not think liberal is necessarily an insult. On other sites I have referred to myself as a liberal hawk and as a Scoop Jackson Democrat, deeply disappointed -- nay angered -- in the direction the party has chosen, especially after 9/11. But across the pond, as I understand it, liberal is used as Americans use libertarian. This in distinct contrast to the socialists/communists who want a strong government intruding on the lives of the citizenry as it redistributes the nation's wealth to what were once known as the lower classes, and the conservatives who want to return to rule by King & Aristocracy, and a strong government intruding on the lives of the citizenry as it redistributes the nation's wealth from what they call the lower classes, those who do the actual work. Meditate a moment on the difficulties caused by the British vs. American meanings of the term "fag" (cigarette vs. male homosexual), as a similar example. Not correct vs. incorrect, but two peoples divided by a common language.
Aris has in the past expressed admiration and appreciation for America, and supported her actions prosecuting the War on Terror. But please don't forget the many benefits Greece has received from joining the EU, beyond large inflows of money.
Left to its own devices, Greece would no doubt be an almost lawless battleground fought over by Communists and Conservatives both overtly and covertly. Greek income in most part comes from tourism (which wouldn't exist under such circumstances), and traditional export crops such as olives and olive oil. Without the imposed requirements for membership in the EU, which mandate rule by a democratically elected government, rule of law not strongman (however minutia-obsessed those laws might be), Greece might well look a lot like the current former Yugoslavia...or worse. From the Greek perspective, the EU has indeed been an instrument for good.
This contrasts with the harm EU meddling and corruption does to a historical and strong democracy like Great Britain, or how intolerable EU rule by elite would be here in America. So please, listen to Aris as Rantburg's correspondant from the heart of the region that needs what the EU provides, and don't take it all so personally. Not everyone fits the American, or the Rantburg mold, but that doesn't mean a priori that these others are evil intentioned monsters intent on dragging America into the abyss.
And quit calling people Nazis and such. As the child of Holocaust survivors, I find such language completely unacceptable for someone like Aris. There are others to whom such language does apply, but the Moderators ban them pretty quickly after a short stretch in the purgatory of the Sink Trap.
#26
Re liberal, tw, It's not just a question of semantics. At least in the UK, the word has been going through something of a transition phase and at present you can hear it used in many different ways. Increasingly you will hear it used by those who to Americans would be liberals to describe themselves as such - effectively hijacking the word which they do not necessarily wish to apply to traditionally liberal opinions. That's one reason why we also have libertarians (you'll never hear the Samizdatistas referring to themselves as liberals). Things may be different in Greece.
I wonder whether Aris will find your description of Greeks a little condescending. Left to its own devices, Greece would no doubt be an almost lawless battleground... Aris certainly believes that of other countries in Eastern Europe, but I don't know that he thinks Greece is incapable of civilising itself.
#27
obviously calling Aris a EU Nazi yesterday was wrong, and I admitted as such. It was a slip, albeit an unacceptable one. I'll stick to EUstatist future bureaucrat - possibly Minister of Silly Walks
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/19/2004 13:23 Comments ||
Top||
#28
The last thing I need is some eeeeeeEUCrat, anti-American, sissy boy telling people how to run their web servers. Why don't you go and do what you Eurosissies do best, hand out free needles in Amsterdam, become anti-Christian, and make friends with jihadi's? I thought Frank, .com, Old Spook, lex and I tore you a new one yesterday? Go back to your EUroHole. You are nothing but a liberal PIG.
There was a time that I remember when Poison Reverse had not yet begun to "participate" in this website. I miss that time. He is dragging it down all by himself.
.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
12/19/2004 14:01 Comments ||
Top||
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
12/19/2004 14:16 Comments ||
Top||
#31
Left to its own devices, Greece would no doubt be an almost lawless battleground... Aris certainly believes that of other countries in Eastern Europe, but I don't know that he thinks Greece is incapable of civilising itself.
I'm sure that eventually we would be capable of civilising ourselves. We did civilise ourselves well enough to be capable of EU membership after all.
I also know however that the EU has quite likely been the main reason that we didn't fall even closer in line in the early 90s with a barbarous Serbophile axis of Orthodox countries, reaching down from Russia. I'm sure that EU is probably one of the reasons of why the bullying embargo against FYRO Macedonia lasted only a little while.
I know that the free market in Greece would be even less free had it not been for the EU, and were it not for the fact that Greece is forced to allow the free movement of capital and services *because* of the EU.
In short I recognize the EU as a positive force.
As for "liberal" I'm a liberal according to both the European and the American senses. Which makes me socially left-wing in both continents (gay rights, separation of church-state, so forth), but fiscally right-wing in Europe and fiscally left-wing in America.
Posted by: Do you dig Aushwitz ||
12/19/2004 14:49 Comments ||
Top||
#34
cute
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/19/2004 14:56 Comments ||
Top||
#35
Mike,
Just great, another left-winger trolling in the middle of the thread, blathering to oblivion. It's so nice of you to take time away from your super diplodick anti-American role in the U.N./Foggy Bottom, to spew your meaningless chatter. With the threads that I have been reading with your left-wing and pro-U.N. opinion, it seems that you're the one that's dragging it down. Do us all a favor and go sniff the behind's of ABCNBCCBSCNNMSNBCCNBCNEWYORKTIMES'S of the world, where you belong and take that Grecian formula (Aris) with you.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
12/19/2004 15:15 Comments ||
Top||
#37
PR,
locking Zionist Death Ray on Troll in Isle 9...
Fumigation may also be in order.
Posted by: Elder of Zion ||
12/19/2004 15:17 Comments ||
Top||
#38
"Liberal" does have a different meaning in Germany as well, mostly describing the politics of the relatively small FDP (free democrats), a party that cherishes market economy with as little state interference as possible, less taxes, no subsidies, but at the same time also calls for less state interference in the private affairs of citizens as well.
In the U.S., at least for the Republican side, "liberal" has become sort of a bad word for leftist and all kinds of moonbat "do-gooders" without a clue.
In the UK, liberal seems to have another meaning as well.
Posted by: James ||
12/19/2004 16:11 Comments ||
Top||
#40
Okay, PoisonReverse, as a moderator I've been really tolerant.
Fair warning: you're getting close to the line. Really close. We at Rantburg are really snarky, but only to those who deserve it. Aris is not the enemy.
I have a Zionist death ray, and I'm not afraid to use it.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/19/2004 18:32 Comments ||
Top||
#41
A minor point for TGA. The modern "liberals" arrogated the term to themselves in the 60s. Left-wing extremist Michael Harrington openly said that he was calling himself and his kind "liberals" so that true liberals would be called "centrist" or "conservative," thus dragging the "center" of political discourse to the left. It worked, too.
The kind of people who used to be called "liberals" before 1968 are now called...
#42
If the only thing we can ever remember NAZIs for is killing Jews, then we have COMPLETELY MISSED THE POINT!
NAZIs took many things to extremes, including totalitarian fascism, militant socialism, a perverse (and perhaps uniquely German) bent toward ethnocentrism, and they nearly perfected xenophobia.
I'm sorry I don't agree. If we limit our comparison with Nazism to only groups that attempt another holocaust, we're losing the greater part of what was learned through the trials of WWII.
There are too many groups and movements that bear close resemblance to Nazism today---if we avoid identifying the comparison we'll just end up looking so damned surprised again when the bastards are repeated in history.
#44
Here's Aris's comment that hijacked another thread:
Fred, to prevent this from happening again, may I suggest automatically breaking up words that contain more than 50 or so characters? It shouldn't be too difficult to code.
That was followed by this from Poison Reverse:
Aris, The last thing I need is some eeeeeeEUCrat, anti-American, sissy boy telling people how to run their web servers. Why don't you go and do what you Eurosissies do best, hand out free needles in Amsterdam, become anti-Christian, and make friends with jihadi's? I thought Frank, .com, Old Spook, lex and I tore you a new one yesterday? Go back to your EUroHole. You are nothing but a liberal PIG.
That led to everything else. I would not blame Aris for this hijacking.
.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
12/19/2004 20:20 Comments ||
Top||
#45
hijacking? I ee a controlled landing, no problem
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/19/2004 20:24 Comments ||
Top||
#46
how about "see"? PIMF
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/19/2004 20:25 Comments ||
Top||
#47
In #43, Sock Puppet of Doom expressed his dissatisfaction that the thread was hijacked and his comment #4 was buried in the noise.
The original posting is primiarily about Egyptian President Mubarak's opinion about a US attack on Iran.
The interview appeared in an article in Spiegel, a German magazine. The main thrust of SPoD's comment #4 is that he doesn't like Germany. From there, SPoD went on to wonder about where the "Anglosphere" is.
It seems to me that the first person who hijacked the thread was Sock Puppet of Doom himself.
.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
12/19/2004 21:21 Comments ||
Top||
#48
Frank,
Thanks.
Mike, "It seems to me that the first person who hijacked the thread was Sock Puppet of Doom himself.."
Either that's an apology for your previous false accusation or you are flip flopping, like sKerry.
1. Mike S summarized the thread-hijacking thing fairly and accurately in #44.
2. Although I often disagree with Aris, I think his contributions to this forum are consistently intelligent. And because he takes a different tack from most of us on some issues, very welcome.
3. Though I am no longer a standard issue liberal, I do not consider "liberal" a dirty word. I lament the fact that that noble term has been to a large degree hi-jacked by leftists and pacificists in the U.S. But you know what? Even leftists and pacifists have intelligent things to say from time to time, and people who close their minds to them and insist that the rest of us do likewise are.... well, I want to avoid such potentially controversial terms as "proto-fascists". Will the term "jerks" do?
4. And in case anyone might be tempted to misread me on the point, I am not saying that Aris is either a pacifist or a leftist. Based on his contributions to this forum, I see him as guy who leans a bit more to the left than I do on some issues, but whose instincts are basically *liberal* in the good, old-fashioned sense of that term. And he is certainly not a pacifist.
#51
The first eight sentences were about your dislike of Germany. The next four sentences were related to the posting. The last three sentences were your wondering about the "Anglosphere".
You introduced the topic of Germany based only on the fact that the interview was published in a German magazine. You would have been quite happy, I think, if other people would have elaborated on your dislike of Germany and if a long thread had ensued on that topic.
.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
12/19/2004 22:59 Comments ||
Top||
#52
"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas......."
#53
Mike can count! Doesn't try to understand anything that disagrees with his self importance but he can count.
Yes you and Aris are thread jackers and you are doing it again. I can'tr see anything they you posted that even in the remotest touches on the topic of the article. I did.
Mike have a nice life. I am sure you will make some nice guy a wonderful wife.
FOR Libya, 2004 was the year where everything changed, politically with its return to international grace, and economically with the start of reforms cutting away at state-controlled management. It was a giant step that kicked off the year of change: Tripoli, on December 19, 2003 surprised most of the world by exposing its programme for weapons of mass destruction and then pledging to abandon it. The revelation and promise followed months of secret negotiations with Washington and London.
"The world has changed," acknowledged Libya's leader Colonel Moamer Kadhafi, speaking on September 1, the 35th anniversary of his accession to power in a coup, in explanation of his country's opening up to the world. "We insulted each other a lot, but at the end of the day we were all losers," he said, justifying his determination to end the rogue image his country had endured for more than 20 years. Since then, Libyan officials and media have repeatedly chanted the mantra of today's world: "there is no eternal friendship, nor eternal hostility, only interests".
One by one, Libya has sorted out its conflicts with Western countries. The Kadhafi Foundation, headed by Saif al-Islam, the eldest son of the Libyan leader, has been the guiding hand behind these settlements which have depleted Libya's budget by billions of dollars. Libya signed an accord with France to compensate the victims of the attack on the UTA airline DC-10 in 1989 in which 170 people died. It pledged to pay out 170 million dollars. Tripoli also decided to pay out a total 35 million dollars to the 168 mainly German survivors of a 1986 bomb attack on La Belle discotheque in Berlin which killed two US soldiers and a Turkish woman. The woman's family was included in those being compensated.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
12/19/2004 12:49:55 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
I keep asking what that one medal -- fourth row, third from the left in the fruit salad -- is for, but no one seems to know.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/19/2004 11:07 Comments ||
Top||
#2
That salad properly enlarged would make a fun and interesting click and giggle map.
#3
...Ya know, his time in grade has gotta be, what forty years now? Up or out, Colonel. At the very least, promote yourself to BG, f'r cryin' out loud...
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
12/19/2004 12:07 Comments ||
Top||
#5
SPoD, Fred...
Troll action on isle 9...
Loading the Zionist Death Ray on setting 5.....
also sending two DeTrollifying Mossad agents...
Go, Go, Go......
Posted by: Elder of Zion ||
12/19/2004 15:13 Comments ||
Top||
#6
whoops,
this belongs to the previous post...
I gues this is a classical case of the transmigration of comments......:)
Posted by: Elder of Zion ||
12/19/2004 15:20 Comments ||
Top||
I agree. Since turbans seem to be the root cause of terrorism, I suggest they be abolished. The WoT will be over when the turbans are discarded and the fedora comes into style. Or maybe the Stetson...
I think straw boaters would look good on these guys ...
UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan has called upon the world community to devise a strategy to address the root causes of terrorism, while adding that terrorism still posed a threat to international peace and security. Commenting over a statement by Chairman of Al Qaeda and Taliban Sanctions Committee of the Council, Munir Akram, ambassador of Pakistan to the UN, said, "We must include ways to address the larger, systemic and structural issues including the reform of the unequal international economic system". He was Speaking at the UN Security Council on Saturday.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/19/2004 12:42:47 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Fred, stetsons wear nicely with the Texas two-step.
Posted by: Capt America ||
12/19/2004 0:52 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Start in your local mosque, buddy... you'll find all the roots sitting right there.
#3
You're right. The Stetson should be it. Guys who wear fedoras sometimes carry violin cases and answer to "Muggsy." You never see guys in Stetsons exploding.
Now I have to go to bed with the image of a Bugti in my mind, wearing a black Stetson and hollering "Draw varmint!" as he goes for his RPG.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/19/2004 0:59 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Here it comes: poverty. That will be the rallying cry. Note well who calls for such shit - for they are the real enemy and apologists for fucked up societies, corruption, and thugocracies. They'd love for the world's rich nations, who earned their standard of living by working hard for it and demanding much of their citizens, to put a pile of money into a big pot. And guess who would control it, play Rich Uncle, and loot the sucker. Some I know better than you because I'm morally superior group of twitters - full of the latest tranzi bullshit. I don't have an example in mind, of course...
Poverty is not the cause of terrorism. This has been endlessly researched and demonstrated to be dead wrong numerous times. Red herring scam. Piss off.
#5
âWe must include ways to address the larger, systemic and structural issues including the reform of the unequal international economic systemâ.
This is an important point. So long as many of the third world countries keep propping up corrupt and non-transparent governments, the grinding poverty they create will continue to encourage terrorist activity.
While I'm sure this is not the point that Munir Akram was trying to make, he and all of his entrenched cronies can all take a flying leap if they think that civilized countries will tear themselves down to institute some sort of economic parity for all.
Scum bag looting dictators and theocrats must be put on notice that their constant raping of national assets gets them DEAD.
We need to pre-empt the terrorists in this matter. The capitalistic west has to demonstrate how vital it is for these tin pot gangsters not to be pissing in the international punch bowl. If parasites like Mugabe or Assad want to suck the lifeblood out of their countries, they need to be stopped DEAD, before they breed up yet another al Qaeda.
#6
While I'm sure this is not the point that Munir Akram was trying to make, he and all of his entrenched cronies can all take a flying leap if they think that civilized countries will tear themselves down to institute some sort of economic parity for all
He's calling for more re-distribution of wealth-kaching, more bribe $ from the West. Btw, we should all keep our eye on the latest UN bright light idea for getting their hands into our wallets - the control and taxation of the Internet.
So long as many of the third world countries keep propping up corrupt and non-transparent governments, the grinding poverty they create will continue to encourage terrorist activity
Corrupt dictators in third world countires are propped up by the West - it's called foreign aid with no strings attached.
The capitalistic west has to demonstrate how vital it is for these tin pot gangsters not to be pissing in the international punch bowl.
How?
Top Israeli and Palestinian officials plan to meet in the next week to coordinate security arrangements for next month's Palestinian presidential election, a senior Israeli official said on Saturday. The talks between aides to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and senior Palestinians were called despite a new spasm of violence that has shattered a brief period of calm in the Palestinian territories after Yasser Arafat died on November 11.
"There are ongoing contacts ... which have intensified in the past few days, to ensure smooth and free elections" are held on January 9 to replace Arafat, an official said. He would not say when and where the meeting would be held, but that its purpose would be "to coordinate the fine details", regarding security for a three-day period including before and after the balloting.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/19/2004 12:39:37 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
The new Paleo slang term for explosion: Polls.
Posted by: Charles ||
12/19/2004 8:12 Comments ||
Top||
We have never run into each other in any of the innumerable seminars on jihadi terrorism in general and al-Qaeda in particular that I keep attending, but you are one of the few al-Qaeda watchers whose comments I carefully look for and read with attention and respect. Your comments are often tinged with a healthy dose of skepticism that, I have always felt, is an important component of good analysis.
Before going to bed on Thursday night, I learned from TV channels about the latest audio-tape, purportedly of Osama bin Laden, which was posted on the Internet by his followers on December 16, in which he has praised the terrorists responsible for the attack on the US Consulate in Jeddah on December 6, and called for the overthrow of the Saudi ruling family, the intensification of the jihad in Iraq and the use of the oil weapon against the West.
I woke up on Friday morning to write my comments on bin Laden's speech. Before starting to type, I browsed the Internet to see what others had said on the subject. I was amazed to find that you have already said what I intended to write. Great minds think alike.
Instead of typing my views, let me quote you for the benefit of the readers, since I totally agree with what you have said. The CNN has reported as follows on your views:
Terrorism expert Peter Bergen said the 10-day period between the Jeddah attack and the release of the tape is the fastest turnaround that he can recall between a news event and a communication from bin Laden. "It indicates to me a certain degree of security. After all, the chain of custody of these tapes is the one way to find bin Laden. He obviously feels secure enough that he can release a number of these tapes. The last message from the al-Qaeda leader came in a videotape appearing October 29 on the Arab-language television network al-Jazeera. His top deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, spoke in an audio-tape that aired November 29 on al-Jazeera." Bergen said by his count bin Laden and al-Zawahiri have released 29 messages since the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. "It's extraordinary that the chain of custody of these tapes has not been traced back," Bergen said. "After all, they're releasing these tapes very frequently, on average once every six weeks, yet it seems that American intelligence agencies or other intelligence agencies are not capable of tracing back the source of these tapes."
Your observations and analysis are impeccable. I may add one observation of my own. Bin Laden, who generally has his tapes - video or audio - released through al-Jazeera, has chosen this time not to do so. At least, not yet. Instead, it has been disseminated first through the Internet. Why? Was the TV channel reluctant to carry it this time due to US pressure? Or was it because he thought the al-Jazeera office in Islamabad is under effective surveillance and that it would be risky to send it there?
As you have pointed out, bin Laden and al-Zawahiri have disseminated 29 taped messages since September 11. As I have been pointing out repeatedly in my articles, almost all these messages were reportedly handed over by unidentified persons to the al-Jazeera correspondent in Islamabad or elsewhere in Pakistan.
How come there has not been a single instance of interception of any of these couriers from al-Qaeda by the Pakistani security agencies, which do not fail to spot and question a single Pakistani who visits the Indian Embassy in Islamabad? They have a more effective surveillance on the Indian Embassy and its staff than on bin Laden and his operatives and on the al-Jazeera office, wherever it is located.
Who are the couriers used by al-Qaeda for carrying the tapes of bin Laden and al-Zawahiri to al-Jazeera correspondents without being intercepted by the police or detected by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, which has its own surveillance on al-Jazeera ? What is so special about them that they are able to evade detection so successfully?
Yes, Mr Bergen. They are not ordinary couriers. They are special. Very special. They are the serving and retired officers of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI, who have been helping bin Laden and al-Zawahiri to evade capture and to remain in touch with their followers). Naturally, nobody in Pakistan would dare to stop and search them.
You may want to ask: "How do you know this?" It is like asking: "How do you know what I have under my underwear?"
It is so obvious. It is such common knowledge in the police circles of Pakistan. You talk to the police officers of Sindh and Balochistan. They will tell you how a group of serving and retired officers of the ISI has been keeping bin Laden and al-Zawahiri alive and kicking and helping them to remain in touch with their followers.
During his recent visit to the US, Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf was reported to have said in an interview that the trail for bin Laden has grown cold. It has not. It is there everywhere - from his hideout wherever it is to the offices of the ISI, al-Jazeera and the army headquarters in Islamabad and Rawalpindi, and to the residences of retired ISI officers.
A trail is useful only if you notice it and act on it. If you consciously close your eyes to it, even the best trail will be of no avail. Keep asking the right questions. You will find the truth, unless, in the meantime, another catastrophe overtakes the US. God forbid.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/19/2004 5:10:47 PM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
And Perv pushes too hard on the ISI, and they rise up and overthrow him. Now we've got a radical Islamic state with nuclear weapons. Nice analysis, Mr. Raman.
#2
Gromky, sometimes the situation really sucks this bad.
Posted by: Edward Yee ||
12/19/2004 1:48 Comments ||
Top||
#3
The solution for President Bush is to whisper quietly in Musharraf's ear that he has a deadline for delivering Bin Laden, and if he can't deliver him, allow any SpecOps force we want to insert free rein to get him.
If Musharraf puts his back up, we start talking to India about re-unification and the end of the Pakistan mistake.
#4
imao--if they put hamid gul's testicles in a pot of boiling water they find these guys--btw the fast turnaround time indicates binny is located in an area where he gets news from a satellite dish--dollars to hummis he's in karachi where all these guys hang--his need to pimp himself will be his undoing--by this time next year rummy will be doing a bremer--"we got him"
Posted by: SON OF TOLUI ||
12/19/2004 4:20 Comments ||
Top||
#5
maybe some of these retired ISI types need to start having health problems? All it takes it the will. I don't see us having the will, thats pathetic.
An investigating judge has questioned Saddam Hussein's feared cousin, 'Chemical Ali', and a former Iraqi defence minister. The hearings launch the first phase of the war crimes trials of leaders of the toppled Iraqi government. Officials say the hearings are expected to eventually see Saddam and 11 aides charged with war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.
Raed Jouhi - the chief investigating judge for the Special Tribunal set up to try leaders of the toppled Baath Party regime - said: "Today, we met Ali Hassan al-Majid and Sultan Hashem. What happened today was an ordinary investigative hearing for the accused. It could be repeated many times." Saddam himself is expected to be among the last to face trial. But Judge Jouhi says there is no timetable and that the other accused, including 67-year-old Saddam, will also be questioned by magistrates in the investigative stage. Judges gathering evidence of mass killings in the Kurdish north and Shiite south, some from mass graves that dot Iraq, will decide in their own time who will be charged with what. "We have no first and last person," Judge Jouhi said.
Official film released after the hearings showed Judge Jouhi interviewing both men separately at a desk in a large, bare room. Both arrived handcuffed and flanked by Iraqi policemen. They appeared in good health, Hashem still burly but slimmer than before his arrest, while Majid, displaying flashes of humour with the guards, showed his clear family resemblance to Saddam. Hashem also smiled and chatted with those around him. Majid leant on a walking stick and appeared to be supported by one of the policemen as he stood before the judge. A copy of the Koran wrapped in green cloth lay on the judge's desk before each defendant as they appeared in turn. Images of the men were last shown in July, when Judge Jouhi presided over brief showcase hearings for Saddam and his aides. He says both men had lawyers present at the hearings. "The accused received legal counsel and have met their defence lawyers, with the exception of one or two," Judge Jouhi said.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: God Save The World ||
12/19/2004 4:54:26 PM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
I hope they return him to Halabja for a "confrontation" with the scene of his crimes.
One unarmed policeman should be enough to guard him from the crowd, don't you think?
#7
Kilts, then. Perfectly fine kit for a grown man, and grown men who wear kilts don't complain about the cold (Robbie Burns' day is coming soon, btw).
#10
"I was trying to hide my ignorance: what are the kind of shorts that you load into a .22?"
".22 short" is the designation for extremely light-load .22 caliber ammo. It is truly dinky, and has only enough stopping power to kill an enraged piece of paper or possibly a tin can. Not much good for anything else.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
12/19/2004 16:38 Comments ||
Top||
#11
At most. Remember, Sammy got 100% of the vote last time they had an election. The citizenry obviously loves them...
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.
Britain and the United States have warned of an imminent attack in Kuwait. The embassies of both NATO countries have warned their nationals in Kuwait that Al Qaida-aligned insurgents were preparing an imminent strike in the sheikdom. The embassies called on their citizens to be vigilant and lower their profile. "The embassy is issuing this message because it has credible information that terrorist groups are developing near-term plans for attacks against unspecified targets in Kuwait," the U.S. embassy said in a Dec. 14 warden message. "The embassy reminds all U.S. citizens to exercise caution, maintain a low profile and avoid areas where Westerners are known to congregate."
A senior barrister, given special security clearance to act for suspected terrorists, is to resign in protest at the government's anti-terror laws. Ian MacDonald QC said he was stepping down after seven years "for reasons of conscience" because the "odious" laws were a "blot on the legal landscape". 
The Prince of Wales is brokering efforts to end the Muslim death penalty on converts to other faiths, The Telegraph has learned. He held a private summit of Christian and Muslim leaders at Clarence House this month to explore the centuries-old Islamic law under which apostates face persecution and even death. His intervention follows mounting anger at the treatment of Muslims who have converted to Christianity in a number of Islamic states.
Sudanese Foreign Minister 
FOR Libya, 2004 was the year where everything changed, politically with its return to international grace, and economically with the start of reforms cutting away at state-controlled management. It was a giant step that kicked off the year of change: Tripoli, on December 19, 2003 surprised most of the world by exposing its programme for weapons of mass destruction and then pledging to abandon it. The revelation and promise followed months of secret negotiations with Washington and London.
An investigating judge has questioned Saddam Hussein's feared cousin, 'Chemical Ali', and a former Iraqi defence minister. The hearings launch the first phase of the war crimes trials of leaders of the toppled Iraqi government. Officials say the hearings are expected to eventually see Saddam and 11 aides charged with war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.
