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Bakri sez he'll be back
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Page 1: WoT Operations
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Page 2: WoT Background
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Page 4: Opinion
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Britain
London bomb suspect: Bombs not meant to harm
ROME, Italy (CNN) -- One of the suspects in the July 21 failed bomb attacks in London told British investigators Tuesday in Rome the blasts were meant to "make noise" but not harm anyone, according to his lawyer.
Hamdi Issac is suspected of being the fourth man to carry an explosive-laden backpack onto the London transit system two weeks after four bombers killed 52 commuters and themselves on three subway trains and a bus. The bombs that Issac and the others allegedly carried failed to fully detonate. He told Italian investigators after his arrest in Rome that the bomb he carried was meant scare people and not to kill.

Scotland Yard, however, says the bombs were meant to kill but misfired. Britain has requested Issac's extradition to face charges in connection with the July 21 botched attacks.

Issac's attorney, Antonietta Sonnessa, who was present during Tuesday's interrogation, told reporters that her client again said the bomb was meant to "make noise" and demonstrate his opposition to the Iraq war. "There were some nails (in the backpack)," she said, "but the explosive was not meant to kill."
Bombs don't kill people. It's the blast wave and shrapnel that kill people.
The other three men suspected of carrying the bombs -- Ibrahim Muktar Said, Yassin Omar and Ramzi Mohamed -- along with Manfo Kwaku Asiedu, suspected of abandoning his backpack in a London park, have been charged in London with conspiracy to murder. Said, Omar and Mohamed have also been charged with attempted murder. Nine people have been charged in Britain with aiding Issac's escape or failing to disclose information about him to police. All of them are in custody in Britain.

Sonnessa told reporters that Judge Domenico Massimo Miceli and four or five British officers, including a translator, were present during the two-hour questioning at Rome's Regina Coeli prison. Issac, she said, answered questions in Italian. She also said British investigators showed Issac several photographs, including some of the other suspects, and that he recognized several. It was not clear, however, which of the other suspects were included in the photographs and who he recognized.
Issac repeated his claim that he did not prepare the backpack himself, but that one of the other suspects gave it to him, his lawyer said. Sonnessa told reporters she is still waiting to see the report on the type of explosive her client was alleged to be carrying.
Posted by: Oztralian [AKA] God Save The World || 08/09/2005 10:59 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I've met guys on crack that make more sense than this asshole.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 08/09/2005 12:44 Comments || Top||

#2  "There were some nails (in the backpack)," she said,

Working on your back deck, I suppose?
Posted by: Raj || 08/09/2005 14:08 Comments || Top||

#3  Remember John Howard's comment about "not being able to get into the mind of a successful suicide bomber"?

We'll, here we have a very unsuccessful suicide bomber. He appears to be an incompetent clown or an Al Qaida poster boy for the left wing MSM: experts at turning a perp into a victim.
Posted by: john || 08/09/2005 14:20 Comments || Top||

#4  Wow. This is exactley what I would do if I wanted my cause heard. Plant a bomb that won't hurt anybody to make myself heard, then skip the country without telling anybody what it was I wanted them to hear.
I would be mbarrassed as a lawyer to even say that.
Posted by: plainslow || 08/09/2005 14:37 Comments || Top||

#5  Yes,yes, Antonietta, we understand. Using the same reasoning, we're not really hanging your client; we're just testing the strength of the rope.
Posted by: GK || 08/09/2005 14:42 Comments || Top||

#6  pour gasoline on him and have a bon fire
Posted by: bk || 08/09/2005 14:43 Comments || Top||

#7  ...but make sure you use the special "non burnable" fire. We just want to get the message out.
Posted by: tu3031 || 08/09/2005 14:48 Comments || Top||

#8  Winn Dixie house brand charcoal starter..... it could take days.
Posted by: Shipman || 08/09/2005 14:57 Comments || Top||

#9  This crap is right out of the handbook, deny, deny, deny. He has to be a fool as there is CCTV footage of one of his fellow suicide bombers spread eagled on a bomb. Don't worry though, TRANZI European justice assures this guy a Life sentence (seven years max.)
Posted by: Sock Puppet 0’ Doom || 08/09/2005 15:26 Comments || Top||

#10  It's right there in the Terrorist Oath, "Do no harm." Or was that the Hippocratic Oath? I forget...
Posted by: tu3031 || 08/09/2005 15:47 Comments || Top||

#11  My inner paki tells me that the Boomer's Oath is something akin to "Boomer boom thyself." I'm waiting for more esteemed Egyptian scholars to log on with the entertaining conspiracy theories about the 7/7 and 7/21 terrorist attacks.
Posted by: MunkarKat || 08/09/2005 16:03 Comments || Top||

#12  "The Joo's switched my harmless scary only backpack with a more lethal one... Yeah, that's the ticket"
Posted by: Capsu 78 || 08/09/2005 16:17 Comments || Top||

#13  They gotta Zionist Transfer Ray?
Posted by: Bobby || 08/09/2005 16:27 Comments || Top||

#14  If the bombs were really meant to "make noise" and not harm anyone (they must have used LOUD nails), then I'm sure this clown won't mind sitting next to one of the bombs as it explodes.

Just him. No one else nearby. We'll even supply the earplugs so the "noise" won't cause hearing damage.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 08/09/2005 16:31 Comments || Top||

#15  the Joos planted the NAILS. Joos are into nails, you know? Youve never heard of Hechingers? Yup, before Home Depot (may peace be upon its lumber) was everywhere, a Jewish family owned a huge northeastern hardware chain.

Posted by: Handyman || 08/09/2005 16:46 Comments || Top||

#16  Apparently we infidel are not only unclean but unbelievably stupid as well. Everytime these asswads open their mouths, my self-esteem goes waaaay up. /sarc
Posted by: BH || 08/09/2005 16:54 Comments || Top||

#17  Manfo Kwaku Asiedu, suspected of abandoning his backpack in a London park

Manfo? What's a Manfo?
Posted by: Rosie ODonnell || 08/09/2005 16:56 Comments || Top||

#18  Rosie - I think that's a typo.

Probably supposed to be Mofo. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 08/09/2005 17:11 Comments || Top||

#19  "bombers killed 52 commuters"

I sure hate to see a perfectly good box of nails go to waste....Hey, I just thought of 52 reasons to place 52 nails in 52 places on each of these 'pranksters'.
Posted by: Marine Dad || 08/09/2005 17:25 Comments || Top||

#20  Hey Hamdi - you're just the person for our brand new production of "Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot". And guess what - you get the starring role.
Posted by: DMFD || 08/09/2005 21:09 Comments || Top||


UK police question terror suspect
British police have begun questioning a man held in Italy on suspicion of trying to blow up a Tube train at Shepherd's Bush in London on 21 July. Osman Hussain, 27, also known as Hamdi Isaac, is in custody in Rome, following his arrest there on 16 July. British police have been allowed access to him after more than a week of negotiations with Italian officials. An inquiry is also under way into whether he should face international terrorism charges in Italy.
Hussain fled to Italy by train after allegedly being seen at the scene of the failed bombing at Shepherd's Bush underground station. He is being questioned by UK police at Rome's Regina Coeli (Queen of Heaven) prison. The "international rogatory" interrogation is the first time British police have had access to the suspect. The judge leading the separate Italian investigation, Rome's chief prosecutor and Hussain's lawyer are present at the interview. Hussain has been held in isolation at the jail since he was arrested at an apartment belonging to one of his brothers on the outskirts of the city last month.
According to legal sources, Ethiopian-born Hussain, who has British citizenship, has the right to refuse to answer questions put to him by the British interrogators. Before the interview, his Italian lawyer Antonietta Sonnessa said she was looking forward to seeing the British police report on the explosive he was alleged to be carrying when he was spotted leaving Shepherd's Bush Tube station. She said he had told her he had had no intention of killing anyone in London.
Britain's extradition request will be considered at a hearing in Rome next week. Hussain is also being investigated by the Italian authorities in connection with possible terrorism charges he may face in Italy. BBC Rome correspondent David Willey says the extradition process is expected to take some weeks, if not months. He said: "The Italian judiciary have got some charges which they may be bringing against the suspect for international terrorism committed on Italian territory and of course that will have precedence over anything the British police do." He added that, as Hussain had been arrested under a European arrest warrant, the extradition process should not take more than three months.
Bomb suspects Ibrahim Muktar Said, 27, Yassin Hassan Omar, 24, and Ramzi Mohamed, 23, appeared before magistrates on Bow Street magistrates sitting at Belmarsh high security prison in south-east London, on Monday. They are charged with attempted murder and possessing explosives. One charge faced by Manfo Kwaku Asiedu, 32, relates to an unexploded device found two days after the bomb attempts.
The four men - who are also charged with conspiracy to murder - were remanded in custody for three months and will next appear in court on 14 November. The failed 21 July attacks took place two weeks to the day after four suicide bombers killed 52 passengers on the London transport network.
Posted by: Steve || 08/09/2005 08:19 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "international rogatory"
Not bad.... ThugBurg's better tho.
Posted by: Shipman || 08/09/2005 10:13 Comments || Top||


Down Under
Australia investigating terror tape
THREATS of terrorism attacks by a masked man with an Australian accent shown on Arab television are being examined by Australian intelligence officers. A videotape of the man wearing a balaclava and speaking English with an Australian accent was aired on the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya satellite channel and reshown on Australian TV this morning. The videotaped message warned that more terrorist attacks would be launched on the West.
They've been warning us about that. We fastened our seatbelts for Sully a couple years ago, remember? Haven't heard from him lately.
A spokeswoman at the attorney-general's office today said ASIO had made the department aware of the footage and was taking the matter seriously. "We've been advised that ASIO is looking at the footage very carefully and will keep us informed of any developments," she said.

The masked man, wearing combat gear and holding an automatic rifle, boasted about a recent attack that killed United States troops in Afghanistan. He slammed US President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair over their involvement in Iraq.
Ooooh! It's a psychoceramic with combat gear!
The video also featured blurred footage said to be of a rocket attack on a helicopter that killed 16 US soldiers in June. The man, shown against a backdrop of trees, claimed a group of al-Qaeda fighters carried out the operation. "The animals under Islam will not just let you kill our families in Palestine, Afghanistan, Kashmir and the Balkans, Indonesia, the Caucuses and elsewhere," the masked man said. "It is time for us to be equals. As you kill us, you'll be killed. As you bomb us, you will be bombed."
"The animals under Islam," is it? Interesting turn of phrase there. I've often thought of the adherents of Islam as animals. Part of them as sheep, part of them as lemmings, and part of them as vicious vermin fit for nothing but extermination. But maybe that's just me. So far.
Posted by: Oztralian [AKA] God Save The World || 08/09/2005 21:30 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Hizb ul-Tahrir will be banned if it is a threat: Howard
Radical Islamic group Hizb ul-Tahrir will be banned in Australia if intelligence authorities judge it a terrorist threat, the prime minister said Monday.
It's a threat. Ban it and lock 'em up.
The Australian Security Intelligence Organization - the country’s top spy agency - is investigating Hizb ul-Tahrir, which was banned in Britain last week. The group operates in Sydney. Prime Minister John Howard told Macquarie Radio that, “if ASIO tells us that an organization like this ... does represent a threat, then we’ll take action to ban it.”
It doesn't take much. Read some of their literature.
Hizb ul-Tahrir Australian spokesman Wassim Doureihi said the group will cooperate fully with investigators. “If there are facts established and ASIO wish to talk to us, then they know where we are and they can obviously take it from there,” he told Nine Network television. ASIO had been in contact with the group for several years, Doureihi said. “We talk to ASIO when they request access and what we say in private is what we say in public,” he said. “What is disturbing is that the party is being portrayed as a secretive cell when in reality we have been very open,” he added. Doureihi confirmed the group’s support for the insurgency against coalition troops in Iraq and said he did not condemn suicide bombings. “It’s unfair to condemn the reaction when we do not condemn unreservedly the conditions which gave rise to those reactions,” he said. “If we talk about occupied land, then we have to expect the people to resist the occupation,” he added.
Posted by: Fred || 08/09/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Go for it, Howard!

[opinion]
The Tipping Point is here, if Blair has the stones. It's all sitting in his lap, IMHO.

If Blair follows through and really does get tough by deporting the inciters, recruiters, facilitators, financiers - per the story of MI5's "list" yesterday - and their lieutenants (followers to come soon after, I hope), it will provide shade for Howard to follow suit, although there's been no strike on Ozzie soil, and a whole chain of events will likely follow...

If he doesn't. If he wimps out on attacking those who wish to destroy his country, we'll be set back a year or two in the War on Islamofascism. They'll have to untangle their feet and hit someone, again, to wake everyone up, again.

Isn't it odd how people think? Since the toolfools of Islamofascism finally struck on UK soil, Blair's freed to act - although he'd better get started before the wankers drag him back to the inactive status quo per public opinion. Without that actual act, he couldn't do dick, no matter that almost 60x as many people died in the WTC / Pentagon attacks. The second London attempt, though failed, certainly should've put it over the top - for good. But it won't happen that way. After awhile the sentiment will backslide into complacency and some sort of weird and misguided sympathy. Galloway and Livingston are already working on it. The attack on the US seems to carry almost no weight with the majority of UK citizens - and maybe only marginally more Ozzies citizens.

That they openly declare they wish to kill kafrs, their words and even the written word of Islam isn't enough to get the West off its ass. It takes dead bodies. And almost 3,000 of them in the US is viewed by the toolfools as, well, not relevant. Though the killers are all part of the same twisted vision, it's not relevant. This is where the MSM memery, such as "Well, you asked for it!" comes into play. They have effectively negated almost 3,000 dead Americans with their subversive self-hate Tranzi demagoguery. Don't ask me what I think about Peter Jennings. You will not like my response. Those that have worried about speaking ill of him should spend a hour with someone who lost a family member on 9/11, methinks. I'll bet they aren't tied up in PC BS knots. Sigh.

In Ozzieland, they have Bali to motivate them, but nothing on Ozzie soil. So what has happened since? Not much, other than Howard being re-elected. But Bali + London (and that small percentage that even remembers the WTC is part of the same thingy) takes Howard right up to the brink, but not over, apparently. He's rattling the cages and running up the flag to see who salutes, but this only proves the point: he's not free to act without something else to push the public over the rim. If Blair acts, it will give Howard almost the same freedom to do something - before Ozzie soil is bloodied. He will be able to look straight into the TV camera and say "We act in your defense. These people are killers and should not be allowed to exist in our civilized land. So we are going to protect our citizens, our way of life, and deport them where we can and attack them where they hide from authority." And then the gates will open - all over the West.

Please, Blair, follow through. The iron is hot, baby. Put the UK's citizens ahead of your politics. It will allow everyone else in the West to get off the dime, too. Howard will provide the next needed push - and so on.

In the US - we've already been hit - about 10x harder than any other Western nation. Yet it's clear that still only about, what, 40-50% of us "get it" about Islam? The tipping point is so close. If Blair will act, it will have a salutary effect in all Western states, I believe. No one seems willing to take that first step to discard the PC BS and take this seriously with effective actions in their own country. Bush had the stones to go to Afghanistan and Iraq to oust dangerous asshats, opening the door for those that can buy a clue to act also, but none of them (yet) are willing to make the tough calls at home. Boggles, no? I believe NYC's Mayor Bloomberg, far more like Red Ken than not, should be impeached for his stupidity and PC statements. Wotta chump.

Blair has become a linchpin, IMHO. That he has become so is of his own doing - Good On Ya Tony for taking the step to put it at the top of the domestic agenda and threaten something effective... Now - do it, Tony. Show you're not a chump, but the man who decided to get tough at home. You've taken the lead. Do it, man. Do it now.

Only Israel has shown real balls and adapted as they learned how to deal with these haters. Someday soon, all in the West will be mimicking their security methods. Blair can move the process a huge step forward. C'mon Tony, you're right on target, do it.

My take.
[/opinion]
Posted by: .com || 08/09/2005 4:40 Comments || Top||

#2  well said .com!

I liked this part: the group will cooperate fully with investigators. “If there are facts established and ASIO wish to talk to us, then they know where we are and they can obviously take it from there,”

That's right, you little arrogant DS, talk. You got nothing to hide right? Let's have a chat. *snicker*
Posted by: 2b || 08/09/2005 4:56 Comments || Top||

#3  Thx :)

Go Tony, Go!
Posted by: .com || 08/09/2005 4:59 Comments || Top||

#4  40 to 50 percent? You think it's that high? I am pretty sure 99% of the people I come into contact with haven't a clue PD.
Posted by: Sock Puppet 0’ Doom || 08/09/2005 5:54 Comments || Top||

#5  I figure 15-20 percent. 40 percent would be enough for the tipping point.
Posted by: Shipman || 08/09/2005 9:53 Comments || Top||

#6  Well spoken, PD. The UK bombings are a golden opportunity to get things moving and boot out the cancer before it really attacks the host. I hope that the opportunity is seized. This proposed action of Tony Blair will save literally thousands of lives worldwide.

It is really close to the tipping point. I am not optimistic, maybe cautiously optimistic. But we can hope.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 08/09/2005 11:53 Comments || Top||

#7  We live for tipping points.
Posted by: Holsteins by Zuider Zee || 08/09/2005 12:00 Comments || Top||

#8  Another one on the mark .com, I agree action now whilst the bombings are fresh in the mind and as Blair put it "We don't go back to sleep"
Posted by: Mctavish Mcpherson || 08/09/2005 14:34 Comments || Top||

#9  I wish you'd cut back on the PC bullsh*t, PD, and tell us what you really think ;-)
Posted by: Frank G || 08/09/2005 15:18 Comments || Top||

#10  "No one seems willing to take that first step to discard the PC BS and take this seriously with effective actions in their own country."

That's exactly it, .com. Which is the dominant tendency right now: a Britain indifferent to the its own suicide (at least a Britain any of us would recognize as such) or a Britain with a strong self-preservation instinct? Push come to shove, will the safety of Brits be sacrificed to Islamic jihadis because of a fawning and hypervigilant British fear of a Muslim backlash? Will the country's culture become extinct?

So few Brits have seen the face of evil in their lives; they don't believe in it. It is laughed at as a quaint notion of primitives. They prefer to be sophisticatedly witty, mocking it and passing off any truce with Islam as brilliant. Until a few bombs go off in the tunnels and a few more people realize there is no justification for terror.

So, which is the dominant tendency?
Posted by: jules 2 || 08/09/2005 23:00 Comments || Top||

#11  That's the 64000 dollar question, Jules. What will it take for Britain to do what she must do to survive as a nation? Hey, this applies to us Yanks, too. Civilization is intimidated by a bunch of LLL and Tranzi blowhards. We try to live by laws. The LLL and Tranzis use the laws to intimidate and get their way. A STFU backed up by a big stick is what is needed. At what point are we willing to do that? Time is of the essence.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 08/09/2005 23:40 Comments || Top||


Europe
Cleric 'will return' to UK
So don't cancel those welfare checks just yet...
Omar Bakri Mohammed, a Muslim cleric who fled Britain amid possible treason charges, says he plans to return to the UK. Syrian-born Sheikh Omar Bakri Mohammed, who has lived in Britain for 20 years, left for Lebanon on Saturday and associates said he would not come back.
But he'd be losing money. Serious no heavy lifting money...
Bakri said on Tuesday he had decided to take a short break from Britain because he feared the government was using clerics like him as an excuse to rush in new laws and "put pressure on the Muslim community".
That's right, poster boy.
"I decided myself to go on holiday, which is for four or five weeks and stay with my mother back home," he said.
...and leech off of her for awhile.
"I am going to return ... unless this government says you are not welcome."
You're not welcome. Do the British a favor and send for your family. They might be able to balance the national debt.
Bakri, who used to live in Lebanon and holds Lebanese citizenship, had already said he might leave Britain to avoid retroactive charges under new anti-terrorism measures planned following last month's attacks on London's transport system. Prime Minister Tony Blair unveiled sweeping measures last Friday to silence or deport extremists even if it meant overriding human rights laws, and said Britain would ban two radical groups from operating in the country. One of them was the British branch of Hizb ut-Tahrir, which Bakri was involved with. The other was a successor to al Muhajiroun, to which the cleric was closely linked. That group won notoriety for celebrating the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.
Just keeping his thumb on the pulse of the community...
Bakri has said he is no longer involved with either organisation. He has denied having broken British laws in his sermons, which have included praise for al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Bakri said he knew of no future planned attacks but that even if he did, Islamic law would forbid him from informing the police.
We'll see about that.
"I did condemn the bombings," he said.
But did you really, really mean it, holy man?
Posted by: tu3031 || 08/09/2005 09:34 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Another brave Lion of Islam™, bravely running away.
Posted by: Howard UK || 08/09/2005 10:05 Comments || Top||

#2  "I shall return."

How about a picture of MacArthur?
Posted by: Jackal || 08/09/2005 10:08 Comments || Top||

#3  LOL! Nice inline commentary! =)
Posted by: docob || 08/09/2005 10:31 Comments || Top||

#4  With a canvas bag over your head hog-tied on a C-130 with alot of new friends mayhaps.
Posted by: MunkarKat || 08/09/2005 10:31 Comments || Top||

#5  Look at this rat run as soon as things got a bit hot. UK could have booted this mofo years ago. It was from lack of nerve they let this Muslim welfare bum leach off the British taxpayer for two decades.
Posted by: sea cruise || 08/09/2005 10:35 Comments || Top||

#6  And the Muslim welfare bums believe it's the duty of the non Muslim to support them. It's the modern version of their Jizyah tax on dhimmis
Posted by: sea cruise || 08/09/2005 10:36 Comments || Top||

#7  seems like MI5 could just comb the welfare roles for extremists. All the little cowardly bastards are apparently sucking on the public teat while trying to destroy it. Maybe if they got, like..., a JOB?
Posted by: Frank G || 08/09/2005 10:38 Comments || Top||

#8  Frank:

Their job is read their Koran and spread Islam and get the British taxpayer to support them. Lately it's also become to kill Britons on UK soil. All while the dole pays for them and their families and wives (Bakri claimed wives) to have nice food, housing and even special transport for this gimpy legged Bakri
Posted by: sea cruise || 08/09/2005 10:46 Comments || Top||

#9  "I shall return."

Kinda like a bad intestinal infection...
Posted by: mojo || 08/09/2005 10:49 Comments || Top||

#10  For him to return, the British will actually have to *invite* him back, that is, issue him a visa. Since he is a foreign national, this is only done as a courtesy to foreign nationals, and Britain is under absolutely no obligation to do so. The US regularly excludes tens of thousands of foreigners that it just doesn't care for. No need to even give a reason.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 08/09/2005 11:17 Comments || Top||

#11  NO shit Frank, if they had a full-time job they wouldn't feel like handing out pamphlets or conspiring against British society as much, they'd be too tired. However, these guys pobably cant act enough like a human to hold a job, how would you like to flip burgers next to a guy who was always telling you about the end of civilization and the return of the caliphate?
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 08/09/2005 13:02 Comments || Top||

#12  islamo-cockroach = freloading, butt-brother
Posted by: anymouse || 08/09/2005 13:18 Comments || Top||

#13  Bakri said he knew of no future planned attacks but that even if he did, Islamic law would forbid him from informing the police.

Huh. Imagine that.

I guess his condemnation, and any statements about the murderers acting "against Islam" are null and void, then.
Posted by: Robert Crawford || 08/09/2005 13:50 Comments || Top||

#14  Can the government authorise a hit and pretend he had a jet ski accident whilst he is in Lebenon.
Posted by: Mctavish Mcpherson || 08/09/2005 14:23 Comments || Top||

#15  "I decided myself to go on holiday, which is for four or five weeks and stay with my mother back home," he said.

Broadcast this far and wide. This kuffr has capriciously set up a "holiday". I just assumed there'd have to be some fatwa issued setting up any new holidays. Looking forward to getting "al Bakri" day off in the future...any one else?
Posted by: BA || 08/09/2005 14:27 Comments || Top||

#16  BA -- "holiday" is just the Britishm for "vacation".
Posted by: Robert Crawford || 08/09/2005 14:29 Comments || Top||

#17  Oops, my bad! Maybe we can set up a UK vs. USA English translator here at the 'burg?
Posted by: BA || 08/09/2005 14:32 Comments || Top||

#18  just to clarify, muslim welfare? Aren't the clerics supported by the congregation of the rest of the muslims? I guess I just assumed that was how it was
Posted by: Jan || 08/09/2005 14:37 Comments || Top||

#19  Just Whinge it BA.
Posted by: Shipman || 08/09/2005 15:00 Comments || Top||

#20  lol, Ship! I'm catching on more and more every day. Thanks for all our fellow 'burgers across the pond for posting so I can gain insight.
Posted by: BA || 08/09/2005 15:45 Comments || Top||

#21  Gotta love England. Even dudes on welfare get vacation time.
Posted by: tu3031 || 08/09/2005 15:52 Comments || Top||

#22  Yeeeeeaaahhh, but I don't think it's PAID vacation time for Bakri! Good riddance to bad rubbish!
Posted by: Bobby || 08/09/2005 16:09 Comments || Top||

#23  Jihadi nutjobs of Britain rally to me! I have returned!
Posted by: Doug "Dugout" Bakri || 08/09/2005 16:42 Comments || Top||


Madrid bombings planned in Belgium
Evidence continues to mount that the Madrid train bombings on 11 March 2004 were planned in Belgium by a group of terrorists who were under surveillance at the time by security service agents.
and who did nothing about it. big whoop
When Spanish police said shortly after the attacks that the video claiming responsibility for the attacks had been made in Brussels, the Belgium government angrily said there was no evidence to support this.
deny it all and then demand that a committee be formed ... classis Belgian / Eurocrat behavior
The attacks were claimed by a man called Abu Dujan, but Spanish and Belgian justice officials now suspect the name was an alias for Youssef Belhadj, a Moroccan man living in the Belgian town of Sint-Jans-Molenbeek since 2000. Spanish justice authorities are increasingly convinced Belhadj was the key figure behind the attacks. They claim an analysis of his mobile phone indicates he knew the date of the Madrid attacks some five months before the bombings took place. Belhadj bought a mobile phone in Brussels in October 2003 and gave as his date of birth 11 March 1921.
"Legume! My saxophone! Note, if you will that the suspect claimed he was 82 years old! Yet he had not only a full head of black hair but a full, bushy beard of the same color!"

Inspector Camembert paused to blow the first few bars of "Saint James Infirmary," then set the instrument aside.

"Come!" he cried. "The game's afoot! We shall find the merchant who sells him his Grecian Formula!"
The date 11 March was when the bombings took place and the 21 could refer to a chapter in the Koran in which non-Muslims are cursed.
Or it could have been the date on the driver's license he stole...
The Moroccan was arrested after the Madrid attacks and extradited to Spain, while his brother, Mimoun, 34, was arrested in January this year on the Syrian-Iraqi border and extradited to Morocco for alleged involvement in the Casablanca bombings on 16 May 2003. Both men lived together in Molenbeek prior to their arrests. Along with 17 others, they are accused in Belgium of membership of a terrorist group and passport fraud. Brussels Court will decide on 19 August if they should stand trial.

The 19 suspects were arrested in Maaseik and Brussels in two police operations; one before and one after the Madrid attacks. Various suspects are allegedly linked to attacks in Madrid, Casablanca and Saudi Arabia and are suspected members of the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group (GICM). Meanwhile, an alleged member of the GICM arrested in France last week has said all of the European GICM leaders met in the Limburg town of Maaseik in November 2003. GICM is believed to have planned the Madrid bombings and it is considered likely the plans for the attack would have been discussed at the Belgium meeting.
Posted by: leader of the pack || 08/09/2005 07:05 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Belgium - one of the original members of the Axis of Weasels.
Posted by: Flash Hupomoling8954 || 08/09/2005 8:59 Comments || Top||

#2  Legume! My saxophone!
ROFLMAO!
Posted by: Shipman || 08/09/2005 9:56 Comments || Top||

#3  Brussell. The true center of Eurabia.
Posted by: gromgoru || 08/09/2005 11:23 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
US formally charges Aswat
NEW YORK - US authorities on Monday formally outlined terrorist charges against Haroon Rashid Aswat, a Briton who was detained in London at the weekend after being deported from Zambia.
Your day went from bad to worse, eh Rashid?
A charge filed before a New York court accuses the 30-year-old Aswat, whose family is of Indian origin, of seeking to establish a terrorist training camp in the remote spot of Bly in Oregon. Aswat has been named in US and British media reports as the alleged mastermind behind the July 7 suicide bomb attacks in London, ciated with a Muslim preacher, who was not named in the charge, in the plan to set up the training camp in the northwestern US state which was to prepare volunteers to fight in Afghanistan. Plans for the Bly camp revolved around “bringing people from London and from the United States to the property for “jihad’ training.” The charge said that Aswat had training at a camp for militants in Afghanistan where he had once seen Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
Posted by: Steve White || 08/09/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The most fugly bloke I ever did see.
Posted by: Joseph Merrick || 08/09/2005 3:50 Comments || Top||

#2  Another bloke who needs to suck on the business end of a shotgun.
Posted by: DanNY || 08/09/2005 5:19 Comments || Top||

#3  Mr. Purty Mouth looks like he's had expierience sucking the business end of... something.
Posted by: tu3031 || 08/09/2005 8:26 Comments || Top||

#4  Born in the Ugly tree,
hit every branch on the way down...
How could his mother even love that face?
Posted by: Capsu 78 || 08/09/2005 9:47 Comments || Top||

#5  You got that right Joe.
Posted by: M Jackson || 08/09/2005 9:57 Comments || Top||

#6  Bart Simpson.... meet your long lost cuz Asswhat
Posted by: Gleremp Thretch6622 || 08/09/2005 13:23 Comments || Top||

#7  Oh goodie! Time to order some special interrogation materials!

Posted by: BigEd || 08/09/2005 16:34 Comments || Top||

#8  "Aswat"

American translation: Asswhat. Check that boy's face...Has anyone seen Joe Camel lately ?!
Posted by: Marine Dad || 08/09/2005 18:11 Comments || Top||


Hamdan whines appeals to USSC
Lawyers for a Guantanamo detainee asked the Supreme Court on Monday to consider blocking military tribunals for terror suspects, and overturn what they called an extreme ruling by high-court nominee John Roberts and two other judges on the panel. Roberts was on a three-judge federal appeals court panel that last month ruled against Salim Ahmed Hamdan, a Yemeni who once was al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden's driver. Hamdan's attorneys told justices that the appeals court gave the White House authority ``to circumvent the federal courts and time-tested limits on the executive.'' ``No decision, by any court, in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks has gone this far,'' wrote Hamdan attorney Neal Katyal, a law professor at Georgetown University.
Gee, the Court of Appeals didn't think so.
The Pentagon maintains it has the authority to hold military commissions, or tribunals, for terror suspects like Hamdan who were captured overseas and are now being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. A lower-court judge ruled against the government, but Roberts and two other judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit disagreed. The appeals court said last month that the 1949 Geneva Conventions governing prisoners of war does not apply to the al-Qaida network and its members. Katyal maintained that the decision ``radically extended legal precedents set during conventional wars.''
Seeing as the Geneva Convention applied to conventional wars, it's not much of a stretch to say that it applies only to conventional wars, now does it?
The court ``held that the president has the power to decide how a detainee is classified, ... how he is treated, what criminal process he will face, what rights he will have, who will judge him, how he will be judged, upon what crimes he will be sentenced, and how the sentence will be carried out,'' Katyal wrote. Hamdan ``asks simply for a trial that comports with this nation's traditions, Constitution, and commitment to the laws of war, such as a court-martial,'' Katyal said in the appeal.
Not that he'd ever comply with the Geneva Conventions, even as he begs for its protection.
Posted by: Steve White || 08/09/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I seriously doubt the supremes would take this case, with or without Roberts.
Posted by: Captain America || 08/09/2005 1:00 Comments || Top||

#2  I'm not so sure about that. The last opinion of the DC Cir. in Hamdan's case finished with a rather glib assumption that the president was a "competnent authority" under the relevant statute and a 2/1 split on whether Article 3 of the latest Geneva Convention applies to al Qaeda. Those are *exactly* the sorts of questions the Supreme Court exists to clarify.
Posted by: AzCat || 08/09/2005 2:27 Comments || Top||

#3  The last Geneva convention the US adopted was right after WW2 I thought AzCat? Lots of those "conventions" that the EU and left get on about we never signed. So they don't apply, Doesn't stop the TRANZIs from getting a frothed up about it.

I don't think this guy has a rats chance in hell of getting the SCOTUS to take up his case, but we will see.
Posted by: Sock Puppet 0’ Doom || 08/09/2005 6:14 Comments || Top||

#4  Ummmm....no. I don't believe that dirtbag Yemenis in Cuba qualify for US constitutional protections.

But thanks for playing.
Posted by: mojo || 08/09/2005 10:47 Comments || Top||

#5  Can anyone remember a case where a judge promoted to the USSC got to issue an opinion on the same case he had previously faced at the circuit level? Because the main argument in front of the Supremes would be that the lower court erred in it's ruling. I would think the Dems would be grabbing this story and running.
Posted by: john || 08/09/2005 15:23 Comments || Top||

#6  The supremes seldom take up a case decided on appeal from the 3rd district.

Should they run to the loony side, and Roberts sits on the court, he would well have to be recused from the case.
Posted by: Captain America || 08/09/2005 16:59 Comments || Top||


International-UN-NGOs
Russian pleads guilty in UN bribes case
A former senior UN official has pleaded guilty to accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes. Alexander Yakovlev is the first UN official to face criminal charges over the oil-for-food programme. The US attorney's office said he had pleaded guilty to conspiracy, wire fraud and money laundering and had been released on bail.
The money was paid to Mr Yakovlev, who worked in procurement, by foreign companies trying to win UN contracts. His actions were uncovered by the inquiry into the oil-for-food programme, although only one charge related to that operation. Mr Yakovlev resigned from the UN earlier this year.
The investigators into the oil-for-food programme also found that the former director, Benon Sevan, was given money by an oil company in return for helping them to win lucrative contracts. Mr Sevan, who's being investigated by the Manhattan district attorney, is currently in Cyprus. He resigned from the UN on Sunday, saying that he'd been made a scapegoat.
The oil-for-food programme was set up in 1996 to allow the then Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein to sell limited amounts of oil to buy humanitarian goods and ease the effects of sanctions. But since his overthrow in April 2003, the programme has been hit by allegations that the Iraqi government, politicians and UN officials from several countries illegally profited from the programme.
Posted by: Steve || 08/09/2005 08:44 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Is this the "leave me alone because everyone's doing it defense"? Last night I heard one of the UN's damage controllers trying to spin it all as the fault of the member countries who did not properly oversee the oil for food program. He went on to say poor Kofi was impotent to do anything because he didn't know and these matters were delgated. I had to put down my beer and the masonry hammer before vomiting.
Posted by: MunkarKat || 08/09/2005 8:57 Comments || Top||

#2  Will Yakovlev sing?

If he does, will the US Attorney be able to corroberate the testimony?

If so, it is a very, very big deal.
Posted by: mhw || 08/09/2005 10:39 Comments || Top||

#3  A first---UNer in the dock. Lets hope not the last.
Posted by: gromgoru || 08/09/2005 11:21 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Gunmen kill Buddhist mechanic
GUNMEN have killed a Buddhist mechanic in the latest violence in Thailand's mainly Muslim south, where more than 840 people have died in nearly daily attacks since January last year.

The gunmen followed Pra-oth Rattanakornpitak, 46, as he was returning from work in Muang district in Yala province late yesterday and shot him three times, police said.

Police and his wife, Rattana, said they believed he was killed by Islamic militants. The Government blames militants for much of the unrest that has roiled the region along the Malaysian border for 19 months.

"The motive of killing was likely connected to the unrest by Muslim militants, since he had no known personal conflicts," said Colonel Chaithat Inthanuchit, superintendent of Yala's Muang police station.
Posted by: God Save The World || 08/09/2005 02:01 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Apparently a lot of buddhists break down...
Posted by: Spot || 08/09/2005 8:10 Comments || Top||

#2  You're on the list Spot, that's 4 by my count this Month.
Posted by: Shipman || 08/09/2005 10:06 Comments || Top||

#3  Where do you change the oil on a Buddhist?
Posted by: tu3031 || 08/09/2005 10:07 Comments || Top||

#4  Do you really want to know?
Posted by: Steven || 08/09/2005 10:24 Comments || Top||

#5  Ship- is that the sh*t list? I know I'm on my wife's
Posted by: Spot || 08/09/2005 10:44 Comments || Top||

#6  Sh*plist
Posted by: Frank G || 08/09/2005 10:56 Comments || Top||

#7  "Unrest by Muslim militants". I'm really tired of hearing how violent acts like these are the result of Muslim unrest. These people are nothing more than murdering bastards. Unrest my ass. Shipman, you should be getting a package any day now.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 08/09/2005 11:55 Comments || Top||

#8  Oh FFS! - I'm getting really tired of this. Some poor sod comes home from a hard days slog to his family and gets offed by some RoP shitheads. Why? well why not? He's not in the RoP, a filthy Buddhist in fact, and everyone knows what kind of shit they've done to the RoP over the years - so that makes him fair game for a spot of target practice.

840 people since January '04 is 47/month. The population of Thailand is 65 Million, so we're looking at a roughly a London event every 5 weeks - for 18 months, in a concentrated area.

My patience with all this is wearing very thin. I wonder what the Thais feel about it all.

I know I'm probably going over the top, because this is just one poor guy and we're used to seeing numbers like 13, 52, 200+, 3000+ getting killed, but there's something about the fact that he's just going home from work, minding his own business and some fucktards just kill him - for no other possible reason than he wasn't in their religion.

Damn them to Hell.
Posted by: Tony (UK) || 08/09/2005 13:46 Comments || Top||

#9  That's a first-class rant, Tony.
Posted by: Matt || 08/09/2005 13:56 Comments || Top||

#10  Hear, hear, Tony! Well said. I pay homage to you and .com's rants as of late!
Posted by: BA || 08/09/2005 14:15 Comments || Top||

#11  Sorry, I can't help it, but I immediately thought of "Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance."
Posted by: BA || 08/09/2005 14:18 Comments || Top||

#12  there is unrest and poverty a plenty but there are alternatives...www.3pfoundation.org
Posted by: bk || 08/09/2005 14:41 Comments || Top||

#13  Tony, spot on, and the others they beheaded last month, probably because they went down the wrong street. This religion turns them into ruthless killers, there is no bargaining with these people, their hearts and minds are corrupted beyond repair. Shot on site is the only solution......
Posted by: Mctavish Mcpherson || 08/09/2005 14:49 Comments || Top||

#14  Ima cast big eyes on the UPS gal everyday Deacon.
Posted by: Shipman || 08/09/2005 15:05 Comments || Top||

#15  Thankyou for your plaudits gentlemen ;)
Posted by: Tony (UK) || 08/09/2005 15:38 Comments || Top||

#16  "Rattanakornpitak" Now that's a name!
Posted by: BillH || 08/09/2005 17:30 Comments || Top||

#17  In the mid-70s there was a small Thai grocery in Lincoln NE. I asked the owner why he was located in Lincoln. His response. In Thailand if anybody had an accident involving a Muslim or their car in any way, they would try to kill you and your family. It didn't matter whom was at fault.

A muslim guy had T-Boned him at a red light. Kept trying to kill him and his family so he moved to the center of the US where he figured none of that guys kin would find him. BTW... nobody was hurt. Just a totaled car.



Posted by: 3dc || 08/09/2005 19:37 Comments || Top||

#18  answer for that - return the favor, if your morality can handle it
Posted by: Frank G || 08/09/2005 20:10 Comments || Top||

#19  Tony (UK):

History answers your question nicely: don't forget that the Thais are the only people in SouthEast Asia who let the Japanese in without any sort of fight, and in fact treated them like heroes when they arrived, served willingly as their slaves, etc.

Thailand is a fine country, but it is an INVERTEBRATE country. No spine required.
Posted by: Rivrdog || 08/09/2005 21:08 Comments || Top||


Terror Networks & Islam
Egyptian Prof: Muslims Had Nothing to Do with 9/11
Shahin: Our enemies weave many lies about us, which we are not necessarily aware of. For example: One day, we awoke to the crime of 9/11, which hit the tallest buildings in New York, the Empire State Building HAHA! Moron (sic). There is no doubt that not a single Arab or Muslim had anything to do with these events. The incident was fabricated as a pretext to attack Islam and Muslims. The plan was to take over the world’s energy sources, and to achieve this control by force and not by agreement or negotiations, by interests, free trade, or anything like that. This is what they wanted.

So this incident was fabricated - and Allah knows that the Arabs and Muslims are innocent of it - in order to serve as a pretext to attack Islam and the Muslims.

All of a sudden, after we were used to consider America to be a rational and balanced country... All of a sudden, it violates international conventions, cancels treaties, ignores the U.N., acts on its own accord, attacks nations, kills innocent people, and claims it has the right to do so - and all this is based on lies. These were lies from beginning to end, and we were not used to lying - not in policy, not in our discourse, and not in the media. Imagine what crisis the Arab and Islam nation finds itself in, in the midst of these peculiar events, which we cannot explain or believe. All of a sudden, we were framed for an international crime, on the basis of lies.

I believe a dirty Zionist hand carried out this act. Zionism has taken the opportunity to escalate the war in Palestine, killing hundreds of thousands so far, while we watch from the sidelines in astonishment and ask: What’s going on?

Hat tip, LGF As Charles points out, To make the point plain, this is not a spokesman for the “tiny minority of religious extremists.” This is a man at the very pinnacle of Islam.
Posted by: mmurray821 || 08/09/2005 18:14 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  This "professor" is such a lunitic he could easily get tenure at any major US university in jig time.
Posted by: Michael || 08/09/2005 18:39 Comments || Top||

#2  The real culprit:

Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy || 08/09/2005 19:03 Comments || Top||

#3  Yea, you also won the "October war".
Posted by: gromgoru || 08/09/2005 19:07 Comments || Top||

#4  BTW, this is not the first time the above-referenced cabal has been discussed here at Rantburg (see #11). Rantburg, always a step ahead.
Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy || 08/09/2005 19:21 Comments || Top||

#5  Is this the Arabic way of saying that Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda are not true muslims?

You know, these guys never get asked the second part of the question, which is what the hell is the deal with OBL fessing up to it on tape?
Posted by: Penguin || 08/09/2005 20:16 Comments || Top||

#6  If we wanted to assault Islam and grab the oil methinks we would have gone after Saudi Arabia instead of Afghanistan and Iraq. Underpopulated, full of oil, holy land ready to be dispoiled and we had troops on the ground already.

We could have given Mecca to Israel or the Hindus for added insult.
Posted by: RJSchwarz || 08/09/2005 20:19 Comments || Top||

#7  Is this the Arabic way of saying that Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda are not true muslims?

No. It's their way of saying it was a wonderful blow for Islam against the Zionist oppressors, but since the consequences have been bad for the Ummah, it had to have been pulled off by the Zionists themselves.
Posted by: Robert Crawford || 08/09/2005 20:21 Comments || Top||

#8  We could have given Mecca to Israel or the Hindus for added insult.

Pig farms.
Posted by: Robert Crawford || 08/09/2005 20:21 Comments || Top||

#9  We could have given Mecca to Israel or the Hindus for added insult.

Many hindus believe that the Kaaba was a pre-islamic shrine to Shiva and that the black stone originally was a lingam.


Posted by: john || 08/09/2005 20:35 Comments || Top||

#10  That's a great theory Sherlock, except for the fact that OBL was on tape claiming credit and musing about how it turned out better than he expected. So other than that I think you may be on to something.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 08/09/2005 23:38 Comments || Top||

#11  Professor?

Posted by: BigEd || 08/09/2005 23:45 Comments || Top||

#12 

Rightie-Oh!
Posted by: BigEd || 08/09/2005 23:47 Comments || Top||


Iraq-Jordan
Mistakes Made in Training Iraqis
August 9, 2005: One of the most important battles in Iraq gets little coverage. This is the struggle to train new Iraqi police and military forces. After Saddam was overthrown, his police force and army were disbanded. This attracted a lot of criticism from people who did not know how things worked in Saddam’s Iraq. There, the police and military were recruited on the basis of loyalty to Saddam. The higher up you went in the ranks, the more thorough the background investigation. You could not afford to keep such organizations around once Saddam was gone, you had to start from scratch. The United States thought it was well prepared for this sort of thing. American troops had been training foreigners, including Arabs, for generations. The U.S. Army Special Forces, in particular, were very good at this. But the Special Forces were much in demand for counter-terrorism chores. So the Department of Defense had to improvise. This resulted in younger, and less experienced, troops being assigned to training duties. Civilians (usually former or retired military) were also brought in. Experienced trainers were put in charge, and a training program for the trainers was put together for all those assigned to work with Iraqis. The purpose of the “trainer training” was to avoid “cultural insensitivity” issues (things that would offend Iraqis because of cultural differences.) This program worked, as far as it went. But it turned out that the trainer training, and selection, missed some important items.

-- Many of the personnel selected as trainers were not among the best troops available. Some of them had not themselves been properly trained to teach combat and police skills. As a result, training sessions are sometimes one-way activities, with the trainees never being asked to display their skills. Even though the American military had adopted a highly effective "show me how you do it" training program, this very useful technique was often skipped with the Iraqis (who really needed it.)

-- The common use of profanity is a particular problem, and trainers have often "lost" a class because they used terms like "Mother Focker!" This was one aspect of the cultural sensitivity training that did not catch on as well as it should.

-- A lot of the trainees, especially officers and NCOs, were veterans of Saddam's Army. Some U.S. trainers would openly denigrate the skills of their Iraqi trainees. Worse, trainers sometimes fail to accord Iraqis the respect due their rank, causing them to lose face. This was poor training practices, not just cultural insensitivity.


-- Because of a lack of language skills, many training classes are conducted in English, with a hired translator providing running translation. While some of the translators had a military background (e.g., retired Egyptian officers, etc.), most did not. Moreover, some of the translators didn't actually speak the Iraqi dialect. Egyptian Arabic, for example, sounds to Iraqis much like an upper class British accent would to an American. So the troops often don't get things because of the use of strange pronunciation and terms. The common solution they have is to ask their buddy, so there's often a lot of side conversations going on during a training session. Hence the "Mother Focker!" from the trainer who perceives a lack of discipline.


-- In many bases the US personnel and the Iraqi personnel are pretty much living in segregated environments. Some observers have commented that the training appears to be most effective when there's a relatively high degree of integration among the troops and their trainers. A few small bases with combined mess halls, for example, reportedly have a much higher success rate and the Iraqis have much higher morale, than at larger bases where the two sides are pretty much never in contact. Living conditions are also a factor here. U.S. personnel almost always have much better quarters, bathing facilities, etc.


-- Too many trainers are no older than the Iraqi troops whom they're training. This is a cultural thing, reflecting respect for age. One commentator observed that the two most effective trainers at one base were a very senior Army Warrant and a former Egyptian colonel, both of whom were in their 40s or more, and had gray hair.


While things like this are not the norm, they occur often enough to cause problems, which are at least partially at the root of the very uneven performance of Iraqi units when they're committed to action. Overall, however, the training program seems to be headed in the right direction. Efforts are being made to root out the bad apples. Over all, U.S. training is much better than that provided by the old Army under Saddam. For example, the troops actually get to the firing range regularly. One veteran of eight years service for Saddam had never been to the firing range! A further problem is that the Iraqi Ministry of Defense is very inept. A lot of money just disappears. Even basic supplies, like soap, are hard to come by. Pay is often in arrears, and is still distributed through unit commanders, so skimming is a problem.
Posted by: Steve || 08/09/2005 09:20 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  One commentator observed that the two most effective trainers at one base were a very senior Army Warrant

A near blinding glimpse there.....
Posted by: Shipman || 08/09/2005 10:02 Comments || Top||

#2  Now, compare this with any other training they might have received, and it is still head over heels better. In the US, the expectation is that the vast majority of the class will at least learn the basic fundamentals well enough to function. In most of the rest of the world, instruction is either just identifying what the subject is and trying to motivate the class into going "rah! rah!" about it, literally; or it is empty memorization, such as memorizing the names of all the parts in a rifle--the best students being the best memorizers. Neither of which skills make you in any way capable of using whatever it is you have been taught.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 08/09/2005 11:35 Comments || Top||

#3  Pay is often in arrears, and is still distributed through unit commanders, so skimming is a problem.

So DO something about it then. The ingrained cultural problems may take some time to overcome, but stuff like skimming should be relatively easy to discourage or eliminate. If there is to be a new mindset, the "old ways" have to be eliminated. ALL the old ways.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 08/09/2005 12:51 Comments || Top||

#4  interesting how age and language are an issue. Maybe using some grey hair dye and rather than using well known terms like MF'er, and the like, you can just not give a rip. The latter terms just not expressing or making your point as well.
Posted by: Jan || 08/09/2005 14:46 Comments || Top||


Africa: North
GSPC Terrorists Move North
August 9, 2005: The government believes that a group of GSPC terrorists has moved from the south of the country to the rural areas outside the capital, with the intention of making more attacks. American trainers in the Sahel region, to the south of Algeria, have increased the effectiveness of the troops down there, making life uncomfortable for the Algerian terrorists who had moved south. Only a few GSPC terrorist gangs remain, all of them led by resourceful, and lucky, master terrorists. However, the most common form of GSPC terror is mass killings of civilians, or ambushing police or army patrols. This is often followed by a pursuit through the hills and forests of coastal Algeria. Eventually, the terrorist groups are caught, and most of the members killed in a violent last stand.
Posted by: Steve || 08/09/2005 09:10 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Afghanistan/South Asia
U.S. Servicemember, (16+ Taliban) Die in Afghan Battle
One U.S. service member and at least 16 suspected Taliban rebels were killed in fighting in southern Afghanistan, the U.S. military said Tuesday. The American was killed when Afghan and U.S. forces came under attack during a patrol Monday in southern Zabul province's Day Chopan district, triggering a firefight, the U.S. military said in a statement. U.S. and coalition aircraft provided air support during the clash, it said. Initial estimates showed that at least 16 suspected insurgents were killed, according to the statement.
Posted by: ed || 08/09/2005 09:02 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I suspect that the remaining terrs in Afghanistan cannot operate individually or in small groups owing to a lack of support in the country. Therefore they have to band together in what I call "brigand groups". These make great targets for conventional destruction, and I think the largest of them have already been wiped out. Note that a few weeks ago, battallion sized groups were destroyed. Then a week or two ago, company-sized groups were obliterated. Now what is left are down to platoon sized and smaller. Once these are scratched, there will be a point when squad sized elements can no longer sustain themselves against irate locals and the enemy will be effectively annihilated, with little or no replenishment from outside the country.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 08/09/2005 9:15 Comments || Top||

#2  I hope so, 'moose, but there is still a sanctuary to the southeast.
Posted by: Jackal || 08/09/2005 10:05 Comments || Top||

#3  Much less so. The Pakistanis are too divided to do anything about them in their country. However, el Presidente has come up with a marvelous solution: no foreigners allowed. Not as residents, and not attending madrassas. By kicking them out of Pak, they are no longer their problem, and nobody will lose face if they are exterminated. However, once kicked out, they really have no place to go. On their own or in small groups, the Afghans will eat them for lunch, or if they're lucky, turn them over to the US for a reward. In larger groups, well, let us say that we prefer them that way.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 08/09/2005 11:23 Comments || Top||

#4  However, el Presidente has come up with a marvelous solution: no foreigners allowed.

That'll help with all the domestic nutjobs and whackos. I mean, Christ, do you think the foreigners are at the root of Pakistan's problems? Or are they just the mayo on a massive nutjob sandwich?
Posted by: Robert Crawford || 08/09/2005 13:49 Comments || Top||

#5  The latter. It's a matter of psychology. Remember that the vast majority of troublemakers just can't work up the brazos to leave their own 'hood, much less their own country. However, in this case, if you take a foreigner, say a Chechen, an Uzbek, or somebody from a developed country, they have already proven that they have the intestinal fortitude to leave their nest to defile someone else's. They are 10 times more dangerous than some Paki who just makes trouble in Pakistan. On top of that, the instigator madrassas made the big money off of foreigners--this hits them in the pocketbook. On top of everything else, el Presidente must truly enjoy the prospect of reasserting government authority in the obnoxious enclaves North and South. If the really badass Waziris want to travel to the Iranian part of Waziristan and make severe trouble there again, driving the Iranians bonkers, I'm sure it would be no problem as far as the Pakis are concerned. Last but not least, the new requirement that madrassas have to be licensed much just drive them up the wall. Cockroaches and Imams just hate it when the kitchen light is turned on.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 08/09/2005 14:32 Comments || Top||

#6  The first set of London Tube bombers were Pakistani. Many of the Taliban are actually Pakistani.

Clearing out the foreigners only makes Pakistan a slightly less dangerous place.
Posted by: Robert Crawford || 08/09/2005 14:43 Comments || Top||

#7  Jeez I hope you're right 'moose. I worry that the whole thing is another Pervian smoke screen.
Posted by: Shipman || 08/09/2005 14:55 Comments || Top||

#8  Initial estimates showed that at least 16 suspected insurgentsTaliban terrorists were killed

Now why don't we get any credit from PETA for providing native scavenging wildlife with a source of food?
Posted by: BigEd || 08/09/2005 16:26 Comments || Top||

#9  "16 suspected Taliban rebels were killed in fighting"

Allah to martyrs: Sorry fellers, I'm fresh outa virgins...What's that you say...Hell no you can't go back !..doofuss.
Posted by: Marine Dad || 08/09/2005 17:06 Comments || Top||

#10  Moose,

Thanks for the run down. Good news indeed. I share Ship's concern.
Posted by: Poison Reverse || 08/09/2005 18:44 Comments || Top||

#11  Allah to martyrs: Sorry fellers, I'm fresh outa virgins...

However, I do have these 72 Virginians. He's all yours, gentlemen!
Posted by: SteveS || 08/09/2005 20:16 Comments || Top||


'Militants' kill doctor in Ghazni
Four suspected Taleban militants have attacked a medical clinic killing a doctor and a bystander in central Afghanistan, Afghan officials say. Police reached the area and arrested two of the militants who were injured in the clash, according to Ghazni province governor Haji Sher Allam. A man claiming to speak for the Taleban said they carried out Monday's attack in Andar district. There has been a rise in violence ahead of September's parliamentary elections. "We killed the doctor, Mohammed Hashim, because he was a former communist and he was also spying for the Americans," said Abdul Latif Hakimi, who says he is a Taleban spokesman. Mr Hakimi also told the AFP news agency that the doctor was a candidate in the parliamentary elections.

The UN-supported Joint Electoral Management Body and the interior ministry both deny this. Afghanistan suffers from a severe brain drain and a lack of specialists after decades of unrest. The country is said to have only one doctor per 50,000 inhabitants.

Meanwhile, the US military said in a statement on Tuesday that they had discovered three separate weapons caches in eastern Afghanistan. One cache, discovered near Nangarhar province, included an anti-aircraft gun and hundreds of anti-aircraft rounds. The ammunition was destroyed by explosives experts, the statement said.
Posted by: Steve || 08/09/2005 08:56 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Quote
Police reached the area and arrested two of the militants who were injured in the clash.

Unquote

And what now dumbasses, you killed the person who could treat you.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 08/09/2005 16:02 Comments || Top||

#2  they should've gutshot both of them
Posted by: Frank G || 08/09/2005 22:26 Comments || Top||


Africa: North
Chemist quizzed over London bombs freed
An Egyptian chemist held in Cairo after the 7 July London bombs has been freed after being cleared of any links with the attacks, a security source says.
Cleared by who, his imam?
Magdi al-Nashar, 33, who recently completed a chemistry PhD at Leeds University, had denied any involvement.
"Nope, nope, wasn't me"
He told the Egyptian authorities he had returned to Egypt shortly before the bombings for a holiday, after which he intended go back to England.
I thought you went to Egypt to pick up a wife?
Three of the four 7 July London bombers came from Leeds.
There's something missing in this story. My guess is that he works for the good guys. If so, he just retired from it, since they won't be able to use him again...

Additional: Thirty-three-year-old Magdi El-Nashar has been cleared by Egyptian authorities of having any links with the 7 July London bombings that killed 56 people. El-Nashar -- who has been at the centre of much-publicised investigations since last Thursday -- remained in custody late Wednesday, until the paper went to press. While authorities in the UK did not formally name the Egyptian chemist a "suspect", his name surfaced as part of investigations into the identities of three of the alleged bombers. A link was made between one of them, 18-year-old Hasib Hussain from Leeds, and El-Nashar, who obtained his PhD in biochemistry from Leeds University. Even though El-Nashar admitted to having known Husain, a British-Pakistani, the chemist insisted that he had no role whatsoever in the attacks. By then, however, he had already become something of a household name worldwide, and especially in three of the places where he had lived: North Carolina in the United States; Leeds in the UK; and the Bassatin area of Cairo where he grew up. In Bassatin, his neighbours expressed their disbelief that such "an intelligent, well-educated and refined scholar" could be the subject of suspicion. Many of his neighbours interviewed by Al-Ahram Weekly opined that El-Nashar must have been mistakenly arrested.

Reportedly, El-Nashar told investigators that he had met Husain, whose name appeared in El-Nashar's personal organiser, at a mosque and helped him to rent an apartment in Leeds that belonged to an Iraqi doctor. Further, El-Nashar denied having visited Husain in his flat -- where the British police say they found traces of ingredients used in manufacturing explosives similar to those used in the attacks -- and challenged any evidence of his involvement or knowledge of the blasts.
El-Nashar also denounced the attacks, and explained that he had returned to Egypt on 30 June for a holiday, and was planning to go back to Britain following his release to resume his studies. All his belongings are still in his flat in Leeds, he said.

Asked by interrogators about his religious affiliations and frequent visits to a local Leeds mosque, El-Nashar reportedly said that, "visiting the mosque and being a devout Muslim who prays is not a crime to be taken against me, and does not make me an extremist or a terrorist." Much the same sentiment was echoed by El-Nashar's neighbours in Bassatin. "He performed his prayers at the mosque and so what? All Muslims are required to pray, does that brand us all as terrorists?" one asked. The day following El-Nashar's arrest, the Egyptian Interior Ministry said he had no links with Al-Qaeda network, describing reports linking him to the group as "groundless" and based on hasty conclusions.
"He's innocent, regardless of the evidence"
Despite these denials, speculation about the possibility of extraditing the chemist to the UK continued throughout the week. These rumours were based on a long- standing and well-known Egyptian campaign to bring UK-based militants who had been sentenced by Cairo military courts in absentia back home to serve their time. The possibility was thus dangled that the wanted chemist might be exchanged for them. The prosecutor-general's office, however, appeared to quickly close the door on that possibility, when it issued a statement denying any likelihood of El-Nashar being extradited. If there proved to be valid charges against him, it said, he would be tried and held in Egypt. In any case, there is no extradition treaty between Egypt and Britain.

Meanwhile, in the UK press, allegations continued to be bandied about regarding El-Nashar possibly providing answers about how the bombs were detonated. The extent to which British police were involved in the questioning of El-Nashar in Cairo also remained up in the air. According to British press reports quoting a security source, officers from Scotland Yard had flown out to Cairo shortly after El-Nashar's arrest, and were liaising closely with the Egyptian authorities, although they were not allowed to pose direct questions. At the same time, Egyptian security sources denied that Britain had requested or sent any of its security bodies to take part in the interrogation process, adding that the British police said the questioning carried out by their Egyptian counterparts was "transparent and reliable". Until the paper went to press, there was no comment from the British police confirming or denying such reports.
The British never comment on these things
"There is complete security cooperation with the British side, which is convinced from the questioning carried out by Egypt that El-Nashar has no role in these explosions," a senior security source was quoted as saying.
This is the Egyptian source again
Pending further questioning, added the source, the chemist "will not be released at present".

On Tuesday, Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul- Gheit said that he would be meeting with the British ambassador in Cairo to discuss the latest developments in El-Nashar's case. A British Embassy spokesperson, however, declined to comment on the matter, saying the embassy never discussed ongoing investigations. At the National Research Centre (NRC) where El-Nashar worked for 10 years, his professors were incredulous that such a bright academic personality would become entwined -- even incorrectly -- in a terrorist-related incident. According to NRC head Hani El-Nazer, the "intelligent and clever" chemist started working on his masters in biochemistry in 1996 and finished in 1998. In 2000 El-Nashar applied for a grant at the North Carolina State University for his PhD, where his application was accepted. There, his professor said he needed to update his masters before he could move on to the PhD. Seeing that as a waste of time, he applied for a PhD grant at Leeds University and was accepted. El-Nashar obtained his PhD this year, and returned to Egypt to present his certificate to the NRC for accreditation. He then requested to continue his post- doctoral studies at Leeds where he was due to start in August, which "shows that Leeds University and his professors there encouraged him to continue," El-Nazer said. While not knowing him personally, El-Nazer noted that El-Nashar's reputation is that of a man committed to hard work and academia. El-Nashar, who is currently single, got married in 2000, and divorced a year later. He has a three-year-old daughter, Noha, who lives with her mother in Cairo. According to the imam of the mosque in the neighbourhood where El-Nashar grew up, he used to help high school students with free chemistry lessons.
Like he helped his "students" in Leeds?
Mohamed, El-Nashar's younger brother, described their family as being beloved by his neighbours, for its "decent and tolerant" manners.
OK, possibilities: 1 - He's really innocent. 2 - Still a suspect, but not enough evidence to charge him. 3 - Guilty, but turned States evidence. 4 - Guilty, but Egypt won't extradite, let him go. British knew this ahead of time, didn't show their full hand. Perhaps even playing this hand with the Egyptians. Waiting quietly, watching him closely, hoping he is cocky enough to return to Britian to pick up his stuff. Then they bust him without having to involve the Egyptians in it.
Posted by: Steve || 08/09/2005 08:49 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Chemist quizzed over London bombs freed"

The job he did is going to require multiple interviews. As they say, the pop quiz is over. Now it's time for the real interrogation test.
Posted by: Poison Reverse || 08/09/2005 12:31 Comments || Top||


Iraq-Jordan
US forces surround Haditha to strike gunmen
United States and Iraqi forces continued Monday Operation Quick Strike, targeting insurgency groups in Haditha town, located in the western Iraqi province of Anbar. The joint US-Iraqi forces tightened their grip on Haditha town and Al-Khafajiya village after having total control on the towns of Al-Haqlaniay, Barwana and Al-Hawaija, a Multinational Forces (MNF) source told reporters today.

Eyewitnesses told Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) today that MNF wrecked Barwana Bridge over the Euphrates to isolate the gunmen in Haditha. American warplanes, the eyewitnesses added, intensely bombarded the gunmen's locations in Al-Khafajiya village, which has been cut of power and water for three days. MNF sources said that Operation Quick Strike aimed to surround the gunmen to hit them without allowing them to infiltrate to nearby villages.
Posted by: Fred || 08/09/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  MNF sources said that Operation Quick Strike aimed to surround the gunmen to hit them without allowing them to infiltrate to nearby villages.

Good. Now please, no captures. Find them, and KILL THEM.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 08/09/2005 0:23 Comments || Top||

#2  Yes, yes the Roach Motel manuver. May I suggest, kill them then find them?
Posted by: Captain America || 08/09/2005 1:03 Comments || Top||

#3  Time to cordone off, let the baby ducks, kiddies and the ladies out and then kill every male who won't pledge his allegiance to America with his hand on the Bible!
Posted by: smn || 08/09/2005 4:35 Comments || Top||

#4  stupid's my name is back with his penetrating wit.
Posted by: phil_b || 08/09/2005 5:21 Comments || Top||

#5  Phil_ b, the next US soldier that dies because his men let a smiling waving insurgent pass through the dragnet; I'll think of you and your brilliant thoughts on the remedy!! In your case, smn means: Stupidity aMounts to Nothing!
Posted by: smn || 08/09/2005 5:39 Comments || Top||

#6  This type of operation needs executing in every target rich town. I hope this not a case where we strike a town and then wait around for 20-50 Marines to die. Every town in Iraq needs to operated on, with no anesthesia.

smn,

What are you talking about? Pres. Bush never ordered all the mosque's to be destroyed and be replaced with church's. Leftists have a problem with the concept of "Freedom of Religion." It is not "Freedom from Religion."

Since, you mentioned the Bible, are you aware of the parable of the seed. To summarize the parable, the seed "Word of God/Jesus" falls on rocks, between thorn bushes, or soil. The seed will fall everywhere but it is up to the individual to choose. Hence, the concept of "Freedom of Religion." Also, dictators (including Leftists) doesn't have right to stop the seed from falling. Hence the concept of "Freedom from Religion."

Yes, you guessed it, it is the "Bible" that promotes the freedom to choose any religion. If this was not true, the Christians and Jews have the the military power to force the whole world into Christianity/Judiasm. Got it!!!
Posted by: Poison Reverse || 08/09/2005 5:59 Comments || Top||

#7  Phil_b, obviously I was being facetious in the second part of my #3 statement, however I am very serious on my intention that the US needs an allegiance 'test' for war capable males. If I were an insurgent and I knew I could escape by dropping my weapon, changing clothes, and mingling into the populus for another day fight; I would go for it!!
Posted by: smn || 08/09/2005 6:37 Comments || Top||

#8  damn yall gettin started early today huh
Posted by: Thraing Hupoluper1864 || 08/09/2005 7:19 Comments || Top||

#9  #6 Poison
Nobody expects the Spanish inquisition.
Posted by: KBK || 08/09/2005 8:32 Comments || Top||

#10  Pop a couple in Madrid and the SI runs like little girls [no insult meant to any specific little girls].
Posted by: Flash Hupomoling8954 || 08/09/2005 8:58 Comments || Top||

#11  I believe PR was referring to conditions as they exist here and now, not SIX HUNDRED YEARS AGO
Posted by: docob || 08/09/2005 8:59 Comments || Top||

#12  Given the concept of taqiyyah, the necessary lie told by Muslims to protect the religion from the infidels, a loyalty test of any sort would not work. The Qur'an demands that they make the sworn oath in order to be able to continue the fight unsuspected.

smn, we don't know you well enough yet to know when you are joking. Please note that some way in your posts (a smiley face will do) so as not to trigger annoyed/angry responses. Thanks!
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/09/2005 9:40 Comments || Top||

#13  I hope "smn" was only semi-kidding, and then only about the type of screening process.

How about this:
-1- every male must be vouched for by someone in the town.
-2- the dwelling and family of those doing the vouching is entered into a database
-3- those being vouched FOR are tattooed showing they took the loyalty oath, and WHO EXACTLY vouched for them

Prior to this process beginning we annouce VERY clearly that if one of the vouched-for males is EVER caught of killed on a battlefield fighting against coalition or Iraqi troops, we will return to the village and destroy the dwelling in question and ARREST ALL family members.

There will be LOTS of un-vouched-for males left over. We kill them...period.
Posted by: Justrand || 08/09/2005 11:10 Comments || Top||

#14  IMHO - this operation is a complete waste of time as long as there is sanctuary just across the border in Syria.

What do you think?
Posted by: Yosemite Sam || 08/09/2005 11:24 Comments || Top||

#15  "The only good jihadi is a dead jihadi - and the best jihadi is one that's good and dead."
-- Phil Sheridan (paraphrased)
Posted by: mojo || 08/09/2005 15:02 Comments || Top||

#16  Marine Dad to Allah. You might wanta stock up on young virgins. The Marines are coming for some revenge and their bringing Hell with them !
Posted by: Marine Dad || 08/09/2005 17:12 Comments || Top||

#17  MD,

Thanks for the insider info. The mechanized horse cometh and raisins for everyone.

I greatly thank your son for his service.
Posted by: Poison Reverse || 08/09/2005 17:37 Comments || Top||

#18  Thanks PR. I'm sure that my son Ryan would say 'you are most welcome'.
Posted by: Marine Dad || 08/09/2005 18:02 Comments || Top||

#19  smn:

While it is true that the Quran requires the faithful to be deceptive when captured, so as to fight another day, the same Quran also sets the penalty for apostasy as Death, Without Virgins.

So, the answer is simple. when we parole an islamic fighter, we videotape his apostasy, and when needed, we beam the tape over to Al-jizz, or whoever might be the current conduit to Binny and his Jets.

At the very least, the arguments within the islamic mullahcracy will help tear the mullahs asunder within their own ranks.
Posted by: Rivrdog || 08/09/2005 21:01 Comments || Top||

#20  Hi, Haditha!

Ya'll remember those 14 Marines who were killed last week or so? Well, the Marines have a long tradition of having a long memory...

Ya'll may have heard that "Revenge is a dish best served cold...", right? Well, where the Marines are concerned it oughtta' go,

"Revenge is a dish best served hot, with plenty of lead for extra seasonin'".

Thanks,
LC FOTSGreg

Posted by: LC FOTSGreg || 08/09/2005 21:17 Comments || Top||

#21  I personally and morally have no problem with leveling the town as a lesson. And crapping on the rubble
Posted by: Frank G || 08/09/2005 21:23 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan/South Asia
Osama Bin Yousaf important Qaeda operative: officials
Osama Bin Yousaf, arrested from Faisalabad on Sunday, is said to be an important Al Qaeda operative, a close aide of Abu Faraj Al Libby and Amjad Hussain Farooqi and was in contact with other Al Qaeda operatives in Pakistan and Europe, intelligence officials told Daily Times on Monday.
"We got a winnneeeerrrrr!"
“Bin Yousaf confessed to being part of the Al Qaeda network and to have provided logistic support to militants,” officials added. His cell phone numbers were found in Al Libby’s telephone index after which American and Pakistani intelligence agencies put him on their watch list, intelligence officials said, adding that he was arrested after the Cellular Call Tracking System (CCTS) that was installed in several locations countrywide phone calls made by him to Italy, Germany and the UK. “He called someone in the UK on Thursday, called someone else in Italy on Friday and made two long phone calls to somebody in Germany on Saturday,” officials said.
"Hello? Ma? Hey! It's me, Sonny! How ya like DÃŒsseldorf?"
He would put his cell phone off after making calls due to which intelligence agencies could not trace his exact location, officials added. However, the CCTS traced his location while he was calling overseas after which a team arrived in Faisalabad to hunt him down, they said. “He made a phone call to Peshawar on Sunday and was arrested after that. Law enforcement agents were onto him as soon as he finished his call,” officials added.
"Ma? Hey, I gotta hang up now! The cops have the place surrounded, and they're gonna set fire to it if I don't come out! Talk to you later, okay? Love to Aunt Fatimah!... Right. I'll give your regards to Pinto Face as soon as I see him..."
He told his interrogators that he went to Afghanistan in 1992 and got guerrilla training, officials said, adding that he was injured combating rivals in Afghanistan in 1993 and returned to Pakistan. He again went to Afghanistan in 1995 where he was introduced to Al Qaeda leaders, officials added. Maps of Italy, Germany, Pakistan and the UK, three credits cards, a computer, dozens of CDs, three grenades, two AK-47s and hundreds of bullets were seized from his possession, officials added.
Posted by: Fred || 08/09/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Close buds with Libby and the gang. Let's soften him up first with a rendition of Harry Potter, followed by an injection of sodium
pentathol.

Now, where are those fillings?
Posted by: Captain America || 08/09/2005 0:57 Comments || Top||

#2  "Hey Ma! I got the job!"
/Suicide Bomber.

Ex-Joe Louis joke on joining the Army.
Posted by: Shipman || 08/09/2005 3:06 Comments || Top||


Pakistan, Britain to sign extradition treaty
Pakistan and Britain will soon sign a treaty providing for the extradition of criminals wanted by the two governments, officials on Monday said. “The extradition treaty will be ready for signing as soon as the two countries finalize procedural formalities,” foreign ministry spokesman Naeem Khan told a press briefing in Islamabad. He said the two countries are finalising the treaty at the initiative taken by Pakistan a few years ago. The spokesman said Pakistan also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the UK, which will substantially reduce deportation of Pakistanis, particularly students, from Britain.
That's a step in the wrong direction.
“The MoU on managed migration will also help regulate visas for Pakistani nationals wishing to travel to the UK,” he said.
Any regulation on the number of passports at one time?
Posted by: Steve White || 08/09/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Any regulation on the number of passports at one time?

Well, this is Pakland - how many passports are going to be genuine?
Posted by: Raj || 08/09/2005 10:02 Comments || Top||

#2  I think you can tell by the Religion column.
Posted by: Jackal || 08/09/2005 10:06 Comments || Top||


Two retired soldiers shot dead in Gilgit
GILGIT: Two retired Pakistan Army soldiers Abdul Karim and Asghar Ali were killed on Monday around 10:am at Bargo Village, sources told Daily Times. Sources said unidentified men gunned down the former soldiers. They said the attack seemed to be sectarian in nature, adding that police were investigating the incident. Separately, three people were killed in a road incident at Misgher Village near Hunza, said sources. They said that Sher Ghazi, Sher Azam and Javeed were returning to their village from Central Hunza when their vehicle fell into a deep ditch. They died instantly.
Posted by: Fred || 08/09/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Israel-Palestine
UN workers freed in Gaza
Palestinian militants briefly abducted two UN workers and their driver in Gaza yesterday, before they were freed by security forces in a gunfight. The gunmen, believed to be loyal to Farouk Kaddoumi, a rival of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, stopped a UN vehicle driving through Khan Younis and kidnapped the workers and driver. Soon after, security officers broke into a building where the three were being held and escorted the freed hostages to a police vehicle amid a hail of gunfire that erupted between Palestinian security forces and the kidnappers.
"Idjits! You're threatening our meal ticket!"
Palestinian security officials blamed the kidnapping on a group loyal to Mr Kaddoumi, the most senior member of Mr Abbas's ruling Fatah party.

On Sunday, Mr Kaddoumi's spokesman in Gaza, Suleiman al-Farra, released a statement saying the leader - who skulks about lives in Tunisia - had ordered the creation of an army of 1,500 soldiers to help the Palestinian Authority maintain law and order during Israel's withdrawal from Gaza next week.
"Youse guys need my help! No, no, I'm fine here in Tunis, but you'd better listen to what I say!"
Mr Farra was later arrested by Palestinian security officers. No official reason was given for his ar rest, and Mr Kaddoumi threatened in a handwritten statement harsh punishment if he was not immediately released.
"Har! Youse going to get it! I got plenty o' mouthpieces!"
The incidents were the latest sign of lawlessness and Palestinian infighting in Gaza as government rivals and militants seek to show their power, and clash with security forces trying to consolidate their authority.
Posted by: Steve White || 08/09/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  these jokers can't even maintain a cease fire for a few days
Posted by: Jan || 08/09/2005 1:17 Comments || Top||

#2  "stopped a UN vehicle driving through Khan Younis and kidnapped the workers and driver"

You're here too early, morons!! For the last time, wait til the pullout then line up on the "new" border. That way, when we launch bigger and bigger rockets, the stupid Jooos won't be able to strike back. You know, just like Golan Heights.

And don't let me catch you here, again!
Posted by: Poison Reverse || 08/09/2005 10:06 Comments || Top||

#3  Israel hasn't fired back; the Cease Fire™ is still on.
Posted by: Jackal || 08/09/2005 10:12 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Tue 2005-08-09
  Bakri sez he'll be back
Mon 2005-08-08
  Zambia extradites Aswad to UK
Sun 2005-08-07
  UK terrorists got cash from Saudi Arabia before 7/7
Sat 2005-08-06
  Blair Announces Measures to Combat Terrorism
Fri 2005-08-05
  Binori Town students going home. Really.
Thu 2005-08-04
  Ayman makes faces at Brits
Wed 2005-08-03
  First Suspect in July 21 Bombings Charged
Tue 2005-08-02
  24 Killed in Khartoum Riot
Mon 2005-08-01
  Fahd dead; Garang dead
Sun 2005-07-31
  Bombers Start Talking
Sat 2005-07-30
  25 Held in Sharm
Fri 2005-07-29
  Feds Investigating Repeat Blast at TX Chemical Plant
Thu 2005-07-28
  Hunt for 15 in Sharm Blasts
Wed 2005-07-27
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  Van Gogh killer jailed for life

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