#3
No one has ever looked at all his writings? Looked at them and published a book in English would be closer to the truth. But hey, he's a professor of "religion."
#6
Actually, I went to this article braced for another Ward Churchil-like moonbat academic. But something about it is different. The quote about a "welcome voice.." is ridiculous but the good professor also says that OBL makes no distinction between Democrat and Republican and hated Clinton as much as he hates Bush. This prof is in less denial than a lot of the moonbats and I think the American people do need to look at OBL's words, especially the Fatwas.
Some people think that "to understand is to excuse..." But I think with the Jihadis, the more one understands, the more unforgiveable this whole Jihad nonsense is. That book might be another step toward the Rantburgization of America.
Posted by: John in Tokyo ||
09/15/2005 19:15 Comments ||
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#7
I'm with John: I think I'm going to buy the book and read it. Dr. Lawrence doesn't strike me as a moonbat necessarily, and he may be able to pull out some interesting common themes in OBL's work that would be useful in the WoT.
However, his last book notes "how Muslim nations have always been working for better futures, even though they have been shackled with a legacy of violence from Western colonialism and imperialism.". So there may be a problem. Nevertheless, I think I'll check into the new book.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/15/2005 19:36 Comments ||
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#8
I had a brief correspondence with the (if I recall correctly) assistant dean of Duke on the occasion of their invitation to the PLO, etc to a conference at the university, the one which got them into the news because they condemned Israel and all. The usual stuff. Anyway, this person defended his decision on the grounds that he is the Jewish son of a Holocaust survivor, whose father had not condemned the decision, and anyway it's important to keep open the channels of dialogue with people whose terroristic behaviour is understandable under the circumstances. Professor Lawrence's topic fits well in the Duke milieu. (And, no, the trailing daughters, reasonably bright Jewish grandchildren of Holocaust survivors, will not be permitted to apply to Duke when the time comes... in case anybody wondered. I'm not that masochistic. Or would the correct term be "suicidal"?)
Arabic-language plans for a bomb hidden in a baby's milk bottle could produce an explosion strong enough to destroy an airliner, U.S. experts testified Wednesday in the trial of an Algerian man accused of links to al-Qaida.
Abbas Boutrab, 32, was arrested near Belfast in 2003 with 25 computer disks filled with instructions on building compact bombs and other weapons and on smuggling them onto a plane. He denies any terrorism links, insisting he downloaded the material from the Internet out of curiosity.
Handcuffed and seated between two police officers, Boutrab did not speak Wednesday. His trial in Belfast Crown Court is being held without a jury, a system ordinarily used in Northern Ireland to prosecute alleged members of the British province's homegrown terror groups.
Prosecutors contend that Boutrab - who unsuccessfully sought asylum in the Netherlands, Ireland and the United Kingdom using several aliases - has links to al-Qaida. They cite cell phone records and other unspecified documents seized at Boutrab's home.
Donald Sachtleben, an FBI explosives expert, testified Wednesday that he built and detonated three bombs based on instructions found in Boutrab's home.
Sachtleben said the tests - involving a 7-ounce mixture of potassium chlorate, sulfur, sugar and baby powder - demonstrated the bottle bombs could be exploded in a car or plane. He said the last test showed the explosion could tear apart nearby passenger seats and puncture a plane's fuselage.
He said such a bomb ``would be likely to cause significant damage to the aircraft and cause injury or death to the persons on board.'' He said it also could ``cause catastrophic failure'' of a pressurized aircraft if exploded at high altitude.
Another FBI investigator, Robert Keller, showed the court videotape of the test explosions, which were carried out at an FBI facility in Virginia last December.
At the time of his arrest, Boutrab was seeking work in Northern Ireland using a false passport in the name of Fabio Parenti, an Italian tourist whose passport was stolen at Dublin airport Sept. 1, 2001. Police initially arrested Boutrab on suspicion of being an illegal immigrant, but found the bomb instructions during a search of his home.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/15/2005 00:47 ||
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#1
I have this mental picture of about 2 years from now when the only way anyone will be premitted to fly on any aircraft is chained naked in your seat, with a fresh set of clothes waiting at the destination air terminal.
Stupidity rampant only breeds more stupidity.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/15/2005 1:04 Comments ||
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#2
Al-Qaida but not Irish. No self-respecting Irishman would become Al-Qaida. Come to think of it not even a non self-respecting Irishman would become Al-Quaida. That will happen when pigs fly.
BEIJING (AP) - North Korea insisted Wednesday it should get a nuclear reactor to generate electricity in exchange for abandoning atomic weapons development, but the main U.S. envoy at disarmament talks said Washington and its partners have no intention of meeting the demand.
After his first one-on-one meeting with the North Korean delegation at this round of six-nation talks on the communist nation's nuclear program, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill said the sides "did not make a lot of progress."
"Yesterday was a long friggin' day," Hill said Thursday as he left his hotel. He was expected to meet with Pyongyang's delegation later. "Let's see if we can do a little better today."
Under the offer on the table, North Korea would receive economic aid and security guarantees from Washington along with free electricity from South Korea for dismantling its nuclear weapons program.
The Pyongyang regime has asked for a light-water nuclear reactor, a type believed to be more difficult to be diverted for weapons use. The North was to get two such reactors in a 1994 deal with the United States under which it agreed to give up nuclear arms. That project stalled in late 2002, when U.S. officials said the North admitted to having a secret arms program in violation of the earlier agreement.
"The light water reactor for us is a nonstarter," Hill said Thursday. "We have a pretty good deal on the table (including) security guarantees, a recognition package, access to international financial institutions, and a very serious energy package."
The White House has been highly critical of the 1994 deal, which was reached by the Clinton administration, and says it will not repeat what it sees as past mistakes.
Hill noted Wednesday that North Korea has pursued a nuclear program for 25 years and used it solely to make weapons-grade plutonium for atomic bombs - not for generating electricity. "Not a single light bulb has been turned on as a result of the nuclear reactor in North Korea," he said, referring to the country's main atomic facility in Yongbyon.
Hill warned that the demand for a reactor could become a "major problem" at the talks.
"There's not too many other ways I know how to say 'no' without bitch-slapping the opposing delegate slipping into another language," Hill said of his meeting with the North's delegation. None of the other countries at the talks has stepped forward with an offer to foot the estimated $2 billion to $3 billion cost for building a light-water reactor for North Korea, Hill said, noting it would also take up to a decade to construct. "These are reactors that cost a considerable amount of money, they take a considerable amount of time, and in the meantime ... the same amount of electricity can be pumped into the DPRK in a much shorter time and we can get the DPRK lit up a little more than it is today," he said, referring to North Korea by the initials of its official name.
The South Korean offer to provide the North with electricity could begin delivering power in a few years. "It gives no one any pleasure that the DPRK is literally one of the dimmest darkest countries in the world," Hill said. North Korea "needs to be a little realistic about what it needs to do to get its economy going and get its energy needs met," he said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/15/2005 00:00 ||
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Nork Nuke Need Nixed,
LOL, Steve. we'll have to wait.
Posted by: Red Dog ||
09/15/2005 1:26 Comments ||
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Speak for yourself. I'd make it a hell of a lot darker if I was Prez. South Korea would become an island and the only light they'd have in what used to be Norkland would be irradiated land glowing in the dark. I still remember the Pueblo.
Posted by: mac ||
09/15/2005 5:53 Comments ||
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#3
mac,from yesterday.>Motorcycle Marauders Murder Minority Muslim Man
comment #4) When writing well-written, worldly words of wisdom, one should stay several steps away from alliterations. In fact, always avoid alliterations; Americans' adhere to high standards of grammar, and you're writing will wow worldwide well-wishers, Welshmen, Waziristani Wankers and Weirdos.
Posted by Floling Elmineling5789 2005-09-14 17:21|| Front Page|| Comment Top
#5 ...and **your** writing will wow worldwide well-wishers, Welshmen, Waziristani Wankers and Weirdos.
Posted by Floling Elmineling5789 2005-09-14 17:23|| Front Page|| Comment Top
#6 whoa!
Posted by Shipman 2005-09-14 19:51|| Front Page|| Comment Top
#7 ...Wild...
Mike
Posted by Mike Kozlowski 2005-09-14 20:22|| Front Page|| Comment Top
#8 Wild! Whatr wit! Whatever made you worm your way out of the woodwork and onto the World Wide web?
Posted by Mike 2005-09-14 21:02|| Front Page|| Comment Top
#9 Oh, goodie. We have an English Professor grading the articles.
Posted by Pappy 2005-09-14 23:47|| Front Page|| Comment Top
On todays topic: Norks demands ie. ransome payments for "acting right" (drug smuggling, counterfeiting, bodysnatching,sabotage, WMD proliferation, Pueblo, blowing up airlines etc). the Norks can FOAD.
These are all war like acts..I think it's way past negotiating with them. Time to act.
Posted by: Red Dog ||
09/15/2005 10:34 Comments ||
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September 15, 2005: Australia faces some threats. One of these is from Indonesia, often due to the fact that these two countries have a dispute over a maritime boundary in the Timor Sea. Australia also has a 1,850-kilometer wide maritime identification zone that has raised some hackles among its neighbors.
The major threat to Australian interests would be maritime. Australia, as an island nation (albeit a large one), that relies on maritime trade. This is the same reliance faced by the United Kingdom, and Japan. The major potential opponent is Indonesia. While conflicting claims in the Timor Sea could result in a war, a flash point that is just as likely is the newly (since 2002) independent nation of East Timor, where an Australian-led peacekeeping force stopped violence by militias supported by the Indonesian military. The UN peacekeeping force has been withdrawn as of May, 2005.
A conflict over the maritime boundaries would involve naval and air forces. In both areas, Australia has a significant advantage over Indonesia in terms of quality, and to a lesser, extent, quantity. The Australian Navy boasts fourteen frigates (six Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates that have been modernized to carry SM-2 and Evolved Sea Sparrow Missiles and eight Anzac-class frigates, which will be modernized to carry Evolved Sea Sparrows and Harpoons). These frigates are all modern designs, and are manned by superbly-trained crews. Indonesia has thirteen frigates, only six of which, the Ahmed Yani-class ships, are reasonably modern (carrying Sea Cat surface-to-air missiles and Harpoon anti-ship missiles). The other seven Indonesian frigates (three Tribal-class frigates and four Claude Jones-class frigates), are only armed with guns, and do not have modern fire-control systems. Indonesia also has four light frigates (armed with Exocet anti-ship missiles), and sixteen Parchim I-class corvettes. In terms of submarines, Indonesia has two Type 209-class submarines, but Australia has six Collins-class vessels. The Australian submariners have trained against American carrier battle groups â and have often âtorpedoedâ the carriers in exercises.
The air forces are also miles apart â primarily in quality. Australia has 32 F-111C/G (essentially the same as the FB-111) and 71 AF/A-18A/B Hornets in the inventory. These aircraft are backed by airborne early warning aircraft (four to seven modified Boeing 737s carrying a phased-array radar) and tankers (modified 707s). The RAAFâs combat aircraft carry some of the latest weapons, including laser-guided bombs and Harpoon anti-ship missiles. Contrast that to Indonesiaâs air force, which primarily operates the older F-5 fighter and A-4 attack plane. Its modern fighter force consists of 16 F-16A, 2 Su-27SK, and 2 Su-30MK fighters, plus 16 Hawk 209 light attack jets. Again, Australia has more combat aircraft, which are better. Australian pilots have much more training than the Indonesian pilots, which makes the gap in capabilities even wider in Australiaâs favor.
Should a conflict over East Timor erupt, the relative armies would come into play. Australia will be in the position of relying on the quality of its forces to overcome the quantitative advantage Indonesia has. The Indonesian army (196,000) is nearly four times the size of the entire Australian Defense Force (53,000). The Australian Army uses the Leopard main battle tank, to be replaced by the M1A2 Abrams. Fighting and winning when outnumbered is something the Australians have done in the past. In 1951 a battalion of Australian troops assisted a Canadian infantry battalion and an American tank company in defeating a Chinese division at the Battle of Kapyong. In 1966, two Australian infantry platoons defeated a Viet Cong battalion in the Battle of Long Tan.
Indonesiaâs military has much less experience and gets very little pay, so often Indonesian soldiers have been setting up roadblocks and shaking down drivers. The Indonesian militaryâs combat experience in dealing with the Aceh and East Timor (often against civilians) will not help much against the well-trained Australian Army. Australia is more than capable of taking care of itself in a fight with Indonesia.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/15/2005 10:00 ||
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Australia, as an island nation (albeit a large one),
#2
Indonesia has a larger army but they don't have the logistics to move them around anywhere. Certainly not when faced with Australians air and sea power. It's a non issue unless Australia were to try to invade or something which seems rather unlikely.
MADRID â Spain's largest association of terrorism victims has vowed to stage an unprecedented wave of protests across the country against the government's decision to "surrender to ETA's blackmail". The move by the Association of Victims of Terrorism (AVT) comes amid speculation that the Basque terrorist group will announce a ceasefire and enter into talks with the government, the Spanish daily El Pais reported.
"The government cannot turn its back on its citizens and surrender to the terrorists," AVT president Jose Alcaraz said.
Funny, I thought that was the core of their platform
The opposition conservative Popular Party believes an easing of prison conditions for jailed ETA terrorists could be a condition to push forward eventual negotiations.
But justice minister Juan Fernando Lopez Aguilar denied any softening of prison conditions was on the cards. The government says it will not pay a "political price" to end Basque violence and denies being in secret negotiations with ETA.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/15/2005 11:01 ||
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In WOT politix because the continued economic stumbling of Europe will play into the hands of those who resent the US and back the Islamacists and China as a result. Note also it will ease some inflation here at home if the price of imports falls. Since we're paying for much of the GWOT, this is one way to ease the pain ....
The euro fell against the dollar in Asia for a third day this week on concern economic growth in Europe will be worse than that of the U.S.
The European currency also fell after polls showed German opposition leader Angela Merkel may be forced to share power with Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's party. Merkel is promising cuts in welfare spending and a loosening of labor laws in Germany that if implemented would likely help economic expansion in the country.
``I'm bearish on the euro,'' said Tsutomu Soma, a currencies and derivatives trader at Okasan Securities Co. in Tokyo. ``It's difficult to disregard political uncertainty in Germany, and concern about the economy in the euro region.''
Against the euro, the dollar traded at $1.2233 at 10:25 a.m. in Tokyo, from $1.2286 late yesterday in New York, according to currency-dealing system EBS. The euro was at 135.25 yen, from 135.63 yen.
#4
It would make all our lives easier if Europe would become more prosperous based on fiscal responsibility. Their current direction appears to be headed toward disaster, again, and again the Anglosphere will have to fix it to keep the problems from lapping over the levee to to flood the rest of us.
The leading European nations have paid about 10 per cent more than the US for the oil they consumed during the first half of the year as less sophisticated refineries force Europe to import premium high quality oil.
Germany, France and the UK paid $47.40 a barrel on average for the oil they consumed between January and June, while the US paid $43.10 a barrel, according to data from the International Energy Agency, the industrial countries oil watchdog.
This translates into an additional $4.8bn spent by these three leading European economies on oil imports.
Refineries require complex and costly facilities to distill cheap low quality oil, also know as heavy sour crude, into the petroleum products, such as petrol or diesel, that are in greatest demand. These so-called conversion facilities are common in the US, but less abundant in Europe. They represent about 45 per cent of total north Europe refinery capacity, well below the 75 per cent in the US.
A large amount of conversion capacity makes it easier for US refineries to handle cheaper oil imports from Venezuela or Mexico, whose output is largely low quality oil.
European finance ministers recently urged oil companies operating in Europe to boost ârefinery investmentâ.
French Finance Minister Thierry Breton will meet on Friday with oil companies to discuss their investment plans.
âSeveral companies haven't invested enough in refining,â Mr Breton said on Wednesday.
see, companies exist to serve society and so we need you to suck this up. oh and figure out how to do it under the EU regs but you can't lay anyone off to cut costs either. We know EU is the most competitive economic model in history so we're sure you can do this.
Francisco Blanch, senior oil strategist at Merrill Lynch in London, said that the US has invested more in refinery conversion because it is surrounded by low quality oil producers, like Canada.
European refineries in contrast have concentrated their investment of recent years in complying with strict new environmental regulations.
Narrow differentials between high and low quality oil in the 1900s also discouraged investment in conversion capacity.
But with high quality oil, such as that pumped from the North Sea, becoming scarcer, demand for it has pushed up prices, widening the price differential with low quality oil.
The differential between the prices paid by the US and Europe, traditionally below $1 a barrel in the late 1980s and 1990s, has jumped to $4.20 a barrel so far this year.
Meanwhile, low quality oil, such as that produced in the Middle East, is more abundant and therefore cheaper. Saudi Arabia, Iran and Kuwait have offered recently large discounts on their already low official prices in order to boost demand â suggesting a further widening in the gap later this year.
Analyst forecast that high quality oil will be increasingly scarce in the future and new oil fields coming on stream will produce mainly low quality oil. âThe spare production capacity and the new fields coming on stream are, at the best, medium quality. Many of them, are low quality. So we are going to see the differentials widening in the future,â said an official from a large producer of low-quality oil.
While some sources inside the Pentagon who are believed to be credible have said a secret group identified hijackers a year before the Sept. 11 attacks, former members of the Sept. 11 commission (search) said on Wednesday they weren't buying it.
"Bluntly, it just didn't happen and that's the conclusion of all 10 of us," said Sept. 11 commissioner and former Sen. Slade Gorton (search), R-Wash.
The panelists appeared together Wednesday at a news conference to argue that the response to Hurricane Katrina (search) might have been more successful if more of the recommendations they had made last year had been implemented.
The commissioners, who now belong to the Sept. 11 Discourse Project to oversee the translation of their recommendations into reality, played down claims by the Defense Department's secret "Able Danger" group, whose members have said they identified terrorists in the United States more than a year before the 2001 attacks.
Earlier this month, the Pentagon confirmed that it had identified five people involved with Able Danger who claimed they had either seen a picture of lead hijacker Mohamed Atta (search) or had seen his name on a chart prepared in 1999 by the secret military intelligence unit. The Pentagon said that documents associated with the project had been destroyed.
Rep. Curt Weldon, R-Pa., accused the commission in August of ignoring intelligence about Atta while it investigated pre-attack intelligence and communication failures among U.S. law enforcement and spy agencies. According to Weldon, members of Able Danger identified Atta and three other hijackers as potential members of a terrorist cell in New York City. Weldon said Pentagon lawyers rejected the unit's recommendation that the information be turned over to the FBI in 2000 based on immigration rules at the time.
Two military officers also have publicly come to bat on the side of Able Danger. Army Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer (search) and Navy Capt. Scott Phillpott (search) said the military group identified Atta before the attacks and met with staff members on the commission about their findings.
But the commission's chairman, Thomas Kean (search), said the panel had acquired no evidence anyone in the government knew about Atta before Sept. 11, 2001.
Weldon's spokesman, John Tomaszewski, said no commissioners met with anyone from Able Danger "yet they choose to speak with some form of certainty without firsthand knowledge."
The statements on Wednesday by the Sept. 11 commission come as Congress is set to take up the discussion on Able Danger with a hearing scheduled before the Senate Judiciary Committee later this month.
During the press event, the ex-commissioners also criticized the government for not putting in place changes recommended last year for homeland security and emergency response. They pointed most notably to the failure to improve communication systems, which they said might have saved lives after Hurricane Katrina.
"It is a scandal in our minds that four years after 9/11, we have not yet set aside radio spectrum to insure that police, firefighters and emergency medical technicians can communicate reliably during any kind of attack or any kind of major disaster," Kean said.
The commissioners also faulted state, local and federal authorities responding to Katrina for not having a clear chain of command, leading to some of the same confusion that plagued the Sept. 11 rescue effort.
"Many of these recommendations proposed by the 9/11 commission one year ago might have made a difference in saving lives and preventing loss of lives in this hurricane," said member Tim Roemer, a former Democratic congressman from Indiana.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/15/2005 00:28 ||
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When does the 9/11 Intercourse Project end their run? When will these worthless bastards (and bastardite) crawl back under their rock of obscurity?
Posted by: Captain America ||
09/15/2005 0:57 Comments ||
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#2
The 9/11 Commission needs to release the minutes from each and every meeting they had during their investigation.
Posted by: Chris W. ||
09/15/2005 9:28 Comments ||
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#3
well, of course they'd say that....they've already been caught in one lie...
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/15/2005 11:09 Comments ||
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#5
These jerks are making me start to wonder if there really was a second shooter on the grassy knoll.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
09/15/2005 12:06 Comments ||
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#6
"Hey - you can't make fun of us - we were so speshul that we even had our own flag. Why, we could've declared our independence from chimpy BusHitler while we were lathering on that whitewash for Clinton. Camelot II must be maintained! It is a moral imperative of the cultural elites to undermine this cowboyism and restore PCism to its rightful preeminence! Dickie Clarke and Sandy Burgler and what's-her-name, er, Gorlicked, yeah, were heroes! We packed the audience to make our sound bytes spiffier and cooler. Then the Black Witch showed up and made a hash of everything with her perfect recall and patience. grumble-grumble. mumble-mumble."
#7
"'It is not fit you should sit here any longerâyou have sat too long for any good you have been doing lately. You shall now give place to better men.' 'Call them in!' he exclaimed; and his officer Harrison and a file of soldiers entered the House. Then proceeding, 'You are no parliament! Some of you are drunkards 'âbending a stern eye upon Mr. Chaloner; 'some of you are _______ ,' a word expressive of a worse immorality, and he looked here at Henry Marten and Sir Peter Wentworth â'living in open contempt of God's commandments. Some of you are corrupt, unjust personsâhow can you be a parliament for God's people? Depart, I say, and let us have done with you. Go!'"
-Oliver Cromwell
Posted by: Mark E. ||
09/15/2005 14:16 Comments ||
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Sane profs are increasingly speaking out against the left-wing ideologies in which campuses are steeped.
A Boston University history professor has started a media watchdog Web site to grade journalists on their reporting of historic events out of the Middle East, and eventually elsewhere.
Richard Landes, a professor of medieval French history, said he was so disturbed by what he saw as pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel reporting by the media that he lined up some funding and support to launch this week a Web site called the Second Draft (seconddraft.org).
The site currently concentrates on what Landes calls the ``Pollywood'' coverage of the Palestinian-Israeli struggle â one Landes says is often aided by Palestinian film crews and reporters who present what he says are biased film clips and photos to a Western media that ends up using the material in television and newspaper reports.
``This is real grassroots stuff,'' Landes said of his site. ``I'm doing this as a citizen historian. . . . The people in the media are so reluctant to discuss such things.''
There are those who argue just the opposite of Landes â that the American media has been too soft on Israel and that critics of Middle East coverage are biased themselves, whether pro-Palestinian or pro-Israeli.
But Landes â whose Web site title plays on the phrase about journalists writing ``the first draft of history'' â said he has raw video proof on his site of a famous 2000 confrontation between Palestinians and Israelis. The video shows the event was partially staged by Palestinians, he said.
``We're not saying the media has got to get it right all the time,'' Landes said, noting deadlines and other constraints make it hard to sort and present facts during the rush of events.
But media outlets that continue to repeat untruths, he says, is something that needs reporting.
Landes said he hopes to cover other issues in the future, such as the turmoil in Sudan.
#6
Remember things generally start out without 'credentials' but by the nature of cultural evolution, grow to the point where official 'university' paper status is generated. The first computer geeks existed before there were college programs, usually composed of people who were 'drafted' from accounting and personnel. Now you have to years of 'schooling' and a piece of paper for legitimacy, unless you're going to create a monster [i.e. MicroBorg]. Now we're to level two of formalizing the next evolutionary step created by pioneers like Rantburg and Little Green Footballs. Congrats to all around for their small part in what appears to be the birth of a real fifth estate and the rebirth of true 'democracy' for the 21st century.
SAN DIEGO â The Bush administration said Wednesday it will fortify the westernmost stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border over the objections of environmentalists and California regulators, who feared the project would harm a refuge for endangered birds... The move sets up the latest clash between the Bush administration and the state's Coastal Commission, which has denied the Border Patrol permission to proceed with the project...
Plans call for two additional fences running parallel to the 12-year-old corrugated steel barrier along the border. A patrol road and series of lights would run between the first and second fences, and a maintenance road would run between the second and third set of fences. Sensors and cameras would track any movement. Previous estimates have pegged the project at $58 million, but [Border Patrol Chief] Aguilar said the final cost had yet to be determined...
Concern over illegal immigration led Congress to pass legislation in 1996 requiring the Border Patrol to strengthen the westernmost 14-mile stretch of the border. Nine miles were fortified, but environmental concerns and lawsuits held up construction on the last 3œ miles leading to the ocean and 1œ miles farther east. Earlier this year, Congress gave [Homeland Security Secretary] Chertoff the power to sign a broad environmental waiver to finish the job, citing fears that terrorists could slip through an unsecured border.
Mexico has objected to the fencing. A spokesman for Mexican President Vicente Fox said in May that the president lamented the project and said constructing walls was not the best way to solve the challenges on the common border. Foreign Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez has called the plans "inappropriate."
The California Coastal Commission was particularly concerned about the Border Patrol's plans to fill a deep, half-mile long canyon known as "Smuggler's Gulch," with 2.1 million cubic yards of dirt, enough to fill 300,000 dump trucks. Commission members feared filling the canyon would erode soil near a federally protected estuary that is a refuge for threatened and endangered birds. The Border Patrol said it would take steps to reduce environmental harm... The Border Patrol said cutting off illegal border crossings will also stop foot traffic in the wetlands.
Peter Douglas, the commission's executive director, did not immediately return a message seeking comment. The commission has also locked horns with the Bush administration over its plans to extend leases for oil and gas drilling off the Central California coast.
Serge Dedina, executive director of Wildcoast, a San Diego based coastal conservation group, said the fencing would do nothing to deter illegal immigration and would only worsen the fragile Tijuana Estuary.
"This project is just basically pork barrel and national security hysteria at its worst," Dedina said.
#2
I'd suggest some light reading on the Maginot Line.
Well, we'll have to make sure they don't outflank us by going through the Ardennes.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/15/2005 8:44 Comments ||
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#3
"A spokesman for Mexican President Vicente Fox said in May that the president lamented the project and said constructing walls was not the best way to solve the challenges on the common border."
No shit? How about stemming the tide on the Mexican side of the border? Just a thought.
#4
No shit? How about stemming the tide on the Mexican side of the border? Just a thought
They'll clean up their destructive corruption which undermines their economy at about the same time Louisiana does. Till then, there's no motivation to implement real change to the situation.
#5
illegals leave trash, diapers, empty water containers and start wildfires. The "conservation" groups oppose federal efforts to stop illegals and have been the water-carrying whores for open borders, totally against their "principles". By the way, there was no "clash" - Feds won free and clear
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/15/2005 12:03 Comments ||
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#6
Good fences make good neighbors.
R. Frost
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
09/15/2005 12:05 Comments ||
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#7
2 things.
1) As far as the maginot line goes, we are not talking Guderian and Rommel trying to get flank it. If thats the best counter argument you have, then you lose. Badly.
We are talking about placing barriers to greatly reduce the ease of crossing illegally, not to stop an armored division. And also extending them across the entire border eventually. The lesson of the Maginot line is that you need defense in depth, and across the entire frontier, not in spots, and in a thin crust. This is just a start in one of the most vulnerable and easy places to cross. It forces the illegals into much more difficult areas, where they are easier to detect and less likely to attempt it due to hardships.
This barrier is to ensure that those attempting to cross are at significant risk of being detected and captured. It needs to be backed up by internal measures against businesses who encourage illegals by hiring them, etc. And some teeth in the laws so that there are serious consequences to be paid for breaking the immigration laws, especially for repeat offenders.
2. The ultimate solution is for Mexico to provide a decent political and economic condition for its people.
This will not happen until the Mexican government is completely changed - and that will not happen until they are forced to fully deal with the full consequences of their corrupt socialist policies. And that itself will not happen until they no longer have the US economy as a pressure-relief or as a crutch.
Hence, building a fortified border area, and patrolling it to prevent illegal immigration, is the best thing we can to to help Mexico in the long run. ON our side, it slows down the illegal immigrants problem, enables a "green card" type guest worker program (with appropriate controls anc checks), and increases the security of the nation.
#8
I'm curious just how far out to sea will these barriers run, 100 yards?
There are two easily bypassed areas at the Texas and California coasts that simply cannot be "Walled Off"
As for the "Maginot Line" statements, they were bypassed, not breached.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/15/2005 13:57 Comments ||
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#9
Fill smugglers canyon with water and create a massive wetland. Then prosecute anyone who tries to cross said wetlands under environmental protection laws.
Posted by: ed ||
09/15/2005 15:30 Comments ||
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#11
Warning! Thread hijack!
Actually, the Maginot Line was a sound defensive idea. It greatly reduced the area for open maneuvers, and the Germans were better than, well, anybody, at open maneuvers.
The major problem wasn't the Maginot Line itself, but the way Gamelin deployed his army. The very best units were, of course, sent into Belgium to meet what they thought was the big offensive, but many other first-line units were actually deployed behind the fortresses, while some of the "Fortress" units (which had little artillery, since the forts had intrinsic artillery) were deployed in the open field, where they were torn to shreds. In short, they built this chain of fortifications, then deployed their army as if it didn't exist.
Now, the French army had some major doctrine problems and such, but if you assume no improvement there, but simply move divisions around to strip the units manning the Maginot Line to the bare minimum, then put in a defense in depth in the Ardennes, you have a good chance of holding long enough to rescue the guys who went into Belgium. The superior German doctrine and training generally let them win eventually, but it's a lot longer and costlier battle, and with the Germans occupied in the West, Stalin might be tempted...
#12
Actually the problem ws not the Maginot Line but at Sedan. Some idiot or traitor had decided that the Ardennes was unpassable so in that zone there was only a thin, thin line of troops (one divison for twenty kilometers, at that time the norm was one for three kiometers) and these were old (40 years and up) poorly trained and reservists with WWI equipment. Against that thin line the Germans launched 7 or their 10 armored divisions and a lot of infantry.
In fact if before the war the French high command had sent even a single officer to "spend his holidays" into the Ardennes it would have known that there were a myriad tracks or little roads in it who made it easy to cross ven by mechanized units.
Also a French historian who at that time was serving as captain, swears that prior to the attack he was sent to Corps headquarters and he saw a map who evidenced that the French knew about the big german concentration facing the Ardennes but he was told that the Ardennes were impassable and that the Germans would go north to meet head to head with the British and the main body of the French Army.
#14
rjschwarz: actually, the wetlands idea is not that far from a practical solution for large area denial. A combination of water-catchment trenches and hardy, very difficult to penetrate cactus and similar vegetation, would just make an area too difficult for most people to cross.
The catchment captures the rare rain to support continued growth of the plants, and though it would only be effective in covering a small area, it would channel illegals into fewer routes of travel. Used in combination with natural and man-made obstacles, such area denial could have a major impact on the volume of traffic.
And that should be the strategy: not trying to halt all illegal immigration, but to reduce its volume to the point of diminishing returns. That is, spending $10,000 to stop 10,000 illegals is far more efficient than spending another $10,000 to stop number 10,001.
#15
so long overdue. I'd like to see illegals shipped back as well. We have so many illegals here and they don't seem to be worried anymore about being detected as an illegal as nothing is ever done. When will we start shipping them back!
Posted by: Jan ||
09/15/2005 20:46 Comments ||
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ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) - The trial of a man charged with joining al-Qaida and plotting to assassinate President Bush will go forward next month, despite the objections of prosecutors who sought a delay.
Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, 24, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to a new nine-count indictment including charges of conspiracy to assassinate the president, conspiracy to commit aircraft piracy and contributing services to al-Qaida. He faces up to life in prison if convicted. The new charges supersede a six-count indictment handed up in February that made the same general allegations against Abu Ali, but the initial charges carried maximum prison terms of 15 years.
Prosecutors allege that Abu Ali confessed to joining al-Qaida in 2002 or 2003 while in college in Saudi Arabia, and that he discussed numerous terrorist plots, including a plan to assassinate Bush through a suicide bombing or sniper attack. He also discussed plans to hijack planes on foreign soil and fly them into U.S. targets, according to the indictment.
Abu Ali says he was tortured into a false confession by Saudi authorities, and that U.S. authorities were complicit in his torture by turning the other way working with the Saudis.
He lived in Soodiland and didn't know how things worked?
At a brief arraignment Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee set an Oct. 24 trial date, the same as had been scheduled under the old indictment. Prosecutors had sought an unspecified delay for several reasons, including the need to process and disclose classified information to defense lawyers. They also claimed that Abu Ali did not cooperate with the government's medical expert, who was conducting a mental examination of him. Defense medical experts have said Abu Ali was physically and psychologically tortured and suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Unlike most al-Q victims who are just dead.
Abu Ali's defense lawyers did not specifically address the government's request for a delay at Wednesday's hearing, but they generally have opposed efforts to delay proceedings, citing their client's right to a speedy trial.
One of the three lawyers representing Abu Ali Wednesday was Nina Ginsberg, appointed this week because Abu Ali's other lawyers do not have security clearances to see classified evidence in the case. Prosecutors have said they possess some potentially exculpatory classified evidence that they had been unable to give to the defense because nobody was authorized to see it.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/15/2005 00:00 ||
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WASHINGTON (AP) - The architect of the memorial to a plane downed in Pennsylvania on Sept. 11, 2001, said Wednesday he would work to satisfy critics who complained that it honors terrorists with its crescent-shaped design.
Designer Paul Murdoch said he is "somewhat optimistic" that the spirit of the design could be maintained. "It's a disappointment there is a misinterpretation and a simplistic distortion of this, but if that is a public concern, than that is something we will look to resolve in a way that keeps the essential qualities," Murdoch, 48, of Los Angeles, said in a telephone interview.
Murdoch's design, "Crescent of Embrace," was selected last week during a meeting of the Flight 93 Advisory Commission from five narrowed down from 1,011. The recommendation of the 15-member jury consisting of design professionals and family and community members still needs to be approved by the Interior Department. Its shape is a circle broken by the flight pattern of the plane, which supporters have said follows the topography of the crash site.
Chris Martin, spokesman for Flight 93 National Memorial, said Wednesday family members and federal advisory commission members turned to Murdoch for assistance.
Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., sent a letter Tuesday to National Park Service Director Fran Mainella saying many have questioned the shape "because of the crescent's prominent use as a symbol in Islam - and the fact that the hijackers were radical Islamists." Will Adams, spokesman for Tancredo, said Wednesday Tancredo would be happy with the changes only if the crescent shape is removed.
Murdoch said he's not sure exactly what changes he would make.
The memorial also consists of a chapel with 40 metallic wind chimes - one for each victim. It would include pedestrian trails and a roadway to a visitor center and the actual crash site. At the site would be a crescent-shaped cluster of maple trees and a white marble wall inscribed with the victims' names. "We called it a crescent because it was a curving land form. We called it 'Crescent of Embrace' because of the symbolic gesturing of embracing this place," Murdoch said. "There's no desire to make this a divisive memorial."
Gordon Felt, of Remsen, N.Y., whose brother Edward Felt was killed on Flight 93, said he called Tancredo's office and said Tancredo should have held off on his criticism. "I wish he would come out to Somerset and see topography of the land," Felt said.
Felt said it is natural for the design to evolve. "I think the topography of the land would really dictate there would be some kind of arc," Felt said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/15/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
I appreciate the architect's stated willingness to address the questions in a thoughtful manner. He didn't instantly respond to the accusations by denouncing Chimy McBushitler and his fascist Rethuglicans. He probably will eventually, but for now he seems sane.
So much empty talk, so few willing to act... So many lining up to scam or manipulate the process wherever possible.
The age of the UN has passed. It is a shithole of corruption and duplicitous double-dealing. It should be scrapped, at best, or mocked with vetos against every action, at worst. It is the least capable or efficient means available to address any issue of importance. The ROI is non-existent.
UNITED NATIONS: Incitement to terrorism is to be banned worldwide under a UN Security Council resolution unanimously adopted on Wednesday and promoted by Britain in the wake of the London bombings. Resolution 1624 calls upon all 191 UN member states to "prohibit by law incitement to commit a terrorist act or acts" and to "deny safe haven" to anyone even suspected of incitement. Its adoption - against the backdrop of this week's World Summit at UN headquarters - was a personal coup for British Prime Minister Tony Blair, two months and two weeks after the worst terrorist attack ever on British soil.
"The terrorists have their strategy, and we should have a strategy as well," said Blair as he took his turn to speak before the Security Council, the UN's 15-nation core decision-making body. "Terrorism won't be defeated until our determination is as complete as theirs, our defence of freedom is as absolute as their fanaticism, our passion for democracy as great as their passion for tyranny." UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said terrorism "constitutes a direct attack on the values the United Nations stands for... We must thus be at the forefront of the fight against terrorism."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/15/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Whew! We can all sleep soundly now.
Posted by: Rafael ||
09/15/2005 1:37 Comments ||
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#2
I need to go take a shower after reading this bunch of crap.
From the Dept. of Be Careful What You Wish For:
The European Court of Human Rights condemned Turkey on Tuesday over the killing of two men by security forces in 1996 during an operation against suspected members of the separatist rebel group, the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). The court ruled that Turkey had violated article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights on the right to life and also criticised the "inadequate inquiry" by the Turkish authorities into the killings of Omer Bayram and Ridvan Altun in the southern Adana region.
I guess the Turks weren't too curious about the fate of the PKK guyz...
It awarded EUR 31,000 in damages to Hamiyet Kaplan, the partner of Bayram and 1,200 euros to Fatma Kaya, the wife of Altun, as well as EUR 20,000 to the legal beneficiaries of each man.
In a separate case, Turkey was condemned by the Strasbourg-based court for violation of the right to freedom of expression after a member of the Popular Democratic party was sentenced to one year's jail and fined after an address to his party's congress in 1997. The court found that his address could not be qualified as a 'speech of hate' and his conviction by the State Security Court under an anti-terrorism law was "disproportionate" and "not necessary in a democratic society". It ordered damages of EUR 6,000 be paid to Tahir Han.
But in a second freedom of expression case, Turkey was cleared by the court over the two year prison sentence, later reduced to a small fine, given to an editor over insults to 'God, Religion, the Prophet and the sacred book' in a provocative publication entitled 'Yasak Tumceler' (the banned sentences). The court ruled that the conviction "aimed to provide a protection against offensive attacks concerning the questions considered as sacred by Muslims".
Only Allenists must be protected from being offended, only Allenists have the human right to not be humiliated. Or even questioned.
#1
1,200 Euros to Fatima. Are they trying to tell us something about her value, the value of her husband or the value of Kurds in general?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
09/15/2005 7:42 Comments ||
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#2
Life is really cheap at the ECHR it would appear. Guess being alive is just not among the higher valued human rights eh?! I'm sure the Turks are thrilled with it too.
I don't mean to be rude, but at some point somebody is probably going to have to do something about this. These camps have been running more or less round the clock, barring minor disruptions from Filippino military incursions, and JI is going to stay alive and kicking as long as they can continue to churn out recruits. The same is also true of the LeT camps in Pakistan, IMO.
A TOWN MAYOR IN NORTH Cotabato confirmed Wednesday that some out-of-school youth in Central Mindanao who have been displaced by previous skirmishes between the military and rebels were recruited to join the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) in the province.
Luzviminda Tan, mayor of Kabacan town in North Cotabato, told the Inquirer that alleged extortionist Abas Limbuan Kalim disclosed the ongoing training of JI recruits in Carmen town during a tactical interrogation.
"He (Kalim) averred that on Aug. 5, he managed to recruit eight Muslim teenagers from Alamada town and in Isulan, Sultan Kudarat," the mayor said.
"The recruits are undergoing demo farming in Barangay Malapag, Carmen. But it's only a front, the trainers are injecting doctrine of JI," Tan said.
Policemen, led by Midsayap police chief Supt. Chino Mamburan, arrested Kalim and Michael King Arania Yap last week for allegedly extorting protection money from Tan. They were arrested in front of the Land Bank office in Midsayap.
Tan said on Sept. 5, Kalim attended an Islamic symposium hosted by Uztads Morshed Mano in Barangay Malingao in Midsayap.
"He attested that Mano is a member of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and is a principal suspect in a series of bomb attacks in Kabacan and nearby cities," Tan said.
But the mayor denied reports that some of those recruited were students from the University of Southern Mindanao in Kabacan.
Earlier, North Cotabato Gov. Emmanuel Pi€ol, a known critic of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), ordered an investigation of the reported JI training in his province.
In another development, a ranking Marine official confirmed that some members of the MILF have been coddling the group of al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf leader Khadaffy Janjalani, who is on the run in Maguindanao province.
But Brig. Gen. Ben Dolorfino, commander of the Philippine Marines 2nd Brigade said in a phone interview that rebel Commander Kagui Samir, brother of the late rebel leader Hashim Salamat, was not among them, contrary to earlier reports.
Dolorfino is also chair of the government's Adhoc Joint Action Group (AHJAC).
The AHJAC is composed of representatives from the government and MILF and is tasked with interdicting terrorists and kidnappers.
Dolorfino made the clarification following a published military intelligence report that Samir Salamat provided refuge to Janjalani.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/15/2005 01:01 ||
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DENYING reports that members of the al-Qaeda linked Jemaah Islamiah are recruiting students of the University of Southern Mindanao, Mayor Luz Tan of Kabacan instead alleged that the Indonesian-based terror group is training out-of-school youths from Alamada, Sultan Kudarat and Isulan to carry out terror attacks in key areas in Mindanao.
âThey are not USM students but out-of-school youths from evacuation cenÂters,â he said.
Tan confirmed the presence of Jemaah Islamiah after two alleged members were captured in Midsayap, Cotabato, and taken into custody for interrogation. He alleged that the members being interrogated include out-of-school youth trainees from Bagumbayan, Alamada, Matingao and Isulan.
âThere were two monthsâ actual training at the Matingao Agricultural Development Education and South Matingao in Barangay Manapad, Carmen, Cotabato,â Tan said.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines has intensified its round-the-clock antiterror drive following reports that Maguindanao is the training ground for new recruits of Jemaah Islamiah and Abu Sayyaf Group.
The AFP strengthen its security in all key government installations in Maguindanao, especially power, communication and water facilities, following intelligence reports of impending terrorist attacks.
Military reports confirmed that a new batch of trainees graduated after one month of training in areas of Maguindanao that the military refused to identify.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/15/2005 00:59 ||
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KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 14 (Bernama) -- Malaysia decided to allow the Thai military to interview the 131 Thai Muslims who are currently seeking refuge in Kelantan, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said Wednesday.
Najib said the interview would be done jointly with the Malaysian authorities. He said Malaysia wanted to establish how many of them were considered as security threats to Thailand.
The 131 Thai Muslims fled to Malaysia recently, claiming that their lives were under threat from the Thai security forces.
Iran is ready to share its nuclear technology, considered to be a front for bomb-making by anyone with half a brain Washington, with other Islamic countries, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying on Thursday. The comments were likely to heighten Western concerns about Tehran's nuclear program just ahead of a key meeting of the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog this month which could decide to refer Iran to the U.N. Security Council for punitive action.
"The Islamic Republic never seeks weapons of mass destruction and with respect to the needs of Islamic countries, we are ready to transfer nuclear know-how to these countries," the official IRNA news agency quoted Ahmadinejad as saying.
Washington and its allies say Iran has failed to provide full and timely information about its nuclear program and are alarmed that Tehran last month broke U.N. seals at a uranium processing facility. A vote on sending Iran's nuclear case to the U.N. Security Council may be taken at a meeting of the
International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) board on September 19. However, Western diplomats acknowledge that many non-aligned countries and the IAEA itself oppose referring Iran at this stage. Seeking to avert referral to the Security Council, which could impose sanctions, Iran is engaged in intense lobbying for support from non-aligned countries at the U.N. summit.
Iran insists it has every right as a signatory of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to develop a full atomic program to generate electricity. "We have firmly decided to use this technology for peaceful purposes within the framework of the NPT, international regulations and cooperation with the IAEA," IRNA quoted Ahmadinejad as saying. "Peaceful" uses in the same way that Islam is a Religion of Peace™
Like Iran, Egypt has been accused of carrying out undeclared nuclear work which Cairo says was linked solely to peaceful applications such as power generation and desalinization.
Iran, which received much of its own nuclear know-how from Islamic neighbor and nuclear weapons power Pakistan, says it wants to produce at least 6,000 MW from nuclear power by 2021 with eventual plans to generate 20,000 MW from atomic reactors.
#5
The mullahs haven't got us worked into a tizzy yet, so they're upping the ante.
Another reason to be glad Kerry didn't get elected.
Posted by: Bobby ||
09/15/2005 14:50 Comments ||
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#6
He means with the soon to be Islamic States of France and Germany. Luckily, though Europe has a strong defense force, because they're going to need one. They're on their own.
In a presentation for International Atomic Energy Agency officials and the 35 countries on its governing board, U.S. Energy Department officials detail evidence claiming to show that Iran remains committed to developing a nuclear weapon and is deceiving the international community, ABC News has learned.
ABC News has obtained a copy of the 43-slide PowerPoint computer presentation, which was delivered to IAEA Board members in the run-up to its meeting Monday, when Iran's nuclear program will be the subject of debate.
U.S. officials have been working hard to persuade members of the agency's governing board that Iran remains determined to develop a nuclear weapon and should be referred to the United Nations Security Council for violations of its agreements with the IAEA.
The presentation, including both satellite imagery and talking points, argues that Iran's claims that it seeks only a peaceful nuclear power program "do not hold up under scrutiny." To support its claims, it cites "long standing safeguards violations" and a "pattern of concealment," including the construction of "dummy buildings" at Natanz, Iran's uranium enrichment complex, to conceal ventilation shafts.
The briefing's second section addresses the apparent lack of plausible reasons for Iran's investment in nuclear power, noting that Iran lacks the uranium ore to support a commercial-scale nuclear power industry, and that similar investments in its oil and gas infrastructure would reap far greater economic rewards. The presentation concludes by arguing that Iran's development of the nuclear fuel cycle â mining, uranium conversion, enrichment â is scaled to the size of a nuclear weapons program and not a nuclear power one.
According to a U.S. official familiar with the Iranian nuclear issue, the unclassified presentation is the work of two Energy Department labs: Los Alamos National Laboratory and Pacific Northwest National Laboratories.
There is no consensus yet among IAEA Board members that Iran is guilty of maintaining a nuclear weapons program. France, Germany and the United Kingdom have been urging Iran to resume a suspension of its nuclear activities to avoid a potential referral of the matter to the United Nations.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/15/2005 01:14 ||
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#1
briefs or boxers? Don't really matter. There's no there there.
Posted by: Captain America ||
09/15/2005 2:41 Comments ||
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UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 14 - A few months after the United States and India elevated their relationship to a new level with a broad accord, a fresh irritant has disrupted the friendship - the Bush administration's insistence that a reluctant India join in the confrontation over Iran's suspected nuclear weapons program.
India, with a longstanding friendship with Tehran, is demurring.
Posted by: DanNY ||
09/15/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
I think there is this perception that India is Uncle Sam's friend. I would call India a borderline enemy - not quite China, but a long way from even South Korea. Note that India did not send combat troops to South Korea - the only war to attain almost universal UN approval. India also supported the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. If we are providing first-line military equipment to India, we are making a big mistake.
#2
Note that just about every Western European power sent troops to Korea to duke it out with Kim Il-Sung's and Mao Zedong's hordes. Ethiopia, the Philippines and Thailand sent troops. Australia and New Zealand did. But India stayed out.
#3
It's true that India didn't send troops to the Korean War. But they did send a MASH unit that "quickly gained the respect of Commonwealth troops for its high-quality medical care and the courage of its people when under fire" And during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, India supported the Northern Alliance and the Soviet forces, while we supported the forerunners of the Taleban.
To say India is a borderline enemy is pretty shortsighted. As with any country, they will look after their best interests first. At this time most of their "best interests" seem to converge with ours, so we should work with them--we need to for the War on Terror to be successful by any stretch of the imagination. In addition, India is one of the few countries in the world with a positive view of the US, President Bush, and Americans in general. Having one-sixth of the world's population on our side is worth striving for.
#5
"India is one of the few countries in the world with a positive view of the US"
Heh. I think I'll add a little "color commentary" to this thread...
While, overall, I don't disagree with the action / policy elements of your post - you have to admit there's at least one psych text on schizophrenia in that little notion. I knew a gaggle (apropos) of Indians in Saudi - to say they liked America would be laughable... Referring to the US Govt, and any US policy, not a chance.
To say they had a positive view of Americans doubly so - just bullshit - way off the mark. There was a batch of about 10 working for the same JVC outfit I did in Saudi. Lots of nicey-nice smiles until you got to know them a little and treated them as equals - then it changed - not for the better. As long as they didn't know you, they were so polite and deferential, fawning almost. When you tried to befriend them to any degree, and they realized you didn't think you were better than they were, then they suddenly acted as if they must be better than you... and dared to lecture me, and others, on our shortcomings, bad Govt, unfair advantages, yadda³. In other words - the adage about Germans, "They're either at your throat or at your feet." DEFINITELY applied to the Indians. I've never seen that behavior in Germans, so I'll leave that for others. The Indians were assholes.
I came to blows with one over the asshat Muzzy who tossed a grenade in his commander's tent in Kuwait. A guy in the office read the story's particulars aloud so all present that day (1 US - me, 2 UK, 1 IN) could discuss, he giggled. Words followed. He thought it was funny - they got what they deserved. I felt very differently and said so, but he decided he would be a prick about it and kept up a stream of idiotic comments - specifically and directly challenging me. I ran him down and bashed him in the head - as he tried to run away. After he quit whimpering, he was utterly outraged that I could or would touch him - and seemed to presume I'd go to prison or something for whacking him. The asshole.
He didn't have a fucking clue what individualism was, yet he thought he understood Americans to a T. When a Scot who was present, an ex-para and smart as hell, explained that he had asked for it - he was clueless, sputtering and whining at the same time. He, and his buddies, were pluperfect retards, in fact, regards us and the last 50-100 years of history - and perhaps much more. My favorite social fact regards them was that all of them were subject to their father's will, without question, until freakin' death. Plenty of bullshit in their society and world view, but I didn't presume to lecture them on their customs, attitudes, and norms. To say there was a shitload of mistaken ideas about us, in particular, is an understatement. And, as with all half-informed groups, they were arrogant to a breathtaking fault and wouldn't accept any correction. We've seen that sort of commentary here on RB - from someone who got all his miracles second-hand, as well. People can be remarkably dense and pig-headed.
Perhaps a batch of 10 isn't sufficient to judge an entire country of a bafuckingzillion people - but the description fit them all, and I mean all of them, so I suggest doubt is definitely due for any broad-brush Pollyanna shit, as well. Just a life experience that doesn't match the PR reports. Between some article by a guy I don't know and real-world experience, well, I'll go with my experience - the 2nd paragraph is my view.
Then, to complete the schizophrenic duality, to say they wanted to be Americans was a universal given.
#6
Since you only disagree with one point in my post, I'll talk about that.
I haven't personally been in Saudi Arabia, so I have nothing to counter your views there, but is this gaggle of Indians that you knew there predominantly Muslim--and thereby predisposed to hate America regardless of what nationality they might belong to? I lived in India (specifically Bangalore) for a couple of years, and my experiences are vastly different from yours. Most of them seemed to genuinely consider America a land of opportunity where they would consider migrating to if they had the opportunity. And with the war on terror, Indians I have talked to seem to support it wholeheartedly.
As far as the article I had linked is concerned, the author has a link to another site which did a broad survey on Indian (and other countries') opinion on the US. So it is not some lone joe schmoe's view either.
I completely accept that some Indians are dicks, but to quote you, "Perhaps a batch of 10 isn't sufficient to judge an entire country of a bafuckingzillion people"
#7
I think in the case of India, it's that "a bafuckingzillion people" has a lot of variability. The country's elite came into power on the idealistic/Socialistic tradition out of England, which assumed that America=evil. That so many of those who come to the States manage to get over such conditioning is perhaps a minor miracle. One of my best girlfriends, born just before/after her family emigrated to Kansas, recalls the torment of a college summer break spent staying with the family in the old country, being forced into the mold of a good Indian girl. Of course, she is Jain and her American-born husband is Hindu. And certainly lots of the menfolk in the old country aspire to be "little sultans" with their own tiny economic empire where they could be god to their employees. But the new economic openness has had an impact of many young Indians of the new middle class, as their appreciation of American-style economic -- and relatedly political -- thinking has grown along with their paychecks... for which they aren't at all beholden to Daddy. And I suspect that to the non-economically involved ~60% of the Indian population, America is about as real as Fairyland, Saudi-bound Muslim asses to the contrary.
(P.S. Well done, .com! I doubt the idiot learned from the experience, but I at least am enjoying vicarious pleasure from the tale!)
#8
No, they weren't Muzzies. I read the article, a poll with commentary, rather closely and wondered about each point - trying to match against my anecdotal experience. My info is only 2 yrs old, I left in 2003, so I couldn't chalk up the differences to dated info. Indeed, they all wanted to go to America to live, as I said - a universal truth, even while they bashed US policy (this was the 2000-2003 time period, so included the Iraq War).
You obviously know many more than I. The twist: you were there, in their home / comfort zone - perhaps that is part of it. I would also say that you would be a prize friend to have - in India - ever feel like you were on display? Lol.
I knew some that worked for a partner company of my employer in the US, before I went to SA. They had been imported in a batch of those infamous visas - and stuck together (7 sharing a one bedroom apt so they could save every dime), making few actual friends and having no outside social life. They all wanted to go home "rich" and be Rajas, as one laughingly explained to some of us who asked.
So you think I met a freak gaggle of psychopaths, huh?
Okay, so you knew the good ones and I met the pricks. Many factors involved, I guess. I wouldn't hire one no matter what the savings, based on my experience. BTW, IMHO a poll is only that - a poll. They don't mean squat to me. That you had different real-world experiences, however, does give me some pause.
#10
Unfortunate that you have a low opinion of them, .com. One thing comes to mind--your experiences with Indians are from a part of the world where a majority of the population have anti-American sentiments. The Indians, like possibly other non-western white people in Saudi Arabia, are probably caught in Saudi media propaganda, which is, as far as I have seen, very anti-American.
Since you state that you wouldn't "Hire one no matter what the savings", I wonder what your experiences have been with Indians in the US. Have you found them to be more of the same? Or have you not met/discussed with any here yet?
DAMASCUS - Syria on Wednesday challenged the United States to submit evidence about its claims that it has failed to control the flow of militants into Iraq, saying Washington was trying to turn Syria the âscapegoatâ for US failures in Iraq.
And my, look at the perfect scapegoat we just found ...
The comments in an editorial in the Tishrin government newspaper came in response to US President George Bushâs announcement on Tuesday that he would rally US allies in a diplomatic effort to stop Syria from blocking the emergence of democracy in the Middle East.
Speaking at a press conference with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani during the latterâs visit to Washington, Bush had said he would raise the Syrian issue in conversations with friendly countries at the United Nations this week. âThe Syrian government can do a lot more to prevent the flow of foreign fighters into Iraq,â he said, adding that Syria is âgoing to become more and more isolatedâ as a result of its policies toward both Iraq and Lebanon.
The Syrian government newspaper said Bushâs statement was an âunjustified escalationâ of political pressures on Syria relating to two issues, the question of militants in Iraq, and Syriaâs response to the UN probe into the killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Tishrin said the Bush administration insisted âon directing false accusations ... without submitting any evidence.â
"Please don't kill us!"
Washington was also ignoring measures taken by Syria to control its borders with Iraq. âThis US intimidation campaign proves that the Bush administration is searching for a scapegoat ... to shoulder the responsibility for the failure of its foreign policies.â
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/15/2005 00:00 ||
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Only one way to resolve this quandrum. Bomb the living shit out of Damascus and all the housing of insurgents and foreign terrorist thugs.
Only then, after the dust settles, we will be able to ascertain whether or not Syria is only a "scapegoat".
Posted by: Captain America ||
09/15/2005 1:04 Comments ||
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BERLIN - The head of the UN nuclear watchdog fears referring Iran to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions now would be wrong and instead wants to give Teheran one final chance to comply, diplomats said on Wednesday.
And then another final chance, and then another ...
The governing board of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) begins meeting on Monday. The main issue will be a joint EU-US plan to refer Tehran to the Security Council, which could lead to economic sanctions, due to fears Iran is developing atomic weapons. âEverything points in the direction of the need for more time. So it would be in everbodyâs favour to give it some three or four weeks,â a senior diplomat close to the UN atomic watchdog told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
The diplomat said IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei suggested to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that the IAEAâs governing board could instead set a deadline for Iran to resume a suspension of sensitive atomic activities and help the UN resolve outstanding questions about Iranâs nuclear programme.
Yasss, a deadline, after which ... nothing much happens.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/15/2005 00:00 ||
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"thanks Mohamed. We'll let you know what weeks you should be staying near the nuke facilities....no need for a protective suit. Nothin's gonna happen. Thx"
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/15/2005 0:16 Comments ||
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Laughable, yet pathetic.
Posted by: Captain America ||
09/15/2005 2:43 Comments ||
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Since there is no border, I wasn't sure whether to put this under Egypt or Palestine.
After a third consecutive day of thousands of Palestinians â including known terrorists â passing freely between Egypt and Gaza, a senior Palestinian Authority official told WorldNetDaily last night he is pessimistic troops will be able to restore order in the area. The senior official, who spoke by cell phone from Gaza City on condition of anonymity because he says he doesn't "want to be gunned down get into trouble," told WND: "I'll admit that right now there is no Egypt Gaza border, it's all open wide."
Three days after Israel removed the last of its troops and military installations from the Gaza Strip, Palestinians continued to flow across the Egyptian border, many to meet relatives or to stock up on cheap products like AK-47s.
Yesterday, Hamas members used explosives to blow a hole in a concrete fence that runs along the Egypt border, after first clearing the area to prevent casualties. Awfully decent of them. Neither Egyptian nor Palestinian security forces interfered. In fact, they participated. Afterward, thousands more Palestinians poured across the border.
"Egypt promised us they would close the border by now," said the Palestinian official. "It was only supposed to be opened for a short time as a humanitarian gesture to the families that have been living under Israeli occupation and were unable to travel. Egypt needs to get its act together because it's making [the Palestinians] look bad." You don't need Egypt to make you look bad.
Egypt earlier pledged to restore order to the area and warned Palestinians it would impose border controls starting yesterday that would require passports for entry and exit. But as of late last night, the border crossing was wide open, and Palestinians were flowing in and out of both sides.
Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia is expected to head to Egypt in the next few days to discuss how to coordinate security at the border. Egypt agreed with Israel to deploy 750 troops along the Egypt-Gaza border to impose security and stop weapons smuggling, which runs rampant in the area.
Amos Gilad, an adviser to Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz, continued, "Egypt is a big country which claims to respect the agreements it signs. It is inconceivable that Egypt as a sovereign state does not control its frontiers." Why not? The US doesn't.
-Will Egypt be forced to repatriate Gaza after rejecting them even more than Israel has over the last 40 years?
-Will the paleo civil unrest bleed into Egyptian politics? How?
-Will Egypt need to blame Israel for this mess so they can seal the border up, wash their hands of it and hand back border control responsibilities to Israel? If so, how will they spin it?
-Since Egypt will undoubtably do SOMETHING to stop this from causing unrest in their own country, what will the paleos do in response?
-What position/role will Israel take? Or will Israel simply join the rest of us in making/eating popcorn?
#9
Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia is expected to head to Egypt in the next few days to negotiate the terms of surrender for Gaza discuss how to coordinate security at the border.
They have to know that Gaza isn't going to be able to govern itself. The PA can barely handle the West Bank with the IDF in place to keep the lid on tight. Hamas is going to eat them alive in the Strip.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
09/15/2005 17:06 Comments ||
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#11
"Egypt promised us they would close the border by now."
Just about every word out of Palestinians sounds chillingly like the words of child molesters who have finally been caught after killing their umpteenth victim--"you should have stopped me-why didnt you stop me"?!?! No self control. Pathetic and utterly unworthy of self-governance.
#12
"Egypt promised us they would close the border by now."
Just about every word out of Palestinians sounds chillingly like the words of child molesters who have finally been caught after killing their umpteenth victim--"you should have stopped me-why didnt you stop me"?!?! No self control. Pathetic and utterly unworthy of self-governance.
September 15, 2005: One of the strangest, and most useful, bombs employed in Iraq has been the concrete filled JDAM. Why deliver a 500 pound bomb filled with concrete instead of explosives? You do that if you want to do some damage, but not a lot. Concrete JDAMs were first used in the 1990s to destroy anti-aircraft guns, radars and missiles that Saddam Hussein placed in residential areas. He believed that the Americans would not attack these weapons, for fear of hurting nearby civilians. But it turned out that a laser, or satellite (JDAM) guided concrete smart bomb could take out the air-defense weapons without hurting nearby civilians. The concrete bombs come in various sizes (500, 1,000 and 2,000 pounds), but the new 500 pound JDAM has become a favorite when a concrete version is required. Recently, for example, two small bridges near the Syrian border were seen being used by terrorists to bring in people and weapons. There was no need to completely destroy the bridges (which might take months, or longer, to replace), because the terrorists were slowly being chased from the area. But a concrete bomb on each bridge damaged the structures enough so that they could not be used, but not so much that they could not be repaired in a week or two. Concrete bombs are still used against terrorist targets in residential areas, where the bomb can reach the terrorists before police or ground troops can. Itâs all a case of a seemingly off-the-wall weapon idea being, not a joke, but actually quite useful.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/15/2005 09:58 ||
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September 15, 2005: One thing American combat troops canât get enough of is UAVs. So many of them have been distributed to combat units that commanders are uneasy if they donât have one or more of them up there, keeping a real-time eye on the combat area, when a battle is underway. This is not a unique situation, four decades ago, during the Vietnam war, helicopters first became common on the battlefield. Infantry battalion and brigade commanders loved to get their hands on a helicopter, and command from on high. While these officers could clearly see what was going on down below, with the naked eye and the help of binoculars, there were several serious shortcomings to this approach.
First, the commander was up there to command, not to give his subordinate commanders down below a running commentary (which is what the guys on the ground wanted) on what was going on in suspected enemy areas.
Second, the helicopters were large and noisy targets for enemy troops. Hostile fire often forced the helicopters to back off to the point where the commander really couldnât see the action any more.
Third, and most damaging, was the tendency of the commanders-in-the-sky to interfere, rather than assist, the commanders on the ground. This became known as âmicromanagement,â and it was much hated by company and platoon commanders. Some of those captains and lieutenants are now running the army and they donât want to inflict that kind of pain on their junior officers.
Thus the enthusiasm for UAVs at the bottom and the top of the chain-of-command. UAVs give everyone an eye-in-the-sky that is difficult to shoot down, and works for the guy on the ground exclusively. While army operations in Iraq often have brigade and battalion commanders viewing the video feed from the 350 pound Shadow 200 UAV, company and platoon commanders have access to feeds from the many 4.2 pound Raven UAVs. This is aerial reconnaissance as it was meant to be, being performed solely to assist the combat commander. None of this traditional, week old aerial photographs stuff. The company and platoon commanders are fighting a battle right now, and they need real-time video. Raven gives it to them, and it saves lives. The brigade and battalion commanders tend to use their Shadow 200 for pre-battle recon and planning. Trying to compete with whatever the Raven is picking up is a losing proposition. If the Shadow 200 picks up a bunch of bad guys heading for the area where a company commander and his guys are fighting it out, then, OK, the battalion commander can tell the company commander that something bad is heading his way. That sort of help is appreciated. But mostly, the company and platoon commanders want to see whatâs on the other side of that hill or behind those buildings. Raven does that for them, even though you have to bring it down every hour to replace the drained battery.
Another bonus with UAVs is that it lowers the demand for helicopters to be up there providing aerial recon. That's always been a dangerous job for scout helicopter pilots, and they appreciate having robots fill in for them.
Some old school officers wonder if these captains and lieutenants can fight a battle without their micro-UAVs. Of course they can do it without their eye in the sky, but they would prefer not to. The same criticism was leveled half a century when company and platoon commanders got radios. New technology is an improvement in proportion to how badly it is missed when it is not available.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/15/2005 09:45 ||
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One day all modern armies will have UAVs and we'll need a way to counter them.
How best to memorialize the victims of Katrina? Some would love a statue of President Bush in a dunce cap, strumming a guitar, with a quote on the plinth from Howard Dean: "He doesn't care about people." But an actual statue is out of the question, since we don't do literal-minded monuments much anymore.
You could have the modern memorial, abstract and sorrowful -- 800 small buses arranged in a pool, with the words "Never Again" in stone. The original design called for "It Will Never Happen Again" to be carved, but the stones bearing "It" and "Will" were stolen and "Happen" got cut because the memorial committee set aside funds for 498 no-show patronage jobs.
Or you could wait for New Orleans to return on its own, and let the sound of Bourbon street -- sweet jazz, boozy laughter, rubes chundering in the alley -- stand as the true memorial to Big Easy's spirit. Given the state of modern civic memorials, that might be best.
Decades ago you could expect a statue of the mayor directing generic city workers to patch the levee, with the word COURAGE chiseled below. Nonsense, perhaps, but it played to our better natures; gave you something to look up to besides the pigeons on the statue's head. But now?
Now our memorials are muted things whose passive beauty often seems at odds with the events they describe. Such a problem arises from the ill-named Crescent of Embrace, a memorial designed to commemorate the heroes of Flight 93.
In this crescent -- a red one, in the mockups -- many see the symbol of Islam, which was not exactly represented by its best ambassadors on Sept. 11, 2001. Even the design committee noted the Islamic implications of the word "crescent," but went with it anyway -- perhaps to show that they were Citizens of the World, ecumenical in their sorrow, and surely not Islamophobic. (Islam is peachy! Unless it's in the Iraqi constitution.)
Grant them that. But you suspect they would never approve the Cross of Understanding, even if the designers intended the shape to represent the airplane that crashed. That would make the wrong people happy and the wrong people mad.
"So you object to New Orleans being the Crescent City?" you say. "Better rename it Jesustown USA right away, you wingnuts!"
Sigh. Look: We don't need giant statues of the guys ramming the drink cart into door. But pedantic though such a momument might be, future generations would infer the plot. All you get from a Crescent of Embrace is a sorrowful sigh of all-encompassing grief and absolution, as if the lives of all who died on that spot were equal in tragedy. They were not.
Perhaps we might have gaps in the crescent to symbolize the terrorrists? Something that singles them out and excludes them. Or is that just playing into the he-said-shahid-said blame game?
The monument goes along with other sins of commission -- the tortured, everybody's-a-sinner museum proposed for the Ground Zero site, the tentative, Euro-styled Trade Center replacement that avoids any notes of bravado or American style, the palpable relief at the major networks that four years had passed and they didn't have to waste valuable advertising time on Sunday night with some bummer recollections of, you know, that.
It's not a red state-blue state issue. There are plenty of liberals who have no time for weepy self-criticism sessions and heal-the-planet memorials.
It is, to use a tiresome sobriquet, a matter of elites vs. the rest of the country -- specifically, the artistic sentiment of the elites, which has become so disconnected from the rest of the populace they cannot imagine what else to do but slather the land with abstractions and wind chimes. A statue? Of the people who died? Why, you might as well put a NASCAR track on the site.
Not a bad idea. The endless track represents futility and inability to think of new global conflict-avoidance paradigms. The air will be thick with the exhaust -- of shame.
You want a grant for that? Apply to the Heinz Foundation. They helped fund the Crescent, after all.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/15/2005 09:26 ||
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The pussification of the US at the hands of the leftist elites continues.
I'm not at all suprised.
#2
We live in an era where our "sophisticated" elites are embarrassed about the notion of having memorials at all, while knowing that they still have to provide some acknowledgement of these events for the "yokels" out there.
These wan gestures are the result of the compromise between these views.
#3
After WWII, there was a general aversion to war memorials. Most veterans, themselves, started to see them as gratuitous monuments from civilians, for civilians. The veterans were far more interested in forgetting about the war and getting back to normal lives.
It was also at that time that the left began to really despise what America stood for in the world. And while there was considerable need for social reform, the left was still moonstruck by the "inevitability" of socialism and communism.
So the soldiers were indifferent, and the left was iconoclastic. Last but not least, the degeneracy of the arts had really accelerated, leaving few artists either capable or willing of expressing a monument in a classic form.
Stone is a particularly difficult medium and takes many dedicated years to perfect techique, and there are no guarantees of proficiency. Other, far less durable media are much more forgiving and give an artist more opportunity to create more than a handful of works in his life. So that, too, explains the absence of great monuments in the post-war world.
#4
Locally we have a memorial under construction dedicated to residents of the city killed in combat. Including Korea. But it seems the people in charge of purchasing sourced the black granite being used from the PRC of all places
LAHORE: Islami Jamiat Talaba (IJT) has not removed its admission stalls in Punjab University (PU) despite the fact that the PU administration had issued notices to seven IJT activists, including its university nazim. According to a Daily Times survey on Wednesday, the IJT stalls were set up outside various departments including the Institute of Education and Research, Philosophy, College of Environmental Sciences, Institute of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Mass Communication Department and the Institute of Business Administration. Meanwhile, the PU administration, which had claimed on Monday that it would lodge a case against 15 to 20 IJT activists for attacking the vice chancellorâs office, had still not sent a list of suspects to the Muslim Town area police. âWe were asked to point out a few dozen unidentified people in the first information report (FIR),â Muslim Town Police Station Duty Officer Naib Muharrar Afzal said on Wednesday.
PU Vice Chancellor Lt Gen (r) Arshad Mahmood refused to comment. PU Registrar Prof Dr Muhammad Naeem Khan told Daily Times that all admission stalls would be asked to pack very soon. He said, âWe will take disciplinary action against the students running these stalls in due course.â He said that the seven IJT activists were bound to reply to their notices by September 16. The university administration was waiting for the replies and would take action against such elements, he said. He said that the list of the IJT activists to be mentioned in the FIR had been delayed due to this reason and records of various students were being scrutinised.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/15/2005 08:49 ||
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France threatened Iran with referral to the United Nations over its nuclear activities on Wednesday despite the misgivings of the IAEA, the U.N.'s atomic watchdog agency.
In remarks to the
U.N. Security Council, Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin stressed the need for a "determined response" against weapons proliferation.
"In the nuclear sphere, we have put our trust in the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)," where there are rights to uphold and duties to enforce, he said.
"If a state fails in its obligations under the (Nuclear)Non-proliferation Treaty, it is legitimate, once dialogue has been exhausted, to refer it to the Security Council."
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was due to address the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday and again on Saturday.
At some point, he is expected to outline a new plan aimed at reviving suspended EU talks and fending off a referral.
The IAEA fears that referring Iran to the Security Council now for possible sanctions over fears that Tehran wants to build nuclear arms would split its members, diplomats said.
They said the watchdog would rather set a new deadline for Iran to halt sensitive work when the 35-nation IAEA governing board meets from Monday to decide.
"Everything points in the direction of a need for more time. So it would be in everybody's favor to give it some three or four weeks," a senior diplomat close to the Vienna-based IAEA told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
The
European Union's three biggest powers -- France, Britain and Germany -- joined forces with Washington to back a Council referral after Tehran resumed sensitive nuclear activities at its Isfahan uranium processing plant last month.
Work had been suspended under a November deal with the EU.
The EU trio says it will not seek immediate sanctions and only gradually increase pressure on Iran, and EU diplomats said Wednesday nothing would be gained by delaying referral.
Britain's Foreign Office said this was an issue for the IAEA board, not IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei, to decide.
Tehran denies wanting atom bombs and says the West would abridge Iran's right to a full nuclear energy program. To undercut that argument,
President George W. Bush on Tuesday publicly endorsed Iran's right to peaceful nuclear power.
Other diplomats said ElBaradei suggested to U.S. Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice that the IAEA's governing board could instead set a deadline for Iran to resume a suspension of sensitive atomic activities and help the U.N. resolve outstanding questions about Iran's nuclear program.
Iran has told the IAEA, however, that it will continue to cooperate with it, but only if it can exercise a right to enrich uranium, according to a statement obtained by Reuters. The statement was circulated to IAEA members this week.
"There is no reason for Iran to sustain its ... voluntary suspension of uranium conversion and enrichment," it said.
ElBaradei's former deputy and chief IAEA inspector, Pierre Goldschmidt, wrote in a New York Times opinion piece that the IAEA board should not hesitate to report Iran for hiding its uranium enrichment program for nearly two decades.
"A failure by the board to make such a report would considerably weaken the agency and the global non-proliferation regime. It would reveal that the world is unwilling to hold rule-breakers to account, inviting proliferation by other countries," wrote Goldschmidt, who retired this summer.
EU diplomats said Ahmadinejad wanted to expand the EU-Iran talks to include countries like Russia, China, India or South Africa, which oppose U.N. referral and believe Iran should be allowed a full nuclear program.
The EU has ruled out new talks unless Iran re-freezes work at Isfahan, which EU diplomats said was unlikely.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/15/2005 01:19 ||
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"A failure by the board to make such a report would considerably weaken the agency and the global non-proliferation regime. It would reveal that the world is unwilling to hold rule-breakers to account, inviting proliferation by other countries," wrote Goldschmidt, who retired this summer.
#13
Theyve been lobbying as hard as they can at the IAEA against UNSC referral, so I suspect they take it seriously.
It is the nature of diplomats to take what other diplomats do and say very seriously. Ultimately, however, Iran's diplomats answer to the Black Turbans, who only respect power and, to a much lesser extend, money (which buys power). They are more than happy to have their people call your people, if it means that everybody else sits around and talks while they actually get things done.
#14
"If a state fails in its obligations under the (Nuclear)Non-proliferation Treaty, it is legitimate, once dialogue has been exhausted, to refer it to the Security Council."
Yep, just keep talking and NO REFFERAL!! What a hollow threat.
#15
well RC (and others), if you're right, then you should be criticizing the Bushadmin, since it seems that pushing for referral to the UNSC is at the core of their policy on Iran.
#17
Bush is going through the same routine as last time, I hope. Once the UNSC has ruled anything Iran has done as out of bounds, he'll take that as justification for action.
The US military in Afghanistan denied that one of its officers had told reporters al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was seeking medical attention.
The London-based Arabic newspaper al-Hayat, citing US Colonel Don McGraw in a briefing with reporters in Kabul, said bin Laden was in poor health and was trying to obtain medical attention.
But a US military spokeswoman in Kabul said McGraw had not said that.
"Colonel McGraw did not say Osama bin Laden was trying to get medical attention," said the spokeswoman, Lieutenant Cindy Moore.
"We're working with the editor to correct the record," she said of the al Hayat report.
McGraw had been asked by a reporter about an Arabic website report several weeks ago saying bin Laden had been wounded.
McGraw said he had seen the report, which security experts said lacked credibility, but had no information, Moore said.
He was then asked about old reports that bin Laden had suffered from a kidney ailment and McGraw had said bin Laden might have, in the past, sought treatment but he didn't know about now, Moore said.
Moore said McGraw had presented the reporters with no new report about bin Laden.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/15/2005 00:43 ||
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Osama bin Laden was provided safe passage to Pakistan in 2001 by Afghan commanders paid by Al Qaeda and sympathetic to its cause, a senior Afghan official said yesterday.
Lutfullah Mashal, Afghanistanâs Interior Ministry spokesman, said commanders helped the Al Qaeda leader escape from the Tora Bora mountains as US warplanes and Afghan forces attacked his hideout near the Pakistan border in late 2001.
âThe help was provided because of monetary aid availed by Al Qaeda and also partly because of ideological issues,â Mashal said.
âOsama along with other al Qaeda people managed to go to Parachinar (in Pakistan) at the time and then Pakistani forces battled the Al Qaeda runaways, killing around 70 of them,â Mashal added, referring to an area in Pakistanâs Kurram tribal agency.
He said commanders loyal to Maulvi Yunus Khalis had helped the Al Qaeda leader escape. The whereabouts of Khalis, a top mujahideen leader from the war against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, is unknown.
Mashal told private Pakistani television channel Geo on Tuesday that US forces made a mistake in entrusting the capture of bin Laden to Afghan commanders.
Mashal said he was present in the Tora Bora mountains during the December 2001 operation, and that while US forces were not there in uniform, green berets in plain clothes, some disguised in Uzbek style dress were present.
He said that while 800 or 900 Arabs fled Tora Bora for Pakistanâs Khyber tribal agency, senior Al Qaeda leaders trekked across to Parachinar on foot, mule and horseback with the help of some Sulemankheil tribal elders.
Mashal said bin Laden later re-crossed the border to Khost where Taleban leader Jalaluddin Haqqani gave him refuge.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/15/2005 00:35 ||
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Then kill all the Sulemankheil tribesmen. Make sure the "tribes" understand helping AQ means they quit existing.
A pick-up van crammed with a dozen or so Afghan women, covered head-to-toe in burqas of black, blue or green, pulls up on the edge of the dusty street and they troop single file into a basement.
They have come to join a few dozen others for a womenâs only campaign meeting in the conservative southern city of Kandahar, once the Taleban heartland, to decide who to vote for in Sundayâs parliamentary election, the first since 1969.
In the dark basement, the air thick with a mix of perfumes, Fariba Ahmadi urges them to vote for her, offering to be their voice in the new 249-seat parliament and promising education, water, electricity and peace in a country ravaged by war.
âWe have to make our country. If we donât want to make our country, no one can,â she says, wearing a long black-and-grey pinstriped coat with matching slacks, her black headscarf pulled back off her hair.
Sixty-eight seats have been set aside for women in the 249-member Wolesi Jirga, or House of the People, but in deeply conservative Muslim Afghanistan where many women still live behind the purdah, that does not make it easier.
One morning as she left home recently, Ahmadi found a letter on the front door. Pull out or die, it said.
The school teacher shrugs it off: âI am not afraidâ.
When the hardline Taleban seized power in 1996 they imposed conservative, tribal village codes of conduct across Afghanistan.
Women were forced to wear burqas, confined to their homes and beaten if discovered outside without a male relative.
The Taleban were swept from power by US-led forces in 2001 for refusing to hand over Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, architect of the September 11 attacks on US cities. Now, several hundred women are standing in the elections.
In a basement in the home of one of Ahmadiâs supporters, the women sit cross-legged on a soft red carpet, the popping of soft drink cans punctuating a lively meeting, part open discussion, part question-and-answer and part campaign speech.
Some women have lifted their veils, others still hold them across their faces in the presence of a male reporter.
The government should do more for widows, says an elderly woman who recently returned after fleeing to Iran when her husband was killed. What about roads? Asks another; why is Afghanistan so much worse than Iran? asks another returnee. The discussion goes back and forth over politics and problems.
Despite the dangers involved in this campaign, the women here are not scared.
âWe are making our future. Why should we be afraid?â asks Aziza Karima, who has just come back from Iran. âIf we are afraid, we cannot make our future, we should just sit at home.â Ahmadi spent years working with agencies helping women.
âI think if I go to the parliament I can do more for women than this,â she explains when asked why she is taking the risk of running for parliament.
But Ahmadi cautions there are no quick fixes in a nation where infrastructure has been battered by war and millions still live without reliable water or power and rancid open sewers run through the streets of a provincial capital such as Kandahar.
âWe cannot solve our problems in one day,â she tells the women, who range from teenagers to the elderly.
âIt must be day-by-day, month-by-month, year-by-year.â âFirst, we must open menâs minds. They are not letting their women get an education. Without education, we cannot ... solve the problems of life. With education, we can solve everything.â Education is Ahmadiâs driving priority. About 80 per cent of Afghanistanâs women are illiterate, compared with half its men.
Ahmadi sees the polls as a positive step, but one step on a long journey. She says too many of the 5,800 candidates are former fighters â mujahideen or Taleban â or linked to the powerful drugs trade.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/15/2005 00:33 ||
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The hunt for one of the missing young men of the Rahim family ended at a refrigerator truck in a hospital back lot.
"He's gone! He's gone!'' an aunt of 19-year-old Saif Kadhum Rahim cried, striking herself in the face with her open palms at the sight of her nephew. His bare, charred legs protruded from under a white shroud in the back of the truck.
"My brother! My brother!" said one of Saif's eight younger siblings, tilting his head back and grasping his hair. With barely a pause, the men of the family moved in around the stunned boy and transferred Saif's body from steel truck to wooden coffin, then loaded the coffin into a van that would take Saif on what would be his next-to-last ride.
Bedlam was bubbling up in Iraq's capital all day Wednesday, bursting through the thin surface of what passes for routine. Families rushed to find loved ones and ambulances sped to aid survivors, even as new bombings sent more waves of frantic searchers into the chaos. Towers of black smoke rose into the sky as police turned away cars from hospitals, fearing secondary attacks that might target medical centers treating the bombing victims.
Members of Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr's militia and Iraqi police officers sped back and forth in pickup trucks on the city's highways and through the poor neighborhoods of the Shiite majority. They waved pistols and AK-47 assault rifles at nothing. "Explosions! Explosions!" a Shiite militiaman shouted, pounding the metal roof of a car to get it to turn back from the site of one blast.
In their van, the men of the Rahim family drove across the city, rushing to take the body of Saif home, to search for his 17-year-old cousin Haider, who was lost and presumed dead, and to tend to a 24-year-old cousin who lay wounded in a hospital.
All three were victims of a suicide bombing in Baghdad's Kadhimiyah district, the first of at least 10 bombings and other attacks during the day. They were with several other relatives -- some sitting in Saif's minibus taxi, some stepping away for tea at a sidewalk booth -- when a suicide attacker blew up a four-door Volkswagen packed with explosives.
At least 112 people were killed, most of them the Shiite neighborhood's day laborers, who were gathered at a traffic circle to wait for work. Survivors said the bomber lured the men closer with offers of jobs before detonating his payload. Hussein Ali, another cousin in the extensive Rahim family, said the workers, nearly impoverished, were targeted simply "because they were Shiite."
Al Qaeda in Iraq, the insurgent group led by Jordanian-born Abu Musab Zarqawi, issued a statement praising the attacks. The group, dominated by foreign Sunni Muslim extremists like Zarqawi, draws much of its support from Iraqi Sunnis resentful of the new political dominance of the country's Shiite majority.
The Sunni insurgents bear "hatred against us," Ali said. "This is a war against the Shiites."
A year ago this month, insurgents shot and killed Saif's 50-year-old father on a street in a Shiite neighborhood of Baghdad, his family said. One of Saif's uncles died the same way four months ago, they said.
From his father, Saif inherited the minibus taxi and responsibility for his mother, six sisters and two younger brothers, the family said. The family on Wednesday passed around a photo of Saif standing by the black minibus, twisting a bare foot out of his sandal, an uncertain breadwinner.
Saif earned about $7 a day driving laborers to and from work sites. On Wednesday, one of his cousins, alerted by a phone call from the family that there had been a bombing at the traffic circle where Saif worked, sped to the scene. He said he found Saif dead, still inside his minibus. He carried the body to the hospital, where it was stored in the refrigerator truck.
After Saif's body had been retrieved and driven home, the men of the family gathered silently, fingering worry beads under framed photos of family members killed in the insurgency. Posters depicting the revered founder of Shiite Islam, cradling children or waving a sword, hung under broken chandeliers on thinly painted concrete walls.
The men waited for others to finish searching the morgues for the body of Haider, the missing cousin, so that the family could drive him and Saif together to the Shiite holy city of Najaf for burial. In accordance with Islamic tradition, Saif would be buried the same day he was killed, his body headed to burial less than six hours after he last walked out his front door.
"In another country, if everything turned upside down, everyone would talk about" Saif's death, Ali, 27, said as he waited. "Here, so many died, and no one cares."
One of Saif's uncles, Falih Kehait, called over an 8-year-old boy and kissed him lightly. The boy had hopped off the minibus just before it exploded.
In another room, away from the men, Saif's six sisters wailed. Kneeling and supported by other women, the sisters tore at their hair, cried with open mouths and pulled down their black clothing to slap their flesh until it burned red. Little girls, one in a Mickey Mouse abaya and others in pajamas, watched wide-eyed against the walls of the back room.
Asked who would take care of Rahim's eight brothers and sisters now, Ali said, "God will keep them."
In a doorway, a neighbor, Fatima Yassim, spoke softly: "What you are seeing now is so little compared to the tragedy that has happened.''
"But what shall we do?" she asked, her hands on the shoulders of a girl with a bow in her brown hair. "Shall we prevent our daughters from going to school? We are afraid even to send our sons to work."
The insurgents "want our people to kill each other," she concluded. "But we are Muslims. We are one religion. We love [the Sunnis] so much."
In the front room, the men wavered between returning Saif's body to the morgue so they could resume the hunt for Haider and taking Saif alone to Najaf for burial. Kehait, the uncle, finally decided he and three others would make the journey to Najaf and trust militiamen and the police to protect the Shiite families who would be streaming toward the holy city.
"Only us four," he ordered. "If we are attacked, only we will be killed."
A girl of 6 or 7 years, a relative of Saif's, watched silently as the men wrapped his coffin in a rose velour blanket and tied it to the roof of a car. Her chin trembled uncontrollably.
No women, a man of the family ordered. Even as he spoke, new wailing signaled Saif's mother emerging from the privacy of mourning in her home. Held up by other women, the twice-bereaved woman collapsed, throwing the dirt of the street in her face.
Men lashing down the coffin stopped, buried their faces in their hands and wept, shoulders shaking.
No women, an uncle insisted again, turning back the sisters as the minibus started up. The women poured from the house. The uncle relented slightly, and Saif's mother pushed herself inside for the ride to Najaf.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/15/2005 00:30 ||
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US Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said the United States would maintain a forceful military presence in Afghanistan despite pressure to free up forces stretched by the insurgency in Iraq. European allies rejected his suggestion that NATO take on counterterrorism operations in Afghanistan.
âUS forces will of course continue to play a strong role,â Rumsfeld said after a meeting of NATO defense ministers on Wednesday.
Rumsfeld said he was satisfied with plans by NATO allies to expand its 11,000-strong Afghan peacekeeping mission next year with more European and Canadian troops, a move that could free up thousands of US soldiers.
But Germany and France made clear that they would not allow the NATO force to become embroiled in offensive combat, leaving the separate, US-dominated coalition force of 19,000 to pursue the counterinsurgency against Taleban and Al Qaeda holdouts.
They also opposed talk of merging the two operations, although NATO officials said they expected agreement on a proposal to bring the two missions under a single commander.
Rumsfeld spoke amid speculation that the United States is planning major reductions of its 18,000-strong contingent in Afghanistan as NATO expands. The New York Times and The Washington Post reported in Thursdayâs editions that the Bush administration was considering cutting troop strength there by as much as 20 percent by early 2006.
Rumsfeld declined to discuss specifics. âIf and when thereâs any decision to decrease forces, I will announce it,â he said tersely.
NATO diplomats have suggested that the US could reduce its contribution to multinational military operations in Afghanistan from over half to about a quarter. Rumsfeld on Tuesday suggested NATO will eventually be able to take over counterterrorism operations there.
âOver time it would be nice if NATO would develop counterterrorist capabilities which donât exist at the current time,â he said. âThat probably will be the last piece they take.â
He acknowledged it will be a difficult task and did not suggest a timetable. Germany, France and other allies have sent combat forces to serve with the US-led mission known as Operation Enduring Freedom, since it was launched to Reid said. âWe have to be prepared to use military means to combat insurgency or tackle the narcotics trade.â
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/15/2005 00:26 ||
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The green-domed mausoleum housing the tomb of Afghanistan's legendary guerrilla leader Ahmed Shah Massoud sits atop a windblown cliff with a breathtaking view of the lush Panjshir Valley. This was Massoud's northern redoubt over two decades of fighting against a succession of enemies, beginning with invading troops from the Soviet Union and ending with the extremist Taliban militia.
But the vista seemed lost on the hundreds of grim-faced men who trudged up the peak on a recent morning to pay their respects on the fourth anniversary of Massoud's assassination by two al Qaeda suicide bombers posing as journalists -- a strike that came just two days before the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States.
"If Massoud were still alive, we would not be living like this," proclaimed an enormous black banner carried by the crowd, as a handful of parliamentary candidates looked on solemnly. "We feel so sad and alone," said Nader Khan, 22, wiping away tears. Khan is a former mujaheddin, or holy warrior, in Massoud's militia who is now unemployed. "Massoud loved the mujaheddin. Today, nobody cares for us."
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/15/2005 00:24 ||
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#1
They grasp the process of democracy! At least well enough to be going on with, anyway.
Iraq's al-Qaeda said on Wednesday it was waging a nationwide suicide bombing campaign to avenge a military offensive on a rebel town as explosions in Baghdad killed at least 150 people.
Al-Qaeda's statement was carried by an Islamist website often used by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's Sunni militant group.
It did not mention any specific attack but most of those killed were Shi'a Muslims.
"We would like to congratulate the Muslim nation and inform them the battle to avenge the Sunnis of Tal Afar has begun," said the statement, referring to the northern town being bombarded by US and Iraqi forces.
"Our brigades have joyfully set off to uphold their religion through death... we will inform you of the details of our operations in Baghdad and other parts of the country soon and we ask for your prayers," the statement added.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/15/2005 00:22 ||
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Not buying it Zarq. Coordinated attacks of that magnitude had to have been in place prior to the Tal Afar offensive. At best recent setbacks forced them to blow their load prematurely to save face. Most likely it was the advertised "Rumble before Ramadan" attacks.
PESHAWAR: Member of the National Assembly Maulana Nek Zaman of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal said on Wednesday that claims by the military that he was directly or indirectly supporting terrorists had âno truth.â
"Lies! All lies!"
Calling himself âa democrat,â the MNA denied that any of his relatives had been arrested in connection with terrorism.
"My family? Certainly not! Except for Grampaw, of course... And my brother Ahmed, but he's not right in the head... And Mom, of course... And... ummm... my Dad... And Sonny, but you know how impressionable youth are..."
âI am one who is helping peace to return to Waziristan,â Zaman said. Peshawar Corps Commander Lieutenant General Safdar Hussain had accused Nek in a briefing on Tuesday of âdirectly or indirectlyâ supporting terrorism in North Waziristan, where security forces on Tuesday arrested 21 militants and recovered weapons and a âspy drone.â
"Well, y'gotta define 'supporting,' don'tcha?"
âIt comes as no surprise that the security forces recovered heavy weapons,â Zaman said. âThere are weapons in every house in Waziristan.â
"We're all avid elk hunters, y'know..."
The MNA also dismissed the armyâs claims that it had arrested foreigners. âToday, it makes claims of foreignersâ arrest and tomorrow, they turn out to be local inhabitants,â he said. Zaman asked how a âsealedâ seminary had been used as an operational centre by terrorists when it was under the control of security forces. âI think Mondayâs operation was the 15th in the last three years,â he said. âAnd what is important to note is that the (Haqqani) seminary has been sealed by the army for a long time, and no one lives there.â
We were wondering about that, too...
South Waziristan MNA Maulana Mirajuddin also came out in Zamanâs support. He said âbaseless accusationsâ against Zaman from a top military commander did not look âgood,â calling Gen Safdarâs âtiradeâ against Zaman an âattempt to make President Pervez Musharrafâs US visit a success.â
Posted by: Fred ||
09/15/2005 00:00 ||
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All right. Excuse My ignorance, but what does the picture mean? Unless it's a tie-in to the "elk hunters" comment?
Iraqi Acting Prime Minister Roz Nuri Shawis presided over here on Wednesday a meeting of the country's national security committee which groups the ministers of interior, defense and national security to discus the series of attacks in Baghdad earlier in the day in which more than 100 people reportedly killed and a greater numbers wounded. An official government statement said "certain measures and security directives" have been adopted in the meeting to "curb vicious terrorist attacks" on the "united Iraqi people".
The statement failed to reveal nature of the measures, but government sources told KUNA that the measures would be declared each at a time to help prevent violence in Baghdad and other Iraqi cities. "The measures would be strict and firm," the source noted. The statement noted that "the present leaders of Iraq are currently in New York for the organization's 60th anniversary summit conference, in an historic opportunity to show the world the successes achieved at the Iraqi national unity level." The statement called on the peoples of Iraq to sow more unity and raise their state of alert to curb movement of insurgents and maintain national unity.
Meanwhile, Iraqi Kurdistan region President Masoud Barazani condemned the blasts in Baghdad today, pointing out that security in the capital was still unstable and voiced sympathy with the victims of the explosion.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/15/2005 00:00 ||
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Oh brother, I've been reading of these "new security" measures for more than a year now, and they almost always fail to live up to expectations.
Why? Because of a lack of bold, imaginative, and courageous leadership. Why not try a comprehensive ban on all civilian and commericial driving in certain, predominately Shiite sectors of Baghdad that are often targeted with car bombs?
Rendering entire sectors pedestrian only will not prevent walking homicide bombers that strapped expolsives to their bodies, but at least you prevent the fuel truck bomb or the mini-van bomb, either of which carry explosive packages of hundreds, sometime more than a thousand pounds.
Same old, same old. Terrorists park their cars in crowded areas, often right next to a police station, and nobody pays attention until the darn thing goes KABOOM! Or Ters simply gunned their death mobiles at crowds or Iraqi police and US military convoys with the usual lethal results. Take the car bomb out of the ters' hands by banning all but military, police, and vetted emergency services' vehicles. Sorry folks, here a bike or walk, good for your health either way. But the four wheeled death mobiles will be for the time being, off limits.
A sort of history was made at the United Nations on Wednesday when President Pervez Musharraf reached out to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and shook his hand. An Israeli press photographer told a source that the handshake took place while a photograph of the leaders attending the UN summit was being taken. He said it was Musharraf who took the initiative, somewhat to the surprise of the Israeli leader. Sharon's spokesman confirmed the news. "They shook hands. Musharraf introduced his wife to Sharon and he said, 'Nice to meet you'," said Asaf Shariv. Musharraf's spokesman in Islamabad stressed that it was a chance meeting.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/15/2005 00:00 ||
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NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) - A warlord in southern Somalia has returned to the U.N. control of the UNICEF offices in the town where Somalia's transitional government is based after taking over the compound two days ago, a U.N. spokeswoman said Tuesday.
The head of southern Somalia's Middle Shabelle region, Mohamed Omar Habeb also known as Mohamed Dheere, handed the keys to the U.N. children agency's offices in Jowhar, 55 miles northeast of Mogadishu, to U.N. national staff early Tuesday, Sandra Macharia of the U.N. Development Program said in a statement.Dheere did not say why he was handing back control of the offices to the U.N. after denying them access since Sunday, Macharia told The Associated Press.
Umm, 'cause they were done loading everything of value onto the truck?
In an interview with a local radio station in Somalia late Monday, Dheere said that his militia took over the UNICEF office for security reasons and to steal guard equipment there after the U.N. moved its international staff out of Jowhar on Thursday.
On Sunday, Dheere walked into the U.N. children agency's offices and told staff to hand over the keys, said Christian Balslev-Olesen, the head of UNICEF'S Somalia office, on Monday. The office is based in neighboring Kenya because all of the Horn of Africa nation is insecure.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/15/2005 00:00 ||
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Jeez. A case of "It's NOT for the children". Ya don't see that much...
It's Karachi Quiz Time, the exciting new spinoff from the popular Bangla game show, RAB Quiz Time...
Counter-terrorism experts in Pakistan are questioning 21 suspects captured at an al-Qaeda hideout for clues about the remnants of the terror network and the Taleban, an intelligence official said yesterday.
"You can tell us now or you can tell us later. We recommend telling us now."
The suspects, said to include Afghans, were captured during the biggest-ever military operation in North Waziristan. Lieutenant-General Safdar Hussain, the senior army commander responsible for anti-terrorism operations in northwest Pakistan, said troops had destroyed a major al-Qaeda hideout and caught "some important men".
"By my count, we caught at least seventeen number threes and the chief goatherder. The other two guys said they took a wrong turn at Leeds and were to stubborn to stop and ask for directions."
The hideout appeared sophisticated, with communications equipment to contact militants in Afghanistan, Gameboys, a cache of bombs, detonators and rockets, and a tiny Chinese-made remote-control drone aircraft used for surveillance, Lt-Gen Hussain said. He added that officials were checking to see whether the drone, with a wingspan of about three feet, could have been used to check the position of security forces or to carry weapons.
"You should see what it does with a grenade! Hek is so-o-o-o jealous."
But Talat Masood, a retired Pakistani general and military analyst, said he thought that was impossible, calling the drone "ridiculous". He said: "It's a toy. It does not have the capability to carry any load whatsoever. You can't see how it's powered ... I'm not even sure it can fly."
Then his lips fell off.
An intelligence official said "four or five important people" had been among the detainees from the raid on the hideout. He gave no other details. Pakistan's interior minister, Aftab Khan Sherpao, would only say security agencies had caught five suspects in recent operations against terrorists.
Everyone busy saying no more.
Meanwhile, security forces yesterday detained a tribesman for suspected militant links in the same village in North Waziristan where the hideout was destroyed, and seized eight grenades and ten rockets, an intelligence official in Miran Shah, the main town in the region, said. This week's operations have coincided with a visit by the president of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf, to the United States, where he claimed that his country was winning the war on terror.
Watch for the Revolving Door of Justice (R) to magically get unstuck as soon as Perv is back in country.
#1
security forces yesterday detained a tribesman for suspected militant links
If they're gonna start bringing in every Waziristani tribesman with suspected militant links they're gonna more or less have to empty out the whole place.
Posted by: Baba Tutu ||
09/15/2005 21:21 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
September 15, 2005: Australia faces some threats. One of these is from Indonesia, often due to the fact that these two countries have a dispute over a maritime boundary in the Timor Sea. Australia also has a 1,850-kilometer wide maritime identification zone that has raised some hackles among its neighbors.
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) - The trial of a man charged with joining al-Qaida and plotting to assassinate President Bush will go forward next month, despite the objections of prosecutors who sought a delay.
DAMASCUS - Syria on Wednesday challenged the United States to submit evidence about its claims that it has failed to control the flow of militants into Iraq, saying Washington was trying to turn Syria the âscapegoatâ for US failures in Iraq.
LAHORE: Islami Jamiat Talaba (IJT) has not removed its admission stalls in Punjab University (PU) despite the fact that the PU administration had issued notices to seven IJT activists, including its university nazim. According to a Daily Times survey on Wednesday, the IJT stalls were set up outside various departments including the Institute of Education and Research, Philosophy, College of Environmental Sciences, Institute of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Mass Communication Department and the Institute of Business Administration. Meanwhile, the PU administration, which had claimed on Monday that it would lodge a case against 15 to 20 IJT activists for attacking the vice chancellorâs office, had still not sent a list of suspects to the Muslim Town area police. âWe were asked to point out a few dozen unidentified people in the first information report (FIR),â Muslim Town Police Station Duty Officer Naib Muharrar Afzal said on Wednesday.
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) - A warlord in southern Somalia has returned to the U.N. control of the UNICEF offices in the town where Somalia's transitional government is based after taking over the compound two days ago, a U.N. spokeswoman said Tuesday.
