TASHKENT: A witness in the trial of 15 men charged in the May uprising in eastern Uzbekistan said Wednesday the rebels had several US and German-made guns. Mikhail Rudakov, a convicted murderer who was released after insurgents stormed a prison in the city of Andijan on May 13, said he had been used by rebels as a weapons expert. Rudakov said insurgents had 250-300 automatic rifles, many pistols, some land mines, and several types of grenades. He said most of the weapons were old Soviet-made ones, but that he also saw one German Lunger assault rifle and two US M-16 rifles.
Uzbek authorities have alleged that the insurgents had foreign support and the testimony that they had Western weapons appeared to hint at corroborating that contention. Human rights groups say the testimony given by defendants in the carefully orchestrated trial has been squeezed out of them through torture.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/06/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Fred, check my post from yesterday. Pravda is reporting that the trial has shown that it was the United States behind the Uzbek uprising.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
10/06/2005 0:10 Comments ||
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According to official information, 169 people died as a result of the mutiny in Andijan.
Western observers and local human rights activists affirm, though, that the number of victims reaches 800 people.
Until recently, the Bush's administration insisted on the need to conduct an international investigation of the Andijan tragedy. An official spokesman for the US State Department, Sean McCormack, said that the USA was willing to render all adequate help to Uzbekistan. The administration of the former Soviet republic turned down the suggestion, though. In return, Washington decided to freeze the financial help of $22 million to Uzbekistan.
Observers say, however, that the USA has taken such a negative attitude towards Uzbekistan shortly after unsuccessful attempts to convince Uzbek President Karimov of the need to extend the term for the US army base to stay on the territory of Uzbekistan...
...To crown it all, the current trial of 15 men accused of May's unrest in Andijan, which currently takes place in Tashkent, added more fuel to the fire: it was said during the process that the US embassy in Uzbekistan had sponsored the mutiny.
Why all of this is going on is a mystery to me.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
10/06/2005 0:16 Comments ||
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#3
The Uzbeks originally tried to paint the whole thing as an al-Qaeda front, but that collapsed pretty quickly under international scrutiny. A short version of what happened in Uzbekistan is that the peasants and local businessmen rose up, inspired by what had happened in Kyrgyzstan and looking to see the end of their Soviet-era president for life. The IMU, being the loathsome and parasitical body that it is, took advantage of the situation and tried to start an uprising. The government, recognizing the IMU threat and deciding to paint the whole thing as Islamist and rid themselves of both the IMU and the meddlesome peasants.
Since the claim that all the massacred were Islamists hasn't stood up under scrutiny, now the Uzbeks are trying to claim that we were behind the whole thing was some kind of CIA plot to hitch themselves a ride on the anti-American bandwagon.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
10/06/2005 0:29 Comments ||
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#4
So you think the current party line is someone's "Plan B" or "Plan C"?
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
10/06/2005 1:08 Comments ||
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#5
Well I've noticed they've ditched the Islamist line, which I would actually consider to be a far more plausible explanation under the circumstances than anything else. Given that the massacre more or less pissed all over our fair weather friendship with Karimov to begin with, so now he's going for the lowest common denominator of anti-Americanism that should play well with his Third World buddies.
God only knows what his Plan C is ...
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
10/06/2005 1:51 Comments ||
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#6
Yep... that foreign hand would probably be none other than Russia who has nothing to lose and much to gain by facilitating the circumstances in response to the current Uzbek regime. The Russians are probably playing both sides of the fence, but make no mistake that they will go to great lengths to prop their own puppet in Uzbekistan. It is the same thing the ChiComs are doin in Nepal rather than the earlier ugly Tibet invasion that brought world scorn to the imperialistic ChiCom global goals. The Russians will use any means to get national Uzbeks to tear down the Uzbek government, but without Islamic extremists. It can be flavored a little with them to make the uprising appear more legit. The Russians even set up an alleged natural resources (minerals, oil, metals, ores) conference in the D.C. area in late-December 2004, early-January 2005 as a cover to pull together the most dedicated and brightest Uzbeks with like-minded ideas. These ideas are for the betterment of a future Uzbek, without many of the current regime members, and play a future role in development and governance of Uzbekistan. The benefit to Russia would be re-establishment of a close relationship in global strategic goals, and a friendly working relationship in developing the means and extracting the much un-tapped natural resources within Uzbekistan's borders. When the West fell over itself by dispatching teams, resources and money into areas of the Russian artic to develop a better infrastructure to extract oil, and get a slice of the profits, the Russians in turn got the idea to do the same to their former fellow socialist neighbors like Uzbekistan. Except in this case, the Uzbeks will not be allowed to push the Russians out like Russia did to the Westerners. The Russians will already have had the right people culled from within, and the proper puppets strung from their sticks and strings. I will admit that this all sounds far-fetched. But in time... time will be the judge. Never trust the Rooskies, never trust the ChiComs and god almighty never ever trust the North Koreans. Uzbekistan? Just another future economic colony of Russia by any means possible.
Warsaw
I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN something would be out of kilter. At the end of September, the Organization for Security and Cooperation (OSCE), an international body made up of 55 nations--including such dictatorships as nearby Belarus--called for a day-long roundtable in the lovely and spiritual city of Warsaw. The topic was "Intolerance and Discrimination Against Muslims." Aside from OSCE diplomats, staff, and two representatives of the U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedom, the participants consisted of some 25 representatives of Muslim NGOs as well as European and North American human rights monitors.
I should have known something was amiss because I have witnessed much OSCE mischief since going to postwar Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo in the late 1990s. And don't forget that OSCE was the international organization with the nerve to propose that it "observe" the most recent U.S. presidential election for presumptive irregularities. But it has an especially bad record in the Balkans, as has been pointed out in The Weekly Standard.
The OSCE is, to put it bluntly, political correctness personified. Its agenda for combating intolerance and discrimination includes everyone from prostitutes to victims of schoolyard bullying. But it was obvious that the status of Islam in Europe, which has lately involved bloodshed in several countries, is viewed by OSCEcrats as an intractable challenge. The do-gooders had no apparent choice but to relegate the roundtable on Muslims to a place outside the regular agenda of a weeklong "human dimension" assembly in Warsaw, and to hold the Muslim gathering in the basement of a hotel.
Reliable sources reported that the OSCE's Warsaw conference on Islam came as a trade-off for a conference on anti-Semitism held in Córdoba, Spain, earlier this year. It was soon made clear that the event would serve as little more than a platform for ranters and cranks from such countries as Britain and Denmark who were there to defend radical Islam. It turns out that proponents of Islamist extremism are even more aggressive, defiant, and confrontational than their American counterparts.
Thus, a religious functionary from Britain, Imam Dr. Abduljalil Sajid of the grandly (and, it appears, falsely) titled Muslim Council for Religious and Racial Harmony, used up much of the morning's discussion with loud denunciations of Tony Blair for his alleged assault on civil rights in the wake of "7/7." Before that this religious leader, when asked which school of Islamic law, or madhdhab, he followed, said, "I shoot all madhdhabs."
Imam Sajid regaled the audience with the many times he had confronted Blair, insisting to the British prime minister that Islam and terrorism are completely unconnected from one another. He also offered up a diatribe against internment at Guantanamo. In the minds of many Muslims at the event, it seemed, the London bombings and the attacks that preceded them, as well as the radical ideology that inspired them, are irrelevant; the only thing that matters is to push back against the legal response of the British, U.S., and other European authorities.
THE PHRASE "the Fight Against Extremism" was included on the agenda of the meeting, but not one word was said about it until the very end, when Turkish diplomat Omur Orhun let his voice sink to a near-whisper. He affirmed, in closing the deliberations, that the problem of extremism would eventually have to be taken up, "because that is what brought us all here." But to listen to many of the other participants one might have thought fear of Muslims among non-Muslims in Europe was a purely gratuitous expression of bias, or, as Nuzhat Jafri of the Canadian Council of Muslim Women put it, a product of "U.S. foreign policy decisions."
When I pointed out to her that Saudi-financed Wahhabi terrorists have struck Turkey, a country that opposed U.S. policy in Iraq, as well as Morocco and Indonesia, which have nothing to do with Washington's policies, Ms. Jafri limited herself to the admission that additional "root causes" exist; these she left undescribed.
Others were less restrained. Scandinavian countries seem to have experienced a particular incapacity to exclude Muslim extremists from their territories. Bashy Quraishy, a man who disclaims being religious, averring that he is not a practicing Muslim, seems to have adopted the defense of radical Islam as a career move, and is a self-proclaimed functionary of the "Federation of Ethnic Minority Organizations in Denmark." Although he admits his irreligion and distance from Islam, Quraishy has no compunctions about presenting himself as an expert on it.
Quraishy did his best to hog the proceedings. While Imam Sajid asserted the lack of any link between Islam and terror, Quraishy demanded that global media be prevented from even suggesting such a thing. His printed handouts, piled up on a side table, were hallucinatory in tone. To him, "America Under Attack"--a CNN caption after September 11, 2001--was offensively prejudiced. In addition, Quraishy's handouts insisted, "there was no proof, no one took responsibility, and not one particular country or group was singled out" for blame in the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks. There was nothing more than "finger pointing" at Islam.
The rest of the palaver was less fervid, but equally absurd. Canadian Muslims complained about the effect of the U.S. Patriot Act on their country. As the afternoon wore on, phrases such as "so-called terrorists" were increasingly heard. Brit Mohammed Aziz, of Faithwise, declared that members of his community are "first responsible to God . . . then to the umma," or global Islam, and only lastly to the country in which they live.
All of this came about three months after the horror in London. The meeting ended with nothing more than an agreement to hold more meetings. The OSCE it seems, like much of Europe, has few answers for the challenge of radical Islam--aside from their pieties about discrimination.
Stephen Schwartz is a frequent contributor to The Weekly Standard.
Posted by: Steve ||
10/06/2005 12:07 ||
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There goes the WOT on the continent. Even if terrorists are convicted, they will still influence elections.
shaking dust off of my sandals
A convicted killer has won the right to vote, opening the way for other prisoners to cast their ballots.
John Hirst had claimed that British law, preventing prisoners from voting, infringed articles of the European Convention of Human Rights guaranteeing the right to free elections and free expression.
48,000 prisoners are currently barred from voting
The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg agreed in 2004 when he was still a prisoner on day release. Today it rejected the Government's appeal.
A panel of 17 European judges - the so-called Grand Chamber - dismissed the appeal and awarded Mr Hirst £16,000 in court expenses.
Britain's voting law "stripped a significant category of people of their Convention right to vote in a way which was indiscriminate," the court said in a statement.
Mr Hirst, 54, said his fight had been about breaking the link between crime and the right to take part in the democratic process.
"The human rights court has agreed with me that the Government's position is wrong - it doesn't matter how heinous the crime, everyone is entitled to have the basic human right to vote," he said.
Mr Hirst was detained in 1980 and sentenced to life imprisonment for manslaughter, before his release in November.
The ruling allows all prisoners in Britain to cast their vote in national and regional elections in future if they wish to do so.
The 48,000 prisoners in Britain are currently banned from voting under the 1983 Representation of the People Act.
"The Court considered 48,000 is a significant figure and it could not be claimed that the bar was negligible in its effect," the court statement added.
Juliet Lyon, Prison Reform Trust director said: " Prisoners should be given every opportunity to payback for what they have done, take responsibility for their lives and make plans for effective resettlement and this should include maintaining their right to vote."
Dominic Grieve, the shadow attorney general, attacked the ruling: "If convicted rapists and murderers are given the vote it will bring the law into disrepute and many people will see it as making a mockery of justice."
#1
Pure folly. Murderers effectively get two votes and live to enjoy the privilege of course. Other great leaps of human rights logic are surely around the corner.
#8
Its from the same people who believe a mass murder can't be executed cause 'life' is a basic human right. Not that the rights of the victims count. They have no standing in these types of courts.
'Peace Mom' Cindy Sheehan returns home to hero's welcome
By JUSTIN M. NORTON, Associated Press Writer
AP...go figure..this headline turns my stomach
(10-06) 00:31 PDT Oakland, Calif. (AP) --
Peace mom Cindy Sheehan, after becoming irrelevant wrapping up her tour of the country, returned home to northern California where she plans to continue her protest of the Iraq war. from the safety of her home (paid for by the blood of others...including Casey)
The mother who staged a 26-day mental abberation vigil in front of President Bush's Texas ranch this summer received a hero's welcome I had a different welcome planned Wednesday night from a hometown crowd of 10 attending a fundraiser for anti-American anti-war groups.
"I'll be a grieving mom until I die when will that be? because of the lies that took my son," ranted said Sheehan, making her first public appearance in the liberal San Francisco Bay area since the August vigil. "I plan on keeping this up until the troops are brought home." or until I get addditional media attention
Sheehan's 24-year-old son, Army Spc. Casey Sheehan, died in April 2004 in Iraq.
She has spent much of the time since speaking out against the war. and other things After the monthlong vigil in Texas, she traveled the U.S. and also met with politicians, including Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, and Sen. Elizabeth Dole, R-North Carolina.
Last week, she was arrested with more than 350 other people after a protest outside the White House.
Sheehan said she has received encouragement and support in Vacaville, Calif. the San Francisco suburb where her three surviving children still live. Sheehan, whose husband wisely filed for divorce while she was staked out in Texas, has since moved to Berkeley. How far left must she be when a Bezerkelite won't have her?
"People come up to me and say, 'Cindy, STFU and STFD thanks for doing what you are doing and welcome home,'" she said.
Sheehan's speech at an Oakland movie theater was a benefit for several anti-war groups, including Gold Star Families for Peace, an organization she co-founded to mobilize families of soldiers who died in Iraq.
Sheehan's return to her home state does not signal a break in her activism unfortunately . She is scheduled to participate on Saturday in a silent Silent my a** peace walk in Los Angeles where she will be joined Thich Nhat Hanh, a Buddhist monk who spent 40 years in exile from his native Vietnam. Uncle Sam's fault no dooubt.
#3
Sheehan said she has received encouragement and support in Vacaville, Calif. the San Francisco suburb where her three surviving children still live.
Who in the hell are these people? Vacaville is its own city - pretty much a bedroom community, not a 'burb of SF. Noe Valley, Excelsior, Nob Hill, the Western Addition, those are suburbs of SF. But not Vacaville. (Note: Vacaville is approx 50 miles away)
..has since moved to Berkeley.
She'll be right at home there. Along with her fellow wackjobs.
Make that a "professional grieving mom". Which you'll be until that lefty money runs out. Or they flush you down the toliet after the next big thing comes along...
#5
I heard she didn't raise her son. That it was the father and his new wife. Anyone knows about the circumsatnces? Was it that the divorce gave the custody to the father (strange, because courts usually give it to the mother, except that whould entail serious danger for the child) or was it because she walked away and just dumped her son?
#7
We should promote her cause and have her tour/hound Dem candidates until the make her part of the entourage. Just think what a vote getter Hillary will be with Cindy at her side. Makes my hair stand up just thinking about it!
#11
Over at Arianna Huffenpuff's yesterday about half the comments to Cindy's post were telling her to shut up and go home. Her increasing shrillness and name-calling were hurting the anti war effort. I chortled all afternoon about that.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
10/06/2005 15:44 Comments ||
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Former President and current underminer of succcessors, Bill Clinton says Iraq "looks like a quagmire," and estimates "the odds are not great of our prevailing there."
But, speaking for an interview that appears in the November issue of Ladies Home Journal, Clinton qualified his quagmire remark by saying, "It's not Vietnam." It depends on what the definition of quagmire is
"The reason this is not Vietnam is that 58% of the eligible voters showed up and voted in Iraq," Clinton told the magazine. The South Vietnamese government was "never legitimate" in the eyes of the Vietnamese, he said. I know some boat people who might quibble with that
The former President, who has teamed up with President Bush's father to raise money for victims of Hurricane Katrina and last December's Indian Ocean tsunami, said the key to success is getting the Iraqis to defend themselves against the insurgents. "Then, after we're out of the country we pull all the funding for their army and if anything bad happens we can blame it on them. Worked for us last time."
"Having said that, it could go wrong," Clinton admitted. "Since the end of World War II, the only major foreign power that succeeded in putting down an insurgency was the British putting down the Malay insurgency, but the British stayed 15 years. Gee, we've been in Germany, Japan and Italy for 60 years now. And Algeria over the GSPC doesn't count.
"So you can say for historical reasons, the odds are not great of our prevailing there," Clinton pointed out. "Cause us Democrats will undermine any effort that might last longer than the current administration. We'll turn tail faster than you can say Mogadishu."
Clinton's spokesman told the Daily News yesterday his boss remains staunchly committed to a U.S. victory in Iraq. Can Bubba have a redo? EFL
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
10/06/2005 14:13 ||
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#1
Bubba is a freakin' punk.
Just wait until the Louis Freeh book gets released. I predict that Bubba bites his lip and limps into his hole for a while.
Posted by: Captain America ||
10/06/2005 15:30 Comments ||
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#2
Bubba should shut the fuck up and sit the fuck down.
He had his chance and blew it big time now is not the time for this shit.
#6
Just how long have we been into that one year mission to Bosnia or Kosovo? Thanks Bill for a real mafia and islamist quagmire.
Posted by: ed ||
10/06/2005 16:49 Comments ||
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#7
"LOOKS like a quagmire"
well it does LOOK like a quagmire. That doesnt meant it IS one, and Bill didnt say that it IS one, only that it looks like one. We can only discern that its NOT a quagmire, by looking at more subtle things than body counts, things like the political process, which Bill speficially mentions. And if you think thats too jesuitical a reading, youve forgotten who Bill Clinton IS.
As for his reference to the govt of the Rep of VN, with all due respect to the boat people who were chased out by totalitarians, he is spot on. That IS one of the big differences between VN and Iraq.
as for Germany, Italy, and Japan, there werent major insurgencies there. And Algeria vs the GPSC didnt involve a foreign power putting down an insurgency.
Bottom line - keep committed to victory, but be prepared for a long haul.
#8
As for his reference to the govt of the Rep of VN, with all due respect to the boat people who were chased out by totalitarians, he is spot on. That IS one of the big differences between VN and Iraq.
IF we adjusted the Iraqi constitution to Syria's liking as was suggested in the other thread there wouldn't be a difference.
South Vietnam fell mainly because we set up their armed forces as an infantry force dependent on US artillery, air, and logistics support to deal with any plausible combined arms force (like the one the North Vietnamese Army used) and withdrew our support when it was needed.
Imagine if the Yom Kippur War had happened in 1975 instead of 1973, and there was Soviet resupply via airlift and sealift to Syria and Egypt but no corresponding US airlift to Israel. And imagine that happening after fifteen years of low-intensity and high-intensity conflict where Israel had been kept from taking the Golan during the 1967 war _by the US_ because that would have been "aggressive" rather than "defensive." S. Vietnam _never_ got to counterattack the North, or do anything but sit there and bleed.
I wonder, if all of that happened, would there be people sitting around today blaming the loss on the alleged corruption of the Meir administration?
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
10/06/2005 18:23 Comments ||
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#9
The donk controlled house and senate also cut off all funding for them after the illustrious class of 1974 was elected. As a result, the Vietnamese could not afford the ammo and supplies necessary to resist. They had done pretty well until we cut them off at the knees. The big difference between Vietnam and Iraq is that the Democrats haven't had the opportunity to betray the Iraqis yet. But they will when they can.
#10
As near as I can tell, the reason there's an Israel but not a South Vietnam is the US did provide support in '73 but didn't place MacNamara (and his ilk in the Republican party) in charge to make decisions like "Don't capture the Golan" or "tanks are offensive weapons and therefore destabilizing..."
As it is I wonder if Kissinger didn't somehow sow the seeds for later failure...
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
10/06/2005 19:48 Comments ||
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#11
IOW, Hillary wants and needs to be POTUS, and Al-Qaeda Spetzlamists can't attack America with WMDS or dirty nukes fast enough, i.e. its almost 2008, D*** YOU, and Commie Billary is falling behind schedule to turn America SOCIALIST. MIdWesties from Fascist Socialist Washington's sacred Communist-LeftSocialist heartland are a'waitin, people! POSITIONS, GIRLZ, POSITIONS, TAKE YOUR POSITIONS! Iran and North Korea are all but demanding the USA invade them while Cindy all but demands for Fascism = De-Regulated Communism/
Socialism, etal. i.e. GOOD FASCISTS,Lefties to wage anarchy and civil war to take back America from Dubya and his BAD FASCISTS!?
Anyhoo, in defense of the South Vietnamese government, however defective it was Americans must remember that neither the Commie Northies nor the COSVN VC cadres gen never used or accurately explained the terms "Socialism",
"Marxism", or "Communism", etc. when in front of mostly uneducated Southies. They loved to disguise their despotism and thuggery behind feel-good everyman/populist labels as "democracy", "nationalism", "freedoms" and "rights of the People/Masses", ...etc.
AMERICA AND ITS PUPPET SOUTHERN GOVERNMENT IS DENYING EVERY VIETNAMESE THEIR RIGHT TO BE UNIFIED AND DEMOCRATIC,.........@ - no different than the so-called RINO's, Repubs-in-Name-Only, or DINO's, Democratists-in-Name-Only, i.e. pol TROJAN HORSES, of today. NORTH KOREA is by any measure an unincorporated or unannexed province or territory of the PRC, while formerly pro-USSR unified Vietnam is well on its way to being another Norkie-style PC Chicom slave state, where SLAVE = FRIEND/COMRADE in SOCIALISM. The Vietnam Conflict is a "Civil War" only within the narrow context that the overwhelming majority of ordinary South Vietnamese, and many in the North for that matter, didn't know what Communism or Socialism truly meant. The Communist regimes in these nations are STILL NOT telling their societies that their peoples have de facto lost any historical fight for independence andor any independence from China!? The Viets and Norkies are "Chinese" citizens in everything except legal or public description.
Contrary to recommendations from his own internal watchdog, CIA Director Porter Goss will not order disciplinary reviews for a former director, George Tenet, and other officials criticized for their performance before the Sept. 11 attacks.
Goss said in a statement Wednesday that the report from the CIA's inspector general, John Helgerson, did not suggest "that any one person or group of people could have prevented 9/11."
"After great consideration of this report and its conclusions, I will not convene an accountability board to judge the performances of any individual CIA officers," Goss said.
Half of those named in the report have retired from the CIA. "Those who are still with us are amongst the finest we have," Goss said.
Lawmakers investigating the attacks asked the inspector generals of the CIA and other agencies to review whether any officials should be held personally accountable for failures before the suicide hijackings of Sept. 11, 2001.
After a two-year review, Helgerson's report recommended that Goss convene formal panels to investigate specific actions by Tenet and other current and former officials. The panels, known as accountability review boards, could suggest disciplines.
In his previous job as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Goss helped lead the congressional inquiry into the attacks and was among those who requested Helgerson's investigation.
The chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Sen. Pat Roberts, said he has asked Goss and National Intelligence Director John Negroponte to appear before his committee to discuss the decision on the review boards.
In a statement, Roberts, R-Kan., said he was "concerned to learn of the director's decision to forgo this step in the process."
Some intelligence veterans say that disciplinary reviews would drain energy from the focus on current threats and create significant ill will for Goss as he tries to lead a work force battered by a series of reports about Sept. 11 and the botched prewar intelligence on Iraq.
Current and former officials have also noted there are few options available to punish anyone who has left the CIA, other than letters of reprimand or a ban on future contracts with the agency.
Along with Tenet, others singled out for some of the harshest criticism include the former clandestine service chief, Jim Pavitt, and the former counterterrorism center head, Cofer Black, according to individuals familiar with the report. They who spoke only on condition of anonymity because the report it remains classified.
Through an associate, Tenet declined comment. Efforts to reach Black were unsuccessful.
Pavitt said the agency needs to keep focusing on its mission. "This removes a burden and will allow these extraordinary people to do the extraordinary work that is critical to national defense," he said.
In a series of Sept. 11 reviews, the CIA has been faulted for being risk averse, failing to share crucial information with other agencies and not executing a thorough plan to go after al Qaeda.
Yet the Sept. 11 commission also said no agency did more to attack the terrorist group than did the CIA.
Goss indicated he will make little â if any â of Helgerson's report public, saying now is not the time to reveal how intelligence is collected and analyzed.
But California Rep. Jane Harman, the House Intelligence Committee's top Democrat, said "Goss must persuade the public that he has dealt fairly with his agency's past mistakes"
The families of some Sept. 11 victims want to see the report â and punishments.
"We need transparency, and we certainly need accountability," said Kristen Breitweiser, one of the most outspoken advocates among Sept. 11 families.
In his public statement, Goss said Helgerson's report "unveiled no mysteries." He said that all 20 of the systemic problems that the report identified are being addressed by internal reforms or changes mandated by President Bush.
Before the attacks, Goss said, resources were inadequate and hiring was at historic low. Some officers who excelled in certain areas were asked to take tough assignments. "Unfortunately, time and resources were not on their side," Goss said.
In a statement, Negroponte supported Goss's decision against forming the disciplinary boards.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
10/06/2005 01:24 ||
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#1
Expect the same in-house handling of Able Danger. Punish the Innocent, Reward the Guilty.
#2
I'm not sure how I feel about this. I'm not sure our time is well spent establishing what we already know - that the system failed before 9/11. A public investigation would be as helpful to foreign governments as it would be to us.
I can't imagine a more fitting punishment than to go to bed at night, every night, thinking of all of those people burning to death and jumping from windows because of mistakes you are pesonally responsible for and knowing that for an event this big, history will eventually reveal it. While it would be nice to see a few heads on a pike, and even nicer to know if treason was involved, I don't know if it would be worth the level of information divulged.
Then again.... we the people, have a right to know so we can make sure that the problem has been corrected. I'm not holding my breath. Maybe 30 years from now we'll get the truth.
#3
We don't need a public investigation, but these guys should be whomped. They screwed up royally and should be punished. Especially Tenet. Remember Tenet got the Medal of Freedom, our nation's highest civilian honor. There needs to be more accountability in the middle and upper reaches of governement. Just as it was reasonable for Brown to be sacked at FEMA, so should Tenet have been. This problem starts with George Bush who wants to be everybody's friend, just as did Clinton. I guess the American people are getting what they deserve, but it's not good for the country.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
10/06/2005 10:56 Comments ||
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#4
"This removes a burden and will allow these extraordinary people to do the extraordinary work that is critical to national defense."
Ya'all did a fuckin bangup job boys...keep up the good work!
They fled. It was all over the news. When the bullets flew, they fled. Leaving stations, abandoning posts, forgetting duties, hundreds of police fled. When the police response to gunfire was to simply run away, the city fell into lawlessness. Pundits rushed to the airwaves, proclaiming the cityâs future hopeless. When the news of Hurricane Katrina first reached Mosul, the parallels were uncanny.
. . .
Michael Yon has a new column out...
According to his email dispace he is on his way back to Iraq and posted this new dispatch.
Iraq and Jordan plan to tighten security relations.
Officials said the closer relations would include border security, intelligence exchange and acceleration of Jordanian training of Iraqi police. They said they hope these measures would be implemented over the next few months.
"We have a memorandum of understanding to boost cooperation in the security field, whether in fighting terrorism, tightening border controls in both directions and prevention of infiltration," Jordan's Interior Minister Awni Yarfas said.
On Oct. 1, Iraq and Jordan signed the MoU meant to pave the way for a joint effort against Al Qaida as well as organized crime. Officials said Jordan has asked Iraq to provide real-time alerts of Al Qaida-aligned plots in the Hashemite kingdom.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
10/06/2005 01:29 ||
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The political leader of Hamas, Khaled Meshaal, implicitly accused the United States and Israel of responsibility for last week's clashes between Hamas activists and Palestinian security forces in the Gaza Strip.
I confess. It was me. I did it. That guy with the yarmulke helped, too. I'll take my medicine. I'm just so ashamed...
Meanwhile, Egypt said it has started constructing a new tri-border crossing that will link the three sides of Egypt, Gaza and Israel. An Egyptian official said the crossing would be built within three months, but did not specify when it would be opened for use. The crossing will be south of the old Egyptian-Gaza crossing at Rafah.
Does it come with tunnels, like the old one did?
In Damascus, Meshaal spoke after attending a meeting of leaders of Damascus-based radical Palestinian factions opposed to the PLO's peace accords with Israel. The leaders rejected internal fighting and called for national unity "and solving differences through dialogue to enable the Palestinians to continue the battle of liberating Gaza and the rest of occupied Palestinian lands," Meshaal told reporters. Referring to the Gaza clashes, Meshaal said, "There is foreign pressure and incitement known to everyone."
"Every time a Paleo woman goes to clean under the bed, they find an American or an Israeli, and sometimes both!"
Although he did not elaborate, Meshaal was apparently alluding to the United States and Israel, which have repeatedly demanded that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas disarm Hamas. In a statement issued after the Damascus meeting, also attended by Farouk Qaddoumi, head of the Palestine Liberation Organization's mainstream Fatah faction, the militant leaders stressed "the Palestinian right of resistance until all legitimate rights are achieved" and urged all Palestinian factions to avoid armed fighting in solving internal differences. Qaddoumi said the leaders also agreed to "refrain from all forms political and media provocations that can harm the interests of our people and their national unity."
Oh, he did, did he? Well, me and Moshe will take care of that!
Meshaal warned that "no one has the right to interfere in internal Palestinian affairs even if it was the U.S. administration." He rejected U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice's demand that Hamas disarm. "As long as our land is occupied, the Palestinian people and their factions have the right to jointly resist and play a political role."
"And we're the ones who define what our rights are, not you!"
Rice said last week that Hamas cannot participate in Palestinian politics if it remains armed. "You cannot simultaneously keep an option on politics and an option on violence," she said. But "we refuse any inclination toward internal feuding because our fixed national principles set Palestinian blood as a taboo," he said.
Yeah. We've seen that. Very commendable.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/06/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Of course ,, we are the great satan. It has to be us.
#2
Lol. Okay, sure, we did it. For our next mindfuck trick, we'll make you turn on the EU "peacekeepers" who come to call. We'll make it so some faction must kidnap a few of them for ransom to save their "honor". And then...
#6
They just can't get beyond the blaming others for their own huge shortcomings affliction thingy. It goes on well beyond the point of absurdity yet in the ears of a Paleo it must have the ring of trooof. Hard to improve the reality of Paleo land when they can't see it let alone call it for what it is. Man they are so phuked. Raising crippling mental disorders to the status of laudible expression of prevailing public opinion will do that.
#8
This is a friggin mob war. If they want to keep it on their side of the wall, tell them to feel free to kill each other to their heart's content until one mob wins.
#9
Always, always, always, it has to be the fault of others. Everyone but themselves.
I wish these people would hurry up and get their civil war going. The sooner this planet is cleansed of these idiots, the better off everyone else will be.
Lawyer for jailed Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Bashir today accused Australia of meddling in Indonesian legal affairs for protesting about a possible reduction in his client's sentence. Justice Minister Chris Ellison yesterday said Australia objected to any further reduction of the 30-month jail sentence imposed on the hardline cleric in March for his involvement in a criminal conspiracy that led to the 2002 Bali bombings. "That is really a rude action by Australia. It is a crude attempt at meddling in the sovereignty of the Indonesian legal system," Mohammad Assegaf, one of Bashir's chief lawyers, said. The head of the Indonesian jail where Bashir is being held, Dedi Sutardi, told AFP that the Government accorded two annual sentence reductions to prisoners for good conduct if they have already served at least six months. Under the scheme, Bashir had already had his sentence cut by more than four months to commemorate Indonesia's independence day in August and could have another month taken off to mark the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan in early November, Mr Sutardi said. "I hope that (President) Yudhoyono's Government will stand firm in the face of such interference," Mr Assegaf said.
Posted by: Oztralian [AKA] God Save The World ||
10/06/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Be a real shame if Mr. Mouthpiece got run over by a truck or somethin', huh?
With militant concerns on the rise, Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo called Wednesday for Congress to swiftly pass a tough anti-terrorism law that would, among other things, allow longer detention of suspects for interrogation.
Indonesia's top anti-terrorism official has identified two Malaysian fugitives - Azahari bin Husin and Noordin Mohamed Top - as the suspected masterminds of Saturday night's attacks on three crowded Bali tourist resort restaurants, which killed 22 people and the three bombers. The two suspects were not among the suicide attackers.
Philippine police plan to show photographs of the heads of the three suspected suicide bombers to captured Jemaah Islamiyah militants, hoping to learn whether the attackers belonged to the al-Qaida-linked group or had trained in Mindanao.
Jemaah Islamiyah, although battered by arrests of key leaders and members, appears to have adapted to Southeast Asia's crackdown by linking up with other regional militant groups or individuals.
Since the group established camps in mid-1998 in Mindanao territory controlled by the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front, at least three batches of recruits, each containing 17-18 Indonesians, have completed 18-month-long courses in bomb-making, combat skills, weapons handling and concepts of jihad, or holy war, according to a confidential report in August by the Philippines National Security Council and intelligence officials, obtained by The Associated Press.
There were also shorter courses for recruits from Malaysia and Singapore "who because of their work (some are civil servants) could not be absent for long periods of time," said the report.
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which has been fighting for a Muslim homeland in the southern Philippines for decades and is now in peace talks with the government, has denied links with terror groups.
Still, the roster of graduates, trainers and visitors to Mindanao's terror camps listed in the report reads like a Who's Who of Jemaah Islamiyah:
_ Osama bin Laden's Southeast Asian pointman, Riduan Isamuddin, also known as Hambali, and convicted 2002 Bali bomber Ali Ghufron, also known as Mukhlas, were instructors to the first batch of graduates in February 2000. Hambali is now in U.S. custody.
_ Suspected Jemaah Islamiyah leader Abu Bakar Bashir attended the graduation ceremony.
_ Two other suspects in the 2002 Bali attacks - Indonesians Dulmatin and Umar Patek - who fled to Mindanao to be with Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khaddafy Janjalani, among Washington's most wanted al-Qaida-allied terrorists. Abu Sayyaf is a brutal al-Qaida-linked group in the Philippines on the U.S. list of terrorist organizations.
A flurry of e-mails between Dulmatin and Patek and a recently captured militant in Indonesia, Abdullah Sunata, indicated they were seeking funds in the Middle East for future attacks, according to another Philippine security assessment report obtained by AP.
The militants find many sympathizers in impoverished Mindanao, where at least three groups, along with a growing number of Islamic converts, have been engaged in the region's bloody separatist war since the early 1970s.
"The network continues to thrive in the southern Philippines owing to the support it receives," the Aug. 9 report said.
Although the Filipino military and police say that known Jemaah Islamiyah camps have been overrun and U.S.-backed offensives disrupted training, the report says the presence of about 25 Indonesian militants in Mindanao could lead to a resumption of the stalled courses.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
10/06/2005 01:36 ||
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TERRORIST organisation Jemaah Islamiyah is banned by the UN, US, EU and Australia - but not by the Indonesians.
Something is clearly wrong. The only place JI's terrorists have successfully carried out their murderous policies is within Indonesia.
The biggest stumbling block for Indonesian leaders like President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono grappling with the group is its name.
Jemaah Islamiyah translates as Islamic Community and its members want those in the broader Islamic community in the most populous Islamic nation in the world to believe that invocations to ban JI are directed at every Muslim.
Given the difficulties of selling such a ban, it's pretty easy to understand why Indonesia's politicians baulk at such a prospect.
But that will not stop the Australian Government or the Opposition from continuing to encourage and lobby the Indonesian Government to meet its international obligations and proscribe the terrorist organisation, a message Foreign Minister Alexander will reinforce when he visits Jakarta in the next few days.
There are arguments against banning JI, and indeed any terrorist gang, and they generally come back to the lack of success governments had stamping out terrorist groups such as the IRA and the ANC, both of which were banned.
Terrorists don't usually carry membership cards.
Al Qaeda and JI don't go in for such formalities, which makes attempts to ban them much more difficult â but that should not be a reason to stand by idly and do nothing.
Nor should it be a reason to do as the Indonesian Government is now doing in allowing JI leader Abu Bakar Bashir's sentence to be reduced along with those of some of his convicted militant supporters.
The Indonesians ingenuously argue that they have been targeting individual terrorists â not organisations â but the arguments for proscription of these types of criminal network are compelling.
Not only would banning the JI organisation send a very important symbolic message to its evil leaders, it would indicate to those who deal with the amorphous group that any engagement or association with JI would not be tolerated by the Indonesian authorities and would in fact be a criminal offence.
International terrorism expert Rohan Gunatratna told me yesterday that the Indonesian Government, and those of its allies, should be looking at the bigger picture beyond Bali II, if they wish to prevent a Bali III, and a Bali IV.
"What is important is to reduce the threat by developing a comprehensive counter-terrorism and counter-extremism strategy," he said.
"It needs sustained action at an operational and organisational level. The Indonesians must target groups urging and waging jihad.
"It must encourage moderate Islamic leaders to work against the radical groups."
Dr Gunatratna said there were signs of increased co-operation between JI and other terrorist groups but a lack of willingness to act on the part of the Government.
"There has been no significant shift in Indonesia's policy," he said.
"There needs to be a greater emphasis on proactive targeting, more preventative laws, and detention of those involved in terrorist groups. Anyone who supports any of the terrorist groups must go to jail."
Dr Gunatratna said there was an excellent level of co-operation between Indonesian and Australian police authorities but that both countries should invest more effort into ensuring Indonesia developed a political strategy that helped it develop a sound policy framework.
"The US, Canada, the EU and Australia believe JI should be banned, Indonesia should be no different," he said.
"Australia created a robust offshore policy after Bali I, the Indonesians should give their police the proper empowerment to operate against these people."
It is not as if there are not anti-terrorist laws in force in Islamic nations for the Indonesian Government to follow.
Pakistan has just sentenced four people to death and handed two others life terms for their role in a 2003 assassination attempt on President Pervez Musharraf.
The Iraqi Parliament has voted to adopt sweeping anti-terror laws which stipulate the death penalty for eight different offences.
If the Indonesians seriously want to maintain and grow their fragile democracy and retain the comparative prosperity they have enjoyed in recent times, they have to attack and smash JI with the same ruthlessness that the Coalition led by the US displayed in Afghanistan against the Taliban and is now showing in Iraq against al-Qaeda's forces.
For make no mistake, as much as Western countries are the target of JI diatribes, Indonesia's leadership, its democratic system and entire way of life, is as much in the sights of these demented Islamist murderers.
What Abu Bakar Bashir wants is exactly the same as Osama bin Laden wants and Mullah Omar wants and that is an Indonesia that is ruled by the mediaeval mumbo jumbo of shariah law and beset by the human rights abuses and outrages that were seen in Afghanistan under the Taliban.
Its incumbent upon Dr Yudhoyono and his Government to do everything to ensure that doesn't happen.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
10/06/2005 00:36 ||
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#1
TERRORIST organisation Jemaah Islamiyah is banned by the UN, US, EU and Australia - but not by the Indonesians.
Notice the Philippines is missing from the list. There's a pattern here.
#2
I wouldn't call the Philippines a regional power... Taiwan, China, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia aren't listed either....
OTOH The Phillippines does need to step up to the plate and clean up their mess -- with assistance from other nations (Australia, US) if need be. The Philippine government (Arroyo) isn't blameless.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said Wednesday that "terrorist acts have spoiled Indonesia's reputation in the eyes of the world." The armed forces should "take a technical and strategic role in fighting and preventing future attacks," he said without elaborating, according to reports of foreign news agencies. Southeast Asian nations have gone on high alert to prevent a repeat of the Saturday night bombings on the popular resort island of Bali that killed 22 people, putting hundreds of thousands of troops on standby, tightening security on beaches, and stepping up border security.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/06/2005 00:00 ||
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#2
Lol - it's all about image, content need not apply. You guys are really dense, y'know? You've killed the golden goose. It's over. Kaput. Everyone knows you're a shithole and nest of vipers, from the first sham Bali prosecution, to the scamming of world tsunami aid, to jailing some little chippy from Ozzyland forever for some dope while letting killers walk, to embassy bombings in which you re-ran that faux prosecution game, to this current Bali joke investigation, to ignoring Bashir - the littlest Jihadi General with the biggest mouth. Fuck it, folks. You've shot your wad. You're not worthy - and all of that foreign capital is gonna slowly withdraw, and the tourists will stop coming, and you'll slowly slip back to running through the jungle hiding from predators (lol). That's it. Game over. Have a nice life. No one's gonna call your number and give you the ball - you play for the other team. Buh bye and fuck the fuck off you fucking fuckers.
#3
And they all hated me upon having made the suggestion that long-term tsunami relief depend upon an entire renunciation of violent jihad plus cooperation with USA anti-terrorism aims ... silly sod, I am.
#4
Afraid so - it was raw sympathy time - and we delivered heavyweight assistance while 99% sat on their hands. Now, of course, everything returns to normal: the UN Vulture Elites took credit, the money and aid was scammed, and the jihadis hit the revolving door. Sham City.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/06/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Hmmm. Linky seems to have changed on you, Fred. Or the "World" section is offline for some reason right now.
Re; the article title, the Flips are a real conundrum. When they get their hands on someone, such as Ramzy Yousef and his buds, they can extract anything you want to know... awesome interrogators and investigators when they sink their teeth into something... but at the same time they allow bad actors to live and multiply in safety. Sheesh. Wotta screwy place. The only time I've been in Manilla was in the days when every hotel had guys with machineguns at the doors and onboard the elevators - and you could hire a couple at the hotel front desk to escort you and your business associates to dinner - so you'd have a good chance of coming back alive. Never went back.
#2
When was that, .com? A girlfriend of mine followed her husband over there in the early-mid 90's, and she didn't say anything about such security issues.
#3
G'morning... Late '99. There are two Manilas - Manila and Metro Manila. Manila is old, run-down and dangerous. Metro Manila is bright, shiny, and "new". I went to see about a software gig, to work from there on Saudi stuff partnering with a company there that needed both my Internet programming as well as my contacts in Saudi. Two other guys were interested in the gig, so they came along. I made the mistake of not investigating Manila closely for myself. I let the guy we were meeting make our arrangements. Uh, big mistake. His outfit was in old Manila and that's where he had us staying. I don't remember the hotel name, but there were at least 4 guards visible from any point in the lobby, one in the Starbucks next door, one in the McDonald's about 50 yds down the street, and a whole shitload of Flips who thought we looked like steak. Probably the second biggest mistake was in wearing suits, instead of down-scale casual stuff. We were marked men. We did get a quick tour of Metro Manila, Quezon City, Makati, and some other 'burbs I can't recall - and they were an island of international commerce, surrounded by poverty on the order of what I saw wandering around Bombay in '92. Of course this was at the time that Estrada was "running" things - and a more corrupt govt is pretty hard to imagine. But to be honest, it's still much the same, today. If you read the traveler forums, you see the same breakdown in go / no-go zones I mentioned. And yes, they still have armed guards at the Manila McDonald's. Now you may find it weird that I found Manila to be more "tense" than Saudi, but in '99 that was the case... in Saudi they just had these Barney Fife types guarding the banks, currency exchanges, and (for some unknown reason) the fire stations... plus it was the devil I knew vs the devil I didn't know problem. :)
#4
Hmm.. interesting .com. I was there in about '01 and saw some of that. Purses and bags being inspected before entry to a mall or theatre (the ACLU would love it I'm sure) and a lot of armed guards.
But then I didn't stay in a hotel but with a family there in metro manila (Alabang area). I've heard (didn't witness) that some of the areas around the girlie bars and Rizal Park can be pretty dangerous. Places where you probably wouldn't want to wander into at night. I think every large metro city has them.
#5
Baby, when you need a guard with a machinegun in the McDonald's, you're in deep shit. Weren't any frickin' girlie bars I could see round that (once) grand hotel.
#7
Thanks, guys. It sounds like Caracas and Mexico City, then -- in the '80s no problems really, then came the '90s, and the little people were trying to grab a piece for themselves. Mr. Wife wandered freely through Caracas in the latter '80s, but when he went back in '94(?), the hotel put them in a cab to go to the bar across the street, because it wasn't safe for them to walk. Likewise, when another girlfriend from my Germany circle -- born and bred in Mexico City -- went back to visit family, they wouldn't allow her to take her little blond daughter outside the house gates to buy a taco from the street vendor for fear of kidnapping. And of course, there are always no go areas in big cities, even here in the U.S. (at least for the likes of me ;-]).
Syrian President Bashar Assad has sacked 81 judges and increased wages for the profession as part of a reform program for the legal system, an official daily reported. Ath-Thawra said that the president ordered a 25-percent increase in the wages of judges and improved tax and insurance conditions for the profession, but it did not identify those faced with dismissal nor give a reason.
The measures - announced after a Cabinet meeting on Monday chaired by Assad to discuss reforms of the judiciary - are aimed at improving the standard of living of judges and speeding up legal reforms, the paper said. France last year granted aid to Syria to reform its judiciary, which has been widely criticized for being undermined by corruption. But human rights activist and lawyer Anwar al-Bunni, in a statement, criticized the latest moves as "a violation of the Constitution, ... which underlines the independence of the judiciary with the president as its guarantor."
Posted by: Fred ||
10/06/2005 00:00 ||
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Several demonstrators were hurt as Syrian police dispersed a sit-in by hundreds of Kurds to demand the return of Syrian nationality to thousands who lost it 43 years ago, a Kurdish party said. "Hundreds of Kurds gathered in Shahbandar Square in Damascus in response to a call from several parties to protest against the policy of oppression against the Kurds and against a racist census in 1962" in the northern province of Hassakeh, the Azadi Party said. Around 200,000 Kurds had their nationality withdrawn at the time. Their identity cards were confiscated and they were denied civil rights.
"Despite the peaceful nature of the sit-in, police and security services beat the demonstrators, injuring a number of citizens, including Mustafa Jumaa, the number two of Azadi," the party said in a statement.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/06/2005 00:00 ||
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PM reveals legacy of Syrian dominance Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora defended recent steps taken by the government to guarantee security and revealed the complete domination of the Lebanese security system by its Syrian equivalent over the past 30 years, during a parliamentary session to discuss the country's security policy. The session did not end with a vote of no confidence for the government as predicted, despite strong criticism from Hizbullah's Loyalty to the Resistance bloc and MP Michel Aoun's bloc Change and Reform, the main opposition bloc.
In response to attacks on the government's performance, Siniora elaborated on the strategies carried out to reinforce security insisting that "complete security is political security in the first stage and requires that the people have a full political consensus over the democracy of the political system." Siniora spoke about the practical steps taken by the Interior Ministry despite the lack of equipment and manpower to restructure and activate the institutions dealing with security. The steps included establishing an independent security operation unit to perform daily patrols as well as greater cooperation among the different security bodies and stricter monitoring of the borders to control infiltration. Siniora said the security agencies have raided several weapons storage houses and assured the Parliament that the level of information gleaned by these bodies is improving.
Siniora stressed the importance of the security appointments as a first step and said "Lebanon has moved away from the controlled and fake security system and we would like to move toward a national security system based on citizen participation." He explained how the Lebanese security system in the past was dominated by the Syrian security regime and took orders from it, adding that the Lebanese security system did not have the means or the networks to gather the necessary information to guarantee security. He said the price for the controlled security was "tutelage over the political life and corruption in the economy." Siniora also said seeking technical assistance from other countries that are capable of helping Lebanon combat terrorism will continue despite all the criticism and refused any link between this assistance and submission to American hegemony in the region.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/06/2005 00:00 ||
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Detlev Mehlis, head of the UN team investigating the murder of former Premier Rafik Hariri, has formed a special committee to determine which team members will stay in Lebanon until the end of the year, according to sources close to The Daily Star. This comes as Mehlis is preparing the investigation report with his senior aides in Vienna due to be handed over to the UN Security Council by the end of this month. The report is expected to include an outline of the investigation's progress as well as details describing how the murder was executed.
The sources explained Wednesday that Mehlis - who has repeatedly said he will not be able to determine the identity of the perpetrators and the murder plot before the end of the investigation - hopes to show the considerable effort made by his team by publicizing details on how the assassination was carried out. Hence, sources expect the report to include a major part on the logistics and technical side of the crime that claimed the lives of Hariri and 20 others last February. However, judicial sources say this technical description of how the crime was committed does not include any new information that was not gleaned by the Lebanese investigation. The same sources added that Mehlis has adopted an account in his report indicating the Mitsubishi automobile suspected of carrying the explosions that killed Hariri entered Lebanon through Syria. Another unofficial and nonfinal version says the car entered Lebanon through the Northern port of Tripoli.
The Daily Star sources also speculated the report will describe Syria's level of cooperation during the investigations Mehlis' team carried out with top Syrian officials two weeks ago in Damascus as either "insufficient or unacceptable." The report will also include an assessment of the work of the Lebanese security and judicial sector, and that this assessment may determine the nature and the location of the court that will handle the case.
Meanwhile Germany's News Agency quoted Imad Sadik, brother of leading Syrian witness in the case Mohammad Zuheir, who fled Syria after the assassination, saying "the UN investigation team will not reach any results as long they rely on witnesses like my brother." Sadik said: "Mehlis and the country that hosted Zuheir would be idiots if they listen to my brother." Sadik also accused Telecommunication Minister Marwan Hamade of "staging his brother's plot to testify against Syria."
Posted by: Fred ||
10/06/2005 00:00 ||
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Look, all the questions have been asked - and met with belligerent lies, half-truths, and obfuscation. Surely the EU3 aren't actually dumb enough to listen to Elbaradai the Stooge any longer?
A US source has revealed to "Asharq al-Awsat" that a group made up of members of the republican party and retired military officers are seeking Syria's help in salvaging US policy in Iraq. The source said an unofficial US delegation has just returned from Damascus where it held talks with a number of Syrian decision makers during which it was able to obtain a Syrian offer of effective cooperation to achieve stability in Iraq in exchange for ensuring the Arabism of Iraq and not threatening stability inside Syria itself. The source added, added that the Syrian offer includes a reference to the willingness of Damascus to name a Syrian ambassador in Baghdad immediately and open the embassy as a show of good intentions. According to the US source, the Syrian offer was made in response to a proposal from the moderate wing in the Republican Party to make Syria a strategic ally in the region if it implements the stated US demands and helps the ongoing political process in Iraq to continue.
The source went on to say that, the Syrian response "was generous and detailed" and is difficult for the US administration to reject because it is "the easiest option for saving its face in Iraq." It also includes a reference to Syria's ability to cooperate in the field to achieve stability in Iraq side by side with the American troops if it receives a request for this from Washington. It pointed out that the officials who are close to the Syrian presidency who took part in the talks last week underlined the need for dealing with Syrian with respect and for protecting Iraq's Arab identity.
According to the source's assertion, the US delegation returned from Damascus full of optimism and is at present preparing a report to the decision makers in Washington that includes a recommendation to try to gain Syria as a strategic ally in the region, if it fulfills its promises, and to help develop Syria economically and democratically so that the US plan in the region can become a dual one that includes Syria and Iraq at the same time without the need for shedding more blood or sacrificing the lives of American soldiers.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/06/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
enuf talk, time for action
Posted by: Captain America ||
10/06/2005 0:21 Comments ||
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#2
This offer sounds like it requires us to sell out either the Kurds, the Shi'a, or both.
Any idea who these "moderates" are, if they really exist?
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
10/06/2005 0:33 Comments ||
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#3
Dunno, but I'm impressed how by secret this is.
#4
This smells, can't say why exactly. My BS meter is nearly pegged on this.
Maybe its because we're currently engaged in a proxy war with Syria and I don't believe that US policy requires "salvaging".
#5
Any idea who these "moderates" are, if they really exist?
Anyone the State Department talks to is a "moderate".
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
10/06/2005 8:38 Comments ||
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#6
US delegation Holding Secret Talks with Syria
OK, now.
This is were we are in our proposal.
We agree to renovate the 'Saddam' model estate with 8 bedrooms, 6 baths, 1 kitchen, 1 kitchenette, a grand entrance way, a great room with vaulted ceiling, a formal dinning room to seat seventeen, an indoor pool and outdoor pool, a small putting green, a separate in-law cabana with amenities, a four car garage, four american made standard production automobiles of you choice, cable, tv, internet connection and a off-shore bank account with a stipends of 200k a year at the Dictators-r-Us estates outside of Pago Pago, Samoa. The lot will have an overview of the bay and the Estates offers 24 hour gated security, a tennis court, a 21 hole golf course, and grounds keeping. Now that is for yourself, your wife, your mistress, four of your immediate family and one set of in-laws, tradable as you desire. Anything more and you have to provide something more that is useful for us. Say, like the head of Al-Zarqawi. That would be a significant increase in your bargining capital.
#7
The source said an unofficial US delegation has just returned from Damascus where it held talks with a number of Syrian decision makers during which it was able to obtain a Syrian offer of effective cooperation to achieve stability in Iraq in exchange for ensuring the Arabism of Iraq and not threatening stability inside Syria itself.
Anyone seen Sean Penn lately? He's "unofficial" enough, I guess in Syria's eyes.
Posted by: BA ||
10/06/2005 11:14 Comments ||
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#8
given the state of play in Syria, outreach to elements within the Syrian military doesnt sound that far fetched to me. We wouldnt have to sell out the IRAQI Kurds OR the Shia - probably not even the Lebanese - wed just have to sell out the Syrian democrats, which isnt that big a deal, considering there probably arent many of them, and theyll probably lose anyway.
The Hariri investigation is gonna finger some really high up Syrian Baath, probably including close relatives of Baby Assad. At that point the s**t hits the fan in Syria = the enemies of the Baath (including the Muslim Brotherhood) will be in play -but so will different elements in the establishment, including the military. Having a little quiet help from the US might be quite useful in those festivities, and clamping down on the ratlines to Iraq might be a worthwhile tradeoff. I can see the outlines of a mutually desirable deal.
"...in exchange for ensuring the Arabism of Iraq..."
It's right there in the report.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
10/06/2005 13:57 Comments ||
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#11
Apart from the fact that this smells of spin, it would be interesting to contemplate pealing Syria away from Iran.
If there is substance to this report at all, it would explain the "Arabism" - suggest that the Arab majority background of Iraqis makes Iraq a more natural ally for Syria than the mullahs.
#13
Might the "moderates" be the group of "81 judges" the Neck just sacked? Nah, we're aaplying so much pressure, he wouldn't have the cajones for that. The vermin are squirmin'--I love it!
#14
The keystone of this article is in the last paragraph: A US State Department official denied that the department knew of any talks with the Syrian Government but pointed out that the US Embassy in Damascus is open and the American diplomats are doing their job and the Syrian authorities can inform them of any real change in its policies. He stressed that no US official has talked at all about regime change in Syria and all that Washington is hoping for is a "change in the Syrian behavior toward specific issues that the Syrians know well."
This is a polite way of saying fix the problem or we will fix it for you.
#15
Unofficial delegation and retired military officers seeking Syria's help? Gen. Myers to the rescue? Sounds like they are circumventing any possibility of leaks or spies. Saving Assad's butt in exchange for help exterminating the infestation in real control may not be a bad idea.
"...in exchange for ensuring the Arabism of Iraq..."
It's right there in the report"
We're gonna sell that horse anyway, as far its in our power to sell, to get the Sunnis on board - so its not in the constitution, it can be done in legislation once the Sunni arabs vote. But if the Pals can sell the same horse over and over again, why shouldnt we be able to?
#17
"Yesterday we reported that Sergei won a green motorcycle in the lottery. We must make a correction. It was not Sergei but Andropov; it was not green but blue; it was not a motorcycle but a bicycle; and he did not win it, he stole it. Aside from this our report was substantially correct." Radio Yerevan
Posted by: James ||
10/06/2005 17:29 Comments ||
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#18
Liberalhawk, consider the difference between Christianity (as divided as it is) being the largest religion in the US and some sort of law or treaty "ensuring the Christianity of the US."
We have attempted to set up a situation where _all three_ of the major ethnic groups must approve of the constitution before it becomes law.
One of those groups is not Arab, and another while Arab is of a religious minority that is uniformly disenfranchised throughout the Arab world.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
10/06/2005 17:43 Comments ||
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#19
all this speculation for wishful thinking from aawsat.com? No agenda there....jeebus
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/06/2005 19:23 Comments ||
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TEHRAN - Iranâs judiciary said on Wednesday it will use jury trials for press-related offences and that a string of sentences handed down to journalists and bans of newspapers could be lifted. âJuries are being formed all around the country, and many trials will end the prosecution and lead to the lifting of bans,â judiciary spokesman and Justice Minister Jamal Karimi-Rad told reporters.
"Let's go, Aswan, it's yer day in court."
"Okay. Hey, what's with all the nasty-looking turbans over there?"
"They're your jury."
"urk."
In recent years hundreds of publications have been shut down and scores of journalists arrested or imprisoned in a major crackdown by the judiciary, a bastion of Iranâs religious right.
In April, hardline deputies in Iranâs parliament voted to suspend a law passed by their reformist predecessors that was aimed at giving journalists fairer trials. The law, pushed through by reformers in 2003, stipulated that journalists in court for press-related offences should face a jury made up of press union officials and representatives of other social groups.
Deputies in the now-conservative dominated Majlis called for the jury make-up for press-related offences to return to a previous arrangement where jurors are named by a variety of regime officials.
Like I was just saying ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/06/2005 00:00 ||
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October 6, 2005: As part of the U.S. Armyâs ongoing reorganization and transformation, there was going to be new nomenclature for combat units. Brigades were to be known as âUnits of Actionâ (UA for short). Divisions were to be Units of Employment X (UEx) for divisions and corps, and Units of Employment Y (UEy) for armies and theaters. These changes were not popular. The general who approved this stuff was recently forced out of his job because of zipper control issues (adultery), and now the army is tossing the unpopular new names for old units. Well, almost.
Brigades will now be called âBrigade Combat Teamsâ (BCT). Thatâs not so bad, and the brigades will keep the same history (which helps morale) of the divisional and independent brigades they were reorganized from.
The corps and divisions will undergo an interesting change. Both will become more like the traditional army (a headquarters with a lot of self-sustaining combat units attached). In effect, the army now has two sizes of âcorpsâ (depending on whether the commander is a two star major general, or a three star lieutenant general.) Each of these headquarters will have a permanent staff of 800-1,000 troops, and will command as many BCTs and support units needed to get the job done. A division headquarters could handle 2-5 BCTs. Itâs unclear if the traditional corps (with two-five divisions plus support units) arrangement will be retained. The army has long talked about getting rid of at least one layer of headquarters. Since the new corps and divisions will retain their historical names (and most BCTs will still belong to a division), it appears that a division headquarters and up to five BCTs would be sent to take care of a small job (like Afghanistan), while a corps, and a dozen or so BCTs would take care of bigger jobs (like Iraq).
The traditional armies will disappear, at least as we know them. Like the corps and divisions, they will consist of about a thousand or more headquarters troops, with corps, divisions, BCTs and support units added as needed. The armies will now be known by names, instead of numbers, which indicate their geographical location. Thus the 3rd Army, which runs operations in the Middle East will now be called âARCENTâ (supporting Central Command). The 6th Army, which controls units oriented towards Latin America, will become âARSOUTHâ (supporting Southern Command). In Korea, the 8th Army will be withdrawn back to the United States, and renamed âUSARPAC.â The 7th Army, in Europe, will be absorbed into the current âUSAREURâ headquarters. Back in the United States, the 5th Army will be âARNORTH,â and continue to run a lot of the training operations in the U.S.
It remains to be seen if any of this will have any positive effect. The first of the reorganized BCTs are headed for Iraq and Afghanistan in the next six months. After those units return, comparisons can be made. The division headquarters will probably also be kept in Iraq, if only because the division headquarters troops proved useful for civil affairs and reconstruction duties.
Posted by: Steve ||
10/06/2005 08:49 ||
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October 6, 2005: Snipers have long had a major effect on the battlefield, often scoring kills from as far as a kilometer. Ortek, a subsidiary of Elbit Systems, however, is making snipers even deadlier with a new piece of technology: A Sniper Coordination System. Snipers have often operated individually on the battlefield â lone wolves with a long reach, capable of decapitating larger units and demoralizing them. The Sniper Coordination System will allow a commander to coordinate the activities of as many as four sniper teams.
The system is a lightweight image splitter used as an add-on to standard day/night sights, and can transmit the data gathered to a heads-up display, computer, or IPAC. Up to thirty hours of surveillance data can be gathered, and the ability to send and receive messages silently, in addition to getting battlefield imagery is added. All of this information can go to the commander, who will be able to see what his snipers see, and with a red or green light, give them the authorization to fire. This creates a time-on-target capability for these four sniper teams â much like the capability that artillery gained during World War II. The effects of four snipers carrying out a coordinated strike will be much greater than four individual snipers operating on their own.
Snipers have long been feared on the battlefield. The Sniper Coordination System will make them even more feared, because now, they will not be mere individual sniper teams picking out targets of opportunity. In the very near future, these sniper teams will be working as a larger team.
Posted by: Steve ||
10/06/2005 08:46 ||
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#1
SOCOM lives!
Posted by: Chris W. ||
10/06/2005 9:33 Comments ||
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#2
Hah, I had just finished reading about the wired guy in the mosque story, when I came to this one. I need more coffee here.
Wonderful to hear how our guys are getting the equiptment they need to stay on the top of their game.
Posted by: Jan ||
10/06/2005 10:58 Comments ||
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October 6, 2005: China has put together a 450 man peacekeeping force for duty in Sudan. The unit includes 275 engineers, 100 transport troops, 60 medical personnel and a small headquarters. The unit received special training, and the unit will start moving to Sudan in October. China has been much more active in peacekeeping over the last few years, and sees it as a way to become a bigger player in world diplomacy, and gives its troops practical experience. The Sudan operation is particularly important, as Chinese firms are the major operator of Sudanese oil drilling and pumping facilities.
Sometimes, it is all about the oil
Posted by: Steve ||
10/06/2005 08:19 ||
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#1
Where are the security troops? Sudan is not Somalia, but it is still not safe for foreigners. However, I suspect that if the Chinese have a "Mogadishu moment" that their response will be very different than Bill Clinton's.
Mullah Abdul Salam used to fire a grenade launcher with such lethal skill that his guerrilla comrades renamed him Rocketi, or the Rocketman.
Today, after giving up guns for politics, the former Taliban commander is leading his province's race for a seat in parliament, where he hopes his debating skills will prove as sharp as his aim.
"In the past, we finished off our enemies with rockets," said the mullah, sitting cross-legged on the floor of his spartan office here. Now, he added, "we will get rid of them with reason and concentration."
Much like his country's struggle to end more than 26 years of war, Rocketi's success as a democrat may depend on whether old foes agree that talking is better than killing. The mullah says he has received repeated threats from both the Taliban and supporters of the Northern Alliance, which helped U.S. forces remove the extremist regime in 2001.
With U.S. support, President Hamid Karzai has offered amnesty to most Taliban members, and encouraged them to help build a democracy. Rocketi was one of at least eight prominent Taliban leaders who took the offer and ran for parliament. Most of the rest appear headed for defeat at polls in strongholds they lost on the battlefield four years ago.
With about half the ballots from the Sept. 18 elections counted and certified, Rocketi is the front-runner for one of three seats in the 249-seat Wolesi Jirga, or House of the People, allocated to southern Zabol province.
Voters have delivered the most dramatic defeat to former Taliban Foreign Minister Wakil Ahmed Mutawakel, who was regarded as a moderate by Western governments. He is running 31st, with less than 1% of the vote, for Kandahar province's 11 seats. Maulvi Qalamuddin, who once led the notorious Department for the Prevention of Vice and Promotion of Virtue, and Mullah Abdul Samad Khaksar, former deputy interior minister in the Taliban regime, are also headed for defeat.
In Wardak province, Haji Musa Hotak, a former Taliban battalion commander in the central region of the province, is battling for fourth place, but only the top three male candidates will go to parliament. As in other provinces, two of Wardak's five seats are reserved for women.
Younis Qanooni, a former Northern Alliance leader who is running second among the candidates for Kabul's 33 seats, says he's willing to forgive and forget Rocketi's past.
"As he steps into parliament, his life might be a new page. And to respect the people's welfare, we have to respect him too," Qanooni said. "We cannot speak negatively about his past."
Rocketi says he can imagine shaking Qanooni's hand one day, but expects very heated debate, or worse, before politicians can bury many hatchets.
"There will certainly be many arguments in parliament, because there will be different factions, and many people accusing each other of destroying Afghanistan â not only Qanooni, but also communists," he said. "And I will definitely fight the communists there."
Rocketi was a teenager when he became a guerrilla fighter, first against an Afghan communist government and then against the Soviet troops that invaded in 1979.
When he was 20, a guerrilla commander nicknamed him Rocketi because of his prowess with rocket-propelled grenades and antitank rockets. He took it as a formal name, and it was one of 22 on the ballot in Zabol.
"My specialty was going very close to an enemy tank," he said. "And I always took my time in firing a rocket. I didn't waste any and I usually hit my target. I was brave and didn't lose my morale. I was never reckless."
Rocketi said he joined the Taliban soon after it seized Kabul in September 1996. He acknowledges being a corps commander in the eastern province of Nangarhar, and leading another unit in Kabul.
Human rights activists complain that commanders from several factions in the Afghan civil war, including the Taliban and the Northern Alliance, have gotten away with war crimes because Karzai and his foreign backers have failed to prosecute them.
Rocketi insists that American interrogators cleared him of any wrongdoing when they released him in the winter of 2002, about eight months after he surrendered along with almost 50 other Taliban fighters. He said the Americans questioned him for several weeks at a house in Kabul, usually over tea and fruit.
"They told me I could answer whatever questions I wanted, and those I didn't want to answer were not a big problem," he said. "So it was sort of very friendly."
The mullah insists he knew nothing of the Taliban's close ties to Osama bin Laden and his Al Qaeda network. Qanooni questions that.
The existence of foreign fighters inside the Taliban was obvious and well known, Qanooni said. "If someone is trying to say he didn't know about this, indeed he is closing his eyes to the truth."
Rocketi says his life is in greater danger now as a politician than it was during his years as a guerrilla. He doesn't have armed bodyguards. His office is a little bigger than a walk-in closet, above a tailor shop on a dust-blown side street in Qalat.
Rocketi knows he is an easy target, no matter where he goes.
"In Kabul, Qanooni's people warn me, and here the Taliban warn me," he said. "The danger is as if you bound someone's hands and feet and gave his enemy a piece of wood to beat him."
Qalamuddin, the former head of the Taliban's religious police, is also suspicious of democracy, but for a different reason. The election, he charged, "was a complete fraud from beginning to end" in Lowgar province, where Qalamuddin expected that his prominence as an Islamic scholar would make him a shoo-in. Though the joint Afghan-U.N. body overseeing the election has promised tough action against suspected fraud, it has not named Lowgar as one of the regions it is investigating.
In the ballot count's early days, Qalamuddin saw he was losing and retreated to his home village of Baraki Barak.
He is 35th out of 60 candidates with two-thirds of the ballots counted and certified. But Qalamuddin rejects suggestions that his bad showing might be payback for his Taliban past.
Qalamuddin's morality police routinely beat women with sticks, car antennas or whatever else was at hand for not covering themselves completely, or for violating other rules. Men also suffered severe punishment for infractions such as wearing their beards too short.
Qalamuddin says he "was not very well connected with the Taliban." He says he only served in a government "polluted with bad people" because his militia faction, Harakat-i-Islami, allied itself with the regime. "I was just working as a manager in the Taliban government," he said.
Qalamuddin says he was living peacefully at home after the Taliban fell until local communists turned him in. After 17 months in a Kabul jail cell, he was put on trial and sentenced to two years in prison for belonging to the Taliban, he said. But after two appeals, Qalamuddin was released.
He says many Afghans have shown they are not ready for democracy by using it as an excuse for affronts to Islam and traditional Afghan culture.
"There are some idiots who disturb other men's women, and there are people who have illegal sex, and when you ask them why, they say, 'This is democracy,' " Qalamuddin said. "I must tell that sort of person, 'This is not democracy that you are practicing.' These people are misusing this opportunity."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
10/06/2005 01:01 ||
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A detained Taleban spokesman has told Pakistani interrogators that the militiaâs fugitive chief, Mullah Mohammed Omar, is hiding in Afghanistan and remains in contact with top commanders, an intelligence official said yesterday.
Abdul Latif Hakeemi, who has often claimed responsibility on behalf of the Taleban for attacks on US-led coalition forces, was arrested in Balochistan province, Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said.
Hakeemi was not a prominent figure in the Taleban while the militia was in power in Afghanistan, only becoming a media contact after the ouster of the movement in a US-led war in 2001. His exact ties to the Taleban leadership are unclear.
âSo far, he has told interrogators that Mullah Omar is alive, he is in Afghanistan and he remains in contact with senior aides by satellite phone,â said the intelligence official, who was involved in the raid to arrest Hakeemi in Quetta. The official declined to be named because of the secretive nature of his job.
Some Pakistani officials said Hakeemi was arrested on Tuesday, but the intelligence official said he was detained on Sunday at a home in Quettaâs Newi Killi neighbourhood. Hakeemiâs arrest was not announced because he was being interrogated about other Taleban leaders, the official said.
Four âlow-levelâ aides of Hakeemi were arrested from several other homes in Newi Killi, the official said.
Intelligence agents seized two satellite phones, two Pakistani mobile phones, Taleban literature, audio cassettes and CDs containing films of Taleban operations, he said.
Pakistani officials described Hakeemi as a Taleban spokesman. But information from Hakeemi in the past has sometimes proven exaggerated or untrue. Afghan and US military officials say he is believed to speak for factions of the rebel group.
The United States and Afghanistan welcomed Hakeemiâs arrest but there has been no word on whether Washington would seek his custody.
âWe are grateful to the country of Pakistan for their successful capture of Abdul Latif Hakeemi,â said Colonel Jim Yonts, a US military spokesman in the Afghan capital.
Afghanistan welcomed Hakeemiâs arrest. Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have sometimes been strained because of Afghan suspicions that rebels are using Pakistan as a staging area for cross-border attacks. Pakistan denies it.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
10/06/2005 00:38 ||
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#1
remains in contact with senior aides by satellite phone
Bullshit. Would've been vapor by now. Chechens learned quickly NOT to use satellite phones when bombs started falling on their heads almost immediately after such use.
Posted by: Rafael ||
10/06/2005 0:55 Comments ||
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#2
VERY INTERESTING.
Someone correct me, but Hakeemi wasn't supposed to be in Balochistan... he was always suspected of being somewhere in NWFP, or closer to the Hindu Kush mountain range in NE Afghanistan and Northern Pakistan.
I've been thinking for a while that Balochistan is the logical place for a lot of these fugitives to be.
You go North, and you're in Afghanistan.
You go West, and you're in Iran.
Go NE, and you're in Waziristan which isn't well-controlled and further NE you get into the NWFP.
Go East, and you can reach Pakistan.
To the south is the Indian Ocean, which is another line of communication.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
10/06/2005 1:37 Comments ||
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#3
And you go up and you are in the moon. I am not saying you are wrong but you let out some very important factors: first the fact Balochistan borders at lot of countries is only a factor. Another one is the easyness of going there: only a road bordered by unpassable ground or lots of them and easy to travel off-road? Attitude of the authorities and of the Balochss: from a (short) journey around their websites I got the impression that they were far less prone to adopt salafist and taliban-like doctrines than Pashtoons (could be wrong)
#4
I agree Balochistan is logical. A Time reporter on the trail of Bin Laden said long ago he thought he had teamed up with these nomadic tribes, as they must harbor anyone who asks, and deny everything. The camel jockeys follow the ancient smuggling routes into Iran and even into Saudi Arabia in difficult terrain that Bin Laden favors. Same reporter that did a piece on AQ Khan, with more information than the government seemed to have.
The United Nations mission in Sudan said yesterday it had no plans to leave the war-torn western region of Darfur despite an upsurge in violence that has left at least 44 people dead.
Well, that's certainly unusual...
âThe UN has no intention of pulling out of Darfur due to the violence currently taking place in the region,â UN spokeswoman Radhia Achouri told reporters in Khartoum. The UN humanitarian coordinator, Jan Egeland, warned on Sept. 28 that the recent escalation of violence in the region could disrupt the agencyâs operations and relief work in Darfur. âIf it continues to be so dangerous to do humanitarian work, we may not be able to sustain our operations for 2.5 million people,â Egeland said. The security situation in Darfur deteriorated sharply in September after rebels seized two government-held towns and Arab militias loyal to Khartoum raided camps for displaced persons in the region.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/06/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
The violence isn't intense enough. Crank it up a notch or two and the UN will run like it always does.
BHUBANESHWAR, India - India on Wednesday successfully tested a surface-to-air missile as part of accelerated trials of its five separate airborne warfare systems, officials said. The Trishul (Trident) missile was fired from a coastal range in the eastern state of Orissa two days after its multi-target missile Akash, or Sky, was tested from the same location, the officials said.
India is developing the Trishul, which was last tested on July 26, for use by the army, navy as well as the airforce, and touts the system as the local version of the anti-missile Patriot system built by US-based Raytheon. Military researchers say the Trishul, which can deliver a 15-kilogramme (33-pound) warhead nine kilometres (5.5 miles), has the best manoeuvrability of missiles of its class developed either by India or its largest military supplier, Russia.
Okay, mil-tech people, how's it compare to ours?
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/06/2005 00:00 ||
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[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]
No, no! Certainly not! Jimmuah Carter has not blessed this election on their behalf!
HARGEYSA, 3 Oct 2005 (IRIN) - Legislative elections in the self-declared republic of Somaliland on Thursday were generally conducted in a peaceful, free and fair manner but fell short of several international standards, international observers said.
"After consultation, the team noted that the election process proceeded very peacefully and without intimidation. We were all heartened by the high turn out of voters, particularly women, despite the small number of women candidates," Mandla Nkomfe, head of a 12-member South Africa observer mission, said on Sunday. The 76-strong team - drawn from Britain, Canada, Finland, Kenya, New Zealand, South Africa and Zimbabwe WTF??? - monitored the elections in most of the 985 polling stations across Somaliland.
The election pitted the ruling Union of Democrats party against the opposition Kulmiye (Solidarity) party and the Welfare and Justice party. An estimated 800,000 eligible voters cast their ballots to elect 82 Members of Parliament from 246 candidates. "The three political parties were able to present their platform in a competitive fashion, although policy manifestation left little to distinguish them from one another," Steve Kibble, the observers' spokesman, told reporters in the capital, Hargeysa, on Sunday.
"During the voting day the electorate showed a strong enthusiasm and the voter turn-out was high, long queues were observed and parties were represented as observers, which made the voting procedure and vote counting credible," he added.
The team expressed concern, however, about the low number of women candidates in the election and acknowledged that the election did fall short of international standards. "There were shortcomings during the elections. These include lack of reliable information about the number of voters due to lack of proper census. Furthermore, there was gender imbalance, public media was not equal to all parties and unauthorised spending of public money by the authorities was claimed," Kimmo Kiljumen, a Member of Parliament from Finland, said.
Since when is gender imbalance a reason to nail an election? It's a conservative, Sunni state-let. That they had a fair, open, peaceful election at all is cause for celebration. As Fred says, democracy is a process, not an event. Next time you work on getting more women involved.
The team also noted that attempts by voters to cast their ballot more than once were a common feature, although they were mostly unsuccessful. In addition, the strict observation of closing time at polling stations meant many eligible voters were unable to vote.
The integrity of the voters was brought into question, given the fact that candidates influenced them on the basis of their clans or used material inducements such as cash or khat (a mild stimulant chewed by most Somaliland men) to win votes.
Preliminary results at the National Electoral Commission on Sunday showed that 105 ballot boxes had been counted in Hargeysa district, with the main opposition party, Kulmiye, capturing 40.71 percent of the counted votes, while the ruling party and the Justice and Welfare party obtained 30.25 percent and 29 percent respectively. The chairman of the commission, Ahmed Ali Adami, said on Friday that overall results of the parliamentary poll would be released in two weeks.
GWB and Condi should have the stones to recognize Somaliland as a new nation and open an embassy there. Let the OAU and the UN hyperventilate.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/06/2005 00:00 ||
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yeap,can't think of a better way to show the world we support Democracy no matter where it's at.I don't know for sure,but it seems to me they found thier way to Democracy on thier own and for that they need a huge"well done".
Law-enforcement agencies handed over three Pakistanis to British authorities on Wednesday for the Pakistanisâ alleged involvement in the murder of a British national. Officials of the Special Investigation Unit handed over Imran Shahid, Zeeshan Shahid and Faisal Mushtaq to the British authorities, and the three were later sent to the UK on flight BA 128. Three people, who had been studying in the UK, allegedly killed British student Kriss Donald on a petty issue in March 2004 and later flew to Pakistan. A British court declared them absconders during the proceedings of the case and asked the authorities concerned to contact the Pakistani government regarding the issue. After six month long consultations, Pakistani authorities handed over the alleged killers to the UK.
The visiting British secretary of state for defence, John Reid, also discussed this matter with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, sources told Daily Times. The Pakistani government had amended the act of extradition and handed over the accused to the British authorities, they said. The accused had been arrested from Lahore six months ago and were later shifted to Adiala Jail, sources stated.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/06/2005 00:00 ||
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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.
TASHKENT: A witness in the trial of 15 men charged in the May uprising in eastern Uzbekistan said Wednesday the rebels had several US and German-made guns. Mikhail Rudakov, a convicted murderer who was released after insurgents stormed a prison in the city of Andijan on May 13, said he had been used by rebels as a weapons expert. Rudakov said insurgents had 250-300 automatic rifles, many pistols, some land mines, and several types of grenades. He said most of the weapons were old Soviet-made ones, but that he also saw one German Lunger assault rifle and two US M-16 rifles. 
The political leader of 
Lawyer for jailed Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Bashir today accused Australia of meddling in Indonesian legal affairs for protesting about a possible reduction in his client's sentence. Justice Minister Chris Ellison yesterday said Australia objected to any further reduction of the 30-month jail sentence imposed on the hardline cleric in March for his involvement in a criminal conspiracy that led to the 2002 Bali bombings. "That is really a rude action by Australia. It is a crude attempt at meddling in the sovereignty of the Indonesian legal system," Mohammad Assegaf, one of Bashir's chief lawyers, said. The head of the Indonesian jail where Bashir is being held, Dedi Sutardi, told AFP that the Government accorded two annual sentence reductions to prisoners for good conduct if they have already served at least six months. Under the scheme, Bashir had already had his sentence cut by more than four months to commemorate Indonesia's independence day in August and could have another month taken off to mark the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan in early November, Mr Sutardi said. "I hope that (President) Yudhoyono's Government will stand firm in the face of such interference," Mr Assegaf said.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said Wednesday that "terrorist acts have spoiled Indonesia's reputation in the eyes of the world." The armed forces should "take a technical and strategic role in fighting and preventing future attacks," he said without elaborating, according to reports of foreign news agencies. Southeast Asian nations have gone on high alert to prevent a repeat of the Saturday night bombings on the popular resort island of Bali that killed 22 people, putting hundreds of thousands of troops on standby, tightening security on beaches, and stepping up border security.
Syrian President Bashar Assad has sacked 81 judges and increased wages for the profession as part of a reform program for the legal system, an official daily reported. Ath-Thawra said that the president ordered a 25-percent increase in the wages of judges and improved tax and insurance conditions for the profession, but it did not identify those faced with dismissal nor give a reason.
Several demonstrators were hurt as Syrian police dispersed a sit-in by hundreds of Kurds to demand the return of Syrian nationality to thousands who lost it 43 years ago, a Kurdish party said. "Hundreds of Kurds gathered in Shahbandar Square in Damascus in response to a call from several parties to protest against the policy of oppression against the Kurds and against a racist census in 1962" in the northern province of Hassakeh, the Azadi Party said. Around 200,000 Kurds had their nationality withdrawn at the time. Their identity cards were confiscated and they were denied civil rights. 
Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora defended recent steps taken by the government to guarantee security and revealed the complete domination of the Lebanese security system by its Syrian equivalent over the past 30 years, during a parliamentary session to discuss the country's security policy. The session did not end with a vote of no confidence for the government as predicted, despite strong criticism from Hizbullah's Loyalty to the Resistance bloc and MP Michel Aoun's bloc Change and Reform, the main opposition bloc.
Detlev Mehlis, head of the UN team investigating the murder of former Premier Rafik Hariri, has formed a special committee to determine which team members will stay in Lebanon until the end of the year, according to sources close to The Daily Star. This comes as Mehlis is preparing the investigation report with his senior aides in Vienna due to be handed over to the UN Security Council by the end of this month. The report is expected to include an outline of the investigation's progress as well as details describing how the murder was executed.
A US source has revealed to "Asharq al-Awsat" that a group made up of members of the republican party and retired military officers are seeking Syria's help in salvaging US policy in Iraq. The source said an unofficial US delegation has just returned from Damascus where it held talks with a number of Syrian decision makers during which it was able to obtain a Syrian offer of effective cooperation to achieve stability in Iraq in exchange for ensuring the Arabism of Iraq and not threatening stability inside Syria itself. The source added, added that the Syrian offer includes a reference to the willingness of Damascus to name a Syrian ambassador in Baghdad immediately and open the embassy as a show of good intentions. According to the US source, the Syrian offer was made in response to a proposal from the moderate wing in the Republican Party to make Syria a strategic ally in the region if it implements the stated US demands and helps the ongoing political process in Iraq to continue. 
The United Nations mission in Sudan said yesterday it had no plans to leave the war-torn western region of Darfur despite an upsurge in violence that has left at least 44 people dead. 
[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]
Law-enforcement agencies handed over three Pakistanis to British authorities on Wednesday for the Pakistanisâ alleged involvement in the murder of a British national. Officials of the Special Investigation Unit handed over 
