Security forces arrested two militants suspected of belonging to the Al-Qaeda network following raids in Madinah and Zulfi on Monday.
Informed sources told Arab News that both suspects did not figure on a list of 35 most wanted terrorists issued in June this year.
They said the detainee in Zulfi was one of the most important supporters of the regional branch of Al-Qaeda. The source did not reveal the detaineeâs name or age.
Security forces picked up the man in a pre-dawn raid on Monday at a house in Zulfi, 300 kilometers north of the capital Riyadh.
He did not resist arrest and pamphlets supporting Al-Qaeda were found in his possession, said the security source.
In Madinah, security forces sealed off Al-Masanie district after the arrest of the suspect there, the sources said.
âPolice have seized a golden color GMC van and examined items found inside the vehicle,â the sources told Arab News. Police later raided a house in Quba district.
Periodic crackdowns by Saudi security forces on suspected militants were stepped up into a concerted anti-terror campaign in May 2003.
Mondayâs arrests came after two gunmen killed a policeman on the outskirts of Makkah on Saturday.
The shooting took place at a time when more than 1.5 million faithful gathered in the holy city to take part in prayers at the Grand Mosque on the most important night in the holy month of Ramadan.
The two assailants opened fire on a police patrol, which had flagged down their car for a routine check, a security source said. He identified the slain police officer as Mohammed Al-Zahrani, who was shot in the head.
The victim was rushed to hospital where he died of his wounds. The other officer was unscathed but the attackers fled, the source added.
Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki confirmed the incident, which took place in Um Al-Joud on the old Makkah-Jeddah road, about seven kilometers from the Grand Mosque.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/02/2005 00:33 ||
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Police of Niklee thana in Kishoreganj have submitted charge sheet against alleged JMB cadre Obaidullah Shumon in connection with the August 17 bomb blasts in the district. Sub-inspector Wajiullah of Niklee thana, who is also investigation officer of the case, submitted the charge sheet before a court in Kishoregabnj on October 29, a correspondent reported yesterday. The charge sheet however recommended acquittal of two other accused-- Harun-or-Rashid and Aiatullah. They were acquitted as their identity could not be ascertained and they were not recognised by the main accused, Obaidullah, police said.
On the other hand, their neighbors may well beat them to death. Or maybe RAB will find some reason to pick them up...
Obaidullah and Harun-or-Rashid were produced before the court of Magistrate Ashraful Amin Mukul on October 30. The court sent Obaidullah to jail and granted bail to Harun-or-Rashid. Aiatullah is yet to be arrested.
Acquittal before arrest. That's a new one on me.
Two cases were filed against Obaidullah with Niklee and Kishoreganj Sadar thanas. Obaidullah was arrested at Guroi under Niklee thana on September 14 along with explosives. He also faces another case in connection with the bomb blast at bus stand in Kishoreganj town on August 17. Police said during interrogation Obaidullah confessed to his involvement in the blast. Charge sheet in the case will be filed soon, police said.
"Aaaaaiiiieeee! I confess! I dunnit!"
Our Tangail Correspondent reports: Top leaders of JMB (Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh) in Tangail involved in the August 17 serial bomb blasts in the district are still evading arrest.
"You'll never take us alive, coppers!"
Police said they are hunting for the 'top 10 JMB cadres' in Tangail, including Shoeb of Balla village in Kalihati, who was 'in-charge of Kalihati region'. Police are also hunting for Russel of the same village.
"Russell"? What kind of terrorist is named "Russell"? What's next? "Clifford"?
This correspondent visited Shoeb's house at Balla in Kalihati upazila on Sunday but found none of his family members. A madrasa teacher there said Shoeb and his family members left their house on August 16, a day before the serial bomb blasts across the country.
"Gone. All gone. Lit out fer parts unknown. Nope. No forwarding address..."
It was gathered from local people that JMB started its activities at Balla and Rampur areas centering an Islamic Library few years ago. They used to recruit youths from poor families and train them in use of arms and explosives. Shoeb and Russel conducted the training at night. At least 10 families in the region were involved with JMB and they left their houses after the August 17 serial bomb blasts, the villagers said.
"Have you looked in Burma? They might be in Burma."
Meanwhile, Kalihati police on Saturday submitted charge sheet in the case filed in connection with the August 17 blasts. The six persons chargesheeted in the case are JMB chief Shaikh Abdur Rahman, Shoeb, Enayet Ullah, Delwar Hossen, Arman-bin-Azad, and Russel.
"Aye. That Russell's a mean one, he is!"
Among them, Delwar Hossen is now in custody and the rest are evading arrest. Mentionably, eight bombs went off in different areas of the district town on August 17. Police in a raid on Baropakhia Qawmi Madrasa in Delduar on August 28 arrested Delwar Hossen, 25, of Arihazar of Narayanganj in connection with the blasts. During interrogation Delwar confessed to his involvement in the serial bomb blasts in Tangail. Acting on his confession, police raided the house of one Sirajul Islam at Betdoba in Kalihati on September 1 and recovered one bomb and huge bomb making materials. Tangail Sadar thana Sub-Inspector Khoda Newaz filed a case with Kalihati police station in this regard on the same day.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/02/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
If you're a hotel worker being attacked with a telephone, it's probably Russell Crowe.
Police in two separate drives seized a light gun (LG), 8-kg of explosives and arrested four in the port city yesterday. Kotwali police arrested two young men, Sumon Mia and Asgar Ali, along with one LG at a house at Love Lane. Police said the arrestees are the members of an organised gang of muggers. In another drive, police recovered 8-kg of explosives from a house at West Madarbari and arrested two militants, Imam Hossain and Karim. Imam and Karim confessed to their involvement in August 17 and October 3 bomb blasts, police said.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/02/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
These folks sure nuff have some bezzar shottin irons.
Angry fishermen beat four pirates to death at Sandwip channel in the Bay of Bengal when the pirates attacked a fishing trawler on Sunday morning.
Personally, I consider that to be a good thing.
Sitakunda police yesterday recovered the bodies of Jamshed, 22, Shamsul Alam, 32, and Didarul Alam, 29, from Bakkhali Canal of Sitakunda coast and sent them to Chittagong Medical College and Hospital (CMCH) morgue for autopsy. The body of the other pirate Salah Uddin, 33, is still to be recovered.
Salah Uddin sleeps with the fishes?
Police sources said they all hailed from Barabkunda area of the upazila.
More Boyz in the Upazila!
Police said the pirates, on board a large boat, attacked a fishing trawler in the channel and tried to snatch the fishing nets. Sensing danger the fishermen shot signal flares for help. Fishermen fishing nearby, seeing the flares, rushed to the scene and encircled the pirates' boat. They captured four pirates and dump them into the sea after giving them a good thrashing. One of the pirates, however, escaped the wrath of the fishermen.
"Back off! I'm warning you! I've got a shutter gun and I'll use it!"
Posted by: Fred ||
11/02/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Sounds lke a good idea to me,beat a few more to death and the pirates might get a clue.
#2
Sitakunda police yesterday recovered the bodies of Jamshed, 22, Shamsul Alam, 32, and Didarul Alam, 29, from Bakkhali Canal of Sitakunda coast and sent them to Chittagong Medical College and Hospital (CMCH) morgue for autopsy.
Medical Examiners report: "They were dead and very lumpy."
Posted by: Red Dog ||
11/02/2005 3:15 Comments ||
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Arrghhh, matey. Me thinks it's time to sleep wid do fishes.
BRITISH forces had thwarted attempts to carry out more terror attacks since the July 7 London bombings and a botched bid to repeat them on July 21, the capital's police chief said in remarks published today.
"The security service and the Met have prevented other attacks in the last few weeks," Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair said in an article in The Sun newspaper.
"The sky is dark. Intelligence exists to suggest that other groups will attempt to attack Britain in the coming months," he said.
Sir Ian said it could take weeks or months to understand material that was found.
"One case involved an encrypted computer, which was the equivalent of 60,000 feet of paper. Was there a vital clue in there somewhere? Yes, but we were fortunate that it was pretty near the beginning, otherwise we would never have found it within the current time limit."
He said police chiefs were united in supporting an extension of detention for terrorist suspects to 90 days, if officers were to defeat those planning further carnage.
The issue is to be debated again in the House of Commons this week, with opponents urging Home Secretary Charles Clarke to drop the proposal to hold terror suspects for up to 90 days without charge.
Sir Ian said detention must have rigorous scrutiny by a judge every seven or 14 days, to confirm that continued detention was appropriate.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/02/2005 00:44 ||
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Sir Ian said detention must have rigorous scrutiny by a judge every seven or 14 days, to confirm that continued detention was appropriate.
After all, what's more important than pleasing our judicial masters?
Posted by: UK no Islam ||
11/02/2005 4:18 Comments ||
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90 days of free halal food, free bed and free heating. I think our muslim population will be queuing up for this treatment, it's even better than being on unemployment benefit - a dream for those who constantly expect something for nothing from the UK. For f*ck's sake either deport or throw away the key. The left in this country would have us all killed.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
11/02/2005 4:32 Comments ||
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#4
"The left in this country would have us all killed."
Howard, unfortunately it's not just the left in your country. Though the disease does appear more advanced in EUrope.
Gunfire erupted and at least four inmates were killed Tuesday when Kyrgyz riot police stormed three prisons to quell unrest following an insurrection at one of the facilities last month, officials and witnesses said.
Police killed two prisoners at a prison colony in Moldovanovka and another two at a jail in the village of Petrovka, both outside the capital, Bishkek, Deputy Justice Minister Sergei Zubov said.
Zubov said the country's prison system chief, Kapar Mukeyev, was injured slightly in the arm. Two more inmates were also injured during the unrest, he said.
Zubov said the riots erupted in practically all of the country's prisons and detention centers, after police arrived Tuesday morning at the Moldovanovka prison colony to remove 28 inmates suspected of involvement in the murder of a lawmaker, a prison system chief and two other people in the Moldovanovka prison last month.
The suspects were taken to another prison for further investigation.
Zubov said police used armored personnel carriers to storm the Moldovanovka prison after guards of criminal boss Aziz Batukayev, an ethnic Chechen and a suspect in the Oct. 20 murders, formed a human shield around him and fired weapons.
Police on Tuesday seized two Kalashnikov rifles, four grenades, four pistols, and an unspecified amount of ammunition, drugs and money from Moldovanovka inmates, Zubov said.
Witnesses said dozens of troops armed with Kalashnikov rifles surrounded the prison â which houses 450 inmates and is located 20 kilometers north of Bishkek â early Tuesday and that at least two ambulances later left the prison compound.
A resident of the prison neighborhood who gave only his first name, Sergei, said he had heard shooting inside the prison lasting for about 30 minutes.
Kalbu Temirbekova, the mother of one of inmates at Petrovka jail, who was allowed to visit the prison after authorities brought an end to the unrest Tuesday, said three inmates had been killed there. A Petrovka prison official who refused to give his name because of the sensitivity of the subject also said that three prisoners died, in contrast with the official toll of two for that prison.
Batukayev's sister, Yaha, said her brother was injured in Tuesday's operation.
Deputy chief prosecutor Khabibulla Abdugapparov told reporters that police also seized from the Moldovanovka prison photographs of Chechen rebel leaders Shamil Basayev and Aslan Maskhadov and a Chechen separatist flag.
Injured prison system chief, Mukeyev, who joined the news conference toward the end with his left arm bandaged, said the situation in prisons was coming under control. He said police were inside and controlling all except one prison. He did not name that facility.
The country has five detention centers, 12 prisons and 19 prison settlements with a total population of about 17,000.
Tynychbek Akmatbayev was the third lawmaker to be killed since an uprising in March that forced longtime Kyrgyz President Askar Akayev to flee the country and resign.
Some officials say Akmatbayev's killing was linked to feuding criminal gangs. It is believed that Batukayev had been in conflict with Akmatbayev's brother, Ryspek, who is a reputed criminal boss.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/02/2005 00:41 ||
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U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) recently accused South Korea of having forgotten the role of the United States in its economic development, stunning Seoul's leftist ruling Uri Party. The government of President Roh Moo-Hyun believed it was in line with the U.S. Democratic Party when it blasted the Bush administration's hardline policies on the Korean peninsula. The senator's remarks came at a time when anti-American sentiment has grown among South Koreans, paralleling a thawing of relations with communist North Korea.
Clinton's comments embarrassed Seoul's ruling camp led by Roh who was elected on a strong wave of anti-Americanism. Clinton is a Democratic Party presidential hopeful.
She's wearing her hard-liner cap today.
During a confirmation hearing in Washington for Gen. Burwell B. Bell who was nominated as commander of U.S. Forces Korea, Hillary Clinton chastised South Korea for what she claimed was a fog of "historical amnesia" clouding its relationship with the U.S. The U.S. role in bringing about South Korea's remarkable economic success since the 1950-53 Korean War was significant, but lack of recognition of that view in South Korea bordered on "historical amnesia," Clinton said, noting the decades-long security alliance between Seoul and Washington was at a "critical juncture."
Well, damm. We agree on something...
The changing bilateral ties have to do with South Koreans' "understanding of the importance of our position there and what we have done over so many decades to provide them the freedom that they have enjoyed to develop the economy that is now providing so many benefits for South Koreans," she said.
Seoul's presidential office and the Uri Party downplayed Clinton's remarks. "We are not considering her remarks as the U.S. Democratic Party's official stance," one Uri Party official said.
Some activists have recently campaigned to remove a statue of U.S. Gen. Douglas MacArthur, who for decades was viewed by South Koreans as a hero for turning the tide in the Korean War. During his visit to Seoul earlier this month, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld also expressed regret at the anti-MacArthur campaign in the South, highlighting the sacrifices and contribution the U.S. has made to enable South Korea's rapid economic growth after the Korean War, in which Macarthur played a decisive role.
Some analysts in Seoul said Clinton's comments indicated the so-called fatigue syndrome of the South Korea-U.S. relationship was spreading to the center of the Democratic Party. Previously, Republican conservatives had expressed concerns about the crack in the Korea-U.S. relationship. The United States and South Korea have remained at odds over how to resolve the North Korean nuclear standoff.
The Foreign Ministry official said it received a letter from Clinton's office saying that her remarks sought to emphasize the "importance of bilateral relations." Clinton "continues to believe that a strong relationship between the United States and South Korea is critical to meeting the challenges posed by North Korea and other issues," the letter reportedly said.
Just a little warmonger, our Hillary
Posted by: Steve ||
11/02/2005 16:25 ||
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#1
Let the Sroks defend themselves. They don't need us there anymore. Say goodbye, assholes!
#4
Hillary is doing her best to look a lot more moderate while Reid and Durbin are leading the Howard Dean wing of the Dems off a cliff. Granted, it's not very hard to look moderate along side those guys. Too bad it's all just political calculus. I'd like to see a principled liberal in a leadship position for a change.
Posted by: Scott R ||
11/02/2005 19:34 Comments ||
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#5
The Clintons are all for bilateral or multilateral relations as long as the USA either is NOT the dominant partner, or in the alt that it continues to unilaterally pays out the $$$ and doesn't put any conditions on foreign, mostly Socialist nations on how its monies-aid is spent. Did anyone watch FNC this AM - Lefty backer George Soros was revealed/indicated as having massive personal offshore back accounts while he simul supports US taxpayers to pay more in domestic taxes!? I'm still waiting for POTUS Kerry to give up his several expensive Mansions-Homes to any favorite charities.
Australia has received specific information this week about a possible "terrorist threat" to the country, Prime Minister John Howard said on Wednesday.
"The government has received specific intelligence from police information this week which gives cause for serious concern about a potential terrorist threat," Howard told reporters in Canberra.
"I donât want to over-alarm people. I have said for a long time the possibility of an attack is there," he said.
Howard refused to give any details about the nature or location of the threat, but said the government would rush through changes to anti-terror laws to enable police to respond.
Howard said the current security alert would not be upgraded.
The warning comes as the nationâs domestic intelligence service, the Australia Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO), acknowledged for the first time that Australia had home-grown extremists, some of whom had received terror training overseas.
"Some of the more extremist individuals ASIO has identified and investigated are Australian-born," ASIO said in its annual report, adding that some were angry about the war in Iraq, while others believed they did not fit into Australian society.
Four Australians are currently awaiting trial in Sydney and Melbourne on terror charges, linked to supporting and training with banned groups such as al Qaeda.
Media reports said ASIO was believed to have concerns over up to 800 Muslims in Australia who have voiced support for politically motivated violence, while up to 80 people resident in Australia were known to have trained with militant organisations in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Security analyst Aldo Borgu said Australiaâs involvement in the Iraq war and reconstruction had increased the threat to Australia. "It didnât create the threat but it certainly increased it," Borgu, from the Australian Security Policy Institute, told Reuters.
Howard said new anti-terror laws would strengthen security authorities to act against a threat, but would not detail what action would be taken in regard to the latest information.
The new laws, which the government has said were necessary in light of the July 7 London bombings, have been criticised by human rights and civil liberties groups.
A shoot-to-kill provision in the new legislation is expected to be watered down after widespread opposition.
Under the new laws police would be able to detain suspects for a week at a time without charge, electronic tracking devices would be used to keep tabs on suspects, and supporting insurgents in countries such as Iraq would carry a seven-year jail sentence.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/02/2005 00:28 ||
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Round these bastards up, and put them in a pen with some of those deadly spiders and snakes "Crocodile Dundee" was talking about...
The Bush Administration's prewar claims that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction were "manipulated, at least" to mislead the American people, former President Jimmy Carter said Wednesday. The decision to go to war was the culmination of a long-term plan to attack Iraq that resulted from the first President Bush not taking out Saddam, Carter said on NBC's "Today" show.
Carter also said he supports the move by Senate Democrats to force an update on the investigation into prewar intelligence on Iraq, and says Republicans have been dragging their feet on the investigation. Democrats Tuesday used a rarely invoked Senate rule to force a secret session as a way to dramatize their assertions that the Bush administration misused intelligence in the run-up to the war in Iraq. A bipartisan committee has been appointed to review the investigation.
#3
The decision to go to war was the culmination of a long-term plan to attack Iraq that resulted from the first President Bush not taking out Saddam, Carter said on NBC's "Today" show.
Of course the morons on the Today show didn't realize that Carter opposed the Gulf War and even sent letters to other countries asking them to also oppose military action. Ignorance favors the liberals.
#7
Bush 41 had to follow his word that the first Gulf war wasn't about getting Saddam and the democrats were part of the reason he had to promise that.
#8
He still can't get over being irrelevant (other than Habitat for Humanity).
The article from the WSJ today says everything you need to know about this hypocritical loser:
The World According to J.C.
"Tedious" doesn't begin to describe the new book by America's worst ex-president.
BY BRET STEPHENS
Wednesday, November 2, 2005 12:01 a.m. EST
Jimmy Carter's 20th book is a tedious meditation about the appropriate uses of moral values in political life--as wisely and humbly exemplified by Himself--and of their misuses under the current Bush administration.
But tedious isn't quite the right word here, because it suggests mere boredom while Mr. Carter's prose manages to be irritating as well. Is there an English-language equivalent to the German Rechthaberei, which loosely translates as the state of thinking and behaving as if you're in the right and everyone else is in the wrong? Yet even such a term doesn't quite capture the sanctimony, the self-congratulation, the humorlessness, the convenient factual omissions and the passive-aggressive quirks that characterize our 39th president's aggressively passive world view. Mr. Carter is sui generis. He deserves his own word.
Everything about "Our Endangered Values" is wrong, beginning, obviously, with the title. The values Mr. Carter says are "ours" are certainly not mine and probably not yours and therefore, necessarily, not ours. In fact, it is not at all obvious that the things Mr. Carter speaks of even qualify as values, properly speaking, unless you believe that "economic justice" is a value, or you subscribe to Marxist liberation theology (Mr. Carter considers the Catholic priests who practiced this theology to be "heroes"), or you would like to pay your "personal respects" to Syria's dictator (never mind that he just had the prime minister of Lebanon assassinated), or you can think of nothing bad to say about Saddam Hussein except, perhaps, that he is "obnoxious."
Subtracting "Our" and "Values" from the title, then, the reader is left with "Endangered," the form of the verb here characteristically rendered in the former president's favorite voice. Who, or what, is doing the endangering? Mr. Carter's animating concern is the rise of fundamentalism in religion and politics, but don't suppose that this has anything to do with Islamic fundamentalism. What chiefly exercises Mr. Carter's indignation are neoconservatives, the Southern Baptist Convention and their allegedly converging and insidious influence on government. Together, Mr. Carter believes, they have contrived to set America loose "from the restraints of international organizations" like the United Nations and "global agreements" such as the Kyoto Protocol, apparently for the purpose of eradicating the separation of church and state and creating "a dominant American empire throughout the world."
This is an odd complaint, given the source. Mr. Carter admits that as president he worked "behind the scenes" with the head of the Southern Baptist Convention to develop a program called Bold Mission Thrust, "designed to expand the global evangelistic effort of Baptists." Weirdly, Mr. Carter offers this anecdote in the context of his ostensible opposition to the "melding of church and state," which, he gravely notes, "is of deep concern to those who have always relished their separation as one of our moral values."
As for neocons, Mr. Carter is nearly one himself, so obsessed does he claim to be with human rights. But much as he may hate the sin, he loves the sinner. Think of his view of various world figures from his White House years: Yugoslavia's Josip Tito ("a man who believes in human rights"); Romania's Nicolae Ceausescu ("our goals are the same"); the PLO's Yasser Arafat (a "misunderstood" figure for whom Mr. Carter once moonlighted as a speechwriter). And then there is Kim Il Sung ("vigorous," "intelligent"), whose relationship with Mr. Carter is reprised in this book.
"Responding to several years of invitations from North Korean president Kim Il Sung . . . Rosalynn and I went to Pyongyang and helped to secure an agreement from President Kim that North Korea would cease its nuclear program at Yongbyon and permit IAEA inspectors to return to the site." Leaving aside the interesting question of why that Dear Leader would be so solicitous of this one, what's chiefly notable about this sentence is that it is one of the few here that isn't demonstrably false or misleading in respect to U.S. dealings with the North.
In Mr. Carter's telling, the 1994 Yongbyon Agreed Framework--in which Pyongyang agreed to trade its nuclear-weapons program for oil shipments, security guarantees and the construction of two light-water reactors--was generally going according to plan, only to be gratuitously upended the moment the Bush administration arrived in Washington. "Shipments of the pledged fuel oil were terminated, along with construction of the alternate nuclear power plants," writes Mr. Carter.
In fact, North Korea violated the Agreed Framework almost from the moment it was signed by pursuing a secret, parallel weapons program. For its part, the Bush administration continued to honor the framework's commitments; in 2002, a State Department official even attended the groundbreaking for one of the promised reactors. Only later, when the U.S. presented the North with evidence of its cheating, and the North admitted to the cheating, did the fuel shipments and reactor construction stop.
There is more of this--personal slurs, particularly against U.N. Ambassador John Bolton, factual omissions (Mr. Carter accuses the Bush administration of making hardly any effort to reduce nuclear-weapons stockpiles but doesn't mention the 2002 Moscow Treaty, which involves the most dramatic nuclear cuts in history), trite sophistries ("a rising tide raises all yachts") and the invariable, habitual, irrepressible blaming of America first for everything from degrading the environment to alienating Syria. At a certain point it all begins to ooze and blur, in the way the speeches and doings of Al Sharpton or Michael Moore ooze and blur. Past a certain point, you just stop keeping track.
Mr. Carter, however, is no gold-plated race hustler or quack documentary maker. He is--as he constantly reminds us, as if our memories aren't still vivid--the 39th president of the United States and winner of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize. Bill Clinton may have the heart of the Democratic Party, but Mr. Carter captures the Zeitgeist of the global left. "Our Endangered Values" is a distressing piece of work for many reasons, most of all because it cannot be safely ignored.
Mr. Stephens is a member of The Wall Street Journal's editorial board.
#9
The decision to go to war was the culmination of a long-term plan to attack Iraq that resulted from...
the Iraqi Liberation Act, signed by Bill Clinton.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
11/02/2005 12:58 Comments ||
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#10
Carter and Intel in the same sentence....pretty funny stuff
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/02/2005 13:17 Comments ||
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#11
"Responding to several years of invitations from North Korean president Kim Il Sung . . . Rosalynn and I went to Pyongyang
Gotta be the only American I know with a Christmas card list that contains the name Kim Il Sung. This is perfect example of what too much stale 'Billy Beer' will do to ya. I applaud Anymouse's comparison of the Peanut Farmer to Al Sharpton and Michael Moore. I hope neither Sharpton or Moore will find the comparison to insulting.
#13
But tedious isn't quite the right word here, because it suggests mere boredom while Mr. Carter's prose manages to be irritating as well. Is there an English-language equivalent to the German Rechthaberei, which loosely translates as the state of thinking and behaving as if you're in the right and everyone else is in the wrong? Yet even such a term doesn't quite capture the sanctimony, the self-congratulation, the humorlessness, the convenient factual omissions and the passive-aggressive quirks that characterize our 39th president's aggressively passive world view. Mr. Carter is sui generis. He deserves his own word.
Favorite book review. Ever.
Posted by: Baba Tutu ||
11/02/2005 14:03 Comments ||
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#14
What about that article that Drudge has linked about the 11 hour deal to get Saddam out of Iraq. The Bush team arranged that and the Arab League scuttled it.
Assuming this is true (why haven't the Bush team been saying this?), I have to wonder if Carter's dog and pony anti-war show at the time had something to do with convincing the Arab League to kill the proposal and ensure the war.
#16
Jimmy Carter is an embarassment to the United States. I am ashamed that he was ever elected to the Presidency. I certainly didn't enjoy my military service under this peanut-brain. If the military intelligence people told him the sun was shining, he'd have to get confirmation from three people outside the military before he'd believe it. He's NOT one to talk about "misusing intelligence". Carter is one of those animals that fouls its own nest - a sure sign of decadence and despondency. He needs to be quietly eased into a mental institution and KEPT THERE.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
11/02/2005 15:20 Comments ||
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#17
Don't take it so hard Old Partriot. He was a Democommie. Not much can be expected from them. He admitted to the media that he "lusted after women" while in the Oval office. That Arkansas idiot aka first black president, kicked it up a notch. Both of them are sorry asses of the first order voted into office by Mexifornians, east coast commies, and feckless females who thought Slick was handsome and found they could relate to Monica.
#20
OP, I second the motion. Carter was an embarassment. He trashed the military to get rid of the VietNam hump. He screwed the economy into the ground. Gold sold for $100 an ounce at the beginning of his presidency and peaked at $880 an ounce before he left. The average inflation rate went from 6.5% to 13.5% under his stewardship. Oh, and by the way, does anyone remember him telling our allies in 1978 that the Shah of Iran was "finished" and that we would no longer support him. That worked out well didn't it. If Ford had been President instead of Carter, the Middle East might have been a very different place. For all the damage he did to this country, Jimmy Carter is lucky that he didn't get the Benito Mussloni treatment.
#22
well, i always like carter when he says nothing... its when he thinks he is helping and its only his own hate that drives him. bloggers know more than him.
#23
Carter's mortgage rates were the best thing that ever happened to me. Prices were through the floor when I bought the first house in '82 and the rates were 17%. 3 years later the PRICE of the house had tripled and the rates (re-financed twice) were down to 8%. Basically I bought on Carter's low and sold on Ronnie's (God love him) high.
Course Carter also ran the construction trades into the ground so I had to change careers into computers, another cloud with a very silver personal lining.
#24
Basic bottom line. Carter's abandonment of the Shah of Iran set the critical fire that gives us Islamic terrorism as it is today. He'll beat out Buchanan as the worst president in American history Soon[tm]. Never ever elect Mr. Rogers to be president in a neighborhood of thugs, dictators, and butchers [oh, I recall how he so publicly and forcefully denounced the killing fields in Cambodia, NOT].
#26
25 years after he was tossed out of office -- and he's still totally clueless. It must really gall him that The Gipper, Slick Willie, and Dubya all got re-elected. I hope so.
My congressman, a recipient of many letters and now, campaign contributions, again
A leading House Republican wants to build a fence along the entire 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border, a plan that could cost billions of dollars and that critics say would do little to stop illegal immigration. terrorists either? It's a start
Rep. Duncan Hunter of San Diego, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, planned to announce legislation Thursday to create a two-layer reinforced fence with lighting and sensors from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico, a 100-yard border zone to the north of the barriers, and 25 new ports of entry.
Currently, most of the westernmost 14-mile stretch of the border is lined with parallel fencing and there's secure fencing at other vulnerable points, but long stretches of the border are protected only by patchy barbed wire or nothing at all.
"Illegal aliens continue to funnel directly into many of our local communities and adversely impact our way of life by overwhelming our schools, inundating our health care system and, most concerning, threatening our safety," said Hunter, who was introducing the bill with Rep. Virgil Goode, R-Va . He said building a fence and enforcing immigration laws could reverse the trends.
A conservative group called Let Freedom Ring that is promoting a border fence estimates it would cost about $8 billion.
The plan is controversial. Republican Gov. Bill Owens of Colorado recently announced his support, but Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, has said he doesn't think a fence would stop illegal immigration.
Groups including National Council of La Raza, the largest U.S.-based Hispanic advocacy group, oppose a fence.
"It doesn't really deal with why people are migrating or why our economy is so dependent on their labor," said Cecilia Munoz, the group's vice president of policy. "The resourcefulness of people on both sides of the border is likely to be greater than a fence."
Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, planned to join Hunter at his news conference Thursday to support the idea.
"The U.S. and Mexico, if they're going to remain friends they're going to need good fences," Stein said.
Hunter's bill contains other immigration reforms including authorizing 10,000 new Border Patrol officers, empowering local police to enforce immigration laws and increasing penalties for hiring illegal immigrants.
Hunter is a leading opponent of illegal immigration who earlier this year pushed the Bush administration to commit to fortifying the westernmost 3œ miles of the border, over the objections of environmentalists, the California Coastal Commission and the local Democratic congressman. I and most of his constituents said: "walk the walk" ....he did.
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/02/2005 20:34 ||
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NEW YORK (AP) - A judge on Wednesday upheld the conviction of an aide to Osama bin Laden in the bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa despite government "inaction, incompetence and stonewalling" that he said had seriously jeopardized its case. U.S. District Judge Kevin Duffy wrote that there were "grave concerns" that Wadih El-Hage should be retried because the U.S. Marshal's Service suppressed evidence during El-Hage's 2001 conspiracy trial.
However, Duffy denied El-Hage a new trial, saying that none of the undisclosed material was powerful enough to displace the government's other evidence of El-Hage's guilt. The judge said the Marshal's Service and the Department of Justice's Office of Enforcement Operations jeopardized El-Hage's conviction "through a mixture of inaction, incompetence and stonewalling to cover up their mistakes."
Sounds like a reasonable judge to me.
El-Hage, a former personal secretary to Osama bin Laden, and three others were sentenced to life in prison after they were convicted of conspiracy in the 1998 bombings of the embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The attacks killed 224 people, 12 of them Americans.
Lawyers for El-Hage challenged the 2001 conviction on several grounds, including that the government failed to turn over videotapes of interviews with Jamal al-Fadl, one of al-Qaida's first members and the prosecution's first witness, until more than 15 months after the trial.
Al-Fadl identified El-Hage in court and said El-Hage received a salary from al-Qaida and was trained to handle its payroll. Prosecutors said they didn't learn of the videotapes, made while al-Fadl was in a witness-protection program, until early 2002.
A spokeswoman for the government, Megan Gaffney, said she had no immediate comment. There was no immediate response to a call seeking comment from a lawyer for El-Hage.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/02/2005 16:39 ||
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#1
Maybe UBL can forgo the obligatory tasteful flower arrangemnt for secretary's day and just send his man a couple of cartons of Mecca Menthols.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
11/02/2005 17:00 Comments ||
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See that's the way to handle this little terroism problem, trials. Let's try ever one of them. Put them in jail - civilized jails that is. Fine, they want to blow up a building or some kids, but they better remember they gonna have to face a Federal Judge and they just may find themselves in the slammer.
Shiite power struggle simmers in Najaf
In Iraq's Shiite heartland, tensions remain high between Moqtada al Sadr and Iraq's ruling party SCIRI. Sadr, IMHO, is a short timer. He'll be killed soon enough by either the Sunni's or the police force formely known as the Badr Brigade.
By Jill Carroll | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor
NAJAF, IRAQ - On a recent Friday night here families thronged the brightly lit shops to buy clothing, jewelry, and religious trinkets on streets absent of foreign troops.
It was a scene of startling normalcy for Iraq where few people venture out after dark for fear of insurgent attacks, coalition firefights, or plain criminality. But while nightlife has returned to this southern city largely free of insurgent bombs, the civil strife between Shiites is brewing just below the surface. MMMmmmm brewing
The political fight for the control of the country's Shiite holiest city turned Najaf into a battlefield last summer when forces loyal to rebel cleric Moqtada al-Sadr engaged in fierce firefights with US forces. And in August, skirmishes involving Mr. Sadr's supporters turned Najaf's streets violent again, this time clashing with the militia of the ruling Shiite religious party the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI). So reminiscent of 1932 Germany. Political parties? Yeah the Germans called their militia the brownshirts.
Today, in the shadow of the city's gold dome and tile porticoes of the Imam Ali shrine that makes Najaf Shiite Islam's capital, a barely restrained tension between SCIRI and Sadr supporters continues.
At the national level, the two leading Shiite groups have joined a political coalition, the United Iraqi Alliance, last week to run in the Dec. 15 elections. But in the streets here, that unity appears lacking.
"For the Najaf people [Sadr] is an unwanted person. All steps taken by this man are not for the best, not for the good of all Najaf people," says Sayyid Ali, a gold merchant in the city's main market who wouldn't give his full name. Popular sentiment among anyone not living in a ghetto shithole seems to be against Sadr
But down different alley in the large market is another jewelry shop. This one is decorated with posters of Sadr. "All the police and all the government are supported by [SCIRI]," says Hussein Rasool al-Akash, whose brother was one of four Sadr followers killed in the August clashes with Sadr forces and demonstrators who opposed him and his followers presence in Najaf. A family connection
That violence lasted a few hours but had ripple effects throughout Shiite Iraq. Hours later, as word of the Najaf fight spread, battles broke out between Sadr followers and SCIRI forces across southern Iraq. Then, just as suddenly, all was quiet by the next afternoon after Sadr called for calm. We call that calling your dogs off
But local government leaders are anxious to show there will be no trouble on their watch, having just taken over control of the city from US troops.
"We are not worried at all about the Sadr movement. As a matter of fact, we believe it is the nearest movement we can go hand-in-hand with," says deputy governor Abdel Hussein Abtan, who oversees security in Najaf. In other words keep your friends close and your enemies closer.
Mr. Abtan is also the secretary general of the Badr Organization in Najaf. The group was better known as the Badr Brigade or Badr Corps, the feared militia of SCIRI, until it vowed to disarm and focus on humanitarian work after the US invasion of Iraq. Yeah, dosarmed, yeah that's what we've done, we've disarmed. Isn't that right boys? Right right no guns here.But Sadr supporters and many Najaf residents say an armed Badr Brigade still exists as the Najaf police force. Police in Najaf bad, never. We're not like those bad boys in Basra, no sir! We'd never, how dare you...
Abtan says the recent fighting was just the growing pains of freedom. "Democracy is new to the Iraqi people. As more time passes ... we will learn how to live together and make the best of it," he says. We hope so ladies!
That message has not made it through to the Sadr officials in Najaf, however, just a few minutes away in this compact city.
"In Najaf we suffer from an uncooperative government. They are not working with us with a good sense," says Salah al-Obaeidi, a Sadr representative in Najaf. "They try to be very restrictive of [Sadr] visitors, refusing to allow them to say the [Sadr Movement] slogans ... we can't say they have targeted us but we can say they are not cooperative with us." They don't even let us chant anymore! It's just barbaric.
Mr. Obaeidi says that across southern Iraq the relationship between SCIRI and Sadr varies from tense coexistence as in Najaf, to the all-out armed conflict that has flared frequently in Basra and Samawa.
The Shiite political parties like SCIRI entered Iraq from exile in Iran after the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime. As a result they have little constituency among average Shiites and many leaders have spent decades outside the country they are now ruling. Badr is popular though
Instead, the majority of Shiites identify strongly with the marjiyeh, four grand ayatollahs who each hold the status as the highest religious Shiite authority. SCIRI was swept into office last January after Ali al-Sistani, the first among the four equals, was believed to have given his support to them.
The divide between Sadr and SCIRI is more than just the natural rivalry produced by Iraq's new political plurality. It is rooted in historical tensions in the Shiite community, making the divide all the more entrenched. Sadr comes from a family of prominent Shiite clerics who have a history of being outspokenly antiestablishment. And outspokenly dead
But SCIRI represents the Shiite establishment that supports Ayatollah Sistani, who was a rival of Sadr's beloved father. Sadr himself has few religious credentials and publicly pays homage to Sistani's authority. Dog knows when to heel. His weeks-long battle with American troops in Najaf in August 2004 was seen as an affront to Sistani's authority to some, but also earned him enormous street credibility.
While most people across Najaf have chosen sides between the Sadr movement and SCIRI, some, like Kadhim Mohammed a shopkeeper here, are not allied with any political group and are caught in the middle of the Sadr-SCIRI power struggle.
When asked about Sadr he was reticent. "I can't answer this question. I can't," says Mr. Mohammed, who wouldn't give his real name. "If you don't say anything for or against them, if you don't talk about it, you will be OK." The old "if I don't acknowledge it's there it ain't there" argument? Works everytime Mohammed, works every time!
#1
"So reminiscent of 1932 Germany. Political parties? Yeah the Germans called their militia the brownshirts. "
Did the Nazis and the German Communists ever run for national office on a joint list? I dont think so. This Sadr vs Badr thing is on a whole different order of byzantine complexity.
Hmmm byzantine complexity perhaps, however you should still revisit your history for a more appropriate analogy.
Maybe you should put apples with apples. Hitler was chancellor under Hindenburg before he was feuhrer. Hindenburg was a Socialist Democrat? I don't remember... Perhaps Sistani can be President Hindenburg and Sadr can play Hitler for the analogy...
or for your analogy...
The Sunni are the obvious Communists and the Shiia would be the National Socialists, but all semantics, all semantics.
Point is that democracy cannot and will not exist while political parties are little more than armed gangs of thugs who use intimidation and murder to reach their political objectives.
The Moroccan blamed by the Baghdad government for a deadly car bomb attack in Iraq was a top recruiter of foreign fighters, sending militants across the border from Syria (search ) and acting as a liaison with European extremists, said a former associate.
Muhsen Khayber (search ), also known as Abdul Rahim, moved to Syria from Morocco after allegedly being involved in coordinated homicide bombings (search) in Casablanca that killed 32 people, an Iraqi government statement said Tuesday, offering an unspecified reward for his arrest.
Khayber first came in contact with Sunni Muslim extremists while working in his brother's dairy shop as a youth, said Abdellah Rami, who went to high school with Kayber and last saw him about six months before the May 16, 2003, bombings in the Moroccan city of Casablanca.
Rami said Khayber has long supported the killing of Shiites, who were targeted in the Sept. 29 attack in Iraq (search ), in which three near-simultaneous car bombs killed at least 60 people and wounded 70 in the mainly Shiite town of Balad, 50 miles north of Baghdad.
"Even before the Sept. 11 (2001 attacks on the United States), Muhsen supported the killings of Shiites in Pakistan, or the killing of Christians," Rami told The Associated Press. Khayber "became very animated in the discussions, was very fanatic."
The Iraqi government statement said Khayber moved last year to Syria "where he helped organize terrorist cells" of foreign fighters who were sent to Iraq. Arab media said Khayber was arrested in Syria in May 2004 and handed over to the Moroccans.
However, Rami said he doubted Khayber was in custody because he still sends money to his two wives in the Moroccan city of Larache, where he was born in 1970.
Moroccan government spokesman Nabil Benabdallah said he had not heard of Khayber.
Syria has denied any support for Iraqi insurgents and insists that it is trying to control the porous border.
Rami said Khayber became attracted to the strict Islamic Salafiyah Jihadiya thinking during the 1991 Gulf War following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.
"He was a normal person before he became involved in the salafiyah things," said Rami, a researcher of militant Islamic movements in Morocco.
After Khayber graduated from high school in the northern coastal city of Larache, he worked in his brother's dairy shop where he met men espousing extremist ideas, said Rami.
Soon afterward, Khayber, a thin man of medium height, began growing his beard and wearing clothes of Afghan men, said Rami. He took two wives and had a son.
He also came into contact with Mohammed El Fazazi, a Moroccan cleric whose sermons called for holy war against the West. El Fazazi, accused by authorities of inspiring the homicide bombers that carried out the Casablanca blasts, is serving a 30-year sentence in Morocco.
Rami said Khayber traveled to Tangier frequently to meet with El Fazazi and to listen to his mosque speeches. Apparently under El Fazazi's influence, Khayber organized the Larache branch of the cleric's group that follows an extremist Islamic doctrine.
Other Al Qaeda and Islamic extremists were attracted to El Fazazi's preachings, including Mohamed Atta, leader of the Sept. 11 attacks, and Jamal Zougam, the prime suspect in the 2004 train attacks that killed 191 people in Madrid.
Khayber was also influenced by the taped speeches of Abu Qatada, a Jordanian-Palestinian cleric once described by a Spanish judge as Usama bin Laden's "spiritual ambassador in Europe."
Following the 2001 attacks on the United States, Khayber established contacts with militant Moroccan immigrants in Spain. There's no evidence he had any part in the Madrid bombings.
In Syria, Khayber allegedly played a significant role in the Islamic extremist network, acting as a master recruiter and liaison with European militants, said Rami.
Rami said Salafiyah Jihadiyah gained force in Morocco â and elsewhere â during or shortly after the Gulf War. "Before that, El Fazazi was an ordinary Salafi guy, like everyone else in Morocco. But the Gulf War and the Algerian crisis â which happened at the same time â changed all that."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/02/2005 00:34 ||
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"Before that, El Fazazi was an ordinary Salafi guy, like everyone else in Morocco. But the Gulf War and the Algerian crisis â which happened at the same time â changed all that."
Or it could have been that one day he cut himself tieing his shoelaces and realized that Shites and infidels were responsible for his pain.
The United States has provided more than $4 million for the hiring of hundreds of insurgents into Palestinian Authority security forces.
Palestinian sources said the Bush administration relayed 20 million shekels, or $4.4 million, for the transfer of Fatah insurgents to the PA security forces. The sources said the U.S. aid, allocated via the PA, was meant to facilitate the elimination of the Fatah-dominated Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a leading insurgency force in the war against Israel.
Despite the absorption of Al Aqsa, the group continues to claim responsibility for rocket and other attacks against Israel, Middle East Newsline reported. On Monday, Palestinian gunners fired at least six missiles into Israel from the Gaza Strip. Israeli artillery fired into empty fields used for Palestinian missile launches.
"The U.S. money was meant to pay salaries for Al Aqsa people who join the PA," a senior Palestinian source involved in the effort said.
Al Aqsa has a force of between 500 and 700 fighters, and the sources said they would receive at least 1,750 shekels, or nearly $400, per month. The sources said most of the fighters have agreed to join the PA security forces, but said at least 100 would continue attacks against Israel in operations financed by Iran and Hizbullah.
The United States has not reported aid for the absorption of Al Aqsa into the PA. But U.S. officials said that in early 2005, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice approved a plan to help the PA transform insurgency cells into units of the PA police and security forces.
Under the U.S. plan, any Palestinian insurgent who surrenders his weapon to the PA and pledges to end attacks against Israel would receive a pension of $100 per month. Most insurgents have instead demanded jobs in the PA security forces.
The U.S. effort to help transform Al Aqsa fighters into Palestinian security officers was not the first time Washington has financed Fatah insurgents. In late 2004, Palestinian sources said, the United States relayed several millions of dollars to Al Aqsa and other Fatah groups to ensure their support for Mahmoud Abbas in his successful election as PA chairman.
PA officials said the absorption of Al Aqsa fighters would take several months and the new recruits would be allowed to keep their weapons. They said a three-week training course would be arranged for the recruits and then the PA would determine where the Fatah fighters would serve.
"We don't want to have Al Aqsa stay together in one unit," an official said. "We would rather spread them around."
#4
Don't forget the $43,000,000 that was sent to the Taleban back in May of 2001. Does anyone think that the Taleban ever actually withdrew their interest in the opium trade?
A mere $4,000,000 is pocket change by comparison. That it's going to the Palestinians is slightly insane, but our recent crop of politicians have never been too famous for their dazzling intellectual feats.
Two local leaders have been killed in an Israeli air strike targeting a car in the northern Gaza Strip, Palestinian and Israeli sources said. Six civilians, including one seriously, were also injured in Tuesday's attack when an Israeli aircraft slammed a missile into the vehicle travelling near the Jabaliya refugee camp, medical sources said. Hassan al-Madhun, 32, a local commander of the Nabil Massud Brigades, an armed wing of the Al Aqsa Martrys Brigades, was killed, security sources said.
Wait a minute. I thought the al-Aqsa Martyrs were the armed wing of Fatah? How does an armed wing have an armed wing?
The other victim was identified as Fayez Abu al-Qaraa, 37, a local leader of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas.
Is this Mix 'n' Match?
Aljazeera's Gaza correspondent Wael al-Dahdouh reported both al-Madhun and al-Qaraa were travelling in a jeep close to al-Falluja district in Jibalia, north of Gaza. An Israeli drone fired two or three rockets at the vehicle, witnesses said. The attack resulted in destroying the car and killing the two Palestinian activists whose mutilated bodies were taken to hospital.
"They're dead, Jim!"
The Israeli occupation forces accuse al-Madhun of involvement and executing several military operations against Israeli targets, before Israel's pull-out from Gaza. A senior Hamas official told AFP Israel has "started a war" by killing the two men.
They always say that, don't they?
"Israel has started a war with this assassination and it will pay a heavy price," he said bravely speaking on condition of anonymity.
Doesn't want to eat a Hellfire for shooting off his mouth, huh?
The Israeli army confirmed the blast, saying the airforce had "attacked a vehicle carrying a senior activist from the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades called Hassan Madoun".
Posted by: Fred ||
11/02/2005 00:00 ||
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They're Palestinians -- every wing is an armed wing.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
11/02/2005 7:57 Comments ||
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Immediate need for 12,000 UAV operators, mechanics, air traffic controllers, for Bagram Air Base, Iraq. Liberal ROE, handsome kill bonuses, catered meals, beer, female personal security agent, and 4 wks R&R at Bonbi Beach per quarter. This is an employee referral bonus program recruitment posting. Northrop Grumman - Defining the Future.
The wings have arms and the arms have wings. The Headstrongs married the Armstrongs and the Armstrongs married the Headstrongs and that's where Palestinians come from!
Tehran, 2 Nov. (AKI) - The Iranian government has decided to continue the process of uranium enrichment. Arabic satellite TV network Al Jazeera and the Reuters newsagency are quoting diplomats as saying Iran will process a new batch of uranium at its Isfahan site next week, flouting efforts by the United States and the European Union to halt Tehran's nuclear activities. The news came as a group of inspectors from the UN nuclear watchdog visited the military site of Parchin, 30 kilometres from Tehran. The aim of the visit was to avoid Iran being referred to the UN Security Council because of its failure to cooperate.
Iran had frozen all work at Isfahan late last year under a deal with France, Britain and Germany but resumed work in August after Tehran rejected an EU offer of trade and other incentives in exchange for a cessation of fuel work and resumed uranium conversion, which is a precursor to enrichment work.
"Beginning next week, the Iranians will start a new phase of uranium conversion at Isfahan. They will begin feeding a new batch of uranium into the plant," a European diplomat familiar with the result of inspections of the U.N. nuclear watchdog told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/02/2005 13:42 ||
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#1
keep digging
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/02/2005 14:43 Comments ||
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Tehran, 2 Nov. (AKI) - After a small bomb outside British companies offices and news of a massive shakeup of Iran's diplomats, the rumour mill in Teheran is churning with speculation about some unexpected move, possibly the occuption of a Western embassy. The Iranian website, Gooya, one of the most popular Persian language sites, has reported that many British diplomats have left Tehran, in view of a possible occupation of their premises. The same sources also say records and data from the embassy building have been shifted to a more secure area.
On Wednesday morning, an explosion occured in front of the offices of British Airways and British Petroleum. Participants at a rally to celebrate the anniversary of the 1979 occupation of the American embassy in Tehran, received a warning without any reason a few hours before the rally, not to go near the British embassy not other British interests in the country. Whoever gave the warning was probably aware of the imminent explosion of the device which the Iranian deputy interior minister has referred to as a "response to certain positions taken by certain countries against Iran."
Iran's interior minister has denied students permission to hold a counter-demonstration outside the Italian embassy in Tehran on Thursday in response to one being held in the Italian capital, Rome, to protest Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's call for the removal of Israel from the map. The Rome rally, which will take place in front of the Iranian embassy, was organised by right wing newspaper Il Foglio, but politicians of various hues will be taking part.
The news agency Parsa has said that the students of Basij, a popular militia group, have said that they intend to hold a rally against the "Zionist Italians". Iran's interior minister however has said that no authorisation has been given for such a rally.
The increased tension comes as president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced a major shakeup of the diplomatic corps, replacing ambassadors to key European capitals. Critics say it ammounts to a 'purge' of diplomatic staff seen as being too close to the reformist forces that have been sidelined since Ahmadinejad was elected president in June.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/02/2005 13:40 ||
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yeah mahmoud, thats its, take over the brit embassy, thats SURE to make Irans viewpoint more accepted around the world. SURE it is.
#2
'The news agency Parsa has said that the students of Basij, a popular militia group, have said that they intend to hold a rally against the "Zionist Italians".'
VIENNA, Austria (AP) - Iran has granted U.N. nuclear inspectors new access to a high-security military site as part of efforts to avoid referral to the Security Council, diplomats said Wednesday. The diplomats said experts of the International Atomic Energy Agency were allowed to revisit Parchin as they try to establish whether Tehran has a secret nuclear weapons program.
Parchin has been linked by the United States and other nations to alleged experiments linked to nuclear arms. The IAEA had for months been trying to follow up on a visit in January for further checks of buildings and areas within the sprawling military complex as it looks for traces of radioactivity. That visit - which was closely controlled by authorities - revealed no such traces.
But one of the diplomats - who like the others requested anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media about the sensitive investigation - said that over the past few days IAEA inspectors "gained access to buildings" previously out of bounds to them. The diplomat, who is close to the agency, said environmental swipes were taken from objects in the buildings and would be analyzed at IAEA laboratories. If those swipes reveal minute amounts of radioactivity, they would strengthen suspicions of nuclear-related work at Parchin.
Because Parchin is run by the country's armed forces, such a discovery would weaken Iranian arguments that its nuclear programs are strictly nonmilitary. That, in turn, would strengthen sentiment that Tehran be referred to the U.N. Security Council for breaching the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty as early as Nov. 24, when the IAEA's 35-nation board of governors has scheduled its next meeting. The swipe results are expected before then. U.S. intelligence officials said last year that a specially secured site on the Parchin complex, about 20 miles southeast of Tehran, may be used in research on nuclear arms, specifically in making high-explosive components for use in such weapons.
On Wednesday, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said military action against Iran was not being considered, but he said Tehran must change course. "Nobody is talking about military threats or invasion of Iran or any of the rest of it," Blair told the House of Commons. He added that Iran's government "has got to understand that the international community simply will not put up with their continued breach of the proper and normal standards of behavior that we expected from a member of the United Nations."
The IAEA has not found any firm evidence to challenge Iranian assertions that its military is not involved nuclear activities, but in a document last year has expressed concern about reports "relating to dual use equipment and materials which have applications ... in the nuclear military area." Diplomats said that phrasing alluded to Parchin. Before the next board meeting, IAEA inspectors also hope to be allowed to visit Lavizan-Shian, suspected of being the repository of equipment bought by its military that could be used in a nuclear weapons program
The State Department last year said Lavizan-Shian's buildings had been dismantled and topsoil had been removed from the site in attempts to hide nuclear-weapons related experiments. Agency officials subsequently confirmed that the site had been razed, but Iran said work at the site, on the outskirts of Tehran, was part of construction unrelated to military or nuclear matters.
Iran is under increasing pressure before the next IAEA board meeting to show it is cooperating with a more than three-year IAEA probe of nearly 18 years of suspected clandestine nuclear activities as it tries to derail a U.S.-backed European push to report it to the Security Council.
Russia and China - council members who also sit on the IAEA board - are opposed to such a move. But calls last week by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called for Israel to be "wiped off the map," have strengthened the U.S.-European hand by focusing on concerns over Iran's nuclear ambitions. Russia was among the dozens of nations protesting his statements.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/02/2005 10:15 ||
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Iran grants UN access to pogey bait. Wotta joke. The UN is like Charlie Brown, and the MMs of Iran are like Lucy. Always falling for the football stunt, over and over.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/02/2005 10:31 Comments ||
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Iran is not letting UNdrones access to anything they don't want them to see. The black hats are as stupid as they are stupid.
Please take a shot at a RC-135, or a EP-3E. Please.
#4
All of here that are forced to live in the Real World know that this is nothing but a ploy and delaying tactic straight out of Saddam's play book. Unfortunatley thou our cough allies will be all but to happy to hold this up as Proof of sucess and a fact that the system is working. ERRRR the Iranian pres is not as dum as I had begun to think he is going to play the game. This is real bad news for the US if this continues we will be stuck in Iraq part Duece. Hopefully the Iranian pres will change his mind and spit in the Infedel face. Earlier today he perjed the Ambasadors I thought is was going to be another spitting and punking out the EU day but now ehhh I dont know.
Thousands of young Iranians have marched in the capital Tehran in honour of "national anti-global arrogance day" on 4 November. The rally was held two days early because Friday is likely to coincide with Eid al-Fitr, the end the holy month of Ramadan, in Iran. Demonstrators converged around the former US embassy in Tehran to mark the 26th anniversary of its takeover. Later, a bomb exploded near the offices of two British companies.
The bomb attack and demonstration come as Iran becomes increasingly exasperated with Western criticism of its government and nuclear programme. The slogan for the event was "peaceful nuclear energy is our legitimate right".
Catchy, but not up to Nork standards.
Protestors gathered outside the former US embassy - the so-called "den of spies" - in memory of the day when Iranian revolutionaries seized it. Islamic militants took 52 American hostages inside the embassy on 4 November 1979 to demand the extradition of the Shah, in the US at the time for medical treatment, to face trial in Iran. The American hostages were eventually released on 20 January 1981, ending 444 days in captivity.
The hallmark of Jimmys presidency
According to the official Irna news agency, Iranians also use the anniversary to disavow global arrogance and to renew their allegiance to the ideals of the Islamic revolution, the late Imam Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic republic, and Ayatollah Khamenei, the current supreme leader.
Only hours after the march began, a small explosive device went off near the offices of two British companies based in Tehran. The bomb exploded on the 10th floor of a building where British Airways and British Petroleum are based, the British embassy told the BBC. A couple of windows were damaged, but nobody was injured. There was a similar attack on the same floor in August, which also did not injure anyone.
The BBC's correspondent in Tehran, Frances Harrison, says that the blasts seem designed to send a message that frustration with Britain is rising.
Brillant, how does he do it!
Recent weeks have seen Iranian officials accusing Britain of being behind a series of bomb blasts in the south-west of the country near the Iraqi border, and there has been tension because of Britain's role in confronting Iran over its nuclear programme.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/02/2005 09:12 ||
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#1
Islamic militants took 52 American hostages inside the embassy on 4 November 1979 to demand the extradition of the Shah, in the US at the time for medical treatment, to face trial in Iran.
In the future I think this is the day we will recognize as the start of the current World War we are in.
#3
Cheaderhead: Right you are. More unfinished business back to haunt us. In retrospect, when the Gipper finally got the hostages out, we should have rubblized the embassy with a very large nuke.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has recalled a string of ambassadors from high-profile postings. Tehran's senior diplomats in the UK, France, Germany and at the United Nations in Geneva are being replaced. The ambassadors were closely involved in negotiations over Iran's nuclear programme under former President Mohammed Khatami. The move is likely to signal a tough new approach to the stalled nuclear issue, correspondents say.
Keep digging, Mahmoud
Mr Ahmadinejad came to power in June and has adopted an abrasive approach to foreign policy in recent weeks. He used a speech to the UN General Assembly to warn foreign nations to stay out of Iran's affairs - seen as a coded message about the country's nuclear programme. Last week he provoked an international outcry with remarks calling for Israel to be "wiped off the map".
The BBC's Iranian analyst Sadeq Saba says the replacement of these senior moderate diplomats may cause concern in Western capitals, especially at a time the nuclear talks have apparently reached deadlock. Until recently the UK, France and Germany spearheaded international efforts to cajole Tehran into revealing the extent of its nuclear ambitions. The US accuses Iran of seeking to develop atomic weapons but Iran insists its nuclear activities are legitimate and are aimed at generating domestic energy. Negotiations broke down when Iran restarted uranium processing at a key nuclear plant, in defiance of international opinion.
Mr Ahmadinejad's attitude has quickly distinguished him from his more moderate predecessor, Mr Khatami. Many of the diplomats replaced were closely associated with the former regime. Mohammad Hossein Adeli, the envoy to London, is a US-educated diplomat who only took up his posting in 2004. Mr Adeli, who has been accused of corruption and of betraying Iranian national interests by hard-line state newspapers in Tehran, was the first Iranian ambassador to speak fluent English since the Islamic revolution of 1979. Iran's official IRNA news agency said Mr Adeli had made a request for early retirement, but gave no reason.
According to a report in The Times newspaper in London, up to 20 ambassadors around the world will be replaced in a "purge".
I read a report in a arabic newspaper website last week that these ambassadors were going to be canned because they tried to gloss over Ahmadinejad's "wiped off the map" comment as a "figure of speech" or being "misunderstood". He wanted them to be as hardline as he is.
Dr Ali Ansari, an Iranian expert at the University of St Andrews, said the changes could backfire. "It is typical of the insularity of the regime that it creates this crisis and gets rid of its best diplomats just at a time when things could not be worse on the world stage," he told The Times.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/02/2005 09:01 ||
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#1
I think Ahmadi Nejad's training as an engineer makes him dislike the kitman/taqiya approach.
This will make things tough on the Islamic apologists in the West but they'll carry on somehow.
#2
This guy is heading straight toward a fight. He isn't about to show any weakness. He hasn't a clue about real war and he will provoke one very soon. These jerks dream of superiority. They believe their dream. Reality can't surface through the fog of wishful thinking which surrounds them, and he, in particular, will allow no opposing counsel. It's a happy circle jerk on it's way to a trainwreck.
Get the popcorn.
#7
N.B.: Ambassadors are also recalled prior to launching a war, both because it is far too secret to risk a leak and they want everybody on exactly the same sheet of music, and because diplomats around the world have to work double-time at the outbreak of hostilities.
I suspect that this is not the case right now, however. I think that the fanatic is one of those people who despises the "gray area" that is diplomacy. He sees it as sinfully "lying" and dishonorable. As such, he will probably come out soon with even more bellicose rhetoric, which will alienate more potential allies or neutrals.
He will appoint a bunch of new ambassadors who will not be diplomatic, but who will bluff and bluster and threaten and try to crudely bribe, and with bribes far lower than what they should be.
Not ironically, diplomats have been forced to deal with non-diplomat ambassadors before, and know how to both bitch-slap them and how to punish their home country for its impoliteness. There are thousands of linkages that can be manipulated from afar that can make just about any nation squeal like a pig.
#8
Maybe in a weird and perverted way, Ahmadinejad's bellicose behavior and hardening attitude may do some good in the end. What he is doing is alienating any good will or support he had from other countries, including the EU, and his actions will force the world to deal with the fundamental issues with Iran: namely, export of terrorism and MMs in possession of nukes.
Hey, it's a long shot.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/02/2005 10:39 Comments ||
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#9
I am waiting for the blackhats to take a shot at one of our RC-135's or EP-3E's.
#10
Not ironically, diplomats have been forced to deal with non-diplomat ambassadors before, and know how to both bitch-slap them and how to punish their home country for its impoliteness. There are thousands of linkages that can be manipulated from afar that can make just about any nation squeal like a pig.
Would you be so kind as to expand on that, Anonymoose?
#13
trailing wife: the textbook example was when Wm Jennings Bryan was made Sec'y of State. He promptly forbade alcohol to be served at any US-hosted diplomatic function in Washington, DC. Soon, out of the innumerable cocktail parties hosted at embassies in DC, no one attended anything offered by the State Department.
Face-to-face US foreign policy came screeching to a halt.
But there have been lots of embarassing ambassadors who were "neutralized" because of their undiplomatic candor, crudeness, or bad manners. It is one step below being declared personna non grata, deportation effective immediately, but it still means that you are no longer recognized as a diplomat.
When a country, such as Iran, goes on a diplomatic rampage, as I suspect is soon to happen, where they appoint fanatics and brutes to be their ambassadors, everything goes haywire.
Longstanding trade agreements stop working, new deals get derailed or strongly delayed, passport and travel are bollixed, overseas citizens lose the daily services their government provides, even financial dealings get messed up. The overall cost can run to the tens or hundreds of billions of dollars.
It also puts other nations on notice that the issuing country is behaving badly, perhaps even belligerently, and must be treated accordingly.
#14
"Longstanding trade agreements stop working, new deals get derailed or strongly delayed, passport and travel are bollixed, overseas citizens lose the daily services their government provides, even financial dealings get messed up. The overall cost can run to the tens or hundreds of billions of dollars."
Lots of folks here forget about the nitty gritty of diplomacy, and think its all a fancy pants way to avoid needed wars. Good luck correcting them.
The latest free Stratfor, among others, points out that Ahmadinejad and his ilk are likely emboldened by the apparent political weakness of the Bush administration. I think there is a lot to this. He may think he can ratchet up the pressure and get more concessions while we're bogged down in Iraq to the point where the public, at the urging of the Dems and media, has come to view it as a mistake.
In his mind, we did him the favor of eliminating Sammy and are now bleeding in Iraq. Lacking the patience of, China, our other big geopolitical adversary, he's moving quickly to exploit the situation.
I think too quickly. After his outbursts, we should be able to isolate Iran a bit more economically and hurt their already lame economy. Ahmadinejad was elected largely to fix inflation and he's failing. He will become unpopular to the point where the reformers in turn will be emboldened. A key element of our strategy must be that the mid ranking government officials in Iran become scared that we may take action and become more open to a coup or some other means of undermining Ahmadinejad's control over internal security services.
Lebanese security sources revealed Tuesday the UN probe has sent requests to Speaker Nabih Berri "to interrogate and possibly detain two current MPs after lifting their immunity." The sources added that there will be a large wave of "questioning officials and detaining others, most probably those whose names were included in Mehlis' report. But this will happen after the Eid al-Fitr, which is when the joint international-Lebanese investigations will resume."
Shortly before Mehlis' arrival, local Arabic daily An-Nahar said a Syrian prisoner held in Tibnin jail in South Lebanon for a theft felony was brought by Lebanon's elite Internal Security Forces, "The Black Panthers", to the UN probe's headquarters in Montverde. The prisoner was identified as Nidal Hikmat Soljok.
Hmmm... Yasss... The infamous Notary Soljok...
An-Nahar said that he was interrogated by the UN investigators for hours, adding that there was no explanation why he was summoned.
Judicial sources said some Lebanese investigating magistrates and the State Prosecutor met with UN investigators Tuesday and exchanged documents. Also on Tuesday, Investigating Magistrate Elias Eid listened to the deposition of two witnesses in the Hariri case. The witnesses' names were not disclosed.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/02/2005 00:00 ||
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Syrian President Bashar Assad's brother and brother-in-law have agreed to be interrogated by the UN probe team into former Premier Rafik Hariri's murder "if requested," according to a Syrian diplomat. The Syrian Ambassador to Britain Sami Khiyami told BBC's Today radio program the inquiry had not previously sought to interview either Assad's brother and head of the Presidential Guards Maher Assad, or the president's brother-in-law and Chief of Syria's military intelligence Assef Shawkat. Both men were named as suspects by an undisclosed witness in the original draft of the report prepared by UN Chief Investigator Detlev Mehlis on the course of the investigations. Mehlis, who came back to Beirut late Monday night, said then that "the Syrian witnesses' answers were all standard," and lashed out at Syria for the lack of cooperation it showed.
"In our eyes there was full cooperation. However, if the commission had said at that time that it had suspects we would have acted differently," Khiyami said. He added: "It is clear for any person who has followed this issue throughout that Syria's co-operation was complete. I repeat: complete."
Meaning that's all you're gonna get...
Mehlis is expected to re-interrogate the Syrian officials he met in Damascus two months ago. According to judicial sources and in a new development, Mehlis is expected to interrogate the Syrian officials in Lebanon rather than Cyprus as previously reported.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/02/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Yeah, get them out of there and their stories will change. Greenland is nice this time of year.
CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - Muslims in the Middle East and across the Islamic world ended their final sunrise-to-sunset fast and did last-minute shopping for sweets, clothes explosives and toys Wednesday ahead of a three-day holiday celebrating the end of the holy month of Ramadan.
From the Philippines to Morocco, Muslims prepared for the Eid al-Fitr holiday - or started the celebrating right after their last sunset meal. In the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, children paraded through the streets carrying candles. There were fireworks in the West Bank town of Ramallah.
"Incoming!"
Stalls in street markets in Lebanon and Egypt were packed with multi-colored candies, and cooks made pastries of filo dough.
Eid al-Fitr - Arabic for the "festival of breaking the fast" - is a time for family gatherings and meals that will leave the streets of Cairo and other Arab cities virtually empty Thursday. For the next two days, people flood parks and other public places, with children decked out in new clothes for the occasion. Observant Muslims refrain from food and drink from sunrise to sunset during Ramadan, the month in Islam's lunar calendar when it is believed that the first verses of the Quran - Islam's holy book - were revealed to the prophet Muhammad in the 7th century.
In the Iraqi capital, workers were making final adjustments to the Luna amusement park, where hundreds of families are expected to celebrate.
I'd search everyone down to their DNA.
"We pray to almighty God on the occasion of Eid that stability and security would prevail so that people can picnic. They are fed up of being always at home in fear of blasts," said one Iraqi, Mohsen Chasib.
At the start of Ramadan, al-Qaida militants in Iraq called for stepped up attacks against U.S. and Iraqi forces. Some extremists believe they receive additional blessings if they die fighting for Islam during Ramadan.
Yeah, they'll be breaking out the Holy Boomer Belts
But Iraq saw relatively few attacks on civilians for much of the month amid intensified security for a constitutional referendum and the start of Saddam Hussein's trial. However, U.S. casualties were high - with more than 90 Americans killed in October. A suicide attacker set off a car bomb in Musayyib, south of Baghdad, at sunset Wednesday. At least 22 people were killed, mostly civilians.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/02/2005 16:47 ||
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#1
An amusement park in Baghdad - for those who don't get enough excitement commuting to work.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
11/02/2005 16:56 Comments ||
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Some extremists believe they receive additional blessings if they die fighting for Islam during Ramadan.
WTF, source?
Posted by: Edward Yee ||
11/02/2005 19:09 Comments ||
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A red T-shirt draped over the statue of a former colonial governor bears a curt message for French peacekeepers in this war-divided West African country: 'Get out.' The tenuous relationship between Paris and its former colony suffered another blow Wednesday when the French Defense Ministry confirmed that troops in Ivory Coast suffocated an Ivorian prisoner in an armored vehicle in May, and commanders knew of the killing but did not notify their superiors.
Gen. Henri Poncet, who commanded the peacekeeping mission, was suspended from duty and given an official warning while the investigation continues. 'Certainly this is bad for our image and makes our job harder,' said Lt. Col. Jean-Luc Cotard, spokesman for the 4,000-strong peacekeeping force known as Unicorn. 'But it won't affect our mission. We are here to help keep the peace.'
France's image problems are a microcosm of the complex relationship between the West and much of Africa. The world's poorest continent has painful memories of the colonial period, yet depends on former colonists for economic, political and other support _ even while its leaders express concern that the global trade system the West has built shuts them out of development. Africans are suspicious of outsiders' influence on their societies, but are forced by poverty and the weakness of their own governments to head West for education and jobs.
France's colonial history in Ivory Coast was not particularly brutal, and violence from its peacekeepers has been the exception and not the rule. But many Ivorians still believe that French forces are trying to sow troubles and blame France for the once-stable nation's woes.
Ivory Coast has been in turmoil since 2002, when rebels launched a failed coup and seized the northern half of the world's largest cocoa producer. Opposition runs deepest in the loyalist south, where everyone from disaffected youth to top government officials believe France not only supports the rebellion but controls it. France denies the accusations and says the government and troops are neutral.
France boosted its military contingent in Ivory Coast dramatically after the 2002 coup attempt sparked gunbattles in Abidjan, once known as 'the Paris of West Africa' because of its smart, cosmopolitan population and towering glass skyscrapers. The French later were joined by 6,000 U.N. peacekeepers. Both forces are trying to prevent an all-out war, deploying mostly along a demilitarized zone separating the two sides.
In November 2004, loyalist jet fighters broke a long-standing cease-fire, bombarding rebel positions in the north. A Nov. 6 raid inexplicably struck a French position, killing eight soldiers. France responded by destroying Ivory Coast's small air force, seizing the international airport in Abidjan and sending armored vehicles into the streets.
Outraged mobs rampaged through the city, smashing French-owned shops and forcing thousands of French citizens to flee. Dozens were killed when French troops fired on demonstrators. In June, a French military court sentenced 12 soldiers to prison for repeatedly robbing a bank in the rebel-held north. That month, the French army said it was investigating four soldiers for allegedly sexually abusing an Ivorian girl.
Cotard said such investigations showed France was willing to address its army's shortcomings. 'When we find weeds in our force, we pull them up,' Cotard told The Associated Press. 'We have nothing to hide.'
Few details have been made public in the investigation of the May 13 death of Ivorian civilian Firmin Mahe, who reportedly shot at French troops, prompting them to return fire. The French Defense Ministry issued a statement Wednesday saying force commanders knew of the killing but did not report it to their superiors. The French weekly Le Point cited anonymous military sources as saying the wounded man was suffocated by a plastic bag and dumped in a mass grave.
The ministry suggested Poncet and two other suspended officers were suspected of a cover-up. The ministry said it had information revealing a 'serious breach in the law, military rules and orders.'
Some Ivorians dismiss the French investigation. 'It's just a show,' said Abidjan resident Charles Willy. 'They want to make us forget what happened in November, but won't. They betrayed us. We don't want them here anymore.'
On Saturday, Ivorian forces held a rare public exercise and parade on the grassy banks of an Abidjan lagoon. Several French military officials were invited. As they arrived, hundreds of militants supporting President Laurent Gbagbo lined an adjacent road. The crowd made throat-cutting signs with their hands and booed the French troops.
'We have to be careful. We're trying to keep tensions low, so we ask our soldiers to keep their guns pointed down,' Cotard said. 'The difficulty is trying to show strength without using it.'
Many of the Ivorians killed in November 2004 died outside the Hotel Ivoire. The statue of the colonial governor across the street is now a monument to the slain. 'Unicorn, Get Out' say words scrawled in white paint on the T-shirt's back and front. On the statue's side, another red banner says: 'Never forget those who fell by the bullets of the French army.'
Posted by: Steve ||
11/02/2005 16:34 ||
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#1
Unlike Iraq, this IS a quagmire and the troops there are routinely torturing and killing people.
France out of Africa now!
#6
The journalist includes the fact that the body was supposedly dumped in a mass grave almost as a throw-away line. You would think that a curious journalist might follow-up with an investigation on the stack of bodies underneath body of the dude wearing the Hefty bag on his mellon.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
11/02/2005 17:08 Comments ||
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#7
"The difficulty is trying to show strength without using it."
Ooooo... (snivel) please don't hurt me with your promise of the threat of the possibility of the existance of the off chance that you might actually consider sending the signals that you could act with strength. Or something (whimper).
#8
You would think that a curious journalist might follow-up with an investigation on the stack of bodies underneath body of the dude wearing the Hefty bag on his mellon.
Not when the French are involved. Look at Oil-for-Food; French involvement has pretty much guaranteed no journalist will ever touch the story. It might make for awkward moments during their vacations.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
11/02/2005 18:44 Comments ||
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#9
Trying to remember which UNSC Resolution France is enforcing here...
Felix Houphouet-Boigny, a country doctor turned politician, was the "benevolent" dictator beginning with Independence in the 60s. He had become ill and possibly senile by the late 90s and did not leave any specific instruction for succession. The present disorders have their roots in the power grab after H-B's death.
The northern region of Cote d'Ivoire is Savanna and Sahel, populated entirely by herdsmen who practice Islam heavily laced with Animism. The rainforest part of the country, in the south, is a mixed bag of Animists and Christians.
Abidjan was the capital until H-B moved the capital to his hometown, Yamassoukro. He built a massive cathedral there and invited the pope to dedicate it. Pope John Paul II did come--and preached a scorching homily on responsibility to the poor and wise use of funds.
More details coming to light
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - Security has been tightened at the U.S. military prison in Afghanistan following the escape of a suspected al-Qaida leader, a U.S. official said Wednesday. Indonesian anti-terrorism officials accused Washington of failing to tell them of the breakout.
Omar al-Farouq, born in Kuwait to Iraqi parents, was considered one of Osama bin Laden's top lieutenants in Southeast Asia until Indonesian authorities captured him in 2002 and turned him over to the United States. He was one of four suspected Arab terrorists to escape in July from the detention facility at Bagram, the main U.S. base in Afghanistan. It was not clear how long he had been held in Afghanistan.
Although the escape was widely reported at the time, al-Farouq was identified by an alias and the U.S. military only confirmed Tuesday that he was among those who fled.
A video the four men made of themselves after they escaped from Bagram was broadcast on Dubai-based television station Al-Arabiya on Oct. 18, the broadcaster said. In the video, the four men said they escaped on a Sunday when many of the Americans on the base were off duty, and one of the four - Muhammad Hassan, said to be Libyan - said he picked the locks of their cell, according to Al-Arabiya.
In the video, apparently shot in Afghanistan, they show fellow militants a map of the base and the location of their cell. Another shot in the video showed Hassan leading the others in prayer. Editors at Al-Arabiya would not say how they received the video.
An Indonesian anti-terrorism official, Maj. Gen. Ansyaad Mbai, on Wednesday sharply criticized the U.S. government for failing to inform him that al-Farouq was no longer behind bars. "We know nothing about the escape of Omar al-Farouq," he said. "He is a dangerous terrorist for us, his escape will increase the threat of terrorism in Indonesia.
"We need to coordinate security here as soon as possible to anticipate his return," he said. "The escape of al-Farouq could bring fresh wind to the operation of terrorism and could energize the new movement of terrorist actors in Southeast Asia and the world."
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, asked by CNN about how the four escaped and Mbai's comments to The Associated Press that Indonesia was not told about it, said: "I don't know all the facts of this particular incident. Obviously, we consider this a very serious problem and one we'd have to look into the details of."
A top security consultant in Jakarta played down concerns that al-Farouq would make his way back to Southeast Asia and rejoin Jemaah Islamiyah, the regional terrorist group linked to al-Qaida. "He's Iraqi after all. If he's not hiding out (in Afghanistan or Pakistan), he's probably headed to Iraq to join the fight there," said Ken Conboy, who recently published a book on Jemaah Islamiyah.
Al-Farouq was recruited into al-Qaida in the early 1990s and went to the Khaldan training camp in Afghanistan from 1992 and 1995, Conboy wrote in his book "Intel." In 1995, he was sent to the Philippines, originally to enroll in a flight school so he could become proficient enough to commandeer a passenger plane on a suicide mission. He failed to gain entry and instead went to a camp in the traditional Muslim homeland of Mindanao, where he trained in jungle warfare tactics along with other Jemaah Islamiyah trainees, the book says.
From there, Al-Farouq traveled by sea to neighboring Indonesia, where in 2000 he set up training camps for radicals engaged in sectarian clashes with the nation's Christian minority. He was also reported to be planning a series of attacks on U.S. embassies and other Western interests throughout Southeast Asia, the book says. In 2002, al-Farouq was captured in a town south of Jakarta. Indonesian security officials turned him over to the United States and he was eventually transferred to Bagram.
Yuri Thamrin, Indonesia's Foreign Ministry spokesman, said he had heard nothing about al-Farouq's escape, but conceded that Washington may have directly informed security officials in Jakarta. "We have to check and make sure whether the U.S. has given the information to Indonesia or not," Thamrin said.
Military officials have declined to elaborate on how the men escaped from the heavily fortified jail, the only detainees they say have managed to do so. But a spokesman said Wednesday that an investigation into the breakout had turned up weaknesses in security and that these have been corrected. "Physical security upgrades include improvements to an external door and holding cells," Lt. Col. Jerry O'Hara said, reading from a statement.
Replaced that screen door, did you?
More than 500 suspected militants are held in the prison, a plain-looking building of about three stories in the heart of Bagram, next to the runways and the command center. Several razor-wire fences surround the base and areas outside the perimeter remain mined from Afghanistan's civil war and Soviet occupation. Military teams patrol constantly, and the main entrance is a series of heavily guarded checkpoints.
A U.S. military statement issued in August about the breakout said an inquiry had found that "the guards and supervisors did not follow standard operating procedures" on the night it occurred.
Would these be the same guards being prosecuted for "abusing" prisoners?
"These failures led to the escape of the four detainees on 10 July," it said, adding that "action has either been taken or is in the process of being taken" to fix the problems. The military conducted a massive manhunt after the breakout. U.S. troops, backed by Afghan police and soldiers, searched houses, manned roadblocks and zigzagged in helicopters across a dusty plain around the base.
Kabir Ahmed, the government leader in the area, said the American investigators had found where the men escaped from the base and fled through a field of wild grapevines. "The soldiers found the escapees' footprints still in the mud," he said. "It was an amazing breakout. How they did it exactly I still don't know."
Posted by: Steve ||
11/02/2005 10:08 ||
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Militants ambushed police on a southern Afghan mountain and killed five officers, officials said, while a statement issued Wednesday, purportedly by Taliban commander Mullah Omar, urged the insurgents not to end their armed struggle. It was not immediately possible to verify the authenticity of the Pashto-language statement. It was e-mailed to The Associated Press by Abdul Hai Mutmahin, who used to be a spokesman for the fundamentalist regime before it was ousted by U.S.-led forces in late 2001. "I call upon the Muslim nation to be united against the clever occupation force until the aggressors leave our soil," the statement said. "Fighting jihad is an obligation. Abandoning jihad is a big sin and a cause for humiliation of Muslims. Stand with us with your resources, with your lives."
Sure that's from Abdul? Sounds like fundraising spam I get from the DNC
Purported Taliban spokesmen occasionally release statements they claim are by Omar, who is believed hiding in rugged mountains along the Afghan-Pakistan frontier. Wednesday's statement was the second received by e-mail. Omar warned in the statement that the rebels will "intensify their attacks against the occupiers."
He keeps saying that. It means more corpses with turbans...
The Taliban have stepped up attacks in Afghanistan this year, leaving almost 1,500 people dead, making it the deadliest year since 2001.
Most of the 1500 are Taliban, I believe...
The violence has left large swathes of southern and eastern region off-limits to aid workers and raised fears for Afghanistan's nascent democracy.
The democracy seems to be working fine. It's the attacks by the adherents of the caliphate that're the problem...
U.S. military commanders predict the fighting is likely to ease during coming winter months as high mountain passes the insurgents use are covered with snow before picking up against in spring.
Dread Afghan Winter followed by the Dreaded Taliban Spring Offensive 2006.
In the latest fighting, suspected Taliban rebels ambushed police late Tuesday as they were driving in mountains in Helmand province's Dishu district, said Ghulam Muhiddin, the provincial administrator. Another purported Taliban spokesman, Qari Mohammed Yousaf, said insurgents beheaded the men after the battle, but this could not be confirmed.
That'd be when the men were safely dead, of course.
Purported Taliban spokesmen often call news organizations to claim responsibility for attacks, often with information that proves exaggerated or untrue.
Wow, the AP isn't taking their word as gospel? When did this start?
Posted by: Steve ||
11/02/2005 09:58 ||
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Clashes between riot police and protesters erupted in gunfire Wednesday, with police killing at least 12 people as demonstrations against Ethiopia's disputed elections stretched into a second day, officials said. Hundreds of heavily armed riot police were deployed across the capital as the sound of heavy machine-gun fire, rifle fire and loud explosions rocked Addis Ababa. Ethiopia's crack special forces, aboard armored personnel carriers, patrolled the streets that were littered with burning tires and broken glass.
The fighting spread across the city, reaching the doorstep of the embassies of Britain, France, Kenya, Belgium - all located in different parts of the capital. Workers at U.N. headquarters were told not to leave their offices. At least 51 civilians also were wounded in Wednesday's clashes, including a 7-year-old boy who was shot in the hip, doctors at two leading hospitals said. The violence followed clashes Tuesday between protesters and police that killed eight people and wounded 43 others.
EFL. Just another day in beautiful Africa.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/02/2005 09:52 ||
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From DEBKA-Net-Weekly: To this day no one can explain how four senior al Qaeda operatives were able to break out of the top-security American jail in the Afghan Bagram air base near Kabul on July 10; how they breached its defenses, cut across the giant base peopled by 12,000 US troops, slipped through checkpoints and security screenings and exited the base undetected. There can be no doubt that the fugitives received outside help â whether in the form of inside intelligence or Afghans employed on the base.
This week, on Tuesday, October 18, the four escapees surfaced in a videotape aired by the Dubai-based Arab language satellite TV channel Al Arabiya. Its editing was of superior quality compared with the tapes that usually coming out of Afghanistan. In one section, Mahmoud al-Kahtani, a Saudi, instructs a group of fighters and shows them a map of the jail from which the four escaped. He explained that Sunday was chosen for the jailbreak because then non-believers have the day off.
Abdullah Hashimi, a Syrian, next explained how the four fugitives hid for four days inside the American air base surrounding the prison without being discovered. They then fled and joined the Taliban outside.
The third fugitive, Mahmoud Ahmad, an Iraqi known also as Faruq al-Iraqi, is the narrator. He was arrested in 2002 in Indonesia as the suspected link between al Qaeda and the Indonesian Jemaah Islamiya.
He'd most likely be the Omar al-Farouq in the related story about the prison abuse.
The fourth fugitive, Muhammad Hassan, identified as a Libyan, says the least of the four but also appeared to be the groupâs leader. DEBKA-Net-Weeklyâs counter-terror sources identify Hassan as Sheikh Hassan Qaid, a Libyan.
Before the videotape was released, he circulated a special message to all al Qaeda fighters which outlined in detail his impressions of American methods of pursuit, detention, interrogation and handling of prisoners in the US jail facilities where he was held.
According to Hassan Qaid, the Americans when they caught him subjected him to a full body search; they took not only his finger- and toe-prints, but photographed the retinas of his eyes and took hair samples from all parts of his body.
He listed the eight questions which he claimed American interrogators fired at him:
1. What terrorist attacks are planned for inside the United States?
2. What terrorist attacks are planned against American targets overseas?
3. Where are Osama bin Laden and his close aides?
4. Who are the next-generation al Qaeda commanders and where are they to be found?
5. Where are the Taliban leader Mullah Omar and his following hiding?
6. Where are Mullah Omarâs spiritual mentor, Sheikh Jalal al Edin Haqani, and his son Saraj al Edin Hagani, the Talibanâs operations chief?
7. Where does al Qaeda get its financing and who are its sources?
8. Where do al Qaeda fighters hold their weapons training exercises?
Without naming his sources, Qaid offered detailed information on additional American and Afghan detention camps in Afghanistan - with their codenames. Facilities on the lines of the Bagram prison, where he and his comrades were held, are located at the Kandahar military air base in the south. Only al Qaeda members rated by the Americans as senior are kept there, he said; the others are sent to camps managed by Afghans in the interior. Some are also shipped to prisons in Jordan, Egypt, the UAE and Morocco. Of late, the Americans had begun transferring prisoners to Indonesia.
The escaped al Qaeda captive claimed that the most important American prison in the country, where he and his comrades were held, is located at the end of the Bagram airfieldâs runway. It is there that the Americans hold Arab al Qaeda prisoners. They call it the Dark Camp. Despite repeated promises to the Red Cross to shut the camp down, it remains operational.
Another American prison in Kabul is located, says the escaped al Qaeda fugitive, in the former palace of the ousted Taliban regimeâs leader Mullah Omar. There is one more American jail called Presidency 2 in Kabul and another in the northern Valley of Panjshir.
Qaidâs letter to this friends ends by saying that he has collected many important pieces of information about the Americans, but he will share them only with people he trusts whom he will brief by a different form of communication.
âThe knife that slaughtered the guards at Bagram and set us free is now on its way to other places,â said Hassan Qaid. This is taken to mean that further jailbreaks are in the works in Afghanistan on the lines of the escape of the four al Qaeda operatives from Bagram.
Incidentally, US officials in Kabul have never confirmed the escape of this foursome or verified the claim that prison warders were murdered.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/02/2005 09:32 ||
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#1
The peanut army is regrouping. This time they have enough money to buy a tank and badges. Be forwarned. Just because some muzzy is wearing a badge, doesn't mean he isn't a lunatic.
A suicide car bomb targeting the new leader of Indian-administered Kashmir has killed four people and the bomber, police say. At least 14 people were injured in the attack, hours ahead of the swearing-in of Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad. Police said the bomber was heading for Mr Azad's home but set off the bomb early when stopped by police. A Pakistan-based Islamic militant group, Jaish-e-Mohammad, has said it carried out the attack.
What a surprise
India has indicated that deadly bombs in its capital, Delhi, on Saturday may be linked to Pakistan-based militants.
Jaish-e-Mohammad has been blamed for a number of attacks in Indian-administered Kashmir.
Police say the bomber detonated the device 2km from the home of the new chief minister when stopped at a checkpoint. The BBC's Altaf Hussain in Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir state, says one policeman and three civilians were killed. Police say the death toll may rise as some of the injured are in a critical condition. They said the bomber was a resident of Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. "It was a deafening blast. Everybody panicked and ran for cover," Ghulam Ahmed, a local resident, is quoted as saying by the AFP news agency.
Later on Wednesday Ghulam Nabi Azad of the Congress Party was sworn-in as the new chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, the first state leader from the Jammu region. Mr Azad has spent most of his political life in Delhi and is taking up the post as part of a power-sharing arrangement.
Following the last election, Congress and the regional People's Democratic Party (PDP) agreed to form a government on the condition that each party would lead the coalition for three years.
There are a number of militant groups who have been fighting Indian rule in Kashmir since 1989 in an insurgency that has claimed more than 60,000 lives. India believes the militants infiltrate from Pakistan-administered Kashmir. However, bilateral ties have improved in the past two years.
Last week, India and Pakistan signed a landmark deal to open the Line of Control, the de facto border dividing the disputed region, in order to help victims of the 8 October earthquake.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/02/2005 09:19 ||
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A man once considered a top al-Qaida operative escaped from a U.S.-run detention facility in Afghanistan and cannot testify against the soldier who allegedly mistreated him, a defense lawyer involved in a prison abuse case said Tuesday.
Omar al-Farouq was one of Osama bin Laden's top lieutenants in Southeast Asia until Indonesian authorities captured him in the summer of 2002 and turned him over to the United States.
A Pentagon official in Washington confirmed Tuesday evening that al-Farouq escaped from a U.S. detention facility in Bagram, Afghanistan, on July 10. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information.
An Army lawyer for Sgt. Alan J. Driver, a reservist accused of abusing Bagram detainees, asked Tuesday where al-Farouq was and what the Army had done to find him in time for Driver's court proceedings.
Capt. John B. Parker, a prosecutor, said al-Farouq and three others escaped from the Bagram detention center and have not been found.
"If we find him ... we will make him available," Parker said.
Members of Driver's company, testifying by speaker phone in court Tuesday, identified the detainee Driver is accused of abusing as Omar al-Farouq, who was featured in a Time magazine cover story in September 2002. The article, titled "Confessions of an al-Qaida Terrorists," detailed his plans to carry out attacks in Southeast Asia, including a plot to bomb U.S. embassies near the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Driver's Army lawyer, Capt. Michael Waddington, questioned members of Driver's company about who had access to al-Farouq, specifically asking whether the CIA had ordered military police officers to do certain things to al-Farouq.
Al-Farouq could have been the first detainee to testify against a soldier in the Afghanistan prisoner abuse case.
Driver, a reservist from the Ohio-based 377th Military Police Company, is charged with maltreatment and assault of three detainees, including one who later died, at the Bagram facility in 2002. He is accused of slamming al-Farouq against a wall.
In earlier cases of prisoner abuse in Afghanistan, the alleged victims either were dead or unidentified. Other alleged victims in Driver's case also cannot testify. One was released from custody and cannot be found, and the other has died.
Driver is one of 14 soldiers accused in the abuse investigation after two detainees died in American custody in 2002.
Military prosecutors had accused Driver of hitting one of the detainees while he was shackled in a cell.
During a preliminary hearing Tuesday, lawyers and an independent investigator heard testimony from several witnesses who said they saw Driver mistreat detainees.
Lt. Col. Roger E. Nell, the investigator, will recommend whether the case should be taken to trial or the charges should be reduced or dropped.
Six soldiers have been convicted of or pleaded guilty to abuse charges. Two soldiers, both reservists from Driver's unit, were acquitted. Charges against another reservist were dropped.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/02/2005 00:16 ||
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#1
They RFIDs this guy before letting him escape? Right?
#2
Dismiss charges against Driver. We've been here many times - and I've kept out of it - for personal reasons... But I swear the standards that our people are held to - when the opposition is free, and obviously willing, to do any insane shit that pops into his MuzzyNutz vacuum chamber - infuriates me beyond words. This uneven set of rules gets our people killed, has us detaining people who have no intel value and shouldn't be breathing our air, and using detainment / restraint that's "humane" - allowing some to escape. If unencumbered by such dainty niceties and well-meaning, but wrong-headed rules, this asshat would've sung his heart out - and then disappeared. And yeah, I know the arguments - I served and had the punchlines drilled into me - most of which are, at best, irrelevant against this enemy. Got himself on the cover of Time, huh? This is fucking insane. Should've shot the photographer. Too. My take.
#3
Let's see how the rules stack up.
Theirs:
"Abu Yusuf (from the Hanafi school of jurisprudence, d. 798):
â..that one can even ..finish off the wounded, or kill prisoners who might prove dangerous to the Muslims.. As for the prisoners who are lead before the imam, the latter has the choice, as he pleases, of executing them, or making them pay a ransom, for the most advantageous choice for the Muslims, and the wisest for Islam. The ransom imposed upon them is not to consist either of gold, silver, or wares, but is only in exchange for Muslim captives..â
Ours:
Kiss their arses, wipe their runny noses and whatever we do, don't offend their honour.
#4
Unless it's some big fish like OBL, maybe the capture of these Al-Q fucks should remain unannounced, unadvertised. That way if one these fucks is "mistreated", nobody knows about it.
Posted by: Rafael ||
11/02/2005 2:02 Comments ||
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#5
A man once considered a top al-Qaida operative escaped from a U.S.-run detention facility in Afghanistan and cannot testify against the soldier who allegedly mistreated him, a defense lawyer involved in a prison abuse case said Tuesday.
Capt. John B. Parker, a prosecutor, said al-Farouq and three others escaped from the Bagram detention center and have not been found.
I'd find a way, wouldn't you for your team? If non of them ever turn up, good!
Posted by: Red Dog ||
11/02/2005 2:58 Comments ||
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#6
rkb, who is involved in training our officer corps, has commented several times that the strict rules of behaviour are as much to protect the souls of our guys as to shut up the hysterical finger pointers in the media and the marchers. I personally wouldn't mind if the captives, especially at Gitmo, were kept in plexiglass isolation booths, fed MREs and water, and were treated to an ongoing good cop/bad cop routine with the guards playing bad cop. Perhaps with Baroque string quartets piped throughout the compound to induce a calmer, more logical mental state.
But then, I'm eminently unqualified to make such decisions, and must rely on results to judge current efforts. The only thing I know is that there is a steady flow of information on terrorist leadership, plans, connections and weapons stashes coming from somewhere. How much is from Gitmo, Abu Ghraib and its ilk, I shouldn't venture to guess.
#7
TW: But then, I'm eminently unqualified to make such decisions..
/that's way better.
Posted by: Red Dog ||
11/02/2005 5:43 Comments ||
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#8
"to protect the souls of our guys"
There sure is a lot to this issue. Some obvious, some not.
Physically speaking, it is true that obeying the rules of war is beneficial when fighting against another state that also adheres to the rules.
But I presume from the wording you are alluding to the mental state. I suggest that this sounds very good. I know it is the standard line in the rear - say at the Pentagon. They have armies (lol) of people there who will never hear a shot fired in anger who believe this is the manner in which we should conduct ourselves. Fine - for them. A field day for the JAGs. Hell, it may even help some people sleep at night.
The media should not be out in the field - especially in the sort of ops run in Afghanistan, and I wouldn't let them go on patrols in Iraq, either, unless they know their shit cold, like Michael Yon. They're amateurs, at best, and endanger our people for nothing, no good reason. So the finger-pointing shouldn't be happening -- period. Just more idiot policy from the rear.
But in the field, when your friends are dying precisely because the enemy does not follow the Western notion of the rules of war, you learn rather quickly that 1) they can get you killed and 2) until you kill the enemy, rule #1 is in effect.
Now let's conduct a little thought experiment. What would you suggest to your son or daughter who was shipping out to a WoT hotspot?
a) Play "fair", follow the rules, save your soul.
b) Kill the bastards in any way you can, never take anything for granted (such as the other guy playing "fair"), and get your ass home alive and in one piece, if possible.
The fascinating thing in the long debates I've read on RB and elsewhere is the absolute dearth of input from people who've been there. Have you noticed? For example, how many Vietnam vets have chimed in on the topic with real-world examples? How about Desert Storm? Afghanistan? Iraq?
Other than the bogus twerp who came bopping into the RB vil not long ago spouting some bogus shit about losing 10 Ranger buddies, the answer is none. We get the morons, the "impalers", but you don't see obviously straight poop from the line.
Why do you think that's the case? Think about it - it's telling as hell. We've got bona-fide combat vets here. I won't name any names, but it's usually possible to pick them out over time by tone and word choice. I'll wager that not one in 50 would answer you under their regular nym if you asked for feedback. Again, ask yourself why.
Now, regards fighting by the rules of war, where, pray-tell, does the enemy reciprocate? Is that the case fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan? How about Zarqi's jihadis? Mebbe the JI in Indo? How about southern Thailand?
In the Wot, where, exactly, are the rules adhered to by both sides?
I've said many times that we will have to get much "dirtier" if we are to win. That's the war we face - they're setting the "rules": there are no rules. Whether we like it or not and whether it fits some preconceived notion dreamed up in the safety of some office doesn't mean diddley-squat when the IED goes off and the shaped charge provided by Iran penetrates the armor and sends a jet of molten metal and a fireball into your vehicle -- or the children are pouring gasoline on you, lying wounded in the road surrounded by dancing "moderate" Muzzies.
Just my take. Figured it was time to say something, that's all. And no, I'm not interested in any debate, and won't take anyone's bait, I'm just pointing out the cold hard differences between the real world and the mental exercises that the Pentagon types impose upon good people, brave people, out in the boonies - where they fear to tread.
Your soul is a topic for debate. Your ass, on the other hand, is as real as it gets.
Hey, it's a bitch, but there it is, IMHO. Thanks for playing.
#11
I recemmond good ole prosecuter CPT Johnny B. Parker get off his arss, ruck up, take his 9mm and head to the mountains and find Omar. He can take along all of his other leftest lawyer (commie pukes in uniform) friends as well. At a minimum, we need to STOP publisizing this crap. Give 'Army' lawyers additional CV bullets/convictions for thier post-Army careers isn't helping anyone.
#13
You guys are dead right. We're dealing with certifiable lunatics in this war. Those of us who think clearly, would never penalize a soldier for losing his cool when faced by a brainless lunatic.
When you read one day how one of them ran a car over an 8 year old who stole bread, and the next day another one of them kisses a wall with his nose by your hand, who can judge you wrong ?
One of the great assumptions we have which leads to these problems is that only a judge can judge and only a prosecutor can prosecute. If you have a loaded gun at someone's head, you are a judge.
If you kill them, the resulting debate should be not that you are guilty, but whether you acted correctly. Think about it. It's logical; more logical than the need to affix blame and guilt.
Vote for me, damnit, I'll straighten this mess out.
#14
Doors open, go ahead. That's right, you're free, and we can assure you you will never get caught and be brought back here again. Go on now, go. Make my day.
I like the message this sends to other prisoners who want to hire lawyers and play this game.
when you have a group that has lying about mistreatment in their playbook, a MSM willing to run with the propaganda, and a hysterical leftie rent a mob ready and waiting for something/anything to wail about, then don't be surprised when good people decide to add a little old western style justice to the process.
#15
I remember my dad telling me of his experiences in the Pacific with the Japanese forces. A wounded Japanese, or one playing dead, would try to take out Marines with a grenade who were trying to check them out or give first aid. After losses of good Marine bodies and souls, the Marines started popping the Japanese bodies with additional rounds just to be sure. Enemy forces would get massive barrages into pillboxes, no questions asked, or have a heavy dose of napalm so they would fry. The Marines would hear the screams and smell the awful smell of burning flesh of the Japanese. Brutal, but that had to be done against an enemy that would not surrender in significant numbers.
War is a dirty, nasty business, and the more brutally, rapidly, and efficiently we annihilate the enemy, the sooner his spirit is broken and the more people eventually survive. It is him or it is us. I pick door #1 for our sakes.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/02/2005 10:21 Comments ||
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#16
When you read one day how one of them ran a car over an 8 year old who stole bread,
Go read the comments thread by that photo - it almost certainly was NOT a punishment, but rather a moneymaking performance.
#17
Go read the comments thread by that photo - it almost certainly was NOT a punishment, but rather a moneymaking performance.
Pull the other one, it's got bells on it.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
11/02/2005 10:45 Comments ||
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#18
Anyone understand Arabic?
This an earlier post of the same pictures.
Hopefully it will clear up the accusations once and for all.
http://tinyurl.com/8jcwa
#19
Until you know what the photos of that boy show it's a stretch to assume the worst - much as you would like to.
I'm not exactly happy about the incident portrayed, no matter what the actual events. But even the blog cited in the other RB story today admits they don't know what's going on in the photos.
Sharia calls for amputation, not crushing of a limb, and the Iranians like the Saudis have never been loathe to do just that in public. Moreover, as commenters at various sites point out, the boy is still able to maintain a fist after the tire 'pressure', which strongly suggests his arm was not crushed.
(I've seen seriously damaged limbs and this boy doesn't look like that in the last photo.)
So the "pull the other one" snark is ..... not well founded as far as English readers can tell unless they do read Farsi (NOT Arabic - I believe the link goes to Iranian discussion).
#20
Until you know what the photos of that boy show it's a stretch to assume the worst - much as you would like to.
It's not about "want", it's about having enough knowledge to know it's not out of line with Iran's practice of "justice".
You've got one guy saying "don't say bad things about us" against a history of beheadings, hangings, whippings, etc. You want to believe him, knock yourself out.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
11/02/2005 11:25 Comments ||
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Still an indictment of a sick society, as far as I'm concerned.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
11/02/2005 11:38 Comments ||
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#22
I don't stand corrected.
And if you think this comment somehow makes it ok, you're a real piece of work. Sharia calls for amputation, not crushing of a limb, and the Iranians like the Saudis have never been loathe to do just that in public.
What is wrong with you. The pictures aren't photoshopped. It doesn't matter if it's done to make money or to punish him. It's still sick...like you, you piece of human scum.
#23
the only thing beneath a parent or bystanders who would allow this to happen for any reason, are people like ltop who defend it. You are so beneath contempt.
#24
But then, I'm eminently unqualified to make such decisions Shoot, the closest I've come to violence is seeing ninth grade boys shove each other into lockers. I've never seen grown men fight -- I've never even seen girls fight, let alone anything resembling what .com describes.
But I would appreciate seeing more comments in these discussions from those of you who have fought. Make use of Fred's random name generator if you don't want to post under your regular name -- it can only enrich the discussions, and help me, at least, to have more realistic thoughts to lay before y'all.
And .com, thank you for the cold wind of experience. Of course I would prefer the trailing daughters to first win the war. Losing nicely would ensure I never have little Jewish grandchildren playing at my feet while I pour the tea. ;-)
#25
I'm with ltop. I'm so relieved to know that if a little 8 year old had stolen a loaf of bread, that he would have had his arm chopped off, rather than just having his arm run over with a soft cloth under his arm, no less.
Good show, where do I send my contribution so I can see more just like it?
Posted by: loser boy ||
11/02/2005 12:16 Comments ||
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#26
Sigh.
Has it occurred to any of you that the "run over" part is .... augmented .... i.e. that the full weight of the vehicle might not be on the boy's arm?
Look, I don't know if it was or not. But it seems to me the blogosphere is getting its panties in a wad a little prematurely on those photos.
There's plenty of real outrage that the MMs deserve ... just go back to the young girl executed for the crime of getting pregnant when raped by her brother a while ago, for instance. Don't dilute that sort of known barbarity by hyping suspect photos and incidents.
And while I'm swimming against the emotional tide here, I'll just say that wrt the rules of engagement given to our troops, I'll take the judgement of the combat veteran officers I know over anonymous commenters here who don't have to lead troops or live with the consequences of certain actions in the field *on our own trooops*.
Yes, I know what was done in some cases in the past. Got a highly decorated WWII soldier close to me who has to live with his memories - and his physical pain - daily. I can't print what his response is to the sort of no-rules approach advocated here as regular policy. Suffice it to say that in the 50+ years I've known him I've never once heard him agree with y'all.
#27
Just a question for everyone. Any difference between doing anything and everything to kill the enemy before he can kill you, and killing, maiming, doing whatever to someone after they have surrendered and been disarmed. Seems you have two different things here. If there's no difference, why do we not allow similar actions on the part of our police. Take all the drug dealers out behind the station and shoot them. Might not be a bad idea, but just where do you draw the line. Beat up the users so they'll tell you where the the dealers live? I don't know. But is there actually a line anywhere?
#28
TW: But then, I'm eminently unqualified to make such decisions..
'just saying..after you did so well handling Vladsy poo yesterday.
TW: But then, I'm eminently supersized unqualified to make such decisions.. *>see that's not better.
pour a cup for me too. ;)
Posted by: Red Dog ||
11/02/2005 16:25 Comments ||
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#29
Has it occurred to any of you that the "run over" part is .... augmented .... i.e. that the full weight of the vehicle might not be on the boy's arm?
Yes, so?
I saw Penn and Teller pull a similar stunt. The difference is that both of them are adults. And that the audience knew there was a trick.
Why don't you try this same stunt on an American street?
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
11/02/2005 18:40 Comments ||
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#30
Has it occurred to any of you that the "run over" part is .... augmented .... i.e. that the full weight of the vehicle might not be on the boy's arm?
are you daft or just blind. Go look at photo #3. Maybe the little boy is just a good actor. Ya think? Jeesh. The only outrage I'm feeling is that there are losers like you who defends this as photoshopped, or no big deal, and then upon realizing how undefendable it is, tries to weasle out of it by saying there are bigger sins to be outraged over. Nice try. Loser. I'll never read your posts the same.
#32
I believe we should play by the rules. But the reality is the rules need to be re-thought. We can only live with reality. The reality is this war is not like WW2 or any other war we have been in. That said once a person is in our custody they deserve to be treated in a humane way.
A humane way does not mean living better than they ever have in their wasted lives. I means being kept in a climate where they will not die from exposure, starvation, sickness or brutality. Thats it. They are entitled to nothing else.
I do question why we take so many captive. I am for leaving them dead on the field of battle where ever that may be. That might be in an alley in Europe some place as well as on the mountainside in Pakistan, Afghanistan or a empty stretch of Iraqi dirt.
#33
well said SPOD, but don't forget the reason that there is a difference in this war is because the media hypes terrorist claims and acts as their propaganda agents. The DNC is happy to sell out their country for cheap political stunts.
Our war fighters (be it the responsibility of the CIA or whom ever it belongs to) do nothing to fight back on this front.
If it wasn't for the media and their useful dhimmis, we could prosecute the Lyndie England types - but not worry about lawsuits over the chicken sauce not being spicy enough.
dot com - Our troops face the whipsaw between home and hell. Saying "pass the fucking mashed potatoes ma" is better than getting greased - you have to learn the hard way how to turn it off. But more important is learning how to turn it on, cuz it's your ass on the line. They live or die based upon their instincts, training, gear, and their peers, god love them --- and then there's the bitch known as sheer dumb luck. Improving their odds by sharpening the instincts and dumping the chattering bullshit makes life and death sense. And damned right it will get much dirtier and vicious before long. The law enforcement mentality is hamstringing and crippling our ability to respond effectively. The military version of that mentality, while better suited for conventional war, though imperfect there as well, is simply deadly in guerilla war. We never did figure that out during Vietnam. For the sake of our troops, let's hope we get it now.
You said your piece, buddy. Thanks for that. Some of us get it cuz the memories suck when you're in off mode. Hang in there and ignore the bait.
#35
Red Dog, darling: lemon, sugar, milk? Stronger stuff to fortify the tea is on the sideboard, if you'd like. Just help yourself.
Seriously though, and much as I really do appreciate the compliment, parlor games I can do, but real shooting war is a different story. I get nauseous when the trailing daughters explain what the moves in their TaeKwanDo forms meant to that invisible opponent, just as I did when Mr. Wife explained (long ago) what I'd just done to him in the beautifully danced two-man Kung Fu form. If necessary I would do what needed to be done, but so far Life has allowed me to stay safe at home, pouring tea for those who're doing the real work. Who can say, "Pass the fucking mashed potatoes," all they need, until they've finished the mental transition to civilian life.
KABUL: Police killed a suspected Taliban commander and another insurgent in a three-hour gunbattle near Kabul airport, said Afghan officials on Tuesday. Also, two Afghans were killed and three wounded when an old mine exploded near a runway at Kabul airport, Interior Ministry spokesman Yousuf Stanekzai said. The men had been clearing the area of mines left over from the past quarter-century of fighting. In another development, police arrested three men near Kabul who were suspected to be plotting a suicide bombing in the city, said Stanekzai. Security agencies have warned in recent days of a plan for a massive bombing in the capital. The Taliban commander killed in the battle with police was Mullah Kabir, the militant chief in Helmand. Meanwhile, a NATO-led peacekeeping force said in a statement said the twin-rotor Chinook helicopter that made an emergency landing was flying from Mazar-e-Sharif to Kabul on Monday when the incident occurred.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/02/2005 00:00 ||
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Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, a Pakistani cleric on New Delhiâs most wanted list of alleged terrorists said on Tuesday that he wanted to send aid workers to Held Kashmir when the border opens for the quake relief efforts.
What's the Urdu word for "shameless"?
Hafiz Mohammad Saeed founded the banned Islamic militant group Lashkar e Taiba, which is fighting Indian rule in Kashmir and was blamed by New Delhi for an attack on Indiaâs Parliament in December 2001. Saeed conveniently left the group shortly before it was outlawed by President Pervez Musharraf in 2002 and set up the charity organisation named Jamaatud Dawa. âWe want our workers to go to Held Kashmir to provide relief. It will include tents, blankets, medicines, winter clothes and a team of doctors,â Saeed said.
"We'll provide the destitute with arms, ammunition, and explosives..."
Officials said it was unlikely that Jamaatud Dawa workers will be allowed to cross, especially as New Delhi continues to allege the infiltration of militants from Pakistan into Held Kashmir. An Indian police chief said that a group, which claimed responsibility for three bomb blasts in the Indian capital on Saturday had links to Lashkar e Taiba. Saeed said that Jamaatud Dawa had disassociated itself from Lashkar but he still supported calls for âjihadâ in Kashmir. Jamaat ud Dawa was one of first groups to start relief efforts in Azad Kashmir (AJK) and lost over 70 of its activists in the earthquake.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/02/2005 00:00 ||
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MULTAN: Unidentified men shot 15 rockets and five mortars at a Bhambhoor Rifles Force (BRF) checkpoint on Tuesday. No casualties were reported. Zaman Khan, a BRF official, said that militants fired 15 rockets and five mortars at the checkpoint in Goth Bakhshi Bugti. The militants fled when the BRF counterattacked, he added. The BRF is a paramilitary force deployed near natural gas and oil installations.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/02/2005 00:00 ||
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Egypt has freed most 54 people arrested in connection with inter-communal riots in the Egyptian town of Alexandria last month, a judiciary source told KUNA on Tuesday. The total number of those freed, said the source, has reached 104. As many as 17 people are still detained. Muslim demonstrators clashed with police outside Saint Girgis Coptic Orthodox Church on October 21 in sectarian violence that left scores wounded.
#1
Let's not let KUNA forget the three dead, a nun who was stabbed 5 times at the church, the burned and looted churches and desecrated bibles. Happy Ramadan!
Posted by: ed ||
11/02/2005 12:06 Comments ||
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#2
Another Jimmy Carter legacy: http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0412/p07s01-wome.html Aid is central to Washington's relationship with Cairo. The US has provided Egypt with $1.3 billion a year in military aid since 1979, and an average of $815 million a year in economic assistance. All told, Egypt has received over $50 billion in US largesse since 1975.
Time to cut these Islamofascists off. I find it difficult to distingush between a moderate Islamofascist and a hardline Islamofascist. Cut them off the dole and if they transgress, stand back and let Israel take over the tourist concessions for the pyramids and Luxor.
The leader of Algeria's banned Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) has urged President Abdel-Aziz Bouteflika to issue a general amnesty covering his ex-number two on the occasion of the country's national day. In a message late Monday from Doha, where he has been living for two years, Abassi Madanicalled on Bouteflika to declare a comprehensive amnesty and "free prisoners, chiefly the honorable Sheikh Ali Belhadj, lift the state of emergency and ensure a just solution to the issue of those who went missing."
I'd guess that the general amnesty would include the krazed killer korps...
Madani proposed "a cease-fire to all armed [Algerians]" with a view to "restoring lost confidence and ensuring their safe return home." He hoped Algeria's national day, which is marked Tuesday, would usher in a "qualitative turning point" in the country's history, enabling its people to "live united as in the past," according to a copy of the message obtained by AFP.
As in what past? Algerians have a tradition of cutting each others' throats when they can't get their way. It seems to be a national characteristic.
Madani was freed from an Algerian prison in July 2003 after more than a decade. The 74-year-old was jailed by a military court in 1992 for undermining state security. The same year, legislative elections that his party was set to win were called off by the army. Two months later, the FIS was banned, which led to a violent insurgency in the 1990s, claiming at least 150,000 lives. Madani's call follows the massive approval of a charter for "peace and national reconciliation" by Algerians when Bouteflika put it to a referendum on September 29, according to official accounts.
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Algerian Islamic rebels have killed three people, including a policeman, and wounded seven others in the latest attacks during the holy month of Ramadan, reports say. One policeman died and four more were wounded when a security forces patrol came under fire from rebels hiding on a road on Sunday night in Jijel province, around 350km east of the capital Algiers, El Khabar newspaper said on Tuesday. Three civilians who were nearby were also wounded. In a separate incident on the same day, fighters shot dead two people in the eastern province of Bmoumerdes, 50km from Algiers, El Watan daily reported. Authorities were not immediately available for comment.
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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.
Police of Niklee thana in Kishoreganj have submitted charge sheet against alleged JMB cadre 
Police in two separate drives seized a light gun (LG), 8-kg of explosives and arrested four in the port city yesterday. Kotwali police arrested two young men, Sumon Mia and Asgar Ali, along with one LG at a house at Love Lane. Police said the arrestees are the members of an organised gang of muggers. In another drive, police recovered 8-kg of explosives from a house at West Madarbari and arrested two militants, Imam Hossain and Karim. Imam and Karim confessed to their involvement in August 17 and October 3 bomb blasts, police said.
Angry fishermen beat four pirates to death at Sandwip channel in the Bay of Bengal when the pirates attacked a fishing trawler on Sunday morning. 
The Bush Administration's prewar claims that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction were "manipulated, at least" to mislead the American people, former President Jimmy Carter said Wednesday. The decision to go to war was the culmination of a long-term plan to attack Iraq that resulted from the first President Bush not taking out Saddam, Carter said on NBC's "Today" show. 
Two local leaders have been killed in an Israeli air strike targeting a car in the northern Gaza Strip, Palestinian and Israeli sources said. Six civilians, including one seriously, were also injured in Tuesday's attack when an Israeli aircraft slammed a missile into the vehicle travelling near the Jabaliya refugee camp, medical sources said. 
Thousands of young Iranians have marched in the capital Tehran in honour of "national anti-global arrogance day" on 4 November. The rally was held two days early because Friday is likely to coincide with Eid al-Fitr, the end the holy month of Ramadan, in Iran. Demonstrators converged around the former US embassy in Tehran to mark the 26th anniversary of its takeover. Later, a bomb exploded near the offices of two British companies. 
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has recalled a string of ambassadors from high-profile postings. Tehran's senior diplomats in the UK, France, Germany and at the United Nations in Geneva are being replaced. The ambassadors were closely involved in negotiations over Iran's nuclear programme under former President Mohammed Khatami. The move is likely to signal a tough new approach to the stalled nuclear issue, correspondents say. 
Lebanese security sources revealed Tuesday the UN probe has sent requests to Speaker 
Syrian President Bashar Assad's brother and brother-in-law have agreed to be interrogated by the UN probe team into former Premier 
Militants ambushed police on a southern Afghan mountain and killed five officers, officials said, while a statement issued Wednesday, purportedly by Taliban commander Mullah Omar, urged the insurgents not to end their armed struggle. It was not immediately possible to verify the authenticity of the Pashto-language statement. It was e-mailed to The Associated Press by 
Clashes between riot police and protesters erupted in gunfire Wednesday, with police killing at least 12 people as demonstrations against Ethiopia's disputed elections stretched into a second day, officials said. Hundreds of heavily armed riot police were deployed across the capital as the sound of heavy machine-gun fire, rifle fire and loud explosions rocked Addis Ababa. Ethiopia's crack special forces, aboard armored personnel carriers, patrolled the streets that were littered with burning tires and broken glass. 
KABUL: Police killed a suspected Taliban commander and another insurgent in a three-hour gunbattle near Kabul airport, said Afghan officials on Tuesday. Also, two Afghans were killed and three wounded when an old mine exploded near a runway at Kabul airport, Interior Ministry spokesman Yousuf Stanekzai said. The men had been clearing the area of mines left over from the past quarter-century of fighting. In another development, police arrested three men near Kabul who were suspected to be plotting a suicide bombing in the city, said Stanekzai. Security agencies have warned in recent days of a plan for a massive bombing in the capital. The 
MULTAN: Unidentified men shot 15 rockets and five mortars at a Bhambhoor Rifles Force (BRF) checkpoint on Tuesday. No casualties were reported. Zaman Khan, a BRF official, said that militants fired 15 rockets and five mortars at the checkpoint in Goth Bakhshi Bugti. The militants fled when the BRF counterattacked, he added. The BRF is a paramilitary force deployed near natural gas and oil installations.
Egypt has freed most 54 people arrested in connection with inter-communal riots in the Egyptian town of Alexandria last month, a judiciary source told KUNA on Tuesday. The total number of those freed, said the source, has reached 104. As many as 17 people are still detained. Muslim demonstrators clashed with police outside Saint Girgis Coptic Orthodox Church on October 21 in sectarian violence that left scores wounded.
called on Bouteflika to declare a comprehensive amnesty and "free prisoners, chiefly the honorable 
