The charges against seven soldiers accused of murdering an Iraqi civilian have been dismissed by a judge at a court martial in Colchester, Essex. He ruled there was insufficient evidence against the seven, accused of murdering Nadhem Abdullah. The 18-year-old was alleged to have died following an attack on Iraqi civilians in al-Ferkah, southern Iraq, in May 2003.
The Parachute Regiment soldiers always denied murder and violent disorder. The trial has cost taxpayers an estimated £10m.
Gilbert Blades, the solicitor defending one of the men, said the failure in the case was that there was no proper investigation into what happened. "He [the judge] identified the key factor and that was the lack of a proper professional investigation of the case," Mr Blades told BBC News. "It was lamentably bad and it's been highlighted and I think the lessons to be learnt are that with cases like this, with serious consequences, then they should be properly investigated.
One witness at the court martial, Samira Rishek, a Marsh-Arab who had claimed to have been brutally beaten by the soldiers while she was pregnant, admitted to the court it was a "wicked lie".
The court heard that Mrs Rishek, along with other witnesses, was paid $100 a day to give evidence at the trial and that she only agreed to give evidence after being told she would be paid. BBC correspondent Paul Adams said there was an "underlying sense" that some of the witnesses were "out to try and get something for themselves". A number of questions were going to be asked about why the trial had been mounted, he added.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/03/2005 09:00 ||
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Cue the bleating lefties and Human Rights Lawyers on the TV news tonight whining plaintively about the tactics of the British Army. I bet Shama Chakrabati is pissed about this one. Give them all medals!
The court heard that Mrs Rishek, along with other witnesses, was paid $100 a day to give evidence at the trial and that she only agreed to give evidence after being told she would be paid.
And who be doing the paying?
Posted by: Howard UK ||
11/03/2005 10:18 Comments ||
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The court heard that Mrs Rishek, along with other witnesses, was paid $100 a day to give evidence at the trial and that she only agreed to give evidence after being told she would be paid. BBC correspondent Paul Adams said there was an "underlying sense" that some of the witnesses were "out to try and get something for themselves".
Paid witnesses? An amazing piece of military court high drama whahahhaa. Besoeker lifts a pint to the Regiment...Here's to your wives and sweethearts, may they never meet! See ya on the Drop Zone lads.
Basler Turbo Conversions in Oshkosh, WI received a $7.1 firm-fixed price contract to provide for turbo converted AC-47T Fantasma (Turbo Dakota) aircraft for Colombia's Air Force. While aircraft numbers were not given, an $11 million 2003 contract to ARINC Engineering Services converted six C-47 Dakotas to AC-47T status, and installed night vision and optical sensors on the Dakotas and six A-37 Dragonfly counterinsurgency aircraft. Can't keep a great plane down..
Posted by: Steve ||
11/03/2005 09:04 ||
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Good enough airframe to get and Lt Flynn and his lads out of Tshipie and Messina, hehehee. Some things just don't need bloody 'transformation.'
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Oh toss off, Besoeker, I don't know if I'm seeing your attitudes correctly, but upgrades are as much a part of transformation as new hardware altogether...
Posted by: Edward Yee ||
11/03/2005 15:29 Comments ||
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No problem with 'upgrades' per se Wee Yee, tis the transformation werd I deplore.
The Kyrgyz government is preparing a new agreement regarding the U.S. air base in Kyrgyzstan that will include an increase in the cost of using the base to "world prices," Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev said Nov. 2. Bakiyev said Kyrgyz government figures indicate that U.S. costs and taxes for the base are not in line with world norms.
Wonder if these guys remember what happened to Ferdinand Marcos when he got too greedy?
#1
The 800-1000 contingent at the Ganci airbase contributes 5% of Kyrgyz GDP and is the just about the only legit source of high paying jobs (i.e. not Gov graft and mafia). It's not going anywhere unless the US gets tired of the BS and decides to fly directly from Afghanistan. The new rulers of Kyrgyzstan are same as the old rulers and are trying to shake down the US for another $80 million that the previous rulers stole. My take, if you want the protection, stability, and economic development US bases foster, then pay the US for the priveledge.
Posted by: ed ||
11/03/2005 1:21 Comments ||
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I was actually ok with Bakiyev's request until he sited "government figures."
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Practically speaking, that base is worth 10 times what we are paying for it. In counter negotiations, we could really shake up their pot if we offered a long-term lease, half up front, on condition that the money be visible down to the last dime.
That would drive them bonkers. A huge amount of money by their standards, but difficult to graft from. The carrot, along with that stick, *would* be pure graft, but mutually profitable: set up concessionaires around the base as "local providers".
The trick is that while the public sees the big up front payment administered honestly, to their amazement, and the government's cred; the grafters in the government *slowly* make 10 times that much through the concessions. This lets them be profoundly corrupt, while looking honest as the day is long.
As far as whatever the crap they sell us from the concession, we just dig a big hole, throw it in and bury it when full. A hundred different businesses created in the process.
So, in this way, we get a long-term lease at a pretty good price. They get a satisfied public, a new and wealthy city built to support our base, lots of "direct payments" to their government, bureaucrats and businessmen, and so much goodwill with the US that there isn't a bag big enough to hold it.
Sound utterly corrupt? That's pretty much what we did in Germany. And many a German tear is shed when we close a base over there.
#4
Sound utterly corrupt? That's pretty much what we did in Germany. And many a German tear is shed when we close a base over there.
Posted by: Anonymoose 2005-11-03 13:33
But Anonymoose... it did my heart so much good to see those tight sphincter'd Kraut DoD civilian employees have to look for REAL work!
ATTORNEY-GENERAL Philip Ruddock unveiled the final draft of new terrorism laws last night, allowing police to detain terror suspects for up to one year without charge.
Pledging the changes would ensure Australia had "the toughest laws possible to prosecute those responsible should a terrorist attack occur", Mr Ruddock urged Parliament to finalise the passage of the new laws by Christmas.
"The Bill ensures that we are in the strongest position to prevent new and emerging threats to stop terrorists carrying out their intended acts," Mr Ruddock told Parliament.
The changes will introduce a new power for police to detain suspects under preventive detention orders for up to 48 hours to avert a terrorist attack.
Suspects who have trained with a terrorist organisation overseas could be forced to wear tracking devices or remain under house arrest for up to a year under new control orders.
However, Mr Ruddock has agreed to a series of safeguards following negotiations with Liberal MPs, including Petro Georgiou, Malcolm Turnbull and senator George Brandis, adding greater powers for judges to review the control orders on the merits of the case, not simply points of law.
A sunset clause of 10 years on the sweeping new laws and a review after five years will also be enshrined.
The anti-terrorism Bill will increase penalties for financing terrorism, strengthen the definition of terrorist organisations and boost police powers to stop, search and question people in relation to terrorist acts.
Police powers to obtain information including flight and bank records will also be boosted to track terrorist activity.
The laws will also expand sedition definitions under the Crimes Act but Mr Ruddock flagged a review of them next year after pressure from Liberal MPs. Camera surveillance of passengers and staff at airports and on board aircraft will also be expanded.
The Coalition partyroom was briefed on the changes shortly before question time yesterday and they were tabled at 4.20pm. The new laws follow marathon negotiations with State Premiers, Liberal MPs and State and Commonwealth Solicitors-General.
Kim Beazley announced this week he would support the terrorism laws, even if the ALP's proposed amendments failed, on "national interest" grounds.
Labor MPs are expected to debate the legislation when they return to Parliament next week.
The 137-page bill is the 85th draft of the legislation.
Safeguards in the laws would ensure the personal circumstances of an individual would be balanced against the threat to the community.
"This does not mean that personal circumstances will outweigh the assessment of a threat, but it is recognised that both issues need to be taken into account," Mr Ruddock said.
He also confirmed the Government had agreed to a longer parliamentary review process for the legislation. It will be referred to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Legislation Committee.
Posted by: God Save The World AKA Oztralian ||
11/03/2005 21:16 ||
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Outgoing German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder could stage a comeback if Angela Merkel fails to forge a grand coalition by Christmas, a leading analyst said Wednesday.
"Nothing can be ruled out," said Matthias Jung, head of the Forschungsgruppe Wahlen polling agency in comments to Berlin's Tageszeitung newspaper.
Jung said the political chaos triggered by the resignation Monday of Schroeder's Social Democratic Party (SPD) chairman Franz Muentefering meant choosing a chancellor candidate for new elections would be more vital than ever.
He said a Schroeder candidacy for the SPD would fit the elevated role of personalities and declining role of parties. Schroeder is currently serving as caretaker chancellor and will remain in office until parliament elects a successor.
Media reports say Merkel's Christian Democrats alliance (CDU/CSU) has already tagged March 26 as a date for new elections if efforts to form a grand coalition fail. If this were to become reality, Schroeder would remain in office until election day, giving him an incumbent's advantage.
At present there is no broad support for new elections, said Jung. "But if there is no government by Christmas - and no plausible explanation why - then the mood will tip in favour of new elections," he said.
Merkel is struggling to set up a grand coalition of her CDU/CSU alliance with Schroeder's SPD. The CDU/CSU narrowly defeated Schroeder's party in September 18 elections.
Efforts by Merkel to form a government were hit by the withdrawal of the designated CSU economic minister from her planned cabinet on Tuesday. Edmund Stoiber said would not serve in Berlin and instead remain Bavarian premier.
An article from City Journal, circa 2002, linked to by Lileks this morning, which gives a lot of background on the true cause of the riots.
Seriously EFL'd -- go read the whole thing.
Eventually, two women in their sixties told them to stop. The youths, laughing until then, turned murderously angry, insulted the women, and brandished their screwdrivers. The women retreated, and the youths resumed their âwork.â
A man of about 70 then told them to stop. They berated him still more threateningly, one of them holding a screwdriver as if to stab him in the stomach. I moved forward to help the man, but the youths, still shouting abuse and genuinely outraged at being interrupted in the pursuit of their livelihood, decided to run off. But it all could have ended very differently.
Several things struck me about the incident: the youthsâ sense of invulnerability in broad daylight; the indifference to their behavior of large numbers of people who would never dream of behaving in the same way; that only the elderly tried to do anything about the situation, though physically least suited to do so. Could it be that only they had a view of right and wrong clear enough to wish to intervene? . . .
As Steve Den Beste once noted, it seems that the phrase "Let's Roll!" has no equivalent in contemporary French usage.
The laxisme of the French criminal justice system is now notorious. Judges often make remarks indicating their sympathy for the criminals they are trying (based upon the usual generalizations about how society, not the criminal, is to blame); and the day before I witnessed the scene on the Boulevard Saint-Germain, 8,000 police had marched to protest the release from prison on bail of an infamous career armed robber and suspected murderer before his trial for yet another armed robbery, in the course of which he shot someone in the head. Out on bail before this trial, he then burgled a house. Surprised by the police, he and his accomplices shot two of them dead and seriously wounded a third. He was also under strong suspicion of having committed a quadruple murder a few days previously, in which a couple who owned a restaurant, and two of their employees, were shot dead in front of the ownersâ nine-year-old daughter.
Where does the increase in crime come from? The geographical answer: from the public housing projects that encircle and increasingly besiege every French city or town of any size, Paris especially. In these housing projects lives an immigrant population numbering several million, from North and West Africa mostly, along with their French-born descendants and a smattering of the least successful members of the French working class. From these projects, the excellence of the French public transport system ensures that the most fashionable arrondissements are within easy reach of the most inveterate thief and vandal.
Architecturally, the housing projects sprang from the ideas of Le Corbusier, the Swiss totalitarian architectâand still the untouchable hero of architectural education in Franceâwho believed that a house was a machine for living in, that areas of cities should be entirely separated from one another by their function, and that the straight line and the right angle held the key to wisdom, virtue, beauty, and efficiency. . . . The inhuman, unadorned, hard-edged geometry of these vast housing projects in their unearthly plazas brings to mind Le Corbusierâs chilling and tyrannical words: âThe despot is not a man. It is the . . . correct, realistic, exact plan . . . that will provide your solution once the problem has been posed clearly. . . . This plan has been drawn up well away from . . . the cries of the electorate or the laments of societyâs victims. It has been drawn up by serene and lucid minds.â . . .
Like every other egomaniacal project for remaking mankind in the image of its author, it went horribly wrong.
A kind of anti-society has grown up in themâa population that derives the meaning of its life from the hatred it bears for the other, âofficial,â society in France. This alienation, this gulf of mistrustâgreater than any I have encountered anywhere else in the world, including in the black townships of South Africa during the apartheid yearsâis written on the faces of the young men, most of them permanently unemployed, who hang out in the pocked and potholed open spaces between their logements. When you approach to speak to them, their immobile faces betray not a flicker of recognition of your shared humanity; they make no gesture to smooth social intercourse. If you are not one of them, you are against them.
Of course, they also expect him to be treated as well as anyone else, and in this expectation they reveal the bad faith, or at least ambivalence, of their stance toward the society around them. They are certainly not poor, at least by the standards of all previously existing societies: they are not hungry; they have cell phones, cars, and many other appurtenances of modernity; they are dressed fashionablyâaccording to their own fashionâwith a uniform disdain of bourgeois propriety and with gold chains round their necks. They believe they have rights, and they know they will receive medical treatment, however they behave. They enjoy a far higher standard of living (or consumption) than they would in the countries of their parentsâ or grandparentsâ origin, even if they labored there 14 hours a day to the maximum of their capacity.
But human society, like nature, abhors a vacuum, and so authority of a kind, with its own set of values, occupies the space where law and order should beâthe authority and brutal values of psychopathic criminals and drug dealers. The absence of a real economy and of law means, in practice, an economy and an informal legal system based on theft and drug-trafficking. . . .
A profoundly alienated population is thus armed with serious firepower; and in conditions of violent social upheaval, such as France is in the habit of experiencing every few decades, it could prove difficult to control. . . .
I'm particularly interested in reactions to this analysis from JFM and the rest of our European contingent. Comment away, kids.
Posted by: Mike ||
11/03/2005 12:28 ||
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French intellectuals, I think they're the ones who had the inspired idea to form a counterweight to American and Russian power by teaming up with all the countries that were defeated by Israel in the 1967 war. It's no coincidence that Surrealism originated in France.
#4
âThe despot is not a man. It is the . . . correct, realistic, exact plan . . . that will provide your solution once the problem has been posed clearly. . . . This plan has been drawn up well away from . . . the cries of the electorate or the laments of societyâs victims. It has been drawn up by serene and lucid minds...."
F**cking yikes! Both Hitler and Stalin would give a polite golf clap to that sentiment.
Two children died when they were playing with a hand grenade and pulled the security pin, police in the central Bosnian town of Jajce said Wednesday. Sime Radovac, 11, and his younger brother Antonio, 9, left their home in the village of Doribaba on Tuesday to go to church. When they didn't return on time, their father, Mijo Doribaba, went to search for them and found their bodies on the side of the road. "Nobody knows where they found this hand grenade," said a relative, Mijo Klaric.
I'll bet it wasn't in church...
The head of the police in the nearby city of Jajce, Bajro Prslja, said the security pin was found lying between the children's bodies. "Authorities conduct collection of weapons and explosives regularly, but some are still left behind," Prslja said.
Do tell? And get that man some vowels...
It is illegal to own weapons in Bosnia without a permit.
"You got a permit for that grenade, bub?"
"No permit, no sir. But I do have my elk stamp."
However, many citizens still keep some left over from the country's 1992-95 war. Since 1998, a special government program called "Operation Harvest" has offered citizens amnesty if they turn in illegal weapons, which are then destroyed.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/03/2005 00:00 ||
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With details emerging about the progress of a probe into pre-Iraq war intelligence, Republicans were still stewing Wednesday by what they call a Democratic stunt to force a rare closed Senate session.
"This was a political stunt to get headlines today to bring people out to talk about it," Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist told FOX News. "They really ceded the high ground when it comes to Senate rules or the civility of the Senate floor."
Democrats claim that the Republican leadership had been dragging its feet on completing the so-called phase two of the Senate Intelligence Committee investigation into pre-war intelligence, which the panel began working on in February 2004. They argued they had no choice but to bring a halt to Senate operations to highlight the probe's progress.
But Committee Chairman Pat Roberts says he told Democrats on Monday that Republicans were ready to wrap up the most difficult part of the probe â looking at statements made by public officials about Iraq and seeing if they were justified by the available intelligence at the time.
"What has not been told by the Democrats, when they had the leadership meeting and went on this attack mode, is that we started this phase two investigation in February ... had a May 17 (2005) business meeting, they balked, and then there were several other provisions where we've had problems," Roberts told FOX News Wednesday.
Roberts said work has continued, and earlier this week his staff spoke with Democrat staffers to say they were going to wrap up work on the matter next week. "Next thing I know, we're getting blamed for dragging our feet. That is simply not the case."
Sen. Jay Rockefeller, the ranking Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, sharply disputed Roberts' recollection in a statement Wednesday.
"I have reviewed the official transcript from the May 17 meeting, and I regret that the chairman's memory is not accurate. There was no disagreement about how to proceed and the Democrats repeatedly urged the chairman to move forward ... . In the essence of truth, I strongly urge the chairman to release the 37-page transcript of the May 17 meeting which contains no classified information," said Rockefeller, of West Virginia.
"If we cannot produce a thorough and credible report in the coming weeks, then we still will have failed the American people," he added.
Roberts also attacked the Democrat argument that this is connected to the investigation into the leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson's identity, which resulted last week in the indictment of Vice President Dick Cheney's former top aide, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby.
"This is a concerted effort following the Scooter Libby indictment trying to put a noose around the president's neck, and say that he lied to the American people," Roberts said, adding that his committee's weapons of mass destruction report demonstrated that none of the intelligence analysts said they felt any political pressure.
The result of Tuesday's closed session was a deadline of Nov. 14 for six members of the Senate â three from each party â to assess the progress of the committee's investigation into pre-Iraq war intelligence.
The committee will also meet from Tuesday through Friday next week to review staff findings. Roberts said hoped to make the phase two report public when it was complete.
"What's going to be carried out in closing this phase two of the investigation had already been discussed by the Intelligence Committee with the timeline already set out for hearings next week and that's why they took this surprise tactic to shut down the place to get the headlines, which they were able to do," Frist said.
Democrats say the demand for a closed session on Tuesday was prompted by "misinformation and disinformation" given by President Bush and his administration prior to entry into the war in Iraq and a failure of Republicans to look into it.
"If the administration had all the information that they have now back then, they wouldn't even have brought it to the Congress for a vote," Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said of the Senate's 2002 consent to launch a war against Iraq.
"We know that there were no [weapons of mass destruction] now in Iraq. We didn't know it at the time. We know now that we didn't know then that there was no Al Qaeda connection. We know now that we didn't know then that there was no 9/11 connection. We know now that they had no plan for winning the peace. We didn't know that at the time," Reid, D-Nev., told reporters after the closed session ended.
In calling for the closed session, Reid added that the decision was also prompted by the recent indictment of Libby.
"The Libby indictment provides a window into what this is really about: How the administration manufactured and manipulated intelligence in order to sell the war in Iraq and attempted to destroy those who dared to challenge its actions," Reid said on the Senate floor. "As a result of its improper conduct, a cloud now hangs over this administration."
Rockefeller said Tuesday that the parliamentary maneuver was invoked after Democrats were repeatedly promised by Roberts, R-Kan., that oversight would be conducted on the war, but nothing came to pass.
Rockefeller suggested that regular delays may have been the result of pressure from the White House.
"Any time the Intelligence Committee pursued a line of inquiry that brought us closer to the role of the White House in all of this, in the use of intelligence prior to the war, our efforts have been thwarted time and time again," Rockefeller said.
But on Wednesday, the battle for ideas continued, with Senate Republicans saying continuing to call the Democrats' action nothing more than political theater. Others said the theater produced a political masterpiece.
"I think it was sort of a low moment of the Senate," said Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C. told FOX News.
"Really, I think it was not a good thing to do. ... I think we'd have been a lot better off if Democratic Leader Reid had just walked down the hall to Senator Frist's office and said he had a concern instead of going through that shenanigan yesterday," said Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala.
White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan added that if Democrats want to look at intelligence prior to the war in Iraq, they might want to start by looking at intelligence gathered in the previous administration.
"If Democrats want to talk about the threat that Saddam Hussein posed and the intelligence, they might want to start with looking at the previous administration and their own statements that they've made," Scott McClellan said. The Clinton administration and fellow Democrats "used the intelligence to come to the same conclusion that Saddam Hussein and his regime were a threat."
But on Wednesday, Democratic leaders renewed their criticism of the administration. In a letter to Bush, Reid and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi connected Tuesday's maneuvering with a call for a house-cleaning related to the CIA leak investigation, and specifically, the firing of top aide Karl Rove.
"We believe that you should honor your promise to the American people and fire all of those who treated the officer's identity with such reckless disregard for the consequences. It is totally unacceptable that anyone involved in the unauthorized disclosure of the identity of a CIA officer, including your Deputy Chief of Staff, Karl Rove, should remain employed at the White House with a security clearance," they wrote.
Some external observers said the Democratic move created the effect the minority party hoped to achieve.
Calling it "bare knuckles" politics, former Sen. Alfonse D'Amato, R-N.Y. told FOX News that Democrats came out looking better than those who cried foul.
"I think the Democrats took advantage of an opportunity given the [Scooter] Libby indictment to refocus attention, and probably it's going to be more than icy for at least the next two to three months. It'll turn around eventually but there's some hard feelings. ... Democrats scored a coup," D'Amato said.
Former Democratic vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro, a FOX News contributor, said that rather than being a political stunt, as Republicans called it Tuesday, it was the right thing to move an apparently stalled investigation into pre-war intelligence.
"I think they did the exact right thing which is the only way they could push the investigation moving along and I'm glad they did it," Ferraro said.
Although GOP tempers are still flaring, Roberts explained that months of work led up to this week's confusion.
Phase one oversight involved the Intelligence Committee's probe into the 2002 National Intelligence Estimate issued prior to the lead-up to the Iraq war. The 511-page report that resulted from the phase one investigation was presented to the Sept. 11 commission convened to review the quality of U.S. intelligence prior to the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. It issued its report in July 2004.
Roberts said phase two of the investigation grew as a result of the phase one work. The second part of the probe began on Feb. 12, 2004. Roberts said the primary purpose of the current investigation is into whether flawed intelligence supported the lead up to the war.
"In other words, the public statements made in the administration and the public statements made by public officials, whether they be in the Congress, whether they be in the administration ... were those public statements really backed up by intelligence, or were they backed up by flawed intelligence?" he said Tuesday.
Republican Intelligence Committee staffers told FOX News that to compare the intelligence gathered from phase one to the statements made by officials in the lead-up to the war, they collected more than 250 comments by Republican officials. Then they took statements from 100 Democratic officials and took the names off of all the comments.
Republican staffers said they were then ready to present the statements to Democrats in May 2005, but the minority members on the committee objected to the anonymous nature of the comments. That backed up the discussion, the committee's GOP staff director said.
Roberts said he wanted to present a truly impartial look at statements that were made and what intelligence was available to those officials at the time they made their assessments. The chairman said from what they know now, there is no "there there."
But Democrats insist that they want to look at Republican administration statements to see if the intelligence assessments were used for political advantage and manipulated to justify war.
Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond, R-Mo., a member of the Intelligence Committee, and other Republicans said if Democrats had wanted to take issue with Roberts about any delays in the probe, they could have just asked him.
"Sen. Reid made a number of charges about Sen. Roberts without giving him or me a chance to respond, and then went into closed session. ... It goes a long way to show the level to which politics is dominating procedure here," Bond said.
"If Sen. Reid had come to me and said, 'This is a problem,' which he never did, I would have said, 'Let's talk about it.' I would have said, 'Let's bring in the Intelligence Committee or the leaders, and let's talk about it in a civil, a dignified, a respectful way,'" Frist said.
A closed session is called when any senator demands one and a second motion is made. No vote is taken on whether to close the session â it's a privilege of the senators. During a closed session, cameras are not allowed in the chamber, the public is removed and a security sweep is performed.
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said Democrats chose to force a closed session because of the classified nature of the material to be discussed.
"We can't say certain things in public. You can say them in a closed chamber, and that's the reason for it," he said.
But Frist Chief of Staff Eric Ueland told FOX News that no security sweep was performed in the chamber before the session because Democrats weren't going to bring up any classified information.
"They don't have any classified information to bring up. They are just trying to change the subject," he said. Ueland added that contrary to Democratic assertions, Frist's staff was not informed of Reid's plan to demand a closed session. He said only Senate floor staffers were informed. While they fall under the direction of the majority leader's office, they are not technically Frist's staffers.
One senior GOP leadership aide suggested that Democrats took this extraordinary action to divert attention back to the CIA leak after Bush had successfully removed the topic from the headlines with his nomination of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court. The aide said Reid's maneuver distracts from Alito because Democrats don't have the votes to oppose the nominee.
"[Reid] is trying to distract from his inability to block the nomination by trying to concoct some conspiracy over intelligence and abusing the Senate rules in the process," the aide said. "He's just trying to stir up some dust."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/03/2005 00:36 ||
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Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist told FOX News. "They really ceded the high ground when it comes to Senate rules or the civility of the Senate floor."
Bill: I don't know if you are aware of this, but they have been doing that for years and on your watch.
So, either shut up and let them use you like a doormat, or take care of business.
After confessing to FBI agents that he joined al-Qaeda and discussed plans to assassinate President George Bush, an American student wrote a letter to his parents saying that "everyone makes mistakes".
"I know this will be difficult for you ... but I've been detained here in Saudi Arabia for some charges of terrorism," wrote Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, 24, who is on trial in federal court in Virginia for conspiracy to assassinate the President, providing support to al-Qaeda and other charges.
"It seems like I will spend some years in jail. I know that you raised me to be a good person, but everyone makes mistakes, and the best people are the ones that learn from their mistakes," he wrote.
Jurors at Abu Ali's trial heard excerpts of the letter during testimony today, but were told nothing of the confession he made to the FBI before writing the letter.
The September 2003 confession is inadmissible because FBI agents, who had travelled to Saudi Arabia to question Abu Ali, ignored his request for a lawyer.
Prosecutors are relying instead on a confession he gave to the Saudis shortly after his arrest in June 2003 in Medina, where he was attending college.
Defence lawyers contend he gave a false confession after being tortured by Saudi security forces. The Government denies that he was mistreated.
Abu Ali volunteered to write the letter at the end of his four-day interrogation, and asked FBI agent Luke Kuligoski to deliver the letter to his parents in Falls Church, Kuligoski testified today.
The letter contains no explicit admission of guilt by Abu Ali, but prosecutors believe the letter is evidence that Abu Ali was not coerced into confessing.
Also today, FBI agents testified that they found numerous suspicious items in Abu Ali's bedroom in the family's Falls Church apartment, including a book written by Osama bin Laden's top deputy Ayman al-Zawahri, a magazine devoted to handguns and an article praising the September 11 attacks.
Prosecutors learned yesterday and early today that they could not present testimony from several witnesses, including an expert on al-Qaeda and a cryptographer with expertise in decoding secret al-Qaeda messages.
Defence lawyers had complained that they received insufficient notice of the planned testimony, and US District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee agreed, suggesting that prosecutors were engaging in "trial by ambush".
Abu Ali was born in Houston and grew up in Falls Church, where he was valedictorian at an Islamic high school.
He was returned to the US in February. He faces up to life in prison if convicted.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/03/2005 00:22 ||
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"Through a mixture of inaction, incompetence and stonewalling to cover up their mistakes," Judge Duffy wrote, "the United States Marshals Service and the Department of Justice's Office of Enforcement Operations have seriously jeopardized the convictions of Al Qaeda terrorist Wadih El-Hage."
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
11/03/2005 15:25 Comments ||
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Where's the justice for my people? We also sneak attacked you, cut of heads and killed and raped mountains of civilians. Where were the warrants for arrest, motions to suppresion evidence, multi year trials, "anti-war" protestors, Council on American-Shinto Relations and CIA turncoats? Instead you barbarians in Dar-al-Gaijin made war and burned my country. I blame anti-Bushido racism. I am going to hire Johnny Cockran and sue your asses. He's right next to me, you know, in Hell.
...It was first proposed by Democratic Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts in his presidential election campaign, and that was enough to have it ignored by the victorious Bush administration. But in the past month, it has resurfaced as a possible exit from the morass of violence and political uncertainty of post-war Iraq.
The Arab League offered to sponsor an Iraqi national reconciliation conference that would include all Iraqi groups. Speaking in Baghdad recently, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said all political factions in Iraq would participate, and the aim would be to seek a wide national consensus.
An Arab source said Wednesday Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa was at the United Nations to test member reaction to the proposal. On Sunday, a similar concept was advanced by Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska in a speech at Iowa State University.
"Once the Iraqi government is in place (after January), the United States, along with its allies, should propose a regional security conference on Iraq with the endorsement of the United Nations," Hagel said. "Creating this regional context is vital. ... Such a conference would give us another opportunity to help rebuild an international consensus on Iraq and address the regional complexities of the Middle East. More missed opportunities on Iraq will be disastrous for the United States, Iraq and the region."
A spokesman for the senator told United Press International Thursday the contents of the speech was all Hagel was prepared to say on the subject in public, but that he would have "more to say about this in coming weeks."
A related effort involves an international advisory body called the Eminent Persons Group, which advises U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on special political affairs... And even before the lions have finished the kill, the hyenas and vultures converge to steal what they can of the carcass.
Alpha Oumar Konare, the President of Mali (Co-Chair)
Michel Rocard, former Prime Minister of France (Co-Chair)
Ambassador Celso Amorim, Permanent Representative of Brazil to the UN at Geneva , formerly Foreign Minister of Brazil
Lloyd Axwonrthy, former Minister for Foreign Affairs, Canada
Ambassador Jonathan Dean, Union of Concerned Scientists, formerly Chief US Arms Negotiator
Mitsuro Donowaki, Special Assistant to the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, Vice President of the UN Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects, Ambassador
Rolf Ekeus, OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, former Ambassador of Sweden to US
Amadou Kebe, Permanent Observer of OAU to the UN
Eteki a Mbomoua, President, Red Cross of Cameroon formerly secretary-general of the OAU and Foreign Minister of Cameroon
Nabil Fahmy, Ambassador of the Arab Republic of Egypt to the United States Dianne Feinstein, United States Senator
Ambassador Thomas Graham
Presiddent Lawyers Alliance for World Security formerly Chief US delegate to 1995 NPT Review&Extension Conference
Amadou Kebe, Permanent Observer of OAU to the UN
Imran Khan, Pakistani Opposition Leader
Andrej Kozyrev, former Foreign Minister, Russian Federation
Ambassador Peggy Mason, Chair, UN Governmental Expert Panel on Small Arms Brokering formerly Canadian Ambassador for Disarmament Affairs Robert S. McNamara, former US Secretary of Defense, President of the World Bank and the Ford Motor Co.,
Dr. Sola Ogunbanwo, Nigerian Representative to the 2000 NPT Review Conference
David Owen, Member, House of Lords former U.K. Foreign Secretary
P. V. Narasimha Rao, former Prime Minister of India
Ambassador Mohamed Sahnoun, Special Advisor to the UN Secretary-General on Africa
Salim Ahmed Salim ,Secretary-General of the Organization of African Unity
Eduard Shevardnadze, President of Georgia
Michael Weston, Vice Presdient of the UN Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects, former Permanent Representative of the UK to the Conference on Disarmament
Fienstein and MacNamara? Oh, yeah. I'm real interested in what this crew has in mind.
#3
You missed a couple of prime suspect nutjobs in there:
Ambassador Jonathan Dean, Union of Concerned Scientists
Ambassador Thomas Graham President Lawyers Alliance for World Security
Imran Khan, Pakistani Opposition Leader
Ambassador Peggy Mason, Chair, UN Governmental Expert Panel on Small Arms Brokering
Michael Weston, Vice Presdient of the UN Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects
I know the UCS is a political -- not scientific -- group. The lawyers group sounds like a raging pack of lefties -- their name hits a lot of buzzwords. Khan *might* not be that bad, but I doubt it. For the last two, the small arms groups in the UN are the ones that keep trying to disarm the US citizenry.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
11/03/2005 16:28 Comments ||
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#4
And even before the lions have finished the kill, the hyenas and vultures converge to steal what they can of the carcass. LOL!
#5
I don't see the need for a 'national reconciliation conference'.
They just voted on a constitution. It carried with 79% of the vote. Sounds like they got a lot of reconciliation done already. The parliamentary vote in December will get some more reconciliation on the table, especially if the Sunnis have any hope of influencing events at all.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/03/2005 17:23 Comments ||
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#6
The Vampire Vulture Elite is circling the newborn babe....
Former Washington insider and Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Chalabi launched his election campaign Wednesday with a call for a national-unity government to take office after a general election slated for Dec. 15. Flanked by two scantily-clad female candidates running on his electoral ticket, Chalabi said his newly formed alliance wanted to step up the fight against corruption and terrorism. He also reasserted his loyalty to Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq's most respected Shiite cleric, whose edicts, or fatwas, are binding for most of Iraq's majority Shiites. "We want to see a national-unity government for the sake of stability," Chalabi said.
Chalabi's electoral alliance comprises his own party — the National Iraqi Congress — in addition to a group that supports the restoration of the monarchy and small Kurdish and Turkomen groups.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/03/2005 00:00 ||
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Now we finally get to see if Ahmad really has support on the ground in Iraq, without relying on either the Coalition or on Shiite Fundie partners.
Iran last month distributed $1 million to families of Palestinian suicide bombers and jailed terrorists at a ceremony sponsored in part by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, WND has learned. A speech given on behalf of Abbas at the distribution ceremony called for the liberation of "all" Palestinian lands and a stop to the "Judaization" of Jerusalem, reported the Information and Terrorism Center at Israel's Center for Special Studies.
The Al-Ansar Association, a division of the Iranian Martyrs Foundation, based in Tehran, held the ceremony in the Gaza Strip on Oct. 13 to distribute the funds to families of suicide bombers, jailed terrorists and Palestinians whose homes were demolished during Israeli anti-terror operations â usually because a family member committed a terror act or terrorists were allowed to use their homes as shelter. Al-Ansar was founded in 2003 to serve as the Palestinian branch of the Iranian Martyrs Foundation, which, according to the Center for Special Studies, grants money on behalf of Iran. Al-Ansar also operates under the auspices of the Martyr Institution run by Iran-backed Hezbollah operatives in Lebanon. Al-Ansar's Palestinian office is headed by an Islamic Jihad member who is directed by Hezbollah, said the Center for Special Studies.
Abbas sent a representative to deliver a speech on his behalf at the $1 million distribution ceremony, which was videotaped and attended by several members of the Palestinian Legislative Council. Abbas was also a sponsor of the ceremony, the Center for Special Studies reports. Giving a speech for Abbas, Minister of Prisoners' Affairs Hisham Abd issued a call to fight against Israel's West Bank security fence and the Judaization of Jerusalem, and he said the PA formulated "national plans" to liberate Palestinian lands.
Dr. Reuven Erlich, director of the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, told WND Abbas' sponsorship of the ceremony demonstrates the PA president "prefers not to confront the terror organizations." The public ceremony is the latest evidence Iran directly backs Palestinian terrorism. Said Erlich: "Iran considers the generous support it provides to 'charity associations' in the Palestinian Authority-administered territories a means to support the terrorist organizations, mainly the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas, and an instrument for acquiring influence among the Palestinian population."
Senior Israeli security sources told WND last week's suicide bombing north of Tel Aviv that killed five civilians was directed from Syria and funded in part by Iran. They said the Islamic Jihad cell responsible for the bombing was directed by Iranian-funded Hezbollah. Sources said Hezbollah forces using Iranian money have created a terror apparatus of Palestinian militants in the West Bank consisting mostly of Jihad members who receive full-time salaries from the Lebanese group.
Palestinian security previously had intercepted a series of communications, including phone calls and e-mails, between Hezbollah and West Bank terrorists indicating Hezbollah had been trying to recruit suicide bombers to carry out attacks, sources say. One official said intercepted bank transactions previously suggested Hezbollah had raised its Iranian-sponsored cash offers to Palestinian terrorists and now is willing to pay $100,000 for a suicide bombing operation. In the past, information indicated Hezbollah would pay $20,000 for such attacks.
Maj. Gen. Yaacov Amidror, former head of Israel's military intelligence, told WND, "The money comes straight from Iran. At one point, we had information Iran once told Islamic Jihad if they didn't carry out a suicide attack within 60 days, they would cut back their funding. That just illustrates the kind of relationship Tehran has with them. Also with Hezbollah."
Said a senior security official, "Both Syria and Iran are under mounting international pressure. They need a distraction and they need a conflict somewhere else. They know suicide bombings force Israel to respond."
#1
At one point, we had information Iran Jackson once told Islamic Jihad CNN if they didn't carry out a suicide attack protest airing within 60 days, they would cut back their funding. That just illustrates the kind of relationship Tehran the Rainbow Coalition has with them.
#2
Giving $ to Paleo terrorists really ticks of many in the Iranian public who are waiting for repairs of watermains, electrical lines, sanitation infrastructure, schools, etc.
However, at the moment the opposition to the Mullarchy is divided, somewhat dispirited and mostly ineffectual. For a short period of time a few years ago, the technique of starting fires at the houses of prayer leaders was showing some promise but the regime stopped that by executing people and putting up more guards.
IMO, the opposition will have to come up with some way of causing problems that makes it look like individuals within the mullarky security forces are behind it.
#3
Iran in effect is in an overt state of war with Israel. Time to drop the veil and for the anvil to be hammered into the heart of the Iranian regime.
Posted by: Captain America ||
11/03/2005 16:33 Comments ||
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More than two months after the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian Authority seems to have failed in preventing many land thieves from laying their hands on the former area of Gush Katif.
PA officials here expressed fear over "increased transgressions" on the lands that used to belong to the settlements and called for immediate action against the perpetrators. They pointed out that some of the thieves belong to various branches of the PA security forces.
Shortly after the Israeli disengagement, the PA announced plans to build thousands of housing units in the former settlements with the help of the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. Some of the projects may now be postponed because of the land theft.
Alarmed by the phenomenon, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday paid a surprise visit to Khan Yunis and Rafah, where many families and gangs are reported to have illegally seized vast areas of land. Abbas was shocked to see that large areas had been fenced off by local families, gangs and individuals.
"The purpose of this visit is to check reports about land theft in the former settlements," said PA Information Minister Nabil Shaath, who accompanied Abbas on the tour along with Interior Minister Nasser Youssef, who is in charge of security.
"The president decided to see for himself what's happening on the ground. That's why it was important to make a surprise visit to the lands that have been stolen or are in the process of being seized illegally. We will take immediate measures to deal with the problem in light of what we saw today."
Shaath condemned the land grab as "a despicable act" against public lands. "These lands should not be fair play for a group of thieves who see an opportunity to take control of the areas that were under Israeli occupation," he stressed.
"Our people are sick and tired of those who are assaulting public lands and all the Palestinian security forces should start acting to stop the theft and defend the lands."
Adli Sadek, a prominent political analyst from Khan Yunis, accused the PA of failing to control the situation - a fact which he said has encouraged many Palestinians to lay their hands on large areas.
"Each day that passes without the intervention of the PA helps in creating new facts on the ground," he said, referring to construction work that is being carried out on public lands. "This silence on the part of the PA has also led to a black market in real estate, where anyone can buy and sell without hindrance."
According to Sadek, who was recently appointed as PA ambassador to Romania, the land theft is pushing Palestinian society closer to the abyss.
In Khan Yunis, he added, the "festival of land theft" is under way while the PA is sitting and watching. "We see this silence as a scandal and an indication that things here are collapsing," he said. "The land grab is happening under the looking eyes of the security forces."
#1
More than two months after the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian Authority seems to have failed in preventing many land thieves from laying their hands on the former area of Gush Katif.
Anyone still think that the Paleos have an actual "government"?
#4
They pointed out that some of the thieves belong to various branches of the PA security forces.
I'm astounded, absolutely astounded, I tell you!
Abbas was shocked to see that large areas had been fenced off by local families, gangs and individuals.
Rachel Corrie knows the solution for this. Rev up some D-9s and churn a little topsoil. Oh, wait, I'm sorry. These are Abbas' own thugs.
If Abbas cannot set an example and simply turn a 50 caliber machine gun on these squatters, then he should expect a bullet of his very own d@mn soon. This stupid son-of-a-buck is, each day, becoming more of the problem for all parties involved such that his half life is shrinking faster than heavy water's.
It's going to be really difficult to restrain myself from laughing out loud when Abu Mudhen is mowed down by his own countrymen. Somehow, I'm sure there's many Israelis who feel the same. What a sham.
Two Indonesian fugitives wanted for the deadly 2002 Bali bombings also financed an aborted plot to bomb the Philippine capital's tourist district earlier this year, Filipino military officials said Wednesday.
Military intelligence officials alleged the two provided money to the Rajah Solaiman Movement, a group of Muslim converts, to acquire explosives to bomb the Malate tourist district of Manila during Easter.
The pair, Dulmatin and Omar Patek, are alleged members of the Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) and officials here believe they are being sheltered by Filipino Islamic militant allies in the southern Philippines.
The Manila plot was foiled with the arrest on March 22 of one suspect, Tyrone Santos, whose house yielded 600 kilograms of ammonium nitrate -- a chemical which can be used to make bombs.
Dulmatin and Patek are also being sought by Indonesia for the October 2002 bombings in the tourist resort of Bali that claimed 202 lives.
"They (Dulmatin and Patek) are involved in the financial (aspect). They were providing the funds" to Santos' group, deputy military intelligence chief Rear Admiral Tirso Danga told reporters.
"They (Rajah Solaiman Movement) were the ones to carry that (Malate bombing) out -- they wanted to carry out a bigger attack compared to the one in Bali."
A military intelligence operative who asked not to be named said Dulmatin and Patek gave the Santos group 250,000 pesos (about US$4,562) to bomb a Malate nightclub in March.
"It was used for the purchase of the chemicals to be used," said the official.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/03/2005 00:57 ||
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Syrian special judicial committee, formed by Syrian President Bashar Al-Asad to investigate the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Al-Hariri, held its first meeting on Thursday. Committee Head, Judge Ghadah Morad, said the committee today discussed its mission, the investigation procedures that will be followed when the committee interrogates Syrian civilians or those in the military on the assassination of Al-Hariri, and the report of Detlev Mehlis, UN independent investigator into the assassination of Al-Hariri.
Morad asserted that the committee would cooperate with the international investigation team. Al-Asad issued a decree on October 29 to form a special judicial committee that would directly investigate the Al-Hariri case and interrogate any Syrian individuals regarding the assassination of Al-Hariri. The decree states that the committee is to cooperate with the Lebanese authorities and the international investigation team.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/03/2005 16:13 ||
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I didn't do it, no one saw me do it, there's no way you can prove anything!
I was very disappointed that they skipped the part where he got his 72 virgins. I thought that would be the highlight.
The bloodthirsty Zionist, Ariel, with the scar on his face bore an uncanny resemblence to Erich Von Stroheim. Perhaps he was involved in dueling with swords while attendig Goettingen.
Iran's hard-line government said Wednesday it was removing 40 ambassadors and senior diplomats, including supporters of warmer ties with the West, from their posts in a shake-up that comes as the Islamic republic takes a more confrontational international stance.
Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki announced the changes to parliament, saying "the missions of more than 40 ambassadors and heads of Iranian diplomatic missions abroad will expire by the end of the year," which is March 20 under the Iranian calendar.
Mottaki, quoted by the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency, did not specify which ambassadors were among those being removed.
But IRNA said they included the ambassador to London, Mohammad Hossein Adeli, one of Iran's top diplomats and a leading member of the pragmatic foreign policy wing that supports contacts with Europe.
The moves give the new government of ultraconservative President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the chance to purge pro-reform figures brought in by his predecessor, moderate
Mohammad Khatami, and install its own supporters.
Ahmadinejad has taken a tougher line on a number of issues, particularly negotiations with Britain, France and Germany over Iran's controversial nuclear program. Hard-liners have criticized Khatami's government for agreeing to freeze much of the country's atomic activities during the talks, and Ahmadinejad already has replaced much of the negotiating team with hard-liners.
The new president, elected in June, also generated a storm of international criticism last week when he called for
Israel's eradication, saying it should be "wiped off the map."
Tensions with Europe and the United States over the nuclear issue are high after Iran ended part of its freeze on nuclear activities earlier this year, resuming uranium conversion at a plant in Isfahan. Washington accuses Iran of secretly aiming to develop nuclear weapons, while Tehran counters that its nuclear program is for generating electricity.
The U.N. nuclear watchdog agency, the
International Atomic Energy Agency, will review Iran's cooperation on the nuclear issue during a Nov. 24 meeting, and Washington is pressing for Tehran to be referred to the
U.N. Security Council, where it could face sanctions for violating the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
Sanctions, however, are unlikely.
Iran is sending conflicting signals to an international community concerned about its nuclear agenda, granting U.N. inspectors access to a secret military site but also saying it would process a new batch of uranium that could be used to make atomic weapons, diplomats in Vienna, Austria, said Wednesday on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
The diplomats said IAEA experts were allowed to revisit a high-security military site in 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.
Iran also has handed over documents and granted interviews with several senior officials believed linked to black market purchases of uranium enrichment technology, the diplomats said.
Ahmadinejad's victory in June elections sealed the decline of Iran's reform movement and solidified the control of hard-liners over the government. Some Iranians fear Ahmadinejad â a longtime member of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards â will bring back the policies of restrictions at home and confrontation abroad seen after the 1979 Islamic Revolution led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
On Wednesday, more than 10,000 demonstrators shouted "Death to America!" and "Death to Israel!" in front of the former U.S. Embassy in Tehran in the largest such demonstration in years.
Hard-liners organize protests at the site annually to mark the anniversary of the Nov. 4, 1979 seizure of the embassy by student militants.
Demonstrators carried a large picture of Ahmadinejad emblazoned with his quote, "Israel must be wiped off the map." They burned U.S. and Israeli flags and effigies of
President Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Arial Sharon. Some wore a traditional Palestinian kaffiyah headdress, symbolizing their readiness to fight Israel.
"We have to continue our confrontation with the United States and Israel. This could help the world get rid of the arrogant powers," the hard-line Jomhuri Eslami daily said in an editorial.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/03/2005 01:02 ||
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On Wednesday, more than 10,000 demonstrators shouted "Death to America!" and "Death to Israel!" in front of the former U.S. Embassy in Tehran in the largest such demonstration in years.
Only 10,000 screaming wonkers? I wonder what the Dems can make of those figures. Never quite figured out why we left that building standing. It only serves as a rally point and protest shrine.
#4
same as yesteday: No comment from Jack Straw - on his knees and mouth full of MM. What a tool - Chamberlain II
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/03/2005 13:46 Comments ||
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#5
"Never quite figured out why we left that building standing."
Because Eagleclaw didn't quite work.
Posted by: James ||
11/03/2005 14:01 Comments ||
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#6
They's consolidating power around a spokesman who broadcasts to the world the desire to see Israel wiped from the face of the earth. That ain't a good sign. They's defied attempts to curtail their "peaceful" nuclear program, and instead they's stepped up production. The Europeans will chose to assure "peace in our time" but what are the Israelis to do?
Syrian President Bashar Assad gave amnesty to 190 political prisoners Wednesday to mark the Muslim feast of Eid al-Fitr, the official Syrian Arab News Agency said. SANA said that the amnesty was intended to bolster national unity and that similar measures would follow.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/03/2005 00:00 ||
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The Syrian domestic press (repeated in a number of Al Jazeera editorials) is still trying to say the Hariri assasination was the work of Israel or the US.
#3
Ironically, if this *was* a Mossad or CIA operation to destabilize the Assad regime, it is working very well indeed.
But as a Syrian operation to remove a political enemy and cement Syrian control of Lebanon to better threaten Israel, it has backfired and failed miserably. Be careful what you wish for...
A little something from the smear factory, but not very well done at all...
An expert in the international law has criticized the weakness of legal procedures initially taken about the formation of the International Investigation Committee in the assassination of former Lebanese premier Rafik Hariri where Detlev Mehlis has been chosen instead of an international prosecutor. German media published reports about Mehlis linking him to his countries intelligence in addition to the US intelligence. A journalist, based in Germany, who asked to be anonymity, said that the following two papers "Tags Zeitung" and "Zud Duetshe Zeitung" have published reports on Mehlis's relations with the German and American intelligence.
The said reporter added that German media indicated that Mehlis received information from Israel and he has a relation with Tel Aviv. Egyptian counselor Hasan Ahmad Omar, an expert in the international law, said that the designation of Mehlis is a legal fault because it was politically based and violated the international law. "In these cases, it is supposed to appoint a judge from the World Tribunal Court or a member at the antitorture committee which is affiliated to UN," Omar said.
"Der Spiegel" magazine, based in Germany, said that three international prosecutors refused Kofi Annan's demand to head the International Investigation Committee in the killing of Hariri. Omar pointed out that some sides have pressurized to appoint Mehlis in this post adding that Mehlis ignored some facts. "Mehlis contacts with Israelis and receiving information from them means that he distanced himself away of being neutral and independent simply because Israel has an interest to accuse Syria,"Omar said. Omar cruised Mehlis because he tackled issues related to Syria in the past where he was insisted to point finger at Syria and Iran as regards "Label night club" where a blast led to kill two American intelligence agents and a Turkish woman.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/03/2005 00:00 ||
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Syrian officials are seeking to convince their people that "Syria is targeted and not the regime" according to the principle "constructive chaos" in order to counter the American and European discourse which focuses on the foreign pressures "did not target the Syrian people but some officials".
Presumably the inhabitants will remain when the regime is gone, unless we replace them all with Samoans...
In return, Syrian officials leak information that many internal developments will be happened till the mid of December as regards "reform option", setting detainees free, reshuffle cabinet and to mobilize the public opinion against Mehlis's conclusion.
"See? We're bein' good!"
There will be no final decision regarding how to interpret the phrase of Damascus readiness to fully cooperate with Mehlis in the forthcoming stage before Ash-Sharaa presents the outcome of discussions he held in New York and the Arab discussions of his deputy Waleed AL-Mualem. The report of German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis and the international draft project are politically and legally under thorough study by two committees: a higher political committee under the chairmanship of President Bashar AlâAssad with Ash-Sharaa and top security officials as members. And a technical committee that includes Al-Mualem, the minister deputy Ahmad Arnous and counselor Riyadh Daoudi. The study resulted in setting a "strategic drive" where Ash-Sharaa and Al-Mualem made political movements at Arab and world level and the issuance of a decree by President Bashar Al-Assad as regards forming "a special judicial committee" to investigate military and security officials ,cooperation with Mehlis and the Lebanese judicial system .
Posted by: Fred ||
11/03/2005 00:00 ||
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"constructive chaos"
I had no idea Governor Howard Dean had Middle Eastern public relations contracts.
Egyptian blogger Abdolkarim Nabil Seliman who runs the blog Kareem Amer was arrested on October 26h from his home. According to his family, his arrest might be a result of his writings. His brother said that Abdolkarim has a tense relation with Islamists in his hometown of Alexandria. He added that the Islamists might be the ones behind filing a complaint against his brother.
I didn't know Abdolkarim's blog before. I visited it and discovered something very strange. Abdulkarim apparently comes from a Muslim background (he has a Muslim name) yet his writings contains remarks that attack Islam. His writings drew many negative comments on his blog.
Abdolkarim could be a convert to Christianity or someone who left the Muslim faith, and I was stunned when I saw that he posted his picture on his blog. Anyway, he will be in a very serious situation if a case was levied against him. If sent to court, the charge of "izderaa el adyaan" or "blaspheming religion" can be applied leading to his imprisonment.
Check out Manalaa blog and read the comments below (there are comments in English). You will notice that there are 3 types of comments: those against his arrest, those hailing the arrest of the "infidel", and those who disagree with Abdolkarim's opinions yet are against his arrest.
Activists of West Bengal's ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Thursday prevented a US aircraft and its F-16 crew from landing at Kolkata Airport.
Staging a vociferous protest at the airport, the CPI-M demonstratrors forced the air traffic control authorities to relay instructions to the aircraft crew to take off soon after it hit the runway. The aircraft had arrived in Kolkata to participate in the Indo-US air exercises at Kalaikonda from November 7 to 19.
The aircraft had to take off for Bagdogra Airport in North Bengal, where it faced a similar protest from CPI-M activists deployed there. The crew of the plane was not allowed to disembark, and according to the latest information, the aircraft has returned to Kolkata, but the crew is not being allowed to disembark.
The Indian and US Air Force will test their mettle at Kalaikunda in West Bengal at the second Indo-US joint air exercises from November 7-19.
The exercise titled Cope India 05 would see the participation of F-16 fighters jets from the USAF squadron based in Japan and IAF fighters, SU-30K, Mirage-2000, MiG-21 Bison and MiG-27s. The IAF's tanker fleet, IL-78 will also be deployed at the joint exercises
For the first time, AWACS will take part in the air exercise. The IAF is in the process of inducting AWACS for Beyond Visual Range (BVR) strike capability, and its inclusion in Cope India 05 is being considered significant. The Indo-French joint exercise at the Istres Air Base in France also saw the deployment of the AWACS by the French Air Force.
Sources said that the exercises would include Dissimilar Air Combat Manoeuvring (ACM) and Large Force Engagement (LFE) in the Beyond Visual Range (BVR) regime.
At the previous Indo-US joint exercises in Alaska, IAF pilots had got the better of the US pilots in their MiG-21s.
Officials said that the aim of the joint exercise is to enhance mutual operational understanding and refine procedures for future joint exercises between the two Air Forces and familiarize with each other's operational, technical and administrative practices. (ANI)
Posted by: john ||
11/03/2005 14:47 ||
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The Communist Party has ruled Indian West Bengal for decades. Their capital Calcutta is a shining monument to their rule.
Posted by: john ||
11/03/2005 15:44 Comments ||
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Our first exercise? High speed runs at the control towers at Kolkata and Bagdora Airports.
#4
The Indian Air Force choose the location badly. They considered technical Air Base parameters without the necessary political view.
The reflexive anti-US outlook of the Bengali communists should have ruled out Bengal.
The Indian communists are true believers. Believe it or not, their motto was "China's chairman is our chairman". Their orders come straight from Beijing. After the recent Japan-China flap, Japanese companies began looking at diversifying their manufacturing base away from China. The communist chief returned from Beijing and organized violent demonstrations to shut down the operations of Japanese companies in India.
Posted by: john ||
11/03/2005 16:04 Comments ||
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LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - FX has opted not to renew veteran producer Steven Bochco's Iraq War drama series "Over There," citing lackluster ratings, the cable network said Tuesday. "I'm deeply proud of 'Over There,' which was beautifully produced, acted, written and directed," FX president and general manager John Landgraf Landgraf said. "The series was arguably the most critically acclaimed new television show of the year, a fact which made the decision not to renew it all the more difficult."
"The stupid viewers just didn't agree with my vision"
Despite a strong debut that drew 4.1 million viewers, "Over There" tailed off through the rest of its 13-episode run, averaging just 2.1 million overall.
"It's dead, Jim"
Posted by: Steve ||
11/03/2005 11:54 ||
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The moonbat left will no doubt blame the series' cancellation on Karl Rove or the international Zionist conspiracy.
Posted by: Mike ||
11/03/2005 12:23 Comments ||
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#5
It was still on the air?
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
11/03/2005 12:49 Comments ||
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#6
I actually am a fan of it and we set it up on TIVO so I watch it when I get around to it.
It is factually challenged, but so was NYPD Blue and look at the hardware that racked up.
I would say that as a casual history buff, I thought more about deeply about the current war for having watched the show, and actually think it portrayed some aspects rather positively of our actually serving soldiers. I think they brushed upon controversial subject matter from all perspectives and did a decent job for an entertainment show.
More real than a bunch of knucleheads supoosedly living the "Real World" in Austin. Somebody should be fined for that waste of airspace.
#7
Anti-war types are not likely to watch an anti-war show about a war they hate. MASH only worked because it was anti-Vietnam in subtext, but actually about Korea.
#8
Rod Serling learned you can hide contemporary issues in a scifi suit and get away with it. Change the setting to a contemporary environment and you loose the sponsors and the audience. From the old movie days, if you want to send a message use Western Union.
#9
Hupeasing Anginert3023, that is one of the hallmarks of good sci fi, it dates back a lot farther than Serling. HG Wells book War of the Worlds was about Colonialism/Imperialism and he made his point in a way that people were entertained instead of immediately turned off by an unwelcome message.
Old Star Trek did that a lot as well. Its ham-handed at times but at least they tried. Somewhere around Star Wars time frame the messages got so depressing that people were releaved to just watch Luke fight evil and win.
#10
Factually challenged is probably too good a sobriquet for the writers of this program. The only resemblance it bore to the war in Iraq was sand. It was Hollywood's version of Vietnam in desert camo. My son and his marine buddies said that it was the funniest thing they had seen since the Army training films they saw in bootcamp.
#14
We used to watch it all the time in here during Happy Hour. It was the basis for a couple of my stories. Looked pretty realistic to me with all the shooting and the stuff blowing up and all that. At least that's what somebody told the CNN guy I was just talking to.
Let's have another, Achmed. And see what the CNN guy wants.
#16
Careful Robert. Several of us here are big fans of Star Wars, but want to beat the hell out of Lucas mightily for the modern 3 starwars movies.
You could cause the complete loss of bandwidth for Rantburg here from the ranting over Lucas ;)
KARACHI - Al-Qaeda is in the process of a decisive ideological debate that could see the highly secretive group restructured within a year, with bases in Iraq and Afghanistan, and adopting a more open, centralized, approach.
Two issues lie at the heart of the matter. The first is whether al-Qaeda achieves its aims by "fighting against evil", or whether it "fights against evil and its allies", according to contacts familiar with the group who spoke to Asia Times Online. The second issue involves al-Qaeda's lack of a physical base, a matter of concern to Islamic scholars, following its retreat from Afghanistan and subsequently being forced out of hideouts along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.
So al-Qaeda realizes that 1) it's losing its fight against the infidels and 2) it has no safe base of operations.
And the moonbats on the Left think al-Qaeda is winning. O-o-o-o-okay.
Regarding the discourse on al-Qaeda's enemy, on one side a major portion of al-Qaeda wants to remain true to the original goal of ousting foreign forces from the Persian Gulf region and ending the occupation of Muslim territories; on the other, a powerful group led by Egyptian Abu Amro Abdul Hakeem, also known as Sheikh Essa, who has strongly influenced elements in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, believes that the targets should be extended.
"Har! We want to kill infidels everywhere!"
In al-Qaeda jargon, there are dajal (anti-God) forces, and there are pro-God forces. The US and its European allies are dajal forces, and remain the primary target of the majority in al-Qaeda. Sheikh Essa argues that the Muslim leaderships in Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Jordan, Egypt and, not least, Pakistan should not be considered pro-God forces, as they are now.
"And cousin Mahmoud. He's definitely dajal!"
Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are central in this debate. Sheikh Essa fervently believes that the Pakistani military is as bad as that of the US, and thus should be categorized as an anti-God force whose leader, President General Pervez Musharraf, sides with the US with full conviction.
The October 8 earthquake in South Asia, which has claimed tens of thousands of lives, most of them in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, has added incendiary clout to Sheikh Essa, whose followers now claim that the disaster was God's revenge against Pakistan, especially as it took place exactly on the fourth anniversary of the launch of US air sorties from Pakistani bases to strike against Afghanistan, where al-Qaeda had a strong presence.
And as Fred notes, Allan is going to keep bringing earthquakes, locusts and Brittney Spears videos until you become Presbyterians.
The Sheikh Essa faction has other reasons to hate the Pakistani establishment as it is seen as having betrayed the al-Qaeda cause by handing over hundreds of al-Qaeda members, and even their children and wives, to US authorities; this following Pakistan's reversal of its support for the Taliban and the Pakistani army being sent into the tribal areas to root out foreign fighters and members of the Afghan resistance.
Osama bin Laden has always resisted taking the fight to Muslim countries. According to scholars such as Saad al-Faqih, who is considered very close to al-Qaeda, bin Laden understands that a major blow against Saudi Arabia would bring down the regime, but the ensuing chaos and mayhem would be reason for the US to justify sending its troops into the holy land.
Only to the eastern part, a land known as the Republic of Eastern Arabia, about 50 km wide ...
The senior al-Qaeda leadership believes that only Musharraf is "pro-God" , and not the Pakistani Army; therefore for the time being they want to leave Pakistan alone and keep their focus on the US.
Asia Times Online contacts close to al-Qaeda say that recently the top leadership has become alarmed at the widening split within the organization and has begun consultations with all major Islamic jihadi groups and scholars. Pending the results of these deliberations, expected by the end of this northern winter, a definitive and final word on the real course of the struggle will be reached, after which major decisions are expected on the shape and nature of al-Qaeda.
So even al-Qaeda is bogged down in committee meetings.
Many among Islamic groups, scholars and educated masses in the Islamic world are sympathetic with al-Qaeda's struggle against US imperialism, but they have serious reservations over its shadowy nature and its methods of operation, many of which, they believe, go against the tenets of Islam.
From the days of the Prophet Mohammed it has been established that neither the message of Islam nor its struggle is a secret. Therefore, Muslim scholars are agreed that an Islamic state is a prerequisite before - and from which - jihad can be waged. This places al-Qaeda in something of a spot, as nowadays it has no "home base" from which to wage jihad. In discussions in the past several months with prominent scholars and a top leader of an Islamic group, al-Qaeda leaders argued that they were fighting a defensive jihad as Afghanistan had been attacked and occupied, followed by Iraq. Since they don't have a piece of land in their possession, al-Qaeda has had to conduct irregular and guerrilla warfare.
However, the contacts maintain that the al-Qaeda leadership is optimistic that by the start of summer next year they will be in control of significant "space" in Iraq and in Afghanistan, which would legitimize their jihad in the eyes of scholars.
Or in Somalia.
This would include appointing an ameer (commander) whose name would be announced, and al-Qaeda's irregular fighting would be organized under one command. The existing setup of small, virtually independent cells would be subsumed under the single command, and no one would operate on their own, as has been the trend since al-Qaeda lost their base in Afghanistan following the ouster of the Taliban in late 2001, and the intense pressure of the US-led "war on terror", which saw many communication and financial links severed.
If al-Qaeda prevails over its internal conflicts and adopts the strategy as outlined above, it would be a major turning point not only for the organization, but for the whole of the Muslim world and beyond.
Dawa (Islamic message), hijra (evolution from an enemy state into an Islamic state) and jihad are the three stages based on the life of the Prophet Mohammed to bring about revolution in society.
In essence, al-Qaeda, which means means "the base" in Arabic, is in search of a physical base, like the mujahideen had during the Soviet resistance period in Afghanistan in the 1980s, when they grabbed all rural Afghanistan, or like the one al-Qaeda had two years ago when it moved into the Shawal and Shakai areas near South and North Waziristan on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, before being driven out by combined US and Pakistan efforts.
Once new bases are found - al-Qaeda confidently believes this will be done in Iraq and Afghanistan - the process of dawa, hijra and jihad will begin, and many presently peripheral Islamic groups across the world will pour into these two countries for a reinvigorated campaign against US forces.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/03/2005 10:40 ||
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#1
I think this statement right here pretty much sums up why our campains in Iraq & Afhanistan have won our security at home and no more attacks since 9-11.
In discussions in the past several months with prominent scholars and a top leader of an Islamic group, al-Qaeda leaders argued that they were fighting a defensive jihad as Afghanistan had been attacked and occupied, followed by Iraq
Once new bases are found - al-Qaeda confidently believes this will be done in Iraq and Afghanistan - the process of dawa, hijra and jihad will begin,
Muslim pride demands that they must defend their base or homeland priority one above even jihad on the Big Satan's homefront.
#3
I have a difficult time believing the author truly understands Al Q.
Surely even the most Korancentric Moslem must realize that a realtime physical base could be destroyed easily by the USA (hell even the spanish military could probably do that with a little help).
If you talk to Moslems a lot you realize that even if they support a proposition with a tone and bodylanguage of certainty, they may abandon that proposition a few seconds later for a contradictory proposition said with the same tone and bodylanguage of certainty.
#5
The existing setup of small, virtually independent cells would be subsumed under the single command, and no one would operate on their own, as has been the trend since al-Qaeda lost their base in Afghanistan
It is the disintegration that they are having a problem with.
And no, the Spanish military could not get the job done.
#7
Osama bin Laden has always resisted taking the fight to Muslim countries.
Uh, try telling that to Indonesia, the Phillipines, Iraq, and heck, even Saudi itself! Binny would love nothing more than to overthrow the house of Saud first and establish his caliphate in the majik kingdom itself! Where did this tool come up with this sentence from anyways? Maybe AQ wasn't DIRECTLY linked to attacks in Muslim countries (I'd even argue that), but Binny I'm sure gets a good chuckle at said attacks.
Posted by: BA ||
11/03/2005 15:11 Comments ||
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November 3, 2005: The October 29th bomb attacks in India, that killed about 60 people and injured perhaps 200 others, were set off at a time of particularly important religious observances by both Hindus and Moslems. The Hindu festival of Diwali â the âFeast of Lights,â a joyous celebration often described as similar to Christmas in America -- was coming to an end, while Moslems were preparing to mark the profoundly spiritual âNight of Powerâ (October 30-31), commemorating Godâs granting of the Koran to Mohammed, and the final festive observances ending the month-long Ramadan fast. As a result, the places bombed â a market, a railroad station, and a bus â were full of people doing holiday shopping.
As the attacks were well-coordinated â all three bombs went off within minutes of each other â some commentators have attributed them to Al-Qaeda. But the Indian government believes they were made by Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), a Moslem-extremist group operating in Jammu and Kashmir, or some faction of the LeT. LeT is generally believed to have been involved in an attack on the Indian Parliament in December of 2001 and an earlier attack Red Fort, also in in New Delhi, in December of 2000. The groups has its origins in Afghanistan. It was formed there in 1990 by Kashmiri mujahadeen who were veterans of the war against the Soviet Union, and has ties to several other Islamist fundamentalist groups, notably the Pakistani Markaz-ud-Dawa-wal-Irshad movement. It began operating in Kashimir in 1992, and has been involved in a number of terrorist attacks over the years in Kashmir, Pakistan, and India
While the intent of the attacks may have been to spark anti-Moslem rioting by Hindus, the victims included Moslems as well as Hindus. As a result, in terms of LeTâs objective, the incident was a failure, and possibly one made worse by the killing of good Moslems at a most holy time of the year.
Pakistan immediately condemned the incident, thereby siding with India, with which it has been improving ties for several years now, a process being helped by Indian assistance to earthquake relief in northern Pakistan. In a further gesture conciliatory gesture, the two countries have agreed to open routes across the âLine of Controlâ (i.e., cease fire) in Jammu and Kashmir, while reserving their respective territorial claims.
Meanwhile, some Moslem religious leaders have complained that Pakistan is not getting enough international assistance. Their point is somewhat accurate, given the unprecedented number of international disasters over the past year, which have drained the pockets of traditional âgivingâ countries, notably the West and Japan. But some of their criticism has been focused on the failure of Moslem countries to come forward with assistance, a phenomenon first widely remarked with regard to the December 2004 tsunami in Indonesia.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/03/2005 09:37 ||
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In addition to the fasting, feasting, and prayers, in most Egyptian households the Muslim holy month revolves around TV.
Once the sun sets in the Arab world, the 30 days of Ramadan are like November television-sweeps month in the US - and then some.
This year there are dozens of mini-series and specials ranging from the story of an Arab living in post-9/11 America to a Kuwaiti drama featuring a character who is a lesbian.
But every night at 10, the Refaat family gathers in their living room to watch the most talked about show in the Middle East, "Al Hoor al Ain" (The Beautiful Virgins). It's loosely based on the November 2003 bombing in Saudi Arabia that killed 18 people, all of them Arab. And it's one of a handful of shows aired here this month that are challenging the view that Islam justifies terrorism.
"This show is very important because it is treating a very delicate and crucial subject," says Rafiq al Sabban, an Egyptian film critic. "It's not solving the problem, but that's not the job of art. It is forcing viewers to confront the problem and think about it."
Al Hoor al Ain, which concludes Wednesday night, was written by a confessed former member of Al Qaeda. It tells the story of a young Saudi male torn between two sheikhs with competing versions of Islam - one militant and the other moderate. The story is narrated by a Syrian girl burned in the bombing, and stresses that the attacks were Arab-on-Arab.
Militant Islamist websites have savaged the show, and some imams in Saudi Arabia have warned worshippers not to watch it. They have singled out the show's title as particularly offensive. Al Hoor al Ain refers to the virgins the Koran says await good Muslim men in paradise. While the Koran makes no mention of "martyrdom" as a qualification, militant groups have used the passage to attract young suicide bombers to their cause.
Despite the objections of conservatives, it is the No. 1 show in Saudi Arabia this Ramadan, according to the Saudi newspaper Al Okaz. And many have hailed the program as a powerful attack on extremism.
"This is an integral part of the battle against terrorism," says Abe al Masry, production manager for the Saudi-owned and Dubai-based Middle East Broadcasting Corporation, which is broadcasting the show. "It shows how bad people intentionally misread religion, and exploit religion to recruit terrorists."
In the Refaat household in Cairo, the show is a source of contention. Ahmed, a 23-year-old who's studying business at Cairo University, says the show ignores the root causes of terrorism.
"In the show the Saudi government is made to look like the good guys," he says. "But it is their corruption and their oppression which is driving kids to blow themselves up."
His sister, Amira, a 25-year-old who works at a health club, says the show teaches "that true Islam is not about killing people."
Al Hoor al Ain does not confine itself to tackling terrorism. The cast of characters living in the compound, the ultimate victims of the bombing, hail from Morocco, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, and Palestine, and are trying, often in vain, to get along. They suffer the range of ills that plague their respective societies. There are abusive husbands, sterile wives, rebellious daughters, and sons who turn to drugs.
"All these families want to be united, but they don't ever reach that understanding," says Mr. Sabban the Egyptian film critic. "It's a metaphor for the Arab world. They are quarreling and they are loving each other, and they are quarreling again."
Another annual Ramadan show, "Tash Ma Tasha" (Whatever Comes Comes), has provoked an even fiercer response from Islamists, who have sent death threats to the Saudi show's producers.
The show portrays Islamic extremists as incompetent and unthinking half-wits. In Wednesday night's episode a small Saudi village is divided when some villagers want to install electricity and paved roads. The conservative village sheikhs warn that such modernization will destroy their way of life. The paved road will be like a huge black snake coming from hell, one religious leader warns.
A third show this year, "The Rocky Road," exposes the hypocrisy and corruption among the mujahideen in Afghanistan.
In recent years, Ramadan miniseries have triggered controversy, frequently angering the US, Israeli, and various Arab governments, or as in the case this year, Islamic fundamentalists. Last Ramadan, a series called "The Road to Kabul," about the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, was cancelled after just eight episodes. The show's creators had received death threats for portraying the Taliban in a negative light. Industry insiders, however, say the reason for the show's cancellation was US pressure on the Qatari government, which produced the show. The US reportedly feared that scenes of CIA agents selling heroin to fund the mujahideen would fire anti-American sentiment in the region.
In 2001, after the second intifada broke out in Israel-Palestine, a pair of Arab TV serials recounted the exploits of Salah Eddin, who drove the crusaders from Jerusalem in 1187. "After the last intifada, that's when these serials start getting more tense and more political," says Marlin Dick, an American researcher in Beirut.
Ramadan serials have long been a tool exploited by Arab governments to sway public opinion. But the Saudi support for and willingness to air such programs represents a total volte-face for the government, says Egyptian screenwriter Wahed Hamid. Mr. Hamid wrote the first-ever Ramadan serial to tackle the issue of terrorism. It aired in 1993, with the blessing of the Egyptian government, which was at the time battling its own terrorism problem.
"For years the Saudis have refused to show my series because they were sympathetic with terrorists, and they were the ones encouraging these extremists," Hamid says. "Now that the terror groups have started to attack them, the Saudis are rebroadcasting it once every two months."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/03/2005 00:50 ||
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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.
The Kyrgyz government is preparing a new agreement regarding the U.S. air base in Kyrgyzstan that will include an increase in the cost of using the base to "world prices," Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev said Nov. 2. Bakiyev said Kyrgyz government figures indicate that U.S. costs and taxes for the base are not in line with world norms. 
Two children died when they were playing with a hand grenade and pulled the security pin, police in the central Bosnian town of Jajce said Wednesday. Sime Radovac, 11, and his younger brother Antonio, 9, left their home in the village of Doribaba on Tuesday to go to church. When they didn't return on time, their father, Mijo Doribaba, went to search for them and found their bodies on the side of the road. "Nobody knows where they found this hand grenade," said a relative, Mijo Klaric.
Former Washington insider and Deputy Prime Minister 
Syrian President Bashar Assad gave amnesty to 190 political prisoners Wednesday to mark the Muslim feast of Eid al-Fitr, the official Syrian Arab News Agency said. SANA said that the amnesty was intended to bolster national unity and that similar measures would follow.
An expert in the international law has criticized the weakness of legal procedures initially taken about the formation of the International Investigation Committee in the assassination of former Lebanese premier 
Syrian officials are seeking to convince their people that "Syria is targeted and not the regime" according to the principle "constructive chaos" in order to counter the American and European discourse which focuses on the foreign pressures "did not target the Syrian people but some officials".
