Prime Minister Tony Blair was "seduced by the glamour of U.S. power" in the build-up to the Iraq war and repeatedly failed to influence U.S. policy, a former top British diplomat said in comments published on Monday. Christopher Meyer, a former British ambassador in Washington Now writing his book....
who was heavily involved in the pre-war planning, said Blair was reluctant to negotiate conditions with President George W. Bush over Britain's support for war. Blair did not use his position as Washington's most important ally to delay the start of the war to give more time to plan for what to do after the fall of Saddam Hussein, Meyer said.... er huh, Chris...did you make any suggestions/recommendations at the time?
"Britain should have made its participation in any war dependent on a fully worked-out plan, please show us YOUR plan...
agreed by both sides, for the rehabilitation of Iraq after Saddam's demise," Meyer wrote in memoirs serialized in two British newspapers on Monday.
"We may have been the junior partner in the enterprise, but the ace up our sleeve was that America did not want to go it alone."
Meyer, ambassador in Washington from 1997 to February 2003 but now retired from the diplomatic service, said Britain's failure to press for more planning was still being felt. "Had Britain insisted, Iraq after Saddam might shoulda-coulda-woulda but didn't
have avoided the violence that may yet prove fatal to the entire enterprise," he wrote. He said in the Guardian and the Daily Mail that delaying the invasion from spring 2003 to the autumn would have given more time for planning for the aftermath and might have made it possible to agree on a second United Nations resolution. Yea Chris, additional UN resolutions were the hidden key all along.
"History's verdict looks likely to be that it was terminally flawed both in conception and execution," he wrote. And your fix is?
Meyer rejected the view that Blair blindly followed Bush, but said the British prime minister and his team were swayed by the power of the White House. "Blair chose to take his stand ... from the highest moral ground," Meyer wrote. "It is the definitive riposte to 'Blair the Poodle', seduced though he and his team always appeared to be by the proximity and glamour of American power." Yea, we all find 'W' quite sedductive lol, you cringing Poodle buggering fagot!
Meyer's criticisms come after a damaging week ....thats it, just like rugby, pile on...
for Blair during which he faced a rebellion in parliament over planned anti-terrorism laws and saw a key ally resign. Blair, who won his third consecutive election in May, faced widespread opposition from within his ruling Labour Party and the wider public over his support for the 2003 invasion.
Sir Christopher and his wife were exceedingly popular among the DC A-list set while he was Ambassador here from 1997-Feb '03, but I think they got along better with the Clinton crowd. He's also available for speeches and international deal fixing.
#1
"History's verdict looks likely to be that it was terminally flawed both in conception and execution,..."
Why don't we let "history" be the judge of that, Chris. It's your judgement that seems terminally flawed.
A policeman stationed outside the US embassy in London sparked brief panic after accidentally firing his submachine gun, the city's Metropolitan Police said. Oops!
The unnamed officer's mishap on Friday caused no injuries but prompted alarmed embassy staff to immediately call for assistance. The policeman has had his authority to carry a firearm withdrawn pending an investigation. I think it's safe to say that he's fired his last rounds.
British police are normally unarmed, but certain trained officers patrolling potential terrorist targets such as airports and embassies now carry weapons.
#2
Barney Fife is supposed to only have one bullet, lol. On my first tour in Saoodi in '92 I had an account at Saudi British Bank. Outside every bank, monetary exchange, and (for some reason I never could fathom) fire station back then was a Saudi guard - not a local cop, I believe they were from the Saudi National Guard. They were armed with machine guns - wish I had paid more attention back then - I can't say which they were.
One night (the banks stayed open until 10 PM after reopening from the last prayer time of the day) I was coming out of my bank in al Khobar when the guard there, suprised I guess, let his weapon drop off his shoulder and clatter down the steps to the sidewalk - it bounced and spun and traveled about 10 feet. I saw the entire thing as if in slow motion and have to admit my heart skipped a beat or two, lol. He looked at me sorta sheepishly and retrieved it. Luckily, there was no one passing on the sidewalk at that moment, as I recall. After that, I wondered if they were even loaded.
Gang members and their families on Monday occupied the Roman Catholic cathedral in the Salvadoran capital to demand better visiting rights for inmates in a high security prison.
The 20 demonstrators, including former and active members of the Mara Salvatrucha street gang and their children, said they would not leave the temple until authorities agreed to demands for direct contact with inmates at the Zacatecoluca penitentiary during visiting hours.
"The children of prisoners want to hug and kiss our fathers," read a banner displayed by the protesters. Under current rules, the prisoners are separated from visitors by panels of reinforced glass.
Located 56 km (35 miles) east of San Salvador, the Zacatecoluca prison, informally known as "Zacatraz," houses around 500 inmates, including street gang members classified as extremely dangerous
"This is a peaceful and indefinite occupation," said former Mara Salvatrucha Ernesto Miranda, who took part in the demonstration. "There are about 20 people inside the cathedral and they won't come out until the authorities meet their demands."
"There are active gang members here but there are also children," Miranda said, "the children of the prisoners."
Police cordoned off the cathedral but did not make any immediate arrests. The demonstrators also demanded that Amnesty International be allowed to visit the prison to check for human rights abuses, and called for the resignation of Salvadoran Interior Minister Rene Figueroa.
The violent Mara street gangs developed in Los Angeles in the 1980s; they now have an estimated 100,000 members in Central America. Mark my words, MS-13 is the next al-Qaeda.
Azerbaijan's ruling party took an early lead in Sunday's parliamentary elections in this oil-rich, strategically located former Soviet republic that has been led by the same family for years, but the opposition charged widespread fraud. The ballot was closely watched for signs of improvement on flawed past elections that sparked violence and instability in a Caspian Sea nation that lies in the restive region between Russia and Iran. It was considered an uneven contest, however, given President Ilham Aliev's authoritarian rule and a pre-election police crackdown that further weakened a feeble opposition.
With votes counted from 62 percent of precincts, 65 candidates from the ruling New Azerbaijan Party were in the lead, followed by 38 independents _ who could include ruling party loyalists _ and seven opposition candidates, according to the Central Elections Commission. The U.S. government, which has a strong interest in Azerbaijan because of its key location and its role as an alternative to Middle East oil, sponsored an exit poll as a check on the official count. Its figures were expected to be released, candidate by candidate, throughout the night. A separate exit poll conducted by the Mitofsky, Edison Media and CESSI organizations showed candidates of the ruling party winning 30 of the 125 seats. Other results were incomplete. It was not clear who sponsored the poll, although opposition figures claimed it was being conducted under government auspices.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/07/2005 00:00 ||
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North Korea has accused the United States of attempting to overthrow the communist regime with a human rights law and warned of "ultra hardline" responses, a North Korean report said on Saturday. An unidentified North Korean delegate delivered the warning at a committee meeting of the UN General Assembly on Monday, according to the North's Korean Central Broadcasting Station, monitored by South Korea's Yonhap news agency.
The envoy was protesting the North Korean Human Rights Act that the US Congress enacted last year. The law allows the US administration to spend up to US$24 million a year to help improve human rights in North Korea. "The purpose of this law lies in switching the system or overthrowing the government under the cloak of promoting human rights and democracy and facilitating market economy in our country," the North's delegate was quoted as saying.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/07/2005 00:09 ||
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#1
Not another North Korean warning....? Holy Kim shi!!!
The German government has reportedly issued a warning that Iranian and Syrian weapons makers are using cutting-edge German technology poached by Russian criminals.
Berlin has circulated an alert about the scam to several German firms, Focus magazine reports in its Nov. 7 edition.
âLeading-edge (German) technology sold in a completely legal fashion to Russian enterprises and research institutes has been transmitted immediately to Iranian and Syrian workshops manufacturing missiles,â the magazine said, quoting from a warning letter to ânumerous German enterprises.â
Iran used German measuring instruments and propulsion and control systems in its Shahab-3 missile, which with its 3,500-kilometer (2,175-miles) range could strike European targets with nuclear warheads, the magazine reported.
Meanwhile, Syria exploited German technology to modernize its obsolete Scud missiles, which pose a threat to Israel.
The government warning named 15 firms or institutes in Moscow, St Petersburg and Samara, including Moscowâs State Technical University, that it says are linked to the racket.
Exportation of weapons and associated parts are subject to stringent laws in Germany, with all sales subject to government approval.
In April, three executives of a firm in Thuringia, eastern Germany, were arrested for supplying Iran with missile-launching technology, Der Spiegel magazine reported.
The German federal prosecutor said the firm in 2000 and 2001 delivered documents allowing âenemy countriesâ to develop missile-launching systems.
#1
Article: The German federal prosecutor said the firm in 2000 and 2001 delivered documents allowing âenemy countriesâ to develop missile-launching systems.
Excerpt from Paid-Only Nov-07 Wall Street Journal Article:
While gangs of disaffected youths, mostly from Muslim families, continue to rampage, burning thousands of cars and ransacking entire neighborhoods, some of these organizations are positioning themselves as mediators who can bring back the order the government has been unable to restore.
These groups don't preach violence, but they do advocate something that is troubling Europe's secular democracies: that Muslims should identify themselves with their religion rather than as citizens. Effectively, they are promoting a separate society within society and that brand of Islamist philosophy is seeping into many parts of Western Europe. Countries from France and Germany to the United Kingdom and the Netherlands haven't succeeded in integrating their Muslim minorities -- and Islamic organizations have carefully positioned themselves to fill the breach.
The riots "are a blessing for them because it gives them the role of intermediary," says Gilles Kepel, a scholar who has studied and written extensively about the rise of Islam in France. That, in turn, puts them in a stronger position "to force concessions from the state," such as demanding a repeal of the law France passed last year banning headscarves from public schools, he says.
...
As France has failed to integrate these immigrants, Islam has filled the void. In many Paris suburbs, women now wear headscarves. Those who don't are often harassed. At school, Muslim boys increasingly refuse to mix with girls during sports activities or on field trips. Hospitals are under pressure not to have male and female patients in the same wards. Such disagreements are walling off Muslims from France's staunchly secular society and creating a ripe environment for radical Islamic groups.
The violence in France is a stark reminder that reaching an accommodation with Islam is one of the Continent's most pressing problems. Low birth rates and Europe's geographic position just north of the Muslim world means that increasing numbers of its citizens will be Muslim in the future. Muslims account for an estimated 5% or more of the populations of France, the Netherlands and the U.K., and are heavily concentrated in and around big cities.
...
For the first time, on Saturday night the arson spread to Paris proper, where 35 vehicles were burned. Police found a makeshift gasoline bomb-making factory in one suburb of the capital. It was filled with 150 bottles, gallons of fuel and hoods to hide rioters' faces. More than 800 people have been arrested across France since the unrest started.
There isn't anything inherently Muslim about the violence: Islamic groups appear to have played no part in stirring up the trouble, and few rioters seem to be using Islam to justify their attacks. On the contrary, many Islamic groups say they are trying to calm things down. But the bleak projects that ring Paris and France's other big cities have long been fertile recruiting grounds for Islamic groups that preach a fundamentalist form of the religion that is often hard to square with Europe's pluralistic societies.
While their mediation seems helpful in the short-term, these Islamic organizations end up further alienating Muslim youths from mainstream society because they teach an ideology that is in conflict with France's secular ideals, says Malek Boutih, a former head of human-rights group SOS Racism. "They recruit, they teach the Quran and they try to orient everything around the mosque," says Mr. Boutih. "That's it."
That is especially true of the Tabligh group here in Clichy. Founded in India in 1927, the Tabligh sends its missionaries to Islam's troubled frontiers: Central Asia, Africa and Europe. Although it preaches a peaceful brand of Islam, some of its former members have founded terrorist groups and been expelled from countries like Kazakhstan for engaging in radicalism. French intelligence officials say up to 80% of Islamic extremists in France were once Tabligh members and have dubbed the organization the "antechamber of fundamentalism."
The group's influence has grown even as France has tried to integrate Islam by giving Muslims a political voice. In 2003, the government set up a body meant to represent the Muslim community to the state, called the French Council of the Muslim Faith, and held elections to it. The government hoped the council would be a moderating influence. Instead, it has been riven by divisions and has given official representation to some of the most radical Islamic groups in the country.
...
#2
This deserves the "Master of the Obvious" graphic.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
11/07/2005 14:26 Comments ||
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#3
As France has failed to integrate these immigrants, Islam has filled the void.
Is it the responsiblity of the host country to integrate the immigrants or do the immigrants have the responsiblity to integrate into the host country?
It appears France is paying the price for choosing the former.
Europeans expressed fears Monday of copycat outbreaks of violence among their immigrant communities as rioting and arson attacks spread in France.
Cars were set ablaze outside Brussels' main train station and in a working class district of Berlin, although officials in Belgium and Germany sought to play down the risk of the kind of violence that France has experienced since Oct. 27.
Still, officials acknowledged that poor integration and poverty posed threats.
"There are terrible living conditions and unhappiness, (even) where everybody is Italian," said Romano Prodi, the center-left's candidate to oppose Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi next spring, in a newspaper interview. Prodi said poverty, unemployment and urban decay could spark violence.
Thomas Steg, a spokesman for outgoing German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, told reporters that "the situation is not comparable."
"I think we should stay away from drawing premature analogies and making prophecies as to whether similar developments would be possible here," Steg said.
Wolfgang Schaeuble, a conservative tapped as Chancellor-designate Angela Merkel's interior minister, echoed that belief in an interview with the Bild daily newspaper.
"The conditions in France are different from the ones we have," Schaeuble said. "We don't have these gigantic high-rise projects that they have on the edges of French cities."
Schaeuble cautioned, however, that "we have to improve integration, particularly of young people. That means above all that they must master the German language."
An immigration law that took effect in January aims to integrate newcomers to Germany, making German-language and civics courses obligatory for them.
Others, however, saw the rioting in low-income Paris suburbs as evidence that European immigration policies don't work.
Heinz-Christian Strache, leader of Austria's rightist, xenophobic Freedom Party, called on Austrian leaders to stop immigration and implement integration measures that would prevent "French conditions" from emerging in his country.
The Swedish tabloid Expressen said in an editorial that the trouble in Paris is of an "all-European relevance."
"We have difficulties accepting that people come to us from far away," the tabloid said. "It is like the humble staff at a luxury hotel would suddenly take up quarters with their richest habitues. They should know their places, a dark undercurrent in the collective European consciousness says."
Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan said France had ignored Ankara's calls for more tolerance, arguing that France's ban on head scarves in public schools triggered the riots.
"We've always told our friends in Europe that they should not lead to a clash of civilizations in order to prevent such incidents," daily Hurriyet quoted Erdogan as saying during a visit Sunday to Germany.
"We should work for an alliance between civilizations. There is a great duty which falls on the Christian and Muslim world. Europe should have evaluated this," Erdogan said. "We said it. But France did not take it into account. It did not listen to us."
Abdelkarim Carrasco, a leader of Spain's estimated 1 million-member Muslim community, said he does not see his country at risk of suffering the same kind of violence, because the proportion of poor North African Muslims is much smaller.
But he said the French experience posed a key test for Europe in general.
"Either Europe develops and supports the idea of a mixed culture, or Europe has no future," he said. "Europe has to learn from what the United States has done. It is a country that has taken in people from all over the world."
#2
"Either Europe develops and supports the idea of a mixed culture, or Europe has no future," he said. "Europe has to learn from what the United States has done. It is a country that has taken in people from all over the world."
#7
1. poverty - France almost certainly needs more capitalism - but that doesnt mean they will have to undo the welfare state - France has many statists policies that restrict business, that could be liberalized, while leaving core social welfare programs intact. IE they could move in the direction of Britain, which still has a pretty full welfare state, at least by American standards, but a much more free market economy - and lower unemployment than France.
2. There does seem to be real racism in France, that keeps folks in the Cites from getting jobs that are available - they really are decades behind us, despite their "liberal" rhetoric.
3. It would be hard to argue against limiting further immigration while this gets sorted out.
4. Yes TW, some folks are capable of seeing what the US has accomplished.
5. The Austrian Freedom party are a bunch of racist, antisemitic jerks.
6. Order must be restored - not just in the short term, but a general crackdown on crime. In the US this was done, while police brutality was limited using civilian review boards - im not sure that would work in the centralized French state.
#8
France has many statists policies that restrict business, that could be liberalized
Why does the word 'liberalized' seem so wrong when talking about a socialist system needing to be moved to capitalism? Here I was under the false impression that socialism was liberalizing laissez-faire capitalism? And just as confusing is that laissez-faire should be french.
#9
I have a feeling that these rioting bastards are no more traditional Jihadinutz than any of us here. As the Fr Interior Minister says, they are just "thugs". They aren't putting themselves up to meet 72 sweeties in angel-land. So, France needs to reinstitute the death penalty, and any rioter that kills someone, meets Mr Guillotine, and his severed head is mounted on the top of a lamppost for all to see.
Posted by: Bush Mckenzie ||
11/07/2005 17:33 Comments ||
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#11
They may be incited by a shadowy Imam in some sleazy mosque im ile-de-whatsitsname, but many (not all) of the trash and burn types themselves are just out for a "hot" time in the old town tonite, and scaring ther poop out of the people not looking for the same...
#12
"That means above all that they must master the German language."
No, I would say allegiance to the host nation, documented in no matter what language, would be the place to start. A few classes about respecting German society, a vow of non-violence before the court, a few tests to see whether you "get" democracy-that's where you start. Then German language and a policy of no free rides. When you do this, you enter a new life. Enjoy it.
And as was speculated on Rantburg so many years ago:
There are an amazing number of French fingerprints all over the Plame-Wilson affair. While it is not easy to penetrate the dark fog of lies, there is a highly consistent pattern pointing to French government involvement with a Watergate-style assault on the American Presidency, fronted by Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV.
In 2002 French intelligence forged the notorious document claiming that Saddam tried to obtain Niger uranium. The Italian middle man,Rocco Martino, later confessed to French involvement in open court. Rocco Martino might sound like a small-time mafia hood from the Sopranos. Actually, he works at times for Italian military intelligence. The truth about the French connection came out when Martino confessed in court that the French had given him the forged document to peddle to various intelligence agencies. The Italians and French have had a furious war of words ever since then about who was responsible for the forgery.
Posted by: bk ||
11/07/2005 11:41 Comments ||
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#2
a Watergate-style assault on the American Presidency
Wrong image. Watergate was entirely Nixon's people shooting themselves in the foot (feet?). Under normal circumstances, this could well be considered an act of war on the part of Chirac's government.
#4
I e-mailed my Senator yesterday, citing questions about Wilson and Plame, and suggesting an investigation of that side of the scandal.
Wade thru -http://www.townhall.com/action/contact_congress.html and you, too, can complain to your Senator - or anyone else in Congress!
Posted by: Bobby ||
11/07/2005 13:04 Comments ||
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#5
The specifics of Joe Wilsons little excursion are so far outside the norms of CIA excurions, that the whole affair stinks of pre-planned mischief.
Does Fitzgerald have the balls to drag Wilson and Plame in for a going over ? What about the lie detector ? Or, is Fitz in on the scam ?
#6
Fitzgerald may not but Scooter Libby's attornies may. That's the nice thing about the adversarial system that the Brits will give up when they join the EU. Kiss presumption of innocience and your own defence attorney good bye.
I wondered whether any Europeans other than Muslims would begin demanding that their religious beliefs be respected.
Opposition to the poster advertising the play 'Our Sweet Lady of Flanders' is gathering strength, attracting now the wrath of the extreme right Flemish Interest.
The party is accusing Ghent theatre society Union Suspecte and the Royal Flemish Theatre of deliberately provoking thousands of Flemish people. The poster advertising the show depicts a veiled Madonna with child in arms and a naked breast. "By ridiculing the veneration of the Blessed Virgin in Flanders, the deepest emotions of both Flemish families and Catholics are being hit," Flemish Interest MP Francis van den Eynde said.
The first showing of the play in Brussels sparked a protest by the group Belgium and Christendom â and in its shadow the Francophone extreme-right movement Nation on 30 October. The groups claim the poster of Our Sweet Lady is blasphemous.
Some 100 protestors gathered at the initiative of Belgium and Christendom, a group that works to gain respect for the Jewish-Christian movement. Flags of the right-wing Nation groups were also seen among the protest.
The call to protest outside the Royal Flemish Theatre in Brussels was issued by Paul Belien â husband of the Flemish Interest's Alexandra Colen, who is well known for her conservative views. The Flemish Interest has now taken up the protest officially, with Van den Eynde writing a letter to all playhouses and cultural centres who have scheduled the play "to strongly protest" against these sorts "insults".
"I don't ask for this to be banned, but I have been spoken to by so many of my voters that I had to respond. Politicians must dare to complain about something like this," said Van den Eynde. "The mother-like figure that Flemish people see in Our Sweet Lady deserves much better. This group of people has already in the past tried to insult Flemish nationalists with the play 'The Lion of Flanders' and now go a step further. You can't do that."
However, Christian Democrat CD&V party chair Jo Vandeurzen pointed out there are differences in taste and that politics should not interfere with the cultural sector. "The Flemish Interest can evidently not refrain from doing so. That tends towards censorship," Vandeurzen said.
NOUVELOB translator
" We hope that the French government will respect the rights of his(her) people and will answer his(her) demands peacefully, and that we shall not attend the violation of human rights in this country ", declared the spokesman of the Foreign Ministry, Hamid Reza Assefi, in front of the press.
He declared that Iran was "worried" about the situation in France and added that " the French government and the police had to treat(handle) their minorities respectfully ".
Iran, regularly pointed by the international community for the violations of human rights and minorities, answers constantly by calling upon those whose victims are in West the Moslem populations.
#6
Well, frankly, I don't see where's the problem??
Your point is?
You've already got Algeria insulting France repeatedly, comparing her to nazi germany, telling how Algeria was much more developped than France when the second colonized the first and blaming its backwardness on her, or asking for her legistators to change her laws to suit the fln *butchers* still in power in Algiers... and after all that, you've got the Shiraq gvt groveling in front of them, being spat on with a smile, all this because Shiraq want to sign his "treaty of friendship" with Algeria, his last Grand Project.
You've got Djibouti, who goes around *killing* french judges (judge Borrel) and getting away with it, again with Shiraq's approval, just because there is a 3000 men french base in there and France wants to be friend with Djibouti.
You've got Ivory Coast getting away with expelling 8000 french, depriving them of their property, and raping more than a few wimmin in the process (but then again, France didn't protest when two french female soldiers were gangraped, and even hid the fact with the help of french msm, why should she act otherwise for a few civilians?)... and of course note that despite what was told the french expats aren't getting any help from the State (they perhaps should burn a few cars?).
Frankly, this utterly hypocrital advice (threat) from the MM is just the icing on the cake; lecturing France is the laughing stock of the world, with her failed social model, her rotten-to the core 5th Republic, her oligarchy of civil servants who seized powers years ago,... bah!
France :
- statist since 1945 and the pact between communists (who to this day own public sector and education) and the gaullists;
- progressive since the 60's;
- technocratic since 1974;
- immigrationnist since the 1976 law on family reunion of the migrants (ordered by, you guessed it, Jacques Shiraq) who transformed a work immigration into an uncontrolled settlement immigration;
- socialist (in one form or another, since the "right" carries the same policies as the left) since 1981;
- globalist since 1993;
- multiculturalist since 2002.
For more than a year, former Marine Staff Sgt. Jimmy Massey has been telling anybody who will listen about the atrocities that he and other Marines committed in Iraq. In scores of newspaper, magazine and broadcast stories, at a Canadian immigration hearing and in numerous speeches across the country, Massey has told how he and other Marines recklessly, sometimes intentionally, killed dozens of innocent Iraqi civilians. Among his claims:
Marines fired on and killed peaceful Iraqi protesters.
Americans shot a 4-year-old Iraqi girl in the head.
A tractor-trailer was filled with the bodies of civilian men, women and children killed by American artillery.
Massey's claims have gained him celebrity. Last month, Massey's book, "Kill, Kill, Kill," was released in France. His allegations have been reported in nationwide publications such as Vanity Fair and USA Today, as well as numerous broadcast reports. Earlier this year, he joined the anti-war bus tour of Cindy Sheehan, and he's spoken at Cornell and Syracuse universities, among others.
News organizations worldwide published or broadcast Massey's claims without any corroboration and in most cases without investigation. Outside of the Marines, almost no one has seriously questioned whether Massey, a 12-year veteran who was honorably discharged, was telling the truth. He wasn't.
Each of his claims is either demonstrably false or exaggerated - according to his fellow Marines, Massey's own admissions, and the five journalists who were embedded with Massey's unit, including a reporter and photographer from the Post-Dispatch and reporters from The Associated Press and The Wall Street Journal.
Massey, 34, of Waynesville, N.C., was with the 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines based out of Twentynine Palms, Calif. The unit went to the Middle East in January 2003 and participated in the U.S. invasion of Iraq in March of that year. Massey was discharged in December 2003, shortly after returning from Iraq due to depression and post-traumatic stress syndrome. He began turning up in the press and on broadcasts last spring with stories about military atrocities.
Massey's primary thrust has been that Marines from his battalion - some of whom, he told a Minneapolis audience, were "psychopathic killers" - recklessly shot and killed Iraqi civilians, sometimes, he said, upon orders from their commanders. During a hearing in Canada, Massey said, "We deliberately gunned down people who were civilians." The Marine Corps investigated Massey's claims and said they were "unsubstantiated."
From the beginning, Massey misled reporters. In early interviews, he told how he had lost his job at a furniture store because of his anti-war activities. But when asked about the incident in an interview Oct. 19 with the Post-Dispatch, Massey said he had quit his job but
never had felt pressure to leave. "I left on good terms," he said. He also backtracked from allegations he made in a May 2004 radio interview and elsewhere that he had seen a tractor-trailer filled with the bodies of Iraqi civilians when Marines entered an Iraqi military prison outside Baghdad. He said the Iraqis had been killed by American artillery. He told listeners that the scene was so bad "that the plasma from the body and skin was decomposing and literally oozing out of the crevices of the tractor-trailer bed."
He repeated the story in the Post-Dispatch interview. But when told that the newspaper's photographs and eyewitness reports had identified the trailer contents as all men, mostly in uniform, Massey admitted that he had never seen the bodies. Instead, he said, he received his information from "intelligence reports." When asked if those reports were official documents, he answered, "No, that's what the other Marines told me."
The details of Massey's stories changed repeatedly. For example, he almost always told his audiences and interviewers of an event he said he'd never forget: Marines in his unit shooting four civilian Iraqis in a red Kia automobile.
No doubt it was "seared into his brain"
In some accounts, Massey said Marines fired at the vehicle after it failed to stop at a checkpoint. In another version, he said the Marines stormed the car. Sometimes he said three of the men were killed immediately while the fourth was wounded and covered in blood; sometimes he said the fourth man was "miraculously unscathed."
Sometimes he said the Marines left the three men on the side of the road to die without medical treatment while the fourth man exclaimed: "Why did you shoot my brother?" In other versions, he said the man made the statement as medical personnel were attempting to treat the three other men, or as the survivor sat near the car, or to Massey personally. There is no evidence that any of the versions occurred.
In another story that Massey often tells, he and other Marines in his platoon fired upon a group of innocent demonstrators shortly after they arrived in Baghdad. Massey said that the demonstrators were protesting the Marines' presence, holding signs in English and Arabic. The Marines heard a shot, Massey said, and in panic began firing into the demonstrators. In some versions, the demonstrators were near a checkpoint. In other versions, they were outside a prison on a road about 200 meters away, or anywhere from 5 to 15 miles from Baghdad International Airport.
Massey told a version of the story before an immigration hearing in December in support of an American soldier trying to flee to Canada. Then, Massey said he and the Marines killed four of the demonstrators. In other interviews, he said the Marines shot at 10 demonstrators and killed all of them but one, whom he let crawl away. In interviews with more than a dozen Marines and journalists who were in the military complex that morning, none can recall such an incident.
They say that during the first week to two weeks inside Baghdad, they never saw any protesters. Ron Haviv, an independent photographer embedded with the unit, said he never saw any protesters or demonstrators, with or without signs. "Basically, the only people who were on the streets in the first week were there to loot," said Haviv, who has covered conflicts across the globe, including the first Gulf War, Haiti, Yugoslavia and Russia. Lt. Kevin Shea, the commander of Massey's platoon, recalls that on the morning after they arrived, about 20 Iraqis from a nearby community did approach the Marines to ask what was happening. Shea said that he had explained what the Marines were doing and that the Iraqis had gone back to their homes.
The Marine Corps readily admits that some of its men shot civilians, but not intentionally, they said. The Post-Dispatch reported on the second day of the war that Marines in one battalion had mistakenly shot and killed members of a British-based television network while shooting at Iraqi attackers. When Marines moved into Baghdad a month later, the Post-Dispatch reported two separate automobile-related incidents in which Marines from Massey's battalion inadvertently shot and wounded 12 civilians. All of the passengers survived after treatment by medical personnel.
In a fourth incident, Maj. Dan Schmitt said, Marines shot "what we believe to be a non-combatant" because when the Marines raised their arms in a signal to stop, the vehicle continued moving quickly at them. An Iraqi doctor who helped treat the wounded passengers told them that they needed to use another hand signal because they one they were using indicated solidarity, not stop. But none of the five journalists who covered the battalion said they saw reckless or indiscriminate shooting of civilians by Marines, as Massey has claimed. Nor did any of the Marines or Navy corpsmen who served with Massey and were interviewed for this story.
One of the checkpoint shootings is apparently the basis for one of most poignant recollections claimed by Massey in numerous speeches and interviews: The shooting of a 4-year-old girl in the head. While touring with Sheehan in Montgomery, Ala., he told of seeing the girl's body. "You can't take it back," he said, according to the local newspaper. But in the interview with the Post-Dispatch, Massey admitted that he never had seen the girl. "Lima Company was involved in a shooting at a checkpoint," he said. "My platoon was ordered to another area before the victims were removed from the car. The other Marines told me that a 4-year-old girl had killed."
No 4-year-old died in the incident or was even wounded, according to witnesses including a Post-Dispatch photographer at the scene who filed photos of the incident that were published in the newspaper. Two women and two girls were in the car that the Marines shot when it failed to stop at a checkpoint and continued to approach the Marines at high speed, said Maj. George Schreffler, then the commanding officer of Lima Company. Schreffler was there at the time. Petty Officer Justin Purviance, who treated them, said the two women were wounded but survived. The girls were unharmed, he said.
In other speeches, Massey has said he personally shot a 6-year-old child. In some versions, the child was a boy; at other times, a girl. "How is a 6-year-old child with a bullet in his head a terrorist, because that is the youngest I killed," Massey told a Cornell University audience in March. In a speech in April in Springfield, Vt., he said: "That's war: a 6-year-old girl with a bullet hole in her head at an American checkpoint."
In a speech in Syracuse in March, the Post Standard newspaper quoted him as saying, "The reason the Marines teach you discipline . . . is so that you can confront the enemy and kill him. . . . Or so you can put a bullet into a 6-year-old, which is what I did. " In the interview with the Post-Dispatch, Massey said he never personally had shot a child. "I meant that's what my unit did," he said. He could not provide details. Nor could he name any Marine who could corroborate any of his stories. "Admitting guilt is a hard thing to do," he said.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/07/2005 09:21 ||
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"Admitting guilt is a hard thing to do," he said.
#2
They should put him on trial for war crimes. Get him on the stand, and make him repeat his claims. If he recants he's shown to be a liar and a phoney. If he admits it we lock him away and show the US takes war crimes seriously. Win/win.
#4
Amazing. Taken together with the R.F.S.P. article we see the evolution of our society. Once, we had the occasional successful looney, such as Emperor Norton - tolerated for a lark. Now we have built such a safe society, requiring less an less of our citizens, that now there is a large tumor of insane people. Tolerated insane people. Celebrated insane people. Massey, Sheehan, and many more. The bulge of this mass is so large that they even have their own parasites, Chomsky, Moore, etc. We've even evolved insane parasites - insane people who prey upon insane people, such as Pelosi, Kennedy, Farrakhan, etc. Must come from eating your own young.
On the short debate regards legalizing drugs yesterday, I almost posted my idea... wire-heading. We know how and where to set implants that allow animals to buzz themselves into bliss. That strikes me as a far better solution to the escapists who take and crave drugs. Offer them a taste - they'll never go back to inefficient heroin or coke. We can directly stimulate them into Nirvana. Just a simple medical procedure and a little juice, no Mafia or Drug Cartels needed. Dr FeelGood and Reddy Kilowatt.
I'd vote for a program that offered to anyone who wanted to be set up with their wire-head system, free food and housing, simple flowing robe and a bathroom. It would attract many. Hotel California, perhaps - since my only stipulation, in print so fine they are never aware of it, is that they can never leave. When our unproductive drones have been lured in, no longer fucking up our system by doing things they're demonstrably unqualified to do, such as voting, we up the juice until they...
#5
Mouse experiments (or perhaps it was rats?) demonstrated that wireheads would forego food and water to continue self-stimulating. Hotel California management would need to arrange IVs for sustenance and hydration, whatever is the usual for taking away waste at the other end, and the occasional hose down to keep the cells from stinking to high heaven... unless you want to allow the inmates to take the express train to permanent Nirvana (which would allow for lower overhead as the inmate turnover would be much quicker).
Word out of the Senate is that some Republicans are looking to Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman, Sen. Pat Roberts, to open a full investigation into the leak by CIA staffers of so-called "black sites" overseas. These facilities house captured al Qaeda and other terrorists, and are maintained by the CIA.
The Washington Post reported on the sites, using information gathered from sources inside the CIA, both the House and Senate Intelligence Committees, and the group, Human Rights Watch, which, according to an HRW source, has been getting inside information from Democratic staff on both House and Senate Committees. Although Post withheld the locations of specific "black sites," the London Times quickly followed up. Citing the human rights group as a source, it identified not only the nations where they might be located -- both of which are staunch allies in America's War on Terrorism -- but also the flight plans used by the CIA to transport the prisoners.
"This leak not only put CIA operatives at risk by identifying the locations, including ones that are supposedly no longer being used, it put our national security at risk here at home and put civilian lives in the countries that are helping us at risk. Weigh this leak against the one Democrats are all hopped up about and there is no comparison," says a Republican staffer for a Senator considering making a formal request for the investigation.
The "black site" revelations once again also put a focus on CIA employees detailed to both the personal staffs of U.S Senators, but also the Intelligence Committees. Some Republicans believe these detailees might have been sources for the information obtained by the Post and Human Rights Watch.
"This is a very serious matter," says another Senate leadership aide. "Democrats should be looking to join us in this investigation, but they won't because they know where it will end: their side of the aisle."
Posted by: Steve ||
11/07/2005 14:50 ||
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Hang 'em all. Fire everyone else and rebuild the CIA, without the asshat administrators that are there now.
#2
the group, Human Rights Watch, which, according to an HRW source, has been getting inside information from Democratic staff on both House and Senate Committees.
Which means there will be almost no chance of a trial for those involved. At most, we'll see them temporarily suspended and handed over to Hollywood to manage their careers until it's seemly to bring them back into politics.
(See also Berger, Sandy.)
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
11/07/2005 15:43 Comments ||
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This kind of thing does not seem below the ethics of Senator Levins' staff. Exposing them is one thing assigning accountability is much more difficult.
The head of civil rights for the US Department of Homeland Security is urging Muslim air travellers to register with the federal government before flying to reduce the chances they might be stopped at an airport because their name is on or similar to names on an anti-terrorism watch list. Registering by completing a form and providing copies of documents will not completely eliminate the chance that a Muslim traveller will be singled out for closer scrutiny before or after flying, but the department wants to improve its relations with Muslims and Arab-Americans, said Daniel Sutherland.
âWe need to listen to their concerns,â he said at the seminar on Homeland Security sponsored by the Knight Centre for Specialised Journalism. âWe need to build a level of commitment and trust thatâs unprecedented in our nationâs history, not an âus-versus-themâ perception in the community.â One way to do that is by having Muslim and Arab-American travellers complete the form on the webpage of the Transportation Security Administration, a division of Homeland Security responsible for protecting mass transit systems including airports.
The two-page âPassenger Identity Verification Formâ asks for personal information including name, address, birth date, height, weight, eye and hair colour, and requires copies of three of the following documents: passport, visa, birth certificate, naturalisation certificate, voter registration card, government identity card or military identity card. Once completed, the Homeland Security department shares the information with airlines, who then are able to compare it against security lists that might otherwise red-flag a passenger. The goal is to distinguish a traveller from people whose names - or close variations thereof - appear on US no-fly lists compiled by intelligence and law enforcement agencies. It does not remove a name from the list, but seeks to differentiate between a person of interest and someone who has no connection with them.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/07/2005 00:00 ||
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Registering by completing a form and taking this capsule, providing copies of documents will not completely eliminate the chance that a Muslim traveller will be singled out for closer scrutiny before or after flying, but the department wants to improve its relations with Muslims and Arab-Americans, said
#4
Business class commerical airline seats are too small and intravenous Chevas Regal feeding tubes are not permitted. He's never stoop to traveling with the masses anyway.
#5
..but the department wants to improve its relations with Muslims and Arab-Americans, said Daniel Sutherland.
A word of advice: DHS' job is not to "improve relations with Muslims and Arab-Americans". Its job is to protect us all regardless of who or what we are, and if that involves closer scrutiny of certain groups/individuals, then that's how it has to be. Anyone in the government that has a problem with that needs to find other employment, preferably non-governmental.
#6
#5: ..but the department wants to improve its relations with Muslims and Arab-Americans, said Daniel Sutherland.
Why? Does DHS and TSA fear a labor strike? Ahhh, the following explains it....enough said.
At the U.S. Department of Education, Mr. Sutherland provided legal and policy advice on issues such as racial preferences in postsecondary education, the development of race-neutral approaches to diversity, disability law and the harassment of Arab-Americans. He also served as the Chief of Staff, helping to manage the operations of one of the largest civil rights offices in the federal government.
#9
And of course only law abiding muslims will complete the paperwork; terrorists or other ne'er-do-wells would NEVER, EVER think to do the same and thus avoid suspiscion. Another dumb idea. i spent 9 long months (post 9/11, laid off from an aerospace company) working for the TSA, until I found a real job. What a cesspool. And as the economy improved, those that had any ambition moved on, leaving only the drones.
UNITED NATIONS: The UN General Assembly approved a Pakistan-sponsored resolution on Sunday calling on governments to promote religious and cultural understanding, harmony and cooperation.
Yep. That oughta take care of that little problem...
The text, introduced by Pakistanâs delegate Riaz Khokhar, was adopted by consensus. The resolution acknowledges the âvaluable contributionâ of various initiatives - including Pakistanâs enlightened moderation - as a strategy to promote peace and harmony. By its terms, the 191-member Assembly expressed alarm that serious instances of intolerance and discrimination on grounds of religion or belief, including acts of violence, intimidation and coercion motivated by religious intolerance, are on the increase worldwide and threaten the enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms.
Most of them, coincidentally, occur on Islam's bloody border. But we won't go into that...
In that connection, the Assembly encouraged governments to promote, including through education as well as the development of progressive curricula and text books, understanding, tolerance and friendship among human beings in all their diversity of religion, belief, culture and language.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/07/2005 00:00 ||
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well! Thank goodness that's taken care of, what's for lunch?
#2
the 191-member Assembly expressed alarm that serious instances of intolerance and discrimination on grounds of religion or belief, including acts of violence, intimidation and coercion motivated by religious intolerance, are on the increase worldwide and threaten the enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms.
What a scoop! Wonder what else they accomplished last week?
#7
CF: Unfortunately, the UN is beyond parody. Given the reality of the UN's Human Rights Commission and other efforts, you can't make this stuff up - they beat you to it.
EFL and new stuffU.S.-led offensives in western Iraq have helped lead to a 50% drop in the number of foreign fighters slipping across the Syrian border, a U.S. general said. "Clearly, the effect we're most concerned about is foreigners coming and murdering other Iraqis and attacking coalition and Iraqi forces," said Lt. Gen. John Vines, commander of multinational ground forces in Iraq. "Indicators are that a significantly reduced number of them are entering the country."
Over the weekend, 3,500 troops, including 1,000 Iraqi soldiers, launched the latest offensive aimed at disrupting the supply line that brings foreign fighters from the Syrian border along a string of Euphrates River towns into central Iraq.
Maj. Angela Hildebrant, a military spokeswoman, said the U.S. military estimates the number of foreign fighters by counting the number of foreigners killed in suicide attacks or captured by coalition forces in Iraq.
Only 3.5% of the 13,885 detainees held by U.S. forces in Iraq are foreigners, but they are often behind the deadliest suicide bombings and provide financing and organization to Iraq's insurgency.
"We know we'll be successful with this operation," Marine Col. Stephen Davis said just before Operation Steel Curtain was launched. "The only question is the price we'll pay." Vines cautioned that the number of fighters crossing the border "ebbs and flows," and the latest good news may not signal a trend. Just in case you thought USA Today was printing a feel-good story.
There aren't enough U.S. troops to leave behind after every offensive, but the number of capable Iraqi forces is growing, the U.S. military says. Iraq troops will be left behind after U.S. forces complete the latest offensive and return to their bases. A permanent presence "is required ... to ensure the enemy does not become active in that area again," said Lt. Col. Russell Smith, Iraqi security forces coordinator for the 2nd Marine Division.
The Marines have also taken an unorthodox approach in training local forces in the western desert. They created a force of clans and tribesmen called the Desert Protection Force. The tribesmen are integrated into Iraqi army units and work as scouts and reconnaissance teams. "The Desert Protectors are tribesmen who know their areas like the back of their hand, and know where the foreign fighters and terrorists are and know who they are," Smith said.
Syrian blather deleted. But Vines said other Muslim countries have cracked down on networks within their borders that are sending fighters to Iraq. The crackdowns have, together with military offensives near the border, reduced the number of foreign fighters infiltrating Iraq.
"Countries in the region recognize that there is nothing honorable in coming to Iraq and blowing up fellow Muslims or innocent men, women and children going to a mosque," Vines said. "There is action being taken."
He did not name countries, but neighboring Saudi Arabia has clamped down on extremist clerics who encouraged followers to fight a holy war in Iraq, according to a recent study by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. The Saudi government has also interrogated dozens of nationals either returning from Iraq or caught at the border in a massive crackdown on Saudi militants, the study said.
Security agents in Jordan, which shares a border with Iraq, have intercepted suspected militants shuttling among Syria, Jordan and Iraq.
Posted by: Bobby ||
11/07/2005 15:36 ||
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50% reduction in entries is deceptive. It does not take into account the disruptions made in their pipeline, that has really eaten into their numbers. On top of that, fewer and fewer have a "lifespan" in Iraq, being ratted out by Iraqis, killed or captured.
The real figure of moment would be how many new fighters that enter the country are still there 1 week later, and 1 month later.
November 7, 2005: One of several terrorist groups active in Iraq is the Jasyh Taifa al Mansura or âVictorious Sectâ (VS) The group was among the first to publicly claim responsibility for attacks on Coaltion forces after the occupation of Iraq in the Spring of 2003. Since then, the VS claims to have conducted liberally hundreds of attacks against coalition forces, several score just in the past six months or so. But Iraqi and Coalition security and intelligence personnel can with certainty only attribute a handful of attacks to the group, which operations in Northern Babil and parts of Baghdad. Moreover, although the VS claims to have five âbrigadesâ operational, even its size is uncertain, as are its ties to other groups. Although pro-VS websites claim links to Al-Qaeda, and some supporters of Al-Qaeda claim there are such ties, other spokesmen claim the group has no ties to the Bin Ladin organization, perhaps a bit of disinformation or perhaps a reflection of confusion in the extremely âflatâ world of Islamist terror organizations.
Despite its unusually shady character, VS does well in grabbing headlines. On at least two occasions (in March of 2004 and September of 2005) it declared that it had planted âchemical and biological weaponsâ in various sites across the country, ready to be used against Iraqi and Coalition military and security forces, though no such weapons have been found. VS has even claimed to have actually used chemical weapons, most recently in an attack on an Interior Ministry building in northern city of Tal Afar early in September, though no evidence of the use of chemicals has been found.
So what is VS? Some analysts believe itâs a real terrorist group with a penchant for inflating its successes by claiming âresponsibilityâ for attacks perpetrated by others, some that itâs a one of several âfrontsâ behind which more substantial groups can operate, adopting various guises to throw off Iraqi and Coalition intelligence services, or perhaps an âumbrellaâ group, under the aegis of which several of the 35 or so terrorist groups active in Iraq and cooperate.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/07/2005 08:49 ||
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JERUSALEM â The United States has re-admitted Israel to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter programme after the two allies resolved a dispute over Israeli arms exports to China, Israelâs defence minister said yesterday.
Citing concern for Taiwanâs security, the Pentagon curbed the Israeli role in the JSF earlier this year. The move threatened the Jewish stateâs place among partner nations in the biggest warplane programme ever, who could have first right to buy the fighter-bomber jets due out next decade.
âIsrael is continuing to be involved in the JSF project as an esteemed and important partner,â Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz told Israel Radio following fence-mending talks in Washington.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/07/2005 00:22 ||
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Gotta get them up to snuff for that big raid on Iran...
November 7, 2005: Singapore will buy 2 Swedish A-17 Vastergotland submarines, which are expected to enter service starting in 2010, replacing some of current Challenger-class submarines. This fits into Singapore's traditional method of acquiring new capabilities, where old refurbished platforms are first purchased to gain operational experience before newer weapons systems are acquired. In 1995, Singapore purchased 4 A-11 Challenger Class (ex-Sjöbjörnen Class), the first of which was launched in 1968. The Challenger Class were not only refitted for tropical conditions, but also received weapons system and sensor upgrades. These submarines performed very well in exercises against US Navy and Royal Australian Navy units, proving that these old boats, when handled well in littoral conditions, are quiet and maneuverable subs that are able to give a pretty good account of themselves.
Of the 4 submarines in the Vastergotland class that Sweden built between 1987 and 1990, the first two boats, the HMS HMS Vastergotland and HMS Halsingland were taken out of Royal Swedish Navy active service in 2004, while the other two, the HMS Sodermanland and HMS Ostergotland, received such significant upgrades in 2003-2004 that they are considered a new class.
In particular, apart from weapons system and stealth system improvements, these boats received a 12 metre (36 foot) hull extension in order to use the Stirling Air Independent Propulsion System, making them, along with the 3 submarines of the follow on A-19 Gotland Class, probably the quietest and most advanced conventional submarines currently in operational service the world. The Stirling AIP system is a propulsion system that uses diesel fuel and Liquid Oxygen in a closed system, and greatly increases a conventional submarine's submerged endurance. With AIP systems, conventional submarines can go for weeks without having to surface or snorkel in order to recharge their batteries.
Singapore has purchased the deactivated HMS Vastergotland and HMS Halsingland, and it is more than likely that part of the upgrades that these boats will receive will include the Stirling AIP hull extension, making them virtually identical to the Sodermanland Class. This means that by 2010, the RSN will be operating two of the quietest and most lethal conventional submarines in the world, and probably at a pretty good price - definitely below the cost of a new Gotland sub, which has been suggested at $100 million each, while the German U-212 Class has been estimated at $250 million a copy.
Just how lethal will these subs be? Well, take into consideration that the state-of-the-art Gotland Class, which is essentially an improved Vastergotland Class with the Stirling AIP system incorporated from the beginning, is considered so quiet and so deadly that the USN has leased the HMS Gotland for a year in order to practice and develop its ASW tactics against a first class opponent.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/07/2005 09:00 ||
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Singapore will buy 2 Swedish A-17 Vastergotland submarines, which are expected to enter service starting in 2010, replacing some of current Challenger-class submarines.
Wonder if the Canadians are still in the market for a couple of operational subs?
Reports of the escape of Omar al-Farouq, a suspected al-Qaeda leader, from a U.S.-run detention facility in Afghanistan have created confusion and suspicion among some Muslim leaders here.
Zaenal Ma'arif, deputy speaker of the House of Representatives who hails from the Islamic-based Star Reform Party (PBR), was baffled as to how al-Farouq, who was captured in Indonesia in 2002 and subsequently handed over to the U.S. authorities, had escaped.
He suspected that "a certain group" with interests in Southeast Asia had arranged for the escape of al-Farouq in a bid to give power to terrorism in the region.
He declined to name the group.
"It is possible that there is a bigger scenario since Osama bin Laden is not that influential anymore," Zaenal said over the weekend, referring to the al-Qaeda terror network leader who remains at large.
He even said that the recent beheadings of three Christian schoolgirls in religiously divided Poso, Central Sulawesi was also arranged by the group to create security instability in Indonesia.
Zaenal urged the government to actively seeks explanations from the U.S. government on the escape of al-Farouq, believed to be the lieutenant of bin Laden and leader of al-Qaeda's Southeast Asia operation.
Al-Farouq was one of four suspected Arab terrorists to escape from the heavily fortified detention facility inside a U.S. base in Bagram, Afghanistan, in July.
Although the escape was widely reported at the time, al-Farouq was identified by an alias and the U.S. military only confirmed last week that he was among those who fled. The identity of the two other al-Qaeda leaders as well as a fourth man who escaped with them has not been revealed.
In response to the escape, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said last week that the government would increase security measures at home to prevent new terror attacks.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs acknowledged that it had yet to receive official notification from the U.S. government over al-Farouq's escape.
"There is no official notification yet from the U.S. to Indonesia via the ministry," said spokesman Yuri O. Thamrin as quoted by Antara on Saturday.
He added that the Indonesian Embassy in Afghanistan was in the process of seeking more information on the escape. He declined to provide further details.
Meanwhile, the Indonesian Mujahidin Council (MMI) suspected that the escape of al-Farouq was arranged by the U.S. and Australian governments to maintain the terror issue in Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim country.
MMI spokesman Fauzan Al Anshori was quoted by Antara as saying that al-Farouq's escape could later be connected with Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, the leader of MMI, who is now imprisoned for his role in the 2002 Bali bombings, but is scheduled to be set free in June of 2006.
"We suspect there will be new stories to delay the release of Ba'asyir," Fauzan said.
Chairman of the Indonesian Muslim Brotherhood Movement (GPMI) Ahmad Sumargono said Indonesia must be alert to the possibility that the escape of al-Farouq was a political ploy.
"We must be alert. There is a possibility that this is an international conspiracy to keep terrorism alive in Indonesia," the former lawmaker told Antara.
Beirut, 7 Nov. (AKI) - Leaders of the various Palestinian factions present in Lebanon were meeting in Sidon on Monday to consider the delicate question of disarming militias inside and outside refugee camps. Taking part are the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and the Alliance of Palestinian Forces (AFP), a coalition made up of resistance groups that in the past opposed the policies of the PLO. The meeting comes on the eve of the arrival in Beirut of Abbas Zaki, the Palestinian Authority's representative for refugees in Lebanon.
The United Nations special envoy to Lebanon, Terje Roed-Larsen said last week that the disbanding of militias was one of the next priorities in Lebanon, to complete compliance of UN Security Council Resolution 1559. The resolution calls for the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Lebanon, the holding of free elections, disbanding all militias, and extending government control over the whole country.
"We are encouraging the government of Lebanon to set up a mechanism with the different Palestinian groups to resolve the issue of disbanding them and disarming them," Roed-Larsen added.
"Dialogue with the Lebanese government must be free of pre-conditions," Sultan Abu al-Aynayn Fatah's representative in Lebanon said prior to Monday's talks. He was responding to declarations by the commander of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (FPLP-GC), Ahmad Jibril, who had said "there can be no brotherly dialogue with the authorities of Beirut while the Lebanese army continues to besiege our bases."
"It's like they think it's their country or something!"
Jibril had criticised the security measures around FPLP-GC camps, ordered over recent weeks by prime minister Fuad Siniora to prevent militias carrying or displaying arms outside the camps.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/07/2005 11:35 ||
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Italy said Sunday that Iran was isolating itself with its call for the destruction of Israel â the latest retort reflecting increasing diplomatic tensions between the two countries. "No one wants to isolate Iran," Italy's Foreign Ministry said. "On the contrary we all hope that Tehran, adopting responsible conduct, wants to play a role of stabilization in its region, but it is Iran which inevitably isolates itself the moment it denies the right to exist to another state and other people."
The statement came in response to Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi's criticism of Italian Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini. Asefi criticized Fini for calling on the international community to help guarantee Israel's security and condemning Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's assertion last month that the Jewish state should be "wiped off the map." Fini's comments are "not compatible with the role of foreign minister and with the glory and honor of the Italian nation," Asefi said during his weekly news conference Sunday. The Italian ministry shot back, saying, "Minister Fini certainly cannot accept lessons on conduct coming from a foreign (ministry) spokesman."
That's Italian for "piss off, turban boy!"
Posted by: Fred ||
11/07/2005 00:00 ||
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Facing continued criticism for its president's call for Israel's destruction, Iran launched a charm offensive Sunday by proposing resumed nuclear talks with Europe, saying it allowed U.N. inspectors to visit a sensitive military facility and pledging to boost relations with former enemy Iraq. Still, Tehran's diplomatic spat with Italy over the anti-Israel remarks worsened, with Rome warning Iran it risked isolating itself from the international community by denying the "right to exist to another state and other people."
Hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's recent call for Israel to be "wiped off the map" has increased international pressure against Iran. It also overshadows a crucial Nov. 24 meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency's board of governors, which threatens to refer Tehran to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions over its controversial nuclear program. On Sunday, Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, tried some damage control, calling for resumed negotiations on the program with Britain, Germany and France, according to the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency. Talks collapsed in August after Tehran rejected an incentives package in return for permanently ending uranium enrichment, which it voluntarily suspended in 2004 under a deal with the Europeans.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/07/2005 00:00 ||
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with Rome warning Iran it risked isolating itself from the international community by denying the "right to exist to another state and other people."
oooooh. Ouch! Good to see such brave, bold action by the Italians. Ahmad is probably begging Sharon for a group hug photo as I type.
#4
Lol. Sausage? Lol. You mean that beef "sausage" shit they serve in 'slamic shitholes, I presume, heh. My apologies since I've said it before, but I was dreaming about Italian sausage pizza by the time I left, lol.
#5
GK - exactly so. I presume the usual rubes will actually take this seriously. Maybe even start "talks" or something. I'm sure El Baradei will be right there - and perhaps stiff the UNSC again - for a pocket full of mumbles, and a numbered Swiss account.
#6
.com, when Mr. Wife was working in Cairo, he spent quite a few evenings in the Mena House kitchen teaching the chefs to make a satisfactory American-style pepperoni pizza. Of course that was the latter half of the '80s, so they'd probably forgotten by the time your cravings became overwhelming. ;-)
A U.S. cruise liner attacked with machine-gun fire and rocket-propelled grenades off the coast of Somalia may have been the target of a terrorist high-sea assault, says Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer. The Seabourn Spirit, carrying 312 people including passengers and crew, is nearing a port in the Seychelles, but arrival may be delayed because an unexploded missile is embedded in the vessel, said the official, who is monitoring the ship's progress because about 19 Australians are on board.
Passengers on the ship were awakened Saturday at dawn by the sound of machine-gun fire and the impact of the missile. The attack occurred about 100 miles off the coast of Somalia. "We're not sure whether in the early stages the ship will be able to tie up at the wharf there because of concern about an unexploded rocket that is embedded in some of the passenger accommodation of the ship," Downer told Australia's Nine Network. "American officials are going to board it initially to deal with that problem, and once that problem's dealt with then our consular officer will be able to go on board as well."
Initial reports identified the attackers as pirates. The area is notorious for piracy. But Downer said it may have been a terrorist attack. "The whole thing is an extraordinary story, that it would be attacked by, we're not quite sure who at this stage, but it's possible the people who attacked the ship were terrorists," he said.
Downer based his assessment on the methodology of the attack. The ship was on its way Alexandria, Egypt, to the Kenyan port of Mombasa where it was due to pick up more passengers. Passengers reported the attackers were close enough to be seen. "It was a frightening experience to see the flash of a rocket launcher and you just wonder what's about to happen to you in the next couple of seconds," one passenger recounted to the Australian Seven Network. She reported the captain stayed calm, warning passengers: "We have people shooting at us, we are going to try to outrun them."
In March of this year, a Philippine military report based on interrogations of captured terrorists said two al-Qaida-linked groups were training members in scuba diving in preparation for seaborne attacks. Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terrorist network had one of its first major successes in Somalia, the ambush of U.S. peacekeeping forces that resulted in the slaughter of 19 American troops in 1993 in the famous "Blackhawk Down" Mogadishu raid.
#1
Why in heaven's name has someone not killed these assholes? Can we not spare one fighter plane or one blackhawk or one armed uav, or one measly hovercraft to go out and deep six these guys?
#3
Contract it out. The Constitution provides Congress the authority.
"To define and punish Piracies adn Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offenses against the Law of Nations.
"To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and War;"
Haliburton Letters of Marque Division now forming. Looking to hire good bodied men with a love of the sea and adventure. Thar be Pirates, nort of o'Madagascar huntin Indianman out of Bombay.
ISLAMABAD: Spokesman for the President has denied a news item appearing in the Daily Times on Friday November 4th, which had reported that 'Jihadi groups' were trying to 'cultivate' a relative of the president for carrying out an attempt on his life. The spokesman stated that while threats exist to any leader of the president's stature, all necessary measures are in place to ensure protection.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/07/2005 00:00 ||
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The violent attack on a cruise liner off Somalia's coast shows pirates from the anarchic country on the Horn of Africa are becoming bolder and more ambitious in their efforts to hijack ships for ransom and loot, a maritime official warned Sunday. Judging by the location of Saturday's attack, the pirates likely were from the same group that hijacked a U.N.-chartered aid ship in June and held its crew and food cargo hostage for 100 days, said Andrew Mwangura, head of the Kenyan chapter of the Seafarers Assistance Program. That gang is one of three well-organized pirate groups on the 1,880-mile coast of Somalia, which has had no effective government since opposition leaders ousted a dictatorship in 1991 and then turned on each other, leaving the nation of 7 million a patchwork of warlord fiefdoms.
That's... ummm... divide by eleven, carry the six, square root of 29... 14 years of uninterrupted Emma Goldmann-style anarchy.
Illustrating the chaos, attackers in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, threw grenades and exploded a land mine Sunday near a convoy carrying the prime minister of a transitional government that has been trying to exert control since late last year. The attack, which killed at least five bodyguards, was the second in six months involving explosions near Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi, whose internally divided government spends much of its time in Kenya.
That's probably the most intelligent thing they could do, next to dropping the idea of trying to govern Somalia. Somaliland and Puntland seem to be getting along okay, so maybe the long-term goal should be to just let the area break up into squabbling ministates. Either that, or tear the whole place down and put in a Wal-Mart.
Even before the attack on the liner Seabourn Spirit, Gedi had urged neighboring countries to send warships to patrol Somalia's coast, which is Africa's longest and lies along key shipping lanes linking the Mediterranean with the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean. U.S. and NATO warships patrol the region to protect vessels in deeper waters farther out, but they are not permitted in Somali territorial waters.
That raises an interesting question: Somalia has no government, so who is doing the forbidding? And what are they going to do if we simply ignore the restriction?
Despite those patrols, the heavily armed pirates approached the cruise ship about 100 miles at sea, underlining their increasing audacity. The International Maritime Bureau has for several months warned ships to stay at least 150 miles away from Somalia's coast, citing 25 pirate attacks in those waters since March 15 — compared with just two for all of 2004. Somali pirates are trained fighters with maritime knowledge, identifying targets by listening to the international radio channel used by ships at sea, Mwangura said. "Sometimes they trick the mariners by pretending that they have a problem and they should come to assist them — they send bogus distress signals," he said. "They are getting more powerful, more vicious and bolder day by day."
The Royal Navy used to be pretty good at cleaning out nests of pirates and hanging them. The U.S. didn't do badly at it, either — think Stephen Decatur. I think it would be a damned legitimate operation in support of the War on Terror to send in the Marines, whether Royal or U.S. or both.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/07/2005 00:00 ||
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#2
That raises an interesting question: Somalia has no government, so who is doing the forbidding? And what are they going to do if we simply ignore the restriction?
It unfortunately still falls under maritime law.
Where there may be exceptions: a) the Somali territorial waters being declared a war zone, b)The UN sanctioning escort and interdiction operations, c) intervention at the request of the 'host' government.
I'm not sure about the rescue of a distressed U.S. or U.K. flagged vessel by USN/RN.
#3
STEPHEN DECATUR, besides my late father whom served in the USN during the Korean War, and others in my extended family, was my inspiration for joining the JROTC at my high school plus the Sea Cadets. Great days and a great Hero -Decatur's life is a must-read for young tweens or older. Got me wondering how the ROTC's and Cadets are doing these days!?
#5
..IIRC, the unwritten 'Law Of The Sea' - as well as USN tradition and regs - require that any United States Navy vessel, from a tug to a carrier, immediately go to the aid of a ship under attack by pirates - don't forget that the USN was born mostly due to the depredations of the Barbary Pirates. And given the history and traditions of Her Majesty's Fleet, I simply can't imagine an RN skipper not going to the aid of a vessel that was under attack.
NOTE TO JOE MENDIOLA: I've done a lot of writing about Stephen Decatur lately - check out the story of him and the first USS Intrepid . If it wasn't true, nobody would believe it.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
11/07/2005 8:53 Comments ||
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#6
We need a Q-ship or two: converted merchies with concealed 25mm Bushmasters (or 40mm Bofors) in the superstructure which cruise the ocean off Somalia. Wait till they close with the ship, sound general quarters, run up the battle ensign, run out the guns, and . . . no more pirates.
Posted by: Mike ||
11/07/2005 12:48 Comments ||
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Posted by: Jim ||
11/07/2005 16:54 Comments ||
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#9
Ship-
Was advised today that because of printing backups (the publisher outsources his stuff)I'm looking at January before we have a green light to go to the printer. It's a bit maddening because we've missed the original Xmas pub date and the backup February date is probably toast too. My agent is trying to get them to go for an April release date to coincide with the anniversary of the crew's burial.
Jim-
The story of Stephen Decatur and the USS Intrepid can be found at
This version is kind of dry, but with a little imagination you can see what it must have been like.
Best regards,
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
11/07/2005 17:45 Comments ||
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#10
Basically the Babrbary Pirates operating out of Tripoli were running a 'protection racket' in the Mediterranean at the end of the 18th century. The European powers were content with paying protection. The US under Thomas Jefferson refused to pay up and in 1801 Jefferson ordered in Naval and Marine forces to take names and kick ass. Details can be found here. This is where the 'Tripoli' reference comes from in the Marine Corp Hymn.
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.
A policeman stationed outside the US embassy in London sparked brief panic after accidentally firing his submachine gun, the city's Metropolitan Police said. 
Azerbaijan's ruling party took an early lead in Sunday's parliamentary elections in this oil-rich, strategically located former Soviet republic that has been led by the same family for years, but the opposition charged widespread fraud. The ballot was closely watched for signs of improvement on flawed past elections that sparked violence and instability in a Caspian Sea nation that lies in the restive region between Russia and Iran. It was considered an uneven contest, however, given President Ilham Aliev's authoritarian rule and a pre-election police crackdown that further weakened a feeble opposition.
North Korea has accused the United States of attempting to overthrow the communist regime with a human rights law and warned of "ultra hardline" responses, a North Korean report said on Saturday. An unidentified North Korean delegate delivered the warning at a committee meeting of the UN General Assembly on Monday, according to the North's Korean Central Broadcasting Station, monitored by South Korea's Yonhap news agency. 
While gangs of disaffected youths, mostly from Muslim families, continue to rampage, burning thousands of cars and ransacking entire neighborhoods, some of these organizations are positioning themselves as mediators who can bring back the order the government has been unable to restore.
There are an amazing number of French fingerprints all over the Plame-Wilson affair. While it is not easy to penetrate the dark fog of lies, there is a highly consistent pattern pointing to French government involvement with a Watergate-style assault on the American Presidency, fronted by Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV.
UNITED NATIONS: The UN General Assembly approved a Pakistan-sponsored resolution on Sunday calling on governments to promote religious and cultural understanding, harmony and cooperation.
Italy said Sunday that Iran was isolating itself with its call for the destruction of Israel â the latest retort reflecting increasing diplomatic tensions between the two countries. "No one wants to isolate Iran," Italy's Foreign Ministry said. "On the contrary we all hope that Tehran, adopting responsible conduct, wants to play a role of stabilization in its region, but it is Iran which inevitably isolates itself the moment it denies the right to exist to another state and other people."
Facing continued criticism for its president's call for Israel's destruction, Iran launched a charm offensive Sunday by proposing resumed nuclear talks with Europe, saying it allowed U.N. inspectors to visit a sensitive military facility and pledging to boost relations with former enemy Iraq. Still, Tehran's diplomatic spat with Italy over the anti-Israel remarks worsened, with Rome warning Iran it risked isolating itself from the international community by denying the "right to exist to another state and other people."
ISLAMABAD: Spokesman for the President has denied a news item appearing in the Daily Times on Friday November 4th, which had reported that 'Jihadi groups' were trying to 'cultivate' a relative of the president for carrying out an attempt on his life. The spokesman stated that while threats exist to any leader of the president's stature, all necessary measures are in place to ensure protection.
The violent attack on a cruise liner off Somalia's coast shows pirates from the anarchic country on the Horn of Africa are becoming bolder and more ambitious in their efforts to hijack ships for ransom and loot, a maritime official warned Sunday. Judging by the location of Saturday's attack, the pirates likely were from the same group that hijacked a U.N.-chartered aid ship in June and held its crew and food cargo hostage for 100 days, said Andrew Mwangura, head of the Kenyan chapter of the Seafarers Assistance Program. That gang is one of three well-organized pirate groups on the 1,880-mile coast of Somalia, which has had no effective government since opposition leaders ousted a dictatorship in 1991 and then turned on each other, leaving the nation of 7 million a patchwork of warlord fiefdoms.
