Big snip to just Merkel's comments; see following story for the basics. AoS.
Chancellor Angela Merkel made clear Wednesday that Berlin does not plan to send troops to volatile southern Afghanistan. She argued that Germany is needed in the north to maintain stability and insisted there is no "purely military solution" to the country's problems.
The German social workers military is fulfilling "an important and dangerous task" in the north, providing security and backing reconstruction, Merkel said in a speech to parliament. "We don't want to raise questions over the success of this mission in the north under any circumstances, and I see no one who would seriously want to jeopardize the relative security that we have achieved in the north," she added. "About 40 percent of the Afghan population lives in this region."
"The Bundeswehr will continue to take responsibility there within the framework of its mandate, but I do not see any military commitment that goes beyond this mandate," Merkel said.
Merkel pointed to the importance of pursuing civilian rebuilding alongside the battle against insurgents. "We need more time than we thought and hoped for the development of Afghanistan," she said. "But I also say that we want to, and we must, lead this mission in Afghanistan to success, together with our allies."
"We in Germany know that we must fight for that, with the military, but we must also fight for the hearts of people in Afghanistan," she added.
Merkel insisted that "there can be no purely military solution, but without a militarily secured environment there can be no reconstruction in Afghanistan."
She pointed to other German efforts in the country, such as help in rebuilding the country's police. "The issue of Afghanistan is too important for us to let it dwindle into a military north-south debate," Merkel said.
Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier backed Merkel and said Germany might do well to project "a little more self-confidence" about what it is already doing. "I think we have good reasons not to give up, to limit our commitment in the north," he told parliament. "Of course I know that where we are responsible, we are still far from finished. But if stabilization has succeeded at all anywhere in Afghanistan ... then it is in the north."
I have no problem at all with ensuring that the northern part of the country is secure and that reconstruction moves ahead. Security begets reconstruction; we know that. What I object to is that Germany wants the big pat on the back whilst leaving their 'allies' -- the Dutch, Canadian, Brit and Ami troops -- to face the biggest dangers in the south. There ought to be a rotation on this; let each contingent take their turn in whacking the Taliban. It would be good for the German military to get some real combat experience instead of just laying bricks.
#1
I have to agree 100% to your comment. Hope our silly (German) government reconsiders
it's stupid position. ( no problem if they get some pressure in the next meeting on this issue either !!).
#2
Glad to see a comment from Germany, SGL. As best I can tell, the only reason Merkel takes this position is that the populace is overwhelmingly pacifist.
BERLIN - The German government said on Tuesday it had no plans to send troops to help quell a Taleban insurgency in southern Afghanistan. Chief government spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm denied a report in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung daily that Germany was set to contribute troops for Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRT) to work in the violence-hit region. There have been no deliberations about extending the PRTs, Wilhelm said.
"No, no, certainly not!"
There are currently about 2,750 German troops in the relatively peaceful northern part of Afghanistan.
The same newspaper reported at the weekend that the United States was putting pressure on Germany to deploy combat troops in the south. An unnamed high-ranking US defence official was quoted as saying: The commanders in Afghanistan should be able to call the Germans in the morning and ask for a battalion to be deployed in the south. And they should be there by the evening.
Much too dangerous, mein Herr!
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/22/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
I can think of where there are 80,000 US troops not deployed usefully.
Posted by: ed ||
11/22/2006 2:22 Comments ||
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#2
Right on ed! Until Germany has their "9/11", they rightfully feel they don't have a dog in this fight! You take the unwanted troops out of South Korea and move our troops from Iraq there, we'd have a darn peaceful society of law abiding bicycle riders, backed by 170,000 smiling US Peace Keepers keeping watch!!
Ohh, and 'tit for tat' Germany in the future, when they need international 'assistance'!
#4
Exact numbers are difficult to find. A March 2004 WaPo article had 102,000 troops in W. Europe, with 71,000 in Germany. In March 2006, the JCS testified that since 2003 the military had brought home approx 10,000, implying about 90,000 still in W. Europe with some units being rotated into Iraq and Afghanistan. Of course, reductions are still ongoing, but I would like to see units that rotate back to the US not be replaced.
Posted by: ed ||
11/22/2006 9:08 Comments ||
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#6
For sure we don't need combat units in Europe. Bring home the combat troops and air wings. Keep the hospitals as Ship said, and keep the rights to air bases for the transport aircraft. Keep some MPs to keep order and bring the rest home.
Over the past couple of years I've become really, really tired of the Euros. I basically like Euros, I have a few as friends, they're good people (most of 'em), but I've just about had it with their unwillingness to face facts and see what's happening in the world.
We have no responsibility to help defend a people who won't defend themselves.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/22/2006 12:02 Comments ||
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DENVER Attorney General John Suthers returned from Saudi Arabia this weekend following a 3-day trip to discuss the trial of a man convicted by a Colorado court. Suthers said he was questioned aggressively by King Abdullah for 3 days about whether Homaidan Al-Turki was treated fairly when he was convicted in Arapahoe County of sexually assaulting an Indonesian maid and keeping her as a virtual slave in his Aurora home. Suthers said Al-Turki comes from an influential religious family in Saudi Arabia and was portrayed in the media there as a victim.
"One of the brothers of the defendant that I had met sat through the trial and they simply cannot understand that a jury can give credibility to an Indonesian maid," Suthers said. "And the only possible explanation that is some sort of anti-Muslim bias."
Or Jooos. That's always a convenient possibility that's never out of fashion.
Suthers said he feels he did a good job explaining the evidence in the case and the U.S. judicial system, although it didn't make the Saudis happy. He said it showed respect to have someone from the U.S. address the questions. And while he doesn't think he changed a lot of minds, Suthers believes he sent a message that the U.S. is not the least bit apologetic about our justice system and how it works. While the trip was grueling, Suthers said he stayed in the Royal Palace Hotel in a six-room suite. The trip was paid for partly by the U.S. State Department and partly by King Abdullah. Suthers didn't have a final tally but said no Colorado taxpayer money was spent.
#7
Yep, Seafarious, State was pulling the strings for the six room suite good will tour for the rube from Colorado. Maybe setting up the end of term, or sooner, pardon parade to include Al-Turki.
#8
Slavery is legal under islam. So accoring to their Saudi and islamic thinking there could be no crime. On top of that it is the word of a woman over a man, again according to Saudi and islamic thinking her word doesn't count. Lastly she isn't even a Saudi or Arab but an inferior outsider, according to Saudi and Arab thinking not even equal to them as a human so no crime could happen.
It is understandable that they might have some cognitive difficulties with a guilty verdict. To farking bad.
#10
It's not unusual for a Gov't to call for a State Dept Worm Official to come in and explain the circumstances and details. Purely pro forma.
[opinion thingy]
What is unusual is for this state AG to accept the request and go on a jaunt. He coulda said "Nope, no thanks - I got a buncha cases to prosecute, a job to do. This is just one and we gots the goods."
Suthers, in this particular action, is a squirrel, party notwithstanding. Prolly sucking up to State, cuz they sure as hell aren't his bosses, for some perceived gain in status or name recognition or whatever. Fuck him for giving them the satisfaction / illusion they have the option.
[/opinion thingy]
#11
I really think its time to put a nice engine on an asteriod and crash it into a worthless piece of desert.
I nominate 3dc for a Nobel Peace Prize that really mean something this time besides trying to save one hopeless guy's a$$ by drawing public attention to his plight. Now where are we going to find about half a dozen rocks that big . . . .
#13
What the f-k are we doing explaining anything to them? What the hell is the state department thinking?
"Gee, if I don't do what they say, I might have to live off my savings after I retire."
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
11/22/2006 7:39 Comments ||
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#14
3dc - you weren't supposed to say anything! We just started recruiting for the asteroid pilot job. We say we're going to nudge that one that's heading for Costa Rica away from earth, but we won't quite 'succeed' and it will hit the magic kingdom.
#15
How about someone from Soddy coming here and "explaining" to us how they ran the Khobar towers investigation? I am really sick of the US kissing Soddy ass. Oil shale, oil shale, oy, oy, oy!
#16
The trip was paid for partly by the U.S. State Department and partly by King Abdullah. Suthers didn't have a final tally but said no Colorado taxpayer money was spent.
Yeah, State Department money is free money! Colorado taxpayers don't pay for that, do they? Maybe we could pay down the budget deficit with that State Department money because no taxpayers have to pay for it.
#17
I have no idea as to the DA's motives, but an all expense paid trip to Soddy Arabia to tell King Abdullah face to face to *bleep* off sounds like an opportunity not to be missed.
#22
Ship, I want the poster, too! I never rode a passenger train through Colorado, only across the plains TO Colorado. The one through the Royal Gorge is supposed to be great, but the tickets are a bit pricey. I HAVE ridden the D&RGW Durango-Silverton train, and it's well worth the money. The Cumbres-Toltec ride isn't quite as spectacular, but well worth the ticket.
I think I've preached enough about nuking Riyadh for my views about soddy rabida$$ to be well known.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
11/22/2006 15:33 Comments ||
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#23
OP we need to have a mobile RantApaLoosa. I'll meet you in the lounge car. First 4 are on me. All we needs to figure out is which train....
A senior North Korean diplomat strongly indicated that his country has no plans to abandon nuclear weapons, despite its agreement to return to six-nation disarmament talks, according to news reports Wednesday. Pfeh.
North Korea's deputy foreign minister, Kang Sok Ju, speaking to a group of reporters while passing through Beijing from Russia, instead demanded that the United States lift financial sanctions against the North, Japan's NHK television and Kyodo News agency said. We demand stuff! Do it, or else!
Kang said North Korea had not tested nuclear weapons only to get rid of them, the reports said. Whassamatter you? Are you crazy?
"Why would we abandon nuclear weapons?" NHK and Kyodo quoted Kang as saying in a Japanese translation of his comments in Korean. "Are you saying we conducted a nuclear test in order to abandon them?" No profit innit!
Asked if Pyongyang planned to demand the U.S. lift sanctions, Kang said, "of course," NHK and Kyodo reported. Now here's where the profit thingy comes in...
A nuclear test by North Korea on Oct. 9 triggered international condemnation and sanctions. Duds count too!
In September 2005, Pyongyang agreed to abandon its nuclear program in exchange for security guarantees and aid, but it withdrew from the talks with the U.S., China, South Korea, Japan and Russia two months later, protesting Washington's financial sanctions over suspected money laundering. Where's Maddie! We want Maddie! We want Maddie! We want Maddie!
Pyongyang agreed this month to return to the talks, which may resume next month. After all, they've proven so effective.
#1
Fine. Nuke the harbors, take down the bridges across the Yalu, and blow up the rail transfer point from Russia north of Najin, and see how long they last. WE don't have to kill them - without outside aid, they'll all starve to death.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
11/22/2006 15:35 Comments ||
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#2
No problem. In fact, here, we'll let you have a few of our own!
#3
As with all of their propaganda posters, note how the woman has to tear up our flag with her bare hands because she doesn't even have any scissors to run play with.
One of six Muslim imams pulled from a US Airways flight in Minneapolis last night by federal authorities is affiliated with a Hamas-linked organization and acknowledged a connection to Osama bin Laden in the 1990s. Omar Shahin, who served as a spokesman for the clerics, is a representative of the Kind Hearts Organization, which had its assets frozen by the U.S. Treasury pending an investigation, notes Islam scholar Robert Spencer on his weblog JihadWatch.
Treasury spokesman Stuart Levey in February said Kind Hearts "is the progeny of Holy Land Foundation and Global Relief Foundation, which attempted to mask their support for terrorism behind the façade of charitable giving."
The imams had attended a conference in Minneapolis of the North American Imams Federation, said Shahin, who is president of the group. "They took us off the plane, Humiliated us in a very disrespectful way," Shahin said after the incident last night.
Today, Shahin called for Muslims and non-Muslims to boycott US Airways unless the company changes its policy. "They know what they have to do, they have to be fair and just with everybody," he said.
The Washington, D.C., based lobby group Council on American-Islamic Relations planned to file a complaint, said CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper. "Because, unfortunately, this is a growing problem of singling out Muslims or people perceived to be Muslims at airports, and it's one that we've been addressing for some time," Hooper said.
CAIR, however, has its own ties to Hamas, having been identified by two former FBI counter-terrorism chiefs as a spinoff of a front group for the Palestinian terrorist organization. A Sept. 28, 2001, story in the Arizona Republic that said Arizona appears to have been the home of an al-Qaida sleeper cell, named Shahin as one of three part-time Arizona residents who "fits the pattern" of the terrorist group.
Shahin, identifed as being with the Tucson Islamic Center, said members of his mosque may have helped bin Laden in the early 1990s when the al-Qaida leader was fighting against the Russians. The CIA at that time, Shahin said, called bin Laden a "freedom fighter." "Then they tell us he is involved in terrorist acts, and they stopped supporting him, and we stopped," he said.
In the story, Shahin expressed doubt that Muslims were responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks and said he "didn't trust much of what the FBI has divulged - including the hijackers' identities." As for Al-Qaida nests in America, Shahin said, "All of these, they make it up."
Witnesses to the imam's explusion last night said some of them made anti-American comments about the war in Iraq before boarding the flight, according to Minneapolis airport spokesman Patrick Hogan. Also, some of the men asked for seat belt extensions even though a flight attendant thought they didn't need them. "There were a number of things that gave the flight crew pause," Hogan said.
Shahin claimed three members of the group prayed in the terminal before the six boarded the plane. Last night, however, he said they had prayed on the plane. The imams boarded the plane individually, Shahin said, except for a blind member who needed assistance. They didn't sit together and "did nothing," he contended.
#1
First Dearborn. Now what is going down in Minneapolis ? More than we think. They just put this Muzzie into Congress. That requires a substantial concentration of moonbats in one voting district. And Phoenix ?
Now if we could be guaranteed that no Muzzies would ever again step aboard US Airways flights, I'd wager that so many people would exclusively book US Airways that their stock would jump 10% in the first month. US Airways ought to start putting out ads proclaiming "No Muslims Fly US Airways".
#3
I currently live ina suburb not far from Minneapolis. Dearborn may have the reputation, but Minneapolis is catching up fast. Damn fast. The growth of the Smally "community" here since 9/11 has been incredible. I don't have the numbers, but I would bet it's increase somewhere in the neighborhood of 50% and it's not slowing down. Minneapolis is the next big trouble city. I would stake my future on it. In fact, I am. I have decided to sell my house to get out of here. Something is coming to Minneapolis and I don't want to be around for it.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
11/22/2006 16:00 Comments ||
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Interesting. I was talking today with a guy I know; hed been at a suburban hotel for an annual company sales meeting. The regional manager was having a difficult time speaking, since the party in the next conference room was praying about as loudly as is humanly possible, and had followed the prayers with a speaker who expressed in rather . . . forceful terms the depth of Muslim oppression in America. Unless there are several Muslim religious conferences going on in Minneapolis at the moment, Id guess that might be the one. If so, I wonder if the reported truculence of the men might have been influenced, or at least reinforced, by the speaker. Whoever he was.
---- I strongly support a boycott by Muslims of US Airways and of all other airways. It would be a big plus for the rest of us. I might even start using airlines again.
Cleveland Elementary School (San Francisco) teacher Bill Morgan is among elementary school teachers who have ditched the traditional Thanksgiving lesson, in which children dress up like Indians and Pilgrims and act out a romanticized version of their first meetings.
He has replaced it with a PC-warped more realistic look at the genocidal and hegemonic war waged against totally innocent, spiritually-vastly-superior indigenous holy people by EEVILL European white male Christian heterosexual Crusaders = complex relationship between Indians and white settlers. A spokeswoman for Concerned Women for America, a conservative organization. [said] "He is teaching his students to hate their country. That is a very distorted view of history, a distorted view of Thanksgiving."'
A member of the Maricopa and Tohono O'odham tribes of Arizona who works as a substitute teacher in Los Angeles, said back home, we'd call this child abuse, but hey, it's California younger children should not be burdened with all the gory details of American history. A[nother] teacher at Kettering Elementary School in Long Beach, decided to alter the costumes for the annual Thanksgiving play a few years ago after local self-identified and probably more authentic than Ward Churchill Indians spoke out against students wearing feathers, which are sacred in their culture unless used to stuff pillows and parkas or to decorate ladies' hats. As everyone knows, any complaint or criticism from anyone who claims to represent any PC-favored non-hegemonic culture about anything must be taken as the gospel truth.
Laverne Villalobos a 100% full blooded indigenous American with no trace of European ancestry or cultural influences and who in fact never learned to speak a syllable of English but had to be interviewed for this article using sign language, a member of the Omaha tribe in Nebraska who now lives in a traditional Omaha dwelling made of indigenous materials in a very expensive portion of real estatein the coastal town of Pacifica near San Francisco, considers Thanksgiving a day of mourning.
She went before the school board last week and through a government-paid interpreter asked for a ban on Thanksgiving re-enactments and students dressing up as Indians. Rather than dress up as the real Indian she was, she attended the meeting in the nude to draw emphasis to the authenticity of her complaint. Photos of her at the meeting taken by our reporter have been passed around the newsroom but will not be published since Ms. Villalobos is 5 feet tall and weighs 400 lb. We still have some standards of journalistic decency. She also complained about November's lunch menu which continues to omit traditional Omaha fare such as young dog or old horse meat and that pictured a caricature of an Indian boy.
The mother of four said the traditional Thanksgiving celebrations in schools instill "a false sense of what really happened before and after the feast. What I want to instill is a different false sense of what happened. And I'm still mad that the Omaha tribal council sponsors a Thanksgiving dinner for their elders. The council pays no attention to me but you idiotic Californians don't know any better."
Morgan, a teacher for more than 35 years, said that after reading the collected works of Noam Chomsky and Antonio Gramsci for the 58th time conducting his own research, he changed his approach to teaching about Thanksgiving. He tells teachers at his school this is a good way to brainwash the next generation of PC-speakers at a time when they are most susceptible and least able to exercisenurture critical thinking, He went on to complain that the school board won't allow him to infect his students with smallpox as a way of illustrating the genocidal consequences of the European invasion.
NG BEACH, Calif. - Teacher Bill Morgan walks into his third-grade class wearing a black Pilgrim hat made of construction paper and begins snatching up pencils, backpacks and glue sticks from his pupils. He tells them the items now belong to him because he "discovered" them. The reaction is exactly what Morgan expects: The kids get angry and want their things back.
Morgan is among elementary school teachers who have ditched the traditional Thanksgiving lesson, in which children dress up like Indians and Pilgrims and act out a romanticized version of their first meetings.
He has replaced it with a more realistic look at the complex relationship between Indians and white settlers. Morgan said he still wants his pupils at Cleveland Elementary School in San Francisco to celebrate Thanksgiving. But "what I am trying to portray is a different point of view." Others see Morgan and teachers like him as too extreme. "I think that is very sad," said Janice Shaw Crouse, a former college dean and public high school teacher and now a spokeswoman for Concerned Women for America, a conservative organization. "He is teaching his students to hate their country. That is a very distorted view of history, a distorted view of Thanksgiving." Even American Indians are divided on how to approach a holiday that some believe symbolizes the start of a hostile takeover of their lands.
Chuck Narcho, a member of the Maricopa and Tohono O'odham tribes who works as a substitute teacher in Los Angeles, said younger children should not be burdened with all the gory details of American history. "If you are going to teach, you need to keep it positive," he said. "They can learn about the truths when they grow up. Caring, sharing and giving that is what was originally intended." Adam McMullin, a member of the Seminole tribe of Oklahoma and a spokesman for the National Congress of American Indians, said schoolchildren should get an accurate historical account. "You can't just throw an Indian costume on a child," he said. "That stuff is not taken lightly. That's where educators need to be very careful." Becky Wyatt, a teacher at Kettering Elementary School in Long Beach, decided to alter the costumes for the annual Thanksgiving play a few years ago after local Indians spoke out against students wearing feathers, which are sacred in their culture. Now children wear simple headbands.
"We have many mixed cultures in Long Beach, so we try to be sensitive," Wyatt said. "What you teach little children is important." Laverne Villalobos, a member of the Omaha tribe in Nebraska who now lives in the coastal town of Pacifica near San Francisco, considers Thanksgiving a day of mourning. She went before the school board last week and asked for a ban on Thanksgiving re-enactments and students dressing up as Indians. She also complained about November's lunch menu that pictured a caricature of an Indian boy. The mother of four said the traditional Thanksgiving celebrations in schools instill "a false sense of what really happened before and after the feast. It wasn't all warm and fuzzy."
After she complained, it was decided that pupils at her children's school will not wear Indian costumes this year. James Loewen, a former history professor at the University of Vermont and author of "Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your High School History Textbook Got Wrong," said that during the first Thanksgiving, the Wampanoag Indians and the pilgrims had been living in relative peace, even though the tribe suspected the settlers of robbing Indian graves to steal food buried with the dead. "Relations were strained, but yet the holiday worked. Folks got along. After that, bad things happened," Loewen said, referring to the bloody warfare that broke out later during the 17th century.
Morgan, a teacher for more than 35 years, said that after conducting his own research, he changed his approach to teaching about Thanksgiving. He tells teachers at his school this is a good way to nurture critical thinking, but he acknowledged not all are receptive: "It's kind of an uphill struggle."
#2
35 years of teaching means this clown qualifies for retirement. Why hasn't he retired? Simply so he can infect more minds with his deranged outlook on the world.
You think I want to go back to living in the dirt as a hunter gatherer go get your brain examined bozo.
#4
Bill Morgan should immediately give his house, property, and personal possessions to the nearest native American and go live naked out in the woods.
#5
Pilgrim bashing is a growing cancer on the body historic and needs to be burnt with what's her face, that Hawthorne woman, you know, the Big A gal.
Posted by: National Association of Puritans ||
11/22/2006 9:10 Comments ||
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Adam McMullin, a member of the Seminole tribe of Oklahoma and a spokesman for the National Congress of American Indians, said schoolchildren should get an accurate historical account.
Yes, please indeed. To include the facts that the natives were not peaceful lovers of nature. They raided, murdered, and pillaged their environment. Long before the European set foot on the North American continent, the usual human territorial behavior was operating well among the tribes and clans. Check the Anasazi in the Southwest who overworked their lands and had to abandon their settlements for sustainment. Check the raiding of the Apache who constantly hammered their neighbors. And let us not forget the quaint rituals of the Aztec whose literal blood lust drove the other regional tribes to willingly join the Spanish to destroy them. Time to end the myth of the happy content child of nature image that has gone on way too long about the aboriginals.
#8
How about we tell the real truth? For instance the pilgrims had the large feast to give thanks to GOD. While they were preparing the meal several Injuns natives (smelling a good meal) showed up and were invited to partake. After years of tilling the land it seems the Euros made the land more productive than the natives could ever imagine.
#9
You all have made good and historically accurate points. Morgan misses the main premise behind the Pilgrims and Thanksgiving - their escaping a religiously intolerant europe/england for a freer existence in America. They give thanks to God for a safe passage over a hostile ocean and thank Him for the blessings of this new land and seemed to have coexisted quite well w/the local tribes. He needs to put it into context.
Sure, future settlers of all backgrounds had issues w/expansion and dealing w/the local tribes (see the pequot massacre) and imho the U.S. gov't in the 1900s had some real failings dealing w/the indian equitably. The fact remains though, trying to connect the dots on the initial Thanksgiving and its intended meaning w/subjugating and oppressing native peoples is a far f*cking stretch (except for the far left obviously). Also, any natives that get pissed off about little kids of any ethnicity wearing feathers this week need to lighten up. It's like me as an irish guy getting pissed about non-irish wearing shamrocks, celtic crosses, or claddaghs on 17 March - who give's a shit methinks - I'm actually proud others admire my ancestry & could care less if they do not. Kind of like still being pissed at the Brits about cromwell - time to get over that shit. *sigh* Government schools........
#11
Indians who wear feathers are the anti-Christ.
These devils are taking advantage of chickens being,,,,,,well, chickens.
I say boy, I denounce this practice.
#13
Time to end the myth of the happy content child of nature image that has gone on way too long about the aboriginals.
That would be the myth of the "Noble Savage". One of the most highly prized lies liberals use to excuse moral relativism where none is either merited or justified. Go back more than a century or two and existence for 99.99% of this globe's population was a nasty, brutish affair that involved bulk quantities of slavish labor in exchange for an exceedingly short spin on this mortal coil. People who romaticize about these early conditions should be forced to live under them for a solid month or two.
Indoor plumbing, antibiotics, clean water, telecommunications and scientifically based medical treatment are all advancements that people essentially had to FIGHT AND DIE FOR so that we might have them. The latest round of the aforesaid self-deluded morons want us to believe that Islam is a similarly noble institution, despite its intention of abolishing many of the items I listed. Again, we in the West are having to fight and die for these precious inroads against brutish existence even as others in our midst extoll those who actively seek to destroy them.
#15
Cleveland Elementary School (San Francisco) teacher Bill Morgan is among elementary school teachers who have decided to prove that school vouchers are an idea whos time has most certainly arrived.
As if there was already not enough of an uproar over the burqa and the niqab, the robbery of a Canadian jewellery store by a burqa-clad man can only increase apprehensions about the attire being defended by its adherents in the name of Islam. The incident occurred in the Toronto suburb of Bramption. Abdul Rasheed Khalid, a Pakistani-Canadian was alone in his jewellery store filling the display cases with gold rings and necklaces when two people, one wearing a head-to-toe black burqa, appeared outside his locked door, according to the newspaper, Toronto Star.
Salamu alaikum, the 58-year-old storeowner said after pushing the entry buzzer, believing them to be a Muslim couple. There was no reply, and seconds later the pair, both men, forced him at gunpoint to a back room where he was bound with duct tape and hit several times. Then his store was cleaned out. Khalid caught a glimpse of the crooks. He thinks they were Pakistani or Indian.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/22/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Oh gawd, that's so hysterically funny I damn near fell off the chair. What irony. So richly deserved.
Posted by: ed ||
11/22/2006 2:26 Comments ||
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#3
Any crook can wear a burqa. When a large number of 'em get on the bandwagon, perhaps "real" Muslims will abandon the garb altogether. Or so we can hope.
#7
For a minute, I was expecting to read that Khalid "was alone in his jewellery store filling the display cases with gold rings and necklaces when he said "fuck it" and decided to rob his own store."
And with the help of a coupla burqa-ed buddies, perhaps that's exactly what happened. Insurance fraud, anyone?
Posted by: Fred ||
11/22/2006 10:15 Comments ||
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#9
Burqa-wearing robber cleans out jewellery store
Burka Boy
Her brow is uni-bold Her lips a decieving lie Her hands are always cold She got Ma Barker eyes
She'll turn her music on you
You won't geta chance to think twice She's pure as a 'Frisco guy She's got Ma Barker eyes
And she'll tease you She'll unease you
all the better to decieve you She precocious
and she knows just
what it takes to make a pro blush She's got Jerry Lewis stand-off sighs She's got Ma Barker eyes
She'll steal into your home
It whets her appetite She'll steal your CPU unless its olde She's got Ma Barker eyes
She'll take your gold
Roll you like you were dice
Until you come up blue She's got Ma Barker eyes
She'll expose you
When she snows you
Off your feet with the crumbs she throws you She's ferocious
and she knows just what it takes
to make a pro blush
All the boys think she's a lie She's got Ma Barker eyes
And she'll tease you She'll unease you
all the better just to decieve you She's precocious
and she knows just
what it takes to make a pro blush
All the boys think she's a lie She's got ma Barker eyes
She will tease you She'll unease you
Just to please you She's got Ma Barker eyes
She'll expose you
When she snows you She knows you She's got Ma Barker eyes
Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-ACLUVt), who will chair the Senate Judiciary Committee next year, asked the Justice Department to leak release two newly acknowledged documents, which set U.S. policy on how terrorism suspects are detained and interrogated.
The CIA recently acknowledged the existence of the documents in response to a lawsuit by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed the American Civil Liberties Union.The first is a directive President Bush signed giving the CIA authority to establish detention facilities outside the United States and outlining interrogation methods that may be used against detainees.
The second is a 2002 memo from the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel to the CIA's general counsel regarding interrogation methods that the spy agency may use against al-Qaeda leaders.
"The American people deserve to have detailed and accurate information about the role of the Bush administration in developing the interrogation policies and practices that have engendered such deep criticism and concern at the ACLU home and in France around the world," Leahy wrote Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales.
Leahy asked Gonzales to produce any revisions and analyses of those and other memos. He also requested agency documents that interpret the scope of interrogation practices permitted and prohibited by the Detainee Treatment Act or the Military Commissions Act. You know sources methods or whatever you got.
"Doesn't matter, just send it all and we'll let the New York Times tell us what it all means."
The Justice Department will respond appropriately, spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said yesterday. But he added that "it is vital to protect national security secrets," particularly in sensitive programs overseen by the intelligence committees. Roehrkasse also said the department will weigh whether the documents being sought fall under the category of confidential deliberations, including legal advice.
#1
The Dummocrats don't realize they weren't put into majority for their leadership qualities. They defaulted due to Pubs not in any way following party mandates. The Dummos have two years to build confidence in their capability to lead. Instead, like a new fast draw artiste, they can't wait to withdraw the pistole from the holster, and yank immediately on the trigger, blowing their family jewels completely off. Lead on Leahy, Conyers, Alcee Hastings, et al. After a few months of your frivolity you'll be out on your ass too.
#2
Give something particularly juicy and, well, fake to Leahy, with a clear statement that it's "preliminary" with a final report to come shortly. Give him a couple of weeks to think it over with the "preliminary" report.
Then give him a "final" report that completely refutes the "preliminary" report.
Both reports, of course, are classified.
At some point -- probably before the "final" report is delivered -- Leahy "or a staffer" will hand the information to the NYT.
Then declassify both reports, explain what was going on, and prosecute Leahy for the leak.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
11/22/2006 12:57 Comments ||
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Democrats, including Minnesotas Keith Ellison, helped raise more than $620,000 on Saturday for an Islamic supremacist front group: First Muslim Congressman Addresses CAIR Banquet. (Hat tip: Killgore Trout.)
WASHINGTON, Nov. 20 /PRNewswire/ More than 1,000 people turned out on Saturday at the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) banquet in Arlington, Va., to hear addresses by several elected officials, including Keith Ellison, the first Muslim in Congress.
The event raised more than $620,000 to support CAIRs civil rights and advocacy work on behalf of the American Muslim community. (Another dinner held by CAIRs Southern California chapter (CAIR-LA) over the weekend raised more than $430,000. Some 1,800 people attended that event.)
Elected officials who spoke at the sold-out event included Representative- elect Ellison (D-MN), as well as Reps. Mike Honda (D-CA), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) and Albert Wynn (D-MD). Ellison and Jackson Lee offered their addresses by video. Saqib Ali, who was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates (District 39) on November 7, was also in attendance.
Other speakers included Special Agent in Charge Joseph Persichini, Jr. of the FBIs Washington Field Office, Fairfax County Police Chief Col. David M. Rohrer and Amy Goodman of Democracy Now. Most members of CAIRs national board also took part in the banquet, which was emceed by Julia Shearson of CAIR- Ohios Cleveland office.
One day America will get leadership with a ball sack that will not just admit that as a mentality in our "desenters" "questioning" fellow American LLL's. Maybe if we are real lucky or unfortunatley more like after we lose enough needless blood becuase of the LLL's X leader will even dare to say "my enemies Friend is My ENEMY".
WASHINGTON Nov 20, 2006 (AP) The National Security Agency is not required to release details about its secret wiretapping program, a federal judge said Monday. The People for the American Way Foundation, a liberal sedition advocacy group, sued to obtain records under the Freedom of Information Act. The group sought to find out how many wiretaps were approved and who reviewed the program.
President Bush has acknowledged the existence of the program, which he correctly calls the Terrorist Surveillance Program. The National Security Agency monitors phone calls and e-mails between people in the U.S. and people in other countries when a link to terrorism is suspected.
Civil liberties group criticize it as an expansion of presidential power, and a federal judge who since has been put on hold has said it is unconstitutional. The Justice Department says it is a necessary tool to fight terrorism.
The NSA denied the request for documents, saying the records would jeopardize national security. The advocacy group argued that the law can't be used to protect the government from disclosing details about illegal programs. U.S. Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle disagreed, saying that even if the program is ultimately determined to be illegal, it doesn't change the fact that the materials are classified and are not covered by the Freedom of Information Act.
They're classified. That seems clear enough to me.
ABC "News", which explains why I'm so dizzy, now.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/22/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
What's with the red/green glasses. Is it for a 3D effect, or to block out certain moderators?
The central executive committee (CEC) of Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) will meet over two days here starting from December 4 to discuss the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amals decision to quit the National Assembly in protest at the Womens Protection Bill. Sources told Daily Times that the committee would also discuss what action to take against Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, the JUI-F leader who resigned from parliament immediately after the passage of the bill, without taking party leaders into confidence. A reported clash between Hafiz Hussain and Maulana Ghafoor Haidery, the partys secretary general, during an MMA supreme council meeting will also come under discussion, the sources said. Maulana Sheerani, the JUI-F chief in Balochistan, and other top leaders of the JUI-F will press for suspension of Hafiz Hussains party membership, the sources said.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/22/2006 00:00 ||
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Pakistan Muslim League President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain said on Tuesday that the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal is in no mood to resign from the National Assembly. Had they been interested, they would have already submitted their resignations to the speaker, which is a constitutional requirement for quitting the membership of parliament, said Shujaat at a PML womens convention to celebrate the passage of the Womens Protection Bill. He said that MMA MNAs had handed over their resignations to party leaders instead of giving them to the NA speaker, but the mere submission of resignations with the party leadership does not unseat a parliamentarian. The PML president said, We are all Muslims, and nobody can dare legislate against the teachings of Islam and Sunnah. NWFP PML President Amir Muqaam told the convention that the MMA was trying to impose its own version of Islam on people.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/22/2006 00:00 ||
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The Egyptian government on Tuesday denied a visa to Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) President and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Pakistan Amir Qazi Hussain Ahmad. The MMA leader was invited by the World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY) as chief guest in a conference scheduled in the Egyptian capital of Cairo in the second week of November. In a press release issued by the JI media office, Qazi condemned the Cairo decision and called it a service to the enemy aimed at disintegrating and dividing the Muslim Ummah, adding that colonial rulers had introduced borders to distance Muslims from each other and that visa restrictions were adding to this. Qazi pointed out that the European Union was headed towards a United Europe. He said that the body fabric of the Muslim Ummah, on the contrary, was exposed to disintegration due to the policies of the Egyptian government.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/22/2006 00:00 ||
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November 20 2006 0130 LT, Dumai Inner Anchorage, Indonesia. Six robbers armed with knives boarded a bulk carrier. They attempted to overcome the shore watchman who raised alarm. Duty Officer and crew rushed to assist. When confronted by crew, robbers jumped overboard and escaped empty handed.
November 19.11.2006 1900 LT, Tg. Priok, Indonesia. While crew were busy involved in discharging operations, robbers armed with steel bars managed to break into two stores and steal ship's stores. Upon seeing suspicious behaviour of shoreworkers on deck, duty crew informed the Duty Officer. Alarm raised and crew alerted. It was suspected the stevedores / shoreworkers may have been involved in the theft. Local authorities informed.
November 16.11.2006 0335 LT, 20nm ENE from Dar es Salaam Harbour Entrance, Tanzania. 15 armed pirates in a boat approached a container ship drifting waiting for berth. One of them armed with a knife boarded at main deck between hatches one and two. Duty crew noticed the pirate and he jumped overboard and escaped in a boat. Alarm raised and crew mustered. Vessel moved to new position about 90 nm NNE from harbour entrance. Master tried to contact Dar es Salaam signal station but no response received.
November 15 2006 0400 LT, Belawan port, Indonesia. While berthed, about seven robbers boarded a bulk carrier via the gangway by mingling among the stevedores. They broke open store door using steel bars and stole ship's stores. Authorities contacted but no response. No injuries to crew.
Iraq announced it was restoring full diplomatic relations with Syria after a 26-year break on Tuesday and hailed a pledge from its western neighbour to do more to cooperate on security.
The ink wasn't even dry on the agreement when the order went out to ice Gemayel. How does Syria get away with this BS?
Posted by: Fred ||
11/22/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Always have your coffee cup sitting on the desk when you read RB.
A leading human rights group has urged Palestinian armed groups not to endanger civilian lives by encouraging "human shields" to prevent threatened Israeli attacks on militants' homes. Human Rights Watch issued the call after hundreds of Palestinians in recent days flocked to homes of militants in the Gaza Strip to avert air strikes. Israel's military generally gives prior warning that buildings will be destroyed.
"Palestinian armed groups must not endanger Palestinian civilians by encouraging them to gather in and around suspected militants homes targeted by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF)," the New-York based group said Wednesday. "There is no excuse for calling civilians to the scene of a planned attack," said Sarah Leah Whitson, the group's Middle East director. Not even Zionist Occupation of the Homelands™ is an excuse? Wow.
She called on the Palestinian prime minister Ismail Haniya, head of the internationally boycotted Hamas-led government, to denounce the tactic. "Prime Minister Haniya and other Palestinian leaders should be renouncing, not embracing, the tactic of encouraging civilians to place themselves at risk," counselled Whitson.
HRW also questioned Israel's "military objective" in targeting Palestinian homes it has ordered to be evacuated. "The IDF should immediately explain what its military objective is in targeting the homes that it has ordered to be vacated," said Whitson.
The group also reminded the IDF that any destruction of civilian property must be done strictly in compliance with international humanitarian law. "An ostensibly civilian object such as a home can be the subject of attack only if it is being used for military purposes at the relevant time and its destruction makes a direct and immediate contribution to the fighting." There, that should be flexible enough to allow us to condemn any Israel attacks we want.
#1
There is no question it's a war crime and a violation of international law. Israel is permitted under law to proceed with attacks but it doesn't dare since the EUropean and US TRANZI elites and MSM would crap bricks.
It's time to expel all Paleos fron Gaza and anex it. That will remove this problem from the equation forever.
#2
Annexing Gaza has some down sides. The water table is almost down to salt now.
In a few years, the Gazans will have to deal with drinking brackish water (they may already have this depending on the leakages in their water system).
#3
Cancel this! It's all a big mistake! The new guy at HRW was told to write up a condemnation for the not-so-innocent civilian accomplices Human Shields(TM) situation and he reacted logically. Sorry for the confusion. He is being lobotomized as we speak.
Father Peter Dougherty, 65, left, and Sister Mary Ellen Gundeck, 55, right, both Michigan-based peace activists, sit on the roof top of the house of Mohammed weil Baroud, leader of the Popular Resistance Committees that Israel targeted for destruction, in Beit Layiha, northern Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2006. They are the first foreigners to join a week-long standoff between Palestinian 'human shields' and the Israeli air force. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
(Incidentally, the old bastard is committing an unambiguous war crime by holding a truly innocent child while he exposes himself to military attack.)
For the past two months, the IDF has been called activists and their family members in Gaza to warn them of their intent on bombing their homes. Palestinians have found away to prevent the bombings; dozens, even hundreds, gather at the homes of those wanted, thereby thwarting the destruction. In recent days, Father Peter and Sister Mary Ellen of Michigan have joined them. I urge them to try this in a Baghdad marketplace.
At the end of last week, the IDF informed the Brudi family in Jabalya of their intent to bomb and demolish their home in protest of their sons activities with the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC).
Since then, hundreds of neighbors and activists of all organizations congregated at the house in an effort to prevent the demolition. The same idea was adopted at the home of a prominent Hamas activist in the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Lahiya. Goebbels is probably sitting in hell kicking himself for not trying this in 1944. Maybe not.
Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh even held a press conference there. These homes have become pilgrimage sites in recent days not only for locals. Foreign peace activists have started to show interests in the phenomenon, and two Americans, a priest and a nun from Michigan, arrived at Jabalya from Michigan to take part in the human shield mission at the Brudi family home.
Sister Mary Ellen told Ynet, We are here to find out the truth and to be with the family and these people, who are trying to prevent the demolition of a home where an entire family lives. "Father Pete is old enough to remember the looting and desecration of Herr Hitler's Berghof, and I have joined him in vowing 'never again'," she added
The Sister continued, We are against any type of violence, whether from the Palestinian side or the Israeli side, by we are here to be with a family that may have their house bombed and demolished because of the claim that one or two members are involved in violence. Moral equivalence, media-leftard style: Kassems falling on Israeli families=bombing of the miscreants' own house. Is there something wrong with this equation?
She explained, We are against any type of collective punishment and feel this punishment is wrong, a complete mistake. If the Israelis claim a family member is involved in violence, then they can arrest them during an infantry operaton that will kill dozens and flatten whole city blocks, giving us that much more reason to protest and collect moonbat contributions in Berkeley and Ann Arbor, but not destroy a home populated by an entire family of terror supporters."
She also explained that she was well aware of the Qassam rockets fired from the northern Gaza Strip towards Sderot, and said, I adamantly oppose and condemn the firings like I condemn all violence. The difference this pathetic fool is unwilling to see: If the Palis gave up violence tomorrow, there would be peace. If the Israelis gave up violence tomorrow, there would be massacre on an unprecedented scale.
#2
Why heck! A priest and a nun? Killing either of them will get you your virgins faster than lickity split. Some Moslem could really get his racing stripes if he cut their heads off and put them on poles.
#3
(Incidentally, the old bastard is committing an unambiguous war crime by holding a truly innocent child while he exposes himself to military attack.)
Both of them are doing it. Sadly, there's no one with the brains and integrity to prosecute them for it.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
11/22/2006 13:54 Comments ||
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#4
We are against any type of collective punishment
You mean like the sort of collective punishment Muslims practice on a daily basis? The sort of measures that will be taken against you as soon as they no longer need you for a useful idiot it is convenient?
I hope these two catch it when some moron accidentally detonates whatever explosives cache there is inside of the Brudi house. And you just know there is one. When these traitors return, they should face charges of providing aid and comfort to the enemy.
#5
You never hear about human shield peace activists sitting in Israeli pizza parlors or riding Israeli buses to protect them from attack. Maybe it's because it happens so often it is no longer news.
#6
Insteaf of huiman shielding for the Palis, the lowvable Palis who crush the skill of four year oçld in cold blood or brain wash their child as young as five into wishing genocide the Jews why are n't these two pieces of sh.t human shielding in Soudan
I see there exoplaqnations:
1) They aren't interested in people who ddon't want to exterminate the Jews
2) Soudanese are only niggers to them.
3) It is dangerous. Unlike the Israleis the Islamo-fascist/Arabo-fascost junta in Soudan isn't restricted by any consideration of decency and would gladly open fire into the human shields and rape the nun in case she survives.
#10
Gaza seems to be literally awash in leftist activists and foreigners of all stripes. Couldn't they at least pass out condoms in their spare time to keep the exploding population under control?
#11
The pair arrived Wednesday morning at the family home of Mohammed Baroud, a militant involved in rocket attacks on Israel, and stayed for several hours. After sundown, Dougherty said they had left the house and did not plan to return.
#14
Israel needs to grow a set large enough to bomb these asstards even with the moonbats and "human shields" around them. Otherwise, Israel is doomed. Personally, I'm all for arclighting the entire Gaza - two or three times a day for a month. Then we could build a really HUGE airfield on top of it to stage out of against Saudi Arabia and Egypt when the time comes to deal with those traitorous bastards.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
11/22/2006 15:25 Comments ||
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#15
BB#10:
"condoms in their spare time to keep the exploding population under control?"
Does Trojan make a rubber big enough to fit a whole suicide bomber in? And strong enough to contain the blast?
#16
Useful idiots who are in the wrong region. Yep, keep grandstanding in weak ass gaza where you know the IDF won't stoop (unfortunately) to whacking that building your on. How about really growing a pair, leave the bush league & go to Malaysia and try to protect young Christian girls from getting be-headed on their way to school Padre? These two losers don't even have the common decency to help their fellow Christians - f*cking *ssholes & media whores.
#17
These 2 sould be arrested on their return to the US. They are war criminals and that is just for starters. International law and the GC are unambiguous. Book them Dan-o.
This target gets more and more rich by the day. PLF leader down stairs mulitiple guards common soldgiers around, the preagnant wives along with the the next gereration of terrorist running around and the cherry on top some old peace-love-&-happiness LLL's.
TEL AVIV The only way to stop the regular rocket fire on Sderot, an Israeli city of about 20,000 nearly three miles from the Gaza Strip border, is for the Jewish state to evacuate the entire city, Hamas announced in a statement today. "Only the departure of residents from Sderot will stop the rocket fire," Abu Abaida, spokesman for Hamas' so-called military wing, said in a statement to reporters.
"There are no limits on our rocket attacks and we will prove that in coming days. We advise residents of Sderot to evacuate," the Hamas spokesman said.
Asked by WND if his statement was rhetoric or whether the Hamas leadership actually sanctioned a call for Israeli residents to evacuate, Abu Abaida replied, "We are very, very serious. The evacuation can be done in the next days or even up to several weeks, but it must be done. And after that, we will stop all rocket fire unless the Zionists continue more military operations in Gaza."
Sounds like a threat to me. Wonder if Olmert has the moral courage to step up to this? Naaaah.
#1
Israel - Don't occupy them. Just bomb the hell out of a mile wide swath on the border - then, AFTERWORDS, tell the Gazaians they need to evacute along the border.
#5
The only way to stop the regular rocket fire on Sderot, an Israeli city of about 20,000 nearly three miles from the Gaza Strip border, is for the Jewish state to evacuate the entire city, Hamas announced in a statement today.
Well, maybe. But I think they've overlooked the Zionist "Napalm all of Gaza" option...
#6
"Only the departure of residents from Sderot will stop the rocket fire," Abu Abaida, spokesman for Hamas' so-called military wing, said in a statement to reporters.
As I've mentioned before. Israel needs to track down Abu Abaida and publically execute him for even uttering such horseradish.
[kablammo!] "Hookay, who else is up for some crazy talk?"
#7
Israel Opts for Major War Campaign in 11th Hour of Hamas Build-up
DEBKAfile Special Military Report
DEBKAfileâs military sources disclose that Israelâs security cabinet decided Wednesday, Nov. 22, that there is no option but to launch a major offensive against Hamas and its terrorist allies in the Gaza Strip - both to pre-empt their war build-up and reduce Qassam missile attacks which climbed to 80 in the last ten days. The date remains to be set. Operational proposals were not submitted by the army chiefs, said the announcement, but held back for presentation to a smaller forum which the Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will summon.
Our sources note that special forces and Shin Bet units have already stepped up their ground operations against the missile crews in the northern Gaza Strip. These operations will soon evolve into a broader, harsher crackdown in other parts of the territory including the Philadelphi corridor.
The prime minister was finally convinced that the time for foot-dragging was over by intelligence data which showed Hamas hectically engaged in constructing state-of-the-art fortifications for withstanding deep incursions into the Gaza Strip. They are assisted by dozens of military advisers pouring in from Syria and Lebanon.
Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen Dan Halutz, AMAN-intelligence commander Maj.-Gen Amos Yadlin and OC Southern Command Maj.-Gen Yoav Galant warned Olmert and defense minister Amir Peretz that every day without Israeli counter-action maximizes future IDF casualties. They said casualties will be high even if Israel does not carry out an organized incursion of the Gaza Strip but confines itself to pinpointed strikes. Military intelligence also estimates that a full-scale conflict will soon prove unavoidable because the Qassam salvos are increasing in number and range beyond Sderot and Ashkelon; Ashdod and more Negev communities are being brought into the missile orbit.
As Palestinian missile attacks on the Israeli population proliferate, Sderotâs distress becomes intolerable and the popular clamor rises to curb the menace, the IDF has switched its counter-missile tactics in the Gaza Strip. Instead of the air force, special ground forces backed by Shin Bet units are spearheading strikes which target top Hamas missile commanders.
Monday night, Nov. 20, IDF infantry, undercover and Shin Beit units surrounded the home of senior Hamas missile commander Imad Hasnin in Gaza Cityâ Sajaiya district. Apparently forewarned, his bodyguards opened fire on the Israeli raiders. They used the anti-tank rockets, mortars and machine guns which have turned the missile commandersâ homes into fortresses â both against Israeli attack and Fatah adherents.
The Israeli troops, backed by rooftop snipers, fought their way to the targeted house in hand-to-hand battle with the Palestinian gunmen, stormed the building and killed Hasnin.
The raid was launched after Israeli intelligence was tipped off that Hamas had expanded its Qassam production facilities by 50% in the last two weeks, tripled output and increased the missilesâ explosive power. This development means that the Palestinian missile industry has grown too big to destroy by ordinary military means, particularly when it is fed by a constant flow of smuggled explosives entering through the wide-open Philadelphi corridor from Egypt.
Instead of targeting single launchers, Israelâs military planners therefore decided to focus on liquidating missile crews and reaching their commanders at home, as the only way to strike at the heart of the Palestinian cross-border offensive against Israeli communities.
The new tactic, successfully employed Monday night, calls for large commando units trained in street combat, who also risk relatively high casualties. It also calls for an intensive, high-grade intelligence effort to precisely mark the targets and provide details of the protective measures they employ.
A senior Israeli officer in the Gaza sector told DEBKAfile that it will take several weeks before the new counter-missile assault model can dent Hamas capabilities for shooting missiles into Israel and begin reducing the barrage. Even today, Hamas is capable of firing salvos of dozens of missiles, he said, but is keeping the intensity down to about 10 launchings a day, in order to reserve the bulk of its arsenal for later stages of its showdown with Israel.
DEBKAfileâs military experts point out that the impending Gaza campaign will be the second war Israel has fought in five months. In most senses, it will be the sequel to the war offensive Hizballah launched from Lebanon in July. Hizballah may decide, or be instructed from Damascus and/or Tehran, to initiate another attack across Israelâs northern border to ease the pressure on Hamas by splitting Israeli forces on two fronts. The counter-argument to this depends on developments in Lebanon: The deeper the domestic crisis erupting in Lebanon in the wake of the assassination of Pierre Gemayel on Tuesday, Nov. 21, the less Hizballah will be free to start another war against Israel.
Two Italian Red Cross workers kidnapped in Gaza were released shortly after midnight on Wednesday, Palestinian security officials said. The two were kidnapped at gunpoint from their vehicle in Deir el-Balah in central Gaza Tuesday afternoon, Palestinian officials said, the latest in a string of abductions of foreigners in the lawless area.
Over the past two years, there has been a rash of kidnappings of foreign aid workers and journalists in Gaza, usually by groups or families pressing the government for money or job guarantees. In most cases, the hostages were quickly released. None have been seriously harmed. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Tuesday's abductions.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/22/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Damn. I've sooo hoped for a decapitation video. Instead, it's a few million euros for jihad.
Fearing a further escalation in Kassam rocket fire, the defense establishment has begun putting the finishing touches on plans to launch a massive Defensive Shield-like operation into the Gaza Strip.
They're not really doing anything, but they're putting the finishing touches on it.
Doubtful that Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas will succeed in convincing terror factions to accept a cease-fire, defense officials are seriously considering reoccupying the Gaza Strip in an effort to stop Kassam rocket attacks.
"Yep. We're discussing it seriously."
"We are not left with many options," a high-ranking defense official told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday.
"It's either that, or do nothing. So far, we're doing nothing."
"What we know can work at stopping the Kassams is a major operation and the reoccupation of the Gaza Strip."
"It is an attack on the Lebanese government and the planned international tribunal (to examine Hariri's murder) and it is also an attack on the U.N.," Mehlis told the Sueddeutsche Zeitung daily newspaper to be published on Thursday. "It is apparent to anyone who is unbiased that all the clues after this attack clearly point to the forces who want to bring down the Lebanese government and get in the way of the tribunal. These are the so-called pro-Syrian forces in Lebanon. They have an obvious motive."
Just hours after Gemayel's shooting, the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday endorsed plans for an international tribunal to try suspects in the Hariri murder case. Mehlis said it remained "in no way certain" that the tribunal would ever be set up.
He said the Security Council's backing was only a quarter of the approval process. The idea of the tribunal now had to be given the green light by the Lebanese parliament and possibly also by the president or the prime minister, he said. Mehlis' investigation into the Hariri case pointed the finger at the Lebanese and Syrian secret services. In one report, Mehlis implicated Brig. Gen. Assaf Shawkat, Syria's military intelligence chief and the brother-in-law of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
His successor, Brammertz, has shied away naming anyone but has described it as a very complex operation. Four Lebanese generals top pro-Syrian security chiefs under President Emile Lahoud including his presidential guard commander have been under arrest for 14 months, accused of involvement in Hariri's killing. Syria has denied involvement in the murder and condemned the assassination of Gemayel as "a crime aimed at destabilizing" Lebanon.
Lebanon's most prominent anti-Syrian leader said on Wednesday he expected Damascus to assassinate more politicians after the shooting of a Christian minister raised fears of a new spasm of factional violence.
Lebanon began three days of mourning for Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel who died as he drove through a Christian suburb of Beirut on Tuesday. He was the sixth anti-Syrian politician to be killed in nearly two years. The assassination turned Lebanon's Independence Day on Wednesday into a somber occasion. All festivities, including a military parade, were cancelled. The murder also heightened tensions between the anti-Syrian government and the pro-Damascus opposition led by Hezbollah, the powerful Shi'ite Muslim guerrilla group determined to topple what it regards as a pro-U.S. cabinet.
Druze leader Walid Jumblatt blamed Syria for Gemayel's assassination and said he expected more killings aimed at undermining parliament's ruling majority. Syria has joined international condemnation of the killing. "It seems the Syrian regime will continue with the assassinations. I expect more assassinations but no matter what they do, we are here and we will be victorious," Jumblatt said, echoing fears expressed by other senior Christian figures.
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Posted by: Fred ||
11/22/2006 09:37 ||
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#1
Wonder when Wally's name will come up on the Hit man's 'to-do' list? seems like his time is all of the borrowed nature.
Syria condemned the assassination of a prominent anti-Syrian Lebanese politician on Tuesday, calling the shooting of Pierre Gemayel a "despicable crime." The Syrian state news agency SANA denounced the assassination, quoting an anonymous Syrian official, as it often does when reporting the government reaction. "This despicable crime aims to destroy stability and peace in Lebanon," the statement quoted the official as saying, affirming Syria's keenness on Lebanon's stability, security and unity, and to sustain its civil peace.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/22/2006 00:00 ||
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The UN Security Council unequivocally condemned Tuesday's assassination of a prominent anti-Syrian Cabinet member and approved a tribunal to prosecute the suspected killers of another Lebanese politician - former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
US Ambassador John Bolton said the killing of Christian politician Pierre Gemayel raised the possibility of Syrian involvement. He said the United States will seek to add Gemayel's murder to the list of those whose alleged killers would be prosecuted by the tribunal. It now includes Hariri and 14 other Lebanese who died at the hands of assassins or their bombs.
The Security Council expressed grave concern at the possible impact of Gemayel's assassination on efforts "to solidify democracy" in the country and condemned "any attempt to destabilize Lebanon through political assassination or other terrorist acts." In a statement adopted by consensus and read by the council president, members called Gemayel "a patriot who was a symbol of freedom and of the political independence of Lebanon."
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Posted by: Fred ||
11/22/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Haven't heard a word from Koffee on this. Isn't he "deeply disturbed" or anything. His silence is thundering.
In a message posted to a password-protected forum today, Tuesday, November 21, 2006, the Mujahideen in Lebanon responded to the assassination of Minister Pierre Amin Gemayel in Beirut, an event which occurred only hours earlier. The group claims that Hezbollah, in coordination with Syrian intelligence, is directly responsible for the assassination, and further, that an effort is under way to frame the incident as an al-Qaeda operation.
The statement reads: The assassination was directly executed by five individuals from Hezbollah. They were divided into two cars and a yellow motorcycle. The group alleges a false statement was printed prior to the assassination, in the refugee camp Nahr al-Bared, in which al-Qaeda is implicated in the attack. The Mujahideen in Lebanon view the assassination of Minister Gemayel as part of a continued effort on the part of Hezbollah and its Syrian backers to coerce Shia ministers into withdrawal, ultimately facilitating an overthrow of the Lebanese government. The statement closes, We are monitoring them, referring to Syrian-supported Shiites in Lebanon.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/22/2006 00:00 ||
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US Ambassador John Bolton said on Tuesday the assassination of a Lebanese Cabinet minister and vocal critic of Syria showed the need for quick agreement on creation of an international court for Lebanon. Bolton also hinted at Syrian involvement in the killing of Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel by gunmen who opened fire on his convoy near Beirut.
Mysterious gunmen. Gunmen who have disappeared like the wind...
He pointed to a string of recent assassinations of anti-Syrian political figures in Lebanon following the February 2005 murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri after Hariri spoke out against Syria's domination of Lebanon. "I think the facts need to be developed, but if you look at ... the evidence that links the Hariri assassination to the other political assassinations, I think people can draw their own conclusions," he said.
Bolton strongly disagreed when asked by a reporter whether council approval of the tribunal plan might feed instability in Lebanon, as some council members had argued. "How incredibly wrong that would be," he said. "Instability? They are killing people in Lebanon, they are assassinating political leaders. Not the time to seek justice? There may be those on the Security Council who say it. Let them step forward and say it."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/22/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
About time for some "equalizations",Al Capone style..." pop one of ours, and we're going to pop one of yours"! (Now we see the logic behind the pro-Syrian delegation quiting all at once; they saw the 'handwriting on the wall', or was forewarned by the puppet masters in Syria.
#2
" pop one of ours, and we're going to pop one of yours"
That won't do any good - these people LIVE to die for Islam. Tell them, "pop one of ours, we take out 10 square miles. Pop a second, we take out 100 square miles. Pop a third, and nothing will be left standing except a few rocks, and not many of those." Then follow through. That's something they'll understand, after the first half-dozen times.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
11/22/2006 19:53 Comments ||
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#3
the Syrians don't seem to be "Living to die for Islam". They have fodsder to do that. I guarantee if there were a wetworks campaign again Syrian Baath and Military higher-ups and their loved ones, things would be different
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/22/2006 22:26 Comments ||
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MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- A day after being removed from a US Airways flight, six Muslim clerics said Tuesday they were the victims of prejudice and did nothing to deserve the treatment. One called for a boycott of the airline. [possible USAIR advertising tie in- "USAIR, the airline terrorists boycott"].
"It's discrimination," said Omar Shahin, president of the North American Imams Federation [major fan of OBL] and frequent US Airways flier who said he travels almost every week.
#3
My only issue with the airline is one of timing. The invitation extended to the representatives of the religion of pieces to depart the aircraft should have been enforced approximately 15 minutes after takeoff.....
#9
Let it be true. This will be the biggest boon US Airways ever had. May put them into black because every thinking soul will book US Air whenever possible, if it's guaranteed no Muzzie scum is aboard.
#16
I dunno; earlier this week US Air announced it was in merger talks with Delta; the plan is to buy out Delta, but continue flying it as a stand alone brand. Now comes the Muzzie Humiliation Flight and all comments are of the notion that we are going to start flying US Air since the towel heads won't. This sounds like something the US Air bean counter dreamt up in order to boost the bottom line and bring more $$ into the coffers in order to buy out Delta.
/snark off
#17
and....and....Kennedy was really killed by the US Military...and....and....there really were aliens that crashed at Roswell....and....and.....global warming.....and.....
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.
BERLIN - The German government said on Tuesday it had no plans to send troops to help quell a Taleban insurgency in southern Afghanistan. Chief government spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm denied a report in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung daily that Germany was set to contribute troops for Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRT) to work in the violence-hit region. There have been no deliberations about extending the PRTs, Wilhelm said.
DENVER Attorney General John Suthers returned from Saudi Arabia this weekend following a 3-day trip to discuss the trial of a man convicted by a Colorado court. Suthers said he was questioned aggressively by King Abdullah for 3 days about whether Homaidan Al-Turki was treated fairly when he was convicted in Arapahoe County of sexually assaulting an Indonesian maid and keeping her as a virtual slave in his Aurora home. Suthers said Al-Turki comes from an influential religious family in Saudi Arabia and was portrayed in the media there as a victim.
A senior North Korean diplomat strongly indicated that his country has no plans to abandon nuclear weapons, despite its agreement to return to six-nation disarmament talks, according to news reports Wednesday.
One of six Muslim imams pulled from a US Airways flight in Minneapolis last night by federal authorities is affiliated with a Hamas-linked organization and acknowledged a connection to Osama bin Laden in the 1990s. 
Cleveland Elementary School (San Francisco) teacher Bill Morgan is among elementary school teachers who have ditched the traditional Thanksgiving lesson, in which children dress up like Indians and Pilgrims and act out a romanticized version of their first meetings.
As if there was already not enough of an uproar over the burqa and the niqab, the robbery of a Canadian jewellery store by a burqa-clad man can only increase apprehensions about the attire being defended by its adherents in the name of Islam. The incident occurred in the Toronto suburb of Bramption. Abdul Rasheed Khalid, a Pakistani-Canadian was alone in his jewellery store filling the display cases with gold rings and necklaces when two people, one wearing a head-to-toe black burqa, appeared outside his locked door, according to the newspaper, Toronto Star. 
Sen. P
WASHINGTON Nov 20, 2006 (AP) The National Security Agency is not required to release details about its secret wiretapping program, a federal judge said Monday. The People for the American Way Foundation, a liberal 
The NSA denied the request for documents, saying the records would jeopardize national security. The advocacy group argued that the law can't be used to protect the government from disclosing details about illegal programs. U.S. Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle disagreed, saying that even if the program is ultimately determined to be illegal, it doesn't change the fact that the materials are classified and are not covered by the Freedom of Information Act.
The Egyptian government on Tuesday denied a visa to Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) President and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Pakistan Amir Qazi Hussain Ahmad. The MMA leader was invited by the World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY) as chief guest in a conference scheduled in the Egyptian capital of Cairo in the second week of November. In a press release issued by the JI media office, Qazi condemned the Cairo decision and called it a service to the enemy aimed at disintegrating and dividing the Muslim Ummah, adding that colonial rulers had introduced borders to distance Muslims from each other and that visa restrictions were adding to this. Qazi pointed out that the European Union was headed towards a United Europe. He said that the body fabric of the Muslim Ummah, on the contrary, was exposed to disintegration due to the policies of the Egyptian government.
November 20 2006 0130 LT, Dumai Inner Anchorage, Indonesia. Six robbers armed with knives boarded a bulk carrier. They attempted to overcome the shore watchman who raised alarm. Duty Officer and crew rushed to assist. When confronted by crew, robbers jumped overboard and escaped empty handed.
TEL AVIV The only way to stop the regular rocket fire on Sderot, an Israeli city of about 20,000 nearly three miles from the Gaza Strip border, is for the Jewish state to evacuate the entire city, Hamas announced in a statement today. "Only the departure of residents from Sderot will stop the rocket fire," Abu Abaida, spokesman for Hamas' so-called military wing, said in a statement to reporters. 
Two Italian Red Cross workers kidnapped in Gaza were released shortly after midnight on Wednesday, Palestinian security officials said. The two were kidnapped at gunpoint from their vehicle in Deir el-Balah in central Gaza Tuesday afternoon, Palestinian officials said, the latest in a string of abductions of foreigners in the lawless area. 
Fearing a further escalation in Kassam rocket fire, the defense establishment has begun putting the finishing touches on plans to launch a massive Defensive Shield-like operation into the Gaza Strip. 
Lebanon's most prominent anti-Syrian leader said on Wednesday he expected Damascus to assassinate more politicians after the shooting of a Christian minister raised fears of a new spasm of factional violence. 
Syria condemned the assassination of a prominent anti-Syrian Lebanese politician on Tuesday, calling the shooting of Pierre Gemayel a "despicable crime." The Syrian state news agency SANA denounced the assassination, quoting an anonymous Syrian official, as it often does when reporting the government reaction. "This despicable crime aims to destroy stability and peace in Lebanon," the statement quoted the official as saying, affirming Syria's keenness on Lebanon's stability, security and unity, and to sustain its civil peace.
The UN Security Council unequivocally condemned Tuesday's assassination of a prominent anti-Syrian Cabinet member and approved a tribunal to prosecute the suspected killers of another Lebanese politician - former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. 
US Ambassador John Bolton said on Tuesday the assassination of a Lebanese Cabinet minister and vocal critic of Syria showed the need for quick agreement on creation of an international court for Lebanon. Bolton also hinted at Syrian involvement in the killing of Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel by gunmen who opened fire on his convoy near Beirut.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- A day after being removed from a US Airways flight, six Muslim clerics said Tuesday they were the victims of prejudice and did nothing to deserve the treatment. One called for a boycott of the airline.
