#1
BBC is anti-Israel, no brainer. And all one has to do is read the Middle East section on their web-site on any day to find anti-America spew also, especially since the start of Iraqi freedom and the WOT.
Posted by: Alan Johnston ||
03/26/2007 13:50 Comments ||
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#3
The fact that Beeb is "anti-Zionist" is not noteworthy. The fact that it has to go to court, and may even lose---though I'm not holding my breath, to prevent British public from finding out the extent of its bias; is noteworthy.
#5
It has been my belief for quite some time that the BBC and it's employees be treated as we treat terrorists. The BBC is in common cause with them in their anti-americanism and pro islamo-fascism.
Wet work is justified against them as they sell their anti-americanism the globe.
#7
The BBC's action over the case have provoked inevitable charges of hypocrisy as the BBC itself makes frequent used of freedom of information requests to get stories.
The BBC's own website boasts of 69 stories that it says it has broken with the help of the Freedom of Information Act.
If the BBC loses the High Court case next week it could appeal again and again until the case reaches the European Court in Strasbourg.
Any bets that the EU high court will rule against the interests of anti-Semitism?
[crickets]
This would soak further thousands from BBC coffers, which should be spent on making TV programmes.
Conservative MP David Davies said: "An organisation which is funded partly to scrutinise governments and other institutions in Britain appears to be using tax-payers money to prevent its customers from finding out how it is operating. That is absolutely indefensible."
Including some £300,000 in legal costs plus the original £200,000 (not $200,000 as in my preceding post), makes for over $1,000,000USD. This is misappropriation of public funding, malfeasance and CYA on a monumental scale. The BBC should be dismembered and privatized at the earliest possible opportunity. Long ago they disqualified themselves as competent journalists.
Teheran, 26 March (AKI) - The Bank of England has asked the country's banks to freeze all accounts and funds belonging to Iranian individuals and institutions named in United Nations Security Council Resolution 1747 - unanimously voted on Saturday and imposing new sanctions against Iran for its refusal to stop enriching uranium. The assets of Iran's state-owned Sepah Bank, which has its main overseas branch in London, and is suspected of being the main bank used by Iran's atomic entity, the Saman industrial group, and the Kavoshhyar and Energy Novin companies - all with operations in Britain - are named by Resolution 1747.
Either the British are using the UN resolution to enforce the UN sanctions, using the UN resolution to pressure Iran to release their soldiers, or Iran knew Britian would freeze their bank account, so they grabbed to Brits to put pressure on Britian to un-freeze their account. Or none of the above.
Sepah Bank also has a branch in the Italian capital, Rome, which on Monday was still open for business and carrying out financial transactions. Resolution 1747 includes a ban on all Iranian weapons exports - going beyond sanctions imposed last December that focused on the twin issues of nuclear weapons and missile development. It also targets the assets of 28 individuals and entities.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/26/2007 12:41 ||
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#1
I suggest that the Brits charge silly banking fees or limit withdrawals to $500 as a punitive measure.
George Galloway will not face a criminal investigation by Scotland Yard into allegations he broke United Nations sanctions by taking oil money from Saddam Hussein, The Herald can reveal. The Metropolitan Police, after liaising with the Crown Prosecution Service, has dropped any idea of investigating claims of corruption against the 52-year-old anti-war Respect MP, or anyone else, and has handed the file back to the Serious Fraud Office (SFO).
It is thought it would be better for a single agency to investigate allegations involving the discredited UN oil-for-food (OFF) programme. While the SFO has decided to expand its £22m probe into alleged fraud concerning humanitarian aid contracts to take in oil contracts, it made clear Mr Galloway, who has consistently denied any wrongdoing, would not figure in investigations. A spokesman for the SFO said: "For us to get involved, it would have to involve a complex fraud inquiry. In relation to Mr Galloway, he does not come within the scope of our inquiry." He explained this was because the claims against the MP did not involve complex fraud - but corruption.
The SFO, however, did reveal that, following talks with Scotland Yard, its inquiry, the existence of which was exclusively revealed in The Herald last month, has now been "expanded to include not just the humanitarian contracts but oil contracts as well". No individuals were being investigated - only companies.
Last night, Mr Galloway, the MP for Bethnal Green and Bow in east London, was unavailable for comment. However, Ron Mackay, his spokesman, said the decision not to investigate the back bencher came as no surprise. "He's had no contact or e-mail, not a visit, not an inquiry by anyone in an official position - be it the SFO or Scotland Yard. It's a complete utter non-event," he said.
The former Glasgow MP will not be investigated by either Scotland Yard or the SFO, but Sir Philip Mawer, Westminster's parliamentary commissioner, is still looking into whether, in light of the OFF programme allegations, Mr Galloway breached any Commons rules. Furthermore, the Charity Commission is continuing its inquiry into the Mariam Appeal, the £1m political fund set up by the Respect leader, to see if it received any funds via the OFF programme and, if so, whether they were right and proper. It's thought the SFO will target those companies whose names appeared in the UN report of 2005, which accused various organisations of taking kickbacks under the OFF programme.
North Korea vowed on Sunday to bolster its self-defensive deterrence saying a military exercise launched by South Korea and the United States could jeopardise nuclear disarmament talks. If the aggressors ignite a war on this land, the army and people of the DPRK (North Korea) will resolutely retaliate against them with merciless deadly blows, the Korean National Peace Committee said in a statement.
North Korea will bolster its self-defensive deterrence for defending the dignity and sovereignty of the Korean nation to cope with the provocative moves of the US and south Korean warmongers, it said. The North has used the word self-defensive deterrence in referring to atomic bombs since its nuclear test last October. The warning came as the week-long RSOI (Reception, Staging, Onward Movement and Integration) and Foal Eagle exercise began across South Korea Sunday.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/26/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
1)bol·ster
Pronunciation: 'bOl-st&r
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English; akin to Old English belg (bag)
1 : a long pillow or cushion
#3
Personally, I think the 25 million being held back might be worth the mercy they'd show us, before they commence to 'blows'! We otta give them the cash, and thank our lucky stars that they'll hold back those 'blows'!
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
03/26/2007 6:01 Comments ||
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#5
It's time for the annual KCNA Adjective Festival.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/26/2007 11:31 Comments ||
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#6
Here ya go...
U.S. and S. Korean Warmongers' DPRK-Targeted War Exercises Assailed
Pyongyang, March 25 (KCNA) -- A spokesman for the Korean National Peace Committee released a statement on Sunday to denounce the U.S. and south Korean warmongers for staging the DPRK-targeted RSOI and field mobile exercise in south Korea defying strong protest.
The launch of the above-said war maneuvers is a product of deliberately planned and systematic moves of the U.S. and south Korean bellicose forces to prevent the desire for peace and reconciliation from growing stronger and escalate tension on the Korean Peninsula in a bid to frustrate the process of dialogue and peace and, furthermore, ignite a war, the statement said, and continued: The above-said RSOI and field mobile exercise is an extension of the moves to provoke a war against the DPRK and an extremely dangerous preliminary war, a test nuclear war before going over to an actual war. This saber-rattling just launched behind the curtain of "dialogue" and "peace" is a very rude act proving their utter lack of good faith and courtesy and an unpardonable perfidy to the dialogue partner.
This clearly indicates that the U.S. and south Korean authorities' talk about "dialogue" and "improved relations" is nothing but hypocrisy and they are still persisting in their hostile policy toward the DPRK and confrontation with it.
The army and people of the DPRK will bolster the self-defensive deterrence for defending the dignity and sovereignty of the Korean nation to cope with the provocative moves of the U.S. and south Korean warmongers for a war of aggression against it. If the aggressors ignite a war on this land, the army and people of the DPRK will resolutely retaliate against them with merciless deadly blows.
The U.S. would be well advised to stop at once its reckless war exercises against the DPRK, which are harmful to the settlement of the nuclear issue and peace of the Korean Peninsula and driving the situation to a phase of confrontation and war.
The south Korean authorities should immediately halt their criminal acts of participating in the war moves of the outside forces against the Korean nation and peace, well aware that their involvement in the outside forces-led saber-rattling against the fellow countrymen is a treacherous act of driving the inter-Korean relations to a collapse in violation of the June 15 joint declaration.
They need to discover exclamation points and the cap lock key. Maybe they should read more Joe Mendiola...
#7
If the aggressors ignite a war on this land, the army and people of the DPRK (North Korea) will resolutely retaliate against them with merciless deadly blows
I still get nostalgic for the good ol' days of "seas of fire" and "running dogs" spittle-spewing rhetoric.
Australia's imams say they will replace controversial Muslim cleric Sheik Taj al-Din al-Hilali later this year with a spiritual leader who is less embarrassing more sensitive to Australian culture and values. About 60 members of the Australian National Imams Council (ANIC) met yesterday in the southwestern Sydney suburb of Lakemba where they decided to reinstate Sheik Hilali as Australia's mufti, but only for the next three months. A spokesman for the imams, Dr Mohamad Abdalla, said the conference formed an executive board of 15 members which would consult with the wider Muslim community in Australia in order to form a Council of Fatwa. He said this council would then make a decision on the position of mufti in about three months time.
The unanimous opinion was to form a Council of Fatwa made of qualified people who will consult thoroughly with the Muslim community on this issue, Dr Abdalla said. They gave an interim of three months to form this new council, which will be made up of people nominated by all the various states. At the end of the three months, or once this is formulated, then the council will look at the issue of the mufti again.
Dr Abdalla said the Council of Fatwa would be looking for a number of qualities in the person they elect as Australia's next mufti. Firstly, the person must be qualified in the Islamic legal aspects, but also one must be able to communicate in the English language, and also be aware of the social, economic, and political context of Australia, he said. Dr Abdalla said importantly the new mufti would have to be someone who could smooth relations between Muslims and the wider Australian community. That was a point that was made very clear in the conference, that whoever the mufti is to be must be absolutely careful not to rile the dhimmis...yet in the statements that he makes, Dr Abdalla said.
He said until a new mufti is elected, a spokesperson would handle all communications on behalf of the ANIC. For the meanwhile there will be a spokesperson who can communicate on behalf of the Muslims in a way that is consistent with not only the objectives of the council but also consistent with the Australian culture and values, Dr Abdalla said. I would assume I will continue to do that until three months have lapsed and we'll see what happens then.
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is working hard to master the ins and the outs of the United States military, the NEW YORK TIMES is planning to report. Editors have set a Tuesday Page One placement for Pat Healy's detailed dispatch, newsroom sources tell the DRUDGE REPORT...Of all the early problems Bill Clinton faced as president, few stand out to Hillary as more aggravating and avoidable than his rocky relationship with the military, her advisers tell Healy. Hillary, in effect, has been practicing her salute:
"She has cultivated relationships with generals and admirals, prepped herself on wartime needs and strategy and traveled to Iraq and Afghanistan."
March 22, 2007: Islamic terrorists are encouraging their supporters, who can write in English, to get on American web sites and pretend to be friends or family members of American soldiers or marines. The "media jehadis" are instructed to tell stories in line with the anti-war tone of American and European media. Things like soldiers committing suicide because they were forced to take part in atrocities in Iraq. Or wounded soldiers suffering, or killing themselves, because of the poor care and abuse they have received from the army. The media jihadis are told to make it sound like they are simply passing on what a soldier said, not to pretend to be a soldier or marine. Media jihadis are told not to discuss anything from the Moslems side, and Moslems should only be referred to as innocent victims. Never mention the Sunni-Shia conflict or Islamic terrorism. Posters should not stick around for discussions, lest they be found out. Care should be taken to select screen names similar to other English speaking posters. Keep messages simple, so as not to betray the fact that you are not a native English speaker.
This is a clever strategy, and whoever started posting it openly on Arab language web sites, demonstrated a keen understanding of how the media works in the West. Bad news is more believable, and stories like this are already spread by the mass media. On some American anti-war sites, American posters are already inventing such stories. Some will be believed. That's the way the world works. . . .
Posted by: Mike ||
03/26/2007 14:50 ||
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#1
So hello wife or girlfrend of american gi you know husband or boyfrend sleeping with famous irak moostache hookers because he know you sleep with homer simpson why he away fighting illegal war he hate and want you to hate to because of nazi bush. barak obama for prezident. or hillarry. same thing.
#2
Problem is it assumes 'debate' on the websites and not just posting already determined opinions. It also assumes someone can fake the details of military knowledge without being shredded as a phony within seconds.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
03/26/2007 17:03 Comments ||
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#5
On some American anti-war sites, American posters are already inventing such stories.
Americans who voluntarily post such morale-damaging falsehoods need to have their ISP service cut off. This is no different from Hanoi Jane providing aid and comfort to the enemy. Not even the anti-Vietnam protests had this element of sedition to them.
#6
Er, this is news? This has been going on for years. Not just the jihadi part, but the American fuckheads making up stories to slime the troops.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
03/26/2007 19:57 Comments ||
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#7
FREEREPUBLIC/LUCIANNE , etc Posters > EVIL NEVER STOPS, nor does the "GREAT GAME" of one Nation(s) desiring to take over from Another Nation(s). It occurred before 9-11, during, and will occur after the end of the WOT NO MATTER WHOM SURVIVES OR WINS THE SAME. The Price of Freedom [includ Truth, Justice, Fairness and Self-Honor] is eternal VIGILANCE, DILIGENCE, and PERSEVERANCE.
EFL WASHINGTON (AP) - With his go-it-alone approach on Iraq, President Bush is flouting Congress and the public, so angering lawmakers that some consider impeachment an option over his war policy, a senator from Bush's own party said Sunday.
GOP Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a frequent critic of the war, stopped short of calling for Bush's impeachment. But he made clear that some lawmakers viewed that as an option should Bush choose to push ahead despite public sentiment against the war. "Any president who says, I don't care, or I will not respond to what the people of this country are saying about Iraq or anything else, or I don't care what the Congress does, I am going to proceedif a president really believes that, then there arewhat I was pointing out, there are ways to deal with that," said Hagel, who is considering a 2008 presidential run.
The Senate planned to begin debate Monday on a war spending bill that would set a nonbinding goal of March 31, 2008, for the removal of combat troops. On Sunday, Hagel said he was bothered by Bush's apparent disregard of congressional sentiment on Iraq, such as his decision to send additional troops. He said lawmakers now stood ready to stand up to the president when necessary.
In the April edition of Esquire magazine, Hagel described Bush as someone who doesn't believe he's accountable to anyone. "He's not accountable anymore, which isn't totally true. You can impeach him, and before this is over, you might see calls for his impeachment. I don't know. It depends on how this goes," Hagel told the magazine. "We have clearly a situation where the president has lost the confidence of the American people in his war effort," Hagel said.
"It is now time, going into the fifth year of that effort, for the Congress to step forward and be part of setting some boundaries and some conditions as to our involvement." "This is not a monarchy," he added, referring to the possibility that some lawmakers may seek impeachment. "There are ways to deal with it. And I would hope the president understands that." Not too hard to see where things are headed with this, is it?
This article starring:
Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska
Posted by: Dave D. ||
03/26/2007 00:00 ||
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#2
Lest we fergit, didn't a certain Washington Politico argue that a Presidential policy review committee [read-Soviet/Stalinist Amerikan POLITBURO-PRESIDIUM]be formed so that Fascist Emperor Dubya's WOT-ME policies will have to ungo group-style consensus before to any enaction!? ALL TOGETHER NOW, WID FEELING, "THATS A'MIGHTY FASCIST OF YOU COMMUNISTS".
#5
"Hagel, who is considering a 2008 presidential run." I doubt that after he got back some polling information that concluded that he and Bin Laden had the same amount of support among registered Republicans. If you ask me Bush has a LONG way before he could be classified as "Imperial" and should be out there attacking this and many other issues (Social Security, Domestic Oil production, etc). If anything he is too soft on the Donks and their willing idiots (Re Hagel and Co.).
#10
Chuckie should check the Constitution. Disagreeing with ambitious congress-creiiters is not grounds for impeachment... more likely grounds for beatification.
Actor Penn, Rep. Lee appear at town hall meeting on Iraq war Hundreds gather in Oakland to discuss how to get U.S. troops home Severely EFL
(03-24) 18:20 PDT OAKLAND -- Oscar-winning actor Sean Penn was the star attraction at a town hall meeting today in Oakland, where hundreds of people gathered to denounce the war in Iraq and call for an immediate withdrawal of American troops. "You and your smarmy pundits -- and the smarmy pundits you have in your pocket -- can take your war and shove it," Penn said. "Let's unite not only in stopping this war, but in holding this administration accountable." "Smarmy pundits"?? He's not talking about us, is he???
"Let's make this crystal clear: We do support our troops, but not the exploitation of them and their families," he said. "The money that's spent on this war would be better spent on building levees in New Orleans and health care in Africa and care for our veterans. Iraq is not our toilet. It's a country of human beings whose lives that were once oppressed by Saddam are now in Dante's Inferno." Shut up, twit.
At the rally, which was organized by a coalition of Oakland community groups, folk singers led the crowd in song and a rapper rapped about violence in the streets. There were calls for impeachment of the president and for troops to be brought home and pleas for federal dollars to be spent on schools rather than on the war. Giant puppets? Where's the giant puppets???
Posted by: Dave D. ||
03/26/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Only the Gubmint can save Amer's pets from poisoned Canadian pet food brands.
#2
Ah. Another moonbat or at least a terrorist sympathizer. Hard to tell the difference. But this one is more eloquent than most, so I'm guessing it's a sympathizer. Probably frustrated by their inability to spell even its own name. Or put together a coherent thought. Or maybe the tourette's has been taking a toll.
#4
And then Sean went back to what he usually does: playing dressup and wearing makeup. He's yet another court jester who FEELS that he could run things better. While the usual suspects shout "You go girl" the proper response to such spectacle is to point and laugh.
If he really wants to be in charge, let him run for elected office. But so far he hasn't the stones of even a Sonny Bono.
#10
I think Mr Penn an his bought congresscritter need to become acquainted with the bulbous end of a baseball bat - about kneecap high. What a know-nothing, snivveling piece of fecal matter.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/26/2007 12:04 Comments ||
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#11
I would like to add my 2 cents to the discussion. A LOT of Looney Lefty Hollywierd types love to opine about the Bush twins not being in uniform and most of them have never (and probably cant) serve in the Armed Services. If Mr. Penn wants to take the moral high ground in this argument, he should join the service, serve a tour honorably, and then he can spout about who isnt in uniform. Until that time he should shut his pie hole.
#13
Saw this stooge, his hottie wife Robin Wright and their son at a sushi joint in Marin County about a month ago. He was leading the son in a discussion about "the law" with plenty of historical references, etc. He ain't dumb, he is just a dedicated communist like his old man. The son will be another. I wasn't facing him so I couldn't do the eye roll. Wasn't keen on engaging in fisticuffs, which he is quick to do while on a dinner date with my wife either.
WASHINGTON - A new study from the University of Georgia finds the region is not prepared for a nuclear attack. A nuclear attack is the worst possible scenario -- and even though there are plans for disasters, the study suggests the aftermath would be devastating to relief efforts.
Subnormal intellect alert here. We're discussing nuclear attack. He/she/it's categorizing it with really bad rainstorms.
Even if the nuclear device was relatively small, hospitals from Baltimore to Fredericksburg would be non-functional. The study finds that with the local hospital infrastructure wiped out, there would be millions dead, and thousands wounded.
Nagasaki has an estimated 39,000 dead and 25,000 wounded. Hiroshima had an estimated 66,000 dead and 69,000 injured. These were the first two primitive, relatively low-yield atomic weapons. The writer doesn't have the imagination to describe the aftermath of a nuclear attack on Washington D.C. with modern nuclear weapons. Neither do I.
Kevin Harlan of the Northern Virginia Hospital Alliance says there are plans in place to bring in medical reserves from other regions. "We would certainly be reaching out to hospitals in the rest of the Commonwealth and of course further down into North Carolina and West Virginia," says Harlan.
Making the assumption that noplace but Washington would be hit?
However, the reserves could be hard to coordinate with guaranteed travel interruptions from such an event. The study also suggests that thousands of mobile hospital beds and supplies be stockpiled. However, Harlan says that the mobile hospitals aren't nearly as large and might not be able to handle the number of survivors and wounded that would result from such an event. The study also looked at a nuclear attack on New York, Chicago and Atlanta and predicted similar results. An article in Scientific American a few years ago said many more would be killed in the panic following a dirty bomb explosion in NYC that by the radiation. I suspect the same would be true of a real nuke. I suspect we'd find the panic factor no more serious than the Japanese did. The corpse counts would be sobering enough.
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/26/2007 05:57 ||
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#2
And how is this surprising? DC isn't prepared for anything even remotely approaching mildly dangerous on a city scale. A large increase in the rat swarm would be enough to take it out.
#7
Do the jihadists realize that their destroying the current ruling dhimmis in DC would rejuvenate the American political class, and move America back to its revolutionary roots?
#8
When a third of the district is illiterate and the rest don't speak standard English, it is hard to set up anything resembling Civil Defense. Any attempt would be subsumed by a tide of cronyism, petty (and not so petty) theft, general incompetence, and overwhelming ignorance. Sorry, but not a big fan of the District and its denizens.
#9
You forgot the corrupt third that double-speaks and steals from Peter to fill the pockets of their friend Paul, or their own pockets, or just because they think that's what politics is about.
#10
Here's a link to the summary of Study details catastrophic impact of nuclear attack on U.S. cities.
And a link to the study itself in html. There's a link to a 7MB pdf in the left sidebar; it's a detailed and serious investigation; not just grant grubbing.
Two sizes of nuclear weapon were simulated. The explosion of a tactical nuclear weapon with a predicted yield of 20 kilotons (Kt) and the explosion of the most common size of strategic weapon in the Russian arsenal with a 550 Kt yield. A fission fraction of 1 was assumed for the smaller device and 0.8 was assumed for the 550 Kt device [22]. Both weapons were assumed to explode close to the ground surface, as in a truck or a ship. Bursts at higher levels would cause greater thermal and blast effects which would be somewhat offset by lower downwind radiation amounts.
Bell explained that a 20 kiloton weapon could be manufactured by terrorists and fledgling nuclear countries such as North Korea and Iran, while a 550 kiloton device is commonly found in the arsenal of the former Soviet Union and therefore is the most likely to be stolen by terrorists.
Among the studys findings:
A 20-kiloton detonation would leave debris tens of feet thick in downtown areas with buildings 10-stories or higher. Roughly half of the population in downtown areas would be killed, mainly from collapsing buildings. Most of those surviving the initial blast in downtown areas would be exposed to a fatal dose of radiation.
While the main effects from a 20-kiloton explosion would be from the blast and the radiation it releases, a 550-kiloton explosion would create additional and substantial casualties from burns. Such an explosion would superheat the blast zone, causing buildings to spontaneously combust. Mass fires would consume cities, reaching out nearly four miles (6.3 km) in all directions from the detonation site.
A 550 kiloton detonation in New York would result in a fallout plume extending the length of Long Island, resulting in more than 5 million deaths. A 550 kiloton detonation in Washington, D.C. would destroy hospitals in the District, but its fallout plume would also incapacitate hospitals in Baltimore, nearly 40 miles away.
The researchers note that in all four cities studied, hospitals are concentrated in the area most likely to be destroyed. Another weak link is the inability of the nations hospital system to treat the burn victims a 550-kiloton detonation would create. A 550-kiloton detonation in Atlanta, the least densely populated of the four cities studied, would result in nearly 300,000 serious burn victims.
The hospital system has about 1,500 burn beds in the whole country, and of these maybe 80 or 90 percent are full at any given time, Bell said. Theres no way of treating the burn victims from a nuclear attack with the existing medical system.
#14
So, besides having Marine One shuffle the White House elite off to Buffalo, the place is pretty much toast, eh? This is emblematic of the massive failure of leadership taking place in America with respect to fighting international terrorism.
Yes, nuclear weapons are difficult to prepare for. Still, if our own politicians are so blithe in their ignorance as to not even put in place the Civilian Defenses required for responding to such a catastrophe in our nation's political core, then what does this say about their ability to counter or even comprehend the exigencies of fighting terrorism in general?
I have previously noted the intense poetic justice irony of our spineless leadership perishing in a terrorist nuclear attack upon Washington DC. As a patriot, I simply cannot bring myself to hope for such a horrid conflagration in our nation's capitol.
However, I will throw my hat in with Kalle's observation:
Do the jihadists realize that their destroying the current ruling dhimmis in DC would rejuvenate the American political class, and move America back to its revolutionary roots?
The prairie's grassroots spring back even greener after a wildfire. Islam would simply vanish into the haze of history's also-rans once order was re-established on our shores. This nation's Muslim population would consider itself lucky to be granted the luxury of internment camps.
MANALAPAN, Fla. (AP) - Vice President Dick Cheney on Saturday accused the Democrat-led House of not supporting troops in Iraq and of sending a message to terrorists that America will retreat in the face danger. "They're not supporting the troops. They're undermining them," Cheney told a gathering of the Republican Jewish Coalition at the oceanside Ritz-Carlton hotel in Manalapan, Fla., about 60 miles north of Miami.
On Friday, the House voted to clamp a cutoff deadline on the Iraq war, agreeing by a thin margin to pull combat troops out by next year. The $124 billion House legislation would pay for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan this year but would require that combat troops come home from Iraq before September 2008 - or earlier if the Iraqi government does not meet certain requirements.
Cheney called it a myth that "one can support the troops without giving them the tools and reinforcements they need to carry out their mission." President Bush has threatened to veto the legislation. Cheney said Bush will not withdraw troops before there is stability in Iraq.
"The American people have lost faith in the president's conduct of this war," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said after the passage. A message seeking comment was left with Pelosi's office Saturday.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
03/26/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
2006 was, iff anything, a mandate for Dubya-USA to CHANGE TACTICS/STRATEGEERIES + DO SOMETHING ABOUT EMPOWERING DEMO REGIME CHANGE IN IRAN, NOT a mandate for the USA to pullout of IRAQ-ME. Twas to END THE WOT IN US VICTORY, NOT WITHDRAW UNTO APPEASEMENT + ISOLATIONISM. *HANNITY'S AMERICA > JUAN WILLIAMS comments > shows the Dems are running of PC to hide behind; + O'REILLY >GERALD POSNER [paraphrased]> as long as Amer's enemies refuse to give up on their ambitions and anti-US agendas, the day is looming when Amer pols + Dems will have to PUBLICLY/OVERTLY choose sides between suppor de facto US victory, or US defeat. PC "MIDDLE GROUNDS" ARE RUNNING OUT FOR EVERYONE.
People's Democratic Party chief Mufti Mohammed Sayeed may be pressuring Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to reduce troops in Jammu and Kashmir but the Union government will not let politics dictate security in the terrorism-hit state.
Virtually ruling out any troop reduction in the Kashmir Valley, Defence Minister A K Antony said on Sunday,"The threat (of terrorism) is still very much there. Infiltration from across the Line of Control may have slightly stabilised but terrorists are now trying new routes."
"Infiltrators and terrorists are getting support from across the border (Pakistan). It's a fact. When we are convinced that the ground situation is actually improving, we can review the situation," said Antony, on the last leg of his two-day tour of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
This comes close after Sayeed held two rounds of talks with the PM to put forward the demand for a cut in troops deployed in J&K, especially in wake of the widespread unrest in the state due to several fake encounters being detected recently.
The timing of Sayeed's demand has also raised questions about whether PDP, a coalition partner of the Congress in the state government, is positioning itself for the elections to be held in J&K next year.
Antony's remarks make it clear that the Centre is unlikely to accept demands for any significant troop reduction till a thorough assessment of the ground situation in J&K is made in the summer months, which usually witnesses a spike in infiltration and violence levels.
At the same time, a few token gestures here and there in some less-affected civilian areas cannot be ruled out. Antony, on his part, said the Centre too was keen on a troop cut in J&K as well as N-E."My dream is when all our soldiers can go back to their cantonments. But everything depends on the emerging security scenario. It's for our armed forces and other security agencies to tell us if the situation has improved," he added.
This assumes significance in the backdrop of the discussions between the PM and Sayeed, which have revolved around the formation of a committee to examine the demands for troop reduction and repeal of anti-terror laws. Sayeed has apparently sought a political face for the panel but the Centre would like the panel to be headed by a security expert.
Antony also referred to Pakistan's ability to turn on the terror tap from across the border whenever it wants and its failure to keep to its oft-repeated promise to dismantle the terrorist infrastructure operating from its soil.
"Pakistan keeps on saying so many things. As far as security is concerned, statements are not enough, action is required," he said.
Meanwhile, the BJP on Sunday alleged that there has been a "silent" pullout of security forces from areas bordering Pakistan over the past one week. "Our fact-finding team visited places in the border districts of Doda, Poonch and Rajouri. It found that security forces have been removed in these areas. It seems that the Congress-led government at the Centre has surrendered itself to the PDP's demand, compromising the countrys security," agencies quoted BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar as saying.
The BJP fact-finding team found that a whole brigade had been ordered to pull out from Budhal (Rajouri). Forces were also withdrawn from Kulhand (Doda) where 19 Hindus were killed last year, Javadekar claimed. Military pickets were removed from Shatru, Daschan, Pader, Balesa, Martam, Dharmshala and Puranu, he alleged.
In Poonch, the removal of troops was evident in Biji, Swarnkot, Gundi, Mandi, Chandiman, Krishnaghati and Chilas, he said.
Posted by: John Frum ||
03/26/2007 00:00 ||
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BAGHDAD (AP) - The departing U.S. ambassador said on Monday that he believed Iraq was heading in the right direction but cautioned that Iraqi leaders must understand that U.S. voters were increasingly impatient with the war. Based on our own push-polling.
Zalmay Khalilzad, who is leaving his post after 21 months that had seen a massive increase in violence in Baghdad overall, declared that insurgent and militia attacks had decreased by 25 percent in the six weeks since the start of U.S.-Iraqi security plan on Feb. 14. Massive...overall? Sloppy, or is someone being clever?
"I know that we are an impatient people, and I constantly signal to the Iraqi leaders that our patience, or the patience of the American people acording to Nancy Pelosi and John Murtha, is running out," said the Afghan-born Khalilzad, who has been nominated by President Bush as American ambassador to the United Nations.
Aides to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki have said that Washington has signaled that he must make progress on a series of benchmark legislative and political measures by June 30 or face a withdrawal of American support for his government. Not that the Dems will wait for that timetable.
The United States has denied making the threat but Khalilzad was clear that al-Maliki was under heavy U.S. pressure to move rapidly on several issues, especially a law that would provide a fair distribution of Iraqi oil wealth among all ethnic and sectarian groups, a measure that is especially important to the White House. Didn't I read here that measure passed the Iraqi Parliment? Maybe the AP doesn't visit the 'Burg?
He also said the Iraqis need to act on political and sectarian reconciliation between Sunnis and Shiites, and on amending the constitution to make it more palatable to the Sunnis. Despite repeated promises of quick action from the Iraqis and heavy pressure from the Americans, those measures still await action in parliament. Yeah! You guys need to pass bills quickly, like our Democratic-controlled Congress!
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/26/2007 06:04 ||
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#1
a law that would provide a fair distribution of Iraqi oil wealth
#4
1. I havent heard that its passed the Iraqi parliament?
2. Whats interesting is that Khalilzad is using the Dems as "bad cop" to his "good cop". Clearly the admin WANTS to have pressure on Maliki, but OTOH, it doesnt want to be tied down by anything the congress passes. A difficult needle to thread.
#5
I guess I was thinking of the draft hydrocarbon law.
On February 26, the Iraqi Council of Ministers approved a draft hydrocarbon law. The next step is for the draft legislation to be submitted to the Council of Representatives for deliberation.
So Congress insists they deliberate faster.
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/26/2007 12:40 Comments ||
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#6
The administration has been (unfortunately) been using the "good cop/bad cop" act for a long time, long before the ascendancy of the cretins in the House purportedly gave threats of pull-back more credibility. To very little effect. No doubt some immaterial little things have been solved that way, but the critical dynamics of the war aren't affected by such stunts. And there has been a consistent failure to distinguish what can be accomplished through pressure (some political deals, new constitution, etc.) from what cannot be (security improvements, other things central to the war and the political dynamics back here).
The main problem in American "impatience" or general whininess about the war has been the violence, and the casualties, esp. of course Coalition ones. These challenges do not exist because the Iraqis sit by, while fully capable of solving security problems, and choose to do nothing. Thus, our holding our breath til we turn blue has zero impact on the key issues. It has always amazed me how many (incl. those who are more serious and informed about the war) seem to believe this silly premise.
Dunno, perhaps Casey can point to some small issues which at some point in time were advanced through this "bad cop" pressure - whatever they were, if there were any at all, they weren't material to the situation, which is all that matters. The history of the last 1.5 years proves that beyond dispute.
As for pressing them to satisfy Sunni demands in the political sphere, that's just the political side of our ill-advised attempt to magically solve a conflict that, like all real conflicts, must be actually solved through action, change, losses, gains, pain, etc. Only those directly engaged would know - but all external evidence is that Sunni "demands" WRT constitution, oil, etc. are simply something the political side scrambles to put on the table in order to have something to palaver about. The violence, and ruthless campaign of intimidation, continues apace and is not affected in the least by these practical issues. No surprise, as the Sunni violence is not rooted in a bill of particulars, it's rooted in an attitude (arrogance), a reasonable paranoia (they deserve the harshest treatment in return for their murder of millions and their ruination of the country), and fundamental stuff like clan, local criminal enterprise business, etc.
Both the administration's venerable campaign of trying to threaten the Iraqis with a pull-back and the Dem's idiotic time-tables have not and will not produce squat - other than to marginally affect the calculations of some of our enemies for the worse. Jihadi: hmmm, see, the infidels are a weak horse, if we just hang in there victory is possible. Sunni rejectionist: hmmm, see, the Persians (Shi'a) will be abandoned by the Americans, our violence has paid off, with a bit more patience we can outlast the Americans and dictate acceptable terms to the Persians soon enough.
At one point I thought that threading the needle of pressing the Iraqis to do X while not encouraging the enemy to do Y was a neccessary if risky move. In retrospect (and that is dated back to mid-2006, not today), it was clearly a mistake. Part of the larger pattern of way too much finesse, way too much theory, way too much graduate school/war college b.s., way too little tangible pressure on the primary enemy (Sunni rejectionists, to include whole communities where that's the predominant mood). Because the last item requires, ya know, violence, action, threats of violence, etc.
That the Iraqis aren't/weren't ready to handle the situation in the lead/on their own isn't a surprise or a great crime on their part - but acting as though it were the case, and basing both our public and private maneuverings and strategy on such a premise was a disastrous mistake. It encouraged the ignorant impatience in the US electorate ("hey, they've had a new system for a whole two years, why can't they handle it for themselves, I'm sick of taking care of others") while yielding zero leverage on the Iraqis.
United States Vice President Dick Cheney has vowed that the administration would not allow an early withdrawal of US forces from Iraq, despite efforts by Congress to impose a deadline on US combat operations there.
Late Saturday, Cheney defied a historic vote in the House of Representatives, which called for a pullout of US combat troops from Iraq by August 31, 2008 - regardless of whether Iraqi security forces are ready to take over from them. "A sudden withdrawal of our coalition would dissipate much of the effort that has gone into fighting the global war on terror, and result in chaos and mounting danger," the vice president declared. "And for the sake of our own security, we will not stand by and let it happen."
Posted by: Fred ||
03/26/2007 00:00 ||
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Nearly one third of Palestinians would emigrate to areas outside of the PA territories if they could, according to a poll conducted in the Gaza Strip, Israel Radio reported on Monday. Somebody out to help them. Banki, are you reading this?
Over half of those surveyed said that Hamas's decision to join the PA unity government was a forfeiture of a significant part of the group's election platform. Are you reading this miss Rice?
In addition, the poll showed that more than two thirds of Palestinians believe Hamas has failed at running the government, and less than a quarter of Palestinians would vote for the party again if elections were held now.
The survey was published the An-Najah University in Nablus.
#2
If the Israelis would just handle this properly, 3/3 of the Paleos would leave the territories. See, this poll is showing very clearly what the proper answer is: make the Paleos the proper Gyppos and Jordanians they want and deserve to be.
The Paleos are always going on about the "right of return." The WB used to belong to Jordan. Gaza used to belong to Egypt. Let them have what they want, and return their sorry butts to Jordan and Egypt. Don't dawdle about it, either. Send them packing posthaste. They'll probably bitch about it later but, like Zim-Bob, it will be best if they have to live with the consequences of their actions. Might just teach them a desperately needed lesson.
Posted by: Mac ||
03/26/2007 11:02 Comments ||
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#3
I'm sure their Arab brothers will welcome every single friggin one of them.
Well, they will...won't they?
#4
#3 I'm sure their Arab brothers will welcome every single friggin one of them. Well, they will...won't they? Posted by: tu3031 2007-03-26 11:05
Yeah, just like they've welcomed the ones living in the paleo concentrationrefugee camps in Jordan, Egypt, and Lebanon for the last 60 years+.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/26/2007 14:01 Comments ||
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#5
One third want to leave, but these same friggin' moron bastids simply cannot bring themselves to stop supporting the terrorist organizations that have turned their terrortory into a death-laced pisshole of stupendous proportions. Inshalla trumps Cause & Effect every stinking time.
I'm torn between flushing these turds out into the arms of their neighboring Arab facilitators countries and just letting the Palestinians rot in their own shitheap. The surrounding Arab tyrannies deserve the former, whereas the Palestinians deserve the latter.
HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS OF DOLLARS LATER AND NOT AN INCH OF PROGRESS, SAVE IN AMASSING MORE WEAPONS TO KILL THE JEWS.
The global community's toleration of this is concrete proof of lingering anti-Semitism.
A senior Islamic Jihad leader said on Saturday that U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's visit to the Middle East that starts today, meant to rally support for attacking Iran or Hezbollah. "We think this visit comes as part of preparations for war targeting Iran or Hezbollah... and maybe to strike an Arab country, " Khaled al-Batsh of the Islamic Jihad told reporters in Gaza.
Rice began a four-day tour to the region where she will meet with Egyptian, Jordanian, Israeli and Palestinian leaders. "Rice's visit also comes to put pressure on the Arab leaders to change the Arab peace initiative, especially the right of return of the Palestinian refugees," al-Batsh said.
Palestinian and Arab officials expressed rejection to any change in the Arab peace initiative.
#1
As before, BOLTON > ONLY DEMOCRATIC REGIME CHANGE CAN PREVENT IRAN FROM HAVING NUCLEAR WEAPONS. As vv SADDAM, the UNO's credibility is once again at stake, it is doubtful Radical Iran will cease attempting to dev or acquire nuke weapons capability, and nobody wants a Nuclear-armed, hegemony-minded/centric Radical Iran. WAFF.com > Poster > WAR AGZ IRAN MAY BE ONLY A FEW MONTHS AWAY.
#2
Why would she see the Palestinians about this? I'm guessing they're in Iran's corner all the way. Am I wrong? They're bankrolling a lot of this it would seem. As for the other players like Egypt, Jordan,and Israel, I'll bet they've had an understanding on this one for quite a while now.
BTW: Palestinian and Arab officials expressed rejection to any change in the Arab peace initiative
#3
"Islamic Jihad leader says Rice visit to prepare for strike on Iran"
In a perfect world, yes; but the world isn't perfect. Experience suggests she's merely making the rounds on yet another fool's mission seeking "Middle East peace".
Posted by: Dave D. ||
03/26/2007 7:13 Comments ||
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#4
Oh please, oh please, please, please, oh puuuulllllleeeeaaaaazzzzzeee let him be right!!!!
Posted by: Mac ||
03/26/2007 11:04 Comments ||
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Ban Ki-Moon, the secretary-general of the United Nations yesterday toured a Palestinian refugee camp and spoke of the "very sad and tragic" results of the controversial security wall erected by Israel. He also praised the "resilience" of the Palestinian people and the "unwavering commitment" to independence of the president, Mahmoud Abbas. In his first trip to the Palestinian territories, Mr Ban visited the Aida refugee camp on the outskirts of the biblical town of Bethlehem in the West Bank, just south of the Israeli wall. He went on to the roof of a UN-run girls' school in the camp to take a look at the barrier, which in some sections, including the one near Aida, is made up of towering cement blocks. "No wall will stop us," read a piece of graffiti in English.
Mr Ban said: "I have deep admiration for these people, for the resilience of Palestinian people, to make their lives better. This has strengthened my resolve and commitment to work for peace in the Middle East." Senior UN officials and Salah Tameri, the Palestinian governor of Bethlehem, explained to Mr Ban the difficulties caused by Israeli travel restrictions and the barrier. Mr Ban said it was "a very sad and tragic thing to see many suffering from the construction of this wall, depriving opportunities for basic living".
He was heavily guarded during the brief visit to the camp and constantly surrounded by bodyguards.
I protest the human wall surrounding the SecGen and preventing him from experiencing the hospitality the Paleos are justly famous for.
#2
Did he get a tour of the bomb making factories? The jihadist-in-training kindergartens? The studios creating cartoons of evil bloodsucking jews? The meetings where they decide which kids get to carry out operations in support of resistance? I didn't think so.
There will be no children on the playground at Yaha primary school today, even though school should run for another week. The Government halted classes in southern Thailand two weeks ago to shield teachers from a brutal campaign.
Since the Muslim insurgency reignited in January 2004, 67 teachers have been murdered: shot in front of their class, beaten to death or set alight in a savage protest against the Thai education system. Another 80 have been injured. The situation has deteriorated to such a level that the military provides escorts for teachers to and from school in hundreds of towns across the three southern provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat.
In recent months, Yala province has become the focus of the attacks. "It is so hard living in this area. Every day teachers feel they risk their lives," said Prasit Magasuwan, 52, a special adviser to the Yala Teachers Association. "The method of the separatists is to show no mercy. In the case of Jamnong (Tenmanee, a teacher of Ban Patae School in Yala), he was shot and burned. They shot him, poured gasoline over him and burnt him alive. He was burnt on the outside but his heart was still beating inside when the forensic doctors examined him."
More than 60 per cent of the teachers in the three southern provinces are Muslim, but it is more likely Buddhist teachers will be killed. Mr Prasit says the separatists target highly respected figures, especially if they have a liaison role between Muslim and Buddhist communities.
Lieutenant-Colonel Narongrit Punigabutr, 39, and his men of 173 Battalion are based inside the Lamai Buddhist temple compound, in Yala province. They handle the security of five schools and teachers. There have been no attacks on teachers in his area since he arrived several months ago. They also escort monks when they make their morning alms round. However, some question the value of the military escorts for the teachers. "We have no confidence because they come and go regularly so they are (predictable)," Mr Prasit said.
The combined pressure on teachers and the fears of students mean the school system is in meltdown. Schools are supposed to open 200 days a year but now they are not open for more than 50 days, Mr Prasit says.
COLOMBO - Sri Lanka launched two investigations into security lapses that led to the first ever Tamil Tiger air raid against the islands main military base, where three airmen were killed, officials said Monday. The air force appointed a five-member team to probe lapses at the heavily guarded Katunayake airbase which came under a night air attack from Tamil Tiger rebels. The police, too, launched an investigation, because they were the first to pass on information about the sighting of two unidentified aircraft an hour before the attack, a top police source said.
He said police made visual contact with the aircraft as they crossed a de facto front line at Vavuniya, about 200 kilometres (125 miles) north of the Katunayake airbase. Ground-based soldiers had also picked up the aircraft on their radar and they established that the aircraft did not belong to the airforce, the source said. We want to know why no action was taken to intercept the aircraft.
After dropping bombs over the military base, the guerrillas flew back -- a journey that would have taken them at least an hour -- but were unchallenged either by interceptors or ground-based air defence systems, officials said.
The air force admitted the rebels had carried out their first public attack using aircraft only after the rebels announced their planes had returned to a secret location inside rebel-held territory. Tiger pictures showed that four bombs were mounted on each fuselage. The islands only international airport, located next to the airbase, shut for three hours.
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) released pictures of seven Air Tiger guerrillas dressed in light blue camouflage uniform posing for pictures with Tiger supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran, 52. The pictures released by the Tigers showed a partial section of an aircraft, which indicated the plane was a single-engine, propeller-driven light aircraft.
Mondays attack was the second against the Katunayake airbase by the Tigers in six years. A group of suicide bombers infiltrated the base in July 2001 and destroyed a fleet of parked military aircraft, then crossed over to the adjoining international airport and destroyed six civilian jets parked there.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/26/2007 08:32 ||
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More than 40 major international banks and financial institutions have either cut off or cut back business with the Iranian government and/or private sector as a result of a quiet campaign launched by the Treasury and State departments last September. The financial squeeze has seriously crimped Tehran's ability to finance petroleum industry projects and to pay for imports. It has also limited Iran's use of the international financial system to help fund allies and extremist militias in the Middle East, say U.S. officials and economists who track Iran. "All the banks we've talked to are reducing significantly their exposure to Iranian business," said Stuart Levey, Treasury's undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence. "It's been a universal response. They all recognize the risks -- some because of what we've told them and some on their own. You don't have to be Sherlock Holmes to see the dangers."
The U.S. campaign, developed by Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, emerged in part over U.S. frustration with the small incremental steps the U.N. Security Council was willing to take to contain the Islamic republic's nuclear program and support for extremism, U.S. officials say. The UNSC voted Saturday to impose new sanctions on Tehran, including a ban on Iranian arms sales and a freeze on assets of 28 Iranian individuals and institutions. The new campaign particularly targets financial transactions involving the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, which is now a major economic force beyond its long-standing role in procuring arms and military materiel. Companies tied to the elite unit and its commanders have been awarded government contracts such as airport management and construction of the Tehran subway. The practice has increased since the 2005 election of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, U.S. officials say.
The campaign differs from formal international sanctions -- and has proved able to win wider backing -- because it targets Iran's behavior rather than seeking to change its government. "This is not an exercise of power," Levey said in the interview. "People go along with you if it's conduct-based rather than a political gesture."
Iranian importers are particularly feeling the pinch, with many having to pay for commodities in advance when a year ago they could rely on a revolving line of credit, said Patrick Clawson, a former World Bank official now at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. The scope of Iran's vulnerability has been a surprise to U.S. officials, he added.
The financial institutions cutting back business ties are mainly in Europe and Asia, U.S. officials say. UBS last year said it was cutting off all dealings with Iran. London-based HSBC (which has 5,000 offices in 79 countries) and Standard Chartered (with 1,400 branches in 50 countries) as well as Commerzbank of Germany have indicated they are limiting their exposure to Iranian business, Levey said. The rest have asked the United States not to publicize their names.
Ahmadinejad's rhetoric has helped. "There is very little foreign investment in Iran not because of sanctions, but because of the atmosphere created by Ahmadinejad's crazy statements," said Jahangir Amuzegar, former Iranian finance minister and executive director of the International Monetary Fund.
Paulson kicked off the effort to warn major financial institutions and government officials about the long-term costs of doing business with Iran during the annual International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings in Singapore in September. Paulson, Levey and Treasury Deputy Secretary Robert M. Kimmitt have all held dozens of meetings with banks to explain how Iran is using dummy companies and deceptive practices through banks to finance its non-traditional or illicit business activities, U.S. officials say. Both the Iranian government and the private sector have increasingly tried to persuade financial institutions to keep the name of "Iran" or the originating bank in Iran off transactions so they are not traced to the Islamic republic, U.S. officials say.
In a related effort, the Bush administration has warned "relevant companies and countries" about the risks of investing in Iran's oil and gas sector, R. Nicholas Burns, undersecretary of state for political affairs, said in congressional testimony Wednesday. In December, Iranian oil minister Kazem Vaziri Hamaneh acknowledged that Tehran was having trouble financing petroleum development projects. "Currently, overseas banks and financiers have decreased their cooperation," he told the oil ministry news agency Shana.
#1
The Jewish holy Talmud is littered with Iranian words and ideas. And some Iranians cherish the Israeli city of Haifa as a sacred place.
These are among the fascinating nuggets in the Encyclopedia Iranica.
Really. I don't recall ever seeing a Talmud written in camel schit.
#2
Its hardly surprising that the Talmud has persian words, as Judea was ruled by Persia for a couple of hundred years, and there was considerable cultural exchange. In fact the word "pardes" meaning garden or orchard (hence Paradise) is of Persian origin.
The Bahai look to Haifa as a sacred place. If youre ever in Haifa I recommend visiting the Bahai temple. Of course the Bahai are persecuted by the mad mullahs.
#3
Persia (as a whole) wasn't the only beginning culture in that long history. For the Iranians to claim roots as to others is at best ludacris. From the Jiroft, Proto-Elamite, Medes, Babylonians and so on.
The problem is that the Iranian Encyclopedia sounds like its claiming hold on and to the foundations of Middle East knowledge and all cultures.
#6
*shrug* I'm sure the Talmud is littered with Persian words and ideas, as Babylon was since the destruction of the first Temple in 597 BC one of the main centers of Jewish thought and learning, where a good part of the Talmud was written... at least until dhimmitude took its toll. It's nice that exiled Iranians are proud of this little fact, but it has nothing to do with current stupidity of modern Iran, nor that Islam has stolen so much of Persia's brilliance and vitality from them.
Jewish cultural life in Baghdad continued to be brilliant after the Muslim conquest. that was the period of the Gaonim, and the beginnigns of formal Jewish philosophy. It faded a couple of hundred years after the muslim conquest, but that was due more to general economic decline. If it was the muslims fault, it was their tendency to favor commerce and herding over irrigated agriculture, which was the essential industry of old Mesopotamia. Two of the areas where Jewish culture moved were also muslim - North Africa, and Ummayad Spain (al andalus) The areas in Christian europe where jewish cultural creativity moved were Italy and Provence, to be followed somewhat later by Northern France and the Rhineland.
2. To a very considerable extent the culture of the Islamic world absorbed Persian culture, in areas from literature to cuisine. Unfortuantely they also absorbed the Persian tendency to "oriental despotism", minus the landed aristocracy that sometimes checked the ruler.
3. AFAICT the current mess in Iran is due to the mullahs, who slightly loosened the political system, but have turned Iran backwards culturally. OTOH the Shah advanced Iran culturally, but was an old fashioned despot (most of the time) politically. The big question is whether Iran is ready to make a jump to political AND cultural reform at the same time.
#9
Iran is an old-fashioned, force of arms empire, albeit small scale. Arguably the last in the modern world. Talk about being on the wrong end of history.
#10
Quite true, liberalhawk, and you have a better feel for the history of that part of the world than I. However, it must be said that Persian cultural life, too, continued to be brilliant for the same few centuries after the Muslim conquest; Persian miniature paintings and Persian poetry from that period are justly famous. But that probably can be said of most places conquered by the Muslims. Much like a fever that gives the appearance of animation, but when it burns itself out leaves the body fatally weakened.
A group of Western military experts, who carried out a recent in-depth study of Irans high-sounding war games and scary weaponry, has concluded that they are largely a show is put on to conceal a poorly-equipped, under-trained military and elite Revolutionary Guards corps. DEBKA-Net-Weekly 293 revealed on March 16 some of the eye-openers found by those experts, when they took a close look at Irans Great Prophet Maneuvers One and Two and the Zolfaqhar Blow war game staged at the end of 2006 and early 2007. They homed in on the dozens of rockets and missiles claimed to have been test-fired.
The Shehab-3s cluster bomb warhead was presented by Iran as containing up to 1,400 bomblets. It was announced that this ballistic missile (1,000-1,200 km range) was tested for the first time in a live exercise, together with the Zolfaqar-73, the Scud B, the Fath-110 and the Zelzal. DEBKA-Net-Weeklys military sources say that no objective observer saw the actual Shehab-3 test and certainly not the Shehab-4, which was also mentioned. The only proven firings were performed by the Shehab-2 and the Fath-110, both of which are outdated and short on accuracy. It is therefore impossible to establish whether or not the Iranian Shehab-3 lives up to Tehrans claim that it carries a multiple-bomb warhead. The researchers argued that, if it were true, Iran would have exhibited the missile in action.
The experts also dissected Iranian footage of the simultaneous firing of a large number of rockets and concluded that this effect was contrived by clever editing of the video film. Furthermore, the researchers noticed that, in all their practices, Iranian commanders used the same small number of missile-launchers over and over, indicating a severe shortage of launchers. They are also apparently short of missiles.
Iranian missiles are color-coded according to type. Shehab-3s colors are red and brown; Shehab 2, green. After close attention to the film released by Tehran, the analysts were quite sure that the putative Shehab-3s, whose firings were recorded, were in fact Shehab-2 missiles disguised under a coat of red and brown paint to fool viewers.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/26/2007 08:51 ||
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#1
..I call bulls*it, but not on DEBKA. It makes no sense at all to put a cluster warhead on anything other than a tactical missile, such as a MLRS or Tomahawk.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
03/26/2007 10:53 Comments ||
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#2
Invisible missiles? I just don't see it.
Posted by: Mike ||
03/26/2007 11:58 Comments ||
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#3
Which one? There's also the 200mph underwater torpedo thingy they developed using entirely indigenous talent.
Fifteen British service personnel arrested by Iran are "fit and well", the Foreign Office has said.
Iran's foreign ministry gave the assurance to British ambassador Geoffrey Adams.
It came during a "business-like" hour-long meeting between the two this morning.
"The foreign ministry assured us that the group were fit and well and in Iran, but gave no further details at this stage," a Foreign Office spokesman said.
But Iran warned the group were being "interrogated" and the individuals could be charged with spying.
"The case of the Britons who violated Iranian territorial waters is following the due legal process and they must answer for their violation," deputy foreign minister Mehdi Mostafavi said.
"The British sailors are currently being interrogated and must clarify whether they entered Iranian waters deliberately or by mistake.
"When it becomes clear, a decision will be made."
Mr Mostafavi added that Iran was not aiming to swap the individuals for five Iranians arrested in northern Iraq by the US.
The 15 Britons were arrested by Iranian soldiers on Friday as they inspected a dhow they suspected was involved in smuggling cars.
Iran said the personnel were in Iranian waters. That is denied by Britain who says the group were in Iraqi waters.
Iraq's Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari spoke to his Iranian counterpart on Monday morning by phone and called for the group to be released.
The US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, said they should be "freed immediately".
Tony Blair warned Tehran it was a "fundamental" issue for the UK and insisted they had not strayed into Iranian waters.
Sources told Sky News that Iran's ambassador to Britain may be called to see Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett for a third time.
Foreign Office minister Lord Triesman told Sky News Britain wanted to know where the men were being held amid reports they had been taken to Tehran.
Sky's Foreign Affairs Editor, Tim Marshall, said Iran would dictate the pace of events.
"It appears Iran is holding all the cards whilst they decide which one to play," Marshall said.
"If they want to escalate the situation they will charge them with espionage.
"If having made their point they want to de-escalate, they will let them go with a warning.
#4
The British and the rest of the EU should immediately begin removing all diplomatic personnel from Tehran except for a low-level charge d'affairs for each country. Get any more potential hostages out of the way so when we hit these bastards they won't have any more human shields.
Posted by: Mac ||
03/26/2007 10:42 Comments ||
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Premier Fouad Siniora said Saturday he would refer a bill creating the international tribunal to Parliament for ratification after the forthcoming Arab Summit Conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Siniora, in an interview with al-Arabiya satellite television network, said he had informed Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa of the decision to refer the bill to Parliament after Speaker Nabih Berri said Tuesday that he cannot summon the house to deliberate the issue because he has not received the bill.
Siniora said Moussa, who had been mediating in the Lebanese conflict for nearly two months, "had asked me to delay referring the bill to Parliament" to give Berri time to work out differences between the Hizbullah-led opposition and the Majority, represented by MP Saad Hariri. "However, after hearing what Speaker Berri has said, I called Secretary General Moussa and informed him that the commitment I gave him is no more binding and I will refer the bill to Parliament."
"We should exert maximum effort to ratify the tribunal's bill at Parliament, we have an interest in that," Siniora said.
What if Lebanon failed to deliberate the tribunal's bill at parliament, Siniora was asked. Would it be created by the U.N. Security Council under chapter seven of the international organization's charter? He replied: "let's put aside any reference to chapter seven for now, and let's realize that the world insists, like we insist, on implementing security council resolutions."
Posted by: Fred ||
03/26/2007 00:00 ||
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The European Union (EU) supports further sanctions against Iran, but at the same time wants to keep the door of negotiations open, said German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday. "If Iran returns to the fold of the international community, we are ready to give generous offers to them," Merkel told a press conference after an informal summit of the heads of state and government of the EU member states.
Merkel was speaking in her capacity as president of the EU presidency. The EU leaders gathered in Berlin for celebrations of the bloc's 50th birthday. Apart from internal issues, like the EU constitutional treaty, the leaders also discussed Sudan's Darfur, Iran and the Middle East on Sunday.
Merkel's remarks came one day after the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution sponsored by Britain, France, and Germany, which had been negotiating with Iran on behalf of the EU. The resolution provides for tougher sanctions to pressure Iran to suspend uranium enrichment activities. Iran, however, remains defiant, saying the resolution is "illegal and unjustifiable."
Posted by: Fred ||
03/26/2007 00:00 ||
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#3
"If Iran returns to the fold of the international community..."
Huh???? WTF is this mushy-headed, sponge-brained, inclusive, nonjudgemental, multi-culti, "Everybody's Beautiful In Their Own Way" crap? Since when has Iran EVER been part of the "international community"?????
These damn liberals are gonna get us all KILLED with this dimwittery.
Pfeh.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
03/26/2007 7:09 Comments ||
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#4
nothing mushy headed about this at all.
A hits B.
A says "Ready to talk?"
B shakes head.
A hits B.
A says "ready to talk? If you are, there might be a carrot"
saying "ready to talk?" isnt spineless, its part of the strategy. The idea is to use sanctions to lever Iran into stopping enrichment. So if they want to come and talk about stopping enrichment, thats FINE (with the understanding that the sanctions escalation process will continue as long as they ARE enriching)
Now if you guys thought the sanctions are being supported by the Europs, not to stop enrichment, but to overthrow the govt of Iran, than you have seriously misread the situation. And if you think Merkel can afford rhetoric that will alienate much of the German public, and the third world, you are also mistaken.
Implied in Merkels statement is that if the Iranins DONT come back to the fold, the sanctions will be ratcheted up AGAIN. Merkel is right on board with the plan, and is doing, AFAICT, all the right things.
Maybe, but it's more like a caressing finger drawn across a cheek by a scantily clad woman standing on a street corner than anything else.
Too soft. Everyone looking around to see what everyone else thinks they ought to do in an area where whatever is politcally correct rules and what is practical takes a back seat. Less talk. More action. Don't worry about what the neighbors think, do what is right for you.
And even more to the point, QUIT SCREWING AROUND AND START GETTING RESULTS.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
03/26/2007 19:24 Comments ||
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#8
The EU is merely doing what it has always done: Namely, prinking about, canape in hand, bewailing how uncooperative this world's thugs, despots and tyrants continue to be in the face of their effete incompetence. They did it with Hitler. They did it with Stalin and his communist ilk. And they're doing it with the entire rogue's gallery of Islamofascist gangsters. Plus ce la meme chose
#12
"If Iran returns to the fold of the international community, we are ready to give generous offers to them,"
That's like quieting your screaming toddler in the mall with an ice cream cone. Works great and teaches the toddler to scream again the next time you're in the mall.
A senior American commander in the Gulf has said his men would have fired on the Iranian Republican Guard rather than let themselves be taken hostage.
In a dramatic illustration of the different postures adopted by British and US forces working together in Iraq, Lt-Cdr Erik Horner - who has been working alongside the task force to which the 15 captured Britons belonged - said he was "surprised" the British marines and sailors had not been more aggressive.
Asked by The Independent whether the men under his command would have fired on the Iranians, he said: "Agreed. Yes. I don't want to second-guess the British after the fact but our rules of engagement allow a little more latitude. Our boarding team's training is a little bit more towards self-preservation."
The executive officer - second-in-command on USS Underwood, the frigate working in the British-controlled task force with HMS Cornwall - said: "The unique US Navy rules of engagement say we not only have a right to self-defence but also an obligation to self-defence. They [the British] had every right in my mind and every justification to defend themselves rather than allow themselves to be taken. Our reaction was, 'Why didn't your guys defend themselves?'"
His comments came as it was reported British intelligence had been warned by the CIA that Iran would seek revenge for the detention of five suspected Iranian intelligence officers in Iraq two months ago but refused to raise threat levels in line with their US counterparts. The capture of the eight sailors and seven marines - including one young mother - will undoubtedly renew accusations that Britain's determination to maintain a friendly face in the region has left its troops frequently under protected.
Vastly outnumbered and out-gunned, the Royal Navy team from HMS Cornwall were seized on Friday after completing a UN-authorised inspection of a merchant dhow in what they insist were clearly Iraqi waters. The Iranian Republican Guard Corps Navy appeared in half a dozen attack speedboats mounted with machine guns.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/26/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Vastly outnumbered and out-gunned
Yeah, if you don't count the HMS Cornwall.
But don't worry, they've called some kind of COBRA meeting. With a name like that, it's gotta be good!
#2
Nice to see this comment from the USN. Before I went over I'd never noticed just how wonderfully open, spontaneous, and candid US military comments to the press can be. Kind of amazing - probably the most unfettered media access of any government organization anywhere, down to the lowest levels.
The British brass have no monopoly on unforced errors in this war, but ..... this was ridiculous.
As gorb said, outgunned, uh, unless you count the Type 22 frigate nearby, not to mention the additional surface and air units probably at the ready to respond if the Cornwall requested it.
Love that photo. Damn shame the Iowa class couldn't have been kept in the fleet. We'd not only be the unrivaled power on the scene, we'd LOOK the part .....
#3
To our friends the Britts; Not to fret, we didn't go in and get our boys in the "Black Hawk Down" entrapment initially either! Did we clear a ½ mile zone to extract our troops from being dragged through the streets...hell no!! Did we go in there and bring our 12 surveillance plane crew members home, after the Chinese hit and forced that landing on Hainan Island..again, hell no. So feel somewhat comforted, our British friends and allies; you prevented 'Shock & Awe 2' from starting, until we're REALLY ready to 'throw down'!
#4
REALCLEARPOLITICS > ROYAL NAVY INCIDENT AND IRAN'S PLAN TO TRAP USA, UK > Gist - Radical Iran may not admit it but it is acting as if already at war agz USA-UK. Seizure of 15 Brits may be part of a larger multi-dimensional, multi-lateral, escalatory complex agenda intended by Iran to entrap the USA-UK in chaotic, divisive, confrontative scenarios which Iran controls, and by which Iran will [asymmetrically] defeat the USA-UK, INCLUDING IN ANY MIL CONFLICT, and achieve its ambitions.
#5
And also to our British friends, the USS Pueblo now sits in Wonsan Harbor as a Nork museum and tourist attraction. The crew (less one lad who was slain), spend 11 months in captivity.
#6
I say we put together a support group and go vaporize the Iranian navy. The therapy will make us both feel better. No planning required. Just do it. Oh, and keep the sailors as hostages.
#12
I think the Brits should tell Iran that they're sending ONE British Marine to Tehran to bring the hostages home. And if one Marine proves insufficient, they will send ONE Lance Corporal British Marine to assist, but they won't be responsible for any damages.
Posted by: red baron ||
03/26/2007 13:06 Comments ||
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#13
Let this be a final nail in the coffin of flaccid "Soft Power".
#14
Is my memory faulty or did the Iranians grab some Brits earlier in the war. Claimed the Brit boat was on their side of the Euphrates and held them for awhile.
A senior Iranian member of parliament said on Sunday that the new UN Security Council resolution with tougher sanctions against Tehran is "unacceptable, " local Mehr news agency reported. Alaeddin Boroujerdi, chief of Iran's parliamentary national security and foreign affairs, described the Resolution 1747 that urges Iran to suspend uranium enrichment work is "unacceptable and inapplicable," Mehr said. "Iran will keep on pursuing its path within the framework of the nuclear rules...(and) advise the 5+1 group to return to the negotiating table quickly and without preconditions," Boroujerdi was quoted as saying.
He referred to the five permanent UN Security Council members, namely Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States, plus Germany. Boroujerdi also said that the Iranian parliament will consider its response to the new resolution after Iran's New Year holiday, which ends on April 3.
Mohammad-Reza Bahonar, vice-speaker of the Iranian parliament, has also defended his country's right to develop nuclear technology, Iran's state television reported Sunday on its website. "Iran is a member of the Non-Proliferation Treaty and therefore it has the right to attain peaceful nuclear technology as other members have," Bahonar said Saturday night shortly after the UN Security Council unanimously adopted the resolution. "We can continue our negotiations over the case if it is returned to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)," he added.
Resolution 1747, cosponsored by Britain, France and Germany and incorporating some of the amendments proposed by Indonesia, Qatar and South Africa, urges Iran to suspend uranium enrichment work " without further delay."
Posted by: Fred ||
03/26/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
unacceptable
Da#n straight! Send it back for rework! Ratchet things up by at least 10x and we'll be talking!
#2
KOMMERSANT.com [Russia] > LINE DRAWN IN THE SAND FOR IRAN. Iran has 60 days, and BTW SSSSSSHHHHHH Khameini > IRAN'S WAR AGAINST USA-WEST HAS ALREADY BEGUN???
In a new video posted Sunday on the Internet, an al-Qaida militant who escaped from a U.S. prison in Afghanistan called on militants in Somalia to fight a gangland-style holy war against government troops. It was the second video released this week by Abu Yahia al-Libi, who broke out of the U.S. prison at Bagram Air Base north of Kabul in 2005. Earlier this week, he urged all Sunni militants in Iraq to unite under his umbrella and declared an ongoing U.S.-led security operation in Baghdad a failure.
"My patient brother Mujahideen in Somalia ... you have to stick to the gang wars, because it is the longest of battles and ... most suitable for small numbers and vulnerable fighters," al-Libi said. "Slam them with one raid after another, set ambushes against them, and shake their soil with land mines and shake their bases with suicide attacks and car bombs," he added. "The goal of your fight and the purpose of your jihad is the expulsion of the occupier and his helpers and the establishment of an Islamic state in the land of Somalia."
The 30-minute video on a Web site commonly used by Islamist militants, showed al-Libi - meaning 'the Libyan' in Arabic - in a camouflage uniform, with a black turban and beard. Its authenticity could not be independently verified, but it carried the logo of al-Qaida's media production wing, al-Sahab. The video was also released by IntelCenter, a U.S. government contractor that monitors al-Qaida messaging.
Al-Libi has recorded several tapes since he escaped from Bagram. Afghan police said at the time that his real name is Abulbakar Mohammed Hassan and that he is a Libyan.
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.
North Korea vowed on Sunday to bolster its self-defensive deterrence saying a military exercise launched by South Korea and the United States could jeopardise nuclear disarmament talks. If the aggressors ignite a war on this land, the army and people of the DPRK (North Korea) will resolutely retaliate against them with merciless deadly blows, the Korean National Peace Committee said in a statement.
Australia's imams say they will replace controversial Muslim cleric 
WASHINGTON (AP) - With his go-it-alone approach on Iraq, President Bush is flouting Congress and the public, so angering lawmakers that some consider impeachment an option over his war policy, a senator from Bush's own party said Sunday.
(03-24) 18:20 PDT OAKLAND -- Oscar-winning actor Sean Penn was the star attraction at a town hall meeting today in Oakland, where hundreds of people gathered to denounce the war in Iraq and call for an immediate withdrawal of American troops. "You and your smarmy pundits -- and the smarmy pundits you have in your pocket -- can take your war and shove it," Penn said. "Let's unite not only in stopping this war, but in holding this administration accountable."
A nuclear attack is the worst possible scenario -- and even though there are plans for disasters, the study suggests the aftermath would be devastating to relief efforts. 
MANALAPAN, Fla. (AP) - Vice President Dick Cheney on Saturday accused the Democrat-led House of not supporting troops in Iraq and of sending a message to terrorists that America will retreat in the face danger. "They're not supporting the troops. They're undermining them," Cheney told a gathering of the Republican Jewish Coalition at the oceanside Ritz-Carlton hotel in Manalapan, Fla., about 60 miles north of Miami.
United States Vice President Dick Cheney has vowed that the administration would not allow an early withdrawal of US forces from Iraq, despite efforts by Congress to impose a deadline on US combat operations there. 
Premier Fouad Siniora said Saturday he would refer a bill creating the international tribunal to Parliament for ratification after the forthcoming Arab Summit Conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Siniora, in an interview with al-Arabiya satellite television network, said he had informed Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa of the decision to refer the bill to Parliament after Speaker Nabih Berri said Tuesday that he cannot summon the house to deliberate the issue because he has not received the bill.
The European Union (EU) supports further sanctions against Iran, but at the same time wants to keep the door of negotiations open, said German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday. "If Iran returns to the fold of the international community, we are ready to give generous offers to them," Merkel told a press conference after an informal summit of the heads of state and government of the EU member states. 
A senior American commander in the Gulf has said his men would have fired on the Iranian Republican Guard rather than let themselves be taken hostage. 
