Very long, very interesting look at the Muslim Brotherhood...and their relationship with the Arab Street.
Prayers were over. A protest began. In an instant, the mosque was transformed: the gentle rhythms of worship replaced by the raw anger of dissent. "We must fight our godless rulers! The only path is the law of the Quran," shouted Magdy Hussein, an Islamic firebrand who has led widening street protests against Egypt's Western-backed government. "This is our jihad. Our time is now!"
The outburst in the 1,000-year-old Al-Azhar mosque took aim at the authoritarian style of Cairo's ruling elite. But such militant cries also strike at the world's largest and most influential Islamic movement: the Muslim Brotherhood. The Egyptian-founded group — which spawned Hamas, gave underpinnings to al-Qaida and now publicly endorses peaceful reforms — is confronting unprecedented challenges to its leadership as the Muslim world is torn asunder. Competing forces of moderates who seek engagement with the West and radicals who choose confrontation are locked in a struggle for the hearts of the 1.2 billion Muslims around the globe — an ideological clash of Cold War proportions.
In this conflict, the 77-year-old Brotherhood is one of the linchpins. The group portrays itself as a pillar of moderate Islam and essential for keeping radicals at bay. But those impatient for change see something else: a geriatric jihad content to work with former opponents and betray its old dreams of Islamic rule at any cost. Whether the Muslim Brotherhood withstands the attack on its leadership, withers or is wrenched apart will be a key test of the power of Islamic militants — including those who are fueling the Iraq insurgency, resisting a Palestinian peace deal with Israel and calling for new terrorist attacks against the West. Pitted against them, in Egypt and around the world, are mainstream Muslims convinced that Islam offers the foundations for pluralistic societies — with greater rights for women and tolerance of other faiths — and who view Western nations as potential partners rather than dire enemies.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
05/15/2005 22:42 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
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#1
Achmed: Come Hussain, let us sit and talk
as good Muslim brothers do.
Before Hadi bin Mubarak Qahtani exploded himself into an anonymous fireball, he was young and interested only in "fooling around."
Did he grow hair on his palms?
Like many Saudis, he was said to have experienced a religious awakening after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States and dedicated himself to Allah, inspired by "the holy attack that demolished the foolish infidel Americans and caused many young men to awaken from their deep sleep," according to a posting on a jihadist Web site.
On April 11, he died as a suicide bomber, part of a coordinated insurgent attack on a U.S. Marine base in the western Iraq city of Qaim. Just two days later, "the Martyrdom" of Hadi bin Mubarak Qahtani was announced on the Internet, the latest requiem for a young Saudi man who had clamored to follow "those 19 heroes" of Sept. 11 and had found in Iraq an accessible way to die.
#4
Look, the House of Saud is just doing the same as the House of Fox [El Presidente de Mexico]. Allow your problem to become the problem of your neighbor, then its no longer the big problem it could be for you and therefore you don't have to fix it.
These guys are, for arabs in general, much more educated and exposed to western ideals than the general populace.
It's almost as if there's an anti-western westernism...
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
05/15/2005 13:18 Comments ||
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#8
Well they have caught the anti-westernism, westernism via education and wealth, sounds fimiliar. That we have to deal with it is total bull shit. When we find a Saudi in Iraq we should wax him on the spot in a non Martyrdom fashion. If they learn they will not be going to thier false paridise they might get discouraged and go back home and kill their coreligionists at home.
#9
Our Friends the Saudis™ are murdering Iraqis? Or anybody for that matter?
I'm shocked, shocked, I tell you!
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/15/2005 15:11 Comments ||
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#10
Phil. Somewhat educated belivers of any faith or creed are more dangerous due to contrasts framing their beliefs. They have not become educated enough to weaken their beliefs.
Noam Chomsky is a professor at MIT, he's educated to the point that he doesn't believe in anything, but he's still willing to carry water for islamic radicals.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
05/15/2005 20:46 Comments ||
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#12
Chomsky believes in his own unrestrained egotism, and can out-rhetoric anyone who says otherwise.
#13
Chomsky's rhetoric is only impressive until one tries to parse his statements -- which reduce to nothing. Much like the mentality of his followers.
#14
interestingly, I think the Iraqis have captured very few Iranians
Iran wants Iraq to succeed. That's what Iran has always maintained. Syria and Saudi Sunnis are the trouble makers, just like the Iraqi Sunnis themselves. A Shiite dominated Iraq for Iran is like getting a Christmas gift in July. Great Satan removed Iran's worst enemy -Saddam a Sunni - and allowed a majority Shiite government to blossom in Saddam's place. What's not to like in that picture? Of course, coalition forces can't find many Iranian foreign fighters in Iraq -the reason is obvious.
#5
"The film ... argues that the fear of terrorism has come to pervade politics in the United States and Britain even though much of that angst is based on carefully nurtured illusions."
Uh, that'll be why terrorism was a notable non-issue during the last British election campaign, I suppose. Hardly a word about it, from anyone. Methinks someone's trying to seriously exaggerate supposed exaggeration which it would appear isn't an exaggeration at all. So what happens when you multiply by zero?
#6
It says Bush and US neo-conservatives, as well as British Prime Minister Tony Blair, are exaggerating the terror threat in a manner similar to the way earlier generations of leaders inflated the danger of communism and the Soviet Union.
And the danger of to the west from the Soviet Union was imaginary? Typical leftist bullshit
Fifteen years after the collapse of communism in Mongolia, a vibrant, feisty democracy has taken root in this remote land, driven by the energy of a young generation fiercely determined to forge an independent identity for their homeland.
Four candidates are campaigning in the country's third regular presidential election, scheduled for May 22, and are supported or criticized by dozens of independent newspapers and radio stations, at least five private television stations and state-run national television. None of the candidates is more than 50 years old.
There are approximately 1.5 million registered voters in this country of 2.5 million people. Everyone over 18 is eligible, and more than 80 percent are expected to turn out for the election, including nomadic herders who inhabit the remote parts of the country. Mobile polling stations will be transported to those with no easy access to fixed voting booths.
The two top contenders are Nambaryn Enkhbayer, 47, chairman of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party and current speaker of Parliament, and Mendsaikhan Enkhsaikhan, 50, chairman of the Democratic Party and a former prime minister. Whoever is elected president will serve as head of state and chief of the armed forces. Policy decisions are made by the 76-member parliament, headed by the prime minister.
Since winning an equal number of seats in parliamentary elections last year, the MPRP and an alliance of democratic parties have shared power in an uneasy coalition that splintered earlier this year when a minority of democrats quit and formed an opposition bloc with several independent members. This placed the democrats in the awkward position of being split between the ruling party and the opposition, but enabled the coalition to hold.
If he wins, Enkhsaikhan, as leader of the democratic alliance, may be able to strengthen its commitment to the coalition. His vision for the country is an economy based on private ownership, and a healthy and clean society in which the Mongolian people are united.
"Distributing the wealth equally I think is the biggest problem," Enkhsaikhan told United Press International. "The key thing is for us to create conditions in which people cannot stand corruption and bribery."
After years of slow growth, Mongolia's economy grew by 10.6 percent last year, with the private sector contributing some 80 percent of gross domestic product. The gap between rich and poor has widened, however, with one-third of the people still living below the poverty line, while corruption is endemic at various levels of government.
Despite their early appeal as a liberalizing force in a society wary of socialist controls, the Democrats lost considerable credibility after winning the 1996 election. At the time, they named four prime ministers in four years and as a result they lost their majority in the 2000 parliamentary election.
The MPRP was the ruling party during the Soviet era. It is now reformed and repackaged as a moderate social democratic party, positioned "left center" and "for a market economy with social care," according to Y. Otgonbayar, a member of the party secretariat and adviser to Enkhbayer. The party is a member of the Socialist International, which is holding a regional conference in Ulaanbaatar this weekend.
Both Enkhbayer and Otgonbayar deny the party is clinging to its communist mindset, however, noting the country's democratic constitution and reforms were conceived and adopted in the early 1990s, while the party was still in power.
"Mongolia is a democratic country in northeast Asia," Enkhbayer told UPI. "We can be studied as a model for other countries. We are trying to advise the Socialist International here so other parties can see that nothing bad will happen when they change."
Enkhbayer believes his party can provide the stability the country needs to pursue economic and social development.
"The other parties are collapsing, which makes the political situation unstable," he said. "We need to develop because our neighbors are developing so quickly."
Sandwiched between China and Russia, and dominated by first one then the other over the past 350 years, Mongolia is acutely aware of the need to fortify its fragile independence by strengthening its economy, its political institutions and its participation in international forums.
The platforms of the two parties are not as far apart as their names and histories imply. Both support a market economy, and both see fighting poverty, unemployment and corruption as their major challenges.
"It's very difficult to say who is more progressive," Sanjaasurengin Oyun, a member of Parliament and founder of the Citizens Will -- Republican Party, told UPI. "In general the Democrats are more liberal. The MPRP is slightly obsolete; they still have some of the old mentality. But when it comes to discipline and hard work, the MPRP is much better."
Also in the race are two wealthy businessmen, Bazarsad Jargalsaikhan, 46, of the Republican Party and Badarch Erdenebat, 46, of the Motherland Party. Both have spent small fortunes campaigning in the capital, Ulaanbaatar, and in the countryside, though the likelihood of either one winning is remote. While the two major candidates have taken commercial flights in their cross-country forays, Jargalsaikhan and Erdenebat have rented helicopters at $1,200 per hour, according to Oyun. Her own party decided not to field a candidate because of the high expense of electioneering.
Charges of unfair practices have been levied against the General Election Commission, with representatives of the three other parties accusing the commission of bias toward the MPRP. At a news conference Thursday, the three called for the resignation of the commission's chairman for issuing multiple election ID cards and registration numbers to voters in the countryside. They claim that 80,000 "extra" voter registration cards have been issued. Most district officials with responsibility for registering voters, as well as monitoring polling stations on election day, are MPRP members.
"It takes time and energy to respond to their charges," said J. Yadamsuren, the commission chairman. "I think it's normal for such things to crop up in a democracy. We are doing our best to ensure that everyone votes in this election."
Whoever wins the presidential race, many observers hope the current coalition government will remain in place long enough to implement reforms that have been under discussion over the past year in areas including administrative divisions, whether or not to encourage settlement of the nomadic population, election and tax reforms and anti-corruption legislation.
Public pressure is rising, especially for anti-corruption laws, says Oyun.
"Out of shame the Parliament will probably approve these measures," she predicts. Despite such realities, she is one of many young leaders who remain optimistic about their country's future.
"They may hate each other, but the advantage of the coalition is that the two sides are actually sitting down to discuss what is good for the country," she says. "Despite all kinds of problems, people are still trying very hard."
Personally I think the editor of Newsweek, the publisher, reporter, and 'source' should be charged with murder. But then I beleve in Good and Evil too....
May 23 issue - Did a report in NEWSWEEK set off a wave of deadly anti-American riots in Afghanistan? That's what numerous news accounts suggested last week as angry Afghans took to the streets to protest reports, linked to us, that U.S. interrogators had desecrated the Qur'an while interrogating Muslim terror suspects. We were as alarmed as anyone to hear of the violence, which left at least 15 Afghans dead and scores injured. But I think it's important for the public to know exactly what we reported, why, and how subsequent events unfolded.
Two weeks ago, in our issue dated May 9, Michael Isikoff and John Barry reported in a brief item in our periscope section that U.S. military investigators had found evidence that American guards at the detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, had committed infractions in trying to get terror suspects to talk, including in one case flushing a Qur'an down a toilet. Their information came from a knowledgeable U.S. government source, and before deciding whether to publish it we approached two separate Defense Department officials for comment. One declined to give us a response; the other challenged another aspect of the story but did not dispute the Qur'an charge.
Although other major news organizations had aired charges of Qur'an desecration based only on the testimony of detainees, we believed our story was newsworthy because a U.S. official said government investigators turned up this evidence. So we published the item. After several days, newspapers in Pakistan and Afghan-istan began running accounts of our story. At that point, as Evan Thomas, Ron Moreau and Sami Yousafzai report this week, the riots started and spread across the country, fanned by extremists and unhappiness over the economy.
Last Friday, a top Pentagon spokesman told us that a review of the probe cited in our story showed that it was never meant to look into charges of Qur'an desecration. The spokesman also said the Pentagon had investigated other desecration charges by detainees and found them "not credible." Our original source later said he couldn't be certain about reading of the alleged Qur'an incident in the report we cited, and said it might have been in other investigative documents or drafts. Top administration officials have promised to continue looking into the charges, and so will we. But we regret that we were caught and will continue to protect our terrorist allies source
that we got any part of our story wrong, and extend our sympathies to victims of the violence and to the U.S. soldiers caught in its midst.
—Mark Whitaker But I see they still refuse to name their 'source'......
But I see they still refuse to name their 'source'
However, they'll continue to use him, CF. :-(
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/15/2005 15:34 Comments ||
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#2
Michael Isikoff used to be a pretty decent MSM reporter (as far as that goes...). Sounds like this one got away from them as a "smack W-Rummy" piece and the consequences were catastrophic (at leat for the dead). I'd call for Isikoff and Evan Thomas to be fired for using unnamed sources in manner to damage the nation, clean house and show consequences. OTOH - it's not as if Islamic nutcases needed real evidence to go berserk. See: "Nigerian stolen penises"
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/15/2005 15:40 Comments ||
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#3
If I subscribed to Newsweek (which I don't), I'd cancel my subscription.
Of course they lied: they're on the side of the enemy.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
05/15/2005 16:24 Comments ||
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#7
How about some class action on the behalf of the dead? Whatever covers Neewsweek assets--no more Newsweek! Actions have usually consequences and I am affraid these POSes will get away with the crime--conspiracy to commit murder.
Enraged Tundamentalists Battle Troops, Police Over Desecration Report
During a sermon today at the Mount Antioch Baptist Bible Church, the Reverend Dr. Joe Bob Yarnell called for a "Holy Crusade" in response to unconfirmed media reports that a Texas Tech coed had desecrated a Bible during a graduation party/orgy at a local fraternity house.
Enraged protestors poured from the church, overwhelmed police lines, and rampaged through a nearby neighborhood. A number of Volvos and Volkswagens were burned in the streets. Two ACLU lawyers, rushing to the scene to ensure that Christian rights were respected, were lynched and their bodies hung from lampposts.
The protestors then advanced toward the Texas Tech campus, gathering strength from other churches along the way. The crowd set fire to offending facilities, and battled police and hastily called-up National Guard units.
Suspected infidels were hounded through the streets and a number were caught and burned alive at hastily erected stakes in public parks.
Donzens of head-shops, Starbuck's franchises and intimate apparel outlets were burned to the ground, and many other businesses were looted.
"The Bye-Bull is the sa-kerd word o' Gawd and we ain't lettin' no goddamn hippie fornicators des-ser-cate it. We got titty bars and honky-tonks for that!" declared one rioter protestor as he torched a pile of Playboy magazines outside a looted 7-11 store.
The protest was finally quelled by airborne troops who landed by parachute near the Civic Center. At least 65 people were killed and local hospitals report hundreds of injuries.
"We are naturally sensitive to the concerns of the Christian Community and the protection of its sacred texts," declared Texas Tech president Jon Whitmore during a Sunday evening press conference. "We feel their pain at this horrid allegation and we promise that the alleged graduation party incident will be fully investigated and those responsible, if any, will be punished to the fullest extent of the speech and conduct code."
#11
I wouldn't blame Newsweek. I would blame the source. And the government should use all the legal tools at its disposal to force Newsweek to name the source. Any source that would talk to Newsweek is probably a traitor, anyway. It will be sweet when this guy has to go find a job in the private sector. Of course, it is possible that the reporter made up the story out of thin air. It's not like it hasn't been done before.
I think the jury's still out on whether or not we will be able to de-toxify Islamic/Arab culture by intruducing democratic self-government. We've got to give it an honest try, giving it all we've got, for at least the duration of Bush's presidency-- if for no other reason than to be able to say, "We tried. We really, REALLY tried."
I'll withold judgement til then; but I'm beginning to suspect we'll end up concluding that these people are incorrigible: that they are hopeless, irredeemable savages who simply cannot be pried from the grip of their baleful moon-god.
And if that's our ultimate conclusion from this "Middle East Democracy" exercise, then God have mercy on these peoples' souls if they ever pull off another mass-casualty terrorist attack on U.S. soil-- because one of the few options remaining to us will be a war that will exterminate one-fifth of this planet's population.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
05/15/2005 18:00 Comments ||
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#13
It would be both just and proper for Thomas, Barry, and Isikoff to travel to Kabul and directly explain their error to the families who lost love ones in the riots. Also they may want to take along the Muslim detainee who stuffed pages from the Koran down the toilet. I'm sure the Afghans will understand when he explains his purpose.
#15
Many thanks, David and Badanov. Sometimes these things just seem to write themselves (should be "Fundamentalists" and "dozens" though). In terms of behavior analysis, taking monstrously disproportionate offense over objectively trivial events is merely a strategy for establishing dominance over others by dictating the minutist aspects of their behavior. We see this every day from drunks and gang members here in the States.
This tendency toward power-seeking authoritarianism is the common-thread that runs through the whole Moonbat continuum, from the institutional media and academic fascists to communism and the Religion of Peace itself.
#16
I start off each day by taking a giant shit on a copy of the Qur'an. Then I throw it in a hole in the yard that's filled with cockroaches. The cockroaches seem to enjoy the Qur'an even more than the feces. After my bowels have been relieved, I go outside and lead the neighborhood children in a spirited chant of "Fuck the Qur'an!" But, because I am civilized and not a backwards-minded savage, I do not kill anybody, blow up anything, or set anything on fire. I want to make sure that I remain more rational and restrained than the average muslim.
#18
More details here about the story and responses.
According to this article, ...Newsweek apologized in an editor's note for Monday's edition and said they were re-examining the allegations.
"We regret that we got any part of our story wrong, and extend our sympathies to victims of the violence and to the U.S. soldiers caught in its midst," Newsweek Editor Mark Whitaker wrote.
#19
"We regret that we got any part of our story wrong, and extend our sympathies to victims of the violence and to the U.S. soldiers caught in its midst," Newsweek Editor Mark Whitaker wrote."
Well, that begs the question; should their report have turned out to be factually accurate, how would they feel then? Would they think the violence was then somehow justified? I bet they would, because that would reflect their view of the US as the wrongdoer. Which is why they went with the anonymously sourced story in the first place.
Posted by: Mark E. ||
05/15/2005 19:17 Comments ||
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#20
"...taking monstrously disproportionate offense over objectively trivial events is merely a strategy for establishing dominance over others..."
I call it "strategic victimhood". And its result, I call The Tyranny of the Thin-Skinned.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
05/15/2005 19:28 Comments ||
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#21
Need to place an ad in Mid-East version of newsweek for toliet paper with the Koran printed on it.
See how Newsweek deals with nuts and fruits coming their way.
#22
Maybe, just maybe, the people in Afghanistan should contemplate the deaths and frenzy and wonder just how high a price they willingly pay to protest the alleged action of one or two unnamed people in a faraway land. I'm a Christian and I would not be willing to shed even one life to protest the desecration of a Bible, even if I witnessed it firsthand. Why is life so unvalued in Islam?
Posted by: Tom ||
05/15/2005 19:58 Comments ||
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#23
3dc, I had the same idea. Appeasing this irrational nonsense is not the answer. It will only stop when mooselimbs understand one of our rights is to offend others belief systems religious and otherwise. If a pile of mooselimb corpses is required to learn this lesson then so be it, the blame will clearly lie with those doing the killing and not those doing the offending.
#24
Reading the story, hearing the news reports, and following this thread I am struck by the universal (???) assumption that there is any logic, as we understand it, present in the current frenzy.
This is an insane ideology being insane, defining it by Western standards. But that's the crux of the biscuit, isn't it?
In terms of what (the non-Moonbat West) value, what we have in common with the frenzied Afghanis and those who are seething elsewhere, the PakiWaki alphabet soup factions, the Zarqis, the Saudi Royals & Wahhabis, the Mahathirs, the Paleos, the MM's, the lot that constitute Islam is so overwhelmingly outweighed by how we differ that it makes no odds. They are from Pluto.
They have a fatal disease. It was inculcated from birth. It knows no bounds, as we understand them. It values that which we revile. It reviles that which we cherish. It is a cult of blame, lies, intolerance, delusion, misogyny, slavery, corruption, oppression, hate, barbarism, brutality, and death. Mankind has dreamt up some amazingly sick, demented, and twisted shit, but this cult has earned a unique status: it is the ultimate bottom-feeder.
#25
"Mankind has dreamt up some amazingly sick, demented, and twisted shit, but this cult has earned a unique status: it is the ultimate bottom-feeder. It is Islam."
Over the last couple of days, I've come to the same conclusion. It's going to be either us, or this demented murder cult. It will not abide us nor we, it. It's going to be a fight to the death.
"They are from Pluto."
Nah. They're from the planet Anus-- a buncha assholes.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
05/15/2005 21:49 Comments ||
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#26
We are a nation at war. Michael Isikoff and John Barry through their own willful negligence caused deliberate peril for our soldiers in Afghanistan. The Attorney General should have both creeps arrested and tried for sabotage.
The Newsweek owner, Donald (?) Graham Jr. should be fined $1 Million MINIMUM and that fine $ should be immediately handed to the President of Afghanistan to be distributed to the families of the victims. Graham Jr. should also be required to publish a special edition of Newsweek, published in Afghan language, the various Arab languages with his ugly mutt face on the cover along with Izzie's and Barry's with a headline "We lied-it's our fault."
The Afghans are primitive people. They don't have much of importance in their lives except their religion. They were led to believe by the American press ( not their "crazy" mullahs) that American soldiers descecrated the only thing of value to them. You may not think the Koran is valuable. They do. We are trying to gain the trust of these primitive people, and humiliating them is not a productive way to reach that goal. The Newsweek publisher and journalists are educated. They knew exactly the consequences of their article, never mind that it was a lie. Those 3 people caused the deaths of Afghans and put our GI's lives in danger. They should be made to pay big time.
The "Mooslims" as some of you like to refer to them are not the bad guys in this scenario - it's Michael Isikoff and John Barry and Mr. Graham Jr. who are the scumbags.
#27
The rioters rioted because they were told to by their leaders, who were told to lead the riots by their leaders. I hold the Learned Elders of Islam⢠and dedicated enemies of America and the West responsible, not Newsweek.
#28
excuse me? When have Catholics and Presbyterians rioted like this? To claim a moral equivalence is assinine, but expected from loser academics and fellow travelers. Where were the christian world riots over the Paleos pising in the Church of the Nativity? Only teh self-proclaimed Religion of Pieces Peace says one thing and kills another
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/15/2005 22:20 Comments ||
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#29
If this story had turned out to be true (and it still may, for all we know), there'd be swarms of moonbats wringing their hands over the terrible crimes of the Bush administration, who should have known that desecrating a Koran would lead to bloodshed somewhere in the world.
And all the regulars here would've said, "Fuck that shit. The administration can't be responsible for the obsessions of a bunch of savages. The hand-wringers are only using this situation to smear Bush."
And they'd be exactly right. And it's the same damned thing here, except that some people are using this situation to smear the media.
Now, I agree that Newsweek published this story without sufficient confirmation, and did so gleefully in order to (in the most charitable interpretation) fulfill their if-it-bleeds-it-leads agenda. But that doesn't make them responsible for the deaths, any more than it would make Bush or the military responsible if the story were true.
Let's keep our eyes on the real adversary here, people. And it ain't the media, despite their efforts to demonstrate otherwise. Damn it.
Newsweak did not report the news. They lied. They told a fib without regard to the consequences and endangered soldiers in the field, OUR SOLDIERS. Fonda got a pass for essentially placing military people in further danger, but I do not believe Newsweak should get one.
This is fifth column activities. They should answer for this lie.
#31
Now, I agree that Newsweek published this story without sufficient confirmation, and did so gleefully in order to (in the most charitable interpretation) fulfill their if-it-bleeds-it-leads agenda. But that doesn't make them responsible for the deaths,
I beg toi differ with you, Angie. This was more than sloppy journalism. This was conscious sabotage while a nation is at war. The Newsweek publisher and the journalists could reasonably predict what the consequences of this story would be in terms of peril to our soldiers at the very least. They should be facing jail time and heavy fines. War demands a higher standard than "if it bleeds, it leads." If this happened in WWII, FDR would have sent these 3 news sluts to the brig.
excuse me? When have Catholics and Presbyterians rioted like this?
Duh...maybe in the 7th century??? That's where these people are at. Hey if it were up to me, I would have let them continue play soccer with human heads, but it just so happened that our gov't is experimenting with democracy in Afghanistan and that means we need to build trust in these primitives. That the Afghans are primitives is a given. Newseek knows full wel that these people can be ferocious - did we not see the Afghans beat the Russkies to a pulp? These people have a short fuse, and don't tell well heeled journalists like Barry and Isikoff did not know rhwy were striking matches in a volatile area of the world.
"The fellow travellers" at Newsweek you speak of, Frank,are not my friends - maybe yours???- you seem to want to go to the wall to defend obvious criminal behavior at a time of war.
#32
A reasonable consequence of opening a bank is that it will be robbed. That is not an argument for not opening the bank, nor does it make the bank manager responsible for the robbery. I am one of the first to go after the MSM, but in this case blaming them is asinine stupidity. Do we make them pay for Kyoto, becuase they have been pushing it? The logic is bizzare.
#33
I, for one, am so incredibly grateful that Snowplow Schnickerdoodle is here to save our humanity. The ice is so very thin hereabouts.
Without this brave soul, wading in and wielding a scalpel-like insight, so deeply moving and sagacious I needed scuba gear to plumb the depths of the wisdom imparted, we'd all be lost. No, worse, we'd be Doomed! Doomed I say!
#34
I dont think this was 'sloppy' news reporting. Newsweek must have known what the effect this story would have had in the middle east -- these are professionals who know full well what they are doing. As professionals they should be held to a higher standard then, for example, eddie the bartender down at the local tavern.
That they took the word of a 'unnamed source' (who they continue to protect) with a couple of DOD 'officals' who did not verify the story (lack of denial does not consitute verification).
That they continue to refuse to reveal their source. And, for all we know, will continue to use this source even knowing that his/her information is tainted. is inexcusable. I could understand their wanting to protect a confidential source but this is not a reliable source.
In fact this sounds like the story was deliberately planted with the sole intent of causing problems. If newsweek was simply a stooge or a willing co-conspirator (and their protection of their source leans toward the latter) should be investigated.
Lets not forget that deaths can be directly linked to this story. I find it amazing that the MSM soddomized the prison abuse (panties on head) dead horse for over a year yet barely mention this where innocent people have died.
But again, I dont know why I should be suprised that the MSM hasn't seen a dead (or humiliated) terrorist they didn't love and hasn't seen a dead innocent civilian ( Iraq / Afghanistan / Isreal ) they could give a rats ass about.
#35
What does opening a bank analogy have to do with an act of willful negligence for financial gain during a time of war? Maybe if more GI's were killed rather than having their lives endangered you would see the criminal consequences of Newsweek's over the line behavior, Phil?
Izzie and barry published a lie that will continue to have repercussions in our GIs dealings with the Afghans for many months to come. There lie was based on a single unverified anonymous source. To not see the criminal negligence in printing this article is beyond me. Maybe check the military websites and see what military people and their families think about Michael Isikoff and John Barry and Mr. Graham Jr. What these 3 news sluts did in terms of damage to our GIs ability to interact with native Muslims of occupied countries is no different than what the loose cannon MP's did in Abu Gra.
The majority of al-Qaeda recruits in Canada are being trained at home, not abroad, making the terror network a direct threat to Canada, according to a recently declassified intelligence report. The homegrown recruits are highly prized for their familiarity with Western societies, says the Canadian Security Intelligence Service report, obtained by the Toronto Star. The group once trained recruits in the hills of Afghanistan, but the camps were dismantled as the U.S.-led "war on terror" became firmly established.
Michael Juneau-Katsuya, who spent 21 years as a CSIS agent, told the Star the U.S. campaign itself has fuelled anger and frustration in a new generation of potential al-Qaeda fighters. Security investigators have responded to the trend of expanded recruitment by doing things like monitoring internet chat rooms for angry youths willing to join a cause, the report says. They're also keeping their eyes on who's playing paintball. Paintball is mentioned in Canada's only arrest under new anti-terrorism legislation. Mohammad Momin Khawaja, a Canadian who's charged in Britain with planning terrorist bombings, played paint ball near his Ottawa-area home in the summer of 2003. Khawaja is being held without bail.
If this letter by the shiite cleric Hadi Ma'ssumi published on the iran-chabar site is true then this is just mega explosive:
http://www.iran-chabar.de/1384/02/20/masoomi840220.htm
The letter to Rafsanjani is written by a Karaj based cleric. He says in the letter that he is ill and near death, so presumably that is what has given him the extra ordinary courage needed to write this letter.
If this letter was from an exiled opposition, it would not have been so controversial but to read this sort of thing from a Shiite cleric is truly remarkable.
In the letter, the cleric Hadi Ma'ssumi starts from the beginning of Islam in Iran. How the religion was forced upon Iranians, how the invading Arabs raped the Iranian women, massacred the population, looted our wealth, tried to run the windmills with the blood of Iranians and how they burned all our books and destroyed so much of our knowledge.
He then starts scrutinising 26 years of Rafsanjani's unrelentless power. He reminds Rafsanjani of what went on in Iran's political prisons in the 80s. How young virgin girls were raped before their executions using Koranic justifications - virgin girls go to heaven no matter what, so young female political activists were raped to ensure they didn't go to heaven - how thousands suffered torture and the massacre of Iranian political prisoners in 1988....
- ----a quote from the letter follows---- --
"You know like I do what lies behind this religion (Islam), after all this crime carried out against Iranians.... Now for the sake of God tell the truth to the people that there is nothing in this religion but stupidity and ignorance, other than silly laws about what is considered clean and what is untouchable, what is allowed and what is not allowed, believe me that God and the people will then forgive you, although I know you are conscious enough NOT to believe in God!"
Posted by: Fred ||
05/15/2005 13:53 Comments ||
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#4
From The Corner at National Review Online
IRANIAN REVELATIONS [Michael Ledeen]
I am still in Naples, finishing the research for my book "virgil's golden egg and other neapolitan miracles," but I did want to pass on this remarkable email from one of my iranian penpals. I think it is enormously important, because it shows the depth of the hatred of the regime from a leading Shi'ite mullah, in a degree of detail I think most of us would find amazing. And it also provides very useful information about the official presidential candidate, Rafsanjani, who is often described as a "moderate." Here you go:
If this letter by the shiite cleric Hadi Ma'ssumi published on the iran-chabar site is true then this is just mega explosive: http://www.iran-chabar.de/1384/02/20/masoomi840220.htm
The letter to Rafsanjani is written by a Karaj based cleric. He says in the letter that he is ill and near death, so presumably that is what has given him the extra ordinary courage needed to write this letter.
If this letter was from an exiled opposition, it would not have been so controversial but to read this sort of thing from a Shiite cleric is truly remarkable.
In the letter, the cleric Hadi Ma'ssumi starts from the beginning of Islam in Iran. How the religion was forced upon Iranians, how the invading Arabs raped the Iranian women, massacred the population, looted our wealth, tried to run the windmills with the blood of Iranians and how they burned all our books and destroyed so much of our knowledge.
He then starts scrutinising 26 years of Rafsanjani's unrelentless power. He reminds Rafsanjani of what went on in Iran's political prisons in the 80s. How young virgin girls were raped before their executions using Koranic justifications - virgin girls go to heaven no matter what, so young female political activists were raped to ensure they didn't go to heaven - how thousands suffered torture and the massacre of Iranian political prisoners in 1988.
The many extra-judicial killings of Iranian dissidents both inside Iran and outside Iran. "Ayatollah Rafsnajani, you know how murder, kidnapping and torture has become synonymous with your name" Ma'assumi writes in his letter.
Hadi Ma'ssumi asks about Rafsanjani's close relationship with the likes of Saeed Emami, responsible for murder of dissidents inside Iran and Vahid Gorji who is responsible for many assassinations of Iranian exiles outside Iran.
Ma'ssumi recalls how Rafsanjani unnecassarily prolonged the war with Iraq, casuing the death and injuries to millions and how he himself hugely profitted from the war instead.
Ma'ssumi asks Rafsanjani to comment on the imprisonment of many of Iran's dissidents today. What he thinks of stoning, public flogging, cutting limbs and forcing women to wear the veil.
He asks Rafsanjani why women in Iran are forced to wear the veil in summer heat and yet Rafsanjani's daughter Faezeh dresses up in skimpy clothing when she travels through European cities of Paris, London and Geneva.
Even perhaps all this is not that controversial, there are after all many Iranian clerics who oppose the Islamic Republic and the rule of mullahs. But just read this below. This is an exact translation of one paragraph of an elderly Shiite cleric's statement on his death bed:
"You know like I do what lies behind this religion (Islam), after all this crime carried out against Iranians. lets do one good thing and tell the people what is behind this religion. Lets tell everyonel that this religion is neither "martyr generating", nor pro-science nor pro the people, this religion tells the elite that it is for the plebs and it tells the plebs that it is for the elite, it tells the elite that all its silly laws are for the stupid plebs, in fact this religion is "ignorance generator". It has come about to humiliate people. As you (Rafsanjani) once told me, it is one religion for the elite and another for the plebs. You rightly regard yourself, the supreme leader and your Guardian Council as the elite, and the "martyr generating" nation of Iran are the plebs. Now for the sake of God tell the truth to the people that there is nothing in this religion but stupidity and ignorance, other than silly laws about what is considered clean and what is untouchable, what is allowed and what is not allowed, believe me that God and the people will then forgive you, although I know you are conscious enough NOT to believe in God!"
#5
Never understood why _someone_ isn't working the "Islam raped and ruined Iran" angle hard with the Iranian people. I would think that this would strike a resonant cord with a lot of Iranians. After all, Iran was strong nation before the Arabs came -- having stopped the Romans and Byzantinians cold. The Arabs took everything away from them: their alphabet, their culture, their history and their religion. The muslims almost took their language, IIRC. Since the Arab invasion, Iran has been a second-rate power. If this letter is true, it looks like there is already an underground anti-Islamic current out there. It should be brought out into the open.
If this is really true, he's no longer near death, if you know what I mean....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/15/2005 15:07 Comments ||
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#7
11A5S:
People tend to get pretty tied up with their religion, especially the poor and uneducated. Much more likely to create a racial backlash against Arabs than a religious backlash against Islam.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/15/2005 15:35 Comments ||
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#9
If they get hit in the face with it enough it will have a effect on their religious thinking. Over time it will work against islam. I wish that country could be flooded with the letter. There are plenty of Persians and Arabs ready to not believe. Islam is coerced on lots of people pretending to practice it. Most places you are not free to ignore it's strictures as they are hard wired into society. In the west religion is less hard wired.
#10
Sherry: that was pretty much what was in the original post. Is there a complete version of the letter itself? Not what someone says was said, but what was actually said, other than the one paragraph at the end. I would like to know the rest of the content, as written by the Mullah.
#13
its in arabic script but the language is farsi
translation isn't that important anyway, pieces of the letter will, I think, be circulated within the anti mullarky movement within a week or two -- assuming the letter isn't shown to be a forgery
#14
I remember some discussion a year or so ago suggesting that when the Mullahs fell islam might seriously fade away in Iran along with it since the Mullahs have given Islam such a black eye.
Doubt it's true but after reading this letter, who knows. I think it would be huge to see Iran's Mullahs' overthrown, even bigger to have a wave of Zorostrianism return to Persia.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has appointed a German prosecutor to head the international commission that will investigate the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Detlev Mehlis, the chief prosecutor in the office of the attorney general in Berlin, will be heading a team of some 50 experts due in Beirut early next week to begin the probe.
Mehlis is expected to arrive at UN headquarters in New York from Berlin early next week according to UN Spokeswoman Marie Okabe, who added that Mehlis "would go with a team of around 10 experts to begin work." Okabe added the team's initial task would be "assessing the results of all the investigations that have already taken place." The Lebanese and Syrian governments had agreed to an international probe following scathing criticism of both governments in an initial UN fact-finding mission's report, which blamed Syrian military intelligence for what it said was "a lack of security, protection and law and order" in Lebanon at the time of Hariri's death.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/15/2005 00:00 ||
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Thousands of Lebanese chanting religious slogans and carrying black flags marched on downtown Beirut Friday as part of a demonstration for the release of Sunni extremists from the Dinnieh area and the Bekaa town of Majdel Anjar, held under suspicion of "terrorism" without charge or trial at the Defense Ministry. "Holy Shit! Allahu Akbar!" (Good God Almighty) chanted the crowd of protestors in front of the Al-Omari Mosque in downtown Beirut, holding large black flags with "No God but One God" and "Mohammed is the Prophet of God," printed in yellow or white as they waited for Friday's call to prayer. "They kidnapped our sons, brothers and husbands," shouted a veiled woman as she carried her daughter who was wearing a white head band with "La Ilaha Ila Allah" (No God but One God) printed in red. Her whole family came, as did a majority of families that bused their way from Dinnieh and Majdel Anjar.
In 2000, around 30 Sunni fundamentalist rebels were arrested in the northern area of Dinnieh after the killing of at least four soldiers in a rebel ambush in the area. Then in 2004, nine suspects were arrested in Majdel Anjar under "suspicion of acts of terrorism in Lebanon," which included the bombing of embassies and planned attacks against Lebanese security officials. "The only crime of those arrested is that they are truly committed Muslims!" said Mohammed Baydoon, 29, whose brother-in-law, Nabeel Jaloul, was arrested 8 months ago during the Anjar riots.
"I visited him in the Defense Ministry. He is sick in body and spirit as he is just sitting there without charge rotting away. Just release him or charge him and give us all peace," said Baydon, who is worried security officials may be torturing his brother-in-law as was the case with suspected Al-Qaeda leader Ismail Mohammed al-Khatib, who died in custody September 27, 2004 after reportedly being tortured. Posters of a dead and battered Khatib hung on the al-Omari Mosque, displaying one of the suspect's eyes severely burnt by what many said was "a cigarette that the police used to torture him with."
The protest, coming at a time when the pardon of former Lebanese Forces commander Samir Geagea is being debated in Parliament, was held to demand similar considerations be made for those arrested in al-Denniyeh and majdel Anjar. "The government is letting a convicted criminal out but is not even looking at innocent people who have been detained for years without charge," said Yasser Asmar, who came with his 5-year-old son from Tripoli, carrying a green Saudi flag which he said was a symbol of "unity and peace."
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05/15/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
800 candidates. With the "Guardian Council" filtering the candidates, there won't be but one flavor when it's over: Mad Mullah. I'm sure it'll be a cliffhanger.
Note ArabNews mentions 58 (89 reported on Fox) femalians who signed up but were all invalidated - cuz they're wymyn and don't count in Shari'aLand. ArabNews, being Symps of Shari'a, doesn't have a problem with this.
ArabNews, Mad Mullahs, Guardian Council - 3 more confirming data points for The Sphincter of Allan.
#2
Israeli Premier Ariel Sharon voiced concern last month the world was growing accustomed to the idea Iran would build a nuclear bomb, but said he preferred economic and diplomatic pressure, rather than military action, against Iran at this stage.
Does "the world" put pressure on Isreal to give up its nuclear weapons? What about Pakistan or India?
#3
ES4325---Pakistan, nutcase though it is, does not go around threatening its neighbors with nuclear destruction. Neither does India. Neither does Israel.
Iran has stated that it will destroy Israel in public statements. Take them at their word, or paddle up de-nile at your peril. The MMs are building U235 gas centrifuges underground. They have built a reactor that is capable of producing plutonium as a byproduct, which will go to bombs that will be light enough to mount on a missile.
The rest is just EU and tranzi crap. The MMs are quite capable of giving a bomb to a proxy that will plant it in a city near you. This is no game. This one is for keeps.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
05/15/2005 2:20 Comments ||
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#4
Pakistan has frequently threatened India with nuclear weapons. The US did not come to India's aid, why should we lose sleep about Israel and Iran's ongoing simulcast hostilities? Why should israel be more precious to us as an ally than India? Pakistan and India came to a detente over the years. In Iran's mind, Israel is a threat and how can you fault the MMs for this type of thinking? Israel hates Iran as much as Iran hates Israel. We should stay out of it and let Israel and Iran come to a mutual self-destructive understanding as Pakistan and India have. Iran does not threaten the USA - forget the proxie crapolla. Iran would never do anything against the USA. We could crush that country like a bug. In fact, the Shiite controlled Iran-Iraq super nation is a good counter balance in our favor against Sunni extremists gathering power in Syria and Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. Let Iran and Israel posture against each other - how does it affect us in mainland America? It doesn't, plain and simple. I'm not going to lose sleep about Iran getting nuclear weapons. My greater worry is the AQ sympathizers in Pakistan's Intelligence service and our open Mexican border and Chavez in venezuela loving anti-American extremists of any stripe or ethnicity. Iran is Israel's threat, not ours. Keep our enemy list straight.
#7
Pay attention,ES.If you don't see Iran as a threat to U.S. then you are still living in the Liberial pre-9/11 dream world.Iran shelters/hides/protects/supports members of Al Q.Iran shelters/hides/protects/supports Hamas and Hezb.If you do not see Iran and Islamic terrorists in general as a direct threat to U.S. then you need to change your meds.Iran already has an ICBM that can reach parts of Europe.Would have us wait and do something untill they have a missile that can reach the U.S.?Sorry can't do that,it would be to late to stop them.The MM's would just love to explode a nuke in a U.S. city.Don't believe it(fool that you are),just ask them.What do you think would happen to the entire country of Iran if they manage to pop a nuke here?The entire country would be wiped!I as well as many others will not take that chance.Terrorist have already tried to infiltrate our borders both North and South,Iran is part and parcel of the problem.
#8
ES is trolling from the first assertment that Israel poses a threat to Iran. I call bullshit and trollery
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/15/2005 9:58 Comments ||
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#9
Tear yourself away from your Revelations reading for a minute or 2, Frank, and try to think like the Iranian mullahs who want to maintain their power. And btw, Frank, there's no question that Israel and Iran have been MUTUAL mortal enemies since the fall of the Shah. The mullahs feel that they need a nuclear arsenal as a check against Israel and against invasion by the USA per what happened to Saddam. And from the mullahs' point of view this type of defensive strategy makes sense. A political commentator -a Jewish academic, I believe - once said that a nation that does not have nuclear weapons condemns itself to being a vassal of the nations that do.
#13
Elmath, Israel _has_ had nuclear weapons for a long while, while Iran hasn't, BUT the main result has been that Iran conducts acts of war and terrorism against Israel (and the United States) (and more recently, Iraq), while Israel has not conducted such acts of terrorism against Iran.
Given the way Iran has handled not having nuclear weapons while America and Israel have (but have avoided using them against a country that sponsors terrorist acts against us) makes us not eager to see what Iran would do should they have nuclear weapons.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
05/15/2005 13:06 Comments ||
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#14
Phil, the genie is out of the bottle re: nuclear weaponry. The list is getting longer each year of nations who already own nuclear weaponry. Iran will simply join the growing list of nuclear proliferation. And like other countries, Iran is not ever going to use nuclear warfare, forget about it. Iran wants what every other nuclear armed country wants - nuclear threat capability as a defense against what it may perceive to be aggression from other countries.
You think the Mullahs are crazy? No they are your run of the mill power hungry greedy thugs. They did not last in power this long by being crazy.
As for threats against Israel, is Iran unique in this regard? Give me a break. Israel has ZERO friends in Muslim countries - they all hate Israel and that will never change. You think democracized Iraq will be any different? NO. Do you think any Arab country will pop off nuclear bombs in Telaviv? NO. Why - because they would be summarily nuked by Israel. Israelis face more realistic deadly threats from Palestinian suicide bombers than from Iran having nukes. Also Israeli soldiers will certainly face mortal danger from the extremist settlers if Sharon precipitates a civil war.
Is Pakistan so wonderful and free and stable that India does not have to fear nuclear threats from that bastion of Muslim extremism? NO. India gets on with its life and is forecast to be a world power withinb 20 years. Is India sending fighter jets to Pakistan to destroy its nuclear arsenal? No. It's moving on because it has a checkmate option to Pakistan, as Israel does to Iran.
Syria sends Sunni trouble makers to Iraq. I doubt that Iran does. What for? Shiite governed Iraq is Iran's sister country - as Iran has always stated, it's in Iran's best interests that Iraq succeeds so the US military can move out faster.
As for AQ threats to the US via getting hold of nuclear weaponry from Iran's mullahs...that makes no sense whatsoever. Why would Shiite mullahs co-operate with Sunni AQ and have a bulls-eye target painted on Tehren for the US to attack? The Shiite mullahs have as much to fear from Sunni fundamentalists as the USA.
The mullahs want to stay in power. They are sitting on very expensive real estate. They don't want to lose their "pretty" situation. They have their hands full with hassles from within; they do not need trouble from without.
I think Israel needs to stop with the shrill ultimatums to Iran and everyone else and learn to live with Iran's nuclear weaponry, just like India co-exists with Pakistan and the USA and Japan co-exist with N. Korea. Every corrupt former Soviet satellite has nuclear weaponry and Soviet scientists for sale to the highest bidder -ditto for S. Africa - pretty soon every 3rd world country will build nuclear reactors not for aggression, but for defense. We all better get used to it. Like I said the genie is out of the bottle. I believe that Iran could function as a valuable counter balance against Sunni extremists in the region, as long as we don't threaten the mullahs power - then all bets are off - if we attack the mullahs, at Israel's insistence, then the mullahs have nothing to lose. And we alienate the Iranians as a whole who will not take kindly to being invaded.
#15
yep, slap the only democracy in the ME (prior to Iraq's development) in order not to disturb the thug islamonuts in power....methinks you're Henry Kissinger or Madeline Halfbright writing under an Elmath pseodonym. Throw the Jooooos away and the mullahs will leave us alone?
*spit*
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/15/2005 14:06 Comments ||
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#16
ES has a definite problem with his history: The United States was the first to slap sanctions on India and Pakistan when each developed their bombs.They went by the wayside when the greater threat of islamist terrorism reared it's ugly head.
The US was just as clueless with India and Pakistan then as ES is now with Iran. Thus, it is ludicrous for ES to hop up and down in indignation at the prospect of the US government thinking, "Well, THAT didn't work last time, so let's try something different." The inability to handle the change in US policy and behaviour appears to be a pretty good litimus test of idiotarianism.
ES also has a consistency problem: He and his ilk are quite ready to believe that Christian fundamentalists are a threat to world peace (all with one being the President of the United States), but also hold that Muslim Funadmentalists (such as the Iranian Mullahs) are not. Making himself out to be such an expert, he cannot fail to know that Islam is the only major world religion whose scriptures explicitly endorses real, physical, metal-tearing-through-flesh WAR as a religious duty, while the others treat it (at best) as a last resort, regrettable but sometimes necessary course of action, and, (at worse) regards it as an afront and a sin against God. How naive for ES to think that he cannot trust what Christians say about their own religion, but is willing to swallow, hook, line, and sinker, everything that Muslims say about their own religion. Better get your script together, and get a refund from your undergraduate college on that comparative religion course that has so miserably informed him.
Israel, to the dismay of its own citizens, is a thorouhly secular state with religious trappings, while the Iran, to the dismay of its own citizens, is a thoroughly Theocratic state with secular trappings. Insisting that they are somehow equivalent in some way is laughable, and willful, ignorance.
The power of the United States is such that a direct frontal assault is suicidal. However, thanks to fellow travellers like yourself, ES, the liklihood of a sneak attack, via proxies, would be viable since you'd scream, 10 seconds after the mushroom cloud dissipated, that the US cannot possibly prove who did it, and thus should do NOTHING. THE MULLAHS AND KIM IL JONG CAN COUNT ON YOU SAYING THAT. Thinking, "They won't attack THAT way", and allocating our resources accordingly, is a sure-fire guarantee they WILL attack THAT way: see the Maginot line, where the reasoning was that the Germans wouldn't attack AROUND it. Surprise! Guess how they attacked.
#18
Attention loose cannon idiots. In 50-100 years we may have Muslim Presidents/PM's in charge of Western nations like Holland and France, perhaps even the USA, nations that come equipped with nuclear weapons. Woohoo, imagine, Muslims, through a democratic vote, may be leaders with access to Western powers' nuclear arsenal.So how do you reconcile your heehaw plans of invading Muslim nations around the world today whenever Israel shivers. How is Iran different from Saudi Arabia, Syria, Indonexsia, Pakistan, etc, etc with threats of destruction? Do you think there are any Muslim nations prepared to have a group hug with Israel anytime soon? It ain't going to happen. Israel needs to live with it. Ramming F16's down a Muslim nation's throat is not going to make Israel better loved. And each time we invade a country like we did Iraq, we need to stay and clean up the poo-poo mess we caused. And after we do that, the invaded country ends up hating us anyways, along with Israel. What's the point?
But more importantly, in the near future your ancestors, and Israel itself, will need to have diplomatic relations with First World countries whose head of states are Muslims. You think an Iranian president of France, with nukes, is going to be so-so happy that his grandpa was melted down by Great Satan and Israel in 2005?
Nuclear weaponry is here to stay and the list of 2 bit nations building an arsenal will continue to grow. Now 3rd world thug wants to end up like Saddam. So big deal. Even 3rd world thugs have the brain cells to figure out that using nukes will get the world into a big catostrophic jam. Nukes are a deterrent from thugs' view points.
#19
You're asking us to trust the third world thugs of the same sort as those who managed to kill about a hundred million people over the last century to be rational?
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
05/15/2005 21:34 Comments ||
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#20
ES4325 - you're the type that volunteers for human shields for your arab overlords, but bails when the shells fall. We call them speed bumps. Why not check in your passport and join the other side now - they'll reward you better :-)
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/15/2005 21:49 Comments ||
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#21
Elmath, the last time Western Europeans became uncomfortable with the "foreigners" in their midst, they built gas chambers in their concentration camps. Given the unfortunate rhetoric coming out of that part of the world these days, and the significantly higher level of industrialization there, what makes you think there will be any muslims left in Europe in 50 years? Surely not the idea that European civilization forbids such behaviour! (And, just for the record, both of my parents grew up in Europe, and came to the States as adults.)
#22
You're asking us to trust the third world thugs of the same sort as those who managed to kill about a hundred million people over the last century to be rational?
We're trusting Communist China to deal with N. Korea,a country which has nuclear weapons, for sure, fyi, in case you're waiting for the Mossad to tell you the scoop. We're also trusting Putin to negotiate with Iran though he'd love to slit our throats if he could - in fact his ilk did that to our ancestors not too long ago. The Communists have killed far more people in the century than Muslims could ever dream of and now they are our valued trade partners, our allies in the WOT. Who would have thunk? Times change.
But it's not even a question of "trust" in the mullahs. It's realizing that they love power and they are greedy and a rosy economic powerful future lies ahead for them, especially now that they've got their oil rich Shiite sister, Iraq, in the wings ready to hold hands with them against the Sunnis. What could Iran hope to gain by nuking an Israeli city? ZERO. Get serious. Stop with the fearful WWII Nazi worries - the mullahs are not Nazis. They're businessmen with a peculiar religion. The mullahs are not expansionistic like the Nazis. The mullahs only want to protect their expensive real estate from Crusaders.
Iran has much to lose by using nukes, but ZERO to gain by actually using nukes. Iran is developing nukes to protect what's theirs from hostile take over. It's a deterrent against invasion by Uncle Sam. Plain and simple.
Iran has oil - black gold - what the West and China and India need. Iran can gets its jollies in the future by making industrialized nations out bid themselves and sit back and get top price for its oil. Iran does not need nukes to hurt Israel or the the US. Its weapon of choice will be oil and the vulneranbility will not be human bodies but rather the economies of industrialized nations.
It's transparently false to suggest that Israel fears Iran's nuclear capability. Israel is worried about the stranglehold that Iran and Iraq will have on the oil spigot and the impact on its economy. Who is Sharon kidding? Israel has the nuclear capability to flatten Tehren in an insta-second. I hardly think Israel should quiver in fear of whatever the mullahs have in stock.
I would suggest that it would behoove Israel to make its peace with the Palestinians asap, without precipitating a civil war with the settlers, that is. Invading Iran would be the stupidest thing Israel and the USA could do. I still believe that Shiite Iran and Shiite Iraq could be assets to us in the WOT if we play our cards right and not back them into a corner. Shiites have good reason to fear the AQ Sunni extremists as much as we do.
#23
Ok
So that's the argument you are going to use to stop sanctions in the UN?
It's an argument somebody would make just before executing a major crime. Why? First to enable the crime and second to help themselves sleep at night.
Why, this heroin I am making to sell to the little kiddies won't hurt them and won't come back to addict my children. Never. I am white as snow and just as pure while I make my millions on snow.
#24
Let's just say that I don't share your blind faith that the Mullahs are just another batch of rational mafia dons.
I doubt that further conversation with you has a point.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
05/15/2005 23:10 Comments ||
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#25
Sanctions do not work against the criminal thugs in power. Sanctions only hurt the average Joe's on the street, who will hate the West for causing them discomfort. Tell me how sanctions are going to reach the mullah foreign policy makers and make them change their minds? How are sanctions going to win over the the Iranians to love the West more? Have we learned absolutely nothing from the infamous food-for-oil disaster in Iraq and how that idiotic scheme caused the Iraqis to resent us, how the ordinary non-Baathist folks suffered? Sanctions do not work.
Iran will say - stick your sanctions where the sun don't shine. We'll only sell oil to China and India as long as the EU and the USA embargo our rugs. And by the way, 3 years from now when Bush is gone, don't expect to buy oil at a mere $50 a barrel. That's the price for China and India, our pals. For the EU, the USA, Israel it will be $100 per barrel. And our Shiite sister, Iraq, will support us on those differentiated price points, Western morons.
It's laughable that you think even doozy Americans will buy into this sanctions against Iran schtick when everyone knows we had been PAYING N. Korea $ not to use its nukes against LA or San Franscisco. Like who is not going to see some unfairness in the way we treat Iran as opposed to N. Korea with its wack job leader and the para-military Mafia guy running Pakistan?
Israel will be doing business with Iran for a long time to come - not directly - but it will need access to oil from Iran and Iraq in the future. Their stores will last way beyond what's squirting out of Saudi sands. It's not smart for Israel to piss off the Iranians now with chest thumping, macho F16's routines. Saddam was an unsympathetic despot. Iran has put forward a good front for the world. Its politicians speak in a polished fashion, most are British educated. Iranians even look physically more like Caucasians, more like us. Iranians are definitely more easy to "empathize" with than your stereotypical swarthy looking Arabs.
Israel and Iran have a common enemy - Syrian and Saudi extremists. They should work that angle better and forget the ridiculous chest beating. Israel does not look sympathetic while they still are dragging their feet about following through on their promise to help build a Palestinian state. Giving the Palestinians their own turf without silly games about no contiguous land tracts would defuse alot of the Sunni AQ stirred up hatred against Israel.
#26
Fine if sanctions won't work then the UN can show its balls and go in with guns blazing. If it can't or won't it just proves that it has less worth than a pile of pig shit.
BEIRUT: Women trying to make their mark in Lebanon's male-dominated political world have much to envy of Rima Fakhry, the only woman ever to make it on to the political council of the Islamist movement Hezbollah. "It is a huge responsibility particularly in these circumstances," Fakhry, 39, told AFP at her office in a heavily guarded building in southern Beirut. She is proud of having become the first women ever to reach a top position in Hezbollah since the group was founded 20 years ago. "The most important thing for women in Lebanon is to improve themselves in order to have as wide an education as possible," Fakhry said. "In Lebanon women don't enjoy their full rights," she added. A mother of four married to a businessman who is not a member of Hezbollah, Fakhri works alongside 17 male colleagues who have all been cooperative and supportive since her appointment in January.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/15/2005 00:00 ||
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Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ruled out Saturday any further reprisals against Lebanon for the previous day's rocket attacks on Israeli positions in a disputed border zone after Washington called for calm in the run-up to Lebanese elections. "Israel has no desire to see any escalation and can make do with the riposte it has already launched," Sharon told public radio. He was referring to retaliatory air raids and tank and artillery fire Friday that the army said destroyed four bases of the Shiite militant group Hezbollah.
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The Bush administration, struggling to cope with a recent intensification of insurgent violence in Iraq, has received signals from some radical Sunni Arab leaders that they would abandon fighting if the new Shiite majority government gave Sunnis a significant voice in the country's political evolution, administration officials said this week.
The officials said American contacts with what they called "rejectionist" elements among Sunni Arabs - the governing minority under Saddam Hussein, which has generated much of the insurgency, and largely boycotted January's elections - showed that many wanted to join in the political system, including the writing of a permanent constitution.
But the political feuding that delayed the formation of the government for nearly three months after the elections has so far blocked the kind of concessions the Sunnis are demanding.
In particular, the Americans are pressing for Shiite hard-liners in the new Iraqi government to consider conciliatory gestures that would include allowing former Baath Party members to serve in the government, granting pensions to former army officers who served under Mr. Hussein and setting up courts that would try detainees seized in the anti-insurgency drive. Many of the detainees have been held for a year or more without legal recourse.
The government that took office almost two weeks ago under Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari had a faltering start, leaving several cabinet posts earmarked for Sunni Arabs vacant, then filling them with officials - including a defense minister - who were rejected by some hard-line Sunni representatives.
These critics have said that the nominees, though Sunni Arabs, were effectively pawns of the two Iran-backed religious parties at the head of the Shiite alliance that won the elections and now dominates the government.
The government has 35 cabinet members, 7 of them Sunnis. That makes their representation nearly proportionate; Sunni Arabs are estimated at 20 percent of Iraq's population of 25 million.
But misgivings about the Sunni voice in the new cabinet were compounded this week, when the National Assembly appointed a 55-member committee to draft the constitution. The panel has a 28-member majority from the Shiite alliance, and only two Sunni Arabs - both from parties that have shown little sign of drawing broad support in the Sunni Arab population.
American officials say that while some Sunni groups will never lay down their arms, others have begun to recognize that their refusal to participate in the political process was a mistake. Meanwhile, the United States, battling a seemingly intractable insurgency, has begun to forcefully press for a political solution.
Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at a Pentagon news conference this week that the goal of the intensified insurgent attacks was to discredit the new government.
Senior American officers in Iraq and others in the Pentagon said the latest violence, which has killed nearly 500 people so far this month, had not prompted them to change their strategy of capturing or killing insurgents, cutting off their financing, pre-empting their attacks and training more Iraqi forces.
Rather, they said, the attacks reinforced their view that quelling the insurgency would also require an effective political strategy to stabilize areas where insurgents have been most active, including Baghdad and Mosul, two of Iraq's biggest cities.
To that end, American officials said, the United States is urging Dr. Jaafari, the new Iraqi leader, to renew talks with a coalition of Sunni Arab groups known as the National Dialogue Council, which has links to elements in the insurgency who it says are ready to explore openings toward a political settlement.
But that approach also is fraught with difficulties, partly because of doubts that the council has the influence with the insurgents that it claims, and partly because the council's leaders have been deeply angered by raids by Iraqi forces on its Baghdad offices in the past 10 days. The raids resulted in the arrests of more than a dozen people, including some who had played a role in earlier contacts with the Shiite leaders.
The attitude of insurgent leaders is another unknown, not least because American officials, two years into the war, acknowledge that they have little understanding of who the leaders are, apart from Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian militant and operative of Al Qaeda who has claimed responsibility for many of the insurgents' suicide bombings, kidnappings and beheadings.
In reaching out to Sunni Arab intermediaries in the past year, the American goal has been to isolate Islamic terrorists, and die-hard groups intent on restoring a semblance of the Sunni despotism of Mr. Hussein, at least some of whom are believed to have rallied around Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, a vice president under Mr. Hussein and one of the few major leaders of that era still at large.
Larry Diamond, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution who was an adviser to the American occupation last year, said in an interview that those who might be willing to negotiate include some leading Sunni religious figures, as well as tribal Sunni tribal leaders and former officials in Mr. Hussein's ruling Baath Party who aspire to "reconstruct a kind of neo-Baath Party purged of Saddam's influence."
"Many of these elements have been signaling for a long time that they're ready to participate if they can be given a clear place in the system," Mr. Diamond said. By boycotting the election, he added, "they shot themselves in the foot, but they're still knocking on the door."
The aim of talks with the National Dialogue Council, the Americans said, would be to draw Sunni Arab leaders with credibility in their own community into the new governing structure. But the American suggestions that the Jaafari government step up its outreach to Sunni Arabs have met a prickly response.
Laith Kubba, a senior aide to Dr. Jaafari, said in a telephone interview in Baghdad on Saturday that the new government's policies would not be driven by Americans.
"This is not the business of the U.S.," said Mr. Kubba, who spent years of exile in the United States during the Hussein years. "They can express concerns, they can give their views when asked, but this is a process managed by Iraqis and the prime minister is on top of it. He has led the efforts to build a dialogue with the Sunnis."
Still, Mr. Kubba hinted at something that has worried American officials who have maintained close contact with the new government: the potential spoiler's role adopted by senior figures in the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, known as Sciri, a religious party that is the dominant partner, with Mr. Jaafari's party, Dawa, in the new administration.
Many Iraqis say Sciri's leader, Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, who holds no government post, may yet prove the decisive voice on crucial policy issues - like Sunni involvement. Mr. Kubba described the Hakim group as "a mixed bag," but acknowledged that some had what he described as "a partisan mentality."
Mr. Kubba said there would be efforts to draw more Sunnis into the writing of the constitution. But he stressed that that how that would happen was a matter for the 275-member National Assembly, not for the Jaafari government alone.
With only 17 Sunni Arabs in the assembly, one idea under discussion is appointing consultative groups that would not have to be drawn from assembly members. The prime minister, he said, "wants a much broader participation than a small circle of deputies talking among themselves."
A further point, Mr. Kubba said, was that the interim constitution laid down last year set procedures for adoption of a new constitution that establish a veto if a two-thirds majority of voters in 3 of Iraq's 18 provinces vote against it. Sunni Arabs, with heavy majorities in Salahuddin and Nineveh Provinces north of Baghdad and Anbar Province to the west, would thus have the potential to doom any constitution they disapprove of in the referendum that the interim constitution requires by Oct. 15, Mr. Kubba said.
For American officials in Baghdad, the issue of the future power balance between the Shiite and Sunni communities is a powder keg. For nearly a year, Iraq has had a sovereign government, and, after the January elections, one with a popular mandate.
American officials insist that they can recommend, but not command, steps that they believe will open the way to negotiations with the insurgents. "The Iraqis are going to have to figure this out for themselves," said an American official in Baghdad. "But what I'm seeing is a new willingness of people who used to be rejectionist to join the process and a new willingness by the government to talk to them that I did not see last year."
But the Americans say that it is far from clear how much influence groups like the National Dialogue Council, composed of 31 Sunni groups, have on insurgent leaders - and uncertain, too, whether even the council's leaders believe in the kind of majority-rule democracy that the United States wants as its legacy in Iraq.
The council's secretary general, Fakhri al-Qaisi, a Baghdad dentist with a long history of involvement in conservative Islamic groups, contests even the demographics that suggest that any majority-rule government in Iraq will have to be led by Shiites. He argues that Shiites, generally considered to be about 60 percent of the population, are actually about half that, and Sunni Arabs closer to 40 percent than 20 percent, as most Iraqi studies have suggested.
After a raid on the council's offices this week, he said that the council was genuine in its desire to participate in the political process, but that its commitment had been shaken.
"I think it's a scheme to wipe us out, destroy us," he said. "Their slogans about democracy are all lies."
In an interview at the council's offices, which were strewn with upended furniture and emptied filing cabinets, Mr. Qaisi was contemptuous of the Sunni Arabs appointed to seats in the Jaafari cabinet after nominees put forward by the council were rejected.
He described Sadoun al-Dulaimi, a former official in Mr. Hussein's government who resigned his post and fled the country, and who was named this week by Dr. Jaafari as defense minister, as a "double agent."
Of the top Sunni in the government, the vice president, Sheik Ghazi al-Yawar, he added, "He hasn't protected his friends or cooperated sincerely with us in the council."
Saleh Mutlak, a council member who was involved in negotiations for the cabinet posts, said in an interview that the new government would have to be "realistic" and accept that not all of the insurgents were "criminals."
He said that leaders of the military wing of Sciri, the Shiite religious party led by Mr. Hakim, appeared to have been the biggest obstacle to progress in negotiations with the new government, and that Dr. Jaafari had appeared halfhearted.
"We could not reach anything with him," he said. "He speaks in a vague way. He never comes to the point."
#1
The Sunnis sat out the election, have whined about it ever since, have been carrying out or are involved in the overwhelming majority of terrorist attacks, and are getting their asses handed to them by America's Finest.
I trust there will be a peace deal - when every last one of them is titzup with a toe tag. Game over, man, game over.
#2
They have proportional representation, but that isn't enough. They want consideration and respect. And to be in charge of everybody else. Sounds fair to me.
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/15/2005 13:58 Comments ||
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#4
More carrots in moderation are fine as long as its clear the alternative is a bigger stick. I understand the Kurds are itching to clean out Mosul and other northern Sunni strongholds and the Americans are holding them back becuase they don't want ethnic cleansing headlines (amoungst other reasons).
Being big in al Qaeda is clearly not what it used to be, but the fear factor is. While Al Qaeda's ability to inspire like-minded Islamist groups has grown, its own core members haven't succeeded in carrying off a major overseas attack since Sept. 11, 2001. So, when Pakistani intelligence caught Abu Farj Faraj al Liby two weeks ago, many people responded: "Who?"
There wasn't even a reward advertised for Liby, yet U.S. counter-terrorist agents say he was successor to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the brains behind al Qaeda's stunning strikes on U.S. cities more than 3œ years ago. Al Qaeda is still the biggest brand name among Islamist groups. Videotapes regularly released by leader Osama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahri see to that. "The inner core of al Qaeda is intact, but as a group it's been degraded. Its survival depends on associated groups," said Rohan Gunaratna, a Singapore based security analyst and author of "Inside al Qaeda: Global Network of Terror".
"Linked to al Qaeda" has become a catch-all phrase to describe any group that carries out an attack, and either declares admiration for bin Laden, announces a hitherto unheard of or distant affiliation to al Qaeda, or has bona fide ties. Last year's Egyptian Red Sea resort bombings and Madrid train bombings, the Casablanca suicide bombings and Istanbul synagogue bombings in 2003, a Kenyan hotel blast and the attack on nightclubs in Bali, Indonesia, in 2002 were all executed by local groups who identified with al Qaeda's cause. "What we are seeing is a lot more locally organised attacks," Kenneth Katzman, a terrorism expert at the Congressional Reseach Service in Washington, told Reuters.
"Al Qaeda has become more of an ideological organisation than an operational one," said Gunaratna. "Its long range, deep penetration abilities have been lost in the last 3œ years." Most of al Qaeda's energy is spent fighting on virtual home territory, with the insurgents in Iraq, through loyalists in Saudi Arabia and hard core remnants still hiding in Pakistan's tribal badlands after fleeing Afghanistan in late 2001. On Saturday, ABC News reported intelligence sources saying a missile fired by an unmanned Predator aircraft had killed another senior al Qaeda operative, Haithan al-Yemeni, on the Pakistan side of the Afghan border. Pakistan says nothing happened on its territory, while the United States has maintained official silence.
Liby, as military commander and Number Three in command, was doing his best to make attacks happen in the West's backyard. Plans for attacks on London's Heathrow airport and U.S. financial targets fell apart last July when Pakistani police nabbed a computer expert who was relaying e-mails from Liby to al Qaeda sleepers in Britain. And Liby's main claim to fame was being named as the al Qaeda mastermind behind two assassination attempts by Pakistani militants on President Pervez Musharraf in December 2003.
Counter-terrorist officials stress against underestimating al Qaeda's threat, or its potential to draw a new generation of militants, battle-hardened by the Iraq insurgency, to its ranks. But ousted from its base in Afghanistan, with hundreds of members killed or imprisoned and its bank accounts frozen, al Qaeda is not the force it was -- but it's still punching. Cornered in the rugged tribal region of Waziristan after Musharraf ordered his army in a year ago, al Qaeda's diehards in Pakistan must spend more time running than planning. "Under these circumstances even KSM would have difficulties organising something very ambitious," said Katzman, referring to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Now in U.S. custody after being arrested in Pakistan in 2003, Mohammed was described in "The 9/11 Commission Report" as "the model of the terrorist entrepreneur".
While Liby's last known job before U.S. backed forces drove al Qaeda and its Taliban protectors out of Afghanistan in 2001, was running al Qaeda's "passport and travel" office. He was, in short, a logistics man, but he doesn't seem to have been to the West enough to know his enemy. "He's unfamiliar with Western ways and society. He's no KSM," said Magnus Ranstorp, an expert on Middle East militant groups at the University of St Andrews in Scotland. More than two dozen people have been arrested in the days before and after Liby was run to ground on May 2, most of them appear from Pakistani groups such as Lashkhar-e-Jhangvi, which al Qaeda uses to draw foot soldiers for attacks in Pakistan. Some analysts say an Egyptian, Hamza Rabia, had more control over al Qaeda's operations outside Pakistan, though U.S. intelligence sources insist Liby's capture is the real deal.
The death of Haitham al-Yemeni follows Pakistan's capture of Osama bin Laden's suspected third-in-command using intelligence from disaffected militants. Abu Faraj al-Libbi was traced after exiled Uzbek fighters on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border who had fallen out with al-Qaeda's Arab-dominated leadership gave Pakistani intelligence officials his mobile phone number.
"For a good time call Abu..."
US intelligence sources said a missile from a CIA-operated pilotless Predator aircraft killed Yemeni on May 7 near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.
"Abu! What's that [KABOOM!] noise?"
Yemeni's death is one of only a handful of known incidents in which the CIA has used the remote-controlled, missile-equipped Predator to kill an al-Qaeda member. The CIA is permitted to operate the lethal Predator under presidential authority promulgated after the September 11 attacks. The capture of Libbi and the death of Yemeni show how ethnic fissures are affecting al-Qaeda.
"Aaaar! Can't trust them damn' Uzbeks! They're all alike! Come sniffin' around our wimmin!"
Uzbek and other Central Asian extremists are co-operating in return for cash and permission to stay in Pakistan. "The Arabs and Central Asians are competing for protection," said Kenneth Katzman, a terrorism analyst with the Congressional Research Service in Washington. "The Central Asians are losing out because the Arabs have the money and the respect of the locals."
"Ooooh! You're an Arab? Can I touch your turban?"
An al-Qaeda training camp on the Afghan border was destroyed after fighters from the former Soviet territories of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Chechnya revealed its whereabouts. Since the arrest of Libbi, who organised two attempts on the life of Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf, several other al-Qaeda operatives have been detained using data from his phone. US military chiefs decided to strike against Yemeni - whom they had been tracking in the hope that he would lead to bin Laden - because they feared he would go into hiding after the arrests. Pakistan has denied that he was killed on its soil, although details of his death were confirmed by US security officials.
"Nope. Nope. Never happened. Not here, anyway..."
Although the leadership of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan remains loyal to bin Laden, many compatriots have formed a splinter group. Divisions in al-Qaeda have worsened since Arab fighters fled Afghanistan in 2001.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/15/2005 10:54 ||
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QUETTA: Balochistan Minister for Culture and Fisheries Sher Jan Baloch on Saturday resigned from his post, citing lack of authority as the reason.
"Nobody listens to me! I quit!"
Sher Jan, who belongs to the ruling PML, told Daily Times by phone from Pasni, that he was not getting any enjoying authority and that even a police officer of the rank of inspector or deputy inspector of police ignored his orders.
He said that he was trying to contact Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Muhammad Yousaf and the Balochistan governor to convey his decision to them. He said that he would be in Quetta on the 20th to tender his resignation to the governor. He said the land mafia and drug barons swung into action after Pasni Nazim Mayar Noori took action against them. As a result the nazim was arrested and now he is facing the outcome of his actions, Sher Jan said, adding that the weapons found in Nazim's house were licensed.
He said that he had written letters to President General Pervez Musharaf, the governor and the chief minister, calling for stern action against the land mafia in Pasni and adjoining areas.
A police constable at Pasni police station said that a case had been registered against the nazim for possessing weapons.
It's illegal to possess a weapon in Pakistan? Who knew?
Mayar Noori, his brother, two Levies personnel and two others were picked up from Noori's house at about 4:00am and were taken to Turbat for questioning. Rumours spread that Noori was kidnapped along with five others. The news sparked a protest and protestors blocked the coastal highway for several hours.
Anti-Narcotics Force officials said that Noori was picked up for questioning after the police found a car parked by his house, which was carrying arms and drugs. Meanwhile, Noori was released on bail. However, officials were not available for comment.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/15/2005 00:30 ||
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#1
"Minister for Culture and Fisheries"?
Brief, hastily suppressed vision of taking a carp to the opera...
Posted by: Fred ||
05/15/2005 10:43 Comments ||
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#2
*snicker*
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/15/2005 10:45 Comments ||
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Some pro-reform demonstrations sweeping Egypt could hurt the country's interests, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said in an interview published yesterday. Mubarak also said he would announce later whether he would seek a fifth six-year term this autumn. "There is unemployment. Battling unemployment requires investment. With these demonstrations that we're seeing, the investor will flee, meaning unemployment will spread," Mubarak said in the interview with the Kuwaiti Al-Siyassah newspaper, a transcript of which was published by Egypt's semiofficial Middle East News Agency. "It's obvious that the unjustified demonstrations have no program. They are staged just to create a state of unrest that drives out the foreign investor," he said. "There are those who want to hurt our economy, but they won't succeed. Mubarak accused some protesters of attacking and provoking police. Opposition leaders and pro-reform activists have staged protests in various Egyptian provinces to demand democratic changes and some have called for an end to Mubarak's rule.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/15/2005 00:00 ||
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Sneer quotes mine; I believe that here in the West we call them 'athletes.'
More than two dozen people were detained Saturday after taking part in a foot race that included women, defying a ban put in place after Islamic hard-liners attacked participants in a similar event.
[Fred] Ohfergawdsake. [/Fred]
Asma Jehangir, the former chief of Pakistan's human rights commission, and about 30 other male and female participants were detained at Saturday's race, police official Waqar Abbasi said. The event was canceled. Authorities banned women from competing in foot races after Islamic hard-liners, who regard women's participation in sports as against Islam, attacked runners at a similar event elsewhere in the Punjab province last month.
"Lookit all them wimmin, Mahmoud. I think I just saw a ankle. The djinns are upon me again!"
[Fred]"I'm going to have to go ... shoot my gun!" [/Fred]
Abbasi said police and other government officials had asked race organizers to obey the ban, but they refused. However, one of the organizers, Nabeel Ahmed, said the arrests were "unjustified" and that participants had not committed a crime. She said the runners were beaten and then bundled into police vehicles. Khawar Mumtaz, a human rights activist, said police dragged away Jehangir and dozens of other people. "Police treated participants of the race like criminals," she said, adding "some women were also severely beaten."
The ones who were ahead of the men, that is.
Danyal Ali Hassan, a researcher with Human Rights Watch, told The Associated Press by mobile phone from a police station that he was also beaten by police before being detained.
Good thing the cops didn't ask him where the arms cache was...
KABUL: President Hamid Karzai is planning an administrative shake-up after violent Afghan protests over the alleged desecration of the Quran at Guantanamo Bay left 14 dead and 120 injured, officials said Saturday. They said Karzai, who returned home from Brussels early Saturday, was likely to replace the governor and police chief of eastern Nangarhar province where the bloody rioting started on Wednesday. Officials told AFP Karzai held immediate consultations with officials on the security situation which has seen the worst anti-US violence since the fall of the Taliban more than three years ago. "I know both the governor, Din Mohammad and the police chief Hazrat Ali will be replaced in Nangarhar," the interior ministry official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/15/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Will he find Jesus?
Will he find Allan?
Did he write any good limericks on the walls?
Did they let him call "Mahmoud. 867-5309. The Goatman."
Will he write it in blood? Will it be his?
How're those lice holding up under the strain?
How does he feel about jumpsuits, now?
Did they give him some medals and sprockets for it?
Does he have a teddy bear or camel spider to sleep with?
Has he become a prison lawyer, yet?
Did he catch a mousie or birdie and make it his pet?
Is he still ready to negotiate with Bush?
Will he disinherit his idiot daughters in Jordan?
Do they call it The Green Kilometer?
Has he cranked out any good Nashville-style prison tunes?
Did they call him Sue or Suesa when he was young?
Can he hear the trains or lonesome whippoorwills at night?
The Pakistan People's Party has asked the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman to investigate a press report that the former Inter Services Intelligence chief had defaulted on bank loans, committed financial irregularities and leaked national secrets. The reference against Lt General Javed Nasir, former ISI chief, filed by Advocate Shah Khawar said the former NAB chairman was investigating cases against Nasir for alleged involvement in drugs and loan default. However, General Prevez Musharraf had the investigation stopped. According to a press report, the PPP reference said that Lt Gen (r) Javed Nasir as the chairman of the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) was involved in transferring four billion rupees to the Sharif Medical and Educational Complex. It added that he was responsible for wasting three billion rupees through the sale of precious ETPB land at Ferozepur Road in Lahore and two plots in Karachi.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/15/2005 00:00 ||
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QUETTA: Police on Saturday arrested a man for allegedly killing Balochistan Times News Editor, Muhammad Iqbal. Police officer Salman Saeed told reporters that a masked man entered Iqbal's house at Jinnah Town on May 3 and attacked him and his family. Iqbal was injured and taken to hospital where he died on May 7. The police arrested Orangzeb and seized a TT pistol and a car.
Posted by: Fred ||
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LAHORE: A police contingent laid into a gathering of women and men organised by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and the Joint Action Committee for Peoples Rights which had congregated on the Main Boulevard in Gulberg to stage a "mixed-marathon" to test the enlightened-moderation" claims of the government, and swept about 40 of them to the police station.
That worked well, didn't it?
Asma Jahangir, the chairperson of the HRCP, and Iqbal Haider, the secretary-general, were among those who were brutally dragged into police vans and held for a couple of hours at local police stations. The police action against the congregation was taken on the orders of the Lahore Nazim, Mian Amir Mahmood, who claimed that he had disallowed the rally after receiving "negative reports" from the police. In turn, the police claimed that it had received information of an impending assault on the mixed rally by activists of the Shabab-e-Milli, the youth wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami. But eyewitness reports confirmed that a handful of such activists arrived on the scene only after the police had dragged away the women and broken up the event.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/15/2005 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
The majority of al-Qaeda recruits in Canada are being trained at home, not abroad, making the terror network a direct threat to Canada, according to a recently declassified intelligence report. The homegrown recruits are highly prized for their familiarity with Western societies, says the Canadian Security Intelligence Service report, obtained by the Toronto Star. The group once trained recruits in the hills of Afghanistan, but the camps were dismantled as the U.S.-led "war on terror" became firmly established.
UN Secretary General 
BEIRUT: Women trying to make their mark in Lebanon's male-dominated political world have much to envy of 
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ruled out Saturday any further reprisals against Lebanon for the previous day's rocket attacks on Israeli positions in a disputed border zone after Washington called for calm in the run-up to Lebanese elections. "Israel has no desire to see any escalation and can make do with the riposte it has already launched," Sharon told public radio. He was referring to retaliatory air raids and tank and artillery fire Friday that the army said destroyed four bases of the Shiite militant group 
Some pro-reform demonstrations sweeping Egypt could hurt the country's interests, Egyptian President 
QUETTA: Police on Saturday arrested a man for allegedly killing Balochistan Times News Editor, Muhammad Iqbal. Police officer Salman Saeed told reporters that a masked man entered Iqbal's house at Jinnah Town on May 3 and attacked him and his family. Iqbal was injured and taken to hospital where he died on May 7. The police arrested Orangzeb and seized a TT pistol and a car.
