The captain of the al-Rashid football team in the Saudi city of Taif near Mecca has revealed that three former footballers on the team were recruited to al-Qaeda terror group by its Iraqi number-one, the Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Jafar Attas told the Saudi newspaper Al-Watan that he decided to intervene publically after the father of one of his former team-mates, Majid Sawat, recognised his son as one of the suspected al-Qaeda militants arrested in Iraq, whose interrogations were broadcast on Iraqi television.
Sawat's father confirmed that his son is currently in Mosul prison after being arrested while trying to carry out a suicide attack. However, his two companions, Tamer al-Thamali and Dayf Allah al-Harithi, managed to complete their suicide 'missions'.
Tamer was the first of the three to disappear, two years ago, shortly after the death of his brother in a road accident. The other players from the team believed all three had left Taif for work reasons, but their captain said he suspected from the start that they had left for Iraq.
"I remember that every Wednesday and Thursday they met up to carry out religious activities," he told the newspaper. However, their other team-mates said the three former footballers did not arouse suspicion because they had always lived quiet, normal lives.
Hundreds of young Saudi men are thought to have gone to Iraq to join the Jihad, or holy war, there. In May, two Arab newspapers ran interviews with young Saudis who went to Iraq but changed their mind. One said he and his friend returned to Saudi Arabia on learning that their only contribution would be as a suicide car-bomber. Another said he and his companions turned back before reaching the Syrian-Iraqi border, on receiving a text message with a fatwa from a Saudi mufti, banning Saudis from taking part in the Jihad. He also said 300 young men had left to fight in Iraq from his region alone.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/25/2005 16:21 ||
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The decision of three footballers from a team in the Saudi city of Taif near Mecca to join al-Qaeda was prompted by a fatwa, or religious edict, condemning the game, the Saudi newspaper Al-Watan reports. Earlier this week the paper interviewed the captain of the team and father of one of the footballers, who was arrested while trying to carry out a suicide attack. Now Majid Sawat, Tamer Al-Thamali and Dayf Allah Al-Harithi's team-mates have revealed that the three were influenced by the fatwa, which banned Muslims from playing.
Sawat's father confirmed that he is currently being held in Mosul prison. However, his two companions, Tamer al-Thamali and Dayf Allah al-Harithi, are reported to have completed their suicide 'missions'.
The Islamic decree was signed by a group of fundamentalist ulema and issued over the Internet on 12 June 2002, months before the three went to Iraq. The edict said Muslims were not allowed to play football unless they abided by certain conditions, such as always being fully covered when they play, as shorts are considered Western clothing which does not cover enough of the body. They were also banned from using foreign words like 'corner' and 'out', as well as being forbidden from using the rules of the international football federations, such as those which govern the size of the pitch and the need to play with a team of 11. The fatwa also bans the use of a referee.
The team mates of the three believe they were brain-washed by integralist imams. Team captain Jafar Attas told Al-Watan the three footballers met up with others every Wednesday and Thursday to carry out religious activities.
Commenting on the fatwa claims, Abdel Muhsin Al-Abikani, a legal advisor to the Saudi justice ministry, told the newspaper that the edict issued over the Internet was wrong, as Islam does not ban the use of foreign words, and the Prophet Mohammad himself used them during his life. According to Al-Abikani there is nothing to stop footballers following international rules, so long as they are in accordance with Sharia Islamic law. In terms of how to dress while playing, he added that it was necessary to wear knee-length shorts, in order to stay in line with Islamic dress code for men.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/25/2005 16:19 ||
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SANAA - A Yemeni newspaper editor said on Wednesday he had been abducted and beaten up by gunmen claiming to act on behalf of military officers. âGunmen in civilian clothes were watching me as I came home (in Sanaa) from work at 4:00 am (0100 GMT) Tuesday,â said Jamal Amer, editor of the independent weekly Al-Wasat.
âWhen I got out of the car, one of them approached me and asked me to come with them,â claiming they were acting on instructions from military officers, Amer told AFP. âThey bundled me into a vehicle with army license plates, blindfolded me and drove me to an unknown location outside Sanaa, where they threatened me, beat me up and inquired about my sources and material published by my newspaper.
âThey cursed democracy and accused me of collaborating with the US and Kuwaiti embassies,â he added. Amer said he would not specifically accuse anyone for the assault but insisted that the government should track down the perpetrators and punish them.
"Please don't let them kill me!"
Military and security sources contacted by AFP declined to comment on the alleged involvement of military officers pending an investigation.
"We will say no more!"
Dozens of journalists flocked to the journalistsâ syndicate in Sanaa on Wednesday to denounce the attack and express solidarity with Amer. Syndicate chief Mahbub Ali said the attack on Amer amounted to an âattack on all Yemeni journalists,â and authorities had a duty to track down and punish the assailants. The Arab Federation of Journalists condemned what they called a âcriminal attackâ and called on Yemeni authorities to find the âarmed gangsâ responsible and bring them to justice, said a statement issued in Cairo.
Yemeni opposition parties also denounced the assault.
"Yeah, why didn't they kill him?"
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/25/2005 00:00 ||
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As British police probe the final hour of one of the four London bombers, reports on Thursday claimed he ate a snack at a McDonald's and left frantic phone messages for his accomplices before blowing himself up.
The reports in several British newspapers appear to shed some light on the "missing hour" between the synchronised July 7 suicide attacks on three subway trains and 18-year-old Hassib Hussain's solo strike on a bus.
The Times speculated that Hussain, the youngest member of the gang, simply lost his nerve about also targeting a London Underground train after the four had split up at King's Cross station in the north of the capital.
It quoted a source close to the investigation wondering who then persuaded the young Muslim from Leeds, northern England, to choose a double-decker bus for a target.
A police spokesperson at Scotland Yard refused to comment on the reports.
Hussain detonated his bomb at Tavistock Square, central London, at 9.47am. The blast came 57 minutes after the three other bombers hit subway trains travelling south, east and west from King's Cross.
It has been claimed that Hussain was meant to target a northbound Northern line subway train to create a so-called burning cross through the heart of the city, but that this plan was thwarted after the line was suspended.
However, a spokesperson for the network operator, Transport for London, said all six subway lines running through King's Cross were working at 8.50am, the time of the bombings.
"The theory that he took a bus because he couldn't take the Northern Line is not correct because he could have taken the Northern line because it was running," the spokesperson said on Thursday.
Closed circuit television (CCTV) footage captured all four men arriving at King's Cross on an over-ground train from Luton, a town north of London.
The Independent and Times newspapers reported that Hussain was later caught on CCTV camera entering a McDonald's outlet in King's Cross.
"There appears to be no evidence Hussain met anyone else during his visit to McDonald's and it is, as yet, unclear which route he took to his target," The Independent said.
The Times said Hussain - knowing he and his team were meant to sychronise their attack - rushed out of the station and into the fast food restaurant, where he tried to reach the other three by telephone just before 9.00am.
By then they were already dead.
It said that he first tried to call Mohammad Sidique Khan, 30, the group's alleged ringleader, saying: "I can't get on a train. What should I do?"
The young man hurriedly left the same message for Shehzhad Tanweer, 22, and 19-year-old Jermaine Lindsay.
The Times quoted a police source, who had listened to the calls, saying: "His voice was getting more and more frantic with each call."
Hussain's final actions have cast doubt on whether there was, as suggested, an al-Qaeda mastermind or support network behind the carnage as he would more likely have telephoned them for help.
But a source close to the investigation told The Times: "He must have known from the fact that he couldn't raise any of his accomplices that they were already dead, and yet he picked a new target and went through with his plan. We need to know who persuaded him to do that."
The young Muslim made no attempt to telephone anyone from his family.
Police have pored over hours of CCTV images, telephone records and witness statements since the attacks almost two months ago.
Police sources in The Independent confirmed there did not seem to be a link between the July 7 bombings and a failed copycat strike two weeks later.
Hussain's choice of a bus was apparently spontaneous, but on July 21, the alleged would-be suicide bombers deliberately targeted three trains and a bus.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/25/2005 16:35 ||
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#1
I used to hold a 'Privileged Customer' discount card for that McDonalds. Manager gave me one as way of compensation having thrown me out in iniquitous circumstances on my previous visit.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - Red Cross societies from the divided Koreas on Tuesday began three days of talks expected to focus on hundreds of South Korean prisoners of war and abductees believed held in North Korea. Officials were meeting at a resort in North Korea for their first talks since November 2003, South Korea's Red Cross said.
"Say Kim, you guys got any food?"
The two sides each proposed an agenda focused on expanding reunions of separated families including video linkups, and on the sensitive issue of South Korean POWs and abductees, joint pool reports said. But both were careful to not to use the words POWs and abductees, instead referring to the issue as "determining the whereabouts of those missing during the war," the report said.
South Korea's Defense Ministry estimates that 538 South Korean prisoners from the 1950-53 Korean War were alive in North Korea as of December 2004. The Unification Ministry estimates that 486 South Korean abductees, such as fishermen whose boats were seized, are also being held in North Korea. Dozens of South Korean prisoners of war have escaped from the North since 1994, as the communist country relaxed controls over the movements of its hunger-stricken populace. However, efforts by South Korea to bring the remaining soldiers home have made little progress as Pyongyang denies holding any.
Just a semantics problem, ya understand ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/25/2005 01:38 ||
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AN Islamic study centre and book shop in central Hobart has been gutted by fire. Firefighters were called to the Sufi Study Centre and Islamic Book Shop in Liverpool Street at 7.15am (AEST) today. All peak-hour pedestrian and vehicle traffic was blocked, causing lengthy delays for city workers.
A police spokesman said there was no sign of forced entry to the building, but police investigators were yet to examine the scene. The fire was contained to the second storey of the building, which also houses a Chinese restaurant and miniature model shop. The other businesses sustained only smoke and water damage, the spokesman said. Hobart mosque Imam Sabri Samson, said there had been no threats against Muslims in Tasmania to date and he hoped the fire had not been deliberately lit.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
08/25/2005 0:11 Comments ||
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#2
Spontaneous combustion. Happens more frequently than you think.
Posted by: Rafael ||
08/25/2005 0:49 Comments ||
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#3
I have a tremendous amount of sympathy--for the Chinese restauranteur and model shop owner. Sympathy meter's broken when it comes to Muslim misfortunes--it has something to do with watching them hack off the heads of innocent civilians.
Posted by: mac ||
08/25/2005 7:03 Comments ||
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#4
It was a Sufi shop...my money's on a unofficial gang of Sunni muttawa wannabes.
#5
I agree Sea. The Sufi Sect of Islam has for the most part been West leaning and denounced the Wahabbis and the Salafists. I hope in this case it was accidental. We need some informers from that community.
Following the threats against the Vatican faxed to a Spanish TV station and newspaper this week, the Catholic Church remains the target of Islamic extremists, this time in a report posted on an Islamic Internet forum under the heading "The Pope of the Vatican goes to War". The message, signed under the name D. Abdouh, discusses the Vatican's entry in the war between al-Qaeda and the Western world, with a speech Pope Benedict XV! gave during his recent trip to Cologne in Germany.
After this, the document directly quotes the Vatican, claiming that after years of neutrality the Vatican, with the ascent of Joseph Ratzinger to the pontificate, has decided to come out in defence of the West, against the Islamic world.
The message reads: "The Vatican, which is nothing but a government placed within a building, has moved to support the Christian side of the countries in the world, and if possible, the Catholic side. The tendency of the Vatican was not to take part in the numerous wars there have been."
"Many of the children of Islam have signed themselves up to the ranks of those who fight terrorism, with sincerity, following what the 'governors', 'ulema' or intellectuals say through the media and following the speeches of George Bush, Berlusconi and Tony Blair, and the majority of the Muslim governments," it continues.
"The new head of the Catholics, Benedict XVI, has launched a powerful message to these fighters. Here is the link to an article on the Pope's meeting with Muslims in Germany, in which he encouraged Muslims to join the war on terrorism."
The message concludes with a link to an article by an international news agency which offers a report on the Pope's speech during his meeting with leaders from the Islamic community in Germany, in which he spoke of the dialogue between religions and the fight against terrorism.
It is the first time the Vatican and the Pope have been identified as an integral part of the Western coalition fighting Islamic terrorism in a forum close to the al-Qaeda network. The message appears to put the Catholic Church and Vatican City firmly among the potential targets of the Jihadists.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/25/2005 16:31 ||
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#1
Oh, these fellows are absolutely brillent. First piss off the Americans with the Twin Towers. Now take out the Pope. If you really want a Crusade just target the dude. Catholics from the Manila to Buenos Aires will be assembling. Talk about keen diplomacy.
Jihadists continue their campaign of burning churches and persecuting Christians in Kosovo, the land "liberated" by U.S. and NATO forces in the 1990s, reports Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin. While German and French spectators peacekeepers watch the religious atrocities, Italian and U.S. soldiers have put their lives on the line to defend the Christian minority. Figures. We already knew the Italians are made of better stuff than the weasel powers.
That story is breaking now at the premium, online, intelligence newsletter published by the founder of WND. Which I wouldn't pay for unless it came with a free salt block.
This reads an awful lot like a propaganda piece. Being a cautious fellow, I'd call the 48-hour rule, unless somebody else wants to call "bullshit."
#1
I'm sure Mr. Farah is not interested in how many churches are burned every year in the US. It doesn't get attention till 'black' churches are specifically identified.
A fallen soldier's mother said Thursday that the an anti-war vigil she started nearly three weeks ago near President Bush's ranch won't end when she and other protesters pack up the camp next week. Circus is coming to town!
Cindy Sheehan said the day after she leaves Aug. 31, she will embark on a bus tour ending up in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 24. Then the group will start a 24-hour vigil in the nation's capital. Will the bus run on vegetable oil?
"I am not alone," she said at a news conference Thursday. "There's the people standing behind me here, but there's thousands of military families ... who want the same answers to the same questions." Really? You have a list, right?
On Wednesday, Sheehan returned to "Camp Casey," named after her 24- year-old son, Army Spc. Casey Sheehan, who was killed last year in Iraq.
"This is where I belong, until Aug. 31, like I told the president," Sheehan said at the Waco airport before driving about 20 miles to the Crawford site. So you lied, as far as I can tell. Like I'd expect less from a hard core leftist...
When Sheehan arrived at the campsite, she saw a large banner depicting her son's face. She sobbed and said she felt ill. I feel ill every time I hear her name. Supporters brought her water and cold towels, and she recovered about 20 minutes later. Oh, puhhhhleeeeze...
Sheehan began her publicity stunt vigil Aug. 6 on the road leading to Bush's ranch, vowing to stay through his monthlong vacation unless he met with her. She left last week to visit her 74-year-old mother in Los Angeles after the woman suffered a stroke. Sheehan said her mother has started physical therapy for paralysis on her right side. Her son dies, her husband divorces her and her mother has suffered a stroke, yet she feels compelled to do this. I don't know what to make of this other than to comment that I think she's an attention whore.
Sheehan said she realizes that Bush has no intentions of meeting with the protesters, but that her vigil has accomplished other things. Joan Baez played a free show, so I guess it's not a complete loss...
"I absolutely think it's worthwhile because we've galvanized the peace movement," she said. "We've started people talking about the war again." You don't want to talk about it, you want it to end by having us cut and run, just like in Vietnam. Bush apparently knows history and won't make the same mistake twice.
Sheehan's protest in Crawford has encouraged people who want us to lose this war anti-war activists to join her and prompted peace vigils nationwide. She also continues to draw harsh criticism. Balance in a news article? Must not be AP or the BBC...
Conservative activists and military families were en route to Crawford from California on a tour called "You don't speak for me, Cindy!" The caravan coordinated by Move America Forward plans to hold a pro-Bush rally in town Saturday. Well, it was fun while it lasted...
Among those defending Sheehan are former U.S. ambassador Joseph Wilson, who believes his wife's identity as an undercover CIA operative was leaked in retaliation for his criticism of the Bush administration in a 2002 New York Times op-ed piece. Wilson is relevant in what way?
"The Bush White House and its right-wing allies are responding to Cindy Sheehan and the military families' vigil in central Texas in the same way that they always respond to bad news _ by unleashing personal attacks and smears against her," Wilson said in a statement released Wednesday. Joseph Wilson, proven liar that even the Kerry campaign disowned. Great spokesmen you guys have!
Later Wednesday, Bush returned to Texas to kick Lance's ass on the mountain bike after a three-day trip to Idaho and Utah, where he gave speeches to rally support for the war. He said Tuesday that he recognizes Sheehan's right to protest and understands her anguish, although she does not represent the views of many families he has met with. I heard a talk show host (can't remember who it was) say this week that Bush ought to meet with her and give her a big hug. Sure would take the wind out of her sails, wouldn't it?
Sheehan and other grieving families met with Bush about two months after her son died last year, before reports of faulty prewar intelligence surfaced and caused her to become a vocal opponent of the war. It bears repeating that even Clinton thought Saddam had WMD's in 1998, but that would get in the way of the anti-war protests, wouldn't it?
#1
keep it up, Cindy! Nothing will drive people away from your cause more than your own thoughts, spoken without a media filter....14.5 minutes.....
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/25/2005 21:18 Comments ||
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#2
Cindy Sheehan said the day after she leaves Aug. 31, she will embark on a bus tour ending up in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 24. Then the group will start a 24-hour vigil in the nation's capital.
#5
Is she going to share Hanoi Jane's vegetable oil?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
08/25/2005 23:19 Comments ||
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#6
Raj, There may be others, but Peter Boyles talk show on KHOW in Denver suggested Bush meet with her. I was driving through the canyon with no cell service so couldn't respond by calling in.
If Sheehan is planning on driving to DC, I hope she doesn't plop her butt down near Walter Reed Hospital.
Posted by: Jan ||
08/25/2005 23:35 Comments ||
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#7
he did meet with her - precedent is: one shot, Cindy.
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/25/2005 23:44 Comments ||
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Illegal immigrants threw rocks at a Border Patrol helicopter, forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing when one of the rocks damaged the rotor, the agency said.
Neither the pilot nor the Border Patrol observer was injured.
The A-Star helicopter was two miles west of the U.S. Port of Entry in Andrade, Calif., on Tuesday when a group of immigrants began throwing rocks at the aircraft.
One baseball-sized rock gashed the rotor, forcing the pilot to land nearby, said Michael Gramley, spokesman for the Border Patrol sector based in Yuma, Ariz.
Gramley said he did not know how high the helicopter was hovering when it was struck, but he said it was being repaired and is expected back in service soon.
After the incident, 17 people were apprehended for illegally crossing the border, and two of them were being investigated for smuggling. Ten immigrants evaded capture.
The investigation into the rock-throwing was continuing.
If it turns out the helicopter was over 400 ft away, then let the guy through and notify Billy Beane.
#4
Of course, about the only two things the pilot could have been doing at the time was either landing, or trying to flush, blind, and dust blow the illegals standing on the ground.
Heck, I knew a MSG who got so pissed off at a pilot for doing that, after illuminating his concealed position with a searchlight, that he fired off a star cluster in his general direction. On top of that, the dumbass pilot came back a few minutes later with his lights off to do it again.
#6
Stupid pilot tricks. The pilot should be bitch slapped for allowing himself to be shot down by a band of mexicans and a fist full of rocks! The flight standardization officer should ground this guy over for being stupid.
Posted by: 49 pan ||
08/25/2005 20:36 Comments ||
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Nuradin Abdi is back in court, accused of plotting to blowup a Columbus shopping mall.
Investigators say he made statements that connected him to the alleged terrorist plot. His lawyer is trying to get those statements thrown out before his trial in September.
Thursday, 10TV learned more about this alleged attempt to blowup a Columbus shopping mall and about the suspect who the government claims admitted to trying to carry out the terrorist attack.
Thursday morning, Abdi was escorted under heavy guard to the federal courthouse. He's accused of supplying material to a known terrorist group, specifically al-Qaeda, and associating with convicted terrorist Iyman Faris.
His attorney says the government didn't have probable cause to arrest Abdi and charged the government with misconduct in an attempt to get him to confess.
Thursday morning an FBI agent testified Abdi told Faris, "We need to get an AK-47 and shoot up a mall."
The government has not released which mall that was but they believed the alleged plot was supposed to take place the day after Thanksgiving, the busiest shopping day of the year.
Abdi's attorney says his client only confessed to the crime after the government broke him down and, "turned him into a madman."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/25/2005 16:28 ||
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Abdi's family says they don't believe the charges, and say Abdi loved America.
I normally embed snide, "funny" remarks. I cannot bring myself to comment on the abject evil of the left.
Anti-war protestors besieged wounded and disabled soldiers at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, D.C, a new web report will claim!
CNSNews.com is planning to run an expose on Thursday featuring interviews with both protestors and veterans, as well as shots of protest signs with slogans like âMaimed for a Lie.â
The conservative outlet will post video evidence of the wounded veterans being taunted by protesters, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.
An utter lack of basic morality, and common sense. They make the Teddy the drunk, KKK-Byrd, Franken-stein, and Scremin-Dean appear trite.
#3
I am kind of leery of this story. First off Walter Reed is a Military base and a Hospital. You can't just walk in the front door without some credential, ID, or something that says you can be inside. Second, how long do you think the military orderlies would allow such activity to go on? When I was there the military orderlies patrolled the floors like guards in Sing Sing. If this happened there had to be colusion and if that happened charges should be filed.
#4
CS, the CNS article explains what the Auntie-war a**holes are doing: The anti-war demonstrators, who obtain their protest permits from the Washington, D.C., police department, position themselves directly in front of the main entrance to the Army Medical Center, which is located in northwest D.C., about five miles from the White House.
#6
Pardon me, but if you can get a court order telling anti-abortion people to stand a good distance away from clinics, someone should be able to get a similar court order to have these low lifes at least a block away from the entrance to WR.
#7
Once again, I ask the rhetorical question: when is somebody going to wade through a crop of these assholes, leaving in his wake busted arms, broken noses, and welts the size of oranges in under 30 seconds before he leaves?
#9
I know its in the city suburbs but you can't just walk inside and anywhere you want. Makes sense that they are outside the Hospital, I couldn't see how they were inside and protesting. Heck even the wounded would take a swipe at them if they were on the patient floors. I can only imagine that security is even tighter today. If I still lived in DC I would make a field trip and pay a visit the protestors and express my disappointment in them.
#11
Cyber...this is the city of Marion Berry, corruption up and down city management, and an educational system that spends nearly $10,000 per student per year to rank as one of the worst school systems in the country...mostly at US taxpayer expense.
#12
Just sent the following to my Congressman:
Dear Congressman Herger,
I just read an article that made my blood just boil. It seems that a group of protestors have seen fit to target the wounded and recovering war veterans at Walter Reed.
You can read the article here: http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewSpecialReports.asp?Page=SpecialReportsarchive200508SPE20050825a.html
As an American I can appreciate the protestors right to protest even when I donât agree with them. But as a Veteran it make my blood just boil when they target the weak and wounded and attempt to add to their suffering. I am not asking you to squash their right to protest but does it have to be in front of the Hospital where many are still recovering and most vulnerable? Canât there be a bi-partisan resolution that no protest or demonstrations take place within say three miles of a Military Hospital? They can rant and rave all they want on the mall or at the Capital but leave these Veterans (and others) in peace, because they have earned it.
#14
Pardon me, but if you can get a court order telling anti-abortion people to stand a good distance away from clinics, someone should be able to get a similar court order to have these low lifes at least a block away from the entrance to WR.
But that's DIFFERENT, don't ya know. Some speech is more protected than the rest.
*sigh*
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
08/25/2005 12:04 Comments ||
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CS, I hope you don't mind I used your letter to you congressman and sent it to mine, except I am not A vet. But I changed vet to South Carolinian and of course change senators. Thanks for the GOOD Idea, I suggest others do it as well...
#16
I just sent a letter to Bill Frist, ny Senator, along the same lines. I started out, "Dear Mr. Frist:
I wonder if you and the other Senators could take time out from debating the use of steroids in Baseball players and whether or not some explicit sex scenes in a video game are destroying America's Youth to attend to a little matter going on in Noth D.C." I pretty much said the same Cyber Sarge did after that. Wonder if I'll get a response.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
08/25/2005 12:22 Comments ||
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#17
I waive all rights and everyone feel free to plagiarize my email all you want.
#19
when is somebody going to wade through a crop of these [folks]
I would point out that LTC Kurilla is now stateside. He's wounded in three places and has a broken leg, but it would be kind of interesting to see what he could do with a pair of crutches.
Posted by: Matt ||
08/25/2005 13:11 Comments ||
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#20
This is truely disgusting. Why isn't the Media covering this?
Its the old...
"Free speech for me! [these slimeballs] but not for thee [anyone who disagrees -- as in pro-lifers]"
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
08/25/2005 08:53 ||
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#1
This is a story on how the New York Times took a positive story about body armour and the Army's efforts to pre-empt terrorist's usage of armour piercing ammunition and turned it completely around to appear as if the Army was behind the curve again. Read and be enlightened
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
08/25/2005 9:40 Comments ||
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#2
Wonder why polls show erosion for support of the war?
Crap like this. People are getting nothign but negative spin from the MSM when it comes to things that are actually good news. ANd as far as reportign on the activities over there, all they report are US casualties, and bomb explosions. THey NEVER report any of the massively successful small unit actions that happen every day, they dont report thenew buildings, they dont report the new Iraqi army andpolice victories, they dont report the successes of the large unit actions (like the various Opaeration Kill-them-near-the-borders that have been run).
The press is an enemy. THey refuse to report on the whole of the war. THey are abrogating their responsibility to report ALL the news in favor of thier own partisan viewpoints. They have abandoned thier rsponsibilities under the First Amendment - and should be stripped of their First Amendment rights since they are not holding up the concomittent responsiblities. Until the press starts reporting the whoel truth, they should be required to run "counter" peices written by the military adjacent to and on the front pages with their slanted articles.
Democracry requires an informed populace, and the MSM is not perfoming its function; indeed in many ways is is deliberately MIS_informing the populace. The MSM needs to be fixed.
At a time when men and women are facing death defending the Republic everyday, the NYT to rallys to the clarion call and helps the terrorist.
body armor, good story.
Posted by: Red Dog ||
08/25/2005 12:23 Comments ||
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#4
Old Spook,
agreed.
that being said any ideas on how to go about fixing the MSM?
The MSM have mis-informed, twisted history, altered perspectives and even omitted info to folks for way too long, I would love to see the straight information get out there for us to form our own opinion. Having the opinions of reporters forced down our throats has got to stop.
Although blogs like Michael Yon have been helping turn things around I think.
Posted by: Jan ||
08/25/2005 12:23 Comments ||
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#5
If we grab them by the pocketbook, their hearts and minds are sure to follow.
Posted by: Matt ||
08/25/2005 12:52 Comments ||
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#6
People find my stance which is real to sound crazy. I believe "journalists" to be just below lawyers on the scale of sleaze. I also believe that "journalists" should fear real physical pain. My personal contribution is that I will punch, any "journalist" that presents it's self in my space, in the face. I will not go out of my way to go find one to attack, yet. I am not going to give them a pass on their treacherous activities.
Journalism is by and large a herd practice. The fact that there a few who are not evil is not enough to not tar them all with the same brush. The idea that they are impartial and independent is as we all know a myth. They are in opposition to all we stand for as a culture and work mightily to tear it down. They quit being on our side as a civilization in the 1960's. Quit cutting these pond scum slack. The 5th column is happily attacking from the rear folk. We need to quit laying here taking it and put the fear of the people into them.
Not so fast, bureacrats
John R. Bolton, in his first public initiative as American ambassador, told envoys at the United Nations on Wednesday that time was running out on efforts to create institutional change, only days after the United States began privately pushing for major revisions to a draft of reforms that was already close to completion. The new American approach recommends scrapping more than 400 passages in the 38-page draft prepared under the General Assembly president, Jean Ping of Gabon, that was being readied for a summit conference next month after nearly a year of intensive negotiations.
"Time is short," Mr. Bolton said in a letter to the 190 other United Nations ambassadors. He proposed immediate negotiations, starting with Mr. Ping's draft, and urged his fellow envoys to remain "open to alternative formats if they help us achieve consensus."
He said, "I plan on participating personally in this exercise and hope you will do the same."
More than 170 heads of state have confirmed plans to attend the conference, starting Sept. 14, to consider approval of what are seen as the most sweeping changes at the United Nations in its 60-year history. The extent of the deletions sought by the Americans and the late hour brought complaints that the United States was sabotaging the effort to meet demands - many of them originating from Washington - that the institution reform itself to adjust to modern times and make its operations transparent and accountable. Boo-hoos to follow...
"It would be very unfortunate and not in the interest of the United States or the international community for the new U.S. ambassador to barge in and undermine an important summit negotiation process," said William R. Pace, general secretary of the New York-based World Federalist Movement, which promotes a strong United Nations.
Richard A. Grenell, the spokesman for the United States mission, said, "The fact that we took this document seriously and put it through a thorough interagency process to evaluate its policy implications and then we commented on our ideas should be celebrated, not criticized."
Mr. Bolton, who was appointed by the White House three weeks ago while Congress was in recess after he failed to gain Senate approval, was championed by President Bush as the best man to bring about needed reform at the United Nations. Fireworks to follow....
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/25/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
If you want an example of the self righteous, self congratulatory, wishlist blather that the UN indulges in, then here is the draft of the resolution that the UNGA will vote on in September.
#2
Desperately Needed Reform Number One: Immediate Relocation to Geneva. Desperately Needed Reform Number Two: United States Resigns from UN. Once both of those go through, I don't give a damn how corrupt and self-serving those bastards are. Just get our country out of their organization and their organization out of our country and they can do whatever they damn well please. Elsewhere.
Posted by: mac ||
08/25/2005 7:07 Comments ||
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#3
sweeping changes my ass! Typical UN blather: "We reaffirm...". I don't see any substantive changes in the whole thing. This is not the time to tweak, it's the time to redesign from the ground up or scrap the whole thing.
#6
I suppose this falls under "No Good Deed Goes Unpunished"
We created the UN.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
08/25/2005 10:27 Comments ||
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#7
Tranlated from the Diplomatique:
"Look, you bunch of cheese-dicks, this thing has been in play for a year, and it's got about 8 months worth of pure, unadulterated bullshit in it. What say we cut some of that slop out?"
#8
The answer to the UN is pretty simple. The US should get together with Japan and leave the UN and form seperate organization. This can be done under the auspices of UN refusal to consider a Japanese General Assembly seat.
Since Japan and the US form the bulk of UN funding the UN problem will go away on its own after that.
"The United States has only recently introduced more than 750 amendments that would eliminate new pledges of foreign aid to impoverished nations, scrap provisions that call for action to halt climate change and urge nuclear powers to make greater progress in dismantling their nuclear arms. At the same time, the administration is urging members of the United Nations to strengthen language in the 29-page document that would underscore the importance of taking tougher action against terrorism, promoting human rights and democracy, and halting the spread of the world's deadliest weapons.
Still pushing the "Bolton is a brute" bullshit. Oh, and no aid for baby ducks.
Then, later..."At the same time, the administration is urging members of the United Nations to strengthen language in the 29-page document that would underscore the importance of taking tougher action against terrorism, promoting human rights and democracy, and halting the spread of the world's deadliest weapons."
WaPo and NY Slimes in the tank for Kofi & Co.
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/25/2005 11:28 Comments ||
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SINGAPORE, Aug 25 (Bernama) -- When a London-based advisory body for insurers designated the Straits of Melaka as a high-risk area for war and terrorism, it was met with strong reactions from the shipping industry who said it plain and simple -- was a misconception and at best, a result of incomplete intelligence.
Regional governments say they regret the categorisation and want it corrected... Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia had been steadfast in their stand that the security problem in the busy waterways was not as bad as it was made out to be.
The war-risk zone listing of the area would result in the increase of transportation costs as shippers would need to pay more for insurance cover.
But the advisory body who started it all -- the Lloyds' Joint War Committee (JWC) -- was equally adamant in its decision to include the Straits of Melaka as among the war risk zones equivalent to the rating given to Iraq...
The JCW, which based its conclusion on a report prepared by Aegis Defence Services for global insurers, claimed that pirates in the Melaka Straits were using tactics and weapons similar to that of militants, making them indistinguishable from terrorists.
But authorities in the three littoral states as well as the shipping industry, maintained that that there had been no connection between piracy and terrorism so far in the Straits of Melaka and Singapore...
The Kuala Lumpur-based International Maritime Bureau Piracy Reporting Centre was reported recently as saying that piracy and armed robbery incidents in the Straits of Melaka were down to 37 cases last year from 75 cases in 2000. However the figure is about 40 so far this year...
The three littoral governments had been getting their acts together. Coordinated patrol was launched a year ago and more measures are in the pipeline including having an information sharing centre in Singapore.
Their armed forces are also working on a Malaysian proposal to have maritime air surveillance in the straits or what is better known as the "eye in the sky" air patrol.
But for now an impasse seems to be developing between the shippers and the insurance underwriters. The onus now lies with the JCW to break the Catch 22 situation.
#1
When a London-based advisory body for insurers designated the Straits of Melaka as a high-risk area for war and terrorism, it was met with strong reactions from the shipping industry who said it plain and simple -- was a misconception and at best, a result of incomplete intelligence.
NO, its based upon claims. That's how insurance companies operate. Lots of claims means rates go up.
The war-risk zone listing of the area would result in the increase of transportation costs as shippers would need to pay more for insurance cover.
See, its about money. Then if it is not dangerous, just travel without the rider for loss due to hostile acts.
That's not the whole story. Insurance rates went up generally after 9-11, not because claims went up, but because there was a re-assessment of risk in most cases.
Posted by: Rafael ||
08/25/2005 16:20 Comments ||
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#4
See, its about money. Then if it is not dangerous, just travel without the rider for loss due to hostile acts.
You make 'money' sound like it's a bad thing in international trade.
The key word is 'shipper'. Not necessarily same as a 'shipping company'.
Most shipments are financed or paid for by a letter of credit issued through a bank. The financier wants a guarantee of recovery of its funds if the cargo is lost or stolen. Hence insurance. If the cost of transport through the Straits becomes too high, the mode of transport may be changed (say, to air cargo), a new source found, or cargo is re-routed.
More importantly, the nations in and around the Straits have a great desire and need to develop their economies. If the cost of shipping materials gets too high, their economies suffer.
TEHERAN - Iranâs parliament on Wednesday rocked President Mahmoud Ahmadinejadâs fledgling government by rejecting four of his cabinet nominees, including the proposed new oil minister for OPECâs second-largest crude producer.
The parliamentary confidence vote was a rude awakening for Ahmadinejad, a religious conservative who took office earlier this month promising to root out corruption and redistribute the Islamic stateâs vast oil wealth to the poor. The vote suggested Ahmadinejad would not always enjoy a smooth ride from parliament and pointed to rifts developing in the conservative camp which has driven reformists from all branches of power in the last three years.
Gee, I didn't know the Iranians knew the Kabuki dance.
Oil Ministry nominee Ali Saeedlou, a close Ahmadinejad ally who lawmakers said lacked oil industry experience, garnered just 101 votes from the 284 lawmakers present, well short of the simple majority required.
Lawmakers, the majority of whom are conservatives like Ahmadinejad, endorsed 17 of the presidentâs ministerial picks, putting well-known hardliners in charge of the ministries of intelligence, interior and culture. Along with Saeedlou, the nominees to head the ministries of higher education, cooperatives and social welfare failed to get sufficient votes.
Parliament Speaker Gholamali Haddadadel said Ahmadinejad had three months to propose alternative nominees. âParliament had expected more important and better candidates to be assigned for these posts,â he told reporters.
The rejection of Saeedlou was a particular blow to Ahmadinejad, who has pledged to root out corrupt âmafiasâ inside the oil ministry and to âput the countryâs oil wealth on peopleâs tablesâ. Ahmadinejad defended Saeedlou, who served as his financial deputy when he was mayor of Tehran until June. âHeâs a caring, hard-working, serious and strong manager,â Ahmadinejad told lawmakers before the vote, highlighting Saeedlouâs degree in geology.
Over four days of debates examining each nominee, lawmakers picked holes in the track records of several proposed ministers. Ahmadinejad said he had deliberately chosen to âbreak the traditional circle of old managersâ who had run the country under previous governments. âWith this coordinated team I will be able to implement my commitments to the people,â he said.
Speaking against Saeedlou, lawmaker Teimourali Askari said: âThe country has suffered a lot of damage through lack of experience.â
"My fellow lawmakers, look at the damage our country has suffered already with the mullahs in char ..." [THUMP]
Earlier, conservative lawmaker Emad Afrough had spoken out strongly against proposed Interior Minister Mostafa Pourmohammadi, who was deputy intelligence minister during the mid-1990s. âYou must realise that when someone comes from such a ministry ... our reaction is to shudder with fear,â he said, pointing to alleged human rights abuses, including the murder of dissidents, by Intelligence Ministry agents in the 1990s.
The mullahs didn't consider that to be a bug ...
Pourmohammadi was, nevertheless, approved and will form part of what analysts say will be a hardline core of ministers dealing with domestic politics and foreign affairs.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/25/2005 00:00 ||
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Iran wants negotiations over its nuclear program to continue and is finalizing âinnovationsâ to resolve the dispute, the Islamic republicâs new President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced yesterday. However, he told reporters that Iran would also defend its âlawful rightsâ in the nuclear domain â a reference to the countryâs demand to hold on to sensitive atomic energy fuel cycle technology that the West fears could be diverted to weapons use. âOur policy is transparent and clear: we are after the nationâs lawful rights within the framework of international law and we will defend these rights seriously,â he said on the sidelines of a parliamentary confidence vote on his proposed Cabinet.
But he added that âwe want the negotiations to continue,â even though talks with Britain, France and Germany have broken off due to Iranâs decision to partially end its suspension of uranium enrichment-related work. âI have some innovations concerning the fuel cycle which are being finalized by the experts and the details will be known,â he said, but did not elaborate. At the end of July, the EU-3 formally asked Iran to abandon uranium enrichment-related work in exchange for a package of trade incentives, access to nuclear fuel produced overseas and help with Tehranâs regional security concerns.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/25/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Commies and Socialists, even God/Faith-based SOcialists, Absolutists, or Totalitarians like Iran's MAD MULLAHS, aren't anything if always technically "legal", and also hyper-pol correct!?
Syrian sources have told Asharq Al-Awsat that violent clashes took place yesterday in the city of Haskah, northeast of the country near the Turkish and Iraqi borders. The clashes between the Shamar and Al-Jabour clans left one member of the Al-Jabour clan dead. He was identified as Mohamed Abdel Aziz Al Musalat. After the killing, large groups of men said to in the thousands from the Al-Jabour clan attacked the Shamar by setting fire to their residents within the city of Haskah. Sources reported that the attacks forced security forces to evacuate members of the Shamar clan from the city out of fear of further outbreaks of violence.
Approximately three thousand members of the Syrian security forces were employed to deport the Shamar clan to the city of Kamishli. However, conflicts broke out between the security forces and members of the Al-Jabour clan that resulted in the use of tear-gas and an exchange of gunfire. The clash continued for four hours. There have been no reports revealing the number of casualties and the cost of the damage caused by the clashes. The sources have however stated that the situation is very intense in Haskah and that there are fears that the fighting may extend to Kamishli. The sources further reported that Mohamed Daham Abdel Aziz Al-Musalat, the leader of the banned political party Al-Nahdah in Syria, is the cousin of the murdered victim of the clashes between the two tribes. Previous conflicts between the two clans have led to the deaths and injuries of several people.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/25/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
And you thought it was just the "Palestinians".
President Abdelaziz Bouteflika urged Islamic militants on Thursday to lay down their arms but said that Algeria will not offer an amnesty to everyone in exchange for ending more than a decade of violence.
Human rights groups and families of victims of the conflict that has engulfed Algeria since 1992 fear a partial amnesty due to be voted on in a referendum on September 29 would result in the pardon of Islamists who killed civilians and soldiers.
"I extend my hand to those who are in the mountains to lay down their arms but I stress that there will be no general amnesty," Bouteflika told thousands of supporters in the city of Setif, some 350 km (220 miles) east of the capital Algiers.
The president is campaigning across the North African country ahead of a national referendum on whether a partial amnesty should be given to hundreds of armed militants.
Bouteflika says the "charter for peace and national reconciliation" will exclude militants involved in massacres, rape and explosions in public places. But legal proceedings will be dropped against rebels who had surrendered and against some still at large if they handed themselves in.
This is the third attempt by Algerian authorities to bring to an end an Islamic militant uprising which has cost 150,000-200,000 lives. Two previous laws gave exemption from prosecution for rebels and saw thousands surrender.
Rights groups have branded the amnesty a "charter of impunity" that would deprive some victims' families of justice.
"The charter contains provisions aimed at exonerating both security forces and armed groups from accountability for grave human rights abuses," Amnesty International said.
"Such provisions are inconsistent with Algeria's obligations under international law and may be a final denial of truth and justice to hundreds of thousands of victims and their families," it said in an August 22 statement.
Analysts criticise the project for failing to deal with the social problems caused by 13 years of violence and for not consulting rights groups and opposition parties.
But most political parties have backed the charter, with the country's largest legal Islamic party -- El Islah -- giving its approval on Thursday, according to state radio.
"The project reflects the aspirations of the majority that want to turn the page of a decade of blood and tears," Zakaria Bakhti, mayor of the city M'Sila, told Reuters.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/25/2005 17:43 ||
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Egypt believes that Palestinian insurgents have provided logistic and other support for the Al Qaida bombing campaign in the Sinai Peninsula.
Egyptian security sources said Palestinian operatives linked to the Iranian-sponsored Islamic Jihad were believed to have provided training and technical assistance to Bedouin insurgents in the Sinai. The sources said Palestinian Bedouins have formed strong links with insurgents in the Gaza Strip to facilitate a string of bombings in the Sinai over the last 10 months.
"We see signs of a flow of weapons and operatives from and to the Gaza Strip from El Arish," a security source said. "The movement is also between the Sinai and the Israeli border."
The sources said Sinai operatives have met Palestinian insurgents around the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah as well as El Arish. They said Palestinians have relayed instructions and cash during trips from the Gaza Strip to Cairo.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/25/2005 17:21 ||
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#1
Well Egypt, you know what you gotta do to stop the Paleo terror.
Cue Stephen King please: Give me land and I will go away
#4
The Israelis will disengage from Sinai and it will become a nest of vicious and psychopathic terrorists. All that the Israelis have to do is to direct counterbattery fire into this Ein-el-hellhole of the west. Gaza has become Egypt's problem. The Paleos will turn Gaza into a base for destablizing Israel and Egypt. I say turn off Gaza's water connection from Israel if Israel gets rockets and missiles lobbed over the wall.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/25/2005 21:37 Comments ||
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A group linked to Al Qaeda frontman in Iraq Abu Musab al-Zarqawi posted footage on the Internet yesterday of the immediate aftermath of last weekâs rocket attacks on US warships in the Jordanian port of Aqaba.
The three-minute film, posted by the Islamic Media Centre on an Islamic website, shows two US warships moored in Aqaba, damage to a warehouse and a vehicle as well as security officers inspecting a rocket in a crater.
Zarqawiâs group, the Al Qaeda Organisation in the Land of Two Rivers, has claimed the attacks that killed one Jordanian soldier.
âTheir attacks have struck their targets as they have planned. But as usual, the enemies of God did not admit their true losses,â the group said in Internet statement.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/25/2005 17:00 ||
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you're hard-up when the only thing ypu can brag about is a failed attack
Egypt has imposed a media blackout on the probe into the July 23 bombings in Sharm El Sheikh after weeks of confusion and contradictory information on the country's deadliest attack by militants.
Accustomed to such measures in a country that has been ruled by emergency laws since 1981, the Egyptian press on Thursday still carried an Arabic translation of a New York Times interview with Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif.
"The reason for this is that the ban was announced after newspapers went to the printers," Hisham Kassem, editor of the independent Al Masri Al Yom daily, said.
"But from now on we cannot publish anything. The rest of the world will be able to talk about this issue except for the people who are the most affected by it," he said.
The interior ministry, meanwhile, said that two police officers were killed and two wounded in a blast on Thursday in the Jabal Halal region of northern Sinai.
Police were hunting for "a criminal group implicated in the Sharm El Sheikh attacks and hiding out in the region", it said, referring to the July 23 bombings in the Red Sea resort.
Attorney General Maher Abdel Wahed issued a decree on Wednesday banning coverage of the investigation into the Sharm bombings "in order to protect the work of the judiciary", a source in his office said.
Nazif said that investigators were operating along two hypotheses for the multiple bombings that rocked Egypt's flagship resort at the height of the tourist season, The New York Times reported.
One theory assumes that the Sinai Peninsula's bedouin population reacted to the crackdown that followed deadly October 7 attacks in Taba and two other neighboring Red Sea resorts.
The other is that locals have developed ties with Osama Bin Laden's Al Qaeda network, but Nazif told the US daily that there was little evidence to back up this second theory.
His comments were probably the most explicit by a high-ranking official on an investigation that has left the media scrambling for reliable sources of information.
Even the death toll is not final more than a month after the bombings. Hospital officials on the scene gave a figure of 88, which the government later lowered to 67, including several foreigners.
Foreign countries have announced the deaths of their nationals separately.
The Egyptian authorities quickly pointed an accusing finger at the bedouin population, after initial suspicions had focused on a group of Pakistani nationals.
Egyptian security officials also announced the arrest in northern Sinai of four men but did not elaborate on their alleged connection to the Sharm El Sheikh bombings.
An interior ministry statement announced on Tuesday that "intensive efforts exerted recently have led to the capture of most suspects and yielded details on the terrorist attacks in the Sinai".
Contradictory information filtering on vast security operations ongoing in the Sinai has only added to the confusion.
Quoting security sources, Egypt's press reported several wounded in clashes between police and gunmen in the Sinai, but official sources in Cairo insisted that only two policemen were injured when a roadside bomb hit their vehicle.
"What the authorities have released is only a tiny part of the information they have," said analyst Dhia Rashwan from the Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies.
"There is no security reason to justify the media blackout. This ban is a political decision. It does not aim to protect the investigation but to control public opinion," he said.
Kassem said that the authorities were afraid that leaks on the perpetrators of the deadly bombings and the way that they were carried out could expose cracks in the state security apparatus.
"The authorities want to avoid embarrassing leaks on those involved in the bombings ... But at the same time the media ban is also a way of concealing the state's failure to find the culprits," he said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/25/2005 16:45 ||
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A top US general has said al-Qaeda's leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, will try to relocate to the Horn of Africa if Iraq is stabilised.
Major-General Douglas Lute cited Yemen, Somalia, Sudan and Ethiopia as likely "safe havens" for jihadists.
He said that "vast ungoverned spaces" of east Africa were likely to appeal to Zarqawi's insurgents as operations in Iraq and Afghanistan become difficult.
US troops based in Djibouti already aim to stop infiltration from the Red Sea.
"There will come a time when Zarqawi will face too much resistance in Iraq and will move on," Maj Gen Lute said.
He warned that Zarqawi's network remained determined to demonstrate a "show of force" in the run-up to Iraq's constitutional referendum and subsequent elections.
"He has to go down fighting," Maj Gen Lute said.
The warning is the latest in a series issued by the US that al-Qaeda would try to reconvene in east Africa after its safe haven in Afghanistan was removed in 2001, when a US-led attack ousted the Taleban.
Since then the 900-strong US force has been deployed to Djibouti in an effort to stop militants entering the Horn of Africa at its tip.
US troops also train Eritrean and Ethiopian forces.
The BBC's Martin Plaut says US work in Somalia, where Islamic fundamentalists already have a foothold, has been hampered by the absence of an effective government.
The US recently warned that Africa's Sahel countries, including Mauritania, Mali, Niger and Chad, could become a terrorist haven, and has carried out troop exercises and training efforts in the region.
Maj Gen Lute is operations head at US Central Command, and is responsible for planning the way ahead over 12 to 18 months for almost 140,000 US troops, 8,000 British soldiers and 15,000 other foreign troops currently in Iraq.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/25/2005 16:24 ||
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#1
"He has to go down fighting,"
That would be a first for an AQ biggie.
Posted by: Matt ||
08/25/2005 17:10 Comments ||
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#2
Ugh.
Is there a reason why this speculation has to be aired publicly, where others see it as well?
Hat tip: Anti-idiotarian Rottweiler. As he noted, all we need to do now is dip them in pig fat.
Israel Military Industries won a tender Tuesday for around $300 million to supply the U.S. army with ammunition. IMI said this is their biggest ammunition deal with the U.S. army to date.
IMI will supply light ammunition for rifles and machine guns, which will be produced in its 'Yitzhak' factory in Upper Nazareth. The deal will double the factory's scope of activity. It currently employs 350 workers, and has a revenue today of over $60 million a year.
The Yitzhak factory produces light ammunition principally for American forces operating in Iraq, the Israel Defense Forces, the police and the Israeli defense establishment, as well as various western European clients. That last is a bit of a surprise. So, they won't sell arms to Israel, but will buy from them?
IMI Chairman Ovadia Eli said the success is a significant achievement for the company and represents an important stage in its growth, and that is likely enable it to win additional international tenders. According to Eli, the deal establishes the standing of IMI as an essential supplier for the U.S. army.
#8
The pig fat thing is a historical reference to the Sepoy rebellion in India that was set off by rumors the British were greasing their rifle cartriges with pig's fat.
Pig's blood would just gunk up the bore, I'm guessing.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
08/25/2005 13:31 Comments ||
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#10
I've long suspected the US military bullet industry has been taken over by a very elite group of profiteers, figuring that there will always be a demand, so they can set ridiculous prices. And, as long as they owned a couple of senators, they could probably get away with it.
#11
Actually, ammo for my AR-15 Assault coyote Rifle is relatively cheap. Ammo for the Whitworth or Maynard, on the other hand, is pretty expensive. The Maynard is about $3.50 a round, the Whitworth is about $2.00 per round, The AR-15 Assault coyote Rifle rifle is about $.025 per round. (2 1/2 cents)
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
08/25/2005 13:46 Comments ||
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#12
You got a Whitworth? That's a good price for rounds.
#13
My .50 cal IMI Samson rounds give a good bang for the buck.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
08/25/2005 19:17 Comments ||
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#14
Shipman, I have a Whitworth Rifle. It's .451 calibre and fires a 470 grain bullet accuretly to a little over 1000 yards. I wish I had a Whitworth cannon. It fires a 12 pound projectile 10,000 yards.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
08/25/2005 19:30 Comments ||
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#15
Reload, cast your own bullets.
I do.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
08/25/2005 21:17 Comments ||
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#16
Yeah, but smooth-bore or rifled, DB? Can you HIT anything at 10,000 yards? :-)
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/25/2005 22:36 Comments ||
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Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei and members of various Palestinian terror groups this week decided at a meeting "resistance" against Israel would continue and would be coordinated at the national level until the Jewish state evacuates "all territories," WND has learned.
Earlier this week, it was reported Qurei held a private conference in Damascus with leaders of Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. According to media reports, the parties reached an agreement under which the PA would not attempt to disarm the terror groups in spite of recent U.S. and Israeli calls for the groups to be dismantled after the Gaza evacuation.
But security sources close to the meeting told WND agreements reached at the conference went one step further â it was concluded the Palestinians would continue to use "resistance" against Israel until the Jewish state leaves "all occupied territories" â code for the destruction of Israel. The resistance, the sources said, is to be coordinated between the Palestinian groups and based on the foundations of Palestinian unity. Which means the PA is a legitimate target for Israel.
Qurei also allegedly discussed other ways of cooperating with the terror groups after Israel's Gaza evacuation is completed, and stressed that the focus of the Palestinian struggle must be turned to the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem
Since Mahmoud Abbas assumed control of the Palestinian government following the death last year of PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat, the P.A. has been careful to use taqiya not to publicly endorse terrorism.
Shalah stressed the PA had agreed not to disarm his group "as long as Palestinian land was occupied."
At a press conference held after the meeting, Musa Abu Marzuq, a member of Hamas' political office, stated, "The real battle with Israel was on the West Bank. ... We hope there will be no disagreement with the Palestinian Authority regarding the weapon of resistance, because as long as the occupation exists the weapon must exist."
The same day Hamas, Islamic Jihad and local terror groups including the Democratic Front and the Jerusalem Battalions held competing parades in which each claimed their violence drove Israel out of the Gaza Strip. Yep. True or not, that's what they will all say. So, since terror works, they will use it more.
Several thousand Palestinians attended a Hamas rally in Gaza and a separate victory procession in Nablus in which Hamas flags and models of the Temple Mount were waved, and mock tanks, rockets and even houses of Jewish settlers were displayed.
Afterward, the Battalions held a press conference in which a spokesman stressed his group's determination to "do whatever it took" to liberate the "rest of our land," including kidnapping Israelis and committing "resistance attacks."
I'm to the point of using whatever is necessary to kill the terrorist leaders, completely disregarding collateral casualties. If you kill 100,000 women and children to exterminate Hamas, I have no objection.
EFL
Music legend Pat Boone is blasting the peace message of Cindy Sheehan and other anti-war activists, claiming their rhetoric is making the U.S. more vulnerable to future terrorist attacks.
"This bitch lady and the groups that have been demonstrating in front of the president's ranch in Crawford and following him around are the very same people that were the dropout, turn-on, anti-war peace activists back [in the Vietnam War era]," Boone said. "They still have this crazy notion that by just being peaceful and maybe toking up or something like that â it's like an ostrich with its head in the sand â maybe the danger and the bad guys will go away and leave you alone, which is not gonna happen."
The original "American Idol," who sold more records than any other pop artist in the 1950s except Elvis Presley, said no one likes war, and he wishes it were not the answer.
"But, look," he said, "when [terrorists] destroy the World Trade Center right in front of your eyes in Manhattan and you know they're going to do the same and worse things, to just sit back and say 'Oh, let's try not to make 'em mad at us, let's don't rock the boat, let's just say peace is the answer, we love you, we love you' ... we're just sitting ducks. More World Trade Centers, more 9-11s are gonna happen unless we try to take the battle to them on their turf instead of letting 'em bring it to us on ours."
"My main goal is to hit the charts with five albums in one year, and that's something nobody's ever even thought about, much less done."
To that end, he's releasing "American Glory," a collection of patriotic songs, with one titled "Under God," a response to California atheist Michael Newdow who has tried to remove the phrase from the Pledge of Allegiance.
Despite his recording success, Boone has not been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, though there is an online effort pushing for his inclusion.
When asked about his own image as "Mr. Clean" in his heyday, Boone joked, "The truth is, I did wash regularly." That right there makes him anathema to the anti-American crowd.
I'm not a fan of his music, but he's a good person. Long ago, most of our musicians and entertainers were pro- rather than anti-American.
As for me--I'll buy a caseload of his records . . . maybe send 'em to Iraq--better yet to Crawford. They can play 'em on loudspeakers to the Sheehan crowd.
#4
Jay Dyson is serving Sacred Cow Burgers again and has cooked up several good ones on Mama Al Sheehan. If you're not familiar with the site, click on a picture to enlarge it and to get all the edges. Then click on the "Butcher's Commentary" for the background on the parody and Jay's elegant rant.
The Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., the current home of hundreds of wounded veterans from the war in Iraq, has been the target of weekly anti-war demonstrations since March. The protesters hold signs that read "Maimed for Lies" and "Enlist here and die for Halliburton."
The anti-war demonstrators, who obtain their protest permits from the Washington, D.C., police department, position themselves directly in front of the main entrance to the Army Medical Center, which is located in northwest D.C., about five miles from the White House. Among the props used by the protesters are mock caskets, lined up on the sidewalk to represent the death toll in Iraq.
Code Pink Women for Peace, one of the groups backing anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan's vigil outside President Bush's ranch in Crawford Texas, organizes the protests at Walter Reed as well.
Some conservative supporters of the war call the protests, which have been ignored by the establishment media, "shameless" and have taken to conducting counter-demonstrations at Walter Reed. "[The anti-war protesters] should not be demonstrating at a hospital. A hospital is not a suitable location for an anti-war demonstration," said Bill Floyd of the D.C. chapter of FreeRepublic.com, who stood across the street from the anti-war demonstrators on Aug. 19.
"I believe they are tormenting our wounded soldiers and they should just leave them alone," Floyd added.
According to the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, nearly 4,000 individuals involved in the Iraq war were treated at the facility as of March of this year, 1,050 of whom were wounded in battle.
One anti-war protester, who would only identify himself as "Luke," told Cybercast News Service that "the price of George Bush's foreign policy can be seen right here at Walter Reed -- young men who returned from Iraq with their bodies shattered after George Bush sent them to war for a lie."
Luke accused President Bush of "exploiting American soldiers" while "oppressing the other nations of earth." The president "has killed far too many people," he added.
On Aug. 19, as the anti-war protesters chanted slogans such as "George Bush kills American soldiers," Cybercast News Service observed several wounded war veterans entering and departing the gates of Walter Reed, some with prosthetic limbs. Most of the demonstrations have been held on Friday evenings, a popular time for the family members of wounded soldiers to visit the hospital.
But the anti-war activists were unapologetic when asked whether they considered such signs as "Maimed for Lies" offensive to wounded war veterans and their families.
"I am more offended by the fact that many were maimed for life. I am more offended by the fact that they (wounded veterans) have been kept out of the news," said Kevin McCarron, a member of the anti-war group Veterans for Peace.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/25/2005 07:59 ||
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#1
I guess it is Viet Nam (at least on this side of the ocean). When will they start spitting on returning troops again? Prepare yourselves for more ugliness.
#4
It will get worse and as it does the activists will ratchet up the ugly tactics and continue to wonder why the majority of normal hardworking people increasingly resent them, what they espouse, and what they do. I've noticed the increasingly nasty and nihilistic tone of the dribble my local rag allows to be printed from these kind folks. Hope they have the common sense not to come knocking on my door bringing their BS to my home at election time. Living in a largely liberal democratic neighborhood the usual suspects inflict themselves upon you on a fairly regular basis that grows into a frenzy approaching elections. Everything from nasty and sleazy ward captains and minions for the corrupt local democratic machine to the various obnoxious young college advocacy zombies who can't understand what "please leave now" means. Given last year's parade of door to door activist clowns I'm seriously considering buying a can of mace or at least keeping the digicam on hand to help document names, affiliations, and the behavior for later use. The have a hart trap is only good for smaller rodents.
#5
I think it's time to take the commie lovin' benjimin and ALL associated w/ and run them to Cuba or the Viet Nam they love so much.This short of SHOOTING them!!
#6
Again: "It'll be another Vietnam" is a THREAT, not a prediction.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
08/25/2005 9:42 Comments ||
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#7
Location Location Location
The difference between Sheehan and the protesters outside Walter Reed is just that, location.
To force/subject the families of wounded soldiers to have to walk through or past their group really dishonors them to no end. I'm sure these families have plenty on their minds dealing with all that the injury entails, and these protesters are forcing them to deal with their agenda by putting it on their plate or in their face so to speak. Unbelievable how uncaring they are to these families.
Will they move on to funerals next?
A new low has been struck.
Posted by: Jan ||
08/25/2005 9:45 Comments ||
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#8
Hopefully, they'll get a dumbell thrown at them from the PT room.
#15
These people are sick self-serving assholes. They are beneath contempt and I am sure are hated by the soldiers and Marines in Walter Reed.
I was at Camp Pendelton doing a demo for the last two days. Yesterday there were four Marines (two lance cpls, one staff sgt and a captain) in full combat gear training to get ready to return to Iraq. These young men were warriors in every sense of the word. You could tell that they had been in the thick of things before and were not hesitant about going back. I was in awe. And so proud of them I could pop. The protesters shold not be able to breath the same air as the heroes I met yesterday.
#19
Is there some way that we can send our support to the soldiers that are in Walter Reed Hospital? I would love to someway let these guys know how much we dislike these yawhoos outside the hospital. Maybe internet options?
Posted by: Jan ||
08/25/2005 23:15 Comments ||
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NANKANA SAHIB: At least six people including two women and four children died of burns after combustible material being manufactured for election victory celebrations exploded during preparation on Wednesday. Reportedly, the explosive material was being manufactured in the house of a local firecracker manufacturer, Iftikhar, in Kothi Bazaar when suddenly it exploded, instantly killing Iftikhar's wife Rehana and a relative, Zarina. Four children who were burnt died later at Mayo Hospital in Lahore.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/25/2005 00:00 ||
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Central Vice President of the Pakistan Muslim League (PML), Syed Kabir Ali Wasti, has predicted the fall of the Muttahida Majlis e Amal (MMA)-led coalition in the NWFP. In a press statement on Wednesday, he said that progressive and liberal forces led by federal minister Aftab Khan Sherpao would soon be taking over the province, adding that the PMLâs mission was a crackdown on extremism in the NWFP. He asked the MMA to give up extremism and avoid being banned for supporting Al-Qaeda and the Taliban, as was hinted in a United Nations report.
He accused the MMA of rigging the local polls NWFP, usurping womenâs rights and disregarding democratic norms by banning women from voting and contesting in the NWFP local council elections. He deplored MMAâs promotion of sectarian politics, and said, âIslam is a progressive religion, and does not embody the wearing of a particular dress, as the MMA seems to believe.â He said that it was unfortunate that the extremist Jamaat-e-Islami dominated the MMA, and asked the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam to revive the progressive and liberal spirit of the late Maulana Obaidullah Sindhi and other former leaders, who had held talks with communists in the Soviet Union.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/25/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
MMA to fall? Baloney! Pakis love the delusionary existence that there perverted imams present. And internationally, inclusivist indulgence of Islamofascism has driven steel into the backs of the enemy. Unless we inflict the repression that those animals deliver, they will win one-time elections.
Posted by: Vlad the Muslim Impaler ||
08/25/2005 1:44 Comments ||
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#2
Is this the Paki version of the 7th inning stretch?
Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar, acting chief election commissioner (CEC), has declared polling null and void at seven polling stations in Nowshera and Swabi districts where women were not allowed to vote on August 18. Justice Dogar also instructed the Nowshera and Swabi DPOs to take legal action against the people who stopped women from voting. Fresh polling has been ordered at polling stations 5, 6 and 7 in Jehangira UC, Nowshera; polling stations 1, 2 and 4 in Pir Piai UC, Nowshera; and one polling station in Pabini, Swabi. The poll dates will be notified separately.
EC Secretary Kanwar Dilshad said data from the August 18 polls proved that women were restricted from voting. âWomen also demonstrated against this in Islamabad. That was why the CEC took this decision.â Geo News reported that nazim candidates in Batagram had agreed to women voting in the polls today. At least 15 candidates called the Batagram DCO and promised to ignore a jirga decision not to allow women to vote.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/25/2005 00:00 ||
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JERUSALEM - Israel said on Wednesday all its soldiers would be out of the Gaza Strip within a month, ending four decades of occupation after the historic pullout of Jewish settlers from the Palestinian territory.
Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz confirmed that the equally momentous departure of his troops was being fast-tracked. But with the images of settlers being hauled kicking and screaming by fellow Jews from the heart of Biblical Israel still fresh, Mofaz said it was too soon to expect further evacuations in the occupied West Bank.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon expressed relief that the evacuations had passed off largely peacefully, especially in the northern West Bank settlements of Sanur and Homesh on Tuesday where there had been predictions of a bloodbath. âI think that this finished pretty well in comparison to our concerns,â Sharon said at a meeting of ministers overseeing the so-called disengagement with the Palestinians.
With the operation to clear settlers completed, Mofaz said that the troops were looking to get out of Gaza ahead of schedule. âIt will take at least until the middle of September, maybe a few days more, maybe a few days less,â Mofaz said when questioned about when the military withdrawal would be finalised. Before the pullout began, Mofaz predicted that troops would be out of Gaza before the start of the Jewish New Year, or October 3.
After lengthy negotiations with Cairo, officials said a deal had been reached for Egyptian soldiers to man Gazaâs border with Egypt, allowing all Israeli troops to withdraw. A source close to the Egyptian presidency, however, said fine-tuning remained to be done.
Egyptian-Israeli relations have improved significantly in recent months and both countries are keen to ensure that the pullout does not create a vacuum which is subsequently filled by the radical Islamist movement Hamas.
Despite the operation, the head of Israelâs main anti-settlement watchdog Peace Now said there had been a big increase in the West Bank settler population since Sharon unveiled his plan to leave Gaza 18 months ago. âWe know for example that just between December to the beginning of July of this year, 6,000 people have movedâ to the West Bank, Yaariv Oppenheimer said.
The major Yediot Aharonot daily said the lightning operation had âbroken a 38-year-old taboo on the evacuation of settlementsâ and urged the government to use the momentum to clear unauthorised settlement outposts. Mofaz said, however, that Israel should take stock of the momentous events of the last week before targeting outposts. âAfter the painful process of disengagement, we should have a definite pause,â said Mofaz.
Israelâs shell-shocked settler movement has defiantly vowed to return to Gaza and to unseat bete noire Sharon. âWith Godâs help, we will go back,â said Yesha chairman Bentzi Lieberman. âWe need a few days to pull our thoughts together, know where and when to gather, and define our future goals,â said senior official Pinhas Wallerstein.
Move to the parts of the West Bank that the Israelis can manage to keep and build there.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/25/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
I'm still frustrated that they have pulled out at all. Maybe the Gaza but why the West Bank.
I still feel this is so very wrong.
Posted by: Jan ||
08/25/2005 0:11 Comments ||
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#2
Oh, I think the Israelis understand that they can't keep the whole West Bank. They're going to do what they should have done in August, 1967 -- slice off the choicest morsels for themselves and leave the rest for the Paleos. They'll keep Jerusalem, the settlements that are large and close to the Green Line, and other locations that have some strategic value (e.g., water, defensive positions). Build the wall high and thick, and let the Jordanians know that there's only one way in to the West Bank.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/25/2005 1:47 Comments ||
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#3
The media has a (deliberately) short memory. The Camp David Plan was for Israel to help bootstrap the paleo economy through engagement and trade. Terrorism killed that idea and the Israelis paid a terrible price for trying to help the paleos. The paleos are now the Arabs/UN/Europeans problem.
#4
Abba Eban once said that the Paleos have never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity. I would love to think there was a possibility that the two sides could coexist in peace. I don't rationally believe that is possible. What I suspect will finally happen (but only after a tremendous number of Israeli lives have been lost)is a forced evacuation of all Muslims from both Gaza and the West Bank. By the time that happens, though, things of much greater magnitude will have occurred--like nuclear attacks on most Arab Middle East capitals in response to a WMD used on Israel. With the MMs getting the bomb in the near term it's just a matter of time.
Posted by: mac ||
08/25/2005 6:59 Comments ||
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Afghan human rights officials yesterday described as âunbelievably lenientâ the sentences US military courts have handed down to American soldiers convicted of abusing two Afghan detainees who later died. One soldier has been sentenced to two months in prison, another to three months. A third was demoted and given a letter of reprimand and a fine. A fourth was given a reduction in rank and pay. âThese punishments are a joke. They all should have got 20 years in prison or be sentenced to death,â said Ahmad Shah Midad, a member of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission. âA personâs life has been taken. They must be punished properly.â
The courts-martial had occurred in the US state of Texas over the past few weeks. The soldiers were charged in relation to the deaths of two Afghans who were in detention at Bagram, the main US base in Afghanistan, in late 2002. One of the two was a 22-year-old taxi driver known only as Dilawar. The other was Mullah Habibullah, who was about 30. The Army has publicly acknowledged the two deaths and announced in October that up to 28 US soldiers face possible charges. According to Human Rights Watch, which said it has obtained unreleased Army reports about the deaths, the two men were chained to the ceiling in standing positions, one at the waist and one by the wrists, while their feet remained on the ground. One of them was maimed over a five-day period, dying with his leg muscle tissue destroyed from blows to the knees and lower body, the New York-based rights group has said.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/25/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
What they leave out of course, is that the same leniency is shown to those captured on the battlefield without benefit of complying with the Conventions. Rather than shooting them right there [as they have done to US personnel], they are treated better than Afghans held in Afghan custody. They are even paroled to return to killing Yankees. These people need a good Berkley course in multiculturalism. My bad, that is not real multiculturalism, that is just hate America. Forget it.
#1
it better be agile - iff the photos I've seen on var forums and blogs are accurate, it seems China is dev static or vertical "pop-up", remote UAVS that are armed with anti-tank missles andor antipersonnel weapons, prob for use in "active defense" ags US milfors vv China's "war/battle zone" strategems. Anti-air capabilities will likely be incorporated in follow-on versions.
Pakistani authorities began registering thousands of madrasas yesterday, a move hard-line clerics have vowed to resist. President Pervez Musharraf launched a drive in 2003 to reform religious schools, or madrasas, some of which are suspected of being breeding grounds for militants, but the effort fell through because of opposition from hard-line Islamist groups. Last month, he announced a renewed plan to regulate the countryâs estimated 12,000 madrasas after revelations that three of the four bombers in the July 7 attacks in London were British Muslims of Pakistani origin, at least one of whom had visited madrasas in Pakistan.
Musharraf last week promulgated a law requiring madrasas to register by the end of this year. He has also said an estimated 1,400 foreign students enrolled in madrasas would be ordered to leave Pakistan and no more would be admitted, but has so far set no deadline for this. Vakil Ahmed Khan, permanent secretary at the Ministry of Religious Affairs, said the government had distributed forms to madrasas seeking information on their number of teachers and students and details of their income and expenditure and all other related informations. The forms also urge madrasas to refrain from teaching or publication of literature promoting militancy or sectarian hatred. âThis is a kind of information which no madrasa will want to hide,â Ahmed told Reuters.
The registration began two days after representatives of more than 300 madrasas met in Islamabad and vowed to resist the government order on the grounds that it was discriminatory. Ahmed said the government had no plans to take action against madrasas which failed to register by Dec. 31. âThere is no punitive provision in the existing law. The government will consider such things after Dec. 31 and not before that,â he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/25/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Get your damn foot off the desk.
Posted by: D Parton Rich ||
08/25/2005 17:20 Comments ||
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#2
Love that pic - the kid's almost to the end of the Quran and realizes his life is f*cked
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/25/2005 17:59 Comments ||
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#3
Frank, it looks more like he's scared shitless someone's going to try and pork him in the rear, poor guy.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
08/25/2005 19:23 Comments ||
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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.
AN Islamic study centre and book shop in central Hobart has been gutted by fire. Firefighters were called to the Sufi Study Centre and Islamic Book Shop in Liverpool Street at 7.15am (AEST) today. All peak-hour pedestrian and vehicle traffic was blocked, causing lengthy delays for city workers.
Iran wants negotiations over its nuclear program to continue and is finalizing âinnovationsâ to resolve the dispute, the Islamic republicâs new President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced yesterday. However, he told reporters that Iran would also defend its âlawful rightsâ in the nuclear domain â a reference to the countryâs demand to hold on to sensitive atomic energy fuel cycle technology that the West fears could be diverted to weapons use. âOur policy is transparent and clear: we are after the nationâs lawful rights within the framework of international law and we will defend these rights seriously,â he said on the sidelines of a parliamentary confidence vote on his proposed Cabinet.
Syrian sources have told Asharq Al-Awsat that violent clashes took place yesterday in the city of Haskah, northeast of the country near the Turkish and Iraqi borders. The clashes between the Shamar and Al-Jabour clans left one member of the Al-Jabour clan dead. He was identified as Mohamed Abdel Aziz Al Musalat. After the killing, large groups of men said to in the thousands from the Al-Jabour clan attacked the Shamar by setting fire to their residents within the city of Haskah. Sources reported that the attacks forced security forces to evacuate members of the Shamar clan from the city out of fear of further outbreaks of violence. 
NANKANA SAHIB: At least six people including two women and four children died of burns after combustible material being manufactured for election victory celebrations exploded during preparation on Wednesday. Reportedly, the explosive material was being manufactured in the house of a local firecracker manufacturer, Iftikhar, in Kothi Bazaar when suddenly it exploded, instantly killing Iftikhar's wife Rehana and a relative, Zarina. Four children who were burnt died later at Mayo Hospital in Lahore.
Central Vice President of the Pakistan Muslim League (PML), 
Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar, acting chief election commissioner (CEC), has declared polling null and void at seven polling stations in Nowshera and Swabi districts where women were not allowed to vote on August 18. Justice Dogar also instructed the Nowshera and Swabi DPOs to take legal action against the people who stopped women from voting. Fresh polling has been ordered at polling stations 5, 6 and 7 in Jehangira UC, Nowshera; polling stations 1, 2 and 4 in Pir Piai UC, Nowshera; and one polling station in Pabini, Swabi. The poll dates will be notified separately.
Pakistani authorities began registering thousands of madrasas yesterday, a move hard-line clerics have vowed to resist. President Pervez Musharraf launched a drive in 2003 to reform religious schools, or madrasas, some of which are suspected of being breeding grounds for militants, but the effort fell through because of opposition from hard-line Islamist groups. Last month, he announced a renewed plan to regulate the countryâs estimated 12,000 madrasas after revelations that three of the four bombers in the July 7 attacks in London were British Muslims of Pakistani origin, at least one of whom had visited madrasas in Pakistan.
