DUBAI — Many Muslims refrained from giving Zakat and donations to charitable organisations on hearing claims made by the wife of the late Palestinian president, Yasser Arafat of her right to inherit her husband's wealth. Given the cloud of doubt over where the money donated is being funnelled, they opted to pay Zakat directly to people here or to the poor in their homeland.
And just how is Suha going to buy those shoes now?
Ghussoun Abdulla, a Syrian teacher, said she had paid Zakat Al Fitr to a needy family back home through her brother who lives there. In the past she used to pay the Zakat Al Fitr of her five-member family to a charitable society in Sharjah. "I was shocked to hear about claims of the late Palestinian president's wife and of him being among richest leaders in the world. That money had been collected from governments and people's donations, so they rightfully belong to all Palestinians. Those who do good have the right to know where their donations are being spent. It's given to help ensure a better life for the Palestinians," she said. "I used to donate money to the Palestinian people on each and every occasion strongly believing that they deserve it. But I now give money to people who I am sure need support."
Secret, numbered Swiss Bank account, don't fail me now!
Arafat, the hero of the Paleos, stole billions from these poor slobs. Sometimes ya gotta bottom out before you can climb up. Arafish probably did some good in exposing the corruption of Muslim charaties to the masses. At least they will meditate on that for a while.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/18/2004 11:13 Comments ||
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BAHRAINIS will take to the streets tomorrow to show their support for rebel fighters in Iraq, who have been locked in fierce fighting with US-led forces since they launched a Fallujah offensive on November 6. Two demonstrations have been organised in Manama and Muharraq, which call for the withdrawal of troops and an end to the bloodshed. Organisers of both rallies say they are being staged as a show of solidarity with Iraqi people in general. However, they are also openly supporting resistance in rebel-held strongholds, like Fallujah and Mosul. "First, we want to emphasise that all Bahraini people are unified in their stand toward the US and British aggression against Iraq," said chairman of the National Committee to Support Iraqi People, Dr Hassan Al A'Ali, whose organisation is behind the rally in Manama. We want to emphasise this fact in front of all Bahrain and our neighbouring countries. We also want to show our support and feeling toward what's going on there - especially in Fallujah."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/18/2004 10:23:38 PM ||
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#1
I want to counter these rallies.....
Fred -- a question that has come to haunt me... how do we... me... just a lit'le ole lady in Texas, let our troops know, we stand with them? My heart aches for that young Marine so in the news.
See -- I'm one of those, that stood silently, when our troops came home from VietNam.... I didn't agree with what was happening. My small town heritage didn't lead me to understanding the focus against our troops. To me, our troops were our troops. And, of course, my age, same as those guys coming home, I didn't know how to stand up to what was happening.
This time, I vow... I will stand up. Only problem is... once again, through the cycle of life, big city, growth of company, growth of lifestyle, I'm back in a small town... and I don't know what to do, to stand up for these guys!
I'm in an area on the way out-skirts of Fort Hood. I've had some of these guys for customers. They amaze me... They are incredible. This comes after running a company with a large number of young, talented folks. Going for the top of the line, I went forthe best. Yet, these guys and gals from Ft. Hood? I thought I had the best and brightest, but these Ft. Hood folks and the folks from the bases around San Antonio.... well, no comparison.
It pains me to witness what I am seeing. I let my peers come home, in pain.... silently suffering with them.... but not knowing what to do. Now I know, we were "forced" into the "image" of what VietNam was. Yet, my first love was there, and what I got from letters from him, wasn't what I saw and read in the news.
I didn't know what to do, to show my support. Now.... again, I find myself asking myself, what can I do to show my support? There's got to be more than sending emails, care packages, donating money to soldiers and Marine's causes.... someway, we have got let this Marine, these Marines, these soldiers know.... we are with them. I want it to ring loud and clear, we are with you.
What do we do? Plant Victory Gardens? Buy T bonds? What is it, we civilians can do, to really, really, in this time of need, let these incredible folks know, how deep down, inside our souls, the part that grips at us..... let these kids know, we are willing to fight the cause, the fight for MSM to get the "real" story out there... that I am willing to be in that courtroom, with that Marine, sitting on his shoulder, whispering in his ear..... "what you did was right and good."
Thanks for listening.... this is, after all, Rantburg... and this VietNam ager is searching for ways, to never let the MSM do again what they did to my peers. I stayed silent then. That was an era that we were learning how to be vocal. Too many of us remained silent..
This time, like the Swiftboat Vets, we don't want to remain silent. But we Grandma's, Granddad's need some guidance to make a difference.
I just don't know how, to let this Marine know, here is one more Grandma, wrapping you in her arms, knowing that what you did, was the right thing.
Whatever, wherever, however you decide to act, don't worry - you'll do the right thing and they'll know it. You only have to be yourself. I am proud to be an American (and Texan) - because America is mainly composed of people just like you. Thanx, Sherry. Ass-kickin' rant!
Beautifully written! As a first step, you might print up a copy of your post (minus the "Fred" bit, of course!), and send it to the base commander at Ft. Hood. Let those bright boys and girls know that you want to help more, and I'm sure they'll be happy to come up with something concrete. In any event, it would have to be a morale booster for them just to read what you've written.
Next, take a look at this website. The Protest Warriors have been staging counter protests against the anti-war idiots (many of whom are your age mates, repeating their youthful folly). They are having a convention in December in Austin; if you are interested, I'm sure they'd be thrilled to have you. Even if you don't go to the convention, I imagine they would be able to put you in touch with like-minded people in your area, and together you'll be able to make something happen.
Good luck, and please keep us informed of your progress. Oh, and some of Rantburg's readers are active military, so you may get some direct e-mails as well. Enjoy!
#5
There is that Muslem Solidarity agin,nothing like pissing off those Iraqi's who desire Freedom and Democracy.One of these days there is going to be a backlash aginst all these people who support dening the Iraqi people Freedom and it ain't going to be pretty.
Americans are again asking what they can do to show their support for service members, especially those serving overseas in this time of war. Below are Web sites for several organizations that are sponsoring programs for members of the Armed Forces overseas. While it would be inappropriate for the Department to endorse any specifically, service members do value and appreciate such expressions of support.
Donate a calling card to help keep service members in touch with their families at Operation Uplink at http://www.operationuplink.org/
Send a greeting via e-mail through Operation Dear Abby at http://anyservicemember.navy.mil/or http://www.operationdearabby.net/
Sign a virtual thank you card at the Defend America:
Web site at http://www.defendamerica.mil/nmam.html
Make a donation to one of the military relief societies: http://www.aerhq.org/links.asp
Army Emergency Relief at http://www.aerhq.org/
Navy/Marine Relief Society at http://www.nmcrs.org/
Air Force Aid Society at http://www.afas.org/
Coast Guard Mutual Assistance at http://www.cgmahq.org/
Donate to "Operation USO Care Package" at http://www.usometrodc.org/care.html
Support the American Red Cross Armed Forces Emergency Services at http://www.redcross.org/services/afes/.
Volunteer at a VA Hospital: http://www.va.gov/vetsday/ to honor veterans who bore the lamp of freedom in past conflicts.
Reach out to military families in your community, especially those with a loved one overseas. You could offer to cook meals or provide other services to lower the levels of stress on the families of deployed service members. Contact your local military family support services center and ask how you can help.
Please do not flood the military mail system with letters, cards, and gifts. Due to security concerns and transportation constraints, the Department cannot accept items to be mailed to " Any Service member". Some people have tried to avoid this prohibition by sending large numbers of packages to an individual service member's address, which however well intentioned, clogs the mail and causes unnecessary delays.
The support and generosity of the American people has touched the lives of many service members, over 300,000 of who are deployed overseas.
A petition signed by thousands of Gulf citizens appealing for the release of three Saudi reformists held for the past eight months has been sent to Custodian of the Two Holy Shrines, King Fahd bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia, an activist said yesterday. "We have collected around 8,000 signatures, mostly from Kuwait," Nasser Al Abdali said. "The petition was sent in a letter to King Fahd just three days before Eid Al Fitr." So far, there has been no response, he said.
"Sklish?"
"Nurse! He's doing it again!"
Posted by: Fred ||
11/18/2004 11:42:29 PM ||
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From Geostrategy-Direct, requires subscription...
The U.S. military secretly purchased a state-of-the art Russian aircraft and missile defense system through Croatia, according to Zagreb Vjesni newspaper. There is always someone that will sell something, for a price.
The daily reported that the S-300 system was secretly transported to the United States this year, according to an arms dealer who sued over the loss of the $200 million system. D'oh!
The Pentagon has a covert program to buy or acquire foreign weapons systems to learn their characteristics to develop countermeasures. The S-300 is used widely by the Russian military and also has been purchased and deployed by China near Taiwan.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/18/2004 4:58:48 PM ||
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This must be a recent model. I'm sure there is no shortage of former S-300 operators here in America. I know a number of Russians who used to operate some pretty fancy stuff before their immigration papers came through.
#2
ZF---I am certain that that is part of the point. You can get an idea of the capabilities by talking to an operator. But you can only learn to effectively spoof if you have a working model to spoof, while checking all variables.
Posted by: Jame Retief ||
11/18/2004 20:25 Comments ||
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#3
so who's he suing? And the basis of his claim: "Wahhh"?
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/18/2004 20:35 Comments ||
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#4
LOL! Looks like the US stiffed the Arms dealer.
If true, find out who did this and put him in charge of CIA Foreign operations.
From Geostrategy Direct, requires subscription.....
Russia has obtained intelligence indicating at least two of the terrorists who attacked a school in Beslan were foreigners. Based on information provided to the SVR by the CIA, a Turkish terrorist named Magomed and an Arab named Farukh were among the terrorists who launched the attack that killed more than 300 people, mostly children in the North Ossetia attack. Deputy Prosecutor General Nikolai Shepel told Izvestya Nov. 10 that the CIA notified the SVR that Farukh called his mother in Jidan, Saudi Arabia from the school building to say goodbye. I wonder how Mom felt after the call: proud or ashamed? You never know....
Russian authorities are also seeking a terrorist who assisted the terrorists from outside the school building. "He informed the terrorists about what was going on around the school building and about the movement of troops. He is being looked for," Shepel said.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/18/2004 4:52:56 PM ||
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EFL
Moscow is shielding a former Iraqi ambassador to Russia and two top former Iraqi spies from a U.S.-led campaign to repatriate some of the billions of dollars in assets Saddam Hussein's regime stashed around the world, a senior U.S. official said. The United States, Britain and Iraq want the three men and a front company run by one of them added to a list of former Iraqi officials whose assets must be returned to the interim government in Baghdad under Security Council Resolution 1518, but permanent council member Russia won't allow it, U.S. Assistant Treasury Secretary Juan Carlos Zarate told a Senate committee investigating corruption in the UN's sanction program for Iraq. Of the 232 people, companies and other entities that Washington, London and Baghdad have asked to be put on the list, only four have been contested -- all by Russia.
Zarate, the Treasury Department's point man for tracking terrorist and other criminal funds, said one of the three men, Nabil Abdullah al-Janabi, recruited foreigners to fight U.S. forces in Iraq, offering signing bonuses of $2,500. Al-Janabi was Iraq's ambassador to Lebanon before the March 2003 invasion and allegedly a senior official in the IIS, Hussein's secret intelligence service. Others enjoying Russia's protection, according to Zarate, are: Abbas Khalaf Kunfuth, Hussein's last ambassador to Moscow; Muhannad Juma al-Tamimi, an undercover agent for the IIS; and Bloto International Ltd., a Bangkok-registered front company run by al-Tamimi. Al-Tamimi is also wanted by Washington for allegedly plotting to kidnap and attack U.S. citizens in Thailand in January 2003, and for allegedly transferring explosives stored in the Iraqi Embassy in Bangkok to Baghdad in December 2001. "The UN 1518 Committee has not yet adopted these names because Russia has placed a hold on them and prevented committee action," Zarate said, according to official transcripts of his testimony Monday. "The departments of state and treasury have been working diligently to convince Russia to lift its hold."
The Foreign Ministry in Moscow did not reply to requests for comment, but Russia's diplomatic mission to the United Nations downplayed the issue. The Russian delegation has placed a hold on the names for "technical reasons," a Russian official at the UN said Wednesday by telephone from New York. "There is no hot potato," said the official, who requested anonymity. "It is not ruled out that this hold will be canceled later. ... One should be careful in dealing with people's property."
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: tipper ||
11/18/2004 2:54:04 AM ||
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#1
I keep seeing these posts 'bout Putty. He's working through a rough patch, he's not so bad. Yeah, - yall are right, Putty's our buddy, alright. We can really count on him. What a guy. What an ally. Just takes my breath away. With friends like Putty, we're all set.
#3
.com, Putin's not the issue; the point here is the criminalization and failure of the Russian state. As I say, Putin is a pathetic figure surrounded, as Musharraf is, by throughly corrupt and disloyal security forces. There is no realistic alternative to Putin at this point. We need his country's government, at a minimum, not to collapse, which is what may happen if oil prices crash as they did six years ago.
#4
That's not the point here, lex. The point here is:
"Russia Stalls UN Hunt for Iraqi Assets"
You want to give Putty a blank check? Sure thing, knock yourself out. BUT, everything I said is dead-on-the-money. I say Putty's a major part of the problem - as evidenced by his request to drop the requirement for elections in the provinces and give him the power to appoint those officials - rammed through the Duma like a good One Party System should operate. Look, you can fear the fall of Putty, you can make all sorts of cases for propping him up, but he has not moved one fucking inch toward making the fledgling Russian democracy work - all movement has been in the other direction.
Geez, be honest about this situation, no matter how it pains you. I'm dismayed by your comment. You don't want somebody worse to run Russia, I presume. Fine, but that doesn't negate my comment.
The link is hosed, but we have US Gov't officials on the record, so I commented.
#5
You want to give Putty a blank check?
I take your point, and am probably doing a bad job expressing my thoughts here (Still waking up). Of course we should put the pressure on him as we do Musharraf. My only point here is that Russia needs a ton of attention, much more than we should be devoting to the Europeans, and more subtle diplomacy than we traditionally have used toward this crucial swing nation.
The Russian state today is like a dysfunctional adolescent who's in danger of running off and joining a criminal gang. IMO we should intervene, as the shrinks say, and swarm the little bastard with (very) tough love. So I'm arguing, clumsily perhaps, for carrots as well as sticks: help for Russia's nuke industry, more trade, more investment in Russia's dilapidated oil infrastructure.
#6
lex - Okay, I hear you and agree with some of what you said - just not the part you'd prefer, I guess, heh.
Let's ask the obvious question: And he will do what with all that attention and deference? I see nothing, absolutely nothing, to offer confidence it will have any positive effect. He'll do what the Arabs do: take it and make that the new starting point for negotiations. In other words, all concessions are signs of weakness and, once offered, are forfeit with no reciprocation or conciliation in response.
It was less than a year after meeting with Bush at the ranch, the big love-in, "I can work with this guy" quote, blah3 before he stabbed us in the back in the UNSC over Iraq. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.
He's bulletproof at home, a phreakin' rock star, etc. Are the Russians morons? Given what I've seen since Gorby...
But, as you say, the shadow is moving. Their hard currency cash cow is headed for the barn - that infrastructure problem. I know people at Exxon who went over and negotiated with them - the deal that was tossed out the window recently. One guy told me they are headed for the toilet bowl, and he's no suit, he's a 30 yr O&G engineer. So, bro, we tried to invest money, materiel, and expertise from the best in the business - and got stiffed. And this is their most important currency generator.
It doesn't matter that I think him a greedy KGB throwback who's systematically abusing the system and dragging them backward into the old-style of doing biz... I'm just this guy who comments on a blog... unless it's true.
If we can (and should) demand transparency, honesty, reliability, and probity of others, such as the Paleos and Euros, then why not of Putty? Why should he get a pass? He's a rock star - he could be using that "capital" to do good things for Russia, like Bush has vowed to do with his re-election capital. Sorry, something seems wrong here. You are so intellectually consistent and honest - this sticks out like a sore thumb, bro, and I don't get it. But I'm done - said what I really think. Sorry we're on different planets on this one - and yes, I agree, it is important. Peace. :-)
#7
I agree with most of what you say, esp the part about the rot underneath Russia's bogus economic "boom." The oil industry there needs about $100B in investment, acc to McKinsey. And then there are the absurd and massive PSA and other legal issues. (btw, I worked there for three years, speak the language, know the politics and the economics fairly well, married a lovely and brilliant Russian woman.)
But you're wrong to interpret my recommendation as urging "deference." Not at all-- I specifically said very tough love, which means in practice saying to Putin, we're not going to renew ABM, we're going to put troops in Central Asia and advisers in Pankisi, we're going to take down your little venture in Iran's nuclear business.
But to ease the blow, we're going to help your nuclear industry with hard cash, we'll ease steel tariffs for you, we'll increase funding tenfold for the Nunn-Lugar anti-prolif program, we'll guarantee Exxon's investments provided you push real PSA legislation through the Duma and intervene to ensure XOM's investment actually reaches the oil wells and the royalties are actually paid. In short we'll treat you like a great power, not a shitty little afterthought of a country, and respect you enough to bust your chops when you cross our interests, as you've been doing flagrantly in the middle east. That's what I mean by tough love. Nothing in common with "deference" or "niceness."
#8
Ah - that sounds great! The bust their chops thing is overdue - they DID break the deal with Exxon and stab us in the back in the UNSC... and did it, it appears, with the belief that they were somehow immune, too. Stupid, that, since we could set them back a long way just by recommending and backing the Iraqis when they announce they will not honor Russia's IOUs from Saddam nor would they be an acceptable trading partner, anymore. That would twist their knickers into some nasty knots, heh.
I'll wait and see, like everyone else, what happens. I lack confidence because Putty has given me no reason to have any. Call some old friends and get your point across, maybe it will filter up! If he has any plans other than taking care of himself and making himself a modern Tsar, then he has wasted a lot of time, trust, and capital.
#11
Putin's a transitional figure of little real consequence. I've no idea who comes next, but it's important IMHO to let Russia know a) we won't tolerate any more games re. Iran and b) we support and wish for a healthy Russia that can protect its borders and build a modern economy based on more than oil and gas.
#14
Putin is emblematic of a bigger problem with former Soviet states, which the author of "Resurrection" correctly pointed out [this is a paraphrase]:
Individuals were not raised to work through moral dilemmas-the Soviet Union chose for them. When the Soviet government collapsed, with no moral framework within individuals to control their urges and guide them, all hell broke loose.
And it has, as many who have lived there know. The more you can fool the government or any authority figure for that matter, the more you are respected. Within this context, Putin would be respected for schnookering the US.
Edited for brevity.
About 90 conservative organizations such as the Korea Veterans Association (KVA) and Constitution Law Advocates established a cyber organization to face off with the Internet's pro-North Korea and leftists forces, and in so doing decided to plunge into a full-scale "cyber ideology war." It's known that about 50,000 "Internet security warriors" would participate in the organization. According to the KVA, the participating civic groups will hold a ceremony to launch the ¡°People's Council to Save the Country through Internet¡± in front of 1,000 people at the KVA¡¯s auditorium in Seoul on Thursday. The groups plan to use the occasion to begin their full-scale activities.
Posted by: Dar ||
11/18/2004 1:17:30 PM ||
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North Korea's official media have dropped the honorific ``dear leader'' from reports on Kim Jong Il, a Japanese news agency reported a day after other reports said his portrait had been removed at some public sites. The North's Korean Central Broadcast, the Korean Central News Agency and other media are describing the nation's leader as ``general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea,'' ``chairman of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea National Defense Commission'' and ``supreme commander of the Korean People's Army,'' Tokyo-based Radiopress said on its Web site.
Lee Dong Bok, former assistant director of Seoul's National Intelligence Service, said he doesn't put much ``weight'' on the reports. Still, the reports have prompted questions about whether Kim is losing his grip on power or playing down the cult status imposed by his late father Kim Il Sung, who was called ``great leader'' by the government-owned media. The speculation comes amid international pressure for Kim to resume six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program. Kim, 64, took over as dictator of the impoverished country after the death of his father in 1994. North Korea has suffered about a decade of drought, famine and economic mismanagement, relying on international aid to help feed its 22 million people. The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency has said the nation deals in arms and drugs to earn foreign currency.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/18/2004 5:26:14 AM ||
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#2
Following from yesterday's report that Kim was depressed about Bush winning and Kerry losing. Would'nt it drive the Left apeshit if the Nork military decided to whack Kim because Bush got re-elected. HE HE HE
#3
He's 64. Maybe he's retiring soon. The prospect of being up against Bush until he's 68 or 69 may just have him thinking. And maybe he's also thinking back a few months to that mysterious railyard blast that he alledgedly just missed by hours.
Posted by: Tom ||
11/18/2004 8:14 Comments ||
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#4
He must have a son who's chomping at the bit to take over. Britain has the same problem but Chuck seems like a good son and who could pop their mother. But Kimmie? I'd keep my eyes on the kids if I were you, Dear Leader.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/18/2004 8:17 Comments ||
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#5
Um, has anybody seen him in public recently? Totalitarian cult-of-personality types like Kim Jong Il don't just "lose grip" on their states - they either die like Kim's father, get overthrown by an invasion by foreigners, like Saddam or Pol Pot, or get eaten by the tiger, like Ceausescu.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
11/18/2004 8:32 Comments ||
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#6
this de culting may simply be a device for flushing his enemies into the open
#7
Hint: watch if they photoshop out his poofy hair (source all his power - like Samson)
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/18/2004 10:26 Comments ||
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#8
Interesting. I just looked over the last few weeks of Nork news and they're right. He is called by his official titles or just "leader". And Kim Yong Nam, president of the Presidium of the DPRK Supreme People's Assembly, seems to be meeting with and sending messages to other leaders.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/18/2004 11:09 Comments ||
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#9
Will you still need me
Will you still feed me
When I'm sixty-four?
Maybe Kimmie is so depressed over the death of his concubine that he is a blubbering idiot now and cannot govern. The govt is trying to make a transition.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/18/2004 11:20 Comments ||
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#10
Perhaps "Team America" convinced a few of the more powerful NorK insiders the KJI was an object of international ridicule that no one took seriously. A view reinforced by the fact that no one, especially President Bush, pays any attention to the posturing, foaming-at-the-mouth, diatribes emanating from Pyongyang anymore. It's hard to be an all powerful godlike dictator when people laugh at your picture. Score one for the Bush policy of indifference to these buffoons.
#11
I remember something my Soviet History professor said: every tyrrany has a succession problem. The USSR never quite solved its succession problem, and that's a large part of why it's not there anymore. North Korea opted for primogeniture when the Great Leader expired, which solved the problem for that iteration, but I understand the children of the Head of State Formerly Known as the Dear Leader have not been prepared to assume the mantle. Wouldn't shock me if the the NorK regime collapses because it can't figure out who (or what) comes next.
Posted by: Mike ||
11/18/2004 12:41 Comments ||
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#12
Maybe there's not as much money flowing in as there used to?
We could have severely cut into their weapons and drug trade.
#15
Wut about the overpowering, all-world "Spirit of Juche"?
Ironically, it may have led to the demotion of Kim. It's possible that Kim was measured against the 'Spirit of Juche', found wanting, and given figurehead status.
From Paek-du mountains, 1000km long beautiful realm
All look up to the General and cheer him.
He is the people's leader to inherit the great work of the Sun.
Long live, long live, General Kim Jeong-Il !
Millions of flowers on the earth tell us his love.
Blue waves of the ocean sing of his work.
He is the creator of happiness to grow the garden of Ju-che.
Long live, long live, General Kim Jeong-Il !
He protects socialism with his courage like steel.
He makes our country famous in the world.
He is the defender of justice with a flag of autonomy.
Long live, long live, General Kim Jeong-Il !
A article by Ted Dalrymple - we've heard from him before on the undercurrents of Islam in Europe. Why Theo Van Gogh Was Murdered
The slaughter of filmmaker Theo Van Gogh on the streets of Amsterdam, in broad daylight, by a young man of Moroccan origin bent on jihad, has at last dented Dutch confidence that unconditional tolerance can be on its own the unifying principle of a viable society. For tolerance to work, it must be reciprocal..... But why kill Theo Van Gogh, of all the people who have expressed hostility to radical Islam? Perhaps it was mere chance, but more likely it resulted from his work's exposure of a very raw nerve of Muslim identity in Western Europe: the abuse of women. This abuse is now essential for people of Muslim descent for maintaining any sense of separate cultural identity in the homogenizing solution of modern mass society.
In fact, Islam is as vulnerable in Europe to the forces of secularization as Christianity has proved to be. The majority of Muslims in Europe, particularly the young, have a weak and tenuous connection to their ancestral religion. Their level and intensity of belief is low; pop music interests them more. Far from being fanatics, they are lukewarm believers at best. Were it not for the abuse of women, Islam would go the way of the Church of England. ...the oppression of women by Muslim men in Western Europe gives those men at the same time a sexual partner, a domestic servant, and a gratifying sense of power, while allowing them also to live an otherwise westernized life. For the men, it is convenient; interestingly, but perhaps not surprisingly, almost the only openly hostile expressions toward Islam from British-born Muslims that I hear come from young women, some of whom loathe it passionately because they blame it for their servitude.
Religious sanction for the oppression of women (whether theologically justified or not) is hence the main attraction of Islam to young men in an increasingly secular world. This explains why a divide often opens between brothers and sisters in the same European Muslim family; the sisters want liberty, but the brothers enforce the old rules. They have to, or the whole gratifying system breaks down. This, I suspect, is the source of the rage against Theo Van Gogh.
Posted by: mhw ||
11/18/2004 11:39:32 AM ||
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#1
that is really interesting MHW thankyou! i read ted dalrymple's book on the worldview that shapes the underclass.
it was FANTASTIC.
I've lent it to 3 people and it rocked their worlds too.
I'm gonna photocopy bits and leave it round the library just to pee off the left wing controllers.
#3
Interesting analysis but I'll stick with a simpler framework (that doesn't conflict with Dalrymple's insight): this is just another version of fascism. I think further psychoanalysis of the jihadis is pointless-- it's unlikely that we'll really get inside their twisted heads, and in any case their behavior conforms to pretty much everything we know about fascism, which makes it easier for us to predict. Namely:
1) the cult of death. See "Viva El Muerte!", Hitler's SS and Totenkopf units etc.
2) closely related to #1, the warrior cult and the glorification of even pointless acts of violence-- including, or even especially, suicide-- as the fascist/jihadist's highest achievement. See Mishima, Mussolini, etc etc.
3) the cult of the elect, defined in tribalistic terms, and with it the denigration of the jews as the ultimate enemy tribe.
4) the lack of any serious interest in economic systems or economic theory; or in art or philosophy; or in complex social relations or modern political arrangements beyond the overlay of a simplified political party structure onto an essentially tribal/kinship authority structure. Warriors don't need elections or political debate. Orders are given by the leaders, the hard men, and are executed by the devoted, the true and holy.
We know how fascists behave, and we know that "dialogue" with them is pointless. As is endless psychoanalyzing. And we know from our own experience that only overwhelming military victory can eliminate fascism as a serious political force. So enough BS'ing. Just win, baby.
#4
Perhaps it may also have something to do with Islamofacism's assault on Western Civilization, and that Theo VanGogh was the great-great-grandson of Vincent?????
AMID speculation over the cause of Yasser Arafat's death, French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier today said France had nothing to hide concerning the late Palestinian leader's medical file. "France is not hiding anything. The Palestinian leaders came to Paris ... before Yasser Arafat's death (and) met extensively with the medical team" treating him at a military hospital, Mr Barnier told French television. "After having met the medical team, the Palestinian foreign minister Nabil Shaath himself said that the rumour (that Arafat) was poisoned was unfounded."
Mr Barnier said all of Arafat's medical records had been provided to the late leader's family, including his widow Suha. Arafat died at a French military hospital last Thursday, aged 75, after slipping into a coma on November 3. Under French law protecting medical privacy, Mr Barnier said, "The medical file is sent to the family, to everyone who has a right to it, who asks for it. And that is probably how ... the contents of the dossier will become known". It is up to Arafat's next of kin to determine when to publish the information, the foreign minister added. Primarily in the Arab world, rumours have been flying since Arafat died that he could have been poisoned by Israeli agents. French newspaper Le Monde, citing "very good sources," today reported that the Palestinian leader died of a blood-clotting disorder and not of poisoning.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/18/2004 8:59:10 AM ||
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isn't the MSM funny? The spread far and wide the baseless rumor that he was poisoned - but they find integrity when it comes to the more reputable rumors that he died of AIDS.
Good tactic though. Plant the poison seed, let it grow and when the wannabelieves hear that he died of AIDS, they won't believe it. Poor Paleo's, they really are the saddest lot around. Suffer fools - or in this case, fools suffer.
Last year's U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and ousting of President Saddam Hussein has made the world more dangerous, French President Jacques Chirac said on the eve of a state visit to key U.S. ally Britain.
"M'sieur le President! This sore c'est festering!"
"Sacred blue! Just leave it alone. Medicating it will just make it more dangerous!"
The French leader's interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation, excerpts of which were aired Wednesday, indicate little chance of success for British Prime Minister Tony Blair's efforts to mend Franco-American ties damaged by the Iraq war.
"Mend les fences? Take zat! An' zat! Now les fences sont mended!"
"Ummm... You bit my nose."
"I'm not at all sure that one can say the world is safer," Chirac said. "There is no doubt there has been an increase in terrorism. To a certain extent Saddam Hussein's departure was a positive thing but it also provoked reaction such as the mobilization in a number of countries of men and women of Islam which has made the world more dangerous."
"M'sieur le President! Zer are cockroaches scurrying about in le kitchen!"
"Don't bother the cockroaches, Legume! It will just cause more of them to appear!"
"I am not sure with America as it is these days that it would be easy for someone, even the British, to be an honest broker," he said.
"Only La Belle France can be relied upon to act as an honest broker!"
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/18/2004 4:46:05 AM ||
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#1
Lol - dangerous for whom mon ami? And what would a scumball like you know about honest brokers, Mssr Chirac, hmmmm?
#3
It's fair to argue that in the short run our invasion of Iraq has caused an increase of terrorism. Right now, Iraq is still a failed state that cannot control the development of terrorist organizations on its territory. And right now, our occupation of Iraq provides a plausible justification for Moslem terrorism.
However, in the long run, our invasion of Iraq will serve to grind down Islam terrorism -- its infrastructure and its justifications. We are enabling Moslem opponents of their terrorists to speak out, to debate, to criticise, to inform, and to fight back.
For the first time in their lives Iraq's Moslems will experience some justice and freedom, and many of them won't want to enslave themselves in another Islamic tyranny.
.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
11/18/2004 7:51 Comments ||
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#4
Last yearâs U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and ousting of President Saddam Hussein has made the world more dangerous Would that be for France?
#5
If only the "power brokers" in Iraq, and we are repeatedly told Sistani is an example of one who is apolitical and all that, would do something real, substantive, selfless. Be a phreakin' Founding Father. If only they were honest men with vision, then the day you refer to would come a helluvalot sooner.
As it is, we satisfy ourselves with the fact that what jihadis are being created are determined to step onto the flypaper and meet the killing machine. There is always an end to the pool of people with the stones to act - even in Islam. But in that pool there are more fools than there are good men and women who can shake off the indoctrination.
#6
Re #5 (.com):
There are many Iraqis who are doing something real, substantive and selfless to try to develop a democracy in their country.
I don't remember that I was ever told even once that Sistani is apolitical. I remember that I was told that he does not want the clergy to govern, but that he does want the government to obey Islamic principles. And I was told that he wants elections, because the Shia will dominate an elected government.
Don't be too pessimistic.
.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
11/18/2004 9:20 Comments ||
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So did American participation in WWII. It led to half-a-million American dead and millions of foreign dead among America's WWII allies, who might have surrendered, had they not been supplied by Uncle Sam. Not to mention the millions of Japanese and German dead that wouldn't have occurred without American intervention. If the US had stayed out, its losses might have been limited to the 3000 at Pearl Harbor.
#9
Ah, but the world is now a much more dangerous place....for secret bank accounts, traditional contract corruption, and comfortable retirements along the Riviera. All the great French political sport we've all come to enjoy and admire.
Posted by: Don ||
11/18/2004 10:48 Comments ||
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#10
Pardon Moi, but of course we cannot help, because the world is tres dangerous! We shall all be quite safe here behind the Maginot line!
#11
Jacky's been spouting an enormous amount of merde these days-- even by his standards. I have to think that this is a pre-emptive media offensive designed to keep the MSM off the scent of Jacky ChIraki's biggest con.
My bet's that we'll soon find out about OFF-related kickbacks directed ChIrak's way, either through oil trader intermediaries or else via TotalFinaElf as part of the Nov 2002 sweetheart deal with Saddam for W Qurna.
#12
Zhang Fei, I am reading correctly. You are saying after the Jap sneek attack at Pearl Harbor America should have 'stayed out'. I have have words but better not print them here.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/18/2004 23:15 Comments ||
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With concern growing about radical Islam in their midst, governments in western Europe are debating how to ensure that Muslim prayer leaders preach in the local language and spread messages of moderation rather than hate.
The killing two weeks ago of film-maker Theo van Gogh, an outspoken critic of Islam, has prompted Dutch parliamentarians to call for a ban on foreign imams in future and for the local training of preachers committed to Western ideals of tolerance.
In Belgium, Flemish Interior Minister Marino Keulen wants obligatory civics and language courses for foreign-born imams, who are the vast majority there - as elsewhere in Europe - and mostly preach in Arabic.
France, frontrunner in the drive to develop a European Islam immune to fundamentalist rhetoric from the Middle East, told its Muslim leaders on Tuesday to come up with a plan soon for educating new generations of Western-thinking imams locally.
Muslim leaders complain that the silent majority of peaceful believers is suspect because of a tiny radical fringe. But most support this effort both to reassure their governments and to guard against radicals trying to woo their flocks astray. This focus on imams reflects a recognition across Europe that officials have long ignored the faith of their marginalised underclass and the influence some preachers could have. But they do know most imams are poorly educated immigrants and that some are trained and funded by Arab states to preach an ultra-conservative Islam that clashes with Western concepts of tolerance, equality and justice.
Despite its strict separation of church and state, France is aiming at a hybrid curriculum with imams-to-be learning their theology in private Islamic institutes while studying French history and law at the Sorbonne or other state universities. After the Van Gogh murder, the Dutch cabinet proposed shutting down mosques that preach hate. Van Gogh angered Muslims with his film Submission criticising Islam for its treatment of women. Keulen said Muslims there had been "coddled too much" and their imams must "speak our language and know how our society works". Italy's Interior Minister Guiseppe Pisanu recently hailed moderate Muslims as "natural allies in the war on terrorism". The Madrid train bombings that killed 191 people last March prompted Spain and several other European countries to look more closely at what was being said in their mosques. In July, Britain's Home Secretary David Blunkett said imams would soon have to pass a basic English test before being able to preach. He also wanted a civics test for them in future.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/18/2004 10:34:12 PM ||
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#4
Studying at European universities is not a cure against tyranny, terror, and totalitarianism. Far from it.
For instance, Pol Pot was educated at Sorbonne, which is the main university campus in Paris. Other famous graduates of Sorbonne: Michel Aflaq, father of Baathism; Abimael Guzmán, leader of the Shining Path terrorists in Peru.
#6
These plans presume an awful lot -- like the ability of the imams to read, write and think at the university level... in any language. For too many of them their claim to fame is the rote memorization of the Koran in Arabic, which calls for neither critical thinking skills nor even the ability to understand the sounds emerging from one's mouth. But the very act of requiring formal education indicates that society has standards of behaviour even for these pampered persons, so perhaps there will be some effect (besides seething, I mean).
#7
Re #4 (Kalle): Studying at European universities is not a cure against tyranny, terror, and totalitarianism. ... Pol Pot was educated at Sorbonne ....
I wonder how many people have been educated at Sorbonne in the history of that university. I wonder what percent turned out like Pol Pot.
.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
11/18/2004 9:26 Comments ||
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#8
I would suggest the states of western europe work together, as there are substantial economies of scale in University education, and its difficult for a Holland to support the kind of institution envisioned.
The model here would be the Jewish Theological Seminary of Breslau, Germany, and its namesake in New York, which attempted (successfully, IMO) to meld classical Jewish learning (which also involved heavy memorization of texts) with modern Western approaches, and produced Rabbis at home in Western culture. (of course these were created by private Jewish initiative not at the whim of the state. In Russia state attempts were made, with considerably less success)JTS Breslau, IIUC, sent rabbis not only to Germany, but to the Czech lands, Hungary, etc. This reduced the impact in these lands of rabbis educated in the more "backward" yeshivas of poland and Lithuania.
#9
Only one really successfully acted on "turning out like Pol Pot". If you mean "back-to-the-land socialists" who would compell others "for their own good", the indication is a fair percentage.
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/18/2004 10:55 Comments ||
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#12
Suha went to the Sorbonne.
I went to the University of California, Berkeley.
So there.....
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/18/2004 11:30 Comments ||
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#13
I attended Columbia, Harvard, and the UC--lots of dictator admirers at all three schools. Mr Sylwester, did you not see this at the university you attended as well?
#14
The people in need of an education in Europe are the non-Islamic ones who apparently never learned about the Thirty Years War. A shame when a people neglects its own history.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/18/2004 11:37 Comments ||
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#15
It would indeed be a shame if the French neglected their history, since history is all they have now. The EU isn't exactly setting people's souls on fire, and shooting unarmed Africans is hardly the Battle of Austerlitz.
Prime Minister Paul Martin expelled renegade Liberal MP Carolyn Parrish from the party's caucus on Thursday, citing her "unacceptable" behaviour. Martin told reporters that while he has defended the controversial MP's right to speak in the past, he "cannot, as leader of our party and the government caucus, tolerate behaviour that demeans and disrespects others." Parrish, who represents the constituency of Mississauga-Erindale, is known for her outspoken remarks about Americans and U.S. President George W. Bush. Her ouster from caucus follows the release this week of footage from CBC-TV's This Hour Has 22 Minutes, in which she is shown stomping on a Bush action figure. The skit was filmed as Bush's office announced he would make a state visit to Ottawa later this month.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/18/2004 2:26:50 PM ||
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As much as I think she is an idiot, if you know what This Hour Has 22 Minutes is all about, you'd agree that this "stunt" was blown out of proportion. Nonetheless, she deserves much worse than simply being booted out of caucus. What an embarrassment.
Posted by: Rafael ||
11/18/2004 14:49 Comments ||
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#2
It's about time.
I looked at her website, and it is full of platitudes to the left.
Apparently the only redeeming factor about her is that she once owned a Boxer dog...
Since Martin had the good sense to do the right thing, let's let this drop, unless she opens her fat trap again...
If she does do something stupid publicly again, we in the Pajamadeen have to think of a creative way to show her what we think of her attitude towards the Prez.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/18/2004 16:46 Comments ||
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#9
MEOW! Catfight on aisle #8. Altho I agree w/Mrs. Davis.
Posted by: Stephen ||
11/18/2004 18:42 Comments ||
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#10
Update: Stomping on Bush was NOT the reason why Parrish was booted from caucus.
Ontario caucus chair Sarmite Bulte was asked why it's OK to bash the president of the United States, but not the Liberal team. "In any situation there's always a straw that breaks the camel's back and when she attacks our team â each and every member of our caucus and the leader â I think enough is enough." Source.
Posted by: Rafael ||
11/18/2004 20:20 Comments ||
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#11
Mrs. D. we are referring to, of course, the four legged sort of Boxer...
#12
Dissing the leadership of your own party too often is bad for your political longevity. This is the case here. It had nothing to do with her Bush bashing.
CIA Director Porter Goss told his new chief of spy operations this week to launch a much more aggressive espionage campaign that would use undercover officers to penetrate terrorist groups and hostile governments such as North Korea and Iran, according to a senior U.S. official with direct knowledge of Goss' plans. The risky new strategy would be a sharp departure from the CIA's traditional style of human intelligence, in which field officers under flimsy cover as diplomats in U.S. embassies try to recruit foreign spies and gather tips from allied intelligence services. Those methods don't work with terror groups or in countries where the United States has no embassies, such as prewar Iraq or present-day North Korea and Iran. The new strategy is dangerous — agents could gather much better information but would run a much higher risk of being killed if found out. Goss hinted at this strategy during his confirmation hearing and has told agency officials it is key to his effort to revamp the agency to meet new and unconventional threats...
#1
A former security officer for United Airlines describes the chilling effect that bias investigations have on a pilot's safety decisions. Let's say the government has just raised the terror alert level. Just before takeoff, a flight attendant tells her pilot: "I'm scared of these five guys in back; they're talking intensely, but they get quiet when I pass." The pilot responds: "Tell me more." "I saw them before boarding, and they pretended not to know one another." The pilot observes them and sees the same thing. He decides to take them off that flight for a further security check.
Transportation Department lawyers soon contact the flight manager about a discrimination complaint; the manager interviews the pilot and asks him to write a report. The pilot comes back to work, but week after week he hears nothing about the investigation. DoT is in no hurry. The pilot's anxiety level goes through the roofâmaybe he'll be sued or fired.
The next time a security question arises, will he make the same decision? wonders the ex-United official. Not if DoT can help it. "DoT is hoping he changes his behavior and looks for the positive: 'These guys are nicely dressed; I probably intimidate them. Heck, maybe they're talking about women!'
I see Clarke's still working on his fifteen minutes of fame...
I'm having a Horshack moment...Mr. Kotter! Mr. Kot-tair!
The CIA had some low-level spies inside Al Qaeda in the three years before the Sept. 11 attacks, but none who could provide advance information about the group's movements, according to testimony released on Wednesday from a closed-door intelligence briefing in 2002. The CIA did not have spies inside the network run by Osama bin Laden until 1999, but "none of them very high-level," Richard Clarke, a former White House counterterrorism official, told the joint congressional committee investigating Sept. 11.
In a rare move, the Senate Intelligence Committee released a 103-page declassified transcript of the June 11, 2002, closed-door briefing on its Web site late on Wednesday. Most of the information had been made public during subsequent open hearings and in the final report of the joint inquiry. The CIA "never had anyone in position to tell us what was going to happen in advance, or even where bin Laden was going to be in advance," Clarke told lawmakers.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/18/2004 11:26:59 PM ||
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Great Richard, and thanks. And can you tell us about that Y2K bug again? Not THAT was interesting...
#3
Wrong question Kalle (heh) - from Clarkie's perspective the question is if there's another book, here. And speaking engagements, gotta have those, too. Condi bitch-slapping him at the 9/11 Commission hearings on TV cut short the last tour.
:^)
Excerpts from Following a near-verbatim transcript of the November 17 briefing by Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Question: I heard on television news this morning that Saddam Hussein, with the "oil-for-food" programme, they made it a whole case where he had hoodwinked the United Nations and got all this money. And he used it to pay suicide bombers to bomb Israel. And there was going to be a congressional investigation and the UN said no, it doesn't look good for the UN. Do you have a comment?
Spokesman: There were press accounts that Saddam Hussein had paid [compensation to] the families of suicide bombers but to our knowledge this matter was never taken up by the Security Council's 661 Committee on Iraqi sanctions. As you may know, there were hearings in Washington on the oil-for-food programme, or more broadly, on Saddam Hussein and the skimming of oil money for a variety of purposes, that took place on Monday in the Senate and will take place this afternoon on the House side. In the Senate hearings, there was a revelation on Monday that the amount of money that had been diverted totalled $21.3 billion. Senator Levin, one of the two co-chairs holding those meetings, pointed out that a substantial portion of this money pre-dated the oil-for-food programme so this is not all money that is linked to the oil-for-food programme.
As for the oil-for-food money, none of it was to have gotten into Saddam's hands. It was to go into a UN escrow account to be used for meeting the humanitarian needs of all Iraqis. My last comment would be just to recall what the Secretary-General said to the Security Council in March 2001: that oil money deposited in any other account, besides the UN escrow account, was illegal and a breach of sanctions. So the whole purpose of the Volcker investigation is to find out the extent of that breach, and who was responsible. ....
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
11/18/2004 11:43:52 PM ||
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That does it. Get us out of the UN now! kick them out and shoot all them that will not leave New York.
From Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
For the second straight year, the UN General Assembly's human rights committee has passed a resolution raising concern over rights abuses committed by Iran. The assembly's human rights committee approved a resolution calling on Iran to carry out reforms to curb abuses ranging from suppression of media to torture and discrimination against women and minorities. The measure was approved yesterday by a vote of 69 to 55, with 51 abstentions. It is expected to be approved by the assembly next month.
Canada sponsored the resolution for the second year in a row. Its UN ambassador, Allan Rock, told the committee he hopes the measure will promote change in Iran. "For those many who are denied the right to speak out, for those minorities who suffer persecution in silence, for women who face discrimination, hardships and sometimes physical harm, it is our desire to improve their lives that motivates this resolution," Rock said.
The resolution noted some positive developments, such as the visits to Iran of UN rapporteurs and human rights dialogues between Iran and a number of states. But Rock said the overall situation has deteriorated since last year and that it is important to bring the weight of international opinion to bear on Iran. The resolution is not binding but carries symbolic importance.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
11/18/2004 10:22:54 PM ||
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A private intelligence firm hired by the United Nations to look into corruption in the oil-for-food program provided valuable leads to U.N. investigators, but they were ignored, the company's director says. "We found it extremely frustrating to be in a position where we could do something significant to dramatically assist the investigation into the oil-for-food fraud and not be allowed to proceed," said Derek Baldwin, director of operations for IBIS Risk Management Services Inc.
Mr. Baldwin said Mr. Volcker's panel, the Independent Inquiry Committee (IIC), tasked his company in June to use its intelligence sources in the Middle East and Europe to assist the probe of the $64 billion program. In a report produced for the IIC, the company uncovered new information and people with knowledge about the oil-for-food activities in Iraq, Cyprus, Jordan, Kuwait, Iran, Dubai, Egypt, Switzerland and France. U.N. investigators asked IBIS to reveal its sources for the data and then said they wanted to limit the scope of the company's work to Jordan, Kuwait and Cyprus, Mr. Baldwin said. "We don't reveal our sources and methods," he said, noting that the company has had agents in Iraq since the early 1990s, including former Iraqi intelligence and oil ministry officials. Three of the company's sources were killed recently in terrorist violence, he said.
Mr. Baldwin said new information related to the U.N. oil-for-food program uncovered by the company includes:
â¢A network of Iranians who were involved in smuggling oil under the U.N. program.
â¢Connections between the U.N. program and a French organized crime figure who U.S. officials said was a conduit for oil-for-food-related payments to French President Jacques Chirac.
â¢Information on the Swiss-based company Cotecna, which was involved in border inspections of oil-for-food goods. Cotecna at one point during the oil-for-food program hired Mr. Annan's son as a consultant.
"As an experienced investigator, it became clear to me that the U.N. is failing to act on the leads and intel streams developed by us in specific areas where we were asked to develop leads and intel streams," said Mr. Baldwin, a fraud investigator and former intelligence official. "That is inexplicable." A spokesman for the IIC did not return telephone calls seeking comment on Mr. Baldwin's statements. Mr. Baldwin said he could only guess why the U.N. investigation panel did not pursue the leads. He said it was either the result of incompetence or because the U.N. wants to ignore information that could pose problems for the world body. He said his company pulled out of its agreement to work with the U.N. panel after the IIC kept asking the company to reveal its sources. "They kept telling us they were going to hire us. We had some very, very good sources and directions to go in, and they just kept stalling," Mr. Baldwin said. "It's the strangest investigation we've ever been involved in, and we withdrew in order to preserve our own credibility with our own sources and our people."
Posted by: lex ||
11/18/2004 7:25:15 AM ||
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"We donât reveal our sources and methods," he said, noting that the company has had agents in Iraq since the early 1990s, including former Iraqi intelligence and oil ministry officials.
Noted.
.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
11/18/2004 10:07 Comments ||
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#2
Given enough time, I would imagine one of the many money trails will head toward Chiraq. Senator Coleman will not let go of the Oil for Palaces scandal. The longer it is stonewalled, the bigger it will get. Barbara, please pass the popcorn!
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/18/2004 11:26 Comments ||
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#3
I caught the opening of the Senate inquiry yesterday on FOX but was disappointed that they couldn't stay with it and that CSPAN wasn't covering this. Not cool!
#4
I would imagine one of the many money trails will head toward Chiraq
Agreed. Pretty easy to connect the dots here. What majority state-owned French company for nearly thirty years has been used by French politicians of both parties as a slush fund? TotalFinaElf, formerly Elf Aquitaine.
How did the kickbacks work? By French officials intervening in Elf's negotiations with third world governments and paying kickbacks to those nations' politicians. Having won lucrative contracts, Elf would then kick back money to the RPR or the Socialists' election funds. Of course, money would be siphoned off by corrupt senior officials at Elf and probably by corrupt French pols.
Who's the most corrupt politician in France? The man who successfully ran for president several years ago in order to avoid criminal prosecution, our very own Jacky ChIraki.
Which company won what is almost certainly the most lucrative overseas government contract awarded during the last twenty years? TotalFinaElf, recipient of a sweetheart deal with Saddam in Nov 2002 for exclusive rights to develop one-third of Iraq's oil reserves, reportedly at a ridiculously high guaranteed profit margin.
#5
I would imagine one of the many money trails will head toward Chiraq
Agreed. Pretty easy to connect the dots here. What majority state-owned French company for nearly thirty years has been used by French politicians of both parties as a slush fund? TotalFinaElf, formerly Elf Aquitaine.
How did the kickbacks work? By French officials intervening in Elf's negotiations with third world governments and paying kickbacks to those nations' politicians. Having won lucrative contracts, Elf would then kick back money to the RPR or the Socialists' election funds. Of course, money would be siphoned off by corrupt senior officials at Elf and probably by corrupt French pols.
Who's the most corrupt politician in France? The man who successfully ran for president several years ago in order to avoid criminal prosecution, our very own Jacky ChIraki.
Which company won what is almost certainly the most lucrative overseas government contract awarded during the last twenty years? TotalFinaElf, recipient of a sweetheart deal with Saddam in Nov 2002 for exclusive rights to develop one-third of Iraq's oil reserves, reportedly at a ridiculously high guaranteed profit margin.
#7
Connections between the U.N. program and a French organized crime figure who U.S. officials said was a conduit for oil-for-food-related payments to French President Jacques Chirac.
FRED! Where's the Surprise Meter at zero picture?!?!?!?!?!?!?
I still have my doubts about IBIS Risk Management Services Inc.
I have no doubt that Saddam Hussein bribed lots of people with oil vouchers. There's lots of evidence about that.
There's no evidence that any of the money went to Cotecna.
.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
11/18/2004 21:21 Comments ||
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#9
No - a contract did - because they hired Kojo - that's patronage, Mike - corruption - Kofi and Kojo, whether you're in denial or not. Or, more likely, maybe your morals and ethics are the same as theirs?
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/18/2004 21:26 Comments ||
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⢠35,000 die since UN first warned Sudanese government over its genocidal policy
⢠Situation in Darfur 'spiralling out of control'
⢠Critics say UN has failed to grasp urgency of situation in Darfur
Key quote
"Unless the Security Council backs up its earlier ultimatums with strong action, ethnic cleansing in Darfur will be consolidated. And hundreds of UN personnel will be on the ground helplessly watching as it happens." - Peter Takirambudde of Human Rights Watch's Africa division
THE price of the United Nations' procrastination over the genocide in Sudan is revealed today in stark human terms: 35,000 further deaths since the UN Security Council first warned Khartoum to clean up its act. As the 15-strong Security Council meets in special session in Nairobi today to debate Sudan, the crisis in Darfur is worse than on 30 July when the first resolution was approved by 13 votes to nil. Every five minutes, another person dies. UN staff say the Khartoum government's armed forces have continued to attack their own people. Refugees have been beaten while UN workers stand by helplessly. Women and children have been gunned down in Darfur's marketplaces. The world's worst current humanitarian crisis is getting worse.
The death toll has been notoriously difficult to tally, thanks, in large part, to the obstructiveness of the Sudanese government. A figure of 70,000 deaths has been mooted, but aid workers say that simply accounts for deaths as a result of military action. Yesterday, the British aid agency Save the Children took the plunge: its spokesman, Paul Hetherington, estimated that between 200,000 and 300,000 people had died since the start of the Darfur conflict. According to the UN's World Food Programme, about 10,000 people are dying every month.
Since 13 May, when Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary General, wrote to Omer al-Bashir, Sudan's president, urging him to disarm the Janjaweed militias, maintain the ceasefire, improve access for humanitarian workers and negotiate a settlement to the conflict in Darfur, 61,500 have died.
Since 30 June, when Mr Annan arrived in Khartoum for the start of a three-day visit to see for himself the extent of the crisis, 46,000 people have died.
Since 30 July, when the UN Security Council voted to take action against Sudan if it did not make progress on the pledges it had made to relieve the situation in Darfur, 36,000 people have died.
Since 6 October, when Tony Blair stopped off in Khartoum and confidently announced he had secured a pledge from the Sudanese government to clean up its act and accept a five-point plan for action, including a force of several thousand African Union troops, 14,000 people have died.
There's more.. Where are you on this genocide, Mr Kofi Annan? Counting your oil-for-food profits?
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/18/2004 5:50:00 AM ||
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#1
Where are you on this genocide, Mr Kofi Annan? Counting your oil-for-food profits?
Do you have any evidence that Kofi Annan has personally profited from the Oil-for-Food Program? Kojo worked for Cotecna, which had a UN contract. That's all your evidence? Anything else at all? That's very weak substance for all your venom.
What do you think the UN should do about Darfur? What is Kofi Annan not doing that you thing he should do?
Serious answers to serious questions would be much more interesting from you than silly demagoguery.
Yes, the UN has structural weaknesses as a body, and, yes, its many members have weaknesses as individual countries, and, yes, many atrocious situations cannot be fixed easily or perhaps at all.
That doesn't mean, though, that all these problems are explained by scare-stories about Kofi Annan's personal greed and corruption.
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Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
11/18/2004 9:44 Comments ||
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#2
It's not Comfy's personal greed that is letting the genocidal Sudanese off the hook, it's his complete and utter ineptitude. And the smirk on his face when he described the invasion of Iraq as 'illegal' didn't inspire much confidence, either.
#4
Re #2 (Onionman) It's not Comfy's personal greed that is letting the genocidal Sudanese off the hook
I agree with you, Onionman. Thank you for your wise support on that point. Together we can correct many Rantburgers' mistaken opinion about that.
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Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
11/18/2004 10:13 Comments ||
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#5
Re #3 (Jules)
I don't understand your point. Please re-state your comment understandably to me.
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Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
11/18/2004 10:14 Comments ||
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#6
Mike
Not only were you talking about Kofi, you were talking about the UN-its structure and its value, weren't you?
Yes, the UN has structural weaknesses as a body, and, yes, its many members have weaknesses as individual countries, and, yes, many atrocious situations cannot be fixed easily or perhaps at all. That doesn't mean, though, that all these problems are explained by scare-stories about Kofi Annan's personal greed and corruption.
I think it's important to start the discussion about whether Kofi is a worthy head of an organization by reminding ourselves what the purpose of the UN is; then people can analyze his actions/inactions/words/silences in the context of his role there.
#9
Is the genocide "out of control," or going according to plan? Remember, this is the UN, in which Cuba, Sudan, Zimbabwe, and Iran are considered legitimate.
#10
An organization that allows a dictator to sift 22 billion dollars from the oil for food program, allows countries such as Sudan (who this article is about)and Cuba, and who's primary actions to a crisis is inaction has worse problems then just structural weaknesses as a body. As for Kofi he hasn't been tied directly to the Oil for food scandel yet, but give it time.
#11
...UN has failed to grasp urgency of situation in Darfur
Bzzzzt! Wrong! The UN knows exactly what's going on. Anyone who gives the UN ANY credibility is is beyong hope. I honestly think there isn't a more corrupt human organization on the face of the earth.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/18/2004 20:39 Comments ||
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#13
Re #6 (Jules): I think it's important to start the discussion about whether Kofi is a worthy head of an organization by reminding ourselves what the purpose of the UN is; then people can analyze his actions/inactions/words/silences in the context of his role there.
I don't agree with you that that's the best way to start the discussion, but OK, let's start it your way.
Kofi Annan is the UN General Secretary. His main responsibilities are to implement the decisions of the Security Council and to manage the UN's administration.
What decisions of the Security Council do you think he hasn't implemented? Have any members of the Security Council complained about his performance of that mission? To my knowledge, none have.
In particular, with regard to this posted article, the Security Council simply warned Sudan to begin correcting the problems in Darfur.
What's your complaint about his management of the UN's administration? Conservative US Senator Jesse Hemls was so pleased with Kofi Annan's improvements in that area that he arranged for the US Congress to pay up all its dues, which Senator Helms had blocked for many years.
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Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
11/18/2004 21:37 Comments ||
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#14
Re #10 (BillH): As for Kofi he hasn't been tied directly to the Oil for food scandel yet, but give it time.
He's "tied" to the Oil-for-Food scandal in the sense that it was a program managed by the UN, and he was the General Secretary.
There's no evidence at all that he profited personally or that any of his decisions were motivated by personal profit.
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Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
11/18/2004 21:43 Comments ||
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Frustration is mounting in the US administration over what it sees as the UN's reluctance to commit staff in Iraq and unhelpful comments from UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, The New York Times reported on Sunday.
I'm coming to the conclusion that we're going to wait until Kofi's gone from his position in 2006 before deciding whether to bail from the UN. If his successor is just as bad — Khatami, for instance — we'll hang it up. If there's an improvement, we may hang in. But I don't think things are going to improve at the UN. I think they're going to get worse, and that more corruption is going to become more inescapable.
In an interview with the Times, Annan defended the UN role in Iraq as "essential" and said he was distressed by the criticism.
Take a pill, then.
But White House officials are saying the United Nations is drifting towards irrelevance and are developing a dismissive attitude towards Annan, according to a senior US official at the UN. "The Iraqis and the Americans are completely frustrated," the official was quoted as saying. "The secretary-general is still recommending many thousands of peacekeepers for Sierra Leone and the Congo, and yet there are seven election workers in Iraq. That tells the whole story."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/18/2004 11:33:00 PM ||
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#1
Good. As with the idiotically belated WaPo realization that Iran might be developing a nuke missile (duh!), people in the US are waking up to the disaster and resource black hole that is the UN.
Some day, perhaps a couple of years from now, there will be sufficient force behind the realization to act. To design a replacement that makes sense and learns from Grand International Union Mistake #2.
We can do it right, eventually, but we have to quit betting our money, resources, and good will on another losing hand. Gotta know when to fold 'em.
#2
About Time! Annan has this insatiable propensity at worrying about lone insurgent mistreatments, and turning a blind eye to the hundreds of thousands of Africans that cry out for his (UN) interdiction! Come to think of it...I have never seen him sweat!
MSM, Arabs, and UN: "We have no security in Iraq!"
A mission to kill the scum bags begins....
MSM, Arabs, and UN "We must stop the fighting immediately!"
Mission successfully ends and a car bomb goes off elsewhere....
MSM, Arabs, and UN: "We have no security in Iraq!"
Solutions offered (MSM, Arabs, UN).....
...........Hey! Look over there a pretty bird!
Everyone is concerned about a Marine shooting a wounded insurgent (who supposedly want to die anyways) under uncertain combat conditions. Even though the day before or the same day a Marine was wounded after a body of an insurgent was booby trapped.
Yet, kidnap and shoot a helpless 59 year old CARE aid worker in the back of the head (in the proudest tradtion of "brave" Mooselimb "warriors" and you get nothing. Not from the MSM, the UN, CARE, or the Arabs.
Asshats.
Hey Coffee Ann Ann, how you and Voelker coming along with those oil for food documents anyway? Oh say hi to your son JoJo for us. I hear he fell into a great deal of cash for his (Cough, cough) hard work.
#5
If the Bush Administration intends to undermine Kofi Annan, then it will be in for a very rude surprise when the UN elects his successor, who will be much more hostile to the USA than Kofi Annan is.
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Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
11/18/2004 10:00 Comments ||
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#6
That sounds remarkably like a threat of extortion.
#8
If an election were to be held today to decide if the US should leave the UN, what would the results be?
I know it is just a dream, but would it not be wonderful if Americans were to vote to leave the most inefficient and corrupt organization in the world?
#9
If the Bush Administration intends to undermine Kofi Annan, then it will be in for a very rude surprise when the UN elects his successor, who will be much more hostile to the USA than Kofi Annan is.
Just so you know, the UN doesn't have any God-given right to U.S dollars.
#10
a very rude surprise when the UN elects his successor, who will be much more hostile to the USA
You could be right, I hear Clinton wants Kofi's job!
#11
If the UN intends to alienate the US, then it will be in for a very rude surprise when the US withdraws. We saw how well that works with the League of Nations.
It will also be very interesting to see the US fail to veto a more hostile GS than Kofi, especially as W will still be president in '06.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/18/2004 11:31 Comments ||
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#12
I would not be surprised if Clinton begins to lobby for the job. Not a bad choice, all in all.
In any case I'd bet there's now a task force or two within the Bush admin working on setting up a parallel group or organization that will make the UNSC completely irrelevant. Probably a US and Asia-centered group of twelve or so nations, with European representation limited to three: UK, EU rep, Russia.
#13
If the Bush Administration intends to undermine Kofi Annan, then it will be in for a very rude surprise when the UN elects his successor, who will be much more hostile to the USA than Kofi Annan is.
Hey Mike:
Yeah, I'm shaking in my boots at all the STERNLY worded letters that are soon to follow.
Fuck the UN, fuck Kofi, and fuck you for being their self-appointed little girl.
#14
"But White House officials are saying the United Nations is drifting towards irrelevance and are developing a dismissive attitude towards Annan, according to a senior US official at the UN."
Maybe we can dismiss Koffee like we did Arafish? We saw what happened with him once he wasn't getting as much press (at least before his death).
Posted by: BA ||
11/18/2004 13:16 Comments ||
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#15
Somehow I really doubt that Khatami could be any more anti-American than Kofi. Khatami's just more honest about it. Kofi has the better wardrobe and doesn't shout.
I mean, really, why not? Libya's on the Human Rights commission at the UN, aren't they?
Better yet.....how about Jimmy Carter for UN leader? Why not the worst ex-prez?
#16
Dessrt Blondie,
NO, NO ,NO
Puleeze, not Jimmah
I cant stand the thought.......
He is the reason why I stopped eating peanut butter sandwiches cuz I was afraid one of Jimmah's peanuts may find it's way into my sandwich !
Posted by: Elder of zion ||
11/18/2004 14:20 Comments ||
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#17
Colin Powell should be Kofi's replacement. We should inist on it.
#19
...who will be much more hostile to the USA than Kofi Annan is.
So much the better. It's about time we all put our cards on the table. In words definitely and deeds most likely, the Kofi Annans and Jacques Chiracs are objectively our foes.
We just had an election where one of the salient issues was whether we were willing to go down the warpath alone or if we needed to bring our "allies" along with us or ask their permission to act. Seems to me the American electorate has spoken:
#20
Re #8 (Anonymous4724): If an election were to be held today to decide if the US should leave the UN, what would the results be?
About the same as if an election were to be held today to decide whether Patrick Buchanan should be President of the USA.
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Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
11/18/2004 21:45 Comments ||
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#21
If the Bush Administration intends to undermine Kofi Annan, then it will be in for a very rude surprise when the UN elects his successor, who will be much more hostile to the USA than Kofi Annan is.
Okay, criticism of, and frustration with, the UN Secretary General is now called 'undermining'.
As to Mr. Annan's successor: a more hostile one will be elected, regardless of what the Bush Administration does or does not do. No rude surprise there.
#22
I dunno about that, Mike. It been getting pretty obvious that the UN has outlived it's design criteria - that ended with the cold war. An org designed to do nothing and take it's time about it is pretty damn useless anymore, however good a brake it used to be in the superpower staredown.
IRANIAN supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has denounced what he described as crimes committed by "infidels" in the shattered Iraq city of Fallujah and called on the Muslim world to protest. "The massacre of civilians, women and children by the thousands, the execution of wounded, the destruction of homes, mosques and other places of prayer... makes every Muslim restless," Khamenei said in a statement read out on state television. What's the matter Khamenei, some of your best exported jihad boys got bagged in Fallujah, or could it be you are worried, you are next?
He said the Americans wanted to spread "the events of Fallujah elsewhere in Iraq, notably Mosul, Samarra and Baquba", as state television showed television pictures of a US Marine allegedly shooting dead an injured insurgent. Muslim governments "must protest against the crimes committed by the infidel oppressors," said Iran's all-powerful leader, while criticising "Arab and Islamic governments who stand by and watch while we hear appeals for help from the Iraqi people."
"All of these crimes are committed by the occupation forces under the pretext that terrorists are among the population. Does this seriously doubted pretext give the right to murder innocent people, to leace the injured untreated and abandon starving women and children?" the statement said. It's all practice to take out the mullahs.
The raid on Fallujah, part of an attempt to reclaim key lawless enclaves across the country ahead of January elections, has been the largest military operation in Iraq since the March 2003.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/18/2004 9:05:09 AM ||
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#1
Remember, don't send all your best hard boyz to Iraq... you'll need some when we come for you.
#3
IRANIAN supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has denounced what he described as crimes committed by "infidels" in the shattered Iraq city of Fallujah and called on the Muslim world to protest.
Ooooooh, looky boys and girls, it looks as if he really, honestly cares about what's happening to those poor bystanders in Fallujah.
#4
Um, who gives a hoot? His issue is the threat of a democratic Iraq next door. He already had to deal with a quasi democratic Afghanistan. The Mad Turbans are worried.
#5
When even our closest allies, like Khamenei, turn on us it is just another sign of the failure of our foreign policy! I still remember how gracious it was of the Iranians to "host" our embassy staff and Marines for over a year...FREE OF CHARGE!
I sure hope we can win back their friendship and respect! Maybe we could send the our military on a Goodwill Tour of their beautiful country!
#6
Actually a even a larger issue then a democratic Iraq next door is being surrounded by 150,000 U.S. troops without anything to do once Iraq is more stable.
An exiled Iranian opposition group claims that Iran obtained weapons-grade uranium and a design for a nuclear bomb from a Pakistani scientist. Farid Soleiman, a senior spokesman for the National Council of Resistance of Iran, told reporters Wednesday that Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan was behind the transaction. Soleiman said Khan, who ran a global nuclear black market that supplied Libya and Iran with uranium-enrichment technology, also gave Iran a Chinese-developed warhead design sometime between 1994 and 1996, the Indian Express reported Thursday.
Khan's operation was closed down earlier this year after pressure from the United States. Khan is widely regarded as the father of Pakistan's nuclear weapons program and remains a popular figure among his countrymen. The International Atomic Energy Agency has been investigating the possibility that Khan gave the bomb design to Iran, but as yet has found no proof. The agency has confirmed that Libya receiving the design from Khan's network in Pakistan. Diplomats in Vienna who follow the IAEA, the United Nations' nuclear watchdog, say the exiled Iranian group has been the best source of information on Tehran's previously undeclared nuclear program.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/18/2004 7:35:03 AM ||
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#1
Mph. We've been burned before by Exiled opposition groups.
In fact, the whole problem with the Iranian opposition (or the entire Middle East for that matter) is the fact that there's a lot of jaw-jaw but little to no act-act. The only act-act going on is the revolutionary guards doing a lot of smash-smash, lash-lash, stone-stone, and shoot-shoot.
The United States has concluded that Syria helped finance the Sunni insurgency in Iraq. Officials said the regime of President Bashar Assad used the state-owned Commercial Bank of Syria to relay hundreds of millions of dollars to Saddam Hussein loyalists in Iraq. They said the money has been deployed to finance the insurgency against the U.S.-led coalition primarily in Iraq's Sunni Triangle. The Commercial Bank of Syria held more than $1 billion in Saddam regime accounts on the eve of the U.S.-led war in Iraq in March 2003, officials said. Most of that money stemmed from Iraqi arms and oil smuggling as well as illegal commissions obtained from Iraqi oil sales overseen by the United Nations.
During a hearing by the Senate subcommittee on Nov. 15, Treasury Assistant Secretary Juan Carlos Zarate asserted that Syria has disbursed $600 million to unidentified Iraqis. Zarate, responsible for terrorist financing and financial crimes at Treasury, said a U.S. team was auditing the Commercial Bank of Syria in an attempt to trace the transfer of funds. "What we found was when we sent our investigators to Damascus, upon review of the documents and review of the transactional data, it became clear that the Syrians had, in fact, paid out the vast bulk of the amount that had existed in that particular account," Zarate said.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/18/2004 5:01:31 AM ||
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#1
Well, that was $600 million wasted -- the arms were free, liberated from Saddam's massive storage facilities, the terrorists were volunteers looking to die, and in the end all they are getting out of their investment is Fallujah rubble and Baathist widows. And clearly, the sponsored events in Iraq have not distracted Bush from annoyance at Syria's little peccadillos.
In fact, even without the clear wins in Afghanistan and Iraq, just by being there Coalition activities are flushing a lot of money, madmen and organizational ability out of the system, much as Israel's targetted assassinations are doing in the Palestinian territories. Dead and arrested people, spent money and used up materiel make me feel much more sanguine about my daughters' safety. Thank you, President Assad!
Washington's ambassador to Beirut on Wednesday called on the Lebanese government to deploy its army "very quickly" to the Israeli border area and disarm Hezbollah fighters there. "It's the responsibility of the Lebanese government to exercise control over the border area. It's essential that this happens very quickly," Jeffrey Feltman told a press conference in the capital, adding that it was up to the government to "disarm the militias". "The disarming of Lebanese militias has been done in the past, so why not again?" asked Feltman, referring to militias that were disbanded after the 1975-90 Lebanese civil war. Feltman said he was very serious about seeing Resolution 1559 implemented and that: "We want the Syrian army to leave Lebanon."
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/18/2004 4:22:57 AM ||
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Washington has information suggesting that Iran is seeking to adapt its missiles to carry nuclear warheads, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Wednesday. "I have seen some informations that would suggest that they've been actively working on delivery systems to deliver it," Powell told reporters traveling with him ahead of his arrival here to participate in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. "There is no doubt in my mind ... that they are interested in a nuclear weapon that have utility, meaning that this is something they would be able to deliver," said Powell.
That is sorta the next step.
"I'm talking of informations that suggest they were working hard as to how you could put the two together." Iran has pledged to the UN atomic watchdog—the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) -- to suspend activities related to uranium enrichment, the process that makes nuclear fuel but which can also be harnessed to produce the explosive core for atomic bombs. The Vienna-based IAEA announced Monday that Iran had pledged to suspend activities related to uranium enrichment by November 22. The IAEA is also investigating US charges that Iran is secretly developing nuclear weapons and is to decide on the Iranian dossier in Vienna on November 25.
Bet they've turned a blind eye to the rocket issue.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/18/2004 12:16:10 AM ||
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#1
Moutafa:"...HHmmmm, Mahmouh, is David coming over the hill yet?"
Mahmouh:"Naw, tha coast is clear!"
Moutafa:"HHmmm...how do you get this square thing in that round hole?"
Of course, there is nothing even remotely surprising in any of this. Suggestions to the contrary or notions that this isn't the logical conclusion of years of effort, much of it followed here on RB (e.g. I posted some links in this RB story last night - ridiculing the Drudge / WaPo "scoop", lol!), is just silly.
We knew this was coming, lol, no matter whether Drudge, WaPo, or BBC did.
#3
It's either Israel of US who will knock out Iran nuke weapons plant.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/18/2004 4:17 Comments ||
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#4
The problem is Iran building its plants in walled steel reinforced concrete buildings that makes the aerial attacks futile. These plants are structured in a way that protect them from smart bombs or cruise missiles. Amir-Ashkan
#6
The needle on my surprise meter just curled back
over the zero mark, in an attempt to show a negative value.
I toldja guys, the Iranian Mullah's are in a race against time, and they are being helped by the self-serving, impotent European Governments supervised and orchestrated by Kofi Annan and El-Baradei.
I hope that now with Condi at the reigns, the revised State Dept. is going to see through their lies.
I also hope Dubia is going to go berzerk on them as soon as possible, because if they get operational nukes there is not going to be any middle eastern democracy in Iraq, Heck, I doubt that there will be a middle east at all after the nukes start flying (and believe me they will).
The only solution I see in the short term will be a pre-emptive attack now (while we can).
My prediction stays firm : in less than half a year there will be a defanging strike either by The USA or, if they delay too much, by Israel.
Posted by: Elder of Zion ||
11/18/2004 4:49 Comments ||
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#7
EoZ -- Here are the money shots:
9/27/2004 - Iran Will Not Get Nuclear Weapon: Bush "In an interview Monday on Fox News, President BUSH said the United States was determined that Tehran not develop a nuclear weapon. 'Weâve made it clear: Our position is that they wonât have a nuclear weapon,' Bush said. 'We are working our hearts out so that they donât develop a nuclear weapon, and the best way to do so is to continue to keep international pressure on them.' Bush said he hopes to resolve the matter diplomatically. 'All options are on the table, of course, in any situation. But diplomacy is the first option,' he said."
Add to that this story:
9/23/2004 - Israelâs bunker bomb buy humiliates irks Iran "Israeli military officials said Tuesday that the Jewish state will receive nearly 5,000 smart bombs, including the 500 one-ton bombs that can destroy two-yard-thick (two-meter-thick) concrete walls."
#8
The bad news is this:the mullacracy in Iran has developed a ballistic missile capable of reaching south-east Europe, hundreds of miles further than Israel. So it is naiive to assume the mullah would not retaliate.
#9
Amir,
Saddam also had balistic missiles which he actually
fired on Israel in the first gulf war. They didnt kill directly even one person. (two elderly people died of heart attack, due to panic).
People tend to exaggurate the importance of a few conventional warheads.
Of course if they use non-conventional stuff all hell breaks loose, but the counterstrike would be so devastating that I think they cannot afford to do anything but deliver a token conventional response.
Posted by: Elder of Zion ||
11/18/2004 10:12 Comments ||
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#10
"...steel reinforced concrete buildings that makes the aerial attacks futile..."
Assuming conventional weapons. Force our hand, and we'll have to nuke the lid off.
Posted by: Tom ||
11/18/2004 10:18 Comments ||
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#11
Another option:
A strike on the facility using a conventional warhead to penetrate and then a secondary explosion releasing effectively a "dirty bomb" rendering the facility unuseable.
#12
Third option: use a penetrator tactical nuke small enough to vaporize a 1/2 square mile at most! Ohh, don't forget to drop it while it's raining at the site to minimize or wash down the fallout!!
#13
screw the fallout concern - I want it to be a veritable uninhabitable site - warning forever to future blackhats
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/18/2004 12:28 Comments ||
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#14
I hope we'll be able to avoid using a nuke on them (but I'd do it in a second if there was no alternative).
Underground hardened sites can be proof against a single strike by a bunker-buster. However, since we have air surpremacy, we don't have to limit ourselves to a single strike. We can use large blast conventional bombs to peel away the earth and concrete. With good laser guiding, it's not that difficult to place the bombs in the previous crater (we've done it in Iraq). You have to wait for the dust to settle, but we can stick around, since there's nothing they can do about it.
Or, we can bomb the surface installations to hell, then drop people down there to destroy the installations.
Or, we can bomb what we can of the installations, then start bombing the government buildings. Kill the ones who ordered this
#18
We must destroy the sites (>25 of them!) with whatever it takes. If we do this, we should also decapitate the regime. Perhaps the people could then take over and build a sane country. Faster, please.
#19
The complicating factor is the report by exiles that they have a secret facility buried beneath Teheran. We would have to be willing to kill a whole lot of civilians to take it out.
Posted by: too true ||
11/18/2004 17:17 Comments ||
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Lebanon might witness a clash between Internal Security Forces (ISF) and opposition members tomorrow, if the opposition holds a demonstration in Beirut's central district despite an official decision by the Interior Ministry banning public gatherings. "We will go on with the demonstration, and we do not care about the ban, it is our constitutional right," said Antoine Nasrallah, senior official at the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), which is organising the demonstration to commemorate Lebanese Independence Day.
The FPM is a Lebanese opposition movement, which has been vigorously calling for Lebanese independence from Syrian tutelage, and is headed by former army commander General Michel Aoun, who is currently in exile in France. "We just cannot understand how celebrating the Lebanese Independence Day might be a threat to internal security," said Nasrallah. "It just goes to prove that the current Lebanese authorities are going on with their suppressive methods, despite winds of change brought by the international community," he added, referring to UN Security Council resolution 1559 and the recent international pressure on both Beirut and Damascus to end the Syrian hegemony over Lebanon.
From his French exile, General Aoun also asserted on Tuesday the movement's intension to stage the peaceful demonstration, urging people to participate in the protest he labeled as "defying Syrian occupation". "This is not only celebrating Lebanese independence which took place 61 years ago, we are also remembering that this independence is still incomplete, as Lebanon is still suffering from Syrian occupation." Aoun said that the demonstration will take place under international focus, as "all eyes were open and watching events in Lebanon" in the wake of UN resolution 1559.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/18/2004 11:39:43 PM ||
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The Chaldean archbishop of Kirkuk criticized Western media "misinformation" about his country and insisted that Iraqis are looking forward to elections "because they will be useful for national unity." "It is not all death and destruction," explained Archbishop Louis Sako in an interview Tuesday published by AsiaNews. "Much is positive in Iraq today," he said. "Universities are operating, schools are open, people go out onto the streets normally." He did acknowledge that "where there's a kidnapping or a homicide the news gets out immediately, and this causes fear among the people." Yet, "there is no organized resistance" in Iraq, the prelate insisted. "Those who commit such violence are resisting against Iraqis who want to build their country.
"Iraqis instead are resisting against terrorism and are not carrying out attacks, which instead are the work of foreign infiltrators. I have stressed this before: Saudis, Jordanians, Syrians and Sudanese have entered Iraq. Prime Minister Allawi has said this as well. And clearly, there are also Iraqi collaborators who, for money, help the terrorist hide..." Archbishop Sako criticized Europe's absence from the scene. "Europe is absent, it's not out there; the United States is on its own," he said. Europe "must help the Iraqi government to control its borders to prevent the entry of foreign terrorists," but "also provide economic help to encourage a new form of culture which is open to coexistence, the acceptance of others, respect for the human person and for other cultures," the Chaldean prelate said. "Europe must understand that there is no time to waste on marginal or selfish interests: The entire world needs peace," he warned.
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/18/2004 21:47 Comments ||
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#4
"That cartoon certainly drew a significant amount of negative comment from our users," said WashingtonPost.com Executive Editor Doug Feaver when contacted by E&P. But he added that the decision to drop Rall was a "cumulative" one that had been building for a while.
I suppose they are to be commended for dropping his cartoon. I would have more respect for them, though, if they'd had him shot.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
11/18/2004 22:40 Comments ||
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#5
Smart move for the Post. Rall stopped being funny years ago and stopped being relevant 9/11/01.
The US missile defense system is still on track to go on alert by the end of this year and key US military commands are conducting "shakedown exercises" in preparation, a defense spokesman said Wednesday... US ground-based interceptor missiles are being installed in Alaska and California primarily to defend against a limited attack by a rogue power such as North Korea. The United States also has proposed a third interceptor site somewhere in Europe to expand coverage against missiles fired from the Middle East, though no decision has been made on where to locate it, said Rick Lehner, a spokesman for the US Missile Defense Agency. "This missile defense system as being deployed is not a threat to either the Russian or the Chinese strategic deterrent force," he said.
A sixth interceptor missile was installed in a silo at Fort Greely, Alaska last week and two more are due to be put in place before the end of the year at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, forming the first installment of the missile defense system. Lehner said the plan "is still to have them on alert by the end of the year." By the end of 2007, the numbers of ground-based missile interceptors are scheduled to grow to 28 at both the Alaska and California launch sites. By 2007, the agency also plans to have 18 Aegis warships armed with new and faster missiles capable of intercepting and destroying medium range missiles. Already two Aegis warships have been deployed in waters off North Korea to serve as platforms for forward radars for the missile defense system... "We're in a bit of a hurry, for no particular reason."
In video footage shot by an embedded CNN crew, soldiers walked through one imposing building with concrete columns with a large sign in Arabic on the wall reading "Al Qaeda Organisation" and "There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger." Kinda clarifies who he's working for ...
Inside the building, US soldiers found documents, old computers, notebooks, photographs and copies of the Koran. The footage also showed that flight patterns were found for aircraft, along with plans and instructions for how to shoot them down.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/18/2004 3:36:19 PM ||
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#1
with a large sign in Arabic on the wall reading "Al Qaeda Organisation"
ima think our inteligence gatherin is still need some work.
#5
Mike: But . . . but . . . but . . . there's no connection between the Iraq resistance and al Qaida!
Zarqawi may simply be basking in reflected glory. To us, it's a strange kind of glory, but Muslims do think of bin Laden as a hero. I don't really care if Zarqawi is related to al Qaeda. It is enough for me that he opposed the US invasion of Iraq and has killed hundreds of US troops. For that, he deserves to be hunted down and killed.
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/18/2004 14:22 ||
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#1
I lay blame for there deaths as doing a dangerous job in a dangerous place. I suspect many of the deaths are more a problem of the jurnos embeding themselves with the "insurgents." Don't expect us to cry when your anti US propaganda factory loses operatives Rooters.
#2
I wish the US were to blame for more journalists deaths. Three is a good start. After a couple of dozen end up dead, journos might finally get the message.
#3
Rooters sends these guys into a battlezone so that Rooters can make money off the stories they report. You don't want your guys getting killed, keep 'em home and forego the profit.
Posted by: Matt ||
11/18/2004 14:59 Comments ||
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I guess these guys need to learn that pointing lenses at US troops in the middle of a firefight can be unhealthy.
#6
They are not journalists---they are propagandists. They are as much an enemy as the jiihadists. They are covering PR for the enemy. Tough Schitskis, Reuters. Stay away from the war zone, or report from a safe bar booth and you will be ok.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/18/2004 15:13 Comments ||
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SPoD is right. When the rule is that you are either with us or against us, it's not smart for journalists to hang out with the other team. It's amazing that we haven't been able to bag more Al Jazeera "journalists" along with the Reuters guys.
#17
If that's the way they feel, we should be real up front to and declare open season. Happy huntin.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/18/2004 16:11 Comments ||
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This guy's silly. Like we'd waste our time, energy, and ammo on targeting pansie-assed journalism majors, gimme a break. We don't target them nor should we be overly concerned with their safety. They got their job to do and so do we, just keep them the hell out of our way. Candy-asses.
#22
Classical_Liberal, unlikely. But when the camera is facing sun and gives reflection, it my be mistaken for a sniper's sights. You don't think twain and make a nice head shot.
The U.S. Air Force's chief weapons buyer on Wednesday said he was quitting to help free promotions held up in the Senate over a stalled $23.5 billion plan to acquire Boeing Co. KC-767 aerial refueling planes. Marvin Sambur told Reuters he had resigned as assistant secretary for acquisition effective Jan. 20 or sooner, should President Bush's next choice for the job be confirmed earlier. "It's becoming pretty apparent that if I stayed it would be very difficult for the Air Force to have anybody confirmed," he said in a telephone interview. He said he had not decided where he might work next. On Tuesday, Air Force Secretary James Roche resigned in a move aides said also was meant to clear the way for Senate confirmation of officers bottled up by Armed Services Committee member John McCain. McCain, an Arizona Republican, has blocked a range of promotions over the Air Force push to acquire 100 KC-767 aerial tankers, an idea he denounced as a government handout to Chicago-based Boeing...
#1
Hold on a sec... you mean McCain was freezing promotions of people unrelated to the tanker deal in order to protest the tanker deal?
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
11/18/2004 13:32 Comments ||
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Yup, no promotions and no replacements for those old KC-135's either. I'm thinking nothing is going to be done till one of them snaps a wingspar on takeoff and flops onto a shopping mall. That might get McCain's attention.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/18/2004 14:47 Comments ||
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Posted by: Frank G ||
11/18/2004 14:58 Comments ||
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When the Navy stonewalled Tailgate, they held up promotions for the service. Guys, this is the power of Congress under Article 1 of the Constitution. This is a legacy of the English Civil War which still echoed with the founding fathers. The Pres may be the commander in chief, but the legislative body maintains control over the purse and personnel management issues like overall pay, size and rank composition.
Posted by: Don ||
11/18/2004 15:07 Comments ||
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I worked with Dr. Sambur in a previous life. He is a basically decent man, very intelligent but a little naive. I seriously doubt that he personally had anything to do with the hanky-panky involved in the Boeing deal, but since it happened on his watch, he gets to walk the plank.
#7
McCain, an Arizona Republican, has blocked a range of promotions over the Air Force push to acquire 100 KC-767 aerial tankers, an idea he denounced as a government handout to Chicago-based Boeing...
The basic question is, do we need these or not? If we need them, then buy them. I don't understand what this government-handout-to-Boeing crap is; it's not like the 767 is a concept aircraft and hasn't been produced yet. And what's the deal with EADS? What do they have to do with this?
#8
I am impressed by Mr. Sambur's selfless act on behalf of the country that is probably approrpiate if he did screw up or was responsible for one. Nonetheless, it is too infrequently that we see people accept responsibility forthrightly for their errors these days. He is at least to be saluted for that forthrightnes.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/18/2004 16:15 Comments ||
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McCain has a freaking screw loose. He's had a hard-on over this Boeing deal for months. Now that he has screwed up elections, it's time for the military acquisitions to feel his wrath.
Posted by: Capt America ||
11/18/2004 19:53 Comments ||
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B-a-r - I think the basic question is, "Do we need McCain or not?" He seems to have a square splintery broomstick shoved up his ass.
#11
Captain America, this "Boeing Deal" would have a blatant rip-off of the taxpayers. The concept was hatched as a way to replace the seriously aging fleet of VietNam era KC-135 tankers without having to convince Congress to pony up the cash to buy new ones. In principle, it wasn't a bad idea. In practice, by the time the lobbyists got through with it, it was a scheme worthy of the Rent-to-Own electronics shops. It would have eventually cost the taxpayers about twice what it would have to have bought the planes outright. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A21044-2004Oct9_2.html The scandal comes in because Darleen Drunyon was negotiating for a job with Boeing while she was negotiating the tanker deal for the AF. On Oct. 1, Druyun was sentenced to nine months in prison after admitting that she inflated the price of the deal as a "parting gift" before her Pentagon retirement to ingratiate herself with Boeing.
Russia has agreed to send a small number of troops to Iraq to protect oil wells and support the U.S.-led military campaign there, an aide in the Bush administration has said. The Russian Kommersant-Vlast magazine spoke with the aide on conditions of anonymity, and he said that he had heard the information at a recent meeting in the White House. The meeting mentioned by the source was held in the wake of a report released by the CIA alleging that Iraq had circumvented sanctions against it through loopholes in UN's oil for food program, and apparently sold off millions of dollars in oil to Russian politicians and businessmen. Russian companies, the report alleged, were also planning to ship weapons to Iraq just months before the start of the U.S.-led campaign to topple Saddam Hussein's regime in March of 2003. In light of these findings, the source said, many officials in the administration were wary of close military collaboration with Russia, but national security advisor Condoleeza Rice insisted on asking Russia for troops. The Kommersant-Vlast magazine, which is owned by exiled business tycoon Boris Berezovsky noted, however, that high-placed sources in the Kremlin had denied reports earlier this year that Russia had agreed to send troops to Iraq. Take with a grain of salt.
Posted by: Anonymoose ||
11/18/2004 11:36:02 AM ||
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Want to keep a closer eye on your investments, Vlad?
Posted by: Dar ||
11/18/2004 12:24 Comments ||
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"We'll be stationed over here, by the oil tanker terminals, okay?"
#3
Forget Berezovsky's ownership; Kommersant's a decent publication, usually reliable. Probably the best in Russia. They have relationships with the FT and I believe Newsweek.
#7
interesting development . Condoleeza Rice has good Russian contacts I beleive , anyone care to verify my assumptions ? And yes , I wonder what was used as bait , oil contracts or better ?
#8
This will never happen. I don't think the current Iraqi gov't is feeling too kindly towards the Rooskies.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/18/2004 16:10 Comments ||
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The problem is the rogue elements in the FSB and the military, that is to say, the majority there. The Russian people have no sympathy whatsoever with the arabs. Post-Beslan, many are quite sympathetic to the Israelis-- one-fifth of whom, btw, are transplanted Russians. The first step in getting Volodya to tilt toward Israel and the US in the middle east is to buy off the Russian industries that depend heavily on middle eastern contracts.
Give LUKoil preference on Iraqi oilfield development contracts (and freeze out TotalFinaElf). Buy off the Russian nuclear industry that's supplying Iran.
#11
I really doubt this will happen, and I surely hope it won't happen. Where in Iraq should Russian (or French) troops be deployed: the part where we will consider them as unreliable (Sunnistan), or the the part where the locals will consider them virtually an enemy (most of the country)? Those are the choices. The MSM, Dems, clueless pundits and Euros may be ignorant, but Iraqis know the best friends of their erstwhile great leader/tormentor.
I prefer the buy-off part WRT Russian nuke and other industries. Seems to me we oughta shake down the Euros and Japanese, but good, to share in the cost, and go buy out anything we can that constitutes a choke-point in Russian proliferation activity. A risky and costly and uncertain enterprise, but at least one with a huge potential security payoff ....
#12
fwiw I neither desire nor expect to see Russian troops in Iraq. Given their less than stellar success in Chechnya I'd prefer that the drunken hazees stay as far away as possible.
#13
Russian troops in Chechnya are known for selling weapons to the rebels. And this is in their own country. Note that close to a fifth of the Russian population is Muslim. How many Russian troops are Muslim? And to what extent has this contributed to Russia's high casualty rate in Chechnya? No - I don't think we either need or want Russian troops in Iraq.
The CIA is not the only major intelligence agency rocked by resignations of senior veteran officials and charges of politicization. Disgruntled veteran spooks of Israel's famous Mossad intelligence service are now going public with their complaints too. Israel's Channel 2 has run a documentary claiming that no less than 200 agents including seven department chiefs have resigned in recent months. They were furious, the documentary claimed because the Mossad's current chief Meir Dagan, a long time close friend of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, was politicizing the agency and massively downgrading the Mossad's traditional low expertise in humint, human intelligence, gathering and its analysis in favor of the currently fashionable war against Islamic terrorism.
Dagan, according to the claims, has put the emphasis on carrying the war against terror to previously secure strongholds of Islamist militant organizations in Arab countries. The September assassination of a Hamas senior official in Damascus is believed to have been one of the first successful operations carried out under this policy. Dagan's purge of the Mossad, carried out with Sharon's full approval has striking parallels with the turmoil now shaking the discreet corridors of CIA headquarters in Langley, Va. Porter Goss, President George W. Bush's recent pick to replace George Tenet as Director of Central Intelligence, distrusted the old intelligence establishment as liberal wimps, the same attitude Dagan has shown to old-time spymasters in the Mossad...
Posted by: Anonymoose ||
11/18/2004 11:30:36 AM ||
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Somalia's new government from its base in Kenya is seeking UN funding for an African peacekeepers to help stabilise the country after years of anarchy. The plea comes as the UN Security Council holds a rare meeting outside New York in Nairobi to discuss conflict in Sudan, as well as Somalia. "We really want them to resolve Somalia's security question," new President Abdullahi Yusuf told Reuters. Islamic groups strongly oppose proposals for foreign troops.
Gee, I wonder why?
The UN talks are being held primarily to discuss the crisis in Sudan's Darfur region, but the issue of Somalia's security is on the agenda.
Since the 1991 fall of dictator Mohammed Siad Barre, Somalia has been a battleground for numerous clan-based factions.
As opposed to the paradise on earth it was under his enlightened rule.
The new government remains in Kenya as it is considered too dangerous for them to return. On Wednesday, the Nairobi residence of President Yusuf was attacked by unknown gunmen - although he was unhurt.
Mr Yusuf told Reuters news agency while visiting Djibouti that the funding of peacekeepers is a key issue. "Above all we want it to tackle the question of funding of an African force because the African Union (AU) is too young for such a task," he said. "The resources and the agreement for this force are expected from their (the UN's) side. We will present our programme and count on them for the mobilisation of the funds."
Don't hold your breath.
The Security Council meets in Nairobi on Thursday and Friday.
Do we have to let them back in the US?
Posted by: Steve ||
11/18/2004 9:32:13 AM ||
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Christians and Muslims on the continent of Africa are engaged in "statistical warfare," according to Reuters, as anecdotal evidence suggests a growth in the proportion of sub-Saharan Africans embracing Islam, as well as "born again" forms of Protestant Christianity. "There is a kind of statistical warfare with Islam said to be growing by leaps and bounds on one side, and growing Christianity, especially Pentecostalists and charismatics, on the other," said Ephraim Isaac, director of the Institute for Semitic Studies at Princeton University. "Statistics have influence. People like to be on the winning side."
Isaac, an Ethiopian, told Reuters there are estimates regarding religious affiliation but none are authoritative. Hassan Mwakimako, who teaches religious studies at Nairobi University, said census surveys either do not track religious affiliation, or if they do, tend not to publish it. But still some Muslims have no doubt more Africans are converting to Islam. "In Uganda, Islam is growing so fast. Every single minute we are getting people converting," said Sheik Harun Sengooba of the Union of Muslim Councils for East, Central and Southern Africa. According to Mohammed Salim, a Sudanese political scientist at Leiden University in the Netherlands, Islamic non-governmental groups in Africa—many backed by Gulf oil cash—grew from 138 in 1980 to 891 in 2000, more than twice the rate of increase in the total number of Africa's NGOs in the period. In South Africa, there are reports that Islam is growing among blacks in a country where 80 percent of the 45 million people are Christian. The semi-autonomous Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) estimates 74,700 Africans in South Africa are Muslim—a drastic change from the fewer than 12,000 in 1991 when apartheid outlawed racial interaction. Meanwhile, in Rwanda, where Muslims comprised between 1 percent and 2 percent of the overwhelmingly Catholic population in Rwanda before 1994, census returns show that figures have risen to 5 percent. In addition, Muslim leaders say the number of mosques has risen to 570 from 220.
Posted by: tipper ||
11/18/2004 9:22:09 AM ||
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This is a fight Christians can't win, unless Western governments start funding non-Muslim religious charities lavishly. It's a lot like how the Soviet government-funded sports machine routinely outscored the US at international sporting events. As long as Muslim governments are spending significant chunks of their cash proselytizing, Islam will win. Note also that liberal Christian denominations preaching fornication, adultery and homosexuality are not going to get a lot of acceptance in conservative societies that want nothing to do with any of this bunk.
#2
Islam is a religion that grows and replaces the existing culture by Force, as seen all over the world, most recently in Sudan, Thailand, Phillipines, China, France..etc
Qur'an 5:33 "The punishment for those who wage war against Allah and His Prophet and make mischief in the land, is to murder them, crucify them, or cut off a hand and foot on opposite sides...their doom is dreadful. They will not escape the fire, suffering constantly."
Bukhari:V4B52N50 "The Prophet said, 'A single endeavor of fighting in Allah's Cause is better than the world and whatever is in it.'"
Qur'an 9:5 "Fight and kill the disbelievers Qur'an 9:29 Fight those who do not believe until they all surrender, paying the protective tax in submission."
Qur'an 8:39 "Fight them until all opposition ends and all submit to Allah."
Ishaq:587 "Our onslaught will not be a weak faltering affair. We shall fight as long as we live. We will fight until you turn to Islam, humbly seeking refuge. We will fight not caring whom we meet. We will fight whether we destroy ancient holdings or newly gotten gains. We have mutilated every opponent. We have driven them violently before us at the command of Allah and Islam. We will fight until our religion is established. And we will plunder them, for they must suffer disgrace."
Qur'an 8:65 "O Prophet, urge the faithful to fight. If there are twenty among you with determination they will vanquish two hundred; if there are a hundred then they will slaughter a thousand unbelievers, for the infidels are a people devoid of understanding."
Bukhari:V4B52N220"Allah's Apostle said, 'I have been made victorious with terror.'"
Qur'an 8:12"I shall terrorize the infidels. So wound their bodies and incapacitate them because they oppose Allah and His Apostle."
Qur'an 8:67 "It is not fitting for any prophet to have prisoners until he has made a great slaughtered in the land."
Qur'an 2:216 "Jihad (holy fighting in Allah's Cause) is ordained for you (Muslims), though you dislike it. But it is possible that you dislike a thing which is good for you, and like a thing which is bad for you. But Allah knows, and you know not." [Another translation reads:] "Warfare is ordained for you."
Qur'an 4:95 "Not equal are those believers who sit at home and receive no injurious hurt, and those who strive hard, fighting Jihad in Allah's Cause with their wealth and lives. Allah has granted a rank higher to those who strive hard, fighting Jihad with their wealth and bodies to those who sit (at home). Unto each has Allah promised good, but He prefers Jihadists who strive hard and fight above those who sit home. He has distinguished his fighters with a huge reward."
Tabari VIII:141 "The battle cry of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah that night was: 'Kill! Kill! Kill!'"
Bukhari:V9B84N59 "Allah's Apostle said, 'I have been ordered to fight the people till they say: "None has the right to be worshipped but Allah." Whoever says this will save his property and his life from me.'"
Qur'an 4:47 "O you People of the Book to whom the Scripture has been given, believe in what We have (now) revealed, confirming and verifying what was possessed by you, before We destroy your faces beyond all recognition, turning you on your backs, and curse you as We cursed the Sabbath-breakers, for the decision of Allah Must be executed."
Qur'an 5:51 "Believers, take not Jews and Christians for your friends. They are but friends and protectors to each other."
Ishaq:243 "I heard the Apostle say: 'Whoever wants to see Satan should look at Nabtal!' He was a black man with long flowing hair, inflamed eyes, and dark ruddy cheeksâŠ. Allah sent down concerning him: 'To those who annoy the Prophet there is a painful doom." [9:61] "Gabriel came to Muhammad and said, 'If a black man comes to you his heart is more gross than a donkey's.'"
Tabari IX:69 "Arabs are the most noble people in lineage, the most prominent, and the best in deeds. We were the first to respond to the call of the Prophet. We are Allah's helpers and the viziers of His Messenger. We fight people until they believe in Allah. He who believes in Allah and His Messenger has protected his life and possessions from us. As for one who disbelieves, we will fight him forever in Allah's Cause. Killing him is a small matter to us."
Posted by: God Save The World ||
11/18/2004 3:01:35 AM ||
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Yo, some hard hitting truth here
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/18/2004 9:22 Comments ||
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Hmmm. Islam is setting out the terms of war, 4 of which are:
Ishaq:587..."We will fight whether we destroy ancient holdings or newly gotten gains...
"We will plunder them, for they must suffer disgrace.â
Qurâan 4:47 âQurâan 5:51 âBelievers, take not Jews and Christians for your friends..."
Ishaq:243 âGabriel came to Muhammad and said, âIf a black man comes to you his heart is more gross than a donkeyâs.ââ
So there you have it. "Ancient holdings" are not sacrosanct (so they won't mind if ancient Islamic holy houses are destroyed), Allah's armies wish to disgrace their enemies (so that means humiliating our enemies should now be taken off the list of things we cannot do-what will the Arab streets say!), bigotry is just a-ok (do not spare Jews or Christians, and CERTAINLY not the "gross-hearted" black man).
What a religion of human kindness and inclusion, what a heaven on earth!
#6
The guy here is a great scholar, but someone here said he editoralizes too much. I comment about the site here, where you can also find a link to a petition asking that his book not be banned by book stores. This is because there is a petition out there by Muslims asking the book stores not to carry the book.
If you don't want to stop by my site, that's okay, but DO sign the petition in favor of the book here. You may not like the explicit Christian slant of the book, but it DOES have as much a right to be on American bookshelves without pressure than the Koran does.
#8
We had a former Muslim (who is now Christian) come to our church and speak and he backed up my worst fears. He grew up in Turkey (and Turkey's supposed to be the most "western" of the muslim countries) and said that he was taught to literally HATE Americans (said the only thing he knew of America was Andy Griffith on TV...lol!). Said when he got here (when he was in H.S., I believe) he was amazed at how "open and free" everything was. That's the difference to me in the religions (and this is a paraphrase of his quote; my comments in parantheses):
"One is a HYPOCRITE (Christians mostly and Jews to an extent) in NOT following their Holy scriptures in committing violence (think KKK and Hitler claiming to be "Christians" and as most bring up, the Crusades, but that's another story), whereas Muslims are DEVOUT in following their scriptures (and their prophet's example) and committing violence."
Posted by: BA ||
11/18/2004 14:06 Comments ||
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James Gandolfini and Tony Sirico of the Emmy award-winning HBO drama "The Sopranos" are on a USO/Armed Forces Entertainment (AFE) tour to "meet and greet" troops serving in the Persian Gulf region. They are signing autographs, posing for pictures, visiting job posts and watching movies with the troops. Starring as series lead Tony Soprano, James Gandolfini began acting in New York theater and made his Broadway debut in 1992 alongside Alec Baldwin and Jessica Lange in "A Streetcar Named Desire." A New Jersey native, Gandolfini has more than 20 movies to his credit and has appeared in "The Mexican," "Eight Millimeter," "A Civil Action," "Get Shorty" and "True Romance." Most recently, he completed filming "Romance & Cigarettes," a feature film directed by John Turturro, with Joel and Ethan Coen producing. Gandolfini also appeared with USO tour veteran Ben Affleck in Mike Mitchell's "Surviving Christmas."
A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., Tony Sirico plays superstitious and hot- tempered Paulie Walnuts on the popular drama. Before landing the role on "The Sopranos," Sirico appeared on several television shows including "Cosby," "Miami Vice," "Kojak" and "Baretta." Also familiar to film fans, he has appeared in "Mickey Blue Eyes," "It Had To Be You," "Mighty Aphrodite," "Bullets Over Broadway" and "Goodfellas," as well as 30 other feature films. This trip begins the USO/AFE holiday tradition of bringing celebrities to the "front lines" of combat activities. Several of today's top talents have traveled into the region so far this year, including Wayne Newton, Rob Schneider, Neal McCoy, Tom Green, Henry Rollins, Toby Keith, and 50 Cent and G-Unit. Currently, the USO is partnering with AFE on more than a dozen holiday tours scheduled to visit troops around the globe. For 63 years, the USO (United Service Organizations) has brought a touch of home to America's military personnel. The USO is a congressionally chartered, nonprofit organization and is not a government agency.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/18/2004 8:23:16 AM ||
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Cripes, now that the MOB is behind us, the Jihadis are in trouble!
The French bank that handled funds for the U.N. oil-for-food program in Iraq made tens of millions of dollars in fees and did not properly monitor transactions involving Saddam Hussein's oil sales, congressional investigators said yesterday. The New York branch of the Banque Nationale de Paris-Paribas, or BNP Paribas, was the sole bank for administering the $64 billion U.N. program and did not have adequate checks on whether money was being funneled to terrorists, a House International Relations Committee probe found. "We have uncovered what appears to be serious malfeasance on an international scale," said Rep. Henry J. Hyde, Illinois Republican and chairman of the committee. "There are indications that the bank may have been noncompliant in administering the oil-for-food program. If true, these possible banking lapses may have facilitated Saddam Hussein's manipulation and corruption of the program."
Committee investigators uncovered evidence that BNP Paribas made payments without proof that goods were delivered and sanctioned payments to third parties not identified as authorized recipients, Mr. Hyde said at a hearing yesterday. Mr. Hyde said investigators think the bank "facilitated improper payments to companies that were shipping illegal goods to Iraq." Investigators estimate that the bank received more than $700 million in fees under the U.N. program that began in 1996 and ended after the ouster of Saddam in March 2003, Mr. Hyde said. "This is a lot of money, and it is reasonable to ask if BNP Paribas adequately supervised its compliance programs overseeing the administration of the oil-for-food program," he said. More in link
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/18/2004 7:38:06 AM ||
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Its difficult to believe this abuse went unnoticed for all of these years.
Imagine, a Frog bank in charge of handling billions of primarily US tax payer dollars for UN humanitarian purposes.
That premise alone stinks to high heaven. F**k international perception, the US should have known better. I doubt we'll have the stones to make any meaningful consequences come out of it.
#5
Investigators estimate that the bank received more than $700 million in fees under the U.N. program that began in 1996 and ended after the ouster of Saddam in March 2003, Mr. Hyde said.
No wonder the French opposed the invasion that would have ultimately terminated the Oil for "Food" program: How much of those fees does the French government get in taxes?
Under heavy security, an Israeli delegation opened an official visit yesterday to the western Sahara nation of Mauritania, the only Arab League member with a diplomat still posted in Israel. State media announced the visit, led by Shalom Cohen of the Middle-Eastern desk of Israel's Foreign Ministry. Israelis and Foreign Affairs Minister Mohammed Vall Ould Bellal were to discuss Middle East affairs in light of the death of Yasser Arafat and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's proposal to withdraw from Gaza and four West Bank settlements, a Mauritanian official said on condition of anonymity. Mauritania, an Arab-dominated West African nation straddling black and Arab Africa, opened full diplomatic relations with Israel in the 1990s. Israel is building a cancer hospital in the middle of the capital, Nouakchott, under tight police protection. This week's visit was expected to include talks on exchanges of doctors and other medical assistance.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/18/2004 7:29:38 AM ||
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Money from the United Nations Oil-for-Food program helped pay the families of Palestinian homicide bombers, the House Committee on International Relations is expected to reveal Wednesday during a hearing on corruption in the Iraqi relief program.
Investigators working for Illinois Republican Rep. Henry Hyde, chairman of the panel, are expected to say they have traced funds from former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's kickback scheme through a Jordanian bank and into the hands of families of bombers who attacked Israeli citizens.
It has long been established that Saddam paid bounties of $15,000 to $25,000 to the Palestinian families of the murderers. Hyde's committee will reveal at the hearing that some of the reward money was deposited from illegal profits Saddam made by demanding 10 percent kickbacks on all the contracts of companies that did business with the U.N.'s Oil-for-Food program.
Those funds were then deposited with other Iraqi money, such as Jordanian Oil-for-Food oil payments, into the Central Bank of Iraq account in the Rafidain Bank in Amman, Jordan. The funds were then transferred to another account in the bank controlled by Iraq's ambassador to Jordan Sabah Yaseen. It was from Yaseen's account that Saddam's officials would cut and hand out checks to the homicide bombers' families, Hyde's investigators are expected to say. more in link
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/18/2004 5:05:43 AM ||
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From the South Asia Analysis Group, an article by B.Raman, Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies
He [Yasser Arafat] was a good and warm friend of India and millions of people in India mourned his death. ....
I joined the intelligence profession shortly after the fateful day in June,1967, when Israel launched its pre-emptive war against Egypt, Syria and Jordan and occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, after routing the Arab armies. Bombast in words and unwise in action -- those were the defining characteristics of the Arab States in those days and these led to their humiliating defeat in a short and swift war. These characteristics are still embedded in the psyche of many of them as one saw from the experience of President Saddam Hussein of Iraq in 1991 and again in 2003. Whenever any Arab State had been humiliated -- whether it was Egypt, Syria and Jordan in 1967, Libya in 1986 or Iraq in 1991 and 2003 -- they could not escape a major share of the blame for their plight. They brought the humiliation upon themselves.
When the PLO and its allies launched their spectacular retaliatory attacks in the months and years thereafter in the form of hijackings of civilian aircraft, hostage-taking, the Munich Olympics massacre etc, how we all applauded and watched in admiration! It serves them (the Israelis) right we told ourselves, despite the fact that many of the intimidated or killed victims had nothing to do with Israel and its occupation of Palestinian territory. How excited my colleagues in the intelligence profession and I were each time the Palestinians under Arafat's leadership carried out one spectacular terrorist strike after another. We had no sympathy for the civilians intimidated or killed. Arafat and his followers projected the mayhem they created as a freedom struggle. We had no hesitation in agreeing with them.
Our excitement at the spectacular terrorist strikes of the PLO and its allies was short-lived. The Jammu & Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) hijacked an aircraft of the Indian Airlines to Lahore in Pakistan in 1971 and blew it up in the presence of Zulfiquar Ali Bhutto, the then Pakistani Foreign Minister, and the international media after having made the passengers leave the aircraft. Terrorism, we shouted. Freedom struggle, the JKLF claimed. After having applauded the hijackings of the PLO and its allies as freedom struggle, how could we denounce that of the JKLF as terrorism and expect the world to believe it? ....
The 1970s saw a myriad terrorist organisations and terrorists appear on the scene all over West Europe. .... They claimed to be the brothers-in-arms of the wronged Palestinian people and the benefactors of the poor people of Western Europe. What havoc they wrought across West Europe! Hijackings, kidnappings, extortions and murder, placing of explosive devices in public places. All in emulation of the PLO. All in the name of the Palestinian people. How we squirmed in our seats as our words of admiration and support for Arafat and his boys and girls and our deafening applause for their "brave" freedom struggle came back to haunt us. But we did not have the courage to admit our folly.
Came 1981. A Sikh called Gajendra Singh, an office-bearer of an organisation called the Dal Khalsa, gave an interview to the then New York Times correspondent in New Delhi on the perceived grievances of the Sikhs against the Govt. of India. He praised the PLO and Arafat and called upon the Sikhs to wage a freedom struggle against the Government of India. "The time has come to emulate the PLO and Arafat," he said. We did not take him seriously till a few days later when he and some other members of the Dal Khalsa hijacked an Indian Airlines aircraft to Lahore. Hijackings followed one after the other. The Kanishka aircraft of Air India was blown up off the Irish coast in 1985, killing about 300 innocent civilians. Another aircraft was almost blown up in the Narita airport of Tokyo. Innocent Hindu men, women and children were lined up and shot in Punjab. Hundreds of innocent civilians, who had nothing do with the Government of India, were killed by improvised explosive devices in Punjab and Delhi. All in the name of a so-called Sikh freedom struggle. All in emulation of Arafat and the PLO. We had nothing else to do but to continue squirming in our seats. We did not have the courage to admit that we had committed a monumental folly in supporting Arafat and his PLO despite their ruthless use of terrorism.
1989 and the years thereafter saw jihadi terrorism appear in a big way in J&K and other parts of India. Nearly 20,000 innocent Indian men, women and children have been killed by the jihadi terrorists since then. Cross-border terrorism, we said. Freedom struggle, claimed Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf. Jihadi organisations claiming to emulate the Palestinian people mushroomed all over J&K and other parts of India, many of them imported from Pakistan. We still lack the courage to call a spade a spade and let ourselves stew in our own contradictions. We do not have the courage to make a distinction between the justness of the Palestine cause and the brutality of the methods adopted by them to achieve their objective. By turning a blind eye to the methods adopted by Arafat and his followers, we are lifting and throwing a stone on our own feet.
Terrorism is terrorism. It is an absolute evil, whatever be the cause. That was the hard-learned lesson of 9/11. And yet, we are unwilling to apply it in the case of the terrorism of the most brutal kind resorted to by organisations such as Al Fatah, Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, the Hamas, the Hizbollah etc. ....
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
11/18/2004 12:34:59 AM ||
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#1
An interesting intellectual journey, from youthful foolish hubris to aged pensive wisdom. Experience, a.k.a. reality, is a harsh teacher.
The Palestinian leadership is to send a delegation to Paris in an attempt to establish the cause of Yasser Arafat's death last week amid a growing belief among Palestinians that he was poisoned by Israel. The dispatch follows France's refusal to permit Palestinian officials to see Arafat's medical records on the grounds of confidentiality. The hospital says it will only give them to Arafat's widow, Suha, who has refused to reveal their contents.
The old sow might be willing to sell them, however.
French authorities have said Arafat, 75, was not poisoned but they have not explained his death. "The conditions surrounding the death of President Yasser Arafat raise questions," said the Palestinian prime minister, Ahmed Qureia. Rumours that Arafat was poisoned took hold during the two weeks he was in France, with conflicting accounts emerging about the state of his health. They gained ground again after Arafat's personal physician, Ashraf Kurdi, told the Arab press he believed tests on the Palestinian leader's blood raised the possibility he was poisoned. Yesterday Le Monde quoted doctors as saying Arafat had suffered from an unusual blood disease and a liver problem.
It's not so unusual, it affects tens of millions around the world. You could ask the W.H.O.
UPDATE: RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) The mystery of what killed Yasser Arafat may soon be solved. A Palestinian official says an envoy will head to Paris Friday to obtain Arafat's medical records. The French doctors who treated the Palestinian leader have not revealed what caused his death, citing privacy laws. But on Thursday, French authorities said they would release the files to Arafat's nephew, who is the Palestinian representative to the United Nations. The Palestinian Cabinet secretary has promised to disclose the "full details" of the report.
Ha, found a way around Suha.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/18/2004 12:26:26 AM ||
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From Khilafah
.... Anxiously, the Believers, without the ideological leadership of Islam stand confused in limbo — unsure whether to rise to the equal of the early Believers who gathered around Islam ... or to sink down into the mire of corruption and compromise of kufr and the kuffar. A choice, between suffering persecution and death, or to live as slaves and sheep, subservient to taghut, under the feet of the kuffar. In Falluja and elsewhere in Iraq, there is slaughter. In Palestine, Chechnya and Thailand there is butchering of Muslims. In 'egalitarian' France there is the disrobing of our daughters.
In 'tolerant and liberal' Holland there are bombs in mosques after blasphemy and insult to Islam. This is the same nation whose soldiers, who were charged with defending the Muslims by the UN, dishonourably stood aside in Srebrenica to allow the slaughter of over 7,000 innocent children and men by the Serbs. ....
It is clear, that for the Islamic Ummah to remain paralysed in terror is not an option. We must surge forward to take the painful path and embrace Islam in the fullest meaning of the word .... Islam came as a strange and unique way of life at a time of deep ignorance and injustice when falsehood reigned supreme and the weak were persecuted. The noble ... Muslims at the time though under tremendous suffering and fear and though weak and few in number believed fully and grasped the Deen of Islam as the Solution and as the Truth. Despite everything that befell them, they chose to live as slaves to the Creator ... and to submit only to the Command and Will of Allah .... It is a time for resolute decision for this noble Ummah. We must search deep within ourselves. Do we truly believe that the pure Deen of Islam can protect us and saves us from this tyranny of the kuffar? More to the point — is it not time for us to answer and rise up to the call of Allah ... and His Messenger ... ?
None of these so called hyper or super power states are a barrier or obstacles to Paradise, whether singly or altogether. Rather, they are gateways to pleasing Allah .... We have dealt with super powers before — Rome and Persia fell to a nascent Khilafah .... And in our time, the Dutch were beaten and kicked out of Indonesia by the Muslims there.
... if we indeed believe in this Deen, we must jump into the 'fire' prepared for us by the kuffar, in order to emerge in the Jannah of Allah .... May Allah ... grant the true and final Victory to this noble Ummah. May the Islamic Ummah once again be united .... May Allah ... bring the return of Islam and the Khilafah before another single innocent child is lost to the barbarians of the 21st century.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
11/18/2004 12:21:50 AM ||
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#9
The Dutch should start the spring with nightly pork barbeques. If everyone in Amsterdam (or whatever city) was barbequing pork every night I think a few of the more radical muslims might come unglued and either leave, or otherwise show their true colors.
Of course the Dutch military should be ready before hand.
Afghanistan's government has set up a commission that will start work Thursday to investigate widespread rumours that foreign troops sprayed poison on poppy fields to combat drugs in eastern Nangahar province, officials said. Provincial governor Din Mohammad said the commission was formed after provincial authorities received "complaints and reports" that chemicals had been sprayed over the poppy fields to destroy the opium crop. "We have reports that such things have happened in several districts—we have established a commission to investigate," he told AFP by phone. "The commission will start their work on Thursday," he added.
They'll start with a water pipe ...
Eradicating opium crops by spraying toxic chemicals over them is controversial because of the risk of famine if other crops are also caught in the spray and potential harm to farmers' health. "We don't know who might be behind this but the farmers have said that it was American troops," the governor added without elaborating.
At least they didn't blame the Jooooos.
The US military said they were not involved in drug eradication but would destroy or confiscate drugs that they came across in the course of other military operations. However, the US military does provide support to counter-narcotics programs, with intelligence and "lift support with helicopters" if it does not interfere with the military's major counter-terrorism efforts, he added. President Hamid Karzai, who won a landmark presidential election last month said fighting drugs will be his top priority for the next five years. A bumper crop last year generated 2.3 billion dollars and produced three-quarters of the world's heroin, including 90 percent of the heroin on Europe's streets.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/18/2004 12:10:54 AM ||
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#1
Not Scrappleface? You sure Dr Steve? Yer not pulling our leg(s) are you, lol! I don't see a "wink wink nudge nudge" in there, but...
Well I, for one, am feeling really bad about this. I mean, if the US had anything to do with this I'd be calling for an investigation, too. What were they thinking? How, um, callous and simplisme and cowboy-ish. We should've consulted with Chirac, first, for guidance. After all, we don't know who the main distributors are in France... or do we?
#2
"Poison"? Do they mean Round-Up or some other herbicide?
I've got to think that they've come up with some sort of tailored poppy-family herbicide by now - it's not as if they're all that close to wheat or most other food crops. They seem closer to thistles and other common cropland weeds...
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
11/18/2004 8:26 Comments ||
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Mitch:
Well, the DEA will often use something that makes the crop worthless, by making you sick if you try to ingest/inhale. An herbicide would still allow you to harvest (if the plants are ready).
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/18/2004 13:44 Comments ||
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Paraquat? Ah, does that bring back memories of my youth. All the potheads worrying about if their dope was contaminated by the DEA in a attempt to kill them. Not that it stopped them from toking, mind you. Me? I just popped open another beer.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/18/2004 14:38 Comments ||
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The leading Shiite cleric in Iraq, Grand Ayatollah Ali Muhammad Sistani, has appointed a coordinating committee to ensure the safety, freedom and fairness of general elections, sources close to the Najaf seminary confirmed yesterday. With less than three months left to voting day on Jan. 27, 2005, the independent Iraqi election committee has registered around 65 percent of potential voters. A further 15 percent will be registered in 14 countries where Iraqis living abroad will be able to vote under an agreement signed with the United Nations in Geneva on Tuesday. The remaining 15 percent to be registered are mostly inhabitants of the so-called Sunni triangle that has witnessed weeks of insurgency.
The insurgents have killed voter registration officials in several cities in the triangle, including Fallujah, Ramadi, Haditha and Baqubah. The interim Iraqi government, backed by the US-led coalition forces, however, hopes to restore enough calm to those cities to allow would-be voters to register. One formula under study is to extend the deadline for registration in the towns affected by the insurgency. Another is to allow displaced people from the Sunni triangle to vote either in camps or in the nearest town or city rather than their original place of abode.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/18/2004 10:07:42 PM ||
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#1
Well I'll be damned. It moved. Too bad it's only in self interest. There you are Shi'a, your Great Leader and political hack.
#2
This is a logical move, given the absence of UN voting personnel. The Shia have faced much brutality and have every right to take an active part in democratic elections.
Posted by: Capt America ||
11/18/2004 0:33 Comments ||
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Item 1) Sistani should make sure he over sees the coordination, from "The Green Zone",
Item 2) Make sure indelible ink is used on the voter's finger tip!
The Bush administration plans to give $20 million in aid directly to the Palestinian Authority, bypassing congressional restrictions as part of a renewed push for peace in the Middle East, sources familiar with the plan said on Wednesday.
My initial thought was that it would be better to wait until after the elections take place to put any money into Paleostine, but presumably Bush expects to get something for the money. I wouldn't count on it too heavily, though...
The administration notified key congressional committees on Wednesday of its plans, which could be announced when outgoing US Secretary of State Colin Powell meets with Palestinian officials in the West Bank early next week. A congressional aide said the move does not require congressional approval, just congressional notification. But key lawmakers are already raising objections that could force the White House to reconsider. The sources said the money is part of a concerted push by the Bush administration and its European allies to help the Palestinians organize January presidential elections to choose a successor to Yasser Arafat, who died last week. The $20 million in US funding, the sources said, would be overseen by Palestinian Finance Minister Salam Fayyad, a former International Monetary Fund official with strong US backing, and could be used to pay Palestinian Authority salaries. Critics in Congress say stringent safeguards are needed to ensure that US taxpayer money is not siphoned off by corrupt Palestinian officials or used by terrorist groups.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/18/2004 11:23:03 PM ||
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#3
"stringent safeguards are needed to ensure that US taxpayer money is not siphoned off by corrupt Palestinian officials or used by terrorist groups"
Where there is the will, there is the way. It will end up in the hands of terrs guaranteed, a good chunk of it even if it would be in the form of 'donations' by the originally intended recipients.
Donations here is an euphemism for protection fees.
#4
Last year the USA gave the Paleos 250 million and presumably they will get a similar amount this year. Link I believe the USA is the largest single contributor to the PA's budget.
#5
Here you go Tony Blair, hope that gets the jackals off your back for a few days.
Posted by: Capt America ||
11/18/2004 0:37 Comments ||
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The Bush administration plans to give $20 million in aid directly to the Palestinian Authority, bypassing congressional restrictions as part of a renewed push for peace in the Middle East, sources familiar with the plan said on Wednesday.
GWB needs to get a clue: the Paleos' problems are more deep-seated, and throwing more money at them won't solve anything.
#7
The Paleos need to show us something constructive before we donate one red cent to them. All we got for the millions so far are three dead security guards. Giving them money now makes us look like chumps 'cause we are acting like chumps.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/18/2004 1:34 Comments ||
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#8
Great news. Now we can all look forward to a great outpourring of music, films and art from the vibrant culture of Palestine.
#9
Actually, 20 million in small change --- packed in small, but sturdy, sacks and droped from a plane could (given a carefull selection of place and time) do a bit of good.
#10
They'll only waste it on bhurkas , guns , STD clinics , and building more mosques , bombs , then give the rest to their masters in Iran .
As .com pointed out the Paleos' problems are more deep-seated, and throwing more money at them won't solve anything.
#11
Actually, if Palestinian Finance Minister Salam Fayyad has control of the money it will go where it is supposed to. Remember, he is the one who wrested control of EU funds from Arafat, and arranged for direct deposit (vs cash handouts) of PA salaries. Also, I've been pondering this, and I wonder if Bush has quietly established a quid pro quo with Fayyad to trace the accounts the money flows to -- maybe a way to find more of Arafat's (and Hamas, Hizbollah, etc.) stashes? What say you, Oh Rantburg accountants?
#13
Trade, not aid. Much more effective-- at helping the Palestinian people and at calling the bluff of their kleptocratic leaders-- would be a unilateral US reduction in tariff barriers across the board for Palestinian agricultural and commercial products.
This would force the PA thieves to actually generate something of value with the funds they now send off to Swiss bank accounts, and would begin, anyway, to empower those unfortunate Palestinians who are actually normal, hardworking businessmen.
#14
This would also completely turn the tables on the terror apologists in Europe and the middle east. No one can say that slashing US trade barriers is not an extraordinarily generous and bold step. In fact, it's worth more financially to a third-world nation than billions in aid because of the powerful multiplier effects.
#15
IIUC products from the Pal territories are considered as coming from Israel, since the PA is NOT a state. IIUC Israel has good trade status with both the US and the EU.
In any case PA's best market is Israel, which is a high wage, complementary economy, and is nearby. The greatest boost for the Pal economy would be a security improvement that would ease trade with Israel, and also the return of Pal day labor to the Israeli economy.
Direct aid isnt to boost the economy, its to keep the Pal govt running, and the payoff should be its use to improve that running, plus political payback. Its well pointed out here that it needs to be watched carefully. Thats States job, I think - thats one place Ms Rice will have to make sure her subordinates are doing their jobs well!
#17
spend the money on financial investigations to return Arafat's $ to the Paleo infrastructure (not the next honcho's bank acct). Returns would be well worth it
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/18/2004 11:12 Comments ||
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#18
Good idea, Frank. Put the heat on the Swiss Banks as accessories to felony theft (if they have such a charge in Switzerland).
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/18/2004 11:37 Comments ||
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#19
Blood money. We should not even be within sniffing distance of this.
Yoda: "Once you start down the dark path, forever will it rule your destiny."
Meet the old guard, same as... ummm... the old guard.
Convinced that former Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas is unable to unite the Palestinians, several members of the so-called "old guard" are preparing to announce their candidacy for the presidency in next January's elections. After four days of intense talks with all factions Abbas has failed to secure the level of support he needs to discourage others from standing.
I actually consider that a good development...
Both Hamas and Islamic Jihad have said unless the Palestine Liberation Organization is allowed to continue pushing Israel into the sea restructured to include them on the basis of a new program, they would boycott the election. The two radical groups, especially well entrenched in Gaza, are believed to have the support of between 25 and 40 percent of the electorate. Some of the old guard in Yasser Arafat's Fatah organization are trying to launch the candidacy of Hani Al Hassan, one of the founding fathers of the movement. They believe that Hassan, who has been ambivalent toward peace talks with Israel, might be able to draw support from both Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
Abbas has won the support of most members of the current government headed by Prime Minister Ahmad Qorei. Muhammad Dahlan, the charismatic former security chief in Gaza, who had presidential aspirations of his own, also backs him. The biggest threat to Abbas' candidacy could come from Marwan Barghouti, the imprisoned militant leader who is seen by many as Palestine's "Nelson Mandela." The Israeli authorities have said they would not release Barghouti, thus trying to kill his electoral prospects.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/18/2004 9:55:57 PM ||
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The Learned Elders of Islam (TM)Association of Muslim Scholars has warned that the situation in Falluja will have a direct impact on the elections and even delay the process. Muthanna Harith al-Dhari, chief of information and culture affairs for the association, also warned that the "tragedy" in Falluja "will not reinforce the US military presence in Iraq". Al-Dhari, speaking to Aljazeera, said he did not believe the situation would end in Falluja as the rest of the country had been deeply affected by the battle. "I don't believe this case will end by eliminating the resistance in Falluja," he said. "What has happened is a rare example of resistance as the city's circumstances have forced the fighters to stay, thus, distinguishing this battle from others."
The spokesman for the Association of Muslim Scholars (AMS) further said that since the beginning, "no one believed that Falluja will stand firm in the face of, and beat, such a military operation". The US military operation has now completely changed, al-Dhari said. The battle has lasted for more than 11 days, proving that resistance in the city is fierce. "Even if the battles in Falluja ended, many other cities are subject to similar battles, as the interim government has announced that 16 other cities will get similar treatment," he said. "This is the evidence that the case [of eliminating resistance] is not over," the AMS spokesman said. "What is happening in Falluja has had a strong impact on the political agenda and the planned elections." This, the AMS believes, is one of the Falluja fighters' goals.
I think we guessed that...
Posted by: Fred ||
11/18/2004 10:09:50 PM ||
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#1
Falluja fighters' (only) goals:
72 Virgins in the next life of a horny girl in this:
I'll buy their story on the condition that he continues to be dead.
Doctors who treated Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat believe he died of a blood condition called disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) and have ruled out poisoning, Le Monde newspaper reported yesterday. "DIC is the complete disruption of the mechanisms which normally assure proper blood clotting ... It can lead to major internal bleeding and possible death," the paper said.
French medical secrecy laws mean that the report on Arafat's death has been communicated only to his immediate family, resulting in a spate of rumors in the Arab world that he may have been poisoned. An online medical dictionary describes DIC as a condition under which "blood clotting mechanisms are activated throughout the body instead of being localized to an area of injury. Small blood clots form throughout the body, and eventually the blood clotting factors are used up and not available to form clots at sites of real tissue injury."
Quoting "very good sources," Le Monde said it was internal lesions associated with DIC which led to the sudden deterioration of Arafat's condition four days after his arrival at a Paris military hospital on Oct. 29. On Nov. 3 he fell into a coma from which he never surfaced. Le Monde quoted doctors as saying that DIC is a condition rather than an actual disease, and can be set off in a person of Arafat's age — 75 — by either an infection or a cancer. However they had found no indication of either.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/18/2004 10:02:10 PM ||
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#1
Hell, and here I thought he died because his heart stopped beating.
Posted by: Capt America ||
11/18/2004 0:39 Comments ||
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Is *that* what they're calling it nowadays.
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
11/18/2004 5:28 Comments ||
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#3
Thought that said 'clothing disorder' - always thought that keffiyah was a bit tight..
Posted by: Howard UK ||
11/18/2004 6:02 Comments ||
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#4
You know rat poison causes a "clotting disorder".
Posted by: red ||
11/18/2004 8:22 Comments ||
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#5
his DIC got him in trouble, eh?
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/18/2004 8:44 Comments ||
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#6
You know rat poison causes a "clotting disorder".
The most common rat poison, warfarin, prevents clotting. Anticoagulant rodenticides all kill by inhibiting the process in which the liver produces clotting agents in the blood. Over time, Mr. Rat eats too much rodenticide, loses the ability to clot efficiently, and finally dies from uncontrolled bleeding. Sounds like Yasser was clotting too much.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/18/2004 8:44 Comments ||
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#7
Let's stop dancing around the fact that he died of AIDS.
Posted by: Tibor ||
11/18/2004 9:41 Comments ||
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#8
Let's stop dancing around the fact that he died of AIDS
Ive only just stopped dancing about the fact that he died :)
#11
So, what they're saying is he was one big, walking scab?
Eeeeeeeeeeewww!
But, if you go to the Centers for Disease Control web site, you find something interesting. Apparently DIC is a side effect of smallpox vaccine. No sh**! Check it out!
#15
Anti-coagulants are given regularly for certain heart conditions. Wonder if he got bad medical treatment and OD'd on them?
Posted by: too true ||
11/18/2004 15:50 Comments ||
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#16
Anti-coagulants are given regularly for certain heart conditions. Wonder if he got bad medical treatment and OD'd on them?
Very possibly. I used to take Warfarin (Coumadin) for an irregular heart beat. Frequent testing is required to check Prothrombin (Clotting) time. A little of that stuff goes a loooooong way. I hope he ingested a pound....
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.
DUBAI — Many Muslims refrained from giving Zakat and donations to charitable organisations on hearing claims made by the wife of the late Palestinian president, Yasser Arafat of her right to inherit her husband's wealth. Given the cloud of doubt over where the money donated is being funnelled, they opted to pay Zakat directly to people here or to the poor in their homeland.
North Korea's official media have dropped the honorific ``dear leader'' from reports on Kim Jong Il, a Japanese news agency reported a day after other reports said his portrait had been removed at some public sites. The North's Korean Central Broadcast, the Korean Central News Agency and other media are describing the nation's leader as ``general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea,'' ``chairman of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea National Defense Commission'' and ``supreme commander of the Korean People's Army,'' Tokyo-based Radiopress said on its Web site. 
Last year's U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and ousting of President Saddam Hussein has made the world more dangerous, French President Jacques Chirac said on the eve of a state visit to key U.S. ally Britain.
A private intelligence firm hired by the United Nations to look into corruption in the oil-for-food program provided valuable leads to U.N. investigators, but they were ignored, the company's director says. "We found it extremely frustrating to be in a position where we could do something significant to dramatically assist the investigation into the oil-for-food fraud and not be allowed to proceed," said Derek Baldwin, director of operations for IBIS Risk Management Services Inc. 
Frustration is mounting in the US administration over what it sees as the UN's reluctance to commit staff in Iraq and unhelpful comments from UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, The New York Times reported on Sunday.
Lebanon might witness a clash between Internal Security Forces (ISF) and opposition members tomorrow, if the opposition holds a demonstration in Beirut's central district despite an official decision by the Interior Ministry banning public gatherings. "We will go on with the demonstration, and we do not care about the ban, it is our constitutional right," said 
The 
Doctors who treated Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat believe he died of a blood condition called disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) and have ruled out poisoning, Le Monde newspaper reported yesterday. "DIC is the complete disruption of the mechanisms which normally assure proper blood clotting ... It can lead to major internal bleeding and possible death," the paper said.
