Hunched in black robes over his microphone, Sheikh Omar Bakri suddenly heaves himself upright in rhetorical climax and pounds the table. "Embrace capitalism or Christianity, you go to hellfire!" he bellows. The crowd of men seated before him nod in agreement as Sheikh Bakri warns against misplaced sympathy for Western society. "Don't think that because [the unbelievers] give us income support we should have less hate," he continues. "Because we hate not for our sakes, but for the sake of Allah."
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: tipper ||
11/29/2004 8:49:45 AM ||
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MAHA Sukkar stood tall despite being the shortest recruit on parade at her police graduation ceremony yesterday -- and the only officer wearing a hijab. Constable Sukkar is Australia's first Muslim police officer to wear the traditional headpiece as part of the official uniform. And it was only when the 30-year-old applied to become a member of VicPol that a suitable hijab was designed. "I know Victoria has a diverse background and they will accept anybody," Constable Sukkar said yesterday. "This is a very proud day for me and my family."
The navy blue headpiece has been designed for Constable Sukkar to meet occupational health standards, and has been fitted with a velcro release to conform to police safety regulations. Constable Sukkar migrated to Australia from Beirut four years ago, leaving behind her family and a career in graphic design to pursue a better quality of life. But her proud parents Hassan and Lamia Sukkar flew from Beirut last Saturday to be at yesterday's graduation ceremony at the Victoria Police Academy in Glen Waverley. "We were very surprised at the beginning -- we are not accustomed to joining the police force in Lebanon," Mr Sukkar said. "It's something new for us, especially for a lady."
Constable Sukkar conceded some members of the community might be surprised by her hijab, but she did not expect it to cause controversy. She said her interest in the police force was sparked after her arrival in Australia, and she saw it as an opportunity to serve the community. "I can help them and help protect them," she said. Constable Sukkar completed the Victoria Police Recruit Bridging Course at Adult Multicultural Services, a course designed to encourage people from varied ethnic backgrounds to join the police force. "I've had 20 weeks of training and I've given 20 weeks of 100 per cent," she said. "Now I reap the benefits." Constable Sukkar will take up a role with the transit police in February.
"Lovely Rita, the meter maid..."
Posted by: tipper ||
11/29/2004 8:44:42 AM ||
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heh. Should be a lot easier for Aussie gents to get out of speeding tickets. Just start screaming at her for daring to approach a man.
Swedish authorities in the southern city of Malmo have been busy with a sudden influx of Muslim immigrants — 90 percent of whom are unemployed and many who are angry and taking it out on the country that took them in. "If we park our car it will be damaged — so we have to go very often in two vehicles, one just to protect the other vehicle," said Rolf Landgren, a Malmo police officer.
Fear of violence has changed the way police, firemen and emergency workers do their jobs. There are some neighborhoods Swedish ambulance drivers will not go to without a police escort. Angry crowds have threatened them, telling them which patient to take and which ones to leave behind. Because Sweden has some of the most liberal asylum laws in Europe, one quarter of Malmo's 250,000 population is now Muslim, changing the face and the idea of what it means to be Swedish. Asylum seekers may bring spouses, brothers and grandparents with them. Civil servants say the city is swamped. "You have 1,000 students in a Swedish school. How many are Swedes? Two," said Lars Birgersson, principal of the Rosengrad School. Students arrive at age 10 or 12 from countries like Iraq, Iran and Lebanon with no knowledge of Swedish; some have never been to school at all and many classes require interpreters.
Still, more than half won't graduate. "They are not a part of Swedish society, so to speak. It is difficult for them to get inside society," said Torsten Elofsson of the Malmo Police Department. However, they are the most rapidly growing segment of Swedish society — outsiders who are already inside, posing a challenge to legendary Swedish tolerance that has now been stretched to the breaking point. Malmo's main mosque was recently set ablaze by arsonists. When firefighters arrived on the scene, they were attacked by stone throwers.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/29/2004 7:48:26 PM ||
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#1
There comes a point when tolerance becomes a terminal condition. I think the Swedes have reached it.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
11/29/2004 20:19 Comments ||
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Yes, they are as good as dead, They don't know it yet.
#6
My, my, my. I do believe their "enlightened multiculturalism" has come back to bite them in the ass. Hard.
As anyone with even an iota of common sense would have seen coming.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
11/29/2004 21:26 Comments ||
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#7
Well here you have an example of an insidious aspect of jihad: infiltrate and set up an alternative society within a Western country / deconstruct that society as much as possible through increased Moslem population growth and cultural separatism / instead of working hard to make a new life, gripe and bitch for government handouts and increased "rights" / upgrade civil disobedience to riot level / resist all applications of the rule of law.
When will the Western world realize that these trouble-maker Moslems DO NOT have values similar to ours? Do I need to mention the "C" word? The Christian heritage, whether adhered to now or not, provided the philosophical/moral basis for the foundations of freedom we enjoy in this country, and the foundations of Western society in general. The brand of Islam these people adhere to is just about the polar opposite in terms of morals and values. (And ever notice how they try to play on our inherent value/honor system to get to avoid criticism?) It's a pity too, because these low-lifes give the others, who aren't a problem, a bad name.
"Because Sweden has some of the most liberal asylum laws in Europe, one quarter of Malmo's 250,000 population is now Muslim, changing the face and the idea of what it means to be Swedish."
#8
By 2007 there will be more jihadists in Malmö --let alone Sweden-- than Swedish soldiers in the whole country. The tipping point may already have passed, and the educational system has been converted to multi-culturalist socialist propaganda for decades, so young Swedes won't know what to think or do when jihad hits them.
In June 2004, Swedish mother Elizabeth Krantz's five children were kidnapped from Sweden by Krantz's estranged Palestinian husband Ismail Nowajah. The children -- Adam, Amina, Zakarias, Miriam and Sara -- range in age from six to sixteen. They were taken to the Gaza Strip against their will and in contravention of Swedish law and have since been incarcerated in separate locations. Their mother, from a small town outside Gothenburg on Sweden's west coast, has custody of the children, with visitation rights granted to her estranged husband.
Ismail Nowajah says he disapproves of the upbringing his children were getting in Sweden, where they were born, and that he wishes to bring them up according to a stricter Islamic code, which he says cannot be done in Sweden but is possible in Gaza. Nowajah has signaled, however, that he is willing to release the children back into the custody of their mother in exchange for five million Swedish kronor (about 720,000 US dollars). The children are Swedes. They are unfamiliar with Arab culture and have no knowledge of the Arabic language. They are thus unable to communicate in the environment into which they have been forcibly placed. They are denied schooling, and 15-year-old Miriam suffers from an unusual form of diabetes -- type 1 -- that requires special medication, treatment that has thus far been denied her by her father... In the most recent twist in the plight of Krantz's children, they have been enrolled in a refugee program by UNWRA. Sweden is one of the largest per capita contributors to UN aid in the Gaza Strip. Now Sweden finds itself in the remarkable position of paying to maintain as refugees Swedish citizens who are held against their will in Gaza...
There remains one highly effective means of persuading the Palestinian Authority to abide by its legal and moral obligations: Sweden must stop all financial aid to the PA until the children have been returned to their mother. While financial aid can always be restored, the children's stolen youth cannot. The unfortunate reality is that the Swedish government finds itself at a formative stage in pursuit of a Palestinian state. It appears the Swedish authorities will go to any length to avoid jeopardizing the situation, while the government carves out a role for itself as a peace-broker and nation-maker. The welfare of five Swedish children and their Swedish mother simply gets in the way of Swedish political ambition. The children have been sold for political coinage -- and Swedish citizens are paying for the children's incarceration with their own money.
#3
This is so reprehensible. All of the children will suffer effects of PTSD and possibly detachment disorders. And who knows what's happening to them in these "separate" locations . . .
"The children are Swedes. They are unfamiliar with Arab culture and have no knowledge of the Arabic language. They are thus unable to communicate in the environment into which they have been forcibly placed. They are denied schooling, and 15-year-old Miriam suffers from an unusual form of diabetes -- type 1 -- that requires special medication, treatment that has thus far been denied her by her father..."
The mother must be going through hell. And the guy just wants his ransom money. Ismail Nowajah is the quintessential Islamic pseudo-man who deserves to die, as I was always so fond of saying.
Moral of the story for Western females: DON'T DATE OR MARRY MOSLEM MEN. Period. This kind of thing could happen to you.
(summarised from Svenska Dagbladet, one of the main newspapers in Sweden)
In 1990 Sweden was still the major Scandinavian military power and could mobilise almost 800,000 men in 24 hours (about 10% of the population). By 2007 they'll be down to at most 31,500 men, however only six months after ordering the call-in of soldiers. Sweden will have 35 generals, and 36 cannons. By contrast, Finland has now 28 generals and 1,000 cannons. Almost 10% of Swedish soldiers will be assigned to "international" efforts (i.e. the UN and EU).
Personal notes: In 1989 I was serving in the Swedish Army. The enemy was very clearly the Soviet Union, we spent all of our tactical and strategic classes on the Red Army (we were counting on NATO support through Norway, and studying the WW II Finnish resistance to Soviet invasion). The fall of the Berlin Wall was a very tense moment. There were major Soviet troop movements in the Baltic States. We were in the field 20 minutes after hearing the news, not allowed to talk to our families for a whole week. Now the country might just as well have an answer phone announcing unconditional surrender. As an anecdote, a (drunk) naval officer confessed to me that the only reason they hadn't sunk a Soviet submarine in Swedish waters was that (social-democrat) politicians repeatedly ordered them not to.
I'm not surprised, but very disappointed. I don't live there anymore, so I can shrug, not weep.
You, Americans and other Coalition partners, cannot count on Sweden for anything, no matter which party leads the country, no matter what enemy arises. Sweden for decades had a good military, and excellent equipment, proud of being able to counter-attack and quickly reject any (communist) enemy setting foot anywhere in-land or on the coast -- but no more. Thirty thousand soldiers is insufficient to defend the country.
Posted by: Kalle (kafir forever) ||
11/29/2004 3:07:04 AM ||
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Every billet has his bullet. Every colonel has his cannon.
#2
It's human nature. People think the danger has passed and they take their pack off. No wonder they get so ticked off at us when we don't go with the flow.
1) Don't take on any small Ohio towns.
2) Taking on Canada is OK. By 2007, the Canadian military will consist of three Mounties, a mime, a polar bear, one ancient rusty Sea King helicopter, and a diesel submarine up on blocks.
#8
Longboats, they've done it before, they can do it again... Anyone has any data on the status of the Swedish forests and the occurences of the berserker mushroom within them? May be important more than you think--without it, the pussillanemous nordic menfolk may not be much of the challege to the mildly irritated canucks, especially their wenchfolk, expecting proper pillage and rape.
A US advocacy group is preparing to launch a war crimes case in Germany against senior US administration officials for their alleged role in torture at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. "German law in this area is leading the world," Peter Weiss, vice president of the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), a human rights group, was quoted as saying in Frankfurter Rundschau newspaper's on Tuesday. CCR says German law allows war criminals to be investigated wherever they may be living. The case, which will be filed at Germany's Federal Prosecutors Office, will charge Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld, former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) chief George Tenet and eight other officials. According to Jen Nessel, head of communications and publications at CCR's New York office, the advocacy group is to present details of its case at several news conferences starting at 1700 GMT on Tuesday.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/29/2004 7:59:08 PM ||
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#1
They are going to do this and expect to live? They being in New York and all crime could strike close to home.
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/29/2004 20:21 Comments ||
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The nazi war criminal prosecutions had something this action pointedly lacks: objective evidence against the accused, as well as the failure by the accused to take action against the perpetrators.
On the other hand, as a clearly fivolous legal proceeding aimed solely at inflammatory propaganda, this action is evidence of a concious attempt to incite genocide and terrorism against Americans.
Jessel and his fellow propagandists can therefore be tried and hanged under the Streicher precedent.
Follow his path, share his fate.
#5
Somehow turning their courts into a Scott Peterson circus doesn't stirke me as something the German judiciary will appreciate, even if they do get interviewed by some chick named Greta.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/29/2004 21:06 Comments ||
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My son is in an Army National Guard unit that is providing security at one of Iraq's military prisons.
Thanks to the politically-motivated PC bullshit that's followed in the wake of Abu Ghraib, my son's job is significantly more difficult than it was before, and his life is in significantly greater danger doing his job.
Thanks to the Democratic Party, their fellow-travellers in the media, and so-called "human rights" groups such as this, guards at these facilities are no longer allowed to use **ANY** kind of force on detainees, except for deadly force when their own lives are in certain, immediate danger. Gone are the riot guns, with beanbag rounds. Gone is the pepper spray. They've got their M-16s and their Beretta sidearms, and that's it.
The **ONLY** punishment they're allowed to inflict on detainees is "time out" in an isolation cell-- air conditioned, with Al Jazeera on the television.
Fights and riots are a near-daily occurrance. They used to intervene to break these up, but no more; what happens, happens.
These are the real, ACTUAL effects of all the senseless hand-wringing over Abu Ghraib.
I piss on these "human rights" groups. I piss on Human Rights Watch. I piss on the ICRC. And I piss on the Democratic Party.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
11/29/2004 21:39 Comments ||
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The **ONLY** punishment they're allowed to inflict on detainees is "time out" in an isolation cell-- air conditioned, with Al Jazeera on the television.
The silver lining in all of this is that capturing these types has been made pointless. Dispatching them on the battlefield will make things a lot neater and save both us and the Iraqi government time, money, and pain. :)
America supports the troops--privately, and online. From the Wall Street Journal Online. Posted in entirety so you don't have to register.
At last for the troops fighting the war on terror, there is a home front. There are no victory gardens on this home front, no Rosie the Riveter. It's on the Web.
When this column appeared last Friday--praising the high quality of the modern American soldier and knocking the government for not rallying the home front--an official called from the Defense Department to draw attention to precisely such an effort. Better late than never.
The Defense Department has created a space on its Web site called "America Supports You." But once you click onto this link, you notice that the government itself isn't behind the creation of this home front. The DoD Web site collects in one place a partial listing of groups that have sprung to life all over the country to help the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
During the past year, I've chastised the government for not giving the American people some official way to show support for the troops. I see now that this was a wholly misguided thought. Support for the U.S. soldiers fighting the war on terror is coming together in a traditional American way--as spontaneous, private, voluntary pro-soldier groups of like-minded citizens. This is the real American home front in the war on terror. It properly has little to do with Homeland Security, Defense, the White House or any other part of the government.
The groups have names like Adopt a Platoon, Homes for Our Troops, Soldiers Angels, Operation Mom and Operation Gratitude. The larger, traditional organizations are also there--the VFW, the American Legion and the USO. The Intrepid Museum Foundation, which runs the famous battleship site in Manhattan, has a strong program called the Fallen Heroes Fund.
Continued on Page 49
#1
The author doesn't seem to quite appreciate the idea of netcentric warfare. It's easy for ideas to devolve into buzzwords, to be sure - especially far-ranging ideas.
As he obliquely admits, netcentric infrastructure and -- equally important -- tactics and doctrine have been incredibly powerful in Iraq and Afghanistan.
However, the focus on shared and very timely information flows at all levels of command goes way beyond getting the services to work together more closely. It means getting inside the enemy's Observe / Orient / Decide / Act cycle - i.e., doing those things before the enemy can either do them or react to your last actions.
What does this have to do with defeating terrorism? Not much, perhaps -- unless the same approach is taken to the wider intel community. In which case it probably matters whose vision for intel reform we adopt .....
The problem that will emerge is how to share info without drowning people - especially people at the lower levels of the organization - in it. That's an issue a lot of people are working on right now.
The gist of their messages hasn't changed much. But the frequency of them has. Since Sept. 11, 2001, members of Al Qaeda have released an audio- or videotape about once every six weeks. Most notably, Osama bin Laden, invisible to the world for more than two years, sent a videotape to Al Jazeera just three weeks ago. Before that, a young man claiming to be an American recorded a 75-minute screed on a videotape that was delivered to ABC News along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. But the communication is hardly limited to the airwaves. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi alone has posted messages on the Internet to his followers in Iraq several times in the past week, urging them to resist the US campaign in Fallujah.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/29/2004 12:38:53 AM ||
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A lot of heavy breathing with frequent mentions of the Vietnam era buildup. They are not saying "quagmire", but are trying hard. I give it a 3.1.
Oh, and tucked away is the actual reason--troops coming home from europe.
I have a pretty good idea of how much fun they're in for at Benning. I was on Ft. Hood in 93-94, when they dropped an extra division (mostly 4ID, with bits and pieces from elsewhere) on us W/O building extra barracks. We wern't quite 2 to a bunk, but there were NO extra beds available when I left.
Posted by: N guard ||
11/29/2004 8:54 Comments ||
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NG: I was on Ft. Hood in 93-94, when they dropped an extra division (mostly 4ID, with bits and pieces from elsewhere) on us W/O building extra barracks. We wern't quite 2 to a bunk, but there were NO extra beds available when I left.
They're not homeless - they're campers. Yeah, that's it - they're campers.
The UN should be reformed to make intervention in failing states easier, a commission is set to recommend.
The panel, which has examined how the UN could respond better to global threats, also calls for the Security Council to be enlarged, the BBC has learned.
The report has been called the "biggest make-over" of the UN since 1945.
It is thought that if the UN shows greater readiness to act, unilateralism by member states would be less likely.
A year ago, in the wake of the international divisions over Iraq, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan warned the UN was at a "fork in the road".
He said the organisation had to review its fundamental policies in order to address the increasing threats of global terrorism, weapons of mass destruction and nuclear proliferation.
He asked a panel of 16 veteran diplomats and politicians, chaired by former Thai Prime Minister Anand Panyarachun, to examine ways the UN should be reformed.
The route the panel is set to advocate is much more interventionist, moving away from the UN's traditional emphasis that it cannot meddle in the internal affairs of a member state.
Pre-emptive
The BBC has been told that among the panel's main findings are calls for a peace-building commission to be established to monitor potential trouble spots, offer help and advice, give warnings and prepare the way for armed intervention as a last resort.
The panel wants member states to accept a new obligation - a "responsibility to protect" their own citizens.
If they failed to do so, then intervention by the Security Council would be much more likely than under current UN procedures.
At the moment, the Council can order intervention, and a member state can act in self-defence, if there is an imminent threat. The Council can declare a threat to international security but the definition is vague and the procedure unwieldy.
This report recommends that the Council should be more willing to act pre-emptively, though according to five strict criteria:
* the threat should be defined
* the purpose of intervention should be clear
* it should be a last resort,
* the means should be proportionate
* the consequences should be examined
Whether the Council would in fact take action would depend on what the crisis was and how it voted. The UN would not have its own peace-keeping force, although several members of the panel wanted this.
Broad definition
Among the other main findings, the panel suggests threats to international security should be defined widely and should include poverty, pandemics like Aids and environmental disasters, not just threats from weapons of mass destruction, wars and failed states.
Panel's members
Anand Panyarachun (Chairman), former Prime Minister of Thailand
Robert Badinter (France)
Joao Clemente Baena Soares (Brazil)
Gro Harlem Brundtland (Norway)
Mary Chinery-Hesse (Ghana)
Gareth Evans (Australia)
Lord David Hannay (United Kingdom)
Enrique Iglesias (Uruguay)
Amre Moussa (Egypt)
Satish Nambiar (India)
Sadako Ogata (Japan)
Yevgenii Primakov (Russia)
Qian Qichen (China)
Nafis Sadik (Pakistan)
Salim Ahmed Salim (Tanzania)
Brent Scowcroft (United States)
The Security Council should be enlarged from 15 members to 24 - the five permanent members, the US, Russia, China, the UK and France, should keep their seats and their vetoes (any changes to that would simply not be agreed, it was felt).
The panel does not, however, recommend how this should be achieved and simply offers two models. In the first, there would be more permanent members without a veto. In the second there would be some semi-permanent members who must be voted onto the Council every four years.
Terrorism would be defined for the first time and should be made part of an international convention. Terrorism would mean any action targeted against non-combatants and civilians.
To help stop the spread of nuclear weapons, countries wanting fuel for their nuclear power should have automatic rights to get supplies under the International Atomic Energy Agency so long as they complied with inspection regimes.
These inspections should themselves be drastically tightened up. The system would work rather as the International Monetary Fund does where members have drawing rights on currencies.
Regional organisation like the African Union should be strengthened. Any peacekeeping operation should be funded by the UN itself and member states should pay automatically.
The G8 group of countries should be expanded and changed. One idea put forward is that membership of the G8, which is made up only of the rich, should be widened to 20 bringing in developing countries.
The UN Human Rights Commission should be re-invigorated with more human rights activists and fewer diplomats on members' delegations.
The report will now be considered by the Secretary General and then by the member states.
Any institutional changes are likely to come only slowly but the thrust is clear - the UN must reform or lose its role.
Secretary General Kofi Annan said today he was "disappointed and surprised" by the latest revelations about payments to his son made by a Swiss company linked to the UN's scandal-plagued Iraqi oil program. After earlier announcing the payments had ended by 1999, a UN spokesman admitted Friday that Kojo Annan had been paid monthly until February 2004 - just weeks after media reports focused international attention on the scandal. "I understand the perception problem for the UN, or the perception of conflict of interest and wrongdoing," the UN chief told reporters at the world body's headquarters in New York. "He is an independent businessman. He is a grown man and I don't get involved with his activities - and he doesn't get involved in mine," Annan said. But he added: "Naturally, I was very disappointed and surprised."
That's a nice, smooth explanation, except that Sonny's activities overlapped with Pop's activities, with one in a position to benefit from the other now, and the other in a position to benefit from the one later. You don't find corruption much more naked than that outside of Zim-Bob-We.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/29/2004 5:38:35 PM ||
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#1
How do you know when UN Secretary General Kofi is lying?
#5
He is an independent businessman. He is a grown man and I donât get involved with his activities
Yet, how utterly, incredibly coincidental that the son of the Secretary General of the United Nations got involved in what is solely a United Nations program!!!!
There's only one explaination for such a coincidence. It ain't a coincidence.
#6
I didn't even know Dad was Secretary General of the UN. I mean, WOW! The United Nations! Imagine my surprise. Could've knocked me down with a feather
Posted by: Kojo Annan ||
11/29/2004 20:48 Comments ||
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This is also news to the MSM, Eurostan, and the DNC.
Things are going badly for Kofi Annan. The oil-for-food scandal has revealed U.N. behavior regarding Saddam Hussein's Iraq that ranges from criminally inept to outright corrupt. Rape and pedophilia by U.N. peacekeepers haven't gotten the kind of attention they'd get if American troops were involved, but the scandals have begun to take their toll. And the U.N.'s ability to serve its crowning purpose -- the "never again" treatment of genocide that was vowed after the Holocaust, and re-vowed after Cambodia and Rwanda -- is looking less and less credible in the wake of its response to ongoing genocide in Darfur. And finally, the U.N. has so far played no significant role in defusing the Ukrainian crisis.
Things have gotten bad enough that some are calling for Mr. Annan's resignation, amid talk of former Czech President Vaclav Havel as successor. ("Havel for Secretary General" bumper stickers are on the Web.) But however you assess Mr. Havel's chances of becoming secretary general, for Mr. Annan the comparison is devastating...Mr. Annan, by contrast, is a trimmer and temporizer who has stood up for tyrants far more than he has stood up to them.
If the comparison is damning to Kofi, it's even more damning to the U.N. Mr. Havel once wrote Czech dictator Gustav Husak, "So far, you . . . have chosen . . . the path of inner decay for the sake of outward appearances . . . of deepening the spiritual and moral crisis of our society, and ceaselessly degrading human dignity, for the puny sake of protecting your own power." One might say the same of the U.N. bureaucracy.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/29/2004 9:49:01 AM ||
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Electing Vaclav Havel as Secretary General would go a long way to BEGIN to redeem the UN.
#2
The chances of Havel becoming the new UN Secretary-General are absolutely zero. The chances of Kofi Annan being replaced by someone who is much more hostile to the USA are close to 100%.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
11/29/2004 12:26 Comments ||
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#3
Well, it's a good thing the UN's nothing more than a debating club for criminals, then.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
11/29/2004 12:31 Comments ||
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#4
100% huh? Well, that'll make it easier to withdraw all support
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/29/2004 12:54 Comments ||
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#5
Ouch! Glenn takes no prisonors. :-D
Disband the Thugocracy Club UN and form the Community of Democracies NOW.
And leave Phrance out.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
11/29/2004 13:06 Comments ||
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#6
The breaking up, letting go, throwing in a bad hand, whatever you want to call it, is often one hell of a show. It's fascinating to watch the process - as we're all natural voyeurs to a degree. I think of articles like this as a sort of intellectual onanism - of no consequence in the real world. The only one getting any real jollies out of such focused stroking is the agenda-pusher.
The UN is DEAD. It has been DEAD for quite awhile, now. We all know it. How many times have we pleaded with, cajoled, entreated and, eventually, kicked the corpse - hoping for a response? Your pet thingy comes along - "Call the UN!" and then... nothing. And true time after time, pet thingy after pet thingy, cause after cause, righteous indignation after... you get the idea. Same result. DEAD. Everyone knows it - no matter how hard they close their eyes or how many times they click their heels together...
It doesn't really matter what the charter says or what the pundits and politicians and professors tell us - once it took root it evolved into something else, a symbol that by its very nature had responsibilities. These took the form of expectations - a simple fact of our quirky human nature, no matter whether it's fair or not... By any rational measure, even by its own and the parasitic constituencies, it has failed those expectations, those responsibilities, so many times that now only the exceptions are trotted out to the stand of microphones and popping flashbulbs, a grand gesture that can only be completed now with a wink and a nod for public display, fading adulation, and the requisite pleas and softball MSM reportage for its continuation - the pretense that it's relevant and viable. How pathetic. A faded actress. A DEAD actress. And, truth be told, she was never really that good. The memories outshine the realities - another common human trait laden with emotional goodwill for the departed. They become "dear" - after the fact.
When did it die? Pfeh - an irrelevance... a subject for the pundits and professors and reporters who'll miss those fabulous open bars - in other words, the coterie of professional onanists. Many books will be written and many interviews given - the parasite industries must be fed - but the question is of no consequence. The real question, since we're such industrious little bees and full of hope, heh, is what comes next... but I'm getting ahead of myself...
And the Coroner sez... Compare the cost to benefit ratio. Not just in dollars or time, certainly significant investments, but in the cynicism that comes from repeated failure and broken promises. Eventually, the kid knows the promise is empty - and begins to laugh in the face of the constituents who insist the Emperor's New Clothes are, what else, simply fabulous! Nah, not this time. So, regards that ratio, how close to zero can it get before someone finally whispers the unspeakable?
Once spoken, the relief is palpable â for the people who kept faith for so very long, in spite of being stuck with the tab and the unfulfilled expectations, realistic or not. Now, until the last diplomat skips out on a parking ticket â or rape charge, the weight of pretense must be borne by the organization, its parasitic constituency, and the dwindling pool of toolfools, such as the MSM â all of whom will, indeed, really miss the open bars and gourmet munchies and expense account lunches in Upper Manhattan. This is sad, certainly, for it has become a significant industry unto itself, but never fear â they are all professional leeches and there will be other hosts, fat and ripened, to which they will attach themselves.
The cat is out of the bag. This is a learning process, not an end nor the hand we must always play. Time to fold. We invented the League of Nations. It failed and we learned - a little. We invented the UN. It failed and we have learned a little more. We can try again or go the bi-lateral treaty route - whatever serves our interests best - for that is the only value in such an organization, period. Full stop.
#7
I can only imagine one scenario in which even the most cowardly, parasitical, bigoted and corrupt members of the UN would get off their rears to act:
If the UN decided to take action against the US (a fruition of the hating America platform) with sanctions, resolutions, arrest warrants, etc.
In all this post-war talk in America and Europe about why the Iraq War was right or was wrong, never is a word peeped about how the functionality and the integrity of the UN was being destroyed by Saddam's defiant provocations. You would think that each country in the UN would want to reinforce the solemnity of such an organization and want its decision to be taken seriously. In fact, hasn't that been the gripe of one of our greatest detrators-France? ("We need to learn to listen to each other.") How many GENUINE human rights abuses could be stopped, how many more innocents in the world would be alive today if members had performed their jobs with commitment and courage? The UN, by avoiding what happened under Saddam, defined itself as the defender of graft, torture and murder.
Thank God President Bush shoved the mirror in the world's faces; but after he did, did anyone at the UN see anything out of kilter? No-everything looked just fine to France, Germany, Russia, Chile...The rot is within.
Bush saw the problem of a declawed and corrupt UN before the Iraq War. That was why he tried to go it alone-he knew that half would decline because of lack of principles and half would decline, preferring instead the prized goal of sticking it to the US.
Our international partners, instead of considering whether he might have a point about what the UN was becoming, or whether the lives in all those Iraqi mass graves had worth, plunged ahead with accusations of "hegemonic, oil-grabbing, imperialistic America", increasing the negative publicity on the US so that anti-Americanism worldwide would skyrocket, their own countries would rise on the PR stage, their sense of justice would be slaked by American blood, and the chances for Iraqi success would be smothered-restoring the grandeur and omnipotence of the UN in international crises.
The UN has been using this new and promising anti-US PR tactic quite effectively, to the detriment of decapitated Americans and executed Iraqis ever since. But Kofi Annan, France, et al can not escape the history in their own actions, and have been suffering PR nightmares since, precisely because ideals/principles/whatever you want to call them DO matter. Election results in the US, while not delineated precisely, scream this. The appeal of "I do what I say" appeals for both and idealistic and practical reasons. This administration is in a tough position. I understand the timing point in your remark, but we have to remember the other, much more dangerous components in our "relationship with the UN" are still there-many of our UN "allies" want us to fail. We should keep that in mind with the calculus of the election calendar, UN/Allawi/the outcome of Iraq.
#14
It's conceivable. Kids sometimes lie to their parents.
OTOH, he can't be "disappointed" about tens of thousands of dead Sudanese, increasing every day, because he KNOWS it is happening and has provided no leadership to stop it.
#17
The chances of Kofi Annan being replaced by someone who is much more hostile to the USA are close to 100%.
Such an appointment (and the actions by the UN that followed) would SEAL THE UN'S DOOM. There are limits to what middle America will stand for--and most polls show their opinion of the UN is declining rapidly. All it would take would be some badly worded and poorly thought out anti-US resolution to put an abrupt end to the funding the US provides.
#18
..I've said it before and I'll say it again - the next UNSG will almost certainly be a Muslim from one of the 'struggle' nations. An Iranian would be the best bet, followed by a Palestinian.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
11/29/2004 23:41 Comments ||
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Ohmygod. Someone's asking the UN to be a moral organisation. Run for the hills, Kofi!
After decades of argument over whether one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter, a group of international "wise men" will this week tell the United Nations to outlaw all terror attacks on civilians or risk losing its moral authority. In a report to be unveiled on Thursday, seen in part by The Telegraph, a panel appointed to reform the UN said it must send "an unequivocal message that terrorism is never an acceptable tactic, even for the most defensible of causes".
This is a slap in the face for Palestinians, Iraqi insurgents, Kashmiri rebels, al-Qa'eda militants and other groups that claim to be fighting foreign domination. It is also a rebuke to Muslim states that have for years blocked agreement on an all-embracing UN convention on terrorism on the grounds that it should exclude groups fighting "occupation" or "colonialism". On the question of "resistance" to occupation, the report declares that "there is nothing in the fact of occupation that justifies the targeting and killing of civilians".
The report is from the High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change which was set up to propose the most far-reaching reforms of the UN since its founding in 1945, It carries added weight because one of its 16 authors is Amr Mousa, the secretary general of the Arab League, which includes all Arab states and the Palestine Liberation Organisation. The panel was appointed by Kofi Annan, the UN secretary general, to find ways of healing the divisions over Iraq and fending off Washington's threats to treat the UN as "irrelevant" in dealing with modern dangers. Other luminaries include Brent Scowcroft, a national security adviser to President Gerald Ford and the first President George Bush; Lord Hannay, Britain's ex-ambassador to the UN; and Yevgeny Primakov, a former Russian premier.
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Posted by: Bulldog ||
11/29/2004 9:29:10 AM ||
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..a group of international "wise men" will this week tell the United Nations to outlaw all terror attacks on civilians or risk losing its moral authority.
How is that organization going to lose something that it already lost a long time ago?
#2
Last call. If Klown Kofi doesn't accept this simple, powerful, above all blindingly obvious recommendation, then the UN will be exposed as a complete fraud that objectively supports the terrorist scourge.
1. The UN will hem and haw and attach conditions and interpretations and spin the recommendations
or
2. The UN, in a garish public display of quantum leap enlightenment, will embrace the recommendations as a further refinement of its committment to human rights. Then, will expand the notion to somehow heap disapproval on the US. Then, will file it away.
Bottom line: nothing will change. The status quo benefits too many in organization. Merely declaring terrorism to be "bad" isn't going to halt the petrowhore, anti-American, Israel-as-scapegoat inertia that has built up for lo these many years.
The Government has suffered a legal setback after a European court ruling that could see British soldiers taken to court over the deaths of Iraqi civilians in Basra. In a landmark judgment, the European Court of Human Rights has ruled that European troops who are in control of a foreign country can be prosecuted under human rights law for breaching the civil rights of local people.
It comes days before the High Court in London is due to rule on a case involving the death of the hotel receptionist Baha Mousa and more than 30 other Iraqis who were allegedly killed, tortured or ill-treated by British troops after last year's war. That case hinges on claims that British forces in Iraq are bound by the Human Rights Act and the European Convention on Human Rights even outside Europe - the same issue at the centre of the ruling by the court in Strasbourg 12 days ago... Well, just because the ECHR would do this to the British is no proof that the ICC would ever do this to American soldiers. Right.
Posted by: Anonymoose ||
11/29/2004 9:03:22 AM ||
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#1
The European Court can start with the French massacre of unarmed civilians in the Ivory Coast. It's all on video and an easy slam dunk case.
Fat chance.
Posted by: ed ||
11/29/2004 9:17 Comments ||
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#2
I made a VCD of the French massacre. Any good address to send it too?
I plan to stick one on the local Amnesty office to shame them.
#3
3dc - If you can, get them on film as you hand it to them. And tell them you'll be checking back to see how their case against France is going.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
11/29/2004 10:18 Comments ||
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#4
As much as I despise the French, the video I saw had NO evidence against those troops. I wish people would stop hyping it; the whole thing's starting to sound like an echo of the Moonbat Choir.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
11/29/2004 12:47 Comments ||
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#5
Did you see the same clips I did? I make two assumptions about the two clips: 1) the clips weren't edited and 2) the cameraman was showing the most exciting/violent activities he could safely find on both sides.
Thumbnail: (fuller description here) There were three volleys. The first seems to have been completely warning shots, nobody hurt. A lot of the crowd seems to have dispersed then, and the residue were angrier and a few had crossed the line by the fence when the second volley came. Some people hit the dirt, some stolled away: the French were mostly firing in the air, I think, but at least one person was shot in the leg. The cameraman was in the back when the third volley came, so there's no evidence for/against provocation; but some of the wounded were in the middle of the crowd, not the front. The simplest interpretation I have (bearing in mind my assumptions above) is that some protestors crossed one line too many by the road, and the French let loose on the whole remaining crowd.
Posted by: James ||
11/29/2004 16:29 Comments ||
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Pakistan test-fired a short-range nuclear capable missile in its fifth missile test this year despite ongoing peace talks with nuclear rival India. It was the third test of the "Ghaznavi" or Hatf-III missile, a surface-to-surface projectile with a range of 290 kilometres (180 miles), the military announced in a statement. Most of this year's tests have been seen as bids to ease domestic fears that Pakistan may be pressured to dismantle its atomic programme, after it emerged key nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan had been involved in proliferation.
THE MILITARY is verifying reports Abu Sayyaf leader Khadaffy Janjalani has escaped to Malaysia, its spokesman said Monday. Lieutenant Colonel Buenaventura Pascual issued the statement in response to Tawi Tawi governor Sadikul Sahali's claim that the elusive bandit slipped past a military dragnet in Central Mindanao. "We are verifying those reports," Pascual told reporters in Camp Aguinaldo military headquarters. Sahali was quoted as saying that Janjalani and some 20 other bandits went to Mardanas and Mamanok Islands in Malaysia from Sibutu town in Tawi Tawi. Last week, the military said Janjalani was in Central Mindanao, seeking cover in areas where a ceasefire between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) was in place.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/29/2004 1:45:23 AM ||
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IRAN has been building a secret tunnel since October to continue uranium enrichment, despite a deal two weeks ago to freeze the program, Germany's Der Spiegel reported in an issue to be published tomorrow. The weekly, citing a secret service file, said that Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had personally ordered the facility built last month near the uranium enrichment site in Isfahan that is under UN observation. The tunnel, which Der Spiegel said is out of the view of spy satellites, is intended to house a production site for large amounts of uranium UF6 gas which can be enriched in gas centrifuges - a key step in the building of a nuclear bomb. The clandestine project is being led by a task force that answers directly to Khamenei, the report said. The Islamic republic had agreed with Britain, France and Germany earlier this month to suspend its uranium enrichment program, in what was supposed to have been a show of good faith aimed at easing suspicions it is seeking nuclear weapons.
And we can see how well that's working...
Posted by: ed ||
11/29/2004 19:26 ||
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mullahs lying? Go figure
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/29/2004 20:08 Comments ||
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#2
Just like the North Vietnamese many years ago; say one thing, do another.
Hundreds of members of Iran's hardline Basij militia rallied outside the British embassy in protest at Britain's military deployment in Iraq, throwing stones and petrol bombs at the already damaged compound in Tehran. But the some 400 male and female members of the militia's student wing, a volunteer branch of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, were prevented from getting too close to the embassy walls and main gate by dozens of anti-riot police. The demonstrators chanted slogans calling for the expulsion of Britain's ambassador, Richard Dalton, and for the embassy to be shut down. They also demanded a boycott of British goods and a halt in trade with London. After torching British, American and Israeli flags, some demonstrators threw stones at the embassy.
#4
What would really impress the world would be Basijs demonstrating in front of British embassy while torching the Samoan, Maltese and Nicaraguan flags.
#5
What, they could only afford four hundreds' worth of rent-a-mob? You'd think Iran would be rolling in it, given world oil prices. Wonder just how much they've been paying for SovietRussian nukework.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
11/29/2004 17:50 Comments ||
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#6
Militant Persian student babes. Wish I were there...
#8
Reliving the good old days of the embassy takeover. Sort of like a lot of the Kerry supporters reliving the summer of love. I wonder if we'll start to see a lot of pictures on the internet of Persians with little signs that say "Sorry" in Farsi.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/29/2004 20:07 Comments ||
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#9
I'd let Jack Straw out in the street to talk to his good Iranian friends. It'd be like Fisk Pt 2
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/29/2004 20:13 Comments ||
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After eight years of a bold but bungled experiment with reform, Iran's government is in the throes of a takeover by conservatives determined to restore the revolution's Islamic purity, according to Iranian politicians and analysts. Khamenei is more powerful than at any time since 1989, when he succeeded the leader of Iran's Islamic revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Critics said his control is as far-reaching as that of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi before he was overthrown in 1979. "The pendulum has swung. Khamenei is in a better position than he's ever been," a senior Western diplomat said on condition of anonymity, because of the sensitivity of the subject. "There's a real cockiness in the stride of his camp." Khamenei's consolidation of power, partly through a new parliament that took office in May, has given even more leverage to religious institutions, including the judiciary, the Revolutionary Guards and vigilante groups such as Ansar Hezbollah, analysts said. As a result, fear, intimidation and harassment have become instruments of the state in ways reminiscent of the early fervor following the 1979 revolution, Iranians complain. Women can still get away with relaxed dress, but the debates over political openings and reforming Islam have gone behind closed doors, or ended. More at the link.
Oh those MSNBC "news" people, especially the insightful Robin Wright (woohoo, what an awesome intellect!), really crack me up! W00t!
Pretty soon, they'll start questioning the "peaceful nuclear program" and maybe even a dribble or two about "student unrest", but that will have to wait awhile, one breakthrough news feast at a time. Way to go, Robin, you're a real Ace reporter!
A senior Iranian official appeared to cast doubt today on Tehran's latest commitment to a total suspension of nuclear activities capable of producing weapons-grade uranium, saying some centrifuges will continue operating. Hossein Mousavian's comments on Iranian television came just hours before the UN atomic watchdog agency's board was expected to approve a resolution aimed at ending a dispute that had threatened to go to the Security Council. Diplomats, from the EU and elsewhere, said the commitment — sent by letter to the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna yesterday — fulfilled demands that Tehran include centrifuges in its total suspension of uranium-enrichment programme. But Mousavian, the chief Iranian delegate to the meeting, suggested otherwise, telling IRIN television: "The centrifuge systems would not stop and will continue to work under the full supervision of the IAEA." Delegates and other diplomats with nuclear expertise suggested the comments were meant to ease fears among Iranian hard-liners that Tehran gave up too much in exchange for a softly-worded resolution. They said they still believed Iran would not run any centrifuges during the suspension. In Tehran, government spokesman Abdollah Ramezanzadeh also appeared to endorse the deal, saying Iran had agreed not to test any centrifuges "for now."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/29/2004 9:33:20 AM ||
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"She loves me, she loves me not. She loves me, she loves me not. She loves me,...."
#3
Do they just start shouting something different AS they sign these worthless agreements? They sure aren't letting the ink dry before announcing they are following them for whatever whackjob reason.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
11/29/2004 11:40 Comments ||
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#5
We should combine the nuclear football with a slot machine. Wvery morning the President gives the arm a good pull. Three footballs come up, bye bye Tehran.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/29/2004 12:26 Comments ||
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#6
Three cherries -- good bye France!
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
11/29/2004 12:34 Comments ||
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#7
"... casts doubt"?
How the f%&k is it possible to "cast doubt" upon something so beyond credibility as an Iranian promise to do anything except betray you at the earliest opportunity?
Iran on Sunday backed off a demand to operate uranium enrichment equipment that could be used either for energy purposes or in a nuclear bomb-making project, European and Iranian officials said. The Iranian retreat appeared to salvage a nuclear agreement reached Nov. 15 between Iran and France, Britain and Germany to freeze all of Iran's uranium enrichment, conversion and reprocessing activities. It also paves the way for the 35 countries that make up the ruling board of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the Vienna-based United Nations nuclear monitoring body, to pass a resolution that will be only mildly critical of Iran's nuclear program.
O dear. Surely not the Mildly Critical Resolution! Horrors!
Such a resolution, expected to be passed Monday, is certain to disappoint the Bush administration, which is convinced that despite Iran's denials, it has a covert program to build nuclear bombs, not simply to produce energy. The administration had wanted much tougher language in the resolution.
Well, yes. Bush is calling for a Moderately Critical Resolution.
Iran's suspected nuclear ambition has become a leading source of worry in the Bush administration, which has said it will not allow Iran's Islamic republic, with its avowed hostility to the United States, to attain nuclear weapons or even develop a comprehensive peaceful nuclear energy program. In Washington, reports of a new accord with Iran brought expressions of caution from the Bush administration, which has been skeptical about the European efforts to negotiate with Iran.
"We've seen this kind of commitment from Iran before," a State Department official said. "We'll be looking to see whether they stick with what they agree to do. In the past they haven't, so follow-up is very important."
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Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/29/2004 1:09:20 AM ||
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Was this before or after they "backed up"? The oscillation frequency has exceeded my buffer... I'm confused...
Iranian sources said the country has discovered Saudi Arabia has access to nuclear weapons and technology, the Middle East Newsline reported Sunday. The sources said Saudi Arabia and Pakistan signed an agreement in 2003 that stated Pakistan would assist the Arab kingdom in the deployment of nuclear weapons and missile delivery systems. Teheran University Professor Abu Mohammad Asgarkhani said in an address that Iran required a nuclear weapon following Pakistan and Saudi Arabia's acquisition of atomic weapons.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/29/2004 2:31:58 AM ||
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Dan,
I have seen this story now in several places but it just does not seem credible. Whats your take on it?
#2
I dunno, it seems credible to me. I've heard lots of speculation that the Pakistani program was bankrolled by the Saudis in the first place.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
11/29/2004 12:18 Comments ||
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#3
Robert, I remember reading an article here on Rantburg that the Saudis had indeed bankrolled Dr. Khan's successful efforts...in order to acquire the results. As I recall, the Saudis put money in at one end, and were to get Pakistani cannon fodder and an atomic bomb from the other end. The cannon fodder definitely arrived in the Kingdom, but I don't remember that the bombs did -- the process may have been messed up by Dr. Khan's exposure and arrest. It would be very interesting to see Iran's evidence, though.
A related thought: it has been commented on here at Rantburg on the level of technical expertise required to maintain atomic bombs in working order (as bombs, I mean, rather than as expensive containers of radioactive material). With high-skill foreigners continuing to leave Saudi Arabia (they are continuing to leave, are they not? I haven't seen much on the subject recently), I can't imagine that there are many in-country who are capable of the ticklish maintenance required.
The Saudis have always been close to Pakistan's nuclear programme. In fact, the Pakistani military allowed the Saudi interior minister to visit Khan's nuclear digs at Kahuta, but Benazir Bhutto, then Pakistan's PM was refused access to the labs.
Nothing new folks. Pakistan is adept at playing both sides of the game; it supplies WMD technology to Iran, but gets into a nuclear-sharing arrangement with the Saudis; it gets conventional arms from the United States and nuclear/ballistic technology from China.
Posted by: Nitin Pai ||
11/29/2004 20:14 Comments ||
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The UN nuclear watchdog meets on Monday in Vienna with Iran virtually safe from possible UN sanctions after agreeing to a full freeze of all nuclear enrichment activities that could make uranium for atomic weapons. The Iranian government sent a letter Sunday to the watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) withdrawing its demand to exempt 20 centrifuges from a freeze of its uranium enrichment activities, Iranian nuclear negotiator Hossein Moussavian told AFP. Hardliners in Iran had said the exemption should be maintained for research purposes but Moussavian said: "I confirm... that Iran will permit the IAEA to place these components, 20 centrifuges, under agency surveillance." ... "Iran will not conduct any testing (of the centrifuges),"Â Moussavian said.
Until tomorrow.
EU negotiators Britain, France and Germany had given Iran until late Sunday to agree to a full freeze, based on an enrichment suspension the four countries had agreed to in Paris on November 7 and which began November 22. If Iran did not finally comply, the European trio were ready to propose a tough resolution at an IAEA meeting, which was supposed to end after two days on Friday but was adjourned until Monday due to the deadlock, diplomats said. With Iran agreeing to a full suspension, the European trio submitted Sunday a relatively soft draft resolution on Iran's nuclear program, diplomats said. The text is expected to be adopted by consensus by the spineless IAEA on Monday.
The United States wants the IAEA to send Iran before the UN Security Council, which could impose sanctions, for what it says is a covert nuclear weapons program but this is unlikely now that Iran has agreed to a full suspension and accepts the European resolution, diplomats said. US officials said Washington was ready to back the latest European proposal as long as Iran fully suspended uranium enrichment.
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Posted by: Steve White ||
11/29/2004 12:00:00 AM ||
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Who cares?, UN sanctions are about as troublesome as a cloudy day.
#2
The resolution calls for continuing investigations into sensitive aspects of Iranâs program as agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei has said that while no diversion of nuclear materials for weapons purposes has been detected, he can not yet rule out that there is covert activity.
In other words.....still havenât figured out a way to get Kojo a job outta this. But we'll get back to you shortly, after we visit a couple five-star restaurants and take a few first-class air trips.
Some church signs display passages of Scripture to comfort, while others sport pithy expressions to challenge passers-by to stop and think.
Sometimes they go a bit further and ignite debate, such as the one in front of the Church of the Nazarene in this San Francisco suburb. It's promoting a Sunday sermon titled, "Why I am not a Muslim."
"I thought, That is an offensive sign, per se," said Jay Keller, who lives around the corner. "I work with a lot of Muslims and don't know why someone would put up a sign like that. They can't possibly be oblivious to the fact that it might be offensive to some people."
The Rev. Donald Fareed, pastor of a San Jose-based organization called Persian Ministries, said his talk was intended to explain his conversion to Christianity and try to close any rifts between Christians and Muslims since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
"My goal is not to offend Muslims, but to communicate why I changed my religion," said Fareed, who was born an Iranian Muslim and fled after the Islamist revolution. "It was mostly spiritual reasons that led to my conversion."
He converted to evangelical Christianity about 14 years ago after rebelling against Islam's holy laws. He said the change allows him to have a closer bond to God.
Fareed hosts a weekly television show in the San Francisco Bay Area that is broadcast globally by satellite in Farsi. He believes he now reaches about 30 million people each week and said Muslims he has spoken to have begun considering other options in the face of harsh Islamist governments.
Nazarene Pastor Terry Irish said the electric signboard was taken from a brochure Fareed sent him last month.
"It is not intended to be either insensitive or inflammatory," Irish said. "My intent is never to offend. My intent is always to inform."
Sunnyvale resident Waheed Siddiqee said he was disappointed by the sign, which is a few blocks from his home, because it appears to challenge his Muslim faith.
"It's a free country and he's free to speak his mind," Siddiqee said. "There is nothing we can do about it."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/29/2004 8:34:53 PM ||
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Find a Chechen rebel? Manage to stumble across a Hamas lair? Discover an Al Qaida cell?
The safe solution is to kill them when they are found. No capture, no incarceration. Waste 'em right then and there, and publicize it. Give the bastards a taste of their own medicine, but in an extremely stronger dose.
A former Palestinian official, who survived an assassination attempt earlier this year, has attacked the Palestinian Authority, charging it with widespread mismanagement. Nabil Amr, the former Palestinian information minister, warned that Palestinians have to choose either genuine democracy based on the rule of law or national demise.
That'd be kind of a national abortion, seeing as how they don't even have a state yet...
He said the Palestinian Authority (PA) suffered from "rampant misgovernance, lawlessness and a lack of accountability".
Noticed that, did you? Was that before or after you were part of the problem?
Amr returned this week to his home town of Dura, southwest of Hebron, after a lengthy recuperation in Germany, where he had his right leg amputated. He survived an attempt on his life in the West Bank town of Ram Allah a few months ago.
Just a run-of-the-mill political discussion in Paleostine...
It is widely believed that gunmen close to the late Palestinian president Yasir Arafat were responsible for shooting Amr. The PA police have failed to catch the perpetrators, a fact Amr says underlines the incompetence and chaos permeating the Palestinian government. Speaking to Aljazeera in Dura, Amr accused the PA of failing to deal properly and seriously with the attempt on his life. "If this happened anywhere in the world, the perpetrator would be caught within 24 hours, but in Ram Allah those who were supposed to uphold the law and protect our security raced to hide and protect the would-be assassin so that he could try to assassinate other people. He who thinks that we are in the best conditions doesn't know what he is talking about."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/29/2004 8:14:50 PM ||
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Sheikh Hassan Yousef, head of the Hamas politburo in Ramallah said Monday that Hamas is willing to declare a 10 year hudna, or ceasefire.
"Yes. I we would definitely like to assure myself that I don't get a Hellfire headache Israel that we just need a few years of peace to rearm and reload meditate 'n' pray 'n' stuff, ya know, peacefully."
Hudna my ass. Arrange his promotion to 'martyr', we'll see what his replacement thinks. Eventually, one of them will be capable of basic logical reasoning.
Update:
[Yousef] also said that Hamas would consider a formal cease-fire, if Israel reciprocates. He said Israel must be prepared to release Palestinian prisoners, withdraw from occupied land and stop targeted killings of militants. "The truce should have a price," he said. "There is no truce from one side. The truce should be two-way. But a truce with continued Israeli aggression is not acceptable to us."
Posted by: mojo ||
11/29/2004 11:57:48 AM ||
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âThe truce should have a price,â he said.
A price, apparently, the Israelis are expected to pay the bulk of.
No dice. Just keep on killing Hamas members, one by one, until what's left of their leadership unconditionally waves the white flag.
#2
What is the real difference between a hudna and a formal cease fire?
Keep building the wall. Withdraw from Gaza, consolidate territory beyond the Green Line on the West Bank side, especially around Jerusalem. Oh, yes, and continue making those who plot to murder Israeli children pay in blood, until their replacements come to their senses.
Sheikh Yussef hasn't quite grasped reality. If he is lucky, he'll have time to do so this side of his Paradise.
#3
this is just an opening position, i think. they wont get withdrawl, and probably not prisoner release for the hudna. But the Israelis probably WILL grant a suspension of targetted killings, in return for a TOTAL suspension of attacks on Israelis (including soldiers and settlers). This wouldnt be long anyway, just till the Pal elections, so the issue of Hamas building capacity isnt that big. Israel can always go back and take out capacity AFTER the Pal elections, which should go forward.
Headline today that PA has stopped incitement. Until Ive seen details, I will assume theres less than meets the eye, but even a small amount of progress on that would be good.
Gaza withdrawl may not go ahead right away, depending on coalition maneuverings in Israel.
#4
[Yousef] also said that Hamas would consider a formal cease-fire, if Israel reciprocates. He said Israel must be prepared to release Palestinian prisoners, withdraw from occupied land and stop targeted killings of militants. âThe truce should have a price,â he said. âThere is no truce from one side. The truce should be two-way.
1.) Note he said "consider". Not quite the same thing as make happen.
2.) What is their "two-way" part? This looks as good a deal for the Paleos as the purchase of Manhattan Island looked. So Israel releases prisoners (see insurgents a la Iraq-murderous terrorists), withdraws from occupied land, and stops targeting killing of militants and Israel gets "consideration"? Proportionality is the word of the day for Yousef. Maybe an evener trade would be that for all these things demanded of Israel:
1) All Palestinian parties/terrorist groups make public statements about the right of Israel to exist (where it is), 2) destruction of all books, lesson plans and madrassas and the closing of mosques and any political establishments where there is incitement to kill Jews, 3) stop all terrorist acts in Palestine and Israel.
#5
It's become totally obvious that the "palestinians" refuse to give up their idea of occupying ALL of "palestine", from the Jordan to the Med. That, in my book, makes everyone in the "occupied territories" lawful combattants, i.e., targets. I think it's time the US backed Israel's use of total force to clear out Gaza, the West Bank, and half of Syria and Lebanon of all "palestinians", and annex the land. If anyone objects, I think they should find a nice Mark24 delivered down their chimney for Christmas, and that includes Paris. We've played this stupid game for almost 60 years. It's time to put an end to it.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
11/29/2004 15:58 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Israel must be prepared to . . . withdraw from occupied land
But, according to Hamas, the state of Israel is occupied arab land.
#11
Just keep on killing Hamas members, one by one, until what's left of their leadership unconditionally waves the white flag.
And then shoot those flag-waving bastards too. Plus whoever tied the flag to its stick. The suckers who wove the cloth the flag was made out of. The farmer who grew the tree that the stick came from and so on until everybody who ever supported Hamas no longer exists.
"The leadership vacuum created by the sad demise of (Palestinian) President (Yasser) Arafat can only be filled by Osama Bin Laden and (Taliban leader) Mullah (Mohammad) Omar, the real leaders that are the only dedicated individuals with the mass support of the Muslim world," said this front-page statement in Pakistan's mass circulation, Urdu-language newspaper Nawa-e-Waqt.
The author was none other than Gen. Hamid Gul, the notorious former head of Pakistan's intelligence service (ISI), perennial agitproper and America-hater, who is "strategic adviser" to the six-party coalition of politico-religious extremists known as MMA. In a subsequent interview in the same newspaper (Nov. 19), Gul flayed U.S. foreign policy now in the hands of "warrior princess" Condi Rice. "The U.S.," he said, "has created the dilemma of the socio-political and economic collapse in Pakistan. Now with Rice's appointment, the U.S. will influence and control Pakistan's nuclear program, which is our only remaining strength, through which the right nuclear balance in the region (with India) is maintained."
MMA is planning nationwide demonstrations this week to protest President Musharraf's military offensive in the federally administered tribal areas (FATA) to find Osama Bin Laden. Presumably to preempt the extremist demos, Musharraf announced military operations in FATA were now completed and the army was satisfied Bin Laden was not hiding somewhere in the 2,500-killometer-long Afghan-Pakistan frontier region. The unmarked border snakes through rugged mountains and remote plains, and with less than 10,000 troops engaged in the search, and the first snowfalls of winter, finding the proverbial needle in a haystack would have been less arduous.
Continued on Page 49
#1
Can't wait for his first meeting with "Warrior Princess" Rice. Imagine having to treat a mere woman as a superior when you have your head so firmly up yer a$$!
#3
Because the CIA's still trying to decide which side its on.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
11/29/2004 10:06 Comments ||
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#4
"..Now with Rice's appointment, the U.S. will influence and control Pakistan's nuclear program, which is our only remaining strength, through which the right nuclear balance in the region (with India) is maintained."
In order to fix this little problem, Paki should attack India with nukes. India retaliates, the whole area goes crispy, and this problem with "balance" is solved; neither India or Pakistan will have any nukes. A side benefit will be that some of the fundamentalists and madrassas will also be fried as a result.
The interim deputy prime minister of Iraq has said that postponing the forthcoming Iraqi elections would be giving in to terrorism. Barham Saleh told the BBC that an "unholy alliance" was attempting to derail the political process in Iraq. This consisted of former regime loyalists, domestic extremists and international terrorists, he said. Iraq's electoral commission has ruled that the country's elections will go ahead as planned on 30 January. Speaking on the Breakfast with Frost programme, Mr Saleh condemned the insurgency. "They do not want to see a functioning democracy right at the heart of the Islamic world," he said. "We will not let them succeed."
A number of groups, representing mostly Sunni Muslims, Kurds and secular Iraqis, had asked for a six-month delay to the elections because of violence in some parts of the country, including the northern city of Mosul, and Falluja in the west. Mr Saleh admitted that holding elections in January against a backdrop of continuing insurgent attacks would be difficult. But he added: "Most Iraqis, including those in Falluja and Mosul, according to opinion polls, want to take part in elections."
His comments were endorsed by the former British envoy to Baghdad, Sir Jeremy Greenstock, who also appeared on the programme. "If you allow violence to dictate the timing of the election, that will encourage violence," said Sir Jeremy. "There will be violence whenever you hold them." He added that it was vitally important that the Sunni Arab population of Iraq - a minority who received favourable treatment under the former regime - be "kept on board" during the elections.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
11/29/2004 12:18:15 AM ||
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Israel has asked French authorities to change Yasser Arafat's listed place of birth on his death certificate to Cairo from Jerusalem, an Israeli official said on Sunday. "We expect the truth to be revealed, especially in light of the fact that the formal document was published by a Western country," the official, based in Paris, told Reuters by telephone.
"But since this is France, we're not getting our hopes up," he added.
Israel's ambassador to France, Nissim Zvili, made a formal request to the French Foreign Ministry to change Arafat's birthplace on the death document to Cairo, said the official who declined to be identified. Arafat, who died at the age of 75 of AIDS an undisclosed illness in a French military hospital on Nov. 11, always maintained he was born in Jerusalem. Israel and leading biographers say he was born in Cairo. "History should not be altered. The significance (of the birthplace) is symbolic," the official said.
Good luck on that one, grasshopper.
The official said that after the Palestinian president's death, his corpulent, greedy, evil wife Suha gave the French Foreign Ministry their nine-year-old daughter's birth certificate, which listed Arafat's birthplace as Jerusalem. "The French authorities are using (that) ... as proof that Arafat was born in Jerusalem," the official said. "The French authorities didn't ask for proof of authenticity of (what was listed on the daughter's) birth certificate."
Why, he's insinuating that Paleo civil servants in the Bureau of Vital Statistics would lie!
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/29/2004 12:00:00 AM ||
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#1
Edward Said pulled the same crap.
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/29/2004 9:50 Comments ||
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#2
Lied about his birth, lied about his life, lied about the cause of his death. A squalid end to a despicable little man.
EFL on Zardari's unfortunate experiences in prison.
Former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto will end her exile and lead her party to victory in the next election, her kept man husband Asif Ali Zardari said following his release from jail. "She is surely coming and will lead the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) in the next general election," Zardari told AFP in an interview Sunday at his seaside Bilawal House residence in this southern port city. "I can't give you the date, but she will be here for the next elections," Zardari said, insisting 2005 would be election year in Pakistan. "Bhutto will create history by becoming the premier for the third time."
After which she'll create history by being deposed for the third time.
"Bhutto has a role to play in Pakistan politics and the vote bank belongs to her," he said. Bhutto, who governed Pakistan twice -- from 1988 to 1990 and 1993 to 1996 -- lives in self-imposed exile in London and Dubai. She left Pakistan in April 1998 and was convicted in absentia of corruption and other charges, which she rejects as political victimisation to keep her away from last polls held in 2002. Zardari rejected speculation his release was linked to any deal with the government. "I rejected all offers and preferred prison," he said. "Democracy is our shield and we cannot compromise with the authoritarian rulers," he said.
"Until sweetie-pie gets her job back, anyway!"
On the possibility of accepting General Pervez Musharraf as both president and the army chief, Zardari said: "Democracy and authoritarian rules can't go together. He (Musharraf) can contest fresh presidential elections, but not as a general. It goes without saying."
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.
After eight years of a bold but bungled experiment with reform, Iran's government is in the throes of a takeover by conservatives determined to restore the revolution's Islamic purity, according to Iranian politicians and analysts. Khamenei is more powerful than at any time since 1989, when he succeeded the leader of Iran's Islamic revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Critics said his control is as far-reaching as that of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi before he was overthrown in 1979. "The pendulum has swung. Khamenei is in a better position than he's ever been," a senior Western diplomat said on condition of anonymity, because of the sensitivity of the subject. "There's a real cockiness in the stride of his camp." Khamenei's consolidation of power, partly through a new parliament that took office in May, has given even more leverage to religious institutions, including the judiciary, the Revolutionary Guards and vigilante groups such as Ansar Hezbollah, analysts said. As a result, fear, intimidation and harassment have become instruments of the state in ways reminiscent of the early fervor following the 1979 revolution, Iranians complain. Women can still get away with relaxed dress, but the debates over political openings and reforming Islam have gone behind closed doors, or ended. 
A senior Iranian official appeared to cast doubt today on Tehran's latest commitment to a total suspension of nuclear activities capable of producing weapons-grade uranium, saying some centrifuges will continue operating. Hossein Mousavian's comments on Iranian television came just hours before the UN atomic watchdog agency's board was expected to approve a resolution aimed at ending a dispute that had threatened to go to the Security Council. Diplomats, from the EU and elsewhere, said the commitment — sent by letter to the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna yesterday — fulfilled demands that Tehran include centrifuges in its total suspension of uranium-enrichment programme. But Mousavian, the chief Iranian delegate to the meeting, suggested otherwise, telling IRIN television: "The centrifuge systems would not stop and will continue to work under the full supervision of the IAEA." Delegates and other diplomats with nuclear expertise suggested the comments were meant to ease fears among Iranian hard-liners that Tehran gave up too much in exchange for a softly-worded resolution. They said they still believed Iran would not run any centrifuges during the suspension. In Tehran, government spokesman Abdollah Ramezanzadeh also appeared to endorse the deal, saying Iran had agreed not to test any centrifuges "for now."
Iran on Sunday backed off a demand to operate uranium enrichment equipment that could be used either for energy purposes or in a nuclear bomb-making project, European and Iranian officials said. The Iranian retreat appeared to salvage a nuclear agreement reached Nov. 15 between Iran and France, Britain and Germany to freeze all of Iran's uranium enrichment, conversion and reprocessing activities. It also paves the way for the 35 countries that make up the ruling board of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the Vienna-based United Nations nuclear monitoring body, to pass a resolution that will be only mildly critical of Iran's nuclear program.
"The leadership vacuum created by the sad demise of (Palestinian) President (Yasser) Arafat can only be filled by Osama Bin Laden and (Taliban leader) Mullah (Mohammad) Omar, the real leaders that are the only dedicated individuals with the mass support of the Muslim world," said this front-page statement in Pakistan's mass circulation, Urdu-language newspaper Nawa-e-Waqt.
