The diplomatic tiff between Saudi Arabia and Hungary still rumbled yesterday with both nations making opposing statements on the reasons for the cancellation of the visit of Hungarian Parliament Speaker Katalin Szili, who was to have visited Riyadh from Feb. 19-22. According to a report by the German news agency Deutsche Presse-Agentur, Saudi Arabia has said that it will not receive Szili until Budapest officially apologizes for the nasty remarks made by Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany against the Saudi soccer players.
The DPA report quoting unnamed diplomatic sources said: "The Kingdom would not receive the Hungarian speaker, during this period of diplomatic tiff." But an official in charge of the media affairs at the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not confirm this. The official, who only confirmed the news of the recall of the Saudi ambassador to Hungary for consultations, said: "An announcement about the Saudi position on the whole episode will be made shortly."
Hungarian Ambassador Istavan Tolli, meanwhile, termed the report as "misleading" and said Szili's trip was canceled for reasons unrelated to Gyurcsany's remarks. Tolli said: "A note from the Hungarian side was sent to the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Shoura Council about the postponement of the visit last Friday." He said the visit of the Hungarian speaker has been postponed for the time being because of her preoccupation with "unforeseen official duties". He, however, hastened to add that Gyurcsany had apologized again for his remarks against the Saudi soccer players.
A statement released by the Hungarian Embassy yesterday expressed the hope that the apology offered by the prime minister would bring to an end this sorry episode. The Hungarian Embassy's press release has quoted Gyurcsany as saying: "As I said earlier, I regret if my statement was misunderstandable and insulting. It was not my intention to insult the government and people of Saudi Arabia. However, if my remarks had that effect, I express my apology to them." The Hungarian premier made this apology on Monday, while addressing an international press conference in Germany. The embassy statement further said: "It is the firm intention of the Hungarian government to develop friendly relations and to strengthen the many-sided cooperation between our two countries, thus contributing to the mutual understanding between the two peoples."
"It is sincerely hoped that the Saudi ambassador to Hungary will return, as soon as possible, to his post in Budapest," said the statement. Gyurcsany triggered the spat following a 0-0 drawn soccer game on Feb. 2 that had been billed as a friendship match. Speaking during a function organized to celebrate the 15th anniversary of his political party, Gyurcsany said: "I think there were many terrorists among the Saudi players and our boys fought fearlessly against these terrorists."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/23/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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A 0-0 tie? Only Europeans can make a controversy over a scoreless tie in soccer.
US intelligence agencies have concluded that theft of radioactive materials from Russia's sprawling nuclear complex "has occurred" and the country's atomic power plants remain vulnerable to terrorist attack, according to a new intelligence report.
The unpublished analysis by the National Intelligence Council, a CIA-based think tank that serves the entire US intelligence community, came as US President George W. Bush prepared for a potentially contentious meeting Thursday with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.
During their talks in the Slovakian capital of Bratislava, the two leaders are expected to discuss what is seen here as setbacks in the Russian democratic process and non-proliferation, including Moscow's nuclear assistance to Iran and the security of its own nuclear stockpile.
Russian officials have repeatedly denied that Al-Qaeda or other terrorist groups could get access to either Russian nuclear weapons or weapons-grade radioactive materials in the hope of fashioning a radiological device known as a "dirty bomb."
But in its report to Congress, an unclassified version of which was obtained by AFP, the council cast doubt on these assurances, arguing that US intelligence experts believe that diversion of nuclear material has already taken place.
"We assess that undetected smuggling has occurred, and we are concerned about the total amount of material that could have been diverted or stolen in the last 13 years," the report said.
The Russian nuclear arsenal is estimated to currently include about 4,000 operational warheads deployed on land- and sea-based intercontinental ballistic missiles and strategic bombers.
But Moscow also retains several thousand non-strategic nuclear warheads in storage, plus a network of production and research facilities dealing with fissile substances on a regular basis, according to US officials.
The US intelligence community, according to the report, retains high confidence in safeguards built around battle-ready weapons, saying that an unauthorized launch or accidental use of a Russian nuclear weapons remained "highly unlikely".
But, said the council, "we continue to be concerned about vulnerabilities to an insider who attempts unauthorized actions as well as potential terrorist attacks."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/23/2005 1:26:29 AM ||
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The commander of the 42nd motorized rifle division General-Major Sergei Surovikov said he would kill three rebels for every soldier killed on Monday in an attack in Grozny, Interfax reported.
Nine servicemen were killed and three more injured in the rebel attack on Monday, the military prosecutor's office reported earlier. The servicemen died in an exchange of fire with gunmen. According to some sources, grenade launcher fire caused a building to collapse that killed the servicemen.
The attackers numbered at least five. One of them was killed by return fire.
Earlier reports said that nine servicemen were killed when a roof collapsed at a poultry farm on the outskirts of Grozny. It occurred at about 19:50 local time on Monday, a source in the military prosecutor's office for the troops deployed in Chechnya told Itar-Tass on Tuesday. Six servicemen of the Defense Ministry died in the incident, and another three died on the way to hospital.
Surovikov also said that, according to his information, his servicemen eliminated two rebels and wounded another one.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/23/2005 1:35:45 AM ||
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American soldiers' lives trade at about 20 to 1.
Kong Sam Ol, deputy prime minister for the Royal Palace of Cambodia, hosted a reception on February 16 in celebration of leader Kim Jong Il's birthday. Present there on invitation were Ambassador Choe Han Chun and staff members of the DPRK embassy in Phnom Penh.
On hand were the chief of protocol for the king and the secretary and the under-secretary of state of the Ministry of the Royal Palace.
In the meantime, the DPRK embassy in Ulan Bator was visited by different personages of this country on Feb. 15 to celebrate Kim Jong Il's birthday.
Among those visitors were the chairman of the Mongolian Mt. Paektu Association, the vice-chairman of the Mongolia-Korea Friendship Society, the director of the Kim Jong Suk Kindergarten, the commander of Unit 0151 of the Frontier Forces of Mongolia and the director of "Gor King-Erdene" Institute of Teachers.
They laid bouquets before the portraits of President Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il and paid respects to them.
Kim Yong Nam, president of the Presidium of the DPRK Supreme People's Assembly, today sent a message of greetings to Guyanese President Bharrat Jagdeo on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the proclamation of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana. The message expressed the belief that the long-standing friendly and cooperative relations between the two countries would continue to develop favorably in the future, too, and sincerely wished the Guyanese people progress, prosperity and well-being.
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Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/23/2005 1:52:39 AM ||
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Yeah, a lot of heavy hitters in Kim's stable, that's for sure...
#2
"Gor King-Erdene"
Oh, good lord. We have the king from really awful Sci-Fi books visiting Kim?
"The 65th anti-U.S. solidarity rally..."
Do they hold those every year (since 1940?) or twice a year, or when the Dear Leader's hair gets out of control, or...?
"...the partyâs policy for the agricultural revolution." Everything is edible if you are hungry enough.
"...hot-blooded youngsters to perform miracles and feats."
We see that every year at Spring Break.
President Bush praised thousands of troops and their families during a Wednesday afternoon pit stop at the Wiesbaden Army Airfield during his three-country European tour.
Before heading off to the Slovak Republic, the president and other White House officials stopped to thank war-weary troops and give them a bit of entertainment for a job well done.
"Laura and I were in the neighborhood, thought we'd drop by and say hello — howdy," said the military's commander in chief to cheering troops and family members. Bush had spent most of the day meeting with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder in Mainz....
Bush said he wanted to give the troops a taste of home after their yearlong deployment to Iraq.
"Today I bring you a message from back home: The American people are grateful to you. Your communities are proud of you. And as you defend the cause of freedom, America stands with you..." Gentleman.
Recep Tayyip Erdoðan's Justice and Reconciliation Party (Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi, AKP) swept to victory in Turkey's parliamentary elections on November 3, 2002. More than two years later, the Islamic-oriented party finds itself more popular than ever. But while the AKP came to power on the strength of its image as fresh and honest amid a sea of corrupt establishment parties, the AKP's own finances have become murky and worrisome. At best, it appears that AKP leaders have blurred the distinction between business and politics. More troubling yet is the pattern of tying Turkish domestic and foreign policy to an influx of what is called Yesil Sermaye, "green money," from wealthy Islamist businessmen and Middle Eastern states.
Where goes the AKP? Is Erdoðan's party a threat to Turkish secularism, or the product of it? Does the AKP represent an Islamist Trojan horse, or the benign Islamic equivalent of Europe's numerous Christian Democrat political parties? While the political signs are contradictory, the financial indicators are consistently troubling.
On winning a majority, Erdoðan and the AKP leadership articulated a moderate policy. Erdoðan declared after the AKP's election victory,
Secularism is the protector of all beliefs and religions. We are the guarantors of this secularism, and our management will clearly prove that.[1]
Indeed, the AKP's 2002 election victory prompted much optimism. "AK Victory Heralds New Dawn for Turkey," headlined the Daily Telegraph.[2] "Turkey Takes the Plunge: Islam and Democracy Combine Forces" opined an editorial in The Guardian.[3] Official U.S. government reaction was cautious. "Let's not speculate on the future of the Turkish government, but let us at this point congratulate the Justice and Development Party on its electoral success," suggested State Department spokesman Richard Boucher.[4]
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Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/23/2005 3:31:22 PM ||
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IRAQ war wobbler Jacques Chirac scuttled George Bush's fence-mending trip to Europe yesterday — by cranking up a row over the future of Nato. I'm shocked, SHOCKED, I tell you!
Jacques - are you aware you're probably doing Dubya's dirty work for him here?
He embraced a German-led plot to ditch the alliance as the backbone of transatlantic relations, in favour of the European Union. "Let's start with that aircraft carrier currently drydocked in Marseilles!"
He also snubbed President Bush by speaking French at a dinner, despite having fluent English. I'd like to know how many French were in the audience; could be MSM spin at work here.
Diplomats insisted Mr Bush had pulled off a coup by getting all 26 Nato members to contribute to a £2.5million programme to train and equip Iraq security staff. But the clash on Nato overshadowed everything. I'm inclined to wait until the cheques clear...
France and Germany, led by Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, want defence enshrined in the EU constitution.
Mr Bush said Nato was the "cornerstone" of US-Europe relations. Tony Blair agreed it was of "fundamental importance".
Posted by: Raj ||
02/23/2005 7:24:42 AM ||
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£2.5 million is next to nothing -- about $200,000 per NATO country.
So what if Chirac spoke French: Bush speaks Texan and Chirac obviously doesn't understand Texan. Chirac is never going to be a good cowboy.
Posted by: Tom ||
02/23/2005 8:10 Comments ||
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Mr Bush said Nato was the "cornerstone" of US-Europe relations. Tony Blair agreed it was of "fundamental importance". Jacques Chirac babbled something in French, but nobody paid much attention, not having brought their translators, except one journalist who had taken a course in French in high school. He later reported that Chirac had said something like "...Fish heads cheese (in the) Paris moonlight earlobes", though others suggested that that sounded silly. Chirac was later seen cursing at an Arabic taxi cab driver who didn't speak French.
#5
Chiraq is right, NATO should be dropped and the USA should pull equipment, personel, and paychecks out of Europe entirely. A truly modern hospital in Iraq would do more good than flying the injured to Germany anyway. It would be good for the fighting boys and it would be good for the region.
#6
Actually when you think on it the US is NATO. If we were not there NATO would be an enfeebled joke. The only thing Europe brings to the table is the ability to create internal conflict.
Other than it allows us to be in their knickers, and that may be worth something, I see no point to remaining in NATO.
I do find the Presidential tour interesting though. I never saw so many politicians spread so much doodoo in such a short period of time. I would be shocked and amazed if any of them have the slightest belief in this Europe is a meaningful partner crap. As far as I can tell the ony useful function Europe provides is that it keeps high tides from swamping the Kermlin.
I suspect that Chirac's problem is how best to digest the crap President Bush has been feeding him these last couple of days and that is most likely something best done in french, which may explain his behavior.
Posted by: Michael ||
02/23/2005 10:10 Comments ||
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He embraced a German-led plot to ditch the alliance as the backbone of transatlantic relations, in favour of the European Union.
Not a problem. The sooner NATO is dissolved and our forces and equipment removed, the better off things will be. Oh, and the facilities that will be left behind? We'd appreciate a little monetary gratuity. After all, it's pretty unlikely that what we leave behind would fall into disuse...
#9
bulldoze the facilities and plant trees to help the environment and put them in moral quandry about how they can justify clear-cutting in order to reuse the land again.
#11
if we completely pulled out of Europe ,it would only be a matter of time until Europe got itself in another mess we had to go back in all over again. So what if NATO is useless? It's not going to hurt to keep it going. There should be some sort of association the U.S. and Europe belong to together besides the U.N. It doesn't have to have deep meaning attached to it...they can call an early lunch and go play golf for all I care...just as long as they keep up a dialouge.
#12
Actually, planting trees would be a very effective move. I have no doubt that various pollutants, such as lead and gasoline, have soaked into the soil, and certain tree and plant species have recently been shown to absorb such pollutants through their roots (cottonwood is very effective, sunflowers also, I believe). So, should the local gov't cut down the trees before they'd completed their clean-up work, a matter of a decade or two, that adds an additional dimension to their moral quandary.
#15
So what if NATO is useless? It's not going to hurt to keep it going.
Actually it will. As soon as the Euros lift the arms embargo on the Chicoms in an attempt to keep their (pick one) failing socialist states going US military technology will flow as follows: Uncle Sam ---> NATO ---> China. There's a HUGE downside to sticking with the failure.
#20
US NATO airbases still fill a needed function. Furthermore,having NATO around keeps some of Europe's military and political leaders engaged w/US. Is NATO needed to defend Europe-not now. Is NATO useful in challenging those who want an Anti-American Unified Europe-yes.
To Eastern Europeans,even those who are not members,NATO represents a willingness to actually defend them from aggression and of the US to listen to other views. To Eastern Europeans,too much of history is the willingness of Western Europe to sacrifice them so the West can stay at peace a little longer.
Why are France and Germany staying in NATO? Is it because they recognize the powerful symbolism of NATO and fear being ostracized if they left? Do not doubt for a second that there are those in France,Germany and Brussels who want NATO dissolved,but they want the US to do it.
Posted by: Stephen ||
02/23/2005 14:50 Comments ||
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Has it been proved that President Bush does not understand French?
#29
I knew a Commo Platoon Sergeant in Germany that worked with NATO. He said NATO countries were a fricking joke. The only country that put money into new equipment was the US. The first in line to try and take it was France , Germany, and the rest. Get rid of Belgium, France, Spain and Germany. Look at Turkey, but keep most of the rest. I'm sorry but, I live in Germany and these people won't fight for shit if it doesn't have to do with Germany itself, a shorter work week or an increase to their pay and already bloated benefits. Let them handle the next Kosovo by themselves. They're already 2 for 2 in destroying Europe in the last hundred years, I'm sure they could make it 3 for 3.
**Side Note: To hear the Germans wail about George Bush's visit was incredible. The main highway around Frankfurt was closed in all four directions. The German workers pretty much had to take a day of leave off. My wife was bemoaning their plight when I reminded her not to worry. The Germans will just go on their 3-4 week vacation, call in sick on week #2 (which means if they are on sick leave and they stop using their annual leave) extend their "illness" another week, which would have been their first week back just like they always do. Then at the end of the year tell their American employers with Doe eyes. Sorry but I have to take it. She then whined that they can't do that anymore because everybody is afraid to lose their jobs. I said, "See, you should thank Bush, he helped your entire country finally pull their heads out of their asses and join the real world." She wasn't amused...but I was.
Spain's foreign minister said Madrid "neither sought nor negotiated for" a one-on-one meeting between Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and President George W Bush during the US-EU gathering in Brussels.
"Nope. Nope. Not us. No way, no how. Not even if you paid us."
Zapatero flew to the Belgian capital on Monday for a meeting between European leaders and the US president. But Zapatero is unlikely to get more than a fleeting meeting with Bush.
All dressed up with nowhere to go.
"It has already been said many times that no bilateral meeting with the president of the United States has been sought, nor negotiated nor attempted," Miguel Angel Moratinos said at a press conference following a meeting of European Union foreign ministers. Zapatero and Bush "will speak as (people) speak in the hallways", but underscored that "no bilateral meeting" is planned apart from the summit.
Other than a few hopeful smiley emoticons and a Evite on Condi's BlackBerry.
"The meetings will happen in good time. I don't think there's any hurry or urgency," added Moratinos. "It's just that we have a schedule and will logically work it out as usual between two partners and allies who enjoy good relations and are going to keep strengthening them."
It's not a partnership when you're sitting at the kid's table, Miguel.
Moratinos pointed out that he himself plans to visit the United States in April and noted the possibility that his staff and that of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice may finalise schedules and decide on a specific date for the visit on Tuesday.
"Why, it's almost just exactly the same as meeting POTUS face-to-face. It's much better this way. And my boss is just a powerless figurehead anyway. I'm the brains of this outfit!"
Posted by: Seafarious ||
02/23/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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--"will speak as (people) speak in the hallways", --
US First Lady Laura Bush visited a US military hospital and airbase in Germany on Tuesday, a day in advance of President George W. Bush's one-day trip to the country. To roars of applause from 2,500 military personnel and family members gathered in a cavernous hangar at Ramstein Air Base, she said the US military was doing "excellent service" all around the world to secure peace and liberty and successfully fight terrorism. She said "Team Ramstein" had helped ensure that millions of people in Iraq and Afghanistan could vote freely for the first time and that girls could for the first time attend school. "Germans and Americans share the same values," Bush added in a nod to the base's hosts. Mrs Bush, who later departed by air for the German city of Wiesbaden, also visited 20 wounded personnel at Landstuhl Regional Medical Centre, a US hospital complex 5 kilometres from Ramstein that treats the sick and wounded from the Gulf War. The base visit concluded with a lunch for 30 wives of soldiers.
Posted by: Seafarious ||
02/23/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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French President Jacques Chirac called Tuesday for a sign to be sent to Iran as part of European-led talks aimed at convincing Tehran to definitively abandon its nuclear ambitions. Chirac told a press conference in Brussels that an "entirely legitimate" sign could focus on the Islamic republic's desire to join the World Trade Organisation (WTO) or to obtain civilian aircraft engines. He said he had spoken about Iran with US President George W. Bush during a dinner date on Monday, but did not say what the US leader's response was.
Can't print that in a family weblog newspaper.
Washington has alleged that Iran is seeking to build nuclear weapons, a charge that Tehran vehemently denies, saying that its nuclear programme is completely peaceful.
"Just like our long-range missile programme. Really really peaceful!"
While the US has not ruled out the threat of military action, European nations, led by France, Britain and Germany, have been using the carrot rather than stick approach and are seeking to persuade Iran to comply with international obligations in return for a lucrative package of trade deals.
Plus they're into the whole "groveling" thing...
Posted by: Seafarious ||
02/23/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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#2
An gesture appropriate for the MMs... and Chirac, too, for that matter. Add Putty and the King of the Belgians, the House of Saud, Turkey, PakiWakiLand... The UN, MSM, Soros, Pelosi, Reid, Rockefeller, Leahy, Teddy, Skeery, McCain, the Ninth Circuit Court, Kos, DU, Babs, Martin Sheen, Affleck... Sheesh, this could take all night.
#4
We all must be thinking the same thing tonight, 'cause I mentioned The Finger in a different post before reading these. Must be the moon out yonder...
Too bad we can't put these thoughts in front of Chirac - and, to quote the amazing Nathan Bedford Forrest: "if you were any part of a man I would slap your jaws and force you to resent it."
The most remarkable case of insubordination I've ever come across. But then Forrest was certainly no regular man.
#12
.com, Forrest also told General John Bell Hood "If you was a whole man I'd whup you". After the disasterous charge at Franklin, which, by the way, was bigger and suffered more casualities than Picketts Charge at Gettysburg.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/23/2005 7:30 Comments ||
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Clearly, Gen Forrest should have been enrolled in an anger management program earlier in his career.
Kinda makes you wonder what Gen Mattis would say in similar circumstances.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/23/2005 7:46 Comments ||
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If Jacques wants to continue negotiating, then either he or someone he knows is still making money off of Iran. What a shallow, useless turd.
#15
French trade with Iran hit around $2.5B euros last year and has grown at an annual rate of 30%+ since the turn of the millennium. No further explanation necessary.
#17
Thanks for the link AzCat, quite an eye opener. After reading that and knowing Jacques is one of the most underhanded, money grubbing whores outside of Kofi, there is zero possibility he will risk that revenue because of principles.
I'm certain he will continue to try and encourage paying off the mullahs under any circumstance.
#18
Ya know, I'm almost amazed at the frogs. Makin' money of Saddam AND the MMs! Two more bitter enemies you could never meet and yet the frogs found a way to make money off of both. Again, though, I said ALMOST amazed!
Posted by: BA ||
02/23/2005 9:47 Comments ||
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French President Jacques Chirac called Tuesday for a sign to be sent to Iran as part of European-led talks aimed at convincing Tehran to definitively abandon its nuclear ambitions.
"Forrest's scolding against Bragg in fall 1863, is regarded by some as the greatest insubordination speech ever given by a US military officer:
"You commenced your cowardly and contemptable persecution of me soon after the battle of Shiloh, and you have kept it up ever since. You did it because I reported to Richmond facts, while you reported damned lies. You robbed me of my command in Kentucky, and gave it to one of your personal favorites -- men that I armed and equipped from the enemies of our country. In a spirit of revenge and spite, because I would not fawn upon you as others did, you drove me into West Tennessee in the winter of 1862, with a second brigade I had organized, with improper arms and without sufficient ammunition, although I had made repeated applications for the same. You did it to ruin me and my career.
"When in spite of all this I returned with my command, well equipped by captures, you began your work of spite and persecution, and have kept it up. And now this second brigade, organized and equipped without thanks to you or the government, a brigade which has won a reputation for successful fighting second to none in the army, taking advantage of your position as the commanding general in order to further humiliate me, you have taken these brave men from me.
"I have stood your meanness as long as I intend to. You have played the part of a damned scoundrel, and are a coward, and if you were any part of a man I would slap your jaws and force you to resent it."
"You may as well not issue any more orders to me, for I will not obey them. And I will hold you personally responsible for any further indignities you try to inflict upon me.
"You have threatened to arrest me for not obeying you orders promptly. I dare you to do it, and I say that if you ever again try to interfere with me or cross my path, it will be at the peril of your life."
Reportedly, Bragg's face was totally white when Forrest left. After exiting Bragg's tent. Dr. Cowan told him, "Well, you are in for it now.". Forrest turned and replied, "He'll never open his mouth. Unless you or I mention it, this will never be known."
This incident was reported later in detail by Forrest's doctor, Dr. Cowan."
I like that #21 pic. He has an U.S. insurgent look going on. The only thing that is missing is the soldier cutting Chirac/Zarqawi's head off, with a sign in the background that states "Praise Israel."
SAVANNAH, Georgia (AP) -- Military police are investigating a cruel hoax in which a man wearing an Army dress uniform falsely told the wife of a soldier that her husband had been killed in Iraq.
Investigators are trying to determine why the man delivered the false death notice and whether he was a soldier or a civilian wearing a military uniform.
"We're taking it extremely seriously. Whatever motivation was behind it, it was a sick thing to do," said Fort Stewart spokesman Lt. Col. Robert Whetstone. . . .
. . . When the 3rd Infantry first deployed to Iraq for the 2003 invasion, some Fort Stewart families reported receiving phone calls from pranksters saying their soldiers had been killed.
This time around, troops and their spouses got pre-deployment briefings that included detailed explanations of how death notices work. Two soldiers, including a chaplain, in dress uniform always arrive to tell the family in person. The Army never makes notifications over the telephone. . . .
. . . Military police described the suspected hoaxer as being 6-feet, 1-inch tall and about 180 pounds with black or brown hair and a pale complexion. He was reported to be driving a blue or green pickup truck with chrome wheels, oversized tires and a Georgia license plate.
Impossible to say yet whether this is an isolated sicko or organized moonbattery at work. I can think of an appropriate punishment, though.
Posted by: Mike ||
02/23/2005 6:53:46 AM ||
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#5
I don't condone any vengence, but if a wife shot the fellow I couldn't convict her. If there is anything that would justify a temporary insanity plea it would be responding to this kind of sick cruelty.
Posted by: Mike ||
02/23/2005 22:13 Comments ||
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#11
I think they should cut the naughty bits off and nail him to that California couple's house that likes to hang effigy's from their house to try and demoralize our fighting men and women. Just be sure to slap a "Just Visualize Whirled Peas" sticker on his chest. Now if you really want to be cruel, you slit his belly open and haul out his intestines to wrap around the trees in the yard.
EFL Prime Minister Paul Martin will deliver a firm No to Canadian participation in the U.S. missile defence plan and break a lengthy silence that fomented confusion on both sides of the border. News of the announcement follows a day of confusion on Parliament Hill after Frank McKenna, Martin's choice to be the next ambassador to the U.S., sparked a political firestorm by saying participation in the controversial continental missile defence system is a done deal. The end of Martin's silence will come as an about-face for a prime minister who had repeatedly stated his support for missile defence when he was a Liberal leadership candidate barely a year ago. He voted for it before he voted against it!
The U.S. was informed of the Canada's plans at a NATO summit in Brussels, attended by Martin and President George W. Bush, and the news was also conveyed Tuesday through a text message on Condi's BlackBerry diplomats in Ottawa and Washington. "(The Americans) were told we will not participate," a federal official, who asked to remain anonymous, told The Canadian Press. "It is a firm No. I am not sure it is an indefinite No." How...nuanced.
"The will to participate is no longer there," another government official said several days ago. "I think the internal conflict - the dissension within the party - is now almost insurmountable. This is because of domestic considerations." Public opinion polls have suggested two-thirds of Canadians opposed missile defence.
Oh, yeah. I oppose it, too. I'm looking forward to seeing a nuclear-tipped missile arriving in Yellow Knife. That's a firm opposition, too. I'm not sure if it's an indefinite opposition...
That opposition grew in the vacuum of any public support from the federal government. Within Martin's cabinet, only Defence Minister Bill Graham and Public Safety Minister Anne McLellan lobbied in favour of the project. Leading opponents included Foreign Minister Pierre Pettigrew and Infrastructure Minister John Godfrey.
Will somebody tell Harry Potter where that guy is? I'm tired of hearing from him.
Bush made a bold pitch for Canadian participation during his visit here late last year. The program would cost billions of dollars and the U.S. hasn't requested any money. The Americans were offering Canada a decision-making role in the system's deployment. McKenna backed his argument by citing last summer's deal that allows Norad, the joint Canada-U.S. air defence command, to monitor for incoming missiles - a critical element of the missile shield program's operation. "There's no doubt, in looking back, that the Norad amendment has given, has created part - in fact a great deal - of what the United States means in terms of being able to get the input for defensive weaponry," said McKenna.
Posted by: Desert Blondie ||
02/23/2005 11:45:16 AM ||
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#1
OK - Canada gets a terrorist strike, and all of a sudden, it's like those old people in the ads on TV
"Help me, help me, I've fallen and I can't get up!"
If Ottawa or Toronto "glows Iranian or North Korean or Islamo green" because no one wanted missile defense up North, will create a situation of "Fewer but better Liberals"
#2
Canada doesn't need missile defense. The ROPers know that they still have a better than average chance of taking Canada through the tried and true method of gradual immigration followed by political pressure and the threat of violence. Canada's European, so they'll use the European model.
#3
If I were them, I wouldn't be counting on North Korea's aim being all that good.
Posted by: Tom ||
02/23/2005 12:20 Comments ||
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#4
BH is right. The Canadians, as implemented by their government, are no more than a pacifist Euro style leach on the American defense umbrella (can I mix any more metaphors?).
Personally I'd like to see the US basically treat Canada, France, Germany, etc. as nothing more than the annoyances they have become. Give them a slap when they start down a dangerous path (providing nukes to Iran, arms to China, etc.) but otherwise ignore them.
#5
Realistically Canada doesn't need a missile defense shield because if the US sees something coming over the pole we'll shoot it down, we won't wait to determine if it'll hit the US Canada or Mexico.
Just as an invasion of Canada by the Soviets would have been prevented by the US because of our own defense requirements.
This way Canada can keep their pacifist street creds and avoid paying for anything or any illusions that they are run by honorable folks.
#6
Maybe a nice note: "Dear Canada, when your cities are smoking radioactive holes, please be so kind as to not permit any fallout from traversing our common border. Such pollution would violate the spirit of NAFTA, and invite a punitive trade response. Yrs, UP. Oh, we mean US."
#8
My sentiment exactly, rjschwarz. As if the US will wait for permission when the need arises...as if. The entire Canadian Air Force can be dealt with in 15 minutes if need be (120 planes, 60 of them are flyable).
Posted by: Rafael ||
02/23/2005 14:10 Comments ||
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#9
Inspections of automobiles and occupants entering the United States from Canada and Mexico should be made at least as comprehensive as those Americans must endure to fly from Cincinnati to Cleveland. Cars should be parked and inspected and people should go through metal detectors. They aren't friends or allies any longer.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/23/2005 14:35 Comments ||
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#10
Just another Free Rider. Good folks up there, but they ought to be ashamed and a little less brazen.
#11
They should get a brain, first of all. Then they should buy an atlas. I'm not sure most Canadians realize, especially recent immigrants, that the well-being of the US means the well-being of Canada.
As an aside, we now have our own John Kerry up here. His name is Paul 'Kerry' Martin.
Posted by: Rafael ||
02/23/2005 15:40 Comments ||
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#12
ok, yes it is great fun for the yanks here to bash on Canada. And I will be the first to admit that we do not spend enough on our military, we are not paying our way in world affairs and we should have supported the war on Iraq publicly (even though we are helping out big time militarily in the war on terrosim). BUT, I think there is a bigger game going on with respect to Canada/US relations than missile defense. Yes, we are kinda sorta maybe saying a definite no to missle defense but we also signed onto the NORAD agreement which is all the US really cared about on that file. The rest was bargaining. And our high tech companies will still participate in the development of the system. However, missile defense is only a small part of how the US (rightly) sees a role for Canada's military in the world....So in exchange for our refusal of missile defense which is for stupid domestic reasons, our government is ramping up military spending. Which is what the US wants more than our participation in missle defense. Oh, and guess what the Cdn $12Billion in extra funding over five years for the military just might include: new Hercs, new SAR planes, plus C-17s - all from US based manufacturers. Maybe even some used littoral (sp?) ships from the US Navy....All in all, I think the US would be much happier with Canada doing that than Canada signing on to missle defense because right now you are only going to get one or the other....I defer to the group for their opinions....
#13
My gut feeling is that Australia is a much better ally and that the U.S./Canadian border needs tighter control.
Posted by: Tom ||
02/23/2005 16:46 Comments ||
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#14
Hey Canuck,
What you say has some things that are nice to hear. The one thing that bothers me, and I suspect others, is the "...our refusal of missile defense which is for stupid domestic reasons, ..."
In other words the fact that you have to act like snotty French for "stupid domestic reasons" in the first place. Makes me wonder just what in hell the US did to "you" that justifies this attitude? Was it the comic insult dog? ;^)
#15
AlanC, a significant portion of our population is french and opposed to the weapons in space (I know, I know don't bother commenting) and so they are part of the equation in domestic politics....However what I meant, personally, by "stupid domestic reasons" is that our vocal minority - french and english alike - does not understand world politics/affairs too well. We focus too much on land mine treaties and ignore the big, ugly picture. We prefer to speak softly and not even bother carrying a stick. That will take a while to correct or even improve. That is what I meant by that comment.
Are we talking about Canada paying part of the tab for ABM or making territory available for radars and weapons systems? If it's just money, that's one thing, but if it has an effect on the system design, that's another. I was under the impression it was the later.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/23/2005 17:25 Comments ||
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#17
Mrs Davis, I have read your posts on many topics and I assure you that your knowledge is beyond mine... My understanding of the key component of Canada's role in missle defense was to include it in the NORAD agreement. We contribute staff and the second in command is Canadian. So if there is a missle launch, a Canadian radar guy can't say, "whoops, not my problem". With respect to money, any contribution would be nominal on our part: the US$ 50B budget (?) for missle defense is about our entire national budget. With respect to radars, once missle defense is part of NORAD, all our/your radars are part of it. Plus you have Alaska (damn it) and California with silos - so I don't think there is a need for bases in Canada. I don't think it effects the design (if there is one) or we would have caved to it already....I really think it was a pressure tactic (and a right one). There is only so many times we can say no to the US re military affairs before we get slapped really hard. We were given an option: snub us (the US) on missle defense because it doesn't matter now that you have signed the NORAD amendment and look good to your own population and get yourselves re-elected but then you have to cough up some big bucks for your military. (oh, yeah and we - the US - are still pissed at the Iraq thing so make it really big bucks)
#18
Nope, sorry, I don't think retaliation is in order here. I wish the Canadians would come to understand that the Mad Mullahs don't distinguish between an American and a Canadian, no matter how much the Canadians try, but that's a complaint for a different day.
Canada is our best trade partner. Treating them poorly would hurt only us. We have the longest undefended border in the world between us. Treating them poorly might change that, and that would be a damned shame.
Canuck is especially correct on one issue: Canada has a limited military budget. Time was, a few decades ago, the Canucks punched well above their weight, but creeping socialism, national health care, and Euro-style attitudes have changed that. Not going to change soon, and so if the Canadians have to stretch limited defense dollars, I'd rather seem them buy the hardware their troops will use everyday. They'll be more effective, and a more effective Canadian military is in our interest.
We can design and build the ABM without their help. In that case, it might not defend Canada all that well, but as long as the Canadians understand that, fine by me.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/23/2005 17:54 Comments ||
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#19
You're right Steve, but this is where we rant at times. Besides, I'm still po'ed about having my windshield smashed by vandals in low crime Vancouver.
Nova Scotia, on the other hand, was beautiful with nice people and a generous exchange rate. If you ever want to see what the world is all about today, visit Fortress Louisbourg and then Colonial Williamsburg. Nothing has changed in the last 300 years except technology.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/23/2005 18:09 Comments ||
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New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is defending letters sent to an Iraq-bound GI by a sixth-grade class in Brooklyn that trashed America's military heros as war criminals.
Asked about the letters on Tuesday, the liberal Republican explained, "Well, look, we have freedom of speech and you certainly cannot go around censoring what people want to write..."
Bloomberg argued that the GIs would actually appreciate the derogatory screeds, explaining, "Most of them believe that the freedoms that we have, like the freedoms to write critical letters, are protected by them putting their lives at risk..."
#1
Steps on it . . .
. . . and promptly shoots himself in the foot. Only question is whether that will be enough for the soldiers these travesties went to.
Posted by: The Doctor ||
02/23/2005 22:22 Comments ||
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Credit where it's due: Sen. Hillary Clinton seems to have it about as right on Iraq as any Democrat with national political ambitions can be expected to at this stage of the electoral cycle. Speaking from Baghdad as part of a high-profile "fact-finding" tour, Mrs. Clinton over the weekend expressed "cautious optimism" about Iraq's future — and firmly rejected any artificial deadline for U.S. troop withdrawals: "That just gives a green light to the insurgents and the terrorists, that if they can just wait us out they can basically have the country. It's not in our interests, given the sacrifices we've made."
The logic is impeccable. Announcing a departure date before Iraq has been stabilized — however long that takes — makes moot the entire point of Operation Iraqi Freedom. One might just as well swing open Saddam's jail-cell door at the same time.
Then there's the politics. Mrs. Clinton is a prohibitive favorite for re-election next year — and a presumptive presidential candidate in 2008. The implications of her views for the latter effort are most interesting. Clearly, the senator seeks to orient herself toward the political center. (Folks who are offended by this needn't be; it's how politics is practiced in America.) Meanwhile, what are the odds that Mrs. Clinton would have said what she did if she thought there was any chance her words would come back to bite her? Zero. President Bush, in other words, just got an "attaboy" from an unlikely source. Moveon.org and the Angry wing of the Democratic Party no doubt will seek to make Mrs. Clinton pay for her candor — correct though she may be. When that day comes, more moderate Democrats should keep in mind what Mrs. Clinton said when it mattered — and apportion their support accordingly.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/23/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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#1
So she's taken polls and checked with focus groups to find out what position is selling this month.
Color me unimpressed.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/23/2005 1:00 Comments ||
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#2
Color me unimpressed.
Me, too.
Hillary is too predictable, phoney, and transparent. I guess she's gotta keep tryin', though, huh?
#4
Yeah, it's just another career politician. Zero heart.
It is gratifying, though, to see Hilary taking a big bite out of not only this, but a veritable buffet of shit sandwiches, and licking her fingers clean. You know these policies have got to grate on what's left of her inner being.
#6
I agree with everyone's comments about her transparent efforts to appear more "conservative" but think for a moment about the reaction of the LLL to her recent statements. Not a peep out of Teddy or moveon.org. Why so silent? have they been tipped off to the fact that this may be a smokescreen? Her recent statements about being religious, going to church, etc. haven't elicited the kind of bashing the President got for his open religiosity. Why not? I think she is a wolf in sheep's clothing.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/23/2005 7:41 Comments ||
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#7
She's more of a socialist in socialist's clothing. Recall the LLL's collective (no pun intended) moans following the election that they simply weren't as good at tricking the voters as was Karl Rove and his evil band of Republicans. The Hildebeeste's collectivist credentials are beyond reproach so you're not likely to hear much whining from the left about her impersonating a conservative in an attempt to dupe the voters into putting them back in power four years down the road.
#8
It was mentioned on the local morning news that a large number of Americans would support a female president. I don't have a problem with that, as long as it's not the Hildabeast or the likes of her.
#10
When my wife (whose hearing is not spectacular) heard about this trip on TV she heard: "back-biting trip". I think her version is probably closer to the truth of the matter.
#12
When that day comes, more moderate Democrats should keep in mind what Mrs. Clinton said when it mattered â and apportion their support accordingly.
#13
Do not underestimate Hillary or fall into the trap the Dem's did of openly hating her too much. The response to Hillary has to be better ideas that are more effectively articulated. Hate of the candidate alone will not win an election. That said, she makes me want to barf.
The medical examiner's office has largely ended its effort to identify the remains of those killed at the World Trade Center site on Sept. 11, 2001, leaving more than a thousand victims unidentified. "We've finished making identifications for the World Trade Center," Robert Shaler, director of forensic biology at the medical examiner's office, told the New York Daily News in a story published Wednesday. The forensic effort failed to identify any remains of more than 1,100 victims, or almost half of the 2,749 who died there.
Over a thousand people, vaporized.
Since the attacks 3 1/2 years ago, the medical examiner's office identified nearly 1,600 victims, although progress had slowed considerably in recent months. Since September, only eight victims have been identified. A few inconclusive tests are still pending that could yield a couple of more identifications, Shaler told the newspaper. The city has about 10,000 unidentified bone and tissue fragments that cannot be matched to the list of the dead. The medical examiner's office will contact all victims' families who asked to be notified when the forensic effort ended.
Shaler has said that the DNA effort could be reopened if new scientific processes were developed. "If three years from now somebody comes up with something ... that really looks like it's going to work, then we're going to be poised to go after it," he told The Associated Press in 2003. Some identifications were made quickly in the weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001, attack. To identify smaller remains, the medical examiner had to rely on DNA matching, drawing results from shreds of bone and tissue. But tests were often not possible because the DNA was too damaged by heat, humidity, and the passage of time. "I'm still driven by the families," Shaler said in 2003. "When I see these people, they look at me with eyes that say, 'Did you find her yet?' But when you're only turning out a couple a week or four, five a month, it's hard." In most cases, victims whose remains were not identified have been legally declared dead by the court anyway, based on documentation that they were at the trade center or on the hijacked airplanes.
May you Rest In Peace, my friends, and thank you to the NYC Medical Examiner's Office staff for their hard work.
Never forgive, never forget, never "understand."
Posted by: Seafarious ||
02/23/2005 11:00:40 AM ||
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#1
Thanks to everyone who gave their all so that evil would not triumph that day.
#5
I would like to think that the 3000 would be pleased with our efforts thus far to punish those responsible, and to prevent another such mass murder from occurring. May they rest in peace.
Standing in the thick mud before a giant Paladin howitzer, Capt. John Benoit, an artilleryman from the Louisiana National Guard, looked Gen. John Abizaid squarely in the eye and asked bluntly: How's the war going? Many soldiers, even those who give no quarter when fighting insurgents, tend to clam up in the presence of four-star brass. So when Abizaid, commander of all U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, finds a group like the Louisiana grunts willing to ask tough questions, he sticks around. And he doesn't just answer their questions but tries to share his view of the war in Iraq and what he sees as the larger struggle against Islamic extremism.
The insurgency, Abizaid acknowledged, has grown worse over the past year. There's no defensiveness on that point, though, as he segues into a discussion of why the insurgents--particularly the radical Islamists--must be confronted. "What we can't allow to happen is guys like Abu Musab Zarqawi to get started," Abizaid told Benoit and the soldiers of the 1-141 Field Artillery. "It's the same way that we turned our back when Hitler was getting going and Lenin was getting going. You just cannot turn your back on these types of people. You have to stand up and fight."
Abizaid's military command covers an area that stretches from Somalia through the Arabian peninsula, and into Iraq and on to Pakistan and Afghanistan. Throughout that mostly Islamic region, Abizaid argues, a critical struggle is going on between the forces of moderation, who are pushing for democratic reforms, and of extremism, who are pushing for the imposition of a rigid interpretation of Islamic law.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/23/2005 1:29:18 AM ||
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#1
Reminder: IEDs are planted in open areas, with numerous witnesses around, notwithstanding the huge rewards offered for information about same. The lesson that I take is: Islamofascism - of different variants - is the dominant ideology in Iraq. Iraq jihadism isn't as bad as the Pale-suicide-martyr cult. But give them time...
#2
Not always, ITYS. And before you criticize the Iraqi civilians, be very sure you know what you would do if you had a small kids who could be deliberately killed by the insurgents if you intervene.
We're so conditioned by our safe lives. Others are so vulnerable.
#3
IToldYouSoLucy: The lesson that I take is: Islamofascism - of different variants - is the dominant ideology in Iraq.
Actually, most of this happens in the Sunni parts of the country. I think it means that the Sunnis really, really want to get back in power. As to Islamo-fascism being the reason - I think many of these guys are secularists - Baath Party people who aren't really doing much that is different from what they used to do when Saddam was in power. The only thing different here is this - when Saddam was in power, they only used to get rewarded for raping, torturing or killing their victims, whereas now that Uncle Sam is in charge, they run the danger of being captured, wounded or killed.
Nur Misuari, the jailed ex-chair of the Moro National Liberation Front, yesterday denied having ordered his followers in the MNLF to attack the 104th Army Brigade in Sulu province, according to Bayan Muna party-list Representative Satur Ocampo.
Misuari, a former governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, presented his side on the military claim that he was responsible for the renewed fighting between government troops and MNLF rebels led by Habier Malik during a three-hour, closed-door hearing at Fort Sto. Domingo in Laguna's Sta. Rosa town, where he is being held on rebellion charges.
The hearing was conducted by the House special committee on peace, reconciliation and national unity, which Ocampo chairs.
Ocampo said at a press briefing that Misuari "absolutely denied" military reports that he had ordered his field commanders by cell phone to attack government targets.
"He is in solitary confinement," Ocampo pointed out. "He is also under watch by his security aides. How can he command MNLF leaders via cell phone? He said he has no means of communications inside his jail."
Asked if they believed Misuari, the eight members of the special committee replied almost in unison: "Of course, yes."
In an interview with the Inquirer in Manila after the hearing, Ocampo said Misuari denied that the MNLF had a tactical alliance with Abu Sayyaf bandits, who had claimed responsibility for the Valentine's Day bomb attacks in the cities of Makati, General Santos and Davao.
The Armed Forces had linked the bomb attacks to the Sulu conflict, and said these were intended to ease the military pressure on the rebels.
But Ocampo said: "Misuari said that kidnappings and bombings are anti-Islam, and that the MNLF will never resort to these. He said the MNLF and Abu Sayyaf are like oil and water -- hindi puwedeng maghalo (they can't mix)."
By Ocampo's account, Misuari insisted that the renewed hostilities were triggered by the soldiers' massacre of a family, including a child, and urged the committee to hold fact-finding and public hearings in Sulu in order to get to the bottom of the issue.
He said Misuari warned that the fighting would spread to nearby provinces if the government does not act now to end it.
At about 12:30 p.m., during a break in the hearing, police allowed reporters inside a room to see Misuari, but only for a few minutes.
Misuari, looking pale and thin in a black suit over a yellow shirt, posed for pictures with members of the committee, his wife Tarhata and their children -- Nurredha, 10; Khalid Nur, 7, and Nurhata, 4.
Ocampo said that when Misuari was asked by the special committee whether he would be willing to appeal to his followers to call a ceasefire, the latter said he would only do so if requested by the government.
"Misuari said he did not want to be misunderstood on this. He said a call for a ceasefire would not be effective because President Macapagal-Arroyo had ordered soldiers to finish off the Muslim rebels," the party-list representative said.
In the press briefing, Ocampo quoted Misuari as saying that "the real solution to the conflict in Mindanao is not war but a cessation of it."
Salvador Panelo, Misuari's lawyer, told reporters that the rebel leader made his position clear: "The MNLF did not start the ongoing war in Sulu. It was the military who [did]. So why would the MNLF call a ceasefire when it did not start the war?"
House Speaker Jose de Venecia told the Inquirer in Manila that he would recommend a declaration of ceasefire to Ms Arroyo to enable the warring forces to talk peace.
He said a ceasefire would be "the most desirable of the immediate options."
De Venecia also said he would try to convince AFP Chief of Staff General Efren Abu and Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz to halt military offensives against the rebels.
Ocampo said Misuari admitted that Malik was his religious adviser. But he said that Malik was not getting orders from him.
Sulu Representative Hussin Amin said interviews with Malik showed that the MNLF rebels had had no communication with Misuari for over a year now.
Amin said it was also worth noting that there was no cell site in the municipality of Panamao, Sulu, where the initial fighting started.
"I think it is only now that satellite phones are being used in that area. There is no cell site there," he said.
Ocampo said Misuari took the opportunity to air complaints against the Arroyo administration regarding his case as well as alleged violations of the 1996 peace agreement between the MNLF and the government.
Misuari said he had been languishing in jail for three years without a trial.
He also said then Justice Secretary Simeon Datumanong had ordered a preliminary investigation of his case but that this was ignored and he was immediately charged with rebellion.
"Misuari complained that he had been denied a speedy trial, and that he had been in solitary confinement without conjugal visits since the revival of the hostilities in Sulu [three weeks ago]," Ocampo said.
On the broader issue of Muslim discontent, Misuari reportedly said the government had inserted several provisions in the peace agreement that were never discussed and approved.
In an open letter dated Feb. 19 and addressed to his followers and the Muslim people, Misuari designated "brothers Lahammudin Ghullam and Arthur Laibing" to relay his "wishes for you to help prevent another outbreak of hostilities and war in our homeland."
Ghullam was appointed in 2001 by Misuari as deputy chief of the Bangsamoro Armed Forces. Laibing heads the MNLF forces in the Zamboanga Peninsula.
"Please cooperate with them in the best interest of our people and peace in that highly volatile and restive region," Misuari wrote, adding:
"The most important thing is for the MNLF to maintain its role as the chief defender and champion of peace in our homeland Mindanao and its islands."
He concluded the letter thus: "My love to all of you."
There was no specific reference to the weeks-old fighting in Sulu. Neither did Misuari issue an order for MNLF forces to cease fire.
A copy of Misuari's appeal for peace was given by Ghullam and company to De Venecia in a brief meeting at the House on Monday evening.
Ghullam and his party were accompanied to De Venecia's office by businessman Crismel Verano, who was recently named member of the board of directors of the Philippine National Oil Co.-Exploration Corp.
Misuari also sent De Venecia a handwritten letter endorsing Ghullam to "augment your effort to prevent the spread of the war in Jolo to the mainland of Mindanao."
"You may authorize him and his companions to go around Mindanao to prevent the MNLF forces from getting embroiled in the war," Misuari told the Speaker in the letter also dated Feb. 19.
"I'd like to reiterate my support [for] your effort to investigate the root causes of this sudden outbreak of hostilities between the AFP and the MNLF forces with a view to stopping the war and restoring the peace not only in Jolo but in Mindanao as well," he said.
Quoting "the latest report," Misuari said "people in Mindanao are getting restive and are preparing to get [involved] in the war in Jolo."
"Please do your best to preempt any further threat to peace in the region," he told De Venecia.
Misuari gave the members of the special committee a copy of his letter to De Venecia after reading its contents during the hearing.
De Venecia said he had received Misuari's letter from the latter's wife Tarhata and MNLF commanders.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/23/2005 1:39:54 AM ||
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The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) has appealed to the government of Thailand to put an end to the "persistent bloody acts of violence" perpetrated against Muslims in southern Thailand. The appeal was made in a statement here on Monday following a meeting OIC Secretary-General Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu had with Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, chairman of the 10th Islamic Summit Conference.
Professor Ihsanoglu expressed "serious dissatisfaction at the situation which continues to remain bad despite appeals made by the OIC and the international community to the Thai government to end the violations that have claimed the lives of hundreds of people." The OIC secretary-general renewed his appeal to the government of Thailand about the need to conduct a "just and urgent" investigation into the causes of such incidents and put an end to them. He stressed the need to give due importance to achieving economic and social development in southern Thailand without discrimination. During the meeting Professor Ihsanoglu and Badawi discussed a number of issues relevant to the Muslim world, including the situation of Muslims in Arkane, in Myanmar, and the incidents in southern Thailand.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/23/2005 00:00:00 ||
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Ah yes, the ever innocent and persecuted Mooslim population...
#2
Between 5 to 10 attacks on Thai civil authorities are being carried out everyday. That would not be happening if Muslim numbers had not been permitted to grow in south Thailand. Once unproductive Muslimutts became a majority in Malaysia, at the expensive of industrious Chinese and Hindus, the repression started. And the new minority had nobody to help them.
#4
gee let me think? If memory serves me the Thai army gave out thousands of oragami doves and when they got home the muzzies replied to the peace offerings with ten bombings. Oh and I forget was it not the poor muzzies that attacked the police station that got all this all started?
Indonesian prisons may be a fertile recruiting and training ground for Al Qaeda-linked militants, blamed for a string of bomb attacks in recent years, because jailers are too soft on them, an international think-tank said on Tuesday. Indonesian militants are finding it harder to recruit new bombers, but arresting top leaders may prove futile in eradicating them, the International Crisis Group (ICG) said.
The practice of "recycling" militants means authorities need to focus on what happens in prison, and what becomes of the families of militants, if they want to tackle terrorism, it said. "The government needs to ensure that prisons do not become a place where radicalisation increases or is reinforced," the Brussels-based group said in a 57-page report. Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, has jailed more than 30 militants convicted of the 2002 Bali bombings, blamed on the regional Jemaah Islamiah (JI) network. They have been handed sentences ranging from a few years to the death penalty for the nightclub attacks that killed 202 people, many of them foreign tourists.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/23/2005 00:00:00 ||
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Lebanon's Justice Minister Adnan Addoum said on Friday that authorities were hunting for twelve Australian men wanted over the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq al-Hariri. Addum said that all the suspects hold the Australian passport and that six of them left Beirut for Australia hours after Monday's deadly blast, adding that police found traces of explosives on aircraft seats. The minister added that there are two more Australians who tried to leave Lebanon after the assassination but missed the flight for unknown reasons. Their location is not known. Interpol agreed to interrogate the twelve suspects, Addoum said.
"Say mates, you off this bloke Hariri?"
"Nah, never seen him."
"Thanks fellas, that's a wrap."
"Thanks, inspector. Beer?"
The minister didn't provide further details and it was unclear what role the men played in the attack. Reports earlier this week said that the Australian government was helping Lebanon investigate Hariri's murder.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/23/2005 12:52:14 AM ||
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#1
This storys 5 days old. Didnt pan out, they were cleared.
Israeli military and government officials said Monday that Israel must be prepared to carry out an air strike against Iran's nuclear program even though it does not expect a nuclear strike from Iran.
The Israeli Air Force Major-General Eliezer Shkedi did not say whether Israeli planned to attack suspected Iranian nuclear sites. But when asked whether such an attack could be carried out he replied, "There is no doubt Iran is trying to reach WMD capability. They have long distance missiles that can reach Israel and are interested in extending their range to 3000 kmâŠIf the government of Israel will decide to act, we have to be ready. I must prepare for everything."
Â
Seeing as the Israelis are usually prepared for about everything, wonder why he said this? Hmmmm ...
The US and Israel have said that Iran plans to develop nuclear military weapons. Last month the head of the Mossad said that within six months Iran would have that capability. Iran denies this and says its nuclear program is purely for providing electricity for baby duck hatcheries.
Â
Despite its fears of Iranian acquisition of such weapons, Israel does not believe that Iran will use them. "We don't think there is (someone) who is going to press the button," said Harry Knei-Tal, the director of the Israeli Foreign Ministry's Center for Diplomatic Research. He further added that Iran was planning to acquire the weapons as a form of "insurance... so that the US won't attack it like it attacked Iraq."
Â
Despite the mullahs' previous vow to use them on Israel.
What Israel fears, he said, is that Iranian possession of nuclear weaponry will boost its regional clout. "We are afraid that it will give Iran more leverage to empower its clients," he said.
The Israeli government's authorization of the acquisition of bunker-buster bombs and long-range fighter-bombers has fed speculation that Israel might use force against Iran if international diplomacy or the threat of sanctions do not stop it from producing nuclear weapons. When asked if there was such a plan, Shkedi replied, "You know that for obvious reasons I won't say even a word."
Â
"Even though I just did, heh-heh."
"We must deal with all the alternatives before [choosing] something very complicated," he said. "But we don't have a lot of time....
"I hope that there won't be a war, but you know, no one knows."
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/23/2005 12:46:27 AM ||
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#1
Begging Steve White's pardon, but the headline is not what the general said.
The headline was written both in this article and in the original article deliberately to misrepresent what the general actually said.
In fact, what the general did say was what most decent militaries should say in these times of military tensions. The general should be lauded for his prefessionalism and his personal restaint.
#2
The general should be lauded for his prefessionalism and his personal restaint...
Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's all well and good, but...
The Israeli government's authorization of the acquisition of bunker-buster bombs and long-range fighter-bombers has fed speculation that Israel might use force against Iran if international diplomacy or the threat of sanctions do not stop it from producing nuclear weapons. When asked if there was such a plan, Shkedi replied, "You know that for obvious reasons I won't say even a word."
OK, Israel..
We heard about the "new" weapons...
Now go and microwave those mullahs and the nuke facilities... Good huntin'!
So I'm reading my former boss Michael Ledeen's column today and I learn (via a link to Iraq the Model) that according to a captured Iraqi terrorist that George Habash's PFLP (the only Palestinian group ever to successfully assassinate a member of the Israeli cabinet) has come out of the woodwork and is now actively involved in targeting US forces in Iraq. That's a huge story given its Syrian connections, and it certainly isn't the first of its kind to come out of broadcasts on Iraqi TV.
Which leads me to the question: Why isn't this getting more play over here? Why aren't any of these stories getting play over here?
What this means
Like I said above, the PFLP has been around since the 1970s and is one of the deadliest Palestinian terrorist groups in the business. The Israelis appear to have more or less dismantled their infrastructure in the Palestinian Territories, but they still retain more than enough fighters and infrastructure in the Levant. It is also a wholely-owned subsidiary of the Syrian government (complete with offices in Damascus where the group's founder, George Habash, lives) and serves as one of their more capable Palestinian proxies against the Israeli government. If the PFLP is fighting against US forces inside Iraq at Habash's behest, it is inconceiveable that they would be doing so without the knowledge of their Syrian handlers.
To bring it down to the bottom line, this means that a Palestinian terrorist group that is trained, harbored, and financed by Bashar al-Assad's regime is complicit in the deaths of US and Iraqi soldiers. If this can be confirmed, it would seem to indicate that Syrian involvement in the assassination of Rafik Hariri would be the least of al-Assad's (or Khaddam, if we want to be more up-front about these things) problems.
Ah, but is it true?
Progressive Socialist Party President Walid Jumblatt urged Hizbullah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Monday to join the convoy of Lebanese who are calling for freedom, independence and free decision-making. Jumblatt made the call from his stronghold in Mukhtara, where he commemorated the seventh day of the late former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri's assassination and laid a flower on the tomb of his father Kamal Jumblatt.
Addressing the Syria authorities, Jumblatt called for the dismantling of the security intelligence regime and for it to leave the country. "We want to remain friends with Syria, and we refuse the rule of the intelligence services in Lebanon," he said, adding: "You have killed many but you will never succeed in destroying the people's will." Jumblatt, a leading member of the opposition, ruled out any dialogue that was not based on the Taif Accord and called for the immediate withdrawal of Syrian troops from the country, in a bid to open a new page between the people of Lebanon and Syria. "The Taif is the basis and we will not accept any postponement," he said. Jumblatt said that he regretted the absence of the country's sovereignty in the presence of the Syrian intelligence apparatus and called for a fair investigation into Hariri's death.
This article starring:
Kamal Jumblatt
Rafik Hariri
SAIYED HASAN NASRALLAH
Hizbullah
Walid Jumblatt
Hizbullah
Posted by: Fred ||
02/23/2005 8:58:44 PM ||
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Iran is studying the question of joining the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi said yesterday. "That has been in the talks for some time," he said in response to questions after a lecture on India-Iran relations at the Indian Council of World Affairs here whether Tehran's membership of the seven-nation club came up during his talks with Indian leaders. "We are studying the question of accession to SAARC," he said. He referred to Iran's borders with South Asia and said the country could provide the region with East-West connectivity. He did not say whether any of the seven SAARC member nations — India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and the Maldives — had extended Iran an invitation. There has been a move by Pakistan and Bangladesh to get China as a SAARC member, but India and Bhutan have reservations about it. Under the SAARC charter all decisions have to be unanimous.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/23/2005 00:00:00 ||
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Lebanon's climate has been charged with latent violence since the assassination Monday, February 14, of Lebanese former prime minister Rafiq Hariri, and his funeral two days later. Sparks began flying when the opposition unveiled their "peaceful democratic uprising for independence" Friday, February 18, and, as revealed by DEBKAfile's intelligence sources, Syrian forces began distributing weapons to groups supporting Damascus and the 1.4 million expatriate laborers in the country.
The resignations of president Emil Lahoude and the Karame government were forcefully demanded by the opposition leader, Walid Jumblatt, head of the Lebanese Druses who speaks for a rare multiethnic coalition made up of his own community, Christian factions endorsed by Maronite Catholic Archbishop Nasrallah Sfeir, and Sunni Muslims led by the dead billionaire's oldest son, Bahaa Hariri, with the blessing of the Sunni Muslim Mufti of Lebanon.
Saturday, February 19, Omar Karami, who succeeded Rafiq Hariri as prime minister, accused this group of attempting a coup d'etat. The belligerent Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah warned (or threatened) that "popular agitation against Syria's grip on the country following the killing of Rafiq Hariri could plunge Lebanon into civil war again. Backed solidly from Damascus and Tehran, he exhorted the 100,000 Shiites massed in Beirut to mark the Ashura festival not to forget the real enemy. "Death to Israel!" they roared after him.
The sparks will fly in earnest when government and Syrians move into aggressive mode to crush the opposition, which will become increasingly inflamed by multiplying leads to Syria and its Lebanese minions as Hariri's assassins. Our sources report that US, French and Israeli intelligence have already gathered solid evidence that General Rostum Ghazallah of Syrian military intelligence orchestrated the murder on orders from Damascus with the aid of Lebanese general intelligence and its chief General Jamil al-Sayad.
The Damascus-backed government in Beirut and its masters has no intention of going quietly. Bashar Assad desperately needs the political and economic benefits he extorts from Lebanon to prop up his regime. Monday, February 21, presidents George W. Bush and Jacques Chirac meet in Paris. With Lebanon at the forefront of their agenda, they will have to look hard at some tough questions. How to handle the situation if Assad orders his Syrian troops in Lebanon to march on Beirut in defense of his puppet government? And worse still, what if the full weight of the Syrian army is sent across the border to squash the uprising? Will the two Western leaders dispatch a joint US-French force to repulse the Syrian onslaught? If they did, it would be the most drastic event to hit the Middle East since the March 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq. The second American invasion of an Arab land might this time be partnered or endorsed by a European power.
To force the hands of the American and French presidents, the leaders of the Lebanese uprising are preparing a spectacular event to coincide with their summit. One proposal is for a hundreds of thousands of protesters to march through Beirut's streets and seize the parliament building.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/23/2005 9:37:15 PM ||
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#1
Wow, we really are back to the 70s.
I remember when Chicago was called Beirut by the Lake.
#3
The author of the "Tipping Point" was on "Nightline" last night, applying his theory - little things make big differences - to Syrian occupied Lebanon. Maybe Syria is ready to tip as well.
Posted by: Tom ||
02/23/2005 8:27 Comments ||
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#6
And I remember when Frisco was called Baghdad by the Bay...that would fix Pelosi.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/23/2005 8:43 Comments ||
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#7
Seeing a lot of fimiliar names coming back to forefront of Lenanese politics that have their roots in the bad old days when Beirut earned its reputation.
#4 raptor, you thinking the other border Syrian could see some activity? If so, Me too.
#8
That is what I had in mind,TA.With a huge part of Syria's mil/intel already tied down in Lebenon and if they send and even bigger portion of the army South that would leave a wide open eastern flank and a wide open coast.Tie that in with Israelie"training manuvers"on the Lebaonese border and opurtunity would be begging US to come in.I don't think Syria has the ability to do a Patton"Battle of the Bulge"manuver.
Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal has said that countries should not hastily accuse Syria of involvement in the killing of Lebanon's former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. He also dismissed calls for an immediate international probe into last Monday's assassination, saying Beirut should be allowed to hold its own investigation.
Afraid somebody'll find something before the evidence is all cold?
"We cannot accuse one side before we know the facts," he told Arab journalists in London.
In that case, getting the facts should be the priority, right? Regardless of who gets them...
"Those who accuse Syria without evidence will be open to criticism." Lebanese opposition leaders have bluntly accused Damascus of involvement in the Beirut car bombing which killed the former premier and several of his bodyguards. British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, speaking at an EU foreign ministers' meeting, said there was a "high level of suspicion about the potential involvement of Syria".
Posted by: Fred ||
02/23/2005 00:00:00 ||
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#1
Who's rushing?
Actually, the "accusation" is waaay late.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/23/2005 0:58 Comments ||
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Oh any Saudi prince will be glad to tell you who did it "it was the Joos!"
EFL Let's hope this is true! Iraqi state television aired a video Wednesday showing what the U.S.-funded channel said was the confession of a captured Syrian officer who said he trained Iraqi insurgents to behead people and build car bombs to attack American and Iraqi troops. The video also showed an Iraqi who said the insurgents practiced beheading animals to train for decapitating hostages. Syrian officials could not immediately be reached for comment on the claims. The video comes at a time when the Bush administration has stepped up pressure on Syria to stop meddling in Iraqi affairs by allowing insurgents to cross into the country to fight coalition troops and by harboring former Iraqi regime members. Syria has denied the charges. In the video, the man, identified as Lt. Anas Ahmed al-Essa of the Syrian intelligence service, said his group had been recruited to "cause chaos in Iraq ⊠to bar America from reaching Syria."
"We received all the instructions from Syrian intelligence," al-Essa, 30, said on a video broadcast by state-run Iraqiya TV, which can be seen nationwide. The tape was apparently made in the northern city of Mosul but no date was provided. It was not possible to authenticate the claims. An unidentified Iraqi officer introduced the video, saying all insurgent groups in Iraq were covers for Syrian intelligence. He named a number of well-known groups, including one which has killed and beheaded foreigners.
Iraqiya TV is believed to be widely watched by Iraqis mainly those who cannot afford satellite dishes offering the Gulf-based Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya stations. But the station, which went on the air in May 2003 with help from the Pentagon, is viewed by many Iraqis as an American propaganda tool having a pro-American slant. Top officials in Iraq's interim government have called on Syria to hand over former Iraqi Baathists who fled there after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, which Syria vehemently opposed. snip
JUBA, Sudan, Feb. 23 (UPI) -- An hour of explosions at a Sudanese government ammunition depot Wednesday shredded a southern town and killed at least 13 people, the BBC reported. A large portion of the residential and barracks area of Juba were obliterated by shrapnel as armaments exploded "every second for about an hour," one witness told the network. The number of injured was not immediately known, but expected to be high from the shrapnel bombardment.
The town's deputy governor, Simon Wani Ramba said the shells flew and burst more than half a mile from the depot. "There was a huge mushroom cloud in the sky and everyone fell on the floor," witness Gemma Mortensen told the BBC.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/23/2005 11:59:06 AM ||
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Great Timing and Great Handle on the concept of Cause and Effect PARIS - The World Council of Churches, the main global body uniting non-Catholic Christians, encouraged members Tuesday to sell off investments in companies profiting from Israeli control of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.... This action is commendable in both method and manner, uses criteria rooted in faith and calls members to do the 'things that make for peace'," it declared, quoting St. Luke's Gospel. and we know that giving terrorists and incentive to kill makes for peace
Posted by: mhw ||
02/23/2005 10:03:20 AM ||
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#1
Religious left? It's making my brain hurt, like trying to picture a 5-dimensional figure.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/23/2005 10:09 Comments ||
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I call them that because the WCC supported Castro in the Elian affair and because throughout the Cold War, the WCC took the 'let's disarm now' stance.
#6
Why do small groups like this get BIG press coverage? I haven't heard that the Catholicsn are divesting from Israel? This is where the LLL MSM fails. They think the fringe represents that whole and nothning could be farther from the truth. I am a Catholic and I have never met, seen or heard anyone remotely connected with the church call for anthing but support for Israel. Deos the WCC represent Mormons and Babtists? I doubt either group supports the divestment strategery.
#7
The World Council of Churches, the main global body uniting non-Catholic Christians...
Excuse me? Here is the deal. Personally, As many RB folks have figured, I am a believer.
But, I avoid organized religion because, as amoral as the âReligious Leftâ is, and there is a âReligious Leftâ, the âReligious Rightâ seems to avoid a world view. At more than one wedding in my family, the minister intones. âThere is no salvation (paradise in the hereafter) except through Jesus. Good works alone will not enter you into Heaven.â I consider myself Christian, and I have known non-Christians, like the non-Synagogue attending Jewish 2nd husband of my sister who probably have a better standing with God than âdevout Christianâ relations whose business dealings make me cringe. Illegal? No. But their attitude is anything but Christian. Or for that matter, was the behavior of my sisterâs philandering âChristianâ 1st husband... But the fundamentalist believes Jesus forgives everything? So, why not live a bad live and ârepentâ on the deathbed? I know this is a common question, but the answer Iâve gotten is always nonsense. Sorry for the soapbox. Now to the article.
We have to be careful who we group with whom. Donât associate any of this basically Totalitarian poppycock with all non-Catholic Christians. The WCC is an organization of pacifist nitwits who think God approves of sitting down and singing âKum-by-yaâ while Western Civilization is under attack. Their god does not want Western Civilization to be the top, because of all the historical nasties that have occurred. All other civilizations are worse and more murderous in their existence and history. If that makes me racist, then so be it. Western Civilization actually strives, in its philosophy to be better. It has lapses, but has a better track record of anti-brutality, especially in the last 50 years. God, most of all, I believe, wants us to use the life He gave us to strive be better towards our fellow man, but also look after our families as well. To carry on humankind, and not get the jollies of forcing others to follow the rules we like in their private personal lives.
Of course there is a society and rules. I like some of the aspects of libertarianism, but not to the libertine anarchistic extreme. Part of governmentâs role is to respond when attacked. Israel responds when they are attacked. The murder of innocents by people who are not, in my mind truly human (as opposed to simply having Homo Sapiens DNA), deserves response. I donât give a ratâs ass about the âPalestinian Peopleâ until those people have the courage to stand up and say, âEnoughâ! Quit killing our children. Quit grabbing retarded boys off the streets to do your bombing dirty-work. If you are so convinced that strapping explosives to a body and committing suicide is good then YOU DO IT! Rachel Corrie is deservedly flat, because the leftist Totalitarian twit didnât understand paying off families of people who commit murder is not the way the you protest what you perceive to be injustice. There is no Ghandi-like Moslem because, I believe it is non-sequitor to the religion. F.U. WCC. You must be worshipping the same god as the Islamonuttz, because you certainly donât worship the same God as me. You are not honoring the God of life. You honor the god of death.
#8
At more than one wedding in my family, the minister intones. âThere is no salvation (paradise in the hereafter) except through Jesus. Good works alone will not enter you into Heaven.â
Old Spook can probably give me a smackdown to set me straight, but I think Catholics believe Good Works are but a way into heaven. At least that is what one of my customers, a Catholic, told me.
#9
Here are the North American members:
African Methodist Episcopal Church [USA]
African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church [USA]
American Baptist Churches in the USA
Anglican Church of Canada
Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East, N.A. Diocese
Canadian Council of Churches**
Canadian Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Canada
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Christian Methodist Episcopal Church [USA]
Church of the Brethren [USA]
Episcopal Church
Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church Abroad [Canada]
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada
Hungarian Reformed Church in America
International Council of Community Churches [USA]
International Evangelical Church [USA]
Moravian Church in America
National Baptist Convention of America
National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc.
National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA**
Orthodox Church in America
Polish National Catholic Church
Presbyterian Church in Canada
Presbyterian Church (USA)
Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc. [USA]
Reformed Church in America [USA]
Religious Society of Friends [USA] - Friends General Conference - Friends United Meeting
United Church of Canada
United Church of Christ [USA]
United Methodist Church [USA]
A church is able to join if it agrees with the WCC 'basis' which you can read here. It is a great example of how something gets watered down when you try to be all things to everyone.
#12
Badanov, the "by faith alone" controversy was a defining characteristic of one part of the protestant reformation. The eastern Orthodox, the Catholics and some Protestants find that .... unbiblical, a simplification that if taken too far becomes false.
#13
Badanov, the "by faith alone" controversy was a defining characteristic of one part of the protestant reformation. The eastern Orthodox, the Catholics and some Protestants find that .... unbiblical, a simplification that if taken too far becomes false.
Oh really, true nuff? This is Fred's website, so I won't waste bandwidth on what he may regard as a religious argument, so I've taken the liberty to discuss your assertion, which I take you support as well, at my website.
To encourage others to visit: After laying out the biblical foundation for "by faith alone", I give my reasons as to why I believe that "by faith alone" is the only viable long germ option when combatting Islamist Fascism.
#2
In many ways, Uzan operated his business with a "mafia mentality," according to a Turkish political advisor. He used his television station to attack opponents.
Just like our media.
If the AKP is able to translate money into power and power into money, then the main loser will be Turkish secularism. As an executive with one of Istanbul's largest firms said, "The AKP is like a cancer. You feel fine, but then one day you start coughing blood. By the time you realize there's a problem, it's too far-gone."[74]
The real problem will come when the Suadi's stop funding them. Fuel cells, faster, please!
#1
Thanks for the posting. I thought it was wonderful- If we could all ban together, work together and stop the fighting and end this war- what a MIRACLE.
The money that this war has taken from the U.S. tax dollar's is beyond comprehension. I have seen the cuts that have been made in human services in the state of Massachusetts. We can barely take care of our people at home- so that money can be spent fighting this awful war! (I'm told our budget has been cut and monies are being spent for Homeland Security Act).
Andrea Jackson
Posted by: Andrea ||
02/23/2005 9:38 Comments ||
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Get educated Andrea, go read the budget numbers. You might actually be suprised on how much money is there for programs, duplicated, triplicated, and eaten by bureaucarcy rather than showing up in the hands of those it is intended for. There is also a difference between STATE monies and FEDERAL monies in social services programs. If the cuts are at the State level, the war has nothing to do with it. However, the whine will still be the same. Its about 'potential' monies that 'could' have gone to programs which are designed to make people feel good about themselves and not about solving the problem.
#3
I have seen the cuts that have been made in human services in the state of Massachusetts.
Not nearly enough. Sadly many people will never succeed in life if we continue to give them a way out. In otherwords the organism requires a little stress to perform most effectively.
#9
I have seen the cuts that have been made in human services in the state of Massachusetts
Yeah, all those starving Massh*le urchins crowding the streets made the commute a real hassle.
That is, until I stopped swerving around them...
Posted by: Carl in N.H. ||
02/23/2005 17:31 Comments ||
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Andrea - puhleeze.
Cuts to govermom pogroms in Taxachusetts? This is supposed to bring tears?
I live in the belly of that beast, and I can attest that the Communewealth Entity is probably the most corrupt grafting dembot parasitic organism in all of the 50 states.
There can NEVER be enough cuts inflicted on that beast.
Where you're from and what you whine about suggests to me that you derive sustenance from deductions to my pay check.
Posted by: Red Lief ||
02/23/2005 21:43 Comments ||
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"The money that this war has taken from the U.S. tax dollar's is beyond comprehension."
It appears as though someone has sipped the kool aid!
Posted by: Analog Roam ||
02/23/2005 23:17 Comments ||
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Andrea - you are a dork. Massachusetts sucks your tax dollars right into Ted Kennedy's gut. Your comments are so naive as to be almost cute.
money to social services....*snicker* And the Big Dig was such a success too. Funny how the other states do so much more with so much less. And it all works because people like you think they are getting free apple pie. haha
WASHINGTON - The Pentagon is investigating an allegation that a US soldier raped an Iraqi female prisoner while she was in US military custody, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said. The allegation has not yet been substantiated, he said on Tuesday. He gave no details.
Another rape allegation against a US soldier by an Iraqi woman was dismissed for lack of evidence, Whitman said. They are the only two rape allegations that have been made against US troops by Iraqi women, the spokesman said.
But I thought Amnesty Int'l said there were 'many' of these. I'm so confused, I'd best go lie down.
During testimony last week on Capitol Hill, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, were pressed for information about rape allegations against US forces in Iraq. Rumsfeld promised to look into the matter and report his findings.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/23/2005 12:20:04 AM ||
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#1
Steve, for AI two = many. Their count* only goes up to 10, they run out of fingers. That's why tugocracies don't show up too often on AI's hit list. They quit counting at 10 and so everyone else is just the same.
* exception being the US of course, which has no ceiling in numbers. The US must be perfect. Anything less than perfect by the US is evil.
#8
Mrs Davis, I'm seeing their site and frontpage has Sudan, Iran, Vietnam in the center, it doesn't have the United States.
As for the number of those recent reports about Iraq, since many of these are condemnations of terrorist bombings, condemnations hostage takings and beheadings, and so forth, I think you are trying to imply something that's actually the reverse of reality.
Israel's Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz accused new Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas Tuesday of failing to do enough to put an end to attacks by militant groups, parliamentary sources said. "From the point of view of the war against terrorism, Abu Mazen (Abbas) has not passed the test," Mofaz said during a closed-door session of the parliament's foreign affairs and defence committee.
Israel has been demanding that Abbas dismantle what it calls the "terrorist infrastructure" of hardline groups such as Hamas. While Abbas has managed to persuade the factions to observe a temporary truce, he has held back from a crackdown on the groups for fear of provoking a civil war. Mofaz also told the committee that the planned pullout of settlers from the Gaza Strip, scheduled to start on July 20, was likely to last six or seven weeks. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had previously indicated that he expected the process to last around 12 weeks.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/23/2005 00:00:00 ||
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Faced with the very real possibility of a rejection of his Cabinet lineup in the Palestinian Parliament, Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei yesterday promised to present a Cabinet of technocrats to the PLC today. Lawmakers and members of the dominant Fatah faction said Qorei had drawn up a new list dominated by technocrats and featuring only two members of Parliament.
The initial list presented by Qorei to Parliament for its approval on Monday featured 15 deputies. Qorei put together his new list after a meeting of Fatah's Central Committee convened after Monday's aborted parliamentary session when he had hoped to win the approval for his 24-member team. "There will only be two members from the Legislative Council on the new list," Cabinet Minister Qaddura Fares told reporters. Parliamentary officials said Qorei would present the line-up to MPs for approval today. "We will convene (parliament) tomorrow," said Fatah MP and central committee member Abbas Zaki. "A totally new government will be presented to us. It's a government of technocrats with only two MPs... The Central Committee of Fatah decided that such a government is needed to respond to the needs for reforms at all levels."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/23/2005 00:00:00 ||
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Israel is ready to react to any attempt by the Lebanese militia Hezbollah to open up a new battle front on the northern border during the operation to pull out of Gaza, army chief of staff Moshe Yaalon said Tuesday. "The army is ready to respond to any attempt (by Hezbollah) to provoke the opening of a new front and it will pay the price if it does so," public radio quoted Yaalon as telling a gathering of civic leaders close to the border with both Lebanon and Syria. Thousands of troops are expected to take part in the operation to remove the 8,000 Jewish settlers of the Gaza Strip and several hundred from four small northern West Bank settlements from mid-July. While incidents on the once highly volatile northern border are less frequent, three people, including a French UN peacekeeper, were killed last month in a flare-up of violence between Israeli troops and Hezbollah.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/23/2005 00:00:00 ||
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Iraq's main Shia alliance has named Ibrahim al-Jafari as its candidate for prime minister in the new government, Aljazeera has learned. Al-Jafari,currently the vice president of Iraq in the interim government, is a religious Shia and head of the Islamist Dawa Party. He had faced competition from inside the alliance from former exile Ahmad Chalabi, once favoured by the Pentagon, but Chalabi withdrew and the alliance's 140 members unanimously approved al-Jafari, alliance sources said. Some of Chalabi's aides, including Qaisar Witwit, have suggested he may be offered the post of deputy prime minister in charge of economic and security affairs. "The security situation is the first matter we will address" When asked about the reported deal, Chalabi said simply: "We will see."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/23/2005 00:00:00 ||
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Egypt is still holding as many as 2,400 people without charge four months after the devastating anti-Israeli bomb attacks in Sinai tourist resorts, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Tuesday. "The state security investigation agency conducted mass arrests in northern Sinai without a warrant or judicial order, as required by Egyptian law," the New York-based group said in a report. "As many as 2,400 detainees are still being held incommunicado" following the October 7 bombings which killed 34 people, many of them Israeli tourists, in car bomb attacks on the Taba Hilton hotel and two holiday camps in Nuweiba. "The government has not released information on the whereabouts of these detainees either to their families or lawyers representing them, and has not indicated if any have been charged with crimes," said HRW.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/23/2005 00:00:00 ||
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#1
That's a lot of "usual suspects." On second thought, this is Egypt, so maybe not...
#2
Where's the International outrage over these illegal holdings!? Where's ANSWER!? Oh yeah, over the border at Isreali prisons trying to free killers.
Posted by: Charles ||
02/23/2005 7:10 Comments ||
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Egypt holding 2,400 without charge since Taba bombings...
You mean they have gien up attaching electrodes to sensitive body parts?
A top US senator called yesterday for a permanent American military presence in Afghanistan to protect his country's security interests in the region, where Iran is allegedly jostling for nuclear capability. Speaking after meetings with President Hamid Karzai at his heavily fortified palace in the Afghan capital, Republican John McCain said he was committed to a "strategic partnership that we believe must endure for many, many years." Asked what such a partnership would entail, he replied: "Economic assistance, technical assistance, military partnership including - and this is a personal view — joint military permanent bases and also cultural exchanges." He said the arrangement would be "not only for the good of the Afghan people, but also for the good of the American people because of the long-term security interests that we have in the region." McCain was leading a five-member delegation also including former first lady Sen. Hillary Clinton, as well as senators Russell Feingold, Susan Collins and Lindsey Graham. McCain did not elaborate about what form permanent bases might take and Karzai gave no further details after the meeting.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/23/2005 00:00:00 ||
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#1
McCain runs off the rails sometimes with things like First Amendment repealCampaign Reform, but his foreign policy usually makes a lot of sense.
We have a bunch of bases in countries like Uzbekistan that have rather unsavory government. When in a war, you deal with whom you have to to get the job done, but if we have a choice, I'd rather be allied with a halfway decent Afghanistan than some neo-Stalinist country.
Nawab Akbar Bugti, the chief of the Bugti tribe and former Balochistan chief minister, has said the Baloch will pardon Captain Hammad, the man accused of raping a female doctor, only if the victim forgives him, Online reported. Talking to a private TV, he said in line with Baloch and Sindhi traditions, the rapists would have to go to the victim to seek her mercy, and if she forgave them, they would have no objection to her decision.
Staff report adds: At a telephone press conference on Tuesday, Bugti warned that there could be armed resistance if the government decided on military action in the area. "The situation in Balochistan is alarming and there could be an armed resistance if a military option is opted, which I can see coming soon," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/23/2005 00:00:00 ||
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#1
Sure, she can.
But why in the hell would she?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/23/2005 0:59 Comments ||
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#2
Because she would be killed otherwise
More seriously one of the nice things in shariah is the concept of blood money and the fact a woman live is worth half of a man's live. It goes like this: a man life is worth 1,000$ so if a man is killed and the family pardons the life of the murderer it would get 1,000$ from the muderer (the price of a man's life). Now if a man kills a woman then her family can either pardon him and get 500$ (the price of a woman's life) or have him executed but in that case they MUST pay the differnce (ie 500$) to the family of the murderer.
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.
Kong Sam Ol, deputy prime minister for the Royal Palace of Cambodia, hosted a reception on February 16 in celebration of leader Kim Jong Il's birthday. Present there on invitation were Ambassador Choe Han Chun and staff members of the DPRK embassy in Phnom Penh.
IRAQ war wobbler Jacques Chirac scuttled George Bush's fence-mending trip to Europe yesterday — by cranking up a row over the future of Nato.
Spain's foreign minister said Madrid "neither sought nor negotiated for" a one-on-one meeting between Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and President George W Bush during the US-EU gathering in Brussels. 
French President Jacques Chirac called Tuesday for a sign to be sent to Iran as part of European-led talks aimed at convincing Tehran to definitively abandon its nuclear ambitions. Chirac told a press conference in Brussels that an "entirely legitimate" sign could focus on the Islamic republic's desire to join the World Trade Organisation (WTO) or to obtain civilian aircraft engines. He said he had spoken about Iran with US President George W. Bush during a dinner date on Monday, but did not say what the US leader's response was. 
Prime Minister Paul Martin will deliver a firm No to Canadian participation in the U.S. missile defence plan and break a lengthy silence that fomented confusion on both sides of the border. News of the announcement follows a day of confusion on Parliament Hill after Frank McKenna, Martin's choice to be the next ambassador to the U.S., sparked a political firestorm by saying participation in the controversial continental missile defence system is a done deal. The end of Martin's silence will come as an about-face for a prime minister who had repeatedly stated his support for missile defence when he was a Liberal leadership candidate barely a year ago. 
Credit where it's due: Sen. 
The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) has appealed to the government of Thailand to put an end to the "persistent bloody acts of violence" perpetrated against Muslims in southern Thailand. The appeal was made in a statement here on Monday following a meeting OIC Secretary-General Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu had with Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, chairman of the 10th Islamic Summit Conference.
Indonesian prisons may be a fertile recruiting and training ground for Al Qaeda-linked militants, blamed for a string of bomb attacks in recent years, because jailers are too soft on them, an international think-tank said on Tuesday. Indonesian militants are finding it harder to recruit new bombers, but arresting top leaders may prove futile in eradicating them, the International Crisis Group (ICG) said. 
Progressive Socialist Party President 
Iran is studying the question of joining the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), Foreign Minister 
Lebanon's climate has been charged with latent violence since the assassination Monday, February 14, of Lebanese former prime minister 
Foreign Minister Prince 
Iraqi state television aired a video Wednesday showing what the U.S.-funded channel said was the confession of a captured Syrian officer who said he trained Iraqi insurgents to behead people and build car bombs to attack American and Iraqi troops. The video also showed an Iraqi who said the insurgents practiced beheading animals to train for decapitating hostages. Syrian officials could not immediately be reached for comment on the claims. The video comes at a time when the Bush administration has stepped up pressure on Syria to stop meddling in Iraqi affairs by allowing insurgents to cross into the country to fight coalition troops and by harboring former Iraqi regime members. Syria has denied the charges. In the video, the man, identified as 
PARIS - The 
Israel's Defence Minister 
Faced with the very real possibility of a rejection of his Cabinet lineup in the Palestinian Parliament, Prime Minister 
Israel is ready to react to any attempt by the Lebanese militia Hezbollah to open up a new battle front on the northern border during the operation to pull out of Gaza, army chief of staff Moshe Yaalon said Tuesday. "The army is ready to respond to any attempt (by Hezbollah) to provoke the opening of a new front and it will pay the price if it does so," public radio quoted Yaalon as telling a gathering of civic leaders close to the border with both Lebanon and Syria. Thousands of troops are expected to take part in the operation to remove the 8,000 Jewish settlers of the Gaza Strip and several hundred from four small northern West Bank settlements from mid-July. While incidents on the once highly volatile northern border are less frequent, three people, including a French UN peacekeeper, were killed last month in a flare-up of violence between Israeli troops and Hezbollah.
Iraq's main Shia alliance has named 
Egypt is still holding as many as 2,400 people without charge four months after the devastating anti-Israeli bomb attacks in Sinai tourist resorts, 
A top US senator called yesterday for a permanent American military presence in Afghanistan to protect his country's security interests in the region, where Iran is allegedly jostling for nuclear capability. Speaking after meetings with President Hamid Karzai at his heavily fortified palace in the Afghan capital, Republican 
Nawab 
