Iran is preparing an offer to buy MG Rover's entire operating plant and reopen the Longbridge assembly lines for immediate production.
The bid to save up to 20,000 jobs in the West Midlands is seen an effort to earn goodwill in Britain and soften the Government's hard line on Iran's nuclear programme.
Teheran has ordered rival Iranian car firms Dastaan, Saipa, and Khodro to work together towards a combined offer to buy about 150,000 Rover cars over the next two years before moving to partial assembly of kits in Iran, which would safeguard thousands of jobs in Britain until the end of the decade.
A team from Iran's industry ministry visited Longbridge last week on a fact-finding mission to inspect the plant. Dastaan is acting as the negotiating arm in Britain.
Rover's administrator, Price Waterhouse Coopers, has received 16 separate offers from nine countries, but most buyers aim to strip Rover's assets and exploit the technology. PWC has so far refused to show its hand.
Dastaan's British agent, Peter Linghorn, said Iran is the only buyer willing to preserve the Rover structure. "We're willing to take over the whole thing and kick-start production," he said.
He added that Iran was even willing to take over some of the Rover MG's £67m pension liabilities: "They want to help. This is not a commercially-driven deal, it's about enhancing relationships."
An Iranian official said yesterday that it was unclear exactly what was for sale. "This isn't about money. The ministry has the resources, but we still don't know what assets we can buy once the Chinese have finished with Rover," he said.
Mr Linghorn said the deal would save "almost 100pc" of the existing MG Rover structure. "We want to reopen all the Rover lines: the 75, the 45 and 25, MG sports," he said. "There's an immediate need for 150,000 cars because the country is only just starting to open up to imports," he said.
He believed MG sports cars could still be exported to Europe and America. Later phases would involve assembly of a further 150,000 cars a year in Iran.
While Iran is not demanding an explicit "quid pro quo" for saving British jobs, it hopes Britain will play a "constructive" role in the ongoing crisis talks over Iran's nuclear programme.
Last Friday, Iran threatened to restart uranium enrichment, seen as a step towards the production of nuclear weapons. Teheran insists that the fuel is for civilian reactors.
Washington and the EU have demanded an immediate halt to the nuclear fuel cycle.
The Foreign Office said yesterday that there was "no question" of Britain linking the issues of Rover and uranium enrichment.
Posted by: 3dc ||
05/06/2005 10:49:17 AM ||
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Pray the I-bomb is build with Lucas electronics.
BOGOTÃ, Colombia, May 5 - Two American soldiers arrested by the Colombian police for arms smuggling were handed over to the United States Embassy on Thursday, angering Colombian authorities and ordinary Colombians who believe that the two should face charges here.
Under treaty obligations, Allan Tanquary and Jesus Hernandez, Army Special Forces marksmen who had been stationed in Colombia as part of the American effort to fight drugs and Marxist rebels, will be investigated by American officials and, if charged, face trial in the United States. The two men, along with four Colombians, were arrested Tuesday in a luxury gated community in Melgar, where the police found 32,000 rounds of ammunition that they contend was bound for right-wing paramilitary groups.
The case has deeply embarrassed the United States, which on Thursday denied that the Bush administration was secretly helping Colombia's brutal paramilitary organization, the United Self-Defense Forces, in its fight against Marxist rebels. "There is absolutely no U.S. policy and U.S. support or U.S. inclination or U.S. military operations involved in arming paramilitaries," Richard A. Boucher, a State Department spokesman, said in Washington. "We have declared these groups to be terrorist groups."
Senior Colombian authorities tried to stop the transfer of the Americans. The government's inspector general, Edgardo Maya, sent a letter early Thursday to the attorney general's office requesting that the soldiers be held until Colombian authorities could determine if several treaties giving Americans immunity fell in line with the country's 1991 Constitution. But the attorney general's office had already transferred the men to American custody.
Colombians are still seething that James C. Hiett, the former Army colonel who ran the American military mission here, was sentenced to just five months by a Brooklyn court in 2000 for failing to report that his wife had been smuggling heroin from Bogotä to New York in diplomatic pouches. His wife, Laurie Ann Hiett, received a five-year term, while their Colombian driver, Jorge Alonso Ayala, remains in a Colombian jail, serving an eight-year sentence.
A valid complaint.
Colombians also question whether three American soldiers arrested in Texas for trafficking cocaine from Colombia will face serious penalties.
Make sure they get a military court.
"What worries us are these treaties of immunity," said Diana Murcia, a lawyer with the Lawyers Collective, a Bogotä group that says American anti-drug efforts in Colombia violate its laws. "This allows them to commit crimes. They have all the possibilities to do it."
The latest scandal is particularly worrisome because the Colombian police accused the American soldiers of having ties to a paramilitary organization that has killed thousands of Colombian civilians and finances its war through drug trafficking. The allegations are particularly troubling for President Ãlvaro Uribe, whose government has been locked in disarmament negotiations with the 15,000-member group.
Mr. Uribe is already under fire from the United Nations, human rights groups and several Colombian congressmen for pushing new legislation governing the demobilization of the group. These critics say that the bill, which will probably be approved in the coming weeks, does little to guarantee that paramilitary groups are dismantled or that commanders reveal their inner workings. Under the bill, paramilitary commanders, even those wanted for war crimes, would serve less than three years on farms in regions they control because of credits for their participation in talks and for good behavior.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/06/2005 00:28 ||
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Uncle Sam is keeping Colombia from falling under the rule of narco-terrorists who may or may not be Communist. If the Colombian public prefers these people as rulers, then they should make their views known by voting for candidates who favor the expulsion of US military advisers and the rejection of US military aid.
MOSCOW, May 6 (UPI) -- United Press International's Moscow correspondent Peter Lavelle engages Russia experts Eric Kraus, Gordon Hahn, Robert Bruce Ware, Janusz Bugajski, Dale Herspring, Ethan Burger, Andrei Tsygankov and Ira Straus on Moscow's handling of World War II celebration. The following are excerpts.
Engage NPR-style elitist voice module:
UPI: The international commemorations planned in Moscow on May 9 marking the end of the Second World War in Europe pleases Vladimir Putin and the majority of Russians, but there are dissenting voices. Few deny Russia this important accomplishment. But what the war means in retrospect, particularly in light of Soviet influence over the Baltic states and other countries of East Central Europe for decades after the war, is far from positive.
Eric Kraus, chief strategist, Sovlink Securities, Moscow:
Every country reinvents its own history. Russia is no exception - no more than several of Russia's neighbors who conveniently ignore their own enthusiastic support for the Nazis before and during the war. As most of the direct participants are no longer with us, all now have the luxury of awarding themselves medals as heroic resistance, committed anti-fascists, and selfless crusaders for freedom. The dead shall not wag a finger. The Cold War is over. The Baltics are independent states within a federalist Europe. They are under no conceivable threat. To use the commemoration as a means to re-fight old battles is both futile and tedious.
Gordon Hahn, scholar-at-large:
I believe that in some ways, the Soviet approach still holds. Old habits die hard. Of course, the West and Eastern and Central European states have also adopted nationalist positions in relation to Moscow on this score. As the anniversary approached, Poland began to raise once more the issue of Katyn, demanding an apology. (In the spring of 1940, the Soviet NKVD massacred some 4,000 Polish prisoners, mostly army reservists, in the Katyn forest near Smolensk, in western Russia.) This seems uncalled for if the issue is one of interstate relations, since Russia is not the USSR. The new Russian state overthrew the Soviet power responsible for Katyn, but to little avail apparently as far as some nationalist Poles are concerned. The Latvians began to raise border issues, but wisely they soon saw the futility of their revanchism, choosing magnanimously to look forward rather than backwards in building its relations with Russia, at least on this issue. It would be good if she could do so with regard to her violation of political and civil rights of ethnic Russians living in Latvia.
Robert Bruce Ware, associate professor at South Illinois University, noted expert on the North Caucasus:
Many bad things happened in the aftermath of World War II, and I don't think that anything can possibly justify or excuse the Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe. But there is no more point in retrospectively attempting to isolate the aftermath of a single war than there is in attempting to isolate the policies of a single country. The fact is that many bad things, including the Bolshevik revolution and the Russian civil war, also happened in the aftermath of the First World War. Many bad things are happening now in the aftermath of the Cold War. And before we Americans point fingers, we might pause to consider how much bad there was in the aftermath of our own Civil War.
Janusz Bugajski, director of the East Europe Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington:
The May 9 anniversary in Moscow clearly has a different meaning in Russia than it does among Russia's western neighbors. And as we know, history is politics, and interpretations of history impregnate political discourse and international relations. May 9 is important not just because of what it celebrates - the defeat of Nazi Germany - but also for what it fails to acknowledge - the enslavement of half of Europe for almost half a century by the Soviet Union.
Dale Herspring, professor of political science, Kansas State University:
To me this is a non-issue. The Russians/Soviets paid a tremendous price in World War II, and one could argue that they were the main reason the Germans lost the war. Certainly, Stalingrad stands alongside Midway as one of the two most important battles -- and turning points -- of World War II -- and I think that almost anyone who has seriously studied the war on the Eastern Front (including Germans), is prepared to argue that Russian sacrifices were critical to winning the war.
Ethan S. Burger, Esq., School of International Service, adjunct associate professor, Washington College of Law, American University:
At the some point, Russians will need to come to grips with their history. They need to understand the consequences of Stalin's diplomatic and military mistakes prior to and during the initial stages of the war, how Soviet partisan leaders and soldiers taken capture by the Nazis were often killed or sent to the Gulag by their comrades, how Soviet machine gunners sometimes targeted their own troops to discourage retreat in combat, and that Stalin's victims may have been in excess of 20 million lives.
Andrei Tsygankov, professor of international relations, San Francisco State University:
It is tempting to cast Russia's victory as that of the society and the peoples, rather than the state, particularly when one associates the state with crimes against Eastern European and its own peoples. Then the Russian people too were oppressed by their own state and therefore had much in common with those Europeans who read the victory as Stalin's dictatorship. However, treating Russian people and their state as opposing poles has its limits. Historically, state often introduced important reforms and defended social, economic, and national rights of the peoples.
Ira Straus, U.S. coordinator of the Committee on Eastern Europe and Russia in NATO:
There were Russian democrats who had hoped to use the 60th anniversary as an occasion for highlighting the goal of Russia-West alliance and implanting it more deeply in the Russian national conscience. What a pity that their wise and decent intentions are being sidetracked by the scandals stirred up by the Balts!
Posted by: Steve ||
05/06/2005 2:08:27 PM ||
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It was me! Me! Me! And that damn sword at Tehran was a setup job by Beria working with MI6. I just wanted to go to the birthday party 'ya see. Damn, I coulda been something.
The rising prospect of North Korea testing a nuclear weapon has U.S. officials working with East Asian allies to prepare a political response to any such test. White House and Pentagon officials have extensively briefed their Japanese and South Korean allies about satellite imagery that appears to show rapid, extensive preparations for a nuclear weapons test in North Korea, the New York Times reported Friday. At the same time, the United States does not want to play into North Korea's presumed desire to create a crisis that then becomes grounds for demanding economic and diplomatic concessions from Washington. "The North Koreans have learned how to use irrationality as a bargaining tool," a top U.S. official. Of particular concern is the construction of a reviewing stand, luxurious by North Korean standards, several miles from a likely test site where workers appear to have been digging what first looked like a deep mining shaft, only to fill it back in -- as would be expected at a nuclear test site.
I suppose it's too much to hope for a massive accident
Washington wants a coordinated response among its allies to any such test, officials said.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/06/2005 8:58:33 AM ||
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Washington wants a coordinated response among its allies to any such test, officials said.
Sounds like a TOT drill.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
05/06/2005 10:16 Comments ||
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That's one of the problems with underground nuclear tests--the ''secondaries''. In this case, I wonder if that grandstand all of a sudden gets caught in one such secondary, incinerating all attending.
#4
At the same time, the United States does not want to play into North Korea's presumed desire to create a crisis that then becomes grounds for demanding economic and diplomatic concessions from Washington.
Just what kind of crisis would be grounds for ''demanding economic and diplomatic concessions''? And who's to say that the U.S. would give in to such demands?
#6
After reading this article, this first thing that popped into my mind was, ''Wouldn't it be convenient if somehow this whole thing literally blew up in NKOR's face?'' A horrible nuclear accident occurring in a country attempting to acquire such weapons could be a powerful deterent for others...especially since it seems that no amount of cajoling or incentives has seemed to work to date.
Japan has information that North Korea may be preparing for a nuclear test, a Defense Agency official said Friday, less than a week after Pyongyang is believed to have tested a short-range missile off its eastern coast. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, refused to specify the information or its source. An official at the Foreign Ministry said Japan was exchanging information on North Korea with "concerned countries," but did not confirm that there were signs of an imminent test.
The New York Times on Friday reported that the White House and Pentagon officials were examining satellite photographs that suggest North Korea is making rapid preparations for a nuclear test. The report, which cited unidentified American and foreign officials, also said that the U.S. had extensively briefed Japan and South Korea on the preparations. Japanese officials refused to confirm they had been briefed on the possible test by the Americans. Japan, which is in range of Pyongyang's missiles, has been working with the United States, South Korea and China to draw North Korea back to six-party talks on its nuclear weapons programs. Pyongyang is boycotting the talks, and Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura told reporters on Friday that Tokyo could push to bring the case to the U.N. Security Council if there is no progress in the negotiations.
Posted by: tu3031 ||
05/06/2005 8:54:57 AM ||
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The unintended consequence here may be that we get a lot of cooperation and help from the Japanese in developing and fielding ABM systems.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
05/06/2005 9:23 Comments ||
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Peekaboo, Kimmie...
The satellite images show North Korea has dug and refilled a significant hole at a suspected test site in Gilju in the northeastern part of the country, said the official, discussing intelligence only on the condition of anonymity. The hole was dug in a manner consistent with preparations for an underground nuclear test, although it is not known whether the North Koreans deposited a weapon inside, the official said.
In addition, the official said, they have built some bleachers a sufficient distance from the hole, presumably for viewing any test.
Hopefully, they'll screw up on that ''sufficient distance'' calculation...
Australia on Thursday defended its alliance with the United States, saying it would add value to Canberra's engagement in Asia, where some countries have been critical of the 50-year-old partnership.
"From time to time you will hear, in the Australian debate, the suggestion that our alliance costs us in our region -- that we should start to distance ourselves -- or to "avoiding having to choose" -- between the United States and Asia," Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said in Washington.
"In my view, that is a distorted view. It posits a false choice," he said in a lecture hosted by the Center for Australian and New Zealand Studies at Georgetown University and the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
On the contrary, Downer said, the alliance added value to Australia's engagement with the region.
"It contributes directly to our own security. But it also adds to our strategic weight and capability edge in the region, and our ability to protect and advance our interests," he said.
Some Southeast Asian nations fear Australia's pre-emptive strike principle as part of the US-led global "war on terror" could be used to mount an attack within their territories without their permission.
The pre-emptive strike policy was seen as emulating the doctrine of President George W. Bush that led to the Iraqi invasion in 2003, and some Asian nations have argued it was further evidence Australia saw itself in the company of the United States and was not identifying with the Asian region.
Particularly concerned over this, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations has asked Australia to sign a nonaggression pact with the grouping as a condition for joining an East Asian Summit it would host at the end of 2005.
Asked by reporters whether Australia would accede to ASEAN's Treaty of Amity and Cooperation, Downer said: "Well, it is something that we are thinking about.
"I have some officials who will in the next few weeks be talking with a number of their counterparts in ASEAN and when I get a report back from them, the Prime Minister and I will sit down and we'll have a look at their report and we'll see," Downer said.
The 1976 treaty prohibits the use of force in the settlement of disputes and contains a principle about non-interference in the internal affairs of other signatory states.
The other countries to be invited to the East Asian Summit by ASEAN are China, Japan, South Korea and India. They have all previously signed the treaty. New Zealand, another potential participant, said it would probably sign the agreement.
Downer defended the US-Australia political and security alliance, saying its neighbouring Southeast Asian and other nations could benefit from the partnership, which he stressed was "not a zero-sum game."
He explained that the training, technology and intelligence Australia accessed through the alliance could help bring relief to neighbours in times of great humanitarian crisis -- as demonstrated in the December 26 tsunami that wreaked havoc in the region.
ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Downer said that ultimately an alliance rested on friendship and a "preparedness to stand by one's mates no matter how tough the going gets.
"It reminds us that sometimes security at home can only be gained by taking the fight to our enemies wherever they are," he said.
Downer added that information gained from operations in Afghanistan was used to thwart plans by Jemaah Islamiyah, Al-Qaeda's Southeast Asian chapter, to bomb the Australian, American and British missions in Singapore in December.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
05/06/2005 10:03:20 AM ||
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Next. Secretary. General.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
05/06/2005 11:07 Comments ||
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Some say he won, some say he lost. Anybody know for sure? GEORGE GALLOWAY, the former Labour MP, yesterday stormed off a news show, denouncing the interview as a "set-up". The former Glasgow Kelvin MP, who started his own anti-war party Respect, told the ITV lunchtime news presenters that they were "liars". Mr Galloway, who is trying to unseat Labour candidate Oona King from Bethnal Green and Bow, was furious at the suggestion that he was a supporter of Saddam Hussein as an 11-year-old clip was shown of him telling the former Iraqi dictator: "I salute your courage, your strength, your indefatigability." Sucks when they got you on tape George.
Mr Galloway said he had already explained himself 11 years ago and stressed that he had been referring to the courage of the Iraqi people. Suuuuuuuuuure you were...
He claimed the interview had deliberately been "teed-up", adding: "You are a bunch of liars; everybody knows you are a bunch of liars. You gotta admit, the man's an expert on "liars"...
"I am not an admirer of Saddam Hussein, I was an opponent of Saddam Hussein when you'd never heard of him. I used to be demonstrating outside the Iraqi embassy in London when British governments and businessmen were selling him guns." Suuuuuuuuure you were...
The clip had been edited out of context, he said, asking the ITV presenters whether they wanted to talk about the "100,000 people killed by Bush and Blair." Where you getting your figures, George? Is it enough so you'd be willing to head over and let them beat the shit out of you again? It might make everything okay.
Mr Galloway was also angry at a question from a Scottish floating voter taking part in the programme's "Ballot Box Jury", which suggested he was a "loose cannon". He said that a panellist had to be found in Scotland as they could not find a voter in the London constituency he is contesting to "attack" him.
An ITV spokesman said Mr Galloway tore off his microphone and left the studio after his interview. He also vowed never to give another ITN interview. Will ITN ever get over it?
Posted by: tu3031 ||
05/06/2005 9:39:34 AM ||
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He beat Oona. I am sure the good citizens of Bethnal Green are proud of the fact that a carpetbagging pro-terrorist communist sympathizer from Glasgow, Scotland has unseated a black female member of parliment. This scumbag also gets what he deserves - a backbench without any recognition in parliment. I am sure the good citizens of Bethnal Green will enjoy all he does for them. At least he and the mayor are cut from the same cloth.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
05/06/2005 10:10 Comments ||
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This follows an hilarious Question Time election special where he theratened fellow panellists with legal action every time they criticised him. Wonderful. Personally, I'd love to kill him with a pitch fork. Shithead.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
05/06/2005 10:21 Comments ||
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I'd like to beat him with a wet haggis brought in Ilkeston , then send him to Tikrut
#6
McN: Send Galloway to Ilkeston to spread the Respect message and watch him get lynched.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
05/06/2005 10:30 Comments ||
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Badanov - Good catch!
He rode a blazing backbench...
Posted by: Matt ||
05/06/2005 10:58 Comments ||
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Note: BBC reports a national shift of muslim votes from Labour to the Lib Dems (Respect not being on the ballot in most constituencies, IIUC) ISTM this makes up a large portion of the overall Lib Dem gain. No?
#9
LH is probably right. It's overall a good thing that Galloway won. Insofar as this clown has become the symbol of the ''voters' discontent with Blair,'' the media and the public can see the link between this discontent and the rise of muslims as swing voters in UK (and European) politics.
If Blair has lost, we'd be told it was because voters are furious over Iraq. Yet Blair's victory comes despite voters' fury over Iraq.
Sounds a bit like the MSM spin on Bush's victory. Had Bush lost it would have been over Iraq. So why did Bush win? Nothing to do with Iraq, silly! It was about ''moral values''.
#13
the other interesting part of this is that while Galloway represents the 'moderate' antisemetic, antiamerican, pro terrorist left, he is disliked by the more Islamist antisemetic, antiamerican, pro terrorists who believe that:
a. elections are un islamic
b. anyone who encourage moslems to vote is giving legitimacy to a govt not of god, and
c. moslems voting for non moslems is blasphamy
#14
This is good. Galloway's rise will out all the vicious and truly scary little creeps, secular and jihadist alike, who form the heart of the pro-Saddam, ''antiwar'' movement in Britain.
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has said the US bears some blame for the killing of an Italian agent, but it will not hurt relations. He told parliament that the US had implicitly acknowledged some problems at the checkpoint where US forces shot dead Nicola Calipari in March.
US and Italian reports differed sharply on the events leading up to the killing, which caused outrage in Italy. But Mr Berlusconi said Italy remained Washington's close friend and ally. "Our friendship with the US has overcome more difficult tests than this one," he said, addressing both houses of parliament. He said Italy had no intention of rushing troops out of Iraq before their job was done.
His comments, seeking to ease domestic tension over Iraq while reassuring a strong ally, came a day after US President George W Bush called him to repeat his regrets over what had happened.
Observers have said that the failure to agree on the sequence of events has tarnished the close relationship between the two countries, a claim dismissed by Mr Berlusconi. "The friendship and loyalty of the Italian government towards the US - based on the immutable foundations of democracy and freedom - is beyond discussion," he said.
Despite increasing opposition to Italian involvement in Iraq and calls to withdraw the country's 3,000 troops, Mr Berlusconi said that pulling troops out was not an option. "There is no reason to say 'Let's all go home' - it would be incomprehensible."
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/06/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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He told parliament that the US had implicitly acknowledged some problems at the checkpoint where US forces shot dead Nicola Calipari in March.
#3
I heard some emotionally-based support for Berlusconi the other day - and I'd like to respond to it here. If he can't be trusted to stand up for the truth in the face of political opposition, then he is no ally worthy of our support. Additionally, he is not worthy of a full share of the intel take. He's just another Yippie, i.e. Italy under Berlusconi is now about as reliable as Turkey under Yippie.
Arguments against must be rooted in facts. I think, at this point in time, they are sorely lacking.
#4
I agree, .com. Does anyone doubt the latest rash of murders in Iraq is at the least partly funded by Berlusconi's ransom money? Methinks as far as being a staunch ally of the US is concerned, Berlusconi is the Great Pretender.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
05/06/2005 7:19 Comments ||
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Deacon you've hit the nail on the head. There can be littel doubt that there is a link. I doubt that his is the only money they've received, but it must have been a significant contribution. He has a lot of blood on his hands.
The wave of fundamentalist thinking among largely middle class Canadian Muslims has received a fillip from Al-Huda founder Dr Farhat Hashmi who recently immigrated to Toronto. According to Farzana Hassan, a Toronto-based freelance writer, "As if the conservative push to uphold faith-based arbitration in Ontario was not enough of a blow to progress in Canada, another version of Muslim fundamentalism has recently begun to consolidate its foothold on Canadian soil, particularly in the greater Toronto area. Although Dr Farhat Hashmi is a well-known theologian with a doctorate from the University of Glasgow, she epitomises hard-core, doctrinaire orthodoxy - a worldview which appears to be gaining strength as a result of ambitious funding from certain quasi-governmental organisations in Saudi Arabia and Yemen."
According to Ms Hassan, writing in the California-based outlet, Islam Today, Dr Hashmi has come to wield "tremendous influence on the hearts, minds and souls of South Asian Muslim women, some of whom come from avowedly secular backgrounds." The newest Canadian venture of Dr Hashmi's Al-Huda foundation involves the launch of a one-year diploma programme, aimed at producing female Muslim role models as "paragons of virtue and piety in every respect." Ms Hassan argues that this translates into "utter subservience, bigotry and ignorance," as those "trapped within such a programmed and brainwashed mentality refuse to recognise oppression to begin with, and if perchance they do, they justify it, citing examples of 'inherent' gender differences and 'male superiority.'
Dr Hasmi has preached that Muslim women should let their husbands marry a second time so "other sisters can also benefit". Such views, enthusiastically endorsed by Al-Huda graduates, often find expression in the form of reprimands and sermons to "less enlightened sisters." According to Ms Hassan, "As a moral obligation, these pious women assume upon themselves the responsibility to point out differences between sin and piety, sunnah or bid'aa, haram or halal. This list of dos and dont's is expansive, but the world view it generates is as narrow as the confines of the burqa or abaa'ya, which according to Dr Hashmi, must be worn as a commandment from God because Muslim women are 'required to cover all beauty under the teachings of Islam.'
Ms Hassan, who recently attended one of Dr Hashmi's sermons on the role of women in Islam, reports that when one woman asked what a wife should do if her husband was unwilling to help her destitute parents, Dr Hashmi promptly quoted verse 4:34 of the Quran, arguing that the wife should comply with her husband's wishes, "no matter what, as he was her divinely appointed imam." She made no reference to the Quran stressing the children's responsibility towards their parents. Ms Hassan writes, "Whether Dr Hashmi's myopic worldview will gain wider acceptance among the Canadian Muslim community is yet to be seen. What is worrisome, however, is that an increasing number of women are flocking towards this well-known, politically funded, well-organised theologian, as they are not able to critique her rationale due to their own lack of knowledge and understanding. Is this a failure of the moderates and liberals among us? Perhaps. Meanwhile, the establishment of a mini Saudi Arabia right here in Toronto is well under way."
This article starring:
FARHAT HASHMI
Al-Huda
Farzana Hassan
Al-Huda
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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WASHINGTON, May 6 (UPI) -- Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld is suggesting the next round of U.S. military base closings may be less extensive than some communities had feared. Since the base closing process started, Washington has shut 97 major bases and hundreds of smaller installations for a net savings of $28.9 billion. This year's round is the fifth since 1988. Many expected this latest round of proposed closures to be the most extensive, but the defense secretary seemed to curb that perception Thursday, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported Friday.
"Without final figures, I would say the percent will be less than half of the 20 to 25 percent that has been characterized previously," Rumsfeld said.
Rumsfeld has until May 16 to present his recommendations to a nine-member base-closing commission, which will spend the next four months preparing a final report for the president. Previous base-closing commissions have accepted 85 percent of the Pentagon's recommendations. Additional: In his discussions with editorial writers at several papers, Rumsfeld said several factors have prompted him to change his assessment. U.S. bases will need to accommodate more than 70,000 troops and at least 100,000 dependents being returned home from overseas bases in Asia and Europe. Moreover, Rumsfeld said, Pentagon teams drawing up the list of recommendations have concluded that many Defense Department employees now working in leased space can be moved onto government-owned property, enabling the government to further save money by jettisoning much of its leasing costs.
That sounds like a lot of those small, stand-alone agencies will be moving onto large bases that have room. Makes good sense.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/06/2005 1:42:01 PM ||
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Karpinski had commanded the 800th Military Police Brigade at the heart of the Abu Ghraib abuse. Previous investigations found Karpinski feuded with the head of the military intelligence unit at the prison, contributing to an atmosphere of chaos.
Bush approved a recommendation to demote Karpinski on the advice of Army and Army Reserve leaders and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, the Army said. It added Karpinski would not face criminal charges.
STOLEN COSMETICS
A U.S. official who asked not to be identified said Karpinski failed to inform the Army as required when filling out an official document about an earlier arrest on an Air Force base in the United States on a misdemeanor charge of stealing less than $50 worth of cosmetics from a military store.
Asked how Army investigators looking into detainee abuse learned of her shoplifting arrest, the official said, "Somebody ratted her out."
The Army confirmed what officials said previously -- that Karpinski received a formal written reprimand from the Army's No. 2 general and was relieved from command of the brigade. It also said Army leaders found that allegations of dereliction of duty by Karpinski were "substantiated."
So Martha Stewart does 6 months for what? And Karpinski skates for this debaclle? Big mistake.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
05/06/2005 8:45:50 AM ||
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#1
She stole COSMETICS!!!
I mean, has anyone seen this woman! There aren't enough cosmetics on the planet to help this broad!
#5
Just a quick comment on PX/BX security people (sic) sometimes they are a little over zealous with their accusations. Case in point when I was stationed in Korea the Security guy wanted me to surrender my backpack at the door. I declined and continued in and did my shopping. As I was exiting he (and two Security Police) stopped me and went through my bag looking for stolen goods. All the time I am be ''detained'' there were dozens of Korean nationals (not allowed to use the BX) exiting the store with merchandise (paid for or not). I pointed this out to deputy dog but he was too concerned about my dirty gym clothes and whether they were stolen. The SPs confided they got a call of a GI stealing stuff in the BX and that was why they were there. After it was determined that my (by this time) smelly gym clothes were not stolen I was free to go. So Itâs not hard to imagine that anybody could be falsely accused (wrongly) of shoplifting. FYI I didnât surrender my gym bag at the door because last time someone stole my sneakers and I couldnât afford to buy another pair.
#6
I have a friend whose nickname is Quick - as in Quick Draw. He ''caught'' an old Sgt Mjr loading up his trunk from the backdoor of a BX in Germany - and opened fire with his service .45 - frezzing the old fart in his tracks. Later, he discovered this guy managed about 10 BX's and was merely leveling the inventory according what merchandise was moving where, heh. In civvies and driving his personal car was not very smart. But he got smart fast - made Quick his top Security guy, he appreciated guys who were ''aggressive'', and used olive drab official cars and wore his mil-issues after that. Theft from Quick's BXs dropped off abruptly after the word got around about the shoot first, ask questions later approach - securing his nick forever, heh.
#7
You just blew any chance we will ever have of seeing any serious commentary on this thread.
What's to comment about? The bag's dereliction of duty resulted in US soldiers committing crimes, Iraqis being victimized, and a massive propaganda win for our enemies (foreign and domestic).
The only reason she's not facing criminal charges is she's been turned into a martyr by the left.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
05/06/2005 12:36 Comments ||
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Anyone know when Mike Sylwester will pop up to give us all a long, heart-felt apology? Seems he's been proven wrong on every one of his hobby horses...
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
05/06/2005 13:05 Comments ||
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#10
My beef with Karpinski was:
1) She neglected her command in a war zone and allowed that command, if only for a night or two, to go out of control. That is unforgiveable for any commander in a war zone. Potentially, albeit unlikely, this is something that can spread throughout a unit in the field if left unchecked, at least in theory.
2) She shot her mouth off to the press making wild allegations while the investigation was still going on and she failed her fellow officers as a team player.
Sylwester's problem with me was:
Karpinski was a female military officer and I was a practicing sexist mongrel for pointing out her shortcomings in the field; that karpinski was innocent of any wrongdoing. Sylwester failed to note, from what I recall, that Karpinski had ZERO idea about what was going on in her command until the day CID walked into her office; and failed to noted that having no idea about what took place in her command was in fact the problem, the thing that got her relieved, and ultimately demoted.
#11
Karpinski was the top of the heap that recieved punishement. A lot of lower ranking officers got worse (rightly so) punishments and I don't hear them claiming that it was outside their jurisdiction. This shop lifting charge has little merit. What 0-6 (Col) is going to shop lift in hte BX?
#12
There's two issues CS, one of which is the shoplifting, with regard to which rank is irrelevant. The second is that she failed to tell the truth about it. The story says she was arrested, not convicted. She could have put that down and said the overzealous arresting officer made an error trying to impress new boss QuickDraw. Instead she lied. She's a gem.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
05/06/2005 14:50 Comments ||
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EFL UNITED NATIONS -- A second U.S. congressional committee subpoenaed a former investigator with the U.N.-appointed oil-for-food probe, as part of efforts to determine whether a recent report did not place enough blame on Secretary-General Kofi Annan, officials said Friday. The committee, led by Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., issued the subpoena for Robert Parton on Thursday, Shays spokeswoman Sarah Moore said. Parton quit the U.N.-appointed probe last month with a second investigator because he believed it played down evidence critical of Annan in a recent report. The announcement of the subpoena came a day after Parton turned over boxes of documents from his time as an investigator with the Independent Inquiry Committee to the House International Relations Committee, led by Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., in response to a separate subpoena request.
That move drew an angry response from the United Nations, where officials accused Parton of violating a confidentiality agreement. Lawyers for the Independent Inquiry Committee said Parton should have invoked the immunity he had with the committee and refused to obey the subpoena.
Sorry, boys. He was a investigator for the "Independent Inquiry" Committee, not a UN diplomat. He doesn't have immunity.
Parton's attorney, Lanny Davis, said his client was required by law to comply with the subpoena.
Along with the Independent Inquiry Committee, led by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, there are five U.S. congressional committees investigating allegations of wrongdoing in oil-for-food. Shays' committee said it also would seek documents from Parton and that he would be expected to appear at a hearing Tuesday. A statement from Shays' office said he had issued the subpoena only after Volcker's committee refused to cooperate otherwise.
In an interim report released in March, Volcker's committee said there was not enough evidence to prove that Annan tried to influence the awarding of an oil-for-food contract to a Swiss company that employed his son, Kojo. But it accused Kofi Annan of failing to properly investigate possible conflicts of interest surrounding the $10 million-a-year contract. It criticized him for refusing to push top advisers further after they conducted a hasty, 24-hour investigation related to his son and found nothing wrong.
On Tuesday, Shays had written letters to both Kofi Annan and Volcker said the March report left many unanswered questions about Annan's involvement in oil-for-food. He criticized Volcker for not giving him access to Parton. Volcker responded Thursday with a letter saying the IIC needed to maintain confidentiality to go about its work properly.
But, Paul, I thought your investigation was completed?
One of the other committees, the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, led by Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., is also considering whether to subpoena Parton.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/06/2005 2:16:18 PM ||
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Parton's attorney, Lanny Davis, said his client was required by law to comply with the subpoena.
Got a feeling his client has no problem complying with the subpoena. But ''other people'' might...
#3
I'm wondering why Parton would pick Lanny Davis - a total Clintoon asstard who's made a foolish spectacle of himself numerous times on Fox. A dogmatic Dhimmidonk of the first order.
The Federal Government has warned Australians against travelling to the Philippines amid increased fears of a terrorist attack in the country's tourist areas. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) has issued a fresh travel advisory for the Philippines, urging travellers to "exercise extreme caution".
"We continue to receive reports that terrorists in the region are planning attacks," the advisory said. "Recent reports suggest that terrorists may be in the final stages of planning an attack. "Attacks could occur at any time, anywhere in the Philippines. "Possible terrorist targets include areas known to be frequented by foreigners, including coastal resorts." There has been no immediate official reaction from the Government in the Philippines.
DFAT also says to be vigilant at "commercial and public areas known to be frequented by foreigners such as, but not limited to, embassies, expatriate housing complexes, shopping malls, clubs, hotels, restaurants, bars, schools, places of worship, outdoor recreation events and tourist areas".
The advisory also lists infrastructure associated with the Government, including public transport, airports, sea ports and public buildings. Travel on ferries is to be avoided, the advisory states.
Islamic militant groups have claimed responsibility for several bombings in the Philippines in recent years.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
05/06/2005 9:40:55 AM ||
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Prospects grew dim on the resumption of the stalled peace talks between the government and the Communist Party of the Philippines-National Democratic Front (CPP-NDF) after rebels admitted executing a captured government soldier and three of his companions in the southern province of Sultan Kudarat, officials said yesterday.
"Narciso, I think we'd better put the tourism campaign for Sultan Kudarat on hold for another month or two..."
The CPP's armed wing, the New Peoples Army (NPA), said it executed Marine Sgt. Jeremias Rosete along with three alleged civilian intelligence agents Herminia Sorongon, Pepito Simbulan and Wilfredo Maldecir, who were captured by the Valentin Palamine Command on Sept. 4, 2001 in the village of Datal Blao in Columbio town. Their remains were only recovered on April 4 after informants led police to a shallow grave in the village. "The killing of Sgt. Rosete and his companions sets back the confidence building process that both the GRP and the NDF consider so vital in bringing the peace process forward," a government statement said. The rebels had earlier demanded a halt to military offensives in exchange for the release of Rosete and his companions. "When the government refused to accede to the NPA's demand for the declaration of a five-province-wide Suspension of Offensive Military Operations (SOMO) to facilitate the release of the captives, Rosete and the others were tried and executed as "spies," however, the NDF continued to use them as a bargaining chip to gain more concessions from the government," it said.
It said the four were believed killed as early as September 2002 after the rebels accused them of espionage. "We deplore the CPP's disregard for life and its utter lack of humanity in withholding information from the relatives of Sgt. Rosete and the other and the GRP about what they had done to their captives," the government statement said. The government said Rosete and his companions were in Sultan Kudarat to negotiate the surrender of a senior NPA member, but a previous military statement said the soldier was dismissed after he allegedly defected to the NPA. It said Rosete, who was assigned at the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP), abandoned his unit and joined the rebels. Rosete was also reported training NPA rebels in intelligence gathering, but this was denied by his family. Rosete was believed working as a deep penetration agent and had recruited three rebels to spy on NPA activities in the province.
The rebels blamed the government for the execution of the four, saying, it ignored demands for a cease-fire in the southern Philippines to pave way for the release of the hostages. It said the military instead launched a large-scale rescue operation.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Iran said Thursday its Shahab-3 medium-range ballistic missiles was entirely comprised of locally-made parts and that production was continuing.
"The Shahab-3 missile is entirely Iranian and has been designed by the domestic specialists," Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani was quoted as saying by state television.
Production "is continuing", the report added.
Iran has recently upgraded the Shahab-3 ballistic missile, believed to be based on a North Korean design, to have a range of at least 2,000 kilometres (about 1,200 miles) -- leaving arch-enemy Israel and US bases in the region well within range.
Tehran's steady progress on its ballistic missile programme is a major cause for concern among the international community, particularly Israel, which is already alarmed over Iran's nuclear activities.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
05/06/2005 9:52:28 AM ||
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#1
No mention of the Shahab-4?
http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/iran/missile/shahab-4.htm
or Shahab-5?
http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/iran/missile/shahab-5.htm
#5
'entirely comprised of locally-made parts' - well , thats reassuring aint it
Actually, it is to me. See the fisking the moose limbs take in the ''Science is Arabic'' RB column on pg. 3! Makes me feel better, in that, they're more likely to experience an ''accident'' on their turf before lighting one of these off. What's goin' on this week (actually, this reassures me that we're making progress) with lil' Kim screamin' ''Look at me'' by firing missile near Japan and now the MM's screamin' ''Look at us'' by stating this? Both are in desparate need of our ''attention'' and quick.
Posted by: BA ||
05/06/2005 14:28 Comments ||
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#6
LOL, Ship! I love it!
Posted by: BA ||
05/06/2005 14:29 Comments ||
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#7
Ah, but the 'raineeanns ain't really arab are they? Sorry, the arabs can't get full credit for this one even if you disregard lil Kim's contribution. Militant Islam is a novel arab scientific discovery though! Psychological conditioning that seems to selectively kill off most of it's adherants' brain cells sparing the brain stem and thereby allowing them to live and think to a minimal degree.
The UN Security Council pressed Lebanon on Wednesday to hold parliamentary elections on schedule and welcomed "noticeable progress" in Syria's withdrawal, but said all UN demands had not yet been met. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has sent a team to verify the recent withdrawal of Syrian troops and intelligence officials, who dominated Lebanon for 29 years. In February, Syria had a force of 14,000 in the country but agreed to pull it out after mass protests in Beirut and international pressure.
The council's statement, read by Danish Ambassador Ellen Loj, this month's president, "acknowledged" Syrian statements that its forces had withdrawn. But it said there had been no progress on other provisions of its Resolution 1559, adopted last Sept. 2, that called for the disarmament of militia so the Beirut government could control all its territory. "The Security Council welcomes that the parties concerned have made significant and noticeable progress toward implementing some of the provisions contained in Resolution 1559," Loj said at a formal meeting. Annan has sent another team to help Lebanon with election arrangements, due on May 29, the first since the Syrian withdrawal. The council said any delay would "contribute to exacerbating further political divisions in Lebanon and threaten the security, stability and prosperity of the country."
The council's statement did not mention warning shots fired several hours earlier to ward off the UN verification team surveying abandoned Syria bases in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley. The shots were fired when the team drove toward a post for the Syrian-backed Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, which refused to let them in. "It never came up," said Algerian Ambassador Abdallah Baali.
Annan earlier on Wednesday "deplored" the incident, saying he expected the Lebanese government to ensure the safety of the mission. "Our position is that such behavior is unacceptable," Syria's UN ambassador, Fayssal Mekdad, told reporters. "Everyone in Lebanon should facilitate the work of the verification team. Syria has nothing to hide." The council's statement took nearly all day to negotiate because of the insistence of Algeria, its only Arab member, that a reference be made on the need to implement all resolutions on the Middle East, a reference to Israel's occupation of the Palestinian West Bank and Gaza.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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BEIRUT - Lebanese President Emile Lahoud on Thursday signed a decree to hold legislative elections from this month based on an electoral law tailored by Syria which the opposition says is unfavourable to Christians. Elections will be held in four rounds starting May 29 based on a 2000 law which the Lebanese opposition claims favours pro-Syrian loyalists because it was passed when Syria dominated Lebanon.
Lahoud's decree crushed efforts by the opposition to hold an 11th hour parliamentary session to adopt a new law that would give the minority Christians greater representation. The 2000 law which prevailed during Lebanon's last legislative elections carves up Lebanon into 14 electoral constituencies. The opposition was hoping to reintroduce a law dating from 1960 which divides the country into smaller constituencies, to bolster Christians and other minorities.
Voting in Beirut will be held on May 29, southern Lebanon on June 5, Mount Lebanon and the eastern Bekaa valley June 12 and northern Lebanon on June 19.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/06/2005 00:00:00 ||
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A Lebanese court suspended yesterday an arrest warrant against exiled Christian opposition leader Michel Aoun, paving the way for his return from France which many here fear could disrupt Lebanon's fragile political structure. The court also decided to delay a ruling in a 2003 case against Aoun, who is due to return to Beirut on Saturday, over comments that were deemed to have damaged Lebanon's relations with Syria.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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FORWARD OPERATING BASE FALCON, Iraq, May 6, 2005 — Traditionally, the title "doctor" is bestowed on those who have earned an advanced degree, whether it is medical or philosophy; either way, the term is used as a measure of respect.
In much the same way, medics in the military are affectionately known as "doc" because of the respect they are shown by their fellow troops.
Medics assigned to C Company, 703rd Forward Support Battalion are no different.
Capt. Matt Farishon, the company commander, entered the medical branch after enlisting in the combat arms during the Cold War.
"At that time in combat arms there's only so much I can do in a given situation, training wise," he said. "In medicine, you can see your impact on a daily basis as far as helping soldiers. That self satisfaction of knowing that you're helping so many soldiers and actually seeing it with your own eyes is what filled a lot of my career needs."
'Charlie Med's' mission is to provide level two combat healthcare to units at Forward Operating Base Falcon. This includes approximately 5,500 soldiers assigned to the 4th BCT as well as tenant units.
"We have a very young company, only six of us came over the last time," Farishon said. "We do a lot of training, but there is still that uncertainty that when you are under fire, or you get that first U.S. casualty. They have developed a huge sense of confidence knowing that they have the training and are able to use that training to save lives."
One grizzled veteran who has served as a doctor in the Army for 14 years manages to undergo new training all the time.
Lt. Col. Jeremiah Stubbs the battalion surgeon grew up on a farm helping the animals give birth to their young. While in school, his love for biology coupled with the guidance of a trusted teacher, nudged him towards practicing medicine.
Stubbs deployed from the Medical Activity Command at Fort Jackson, S.C., where he is a family practice doctor. Since he has been in Iraq, he has dealt with far more than he is used to.
"This is far beyond what I would normally see as far the trauma," Stubbs said. "I look at this as an opportunity for expansion because I don't get to do all the stuff I'm doing
here back in garrison. At the same time we still get to take care of soldiers. This is what really makes us Army physicians, real army doctors."
Back in garrison, Stubbs deals primarily with Initial Entry Training soldiers and retirees. Here he is able to focus on more mission-specific care for the deployed soldiers.
"By the time we get the soldiers here, most everybody that's over here knows the dangers," Stubbs said. "We want to mitigate those dangers by keeping them healthy, functioning, keep 'em going and get them home safe."
Stubbs credits his soldiers for helping him to succeed at his job.
"We have a great staff here including our mental health people, our chaplain and our noncommissioned officers that are keeping the soldiers' spirits up and mentoring the younger soldiers."
Staff Sgt. Ronald Diaz, attached to 4th Brigade Combat Team, is one of those soldiers mentoring the uninitiated. Diaz is assigned to 1st Battalion 184th Infantry, a National Guard unit from Modesto, Calif. Like most of the medics assigned to his unit, Diaz works in the medical field as a civilian. The medics assigned to 1/184 support 703rd in many ways. Because the majority of the 1/184 medics are emergency medical technicians back in the states, they have all kinds of experience dealing with the trauma found in a war zone, Diaz said.
For Fairschon, there is nothing better than seeing his soldiers do their job.
"When I see a casualty come in, and watch my medics take care of him, going through all their steps such as IV's and bandaging wounds, whatever they have to do, calling a helicopter to get them to the CSH and then hearing that they have been stabilized, that is the most tremendous feeling of 'what I'm doing is worthwhile and making a difference,'" Fairschon said.
"To me it means a lot, it's important for me to have my company in the mindset that what you're doing is for everybody because there isn't a single person back in the states that doesn't want their loved one to come back home."
Posted by: God Save The World ||
05/06/2005 7:56:45 PM ||
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Sgt. Luis Herrera, a fueler assigned to Forward Support Company, 4th Battalion 64th Armor Battalion, normally spends his days bringing ammunition and gas to soldiers in need.
The cargo he brought to needy residents of the al Sayiah and al Marouf districts April 20 was not bullets and gas.
Twenty-five sheep, driven around by a local butcher, were delivered to families that a civil affairs team had sought out a week before. These families had anywhere from 20 to 25 people living together under one roof and could use the help, said Staff Sgt. Daniel MacDonald, B Company, 443rd Civil Affairs Battalion team sergeant.
"These people have been hurting for a long time," Herrera said. "It's nice to give them something back in addition to freedom, which is not a bad thing by itself."
The logistics of the operation was the easy part. The hard part was getting the stubborn sheep out of the back of the truck to the families.
MacDonald, a police officer from Philadelphia, has not had much hands-on contact with sheep in the past.
"It's definitely a new experience," MacDonald said. "I don't know if the sheep knew what was going on, but there was no way they were going to cooperate with going to the families."
Besides helping the residents, MacDonald enjoyed the comedy inherent in a bunch of city boys wrangling sheep.
"We got to see the look on the company commander's face when we told him he had to hand the first sheep out," MacDonald said. "That and the sheep bumping into the soldiers was pretty funny."
MacDonald enjoyed himself, but there were still hard parts involved in the mission.
"The crowds were the only difficult part," MacDonald said. "There are a lot of poor needy people in Baghdad, and whenever you're giving stuff out, there's never enough for everyone. You feel bad that you can't help everybody."
Herrera, a native of New York, was glad to get outside the base and help the people he flew halfway around the world to protect.
"I want to come out here and do stuff like this as much as I can," Herrera said. "I just like meeting people, seeing how the rest of the world lives. Being away from home is hard, but seeing how the people live here, and you get to put a smile on their face, that makes it all worthwhile."
MacDonald would like to do something along the lines of donating sheep in the future.
"We could probably do it bigger and better next time if we get the chance," MacDonald said. "We all like handing the sheep out better than the other animal donations we've had. Donkeys and frozen chickens are a lot harder, believe me."
Posted by: God Save The World ||
05/06/2005 8:00:40 PM ||
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U.S. Army officials so far have balked at deploying an experimental laser weapon to guard against insurgents' mortar and rocket fire in Iraq, the system's builder said Wednesday.
"We've talked to them about it," said Art Stephenson, a vice president at Northrop Grumman Corp., which built the Tactical High-Energy Laser, or THEL.
THEL, a short-range air defense system made up of several components, is the laser weapon closest to possible use in the field. It ties an advanced radar that detects and tracks incoming rockets to a chemically-generated high-power beam that destroys them. The system's development was jointly funded by the U.S. Army and the Israeli Ministry of Defense.
Army officers had lots of questions about logistics and safety, Stephenson told reporters at a Northrop briefing titled "Directed Energy: Out of the Lab -- Onto the Battlefield."
"And there are answers to all those questions that alleviate those concerns," he said. "It's up to the military to decide how they want to use this capability."
Army officials involved in the matter would not be available for comment until Thursday, said Nancy Ray, an Army spokeswoman.
In tests at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, THEL has destroyed 46 targets in flight, including mortar rounds fired singly and in salvos, artillery shells and rockets, Northrop officials said. A target is zapped by the real-life equivalent of a Star Trek-like beam of light. The highly focused beam, generated by a mix of hydrogen fluoride and deuterium fluoride, focuses enough energy to heat the target until it explodes in mid-air.
Stephenson, vice president of Northrop's new "Directed Energy Systems" business area, said the Army pulled the plug late last year on plans to develop a mobile version of THEL on the grounds it would be too bulky.
Since then, Los Angeles-based Northrop has designed a second-generation, "relocatable" system that's about one-quarter the size of the one now at White Sands, New Mexico, with the same capability, he said.
The "relocatable" system could be deployed within two years at about $25 million apiece from the 30th unit if the Army were to buy that many of them, he said.
"We're at a tipping point, so to speak, with chemical lasers, as it applies to ground-based" systems, Stephenson said.
Northrop Grumman is making progress on electric lasers, also known as solid-state lasers, which lag their chemical cousins for now, he said. Ultimately, these may be the Army's weapon of choice because they run on diesel-fueled generators, doing away with chemical supply lines, Stephenson said.
The Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency is using Northrop chemical-laser technology for an airborne laser to be mounted on a specially designed Boeing Co. 747. The aircraft would be used to shoot down ballistic missiles during their "boost" phase, or shortly after launch.
Overall, the United States plans to spend $7.2 billion on high-energy laser-related military projects from 2006 to 2011, including $5.2 billion for the airborne laser, according to figures from President Bush's proposed 2006 budget culled by Phillip Brown, laser systems marketing manager for Northrop's Space Technology business unit.
The Moroccan government is alleging that Spain has strengthened its military arsenal in the contested Moroccan North African occupied territories of Ceuta, Melilla and the Chafarina Islands. A Spanish military official speaking on condition of anonymity said, "The defense leadership in the Spanish army moved military aircraft, including the Eurofighter, to Ceuta, Melilla and the Chafarinas Islands last week. The aim of this is to put them closer to Morocco and renovate the military arsenal in the two cities under the pretext of facing any future 'Moroccan attack' to regain the occupied territories."
"Occupied territories", huh? Now where have I heard that before?
Spain has transferred Eurofighter aircrafts and Leopard A 2 tanks to Ceuta and Melilla to augment its army Montisa corps No. 3 in Ceuta and the Qantara corps No.10 in Melilla. The transfers are reportedly compensation for Leopard M 60 tanks that the Spanish government sold to Morocco.
So, you sold them the tanks you are now preparing to defend against? How very European of you.
The arms transfers coincided with the Spanish Defense Minister Jose Bono's state visit to Washington, the first after the election of the current government, for discussions with U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. Spain is concerned about U.S. intentions to establish a military base in Tantan in southern Morocco, with the Spanish media speculating that the U.S. might abandon its military base in Rota in Cadiz in southern Spain.
Wheels within wheels.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/06/2005 4:31:07 PM ||
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Spain is concerned about U.S. intentions to establish a military base in Tantan in southern Morocco
What are they going to do about it, eh? Maybe they're afraid that the US will move the base (and $$$$$$) to Morocco. Not in the interest of international harmony if the stupid Americans leave and spend their money elsewhere.
Might even give the protest mobs nobody to bitch about, which leads them to protesting their own yellow government instead.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
05/06/2005 16:57 Comments ||
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#2
It seems like stupidity to move fighter aircraft to Ceuta and Melilla. They will never get off the ground, instead becoming $110 million artillery targets.
Posted by: ed ||
05/06/2005 17:03 Comments ||
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#3
Who's the barritone? Can I smoke? Will there be an intermission?
#5
They are actually referring to the Montesa and Alcantara regiments, armored units descended from old cavalry regiments,not the ''Montisa and Quatara Corps''.
#2
''Kevin got defiant and disorderly,'' Parham said. ''When a kid becomes out of control like that they can either be arrested or suspended for 10 days. Now being that his mother is in Iraq, we're not trying to cause her any undue hardship; he was suspended for 10 days.
In Columbus.....Georgia! Maybe we should post the school district phone number so they can be familiarized with barrack vocabulary.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
05/06/2005 14:28 Comments ||
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#3
Sound like a case for the local VFW or American Legion to plant themselves outside the school and demand a retraction and apology.
Posted by: Tom ||
05/06/2005 14:32 Comments ||
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#4
Mrs. D. You mean this Info?
Spencer High School
Address: 4340 Victory Drive, Columbus, GA 31903
Principal: Olivia Rutledge
Telephone: (706)685-7652
#5
Principal: ''There are puppies and kittens on schools grounds in violation of my zero tolerance to disease-carrying wild animals! Get me my hobnail boots!''
Secretary: ''Do you really think it's a good idea to stamp on puppies and kitties in front of the children and those newspaper photographers?''
Principal: ''Of course it is! We want to show everybody that we take our policies seriously! Or else tomorrow our campus will be crawling with lions and tigers and crocodiles and man-eating squid!''
#6
The confrontation Wednesday began after the 17-year-old junior got a call at lunchtime from his mother
It was even freakin' during class???? That could be the only excuse I'd think of, and even then, the teacher should ask him to take into the hall. But at lunch? WTF? If the kid swore, maybe he deserves some punishment, but it was during lunch...what was the teach doing monitoring him that closely then? Another case of the leftie ''Zero Tolerance Policy'' at work. Don't wanna make a decision, so NO ONE gets to use a cell phone during school hours! Wonder what the ghosts of Columbine would have to say about that?
Posted by: BA ||
05/06/2005 14:34 Comments ||
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#7
Oops, I mean it wasn't during class?
Posted by: BA ||
05/06/2005 14:35 Comments ||
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#8
I'm sure that many Rantburgers are aware that Columbus, GA is where Ft. Benning is located. That is Ft. Benning as in ''The Home of the Infantry - Follow Me''. How friggin insensitive is the idiot teacher? There must be a significant percentage of the students whose parents are in the military with lots of them currently deployed. What jerks.
#9
RM: I'd agree. I'd almost understand if it was somewhere nowhere near a base and during class (like the kid's lying to cut class). But this is Columbus, a truly military town if there is one.
Posted by: BA ||
05/06/2005 15:01 Comments ||
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#10
I was in a Domino's a couple of months ago, when the girl waiting on me got a call on her cell from her boyfriend in Iraq.
I had no problems waiting for my pizza.
#11
Mrs. D. You mean this Info?
Spencer High School
Address: 4340 Victory Drive, Columbus, GA 31903
Principal: Olivia Rutledge
Telephone: (706)685-7652
#12
Comment/Press release from school board found at:
http://www.mcsdga.net/news/SpencerStatement06-May051_2_.pdf
They claim the student didn't tell them he was talking to his mom
Posted by: Fod ||
05/06/2005 15:56 Comments ||
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#13
I claim NEA Bu||$#!+.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
05/06/2005 16:08 Comments ||
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#14
BigEd, thanks for the info. Using the WWW, I was so glad to find the website for the school at this link. From the website, I was able to learn that the principal even wants to be contacted at her e-mail, orutledge@mcsdga.net
I will oblige her.
P.S. I'm not buying the story being put out by the school (which Iâm passing on to Rutledge and Kendall). While each person's story look great until examined by another, I am really suspicious when a governmental agency disseminates highly charged statements that are totally self-serving and might tend to tarnish the reputation of one of the agency's wards. I'd rather hear those kinds of recriminations from the student himself, or not at all.
#15
They claim the student didn't tell them he was talking to his mom
Assuming that the kid did get his call at lunchtime, why does the school care about who he's talking to? Screw the ''behavior contract''; enrolling in another school someplace else might be in order. Interestingly enough, the press release made no mention of when the call was received.
#16
I was going to disagree with most of the comments, because what sets DoD schools above civilian schools is that discipline problems are few, and the military parent is truly responsible for the acts of the child. This sets up a problem free atmosphere much more conducive to learning than almost any public school. Even if this was not formally a DoD school, it would largely be funded by the DoD, the military kids know what is expected of them by virtue of attendance of on-base schools.
But upon reading the story, the kid 'said he told the teacher, ''This is my mom in Iraq. I'm not about to hang up on my mom.'''. At that point any reasonable teacher would have backed off and let him finish the call. It is a testament to the dull, unimaginative administration of this school that allowed a small thing to escalate to suspension and resentment in the kid.
If I were in charge, I would have the boy apologize to the teacher for swearing and have the teacher tell the boy he/she will be more understanding in the future. End of case.
Posted by: ed ||
05/06/2005 16:37 Comments ||
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#17
i'm in GA , how bout i just have my wife whoop the liberal assholes ass
#18
The facts are not in much dispute in this case, but the timing and context is.
Before a fatwa is issued on this teacher and this school (and asking you to set aside any NEA=neo-marxist baggage), I give a gentle reminder that you are deciding to take the word of an adult supervisor over the word of a teen-ager.
This might be exactly like it appears in this story, but I'd be cautious.
I mean, I can't be the only one that spun their story once being sent to the high school Big House.
Posted by: Scott ||
05/06/2005 17:28 Comments ||
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#19
Scott, I'm not sure where you're headed. I'll go with Ed. There should have been apologies all around. The teacher mad an understandable mistake. The kid reacted in an understandably inappropriate way. Offestting penalties.
But instead, the thugs who run this school in Columbus, GA, an Army town, want to put the whole blame on the kid and then ask for credit because they didn't want to cause the kid's mom, who is halfway around the world making it possible for them to live without fear every moment of their waking day and sleeping might, any undue hardship so they give the kid a 10 day suspension and national publicity instead of having him arrested. This is an example of the kind of contempt and arrogance our children face every day from the idiotarian members of the NEA who terrorize our classrooms. What the hell is this mom supposed to do for 10 days while her kid can't go to school and is just hanging around the house open loop? I for one am fed up with them. I hope somebody puts a tack on that teacher's chair on Monday.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
05/06/2005 17:50 Comments ||
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#20
I left an email suggesting the Peter principle is firmly established on teh admin ladder at the school. Bet the weekend email-lanche will blow the server up on the school
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/06/2005 18:28 Comments ||
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#21
I'd pay very close attention to what Scott said. Being Army kidz also makes them more worldly and damn tricky.
#23
I'm sorry, I meant to say ''the word of a teen-ager over the word of an adult supervisor.'' I even previewed. :-(
Shipman hit my main point. I have plenty of teacher friends in Kansas, (which are far from the NEA-poster freaks that some of you want to paint them all as -- most of them Dole Republicans) which tell me the horror stories they have to deal with on a daily basis.
Students who are savvy at ''gaming the system.'' Parents who will stick up for their kids, and believe the most unbelievable crap because ''my little Johnnie would never lie.'' Yea, right.
I have two friends that have worked at the Junction City high school outside of Ft. Riley, Kansas (base of the Big Red One). I wish every military child was the epitome of the honor and commitment of their parents, but it's one of the least desirable jobs in the state. Discipline and drug problems galore.
I guess those stories have jaded me. Perhaps I'm biased. But before trying to destroy this high school's Web site in rightous anger, all I'm saying is:
Without all the facts, without being there, without a first-hand account of the timing and tone of these events, take a moment to consider; do you take the word of a 30-year-old or a 16-year-old as gospel?
Posted by: Scott ||
05/06/2005 18:57 Comments ||
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#24
Scott, I am accepting it as fact that the teen was talking to his mother in Iraq. Otherwise we wouldn't be getting the not wanting to cause the mother undue hardship line. After that, I'll accept everything the school says and still conclude it was stupid and disproportionate to suspend the kid for 10 days.
I live in a town with a big, for us, military installation. I know these kids aren't angels. Neither are the natives. But we're talking about a teen whose mother is, like every other American in Iraq, literally on the front line in a conflict where people are getting killed every day. Its a teenager who, when class gets boring as it so often does, daydreams about what might happen, including mom coming home in a pine box. That's one reason among many others I think women should not be in the military. But I'm in the minority on that one, so given that that's what we're going to do, let's at least give the kids who have to suffer this a little slack. A week's detention should have been plenty.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
05/06/2005 19:26 Comments ||
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#25
I do not understand the logic of this or any other suspension. It leaves the kid with nothing productive to do and days of less education. If the kid skipped even one day on his own it would be truancy and an offense, but somehow the schools seem to dish out days and days of non-productive time and that's okay. Better some ''community service'' within the school.
Posted by: Tom ||
05/06/2005 19:50 Comments ||
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#26
I'll sort of echo Scott (I'm in education, albeit the K-6 levels, outside a large base). As for taking the word of a 30 year old teacher or a 16-year old student, it depends on who they are. It's a mixed bag on both sides of the equation (we have a high school teacher who earns extra cash - as a dancer, and one who fights bitterly with every school administrator over every little thing at every school she's worked, but she's too senior to be canned and not senior enough to be retired).
Sounds like a major misunderstanding all around. Let them deal with it
#27
Assistant principal Alfred Parham says Francois could have been arrested for being defiant. He adds that students are not permitted to use cell phones ''for conversating back and forth during school because if they were allowed to do that, they could be text messaging each other for test questions.''
should someone who says ''conversating'' be allowed in a school, much less in an educational capacity?
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/06/2005 22:11 Comments ||
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#28
W/all due respect to students trying to bend the truth their way,it is the statements attributed to the Assistant Principal that show how badly the school over-reacted. Note he says the kid didn't curse until he was sent to Principals' office. Second he said the choice for a student who didn't do what a teacher said and then cursed in the Principals' office is TO GO TO JAIL or be suspended? Whatever happened to detention? To making students clean desks,mop floors,etc.? This reads to me as a petty man throwing the book at some kid who didn't show enough respect.
Doesn't excuse the kid who had to have his cell phone ON to receive a call-unless he knew when his mom was going to call,in which case he should have made arrangements w/the school.
Posted by: Stephen ||
05/06/2005 22:25 Comments ||
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NEW DELHI, May 5 (AFP) - Air-India said Thursday that it would complain to European aircraft giant Airbus Industrie for crying foul over the state-run carrier's decision to buy 50 long-range jets from US rival Boeing. Jitendra Bhargava, spokesman for Air-India, said the carrier would make its "deep unhappiness" known to Airbus for alleging that its board had been soft on Boeing when awarding the seven-billion-dollar deal in its favour.
"We will be letting Airbus know about our deep unhappiness with the way they went about making unfounded accusations against Air India in the media," Bhargava told AFP in a telephone interview from Bombay.
The board of state-run Air-India on April 26 awarded a contract for 50 long-range Boeing aircraft after a year of intense lobbying by both companies for the deal. The contract is subject to federal government approval. Bhargava added that "speculation in the media ... regarding us suing Airbus (on the matter) is a little far fetched and incorrect." The Times of India newspaper carried a front page story saying Air-India had sought legal advice and was planning to take Airbus to court for running a "disinformation campaign."
Airbus said it was denied a chance to offer a wider variety of aircraft choices while Boeing was able to sell its B787 Dreamliner which is still under development. It also urged the Indian government to probe Air-India's decision, order a new tender and questioned Boeing's delivery schedule. "We are not disappointed but astonished. We were not given fair and equal treatment," Airbus vice president Nigel Harwood said after the contract was awarded.
Air-India also described the Airbus demand for a government probe into its board decision as "outrageous."
How to win friends and influence poeple, Euro style
Posted by: Steve ||
05/06/2005 12:38:24 PM ||
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#1
Airbus really stepped in their own sh*t this time. The competition is beyond fierce in the airliner business. Airbus' actions w/r/t Air India just lost them a customer for a lonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng time. Airbus needs a few wacks like this to learn. If they do not learn after a few wacks, then it is hopeless for them. You do not treat potential customers like sh*t. Seems pretty basic to me, and I am a Cessna customer, heh heh.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
05/06/2005 13:23 Comments ||
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#2
Airbus needs a few wacks like this to learn.
Take away Airbus' direct development subsidies and they might have to sing a different tune.
Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden should worry that the capture of his operations chief by Pakistani forces will hasten his own death or capture, a top US military official said Thursday.
Abu Faraj al-Libbi, considered number three in the al-Qaeda hierarchy, was seized by Pakistani forces over weekend in the tribal area of northern Waziristan in a major coup against the terrorist network.
"I think that bin Laden should be very concerned that we are that much closer to him and his compatriots, again, wherever they are," said Lieutenant General James Conway, the operations director of the military's Joint Staff.
Conway indicated that al-Libbi's capture would force bin Laden to rely on less capable associates to direct the terrorist operations.
The US military played no role in the Pakistani operation, Conway said. But US intelligence is believed to have played a critical part behind the scenes, other officials have indicated.
President George W. Bush and other top US leaders have hailed the capture as a major coup.
"I think it should send a strong message to bin Laden and his followers that, 'You are not going to rest in peace as long as this global war on terrorism is in search of you and your compatriots,'" Conway said.
"We will hunt you to your dying days and either capture you or kill you if you resist," he said.
Bin Laden slipped away from US-led forces that toppled Afghanistan's Taliban government in late 2001, and has since managed to elude capture ever since despite Bush's vow to take him "dead or alive."
Posted by: God Save The World ||
05/06/2005 10:10:29 AM ||
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Lockheed Martin and its Joint Common Missile (JCM) rocket motor supplier, Aerojet, a GenCorp company, recently completed a series of successful tests of the rocket motor for the JCM, paving the way for controlled flight tests later this spring.
The test series included rocket safety testing of the motor case under pressure, measurement of the pressure and debris created by the motor exhaust, and static firings of two Pre-Flight Reliability Test (PFRT) motors of the same configuration that will be flown in the upcoming Control Test Vehicle (CTV) flight tests this month.
The safety tests exposed JCM's composite motor case to a high-pressure environment to ensure it would meet specified safety margins.
During the tests, the JCM motor case maintained its structural integrity 65 percent beyond required stress levels, just as predicted in computer simulations performed by Aerojet, providing further confidence in the integrity of the motor. The tests were performed at Aerojet's Sacramento, CA, facility.
One motor firing test, a high temperature firing at 160 degrees Fahrenheit, completed the series of verification tests and confirmed that JCM motor exhaust pressures and debris levels are safe for the launch platforms.
The test showed the JCM motor blast generates significantly less foreign object debris (FOD) than the motors of the missiles JCM will replace, reducing the possibility of damage to the launch platforms.
The two PFRT test firings, one at high temperature and one at low temperature, were conducted at Aerojet's testing facilities in Orange, NJ, and Camden, AK.
The tests were performed on motors that had previously been exposed to environmental testing, including vibration and temperature. Both test firings were successful, demonstrating the reliability of the flight test motor configuration.
"These tests represent a significant milestone for the JCM program," said Steve Barnoske, JCM program director at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control.
"They keep us right on schedule for a series of controlled test flights this spring that will complete Phase 1 of the System Design and Development (SDD) contract and satisfy the exit criteria to proceed further into development.
"Along with previous motor tests, both under contract and pre-contract, the results of these recent tests show JCM's motor is mature and provides the required performance in both rotary- and fixed-wing environments," Barnoske continued.
"The motor will give JCM the standoff range that is so important for aircraft and crew survivability."
The Joint Common Missile is the next-generation, multi-purpose, air-to- ground precision missile that will replace the Hellfire, Longbow and Maverick air-to-ground missiles currently in the arsenal of the U.S. Army and Navy.
Under the current schedule, some 54,000 rounds are expected to be produced, reaching the field in 2010.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
05/06/2005 9:55:56 AM ||
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May 6, 2005: The tank has becomes something of a zombie weapon. You can't kill it. Although everyone has declared it obsolete, it keeps kicking ass on the battlefield. The tank was invented 90 years ago. These first tracked, armored fighting vehicles were crude. But they did the job, and continued to do so for another thirty years. But for the last half century, the demise of armored vehicles has always been just around the corner. And for good reason, as the appearance of ATGMs (Anti-Tank Guided Missiles) and larger ATRL (anti-tank rocket launchers, like the bazooka and RPG) seemed capable of doing to tanks what the machine-gun did to horse cavalry in the late 19th century. But the tank refused to be defeated. Unlike horses, tanks can be given more and better armor, and more powerful engines. Faster tanks can do all sorts of things to protect themselves.
Moreover, the ATGMs proved difficult to use, and too expensive to buy in large quantities. Thus began a race between tanks, and the cheaper, portable weapons designed to make them obsolete. So far, cheaper and lighter has not been able to gain an edge. The major problem has been the cost of the ATGMs. An army that can afford them is usually from an industrialized democracy that has no reason to make war on the United States. Moreover, when ATGMs were first used widely, in the 1973 war between Egypt (which got them free from Russia) and Israel, the Israelis promptly (within days) developed new tactics that made the ATGMs much less effective. In 1991, American armor made short work of the Iraqis. Better vehicles, and much better crews provided what many saw as the swan song for the age of big tank battles. The Cold War was over, with most of Russia's 50,000 tanks being left to rust. The age of armor was over. Or was it?
The U.S. Army saw it's future combat vehicles as being smaller and lighter, relying more on missiles, better communications and lots of electronic gadgets. All this was called FCS (Future Combat Systems), and it would change everything. Then came 2003, and three American divisions invaded Iraq and, within three weeks, had seized Baghdad and conquered the country. When the dust had settled, and the battles were carefully examined, it was discovered that the key to rapid victory were the "obsolete" M-1 tanks and M-2 Infantry Fighting Vehicles. This didn't faze the FCS developers, for the 20 ton FCS vehicles could have done the same thing. The key was being resistant to the RPG rockets, which the M-1 and M-2 was. But that got people thinking. We got all these M-1s and M-2s, and money is tight, and the FCS crowd are asking for over $100 billion to buy new armored vehicles. Why not just keep upgrading the armor we got, and we know work? This bold idea, reeking of practicality and thrift, has been met with a cool reception. It took years for the FCS crowd to get enough support for the money to start flowing, and now these retards want to face the future with refurbs.
The FCS is seen as a breakthrough system. Actually, it's over fifty systems (depending on how you count them), and a lot of technologies that haven't been invented yet. The tried and true crew respond with an offer to try out each of the new technologies as they become available. Whenever that might be. Meanwhile, FCS faces a more formidable problem than reality checks; lack of money. Not only is Iraq reminding everyone how well existing armor works, but it's sucking up the billions that FCS was hoping to feast on. FCS is nothing if not ambitious, with its plan to militarize many new technologies before anyone else does, and give the army powerful armored vehicles that can be airlifted anywhere in the world in a few days, and then be easier to maintain because the FCS vehicles guzzle a lot less fuel. But that depends on the air force coming up with more transports (C-17s), something the air force is reluctant to do. The air force has its own FCS (the F-22 and F-35), and that's where all the money is going.
What a lot of officers, and troops, are expecting now is evolution, not revolution. There's no longer any big land army out there that needs to be shut down. The Red Army is gone, the Chinese army is largely obsolete and shrinking, the North Korean army is falling apart, and the Iranians are more concerned about another civil war. The few nations that are still building new tanks are trying to keep up with the M-1, not leap-frog it using unproven technologies. Continued efforts to keep FCS alive are going to evolutionary as well, because the money just isn't there.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/06/2005 8:49:33 AM ||
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#1
the Chinese army is largely obsolete and shrinking
RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AFP) - Palestinians voted in more than 80 municipalities across the occupied territories in a final test of the radical Hamas group's popularity before it contests legislative polls for the first time. Hundreds of thousands of people trouped out to cast their ballot ar polling stations to elect 906 municipal council representatives from among 2,519 candidates, including 399 women.
In an incident near Ramallah in the West Bank, masked gunmen burst into a polling station during the vote count late Thursday and seized three ballot boxes which they set on fire, election officials said.
Jamal Shubaki of the local elections commission said the attack took place in the village of Attara. Guards at the station had been overwhelmed by the large number of assailants.
"We regret this incident, especially as the election went calmly everywhere else on the whole," he told AFP.
Preliminary figures released shortly after the polls closed put turnout at 80 percent in the Gaza Strip and 70 percent in the West Bank. Early results were expected from early Friday and final results due on Sunday. More than 400,000 people were entitled to vote in an election seen as a litmus test of the overall popularity of the radical Islamist movement which first entered the democratic process last December...
Despite the rivalry [between Fatah and Hamas], election officials say the campaign has been peaceful. Delegates from the Council of Europe and the US-based National Democratic Institute were in place to monitor the vote.
Posted by: Pappy ||
05/06/2005 12:14:54 AM ||
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#1
setting 3 boxes on fire? Bah! King's County Dems could teach them a thing or two
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/06/2005 0:21 Comments ||
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#2
Friggin' amateurs...
Posted by: Richard Daley ||
05/06/2005 1:52 Comments ||
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#3
actually the true test for Hamas is how they actually will govern the towns they win (and they will win several)
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani will make his first foreign trip as head of state to Jordan on Saturday to discuss closer security and economic ties, Jordanian officials said on Thursday.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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JERUSALEM - Israel denied any involvement on Thursday after a Pentagon expert was arrested by the FBI on charges of disclosing top secret information about Iraq to a prominent pro-Israel lobby group. "Israel considers this arrest as a non-issue. We have no involvement and we have not received any document from this person," a senior foreign ministry official told AFP.
"We know no-fink! Tell them, Hogan!"
Lawrence Franklin, who served on the Iran desk in the office of Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, turned himself in to the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Washington on Wednesday after the charges were unsealed. Franklin, 58, is alleged to have revealed classified information about potential attacks on US forces in Iraq to two employees of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee at a restaurant in Arlington, Virginia in June 2003.
Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom was also quoted by the Yediot Aharonot daily as denying any Israeli involvement. "Israel has intimate strategic relations with the United States, which include exchanges of classified information," Shalom said. "Israel will not do anything to harm those relations. Anyone who imagines that we were involved in this affair is mistaken."
"Lies! All lies!"
Israel pledged not to spy on the United States after the case of Jonathan Pollard, an intelligence analyst for the US Navy, who passed on thousands of secret documents in 18 months before his arrest in November 1985. Pollard was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1987, but Israel only admitted that he was one of its spies 11 years later. It has since lobbied Washington to grant him a pardon.
May he rot in prison.
"We have excellent cooperation with the Americans at all levels and we have no need of documents of the sort that were in this person's field," the foreign ministry official said. "It is possible that he has passed on a document of which we are ignorant to other Americans," he added. "In any case this is not the Pollard affair."
Damned well better not be. Give Franklin a fair trial, and if he's guilty, a life sentence in a cell next to Pollard.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/06/2005 00:00:00 ||
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He can listen to Pollard calling him a rank amateur for the next forty years...
News of Abu Farraj al-Libbi's arrest was leaked prematurely to the press by Pakistani authorities, it has been claimed here.
Comes as a surprise, huh?
Such news is often not released for weeks or months on end so as not to alert other members of the network. Senior officials told the Washington Times that CIA operatives, some of whom recently served in the US military, are in Pakistan aiding government troops. A report in the newspaper on Thursday said US officials expressed hope privately that if residents of Mardan were willing to turn in al-Libbi, other Pakistanis might be willing to pinpoint Osama bin Laden, for whom a $25 million reward for information leading to his capture or killing has been issued. A US counter terrorism official said al-Libbi worked for Bin Laden in 2002 as chief of his US and African operations before Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's arrest.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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The decision was taken by the disciplinary committee, even though Ayaz, the victim of the beating, retracted his complaint on Tuesday. It was reported by students that Ayaz had been bullied into retracting his complaint. The director of the Institute of Adminsitrative Sciences and Human Resource Development, Prof Dr Zafar Iqbal Jadoon, confirmed the expulsion to Daily Times on Thursday. The committee decided to expel Qasim and Mumtaz after the testimony of an eyewitness. Jadoon said that beating a student was a serious offence and the department had taken the right decision.
This article starring:
HAFIZ TAUSIF QASIM
Islami Jamiat Talaba
Islami Jamiat Talaba
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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The Punjab government has withdrawn its orders for three-month house arrest of PPP leaders and activists. Sources said that the Punjab home secretary had formally approved the orders. A writ petition was filed in the Supreme Court against the house arrest of PPP leaders and activists. PPP city president in Chichawatni, Rana Kashif Hameed, said that 47 of 86 detained activists had been released from Sahiwal's Central Jail. The rest of the detainees are expected to be released today (Friday).
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
UPI: The international commemorations planned in Moscow on May 9 marking the end of the Second World War in Europe pleases Vladimir Putin and the majority of Russians, but there are dissenting voices. Few deny Russia this important accomplishment. But what the war means in retrospect, particularly in light of Soviet influence over the Baltic states and other countries of East Central Europe for decades after the war, is far from positive. 
The rising prospect of North Korea testing a nuclear weapon has U.S. officials working with East Asian allies to prepare a political response to any such test. White House and Pentagon officials have extensively briefed their Japanese and South Korean allies about satellite imagery that appears to show rapid, extensive preparations for a nuclear weapons test in North Korea, the New York Times reported Friday. At the same time, the United States does not want to play into North Korea's presumed desire to create a crisis that then becomes grounds for demanding economic and diplomatic concessions from Washington. "The North Koreans have learned how to use irrationality as a bargaining tool," a top U.S. official. Of particular concern is the construction of a reviewing stand, luxurious by North Korean standards, several miles from a likely test site where workers appear to have been digging what first looked like a deep mining shaft, only to fill it back in -- as would be expected at a nuclear test site. 
Japan has information that North Korea may be preparing for a nuclear test, a Defense Agency official said Friday, less than a week after Pyongyang is believed to have tested a short-range missile off its eastern coast. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, refused to specify the information or its source. An official at the Foreign Ministry said Japan was exchanging information on North Korea with "concerned countries," but did not confirm that there were signs of an imminent test.
GEORGE GALLOWAY, the former Labour MP, yesterday stormed off a news show, denouncing the interview as a "set-up". The former Glasgow Kelvin MP, who started his own anti-war party Respect, told the ITV lunchtime news presenters that they were "liars". Mr Galloway, who is trying to unseat Labour candidate Oona King from Bethnal Green and Bow, was furious at the suggestion that he was a supporter of Saddam Hussein as an 11-year-old clip was shown of him telling the former Iraqi dictator: "I salute your courage, your strength, your indefatigability." 
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has said the US bears some blame for the killing of an Italian agent, but it will not hurt relations. He told parliament that the US had implicitly acknowledged some problems at the checkpoint where US forces shot dead Nicola Calipari in March.
The wave of fundamentalist thinking among largely middle class Canadian Muslims has received a fillip from 
Prospects grew dim on the resumption of the stalled peace talks between the government and the 
The UN Security Council pressed Lebanon on Wednesday to hold parliamentary elections on schedule and welcomed "noticeable progress" in Syria's withdrawal, but said all UN demands had not yet been met. UN Secretary-General 
BEIRUT - Lebanese President Emile Lahoud on Thursday signed a decree to hold legislative elections from this month based on an electoral law tailored by Syria which the opposition says is unfavourable to Christians. Elections will be held in four rounds starting May 29 based on a 2000 law which the Lebanese opposition claims favours pro-Syrian loyalists because it was passed when Syria dominated Lebanon.
A Lebanese court suspended yesterday an arrest warrant against exiled Christian opposition leader 
JERUSALEM - Israel denied any involvement on Thursday after a Pentagon expert was arrested by the FBI on charges of disclosing top secret information about Iraq to a prominent pro-Israel lobby group. "Israel considers this arrest as a non-issue. We have no involvement and we have not received any document from this person," a senior foreign ministry official told AFP.
News of 
