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Today: 78 articles and 683 comments as of 14:04.
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Terror Strikes in London Underground - Death Toll Rising
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 2: WoT Background
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4 00:00 Dear Leader Kim [1] 
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5 00:00 Jan [2] 
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11 00:00 Darth VAda [3]
22 00:00 3dc [5]
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9 00:00 JosephMendiola [3]
5 00:00 Alaska Paul [5]
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Page 4: Opinion
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Arabia
Ex-envoy of Yemen denies getting funds from Saudi
LONDON — Former Yemeni ambassador to Syria Ahmed Al Hassani, who sought political asylum in Britain, said he did not make any contact with Saudi Arabia nor did he get any funds and assistance from the kingdom.
“The leaking of news by the Yemeni government that Saudi Arabia had financially made arrangements for him in the UK was absolutely incorrect,” Al Hassani said.
House of Saud Individual Retirement Accounts, not just for the US State Department any more
He also denied any contact between him and the government of the Yemeni President Ali Abduallah Saleh. “I have not received any offer to return home and assume any post,” he said.
"Are you nuts?"

He said he had quit his post, and refused to return to Sanaa because he championed a national cause, and after realising that ‘the dream of unity’ was shattered, he was not ready to return to Yemen under the present rule.
‘the dream of unity’ "One Turban To Rule Them All.."
Posted by: Steve || 07/07/2005 11:52 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The bullshit shit meter goes off scale and explodes.
Posted by: John Q. Citizen || 07/07/2005 12:39 Comments || Top||


DEBKAfile Exclusive: Saudi King Fahd is sinking.
DEBKAfile’s Exclusive Gulf sources report: The Saudi king Fahd’s condition has taken a turn for the worse in the last 24 hours after six weeks in hospital. Wednesday, July 6, his doctors decided to carry out a tracheotomy to help him breath. This procedure will be carried out in the next few hours.
If that doesn't work, they're either going to pickle him or have him freeze dried.
Posted by: Fred || 07/07/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  It's the old Franco thing. His body will not die until the feuding parties are ready for it to die.

Condition remains static.


Posted by: 3dc || 07/07/2005 0:03 Comments || Top||

#2  Just imagine how popular DEBKA "reporters" are in the GCC...
Posted by: .com || 07/07/2005 0:32 Comments || Top||

#3  Still on ice then.
Posted by: Sock Puppet 0’ Doom || 07/07/2005 0:36 Comments || Top||

#4  is ded pool ever goin get goin?
Posted by: muck4doo || 07/07/2005 1:05 Comments || Top||

#5  Fahd is stinking sinking?
No surprise. He's been dead for months.

Posted by: john || 07/07/2005 6:51 Comments || Top||

#6  sinking six feet under
Posted by: 2b || 07/07/2005 7:52 Comments || Top||

#7  Interesting. Fahd is starting to turn green and purple, Bandar is running home, Nayef is "getting tough" with the nutbag clerics. What's Abdullah up to?

Lots going on that doesn't show on the surface, for sure.
Posted by: mojo || 07/07/2005 13:02 Comments || Top||

#8  But is he actually feeling better?
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/07/2005 13:03 Comments || Top||

#9  azizi and his momma are getting wet
Posted by: SON OF TOLUI || 07/07/2005 13:34 Comments || Top||


Kuwaiti MPs, citizens lash out at threatening' Iranian statements
Iranian Foreign Affairs spokesperson Hameed Rida Asifi's statements and threats are like a spark which has led to a blaze of counter statements from various Gulf officials, reports Al-Anba daily. Asifi was quoted as saying the Republic of Iran has greater abilities than all the Gulf countries and so these countries should be careful in maintaining relations with Iran warning a conflict of any country with Iran will see Iran as the victor. Kuwaiti Members of Parliament (MP) and citizens expressed anger at the Iranian statements saying they are a violation of regulations controlling relations of countries in the same region. Iran is trying to repeat history in a region where conditions have changed, they added. MPs have asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to question the Iranian Ambassador to Kuwait on the threats issued by Iran and what they mean. The Iranian threat of return of the 'Shahishahi' way bodes ill, say MPs and politicians in Kuwait.
Posted by: Fred || 07/07/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Just inches from that bomb and getting cocky..
Posted by: 3dc || 07/07/2005 0:08 Comments || Top||

#2  Everyone in the region is secretly rooting for the US to take the MM's down and out before they have a deliverable nuke. Iran with the bomb is obviously unacceptably dangerous to anyone with a brain, but just imagine how much more insufferable the MM's would be -- especially to the Sunnis of the region, lol!

If the Israelis, for whatever confluence of reasons, took the lead and did the deed - just imagine the ramifications... Oh, the irony! The chagrin among the Sunnis would be astounding, lol, though it wouldn't stop them from condemning Israel, of course. They are Arabs, after all, lol!

This is one of those fascinating "convergence of interest" thingys that history sometimes serves up. I recommend a nice cilantro mint chutney on the side.
Posted by: .com || 07/07/2005 0:45 Comments || Top||

#3  There goes the neighborhood. Just when Saddam is taken down as the bully, up pops the nutty moolahs.

And, least we forget, Kawait is our biggest ally there.
Posted by: Captain America || 07/07/2005 3:40 Comments || Top||

#4  Cap't A:
Remember that the reason the US gave support to Sodamn Insane for a while was that Baathist Iraq was SANEST regional counterbalance to the Mad Mullahs of Iran. I suspect there is similar reasoning for not bringing the hammer down on Assad right now, and for trying to incorporate the Sunnis into the Iraq government (and keeping the Shia from taking wholesale revenge.)
Posted by: glenmore || 07/07/2005 7:11 Comments || Top||

#5  Thisn way more expensive than popcorn.
107682
Posted by: Shiipman || 07/07/2005 8:16 Comments || Top||

#6  Thanks Mods.
Posted by: Shiipman || 07/07/2005 12:24 Comments || Top||

#7  They missed a good opportunity to shut up cowar in fear...
Posted by: Hyper || 07/07/2005 14:54 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
North Korean propaganda film backfires with hungry audiences
A North Korean propaganda film about the repatriation of a spy — Lee In-Mo — who had languished for years in a South Korean prison may have a short shelf life, according to defectors now living in the South. "What we could not believe in the movie was that Lee and others were conducting hunger strikes in the prison," said one defector about the movie.
LOL - Voluntarily?
"Refusing to eat was a form of resistance in the South? Boy, South Korea must be a paradise. That's what we said among ourselves"

One of the first things South Korean President Kim Young-Sam did upon his inauguration in 1993 as the first popularly elected civilian president was to repatriate a long-term prisoner, Lee In-Mo, back to North Korea. Lee, 76, was a North Korean spy dispatched during the early days of Korean War (1950-53) and became a partisan when he missed the chance to go back before the cease-fire agreement was signed. He was captured at the age of 33 and spent 42 years in South Korean prisons. When the government in Seoul released spies and partisans in exchange for letters rejecting communist ideology and pledges to become loyal South Korean citizens, Lee and 62 other communists refused and opted to remain in prison.

Lee was released for ill health and old age.

North Korea demanded his repatriation, but Seoul hesitated knowing that he would be used for propaganda against the South. After all, his was a case made to order for propaganda: faith in the socialist system, dedication for a cause (national unification), and four decades in prison and unflinching loyalty. After much debate on the pros and cons of repatriating Lee, the Kim Young-Sam government decided to send him back in a humanitarian spirit (62 others were later sent back by President Kim Dae-Jung) and to attempt a breakthrough in the deadlocked South-North relations.
"Hokay Lee, we're sending you back to the North."
"So soon?"
"You've been in jug 42 years!"
"Like I said, so soon?"
Lee received a hero's welcome and, sure enough, Pyongyang made a film on Lee's "heroic struggle for the motherland" in South Korean prisons and made sure all North Koreans saw it.

However, the movie caused many North Koreans to become curious about South Korean society. Many North Korean defectors said their first reaction upon seeing the film was to ask how people could stay in prison for more than 10 years and remain alive? They say few people survive even three years in North Korean political prisons. Being fed three regular meals a day is utterly unimaginable.
Better not tell them about Gitmo.
Political prisoners die from disease and malnutrition, if not from torture, as documented by Kang Chul-Won in his best-selling book, "Aquariums of Pyongyang," which recently led him to be invited by President Bush to the White House.

The North Korean defectors said the movie had the opposite effect from what was intended. One wondered if Pyongyang is still showing the movie to the people. "I bet they are not," he said.
Posted by: Frank G || 07/07/2005 13:56 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Gosh, the Norks are as clueless as Katie Colic. They must be "fabulously well-to-do."
Posted by: Dr August Balls of Nice || 07/07/2005 14:15 Comments || Top||

#2  North Korean propaganda film backfires with hungry audiences

Did they eat the film?
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/07/2005 14:18 Comments || Top||

#3  AAAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
Oh man, the irony is just delicious...
Posted by: mmurray821 || 07/07/2005 16:17 Comments || Top||

#4 


I may be ronery, but I eat tre square meal every day...

Pass truffle, preese
Posted by: Dear Leader Kim || 07/07/2005 16:18 Comments || Top||


Europe
The Euro-Army cometh
Via EU Referendum, link is in the posting, not here:

In this case, one such was Council Document 10032/05, dated 13 June 2005: the Presidency report on the ESDP - otherwise known as the European Security --

Document is in wordpad and I'm a complete tech incompetent when it comes to these things.

...However, the first real meat of the report comes on page 9., with the news that "work has continued on establishing EU battlegroups which are part of the rapid response capability. A Battlegroups Coordination Conference was held on 11 May 2005 when it was noted that the commitments made by the member states will enable the objective set for the initial period of operational capability for 2005 and 2006 to be met."

One battlegroup will be permanently available for the first two years of full operational capability, 2007 and 2008, except in the second half of 2007, for which a contribution is still awaited. Preliminary indications were provided on the availability of Battlegroups for the period beyond 2008.....

Posted by: anonymous2u || 07/07/2005 01:14 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  This should prove interesting - field commanders will likely want or prefer force integration,; the higher ups, Generals HQ's or Services will want or prefer Joint Services bureacracy, while many of the Pols and National/State Governments will want as much low-casualty inter-unit Confederatism as possible.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 07/07/2005 2:35 Comments || Top||

#2  mosten jus want free fishn chips tho.

not that complikatend dood/
Posted by: muck4doo || 07/07/2005 3:10 Comments || Top||

#3  The Euro-Army cometh

Sounds like one of Tom Lehrer's titles.
Posted by: gromgorru || 07/07/2005 5:23 Comments || Top||

#4  Joseph is right ... the devil is in the integration details in this sort of thing.
Posted by: anon || 07/07/2005 8:19 Comments || Top||

#5  This will work about as well as trying to mix oil and water.
Posted by: mmurray821 || 07/07/2005 9:33 Comments || Top||

#6  Can we disband NATO now and bring those troops home?
Posted by: Cyber Sarge || 07/07/2005 10:15 Comments || Top||

#7  Can we disband NATO now and bring those troops home?

Man, I wish. NATO is dead, it died on 9/11 when we called for allies and they went, "meh, not our problem".
Posted by: mmurray821 || 07/07/2005 10:18 Comments || Top||

#8  Few interesting things about the document:

Logistics isn't mentioned until page 18. Nothing about airlift that I could see.

There's a heavy emphasis on police forces throughout the document. Then again, the threat of organized crime in the Balkans is recognized.

Both the Congo and the Sudan are mentioned as places to take 'action'.
Posted by: Pappy || 07/07/2005 11:21 Comments || Top||

#9 

Click on the Euro-army!

Posted by: BigEd || 07/07/2005 11:43 Comments || Top||

#10  Why don't they just use the Foreign Legion or the Gurkhas. They know how to fight and the Euroweinie command wouldn't have to get their boots dirty.
Posted by: BrerRabbit || 07/07/2005 16:24 Comments || Top||

#11  How is the name of God and France will we ever be able to effectuate quick surrender tactics unless, of course, we all speak French. Yes, that is it. We will not cooperate until you all learn one command in perfect French - "surrender now without condition."
Posted by: DuhGaul || 07/07/2005 16:33 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
New York Times Reporter Jailed
A federal judge ordered New York Times reporter Judith Miller jailed for contempt of court Wednesday for refusing to testify to a grand jury investigating the leak of a CIA operative's name. She was taken into custody immediately. Miller faces up to four months in jail, the length of time before the term of the federal grand jury in the case expires.
Posted by: Matt || 07/07/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  This is getting interesting. Two reporters on the same story, and apparently who have have two different anonymous sources, one who says its okay to talk and the other who won't step forward.

My list of possible sources in descending order of preference:

Judith Miller
Matt Cooper
Joseph Wilson
Mr.Chimera
Posted by: badanov || 07/07/2005 0:17 Comments || Top||

#2  I'm still uncomfortable with a jail term for an article that was never published.
Posted by: Seafarious || 07/07/2005 0:21 Comments || Top||

#3  I am not one bit uncomfortable with it. I would be jailed if I refused to testify, what makes her so damn special? Being a North east liberal elite? Not good enough.
Posted by: Sock Puppet 0’ Doom || 07/07/2005 0:23 Comments || Top||

#4  Let's quarterback this thing.

There are a lot of theories floating about as to who the source, now source(s) are. We can pretty much rule out Rove, since it is extremely unlikely, given the chronology, that the left would have kept this a secret, extremely unlikely a leftist like Miller would have protected a Bush source.

Then there's Novak,who has testified and whose article says it was two Bush administration "senior officials." That lends credence to a theory that one of the sources was Colin Powell and the other the former CIA director, the one who stepped down to make way for Goss. ( Can't recall the guy's name at the moment. )
Posted by: badanov || 07/07/2005 0:43 Comments || Top||

#5  Can't recall the guy's name at the moment.

George Tenet.
Posted by: Pappy || 07/07/2005 0:53 Comments || Top||

#6  Buck up, Judith! I'll have one for you at "the club" tonight! Cheerio!
Posted by: Pinchy || 07/07/2005 8:57 Comments || Top||

#7  RE: #1: Love your list, bad! I'm with you on that list!
Posted by: BA || 07/07/2005 9:50 Comments || Top||

#8  I'm just all broken up over this one. My sympathy meter must be on the blink...no movement.
Posted by: intrinsicpilot || 07/07/2005 12:40 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Canada to extradite Eco-terrorist to US
EFL

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — A court on Thursday ordered the extradition of suspected eco-terrorist Tre Arrow, one of the FBI's most-wanted fugitives, to face firebombing charges in the United States.

Arrow, born Michael Scarpitti , is accused of participating in the 2001 firebombing of logging and cement trucks in Oregon. The FBI claims he is associated with the Earth Liberation Front (ELF), a group that has claimed responsibility for dozens of acts of destruction over the past few years.

British Columbia Supreme Court Judge Kristi Gill ruled that there was enough evidence against Arrow to have him extradited to face federal charges. His lawyer said he would appeal, a process that could take months.

Prosecutor Rosellina Patillo said evidence from the United States Attorney in Oregon indicated Arrow was among four conspirators involved in the bombings of a gravel company and a logging company between April and June of 2001. The evidence comes from statements of Arrow's three coconspirators who have pleaded guilty to the bombings at a Mount Hood logging company.

She said the Ross Island Gravel Company (search) was targeted "because it was guilty of stealing soil from the earth." As long as it isn't going to NASA, it's just "borrowed," not "stolen."

Arrow is seeking refugee status in Canada, but that process has been suspended pending the outcome of the extradition hearings, his lawyer said. Actually, I'm surprised at that.

The 30-year-old Arrow contends he won't get a fair trial in the United States because of the FBI's assertion that his alleged crimes are acts of terrorism. Well, duh. He faces federal charges in Oregon of using fire to commit a felony, destroying vehicles used in interstate commerce and using incendiary devices in a crime of violence. The charges carry up to a combined 80 years in prison. Do you know how big a rectum can get in 80 years? He's about to find out.
Posted by: Jackal || 07/07/2005 19:22 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


49 Illegal Aliens Arrested at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base Yesterday
Lightly edited
WRAL has learned they were working on the base when it was discovered that they did not have the proper paperwork. Agents believe the men were able to elude base security using counterfeit documentation, such as Social Security cards green cards and driver's licenses.

The investigation, which started about two months ago with a complaint about the type of paperwork the men were using to get on the base, was conducted with the cooperation of the Defense Criminal Investigation Service, Bureau of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, the Social Security Administration, U.S. Marshals Service, Goldsboro Police Department and 4th Security Forces Squadron.

WRAL has learned that some of the workers were employed by subcontractors to Parsons Evergreene, LLC, based in Salt Lake City. The company, which has contracts at 19 Air Force bases, building homes, infrastructure and security systems, told WRAL that only 16 of the workers are connected to them through five different subcontractors. Parsons Evergreene said none of them was a direct employee.

Because the illegal immigrants were working on a military base, investigators said the situation poses serious security questions. Investigators said none of the men pose a terrorism threat, but they say that it is very likely that undocumented workers are able to get on other military bases and this is why they are focusing on this operation.

Investigators said the case at Seymour Johnson is the largest arrest of its kind at a military base in North Carolina, but they said they do not believe it is an isolated case and that it is probably a problem at other bases across the state.

Wednesday's arrests were not the first time a local group of illegal immigrants have been arrested in North Carolina this year. In March, 11 illegal immigrants were removed from a plane at Raleigh-Durham International Airport. The men allegedly used driver's licenses or Mexican voter registration cards to board a flight in Chicago. The men were eventually deported.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/07/2005 07:10 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Obviously contractor personnel. So, was the contract terminated cause government contract boilerplate says if you break the law in executing the contract you break the contract? Has the contractor been notified that he/she will be placed on a 'banned' list prohibiting future bids for contracts? That when after due process the ban in placed in effect, the information will be provided throughout the federal contracting system? Or is this a Chicago based contract?
Posted by: Hupavising Slomosing7791 || 07/07/2005 9:33 Comments || Top||

#2  This is just the tip of the iceberg.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 07/07/2005 10:18 Comments || Top||

#3  Headline Writin Tip 11#
When headling a story about illegal aliens at an aerospace facility it is sometimes use to lose the word "illegal". Consider the impact of your headline ifn it wuz.....

49 Aliens Captured At Guarded and Fenced North Carolina Air Force Base
Aliens arrested looked like humans and had "paperwork". Evidently EXTRA hands were needed.

Just a suggestion.
Posted by: Lanta Tom Shiipman || 07/07/2005 12:36 Comments || Top||

#4  What ever happened to the Roswell, NM type of aliens? Ah, for the good old days.
Posted by: John Q. Citizen || 07/07/2005 12:38 Comments || Top||

#5  I agree with BAR, that it's only the tip of the iceberg. Add to this medical records being sent out of country to be "dictated", even active duty guys charts. We need to tighten up all around, and keep jobs here in America, especially some of our more sensitive stuff.
Posted by: Jan || 07/07/2005 13:13 Comments || Top||


Museum at WTC to Focus More on Victims
NEW YORK (AP) - In response to criticism, a ``freedom museum'' at the World Trade Center site will focus more on the victims of the 2001 terror attacks, officials said Wednesday.
"More" is not the correct response. "Almost exclusively" is the correct response.
The change was announced by the museum's chairman and vice-chairwoman in a letter to the Lower Manhattan Development Corp., which oversees the rebuilding.

Some victims' relatives have protested for weeks that the International Freedom Center museum would be anti-American and disrespectful to the dead. The museum, criticized for its intent to focus on global freedom movements, now will place the victims of Sept. 11 alongside the ``freedom heroes of history'' in its main concourse, the letter said.

The museum will be ``appropriately celebratory of our nation, and its leading role in the global fight for freedom,'' chairman Tom Bernstein and vice-chairwoman Paula Grant Berry wrote.

The museum will create a viewing room for victims' families and a gallery dedicated to the international expressions of sympathy for the attacks, Bernstein and Berry wrote. In addition, the museum will give a veto over its planned discussion series to the board of directors of the Sept. 11 memorial foundation, which includes Debra Burlingame, the most vociferous critic of the freedom museum.

Burlingame, the sister of an American Airlines pilot who died in the attacks, said in a statement with other victims' relatives Wednesday that the changes were unsatisfactory and that they still objected to the museum. ``It is dishonest and despicable to use the 9/11 artifacts and 9/11 heroes as window dressing to mislead the public,'' Burlingame said. ``So long as there is but one square inch housing dialogue, debates, artistic impressions, or exhibits about extraneous historical events, the IFC is inappropriate and a slap in the face.''

The development corporation on Wednesday called the museum's letter a ``thoughtful response.'' ``We look forward to continuing discussions with the Freedom Center in order to reach resolution on the issues that have been raised,'' the agency said in a statement.
Posted by: Steve White || 07/07/2005 00:13 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  As with all such efforts, the project has been infected, almost taken over - before Pataki finally grabbed a clue, stood up on his hind legs, and grew a pair - by the usual assholes seeking to impose their agenda on all public works. Prolly 90% of those involved should be summarily tossed out.

My sincere thanks to the families and relatives of the dead who have not allowed this travesty to occur.
Posted by: .com || 07/07/2005 0:53 Comments || Top||

#2  The IFC should be strangled in its crib.
Posted by: Pappy || 07/07/2005 0:55 Comments || Top||

#3  I think more attention should be paid to the origins of Country &Western music at Gettysburg.
Posted by: Shiipman || 07/07/2005 9:31 Comments || Top||

#4  lol, Shiip! Echoing .com, I thank the victim's families in standing up to this P.C. sh!t. This should be first, and foremost, about that horrific day!
Posted by: BA || 07/07/2005 10:11 Comments || Top||

#5  lol, Shiip! Echoing .com, I thank the victim's families in standing up to this P.C. sh!t. This should be first, and foremost, about that horrific day! I'd agree to maybe place binny's head on a pike at the end, but everything else should be about that Tuesday morning!
Posted by: BA || 07/07/2005 10:12 Comments || Top||

#6  Sorry 'bout the double post!
Posted by: BA || 07/07/2005 10:12 Comments || Top||

#7  ``It is dishonest and despicable to use the 9/11 artifacts and 9/11 heroes as window dressing to mislead the public,'' Burlingame said. ``So long as there is but one square inch housing dialogue, debates, artistic impressions, or exhibits about extraneous historical events, the IFC is inappropriate and a slap in the face.''

Ms. Burlingame is absolutely correct. The PC Totalitarians who are somehow still in charge of this are still trying to use OUR tax dollars to promote thier dangerous pacifist bullcrap. We have been reminded of that in London today. How do we let such a bunch of drug addled ninconpoops run something like this? They can go to H**L.
Posted by: BigEd || 07/07/2005 11:49 Comments || Top||

#8  The museum, criticized for its intent to focus on global freedom movements, now will place the victims of Sept. 11 alongside the ``freedom heroes of history'' in its main concourse, the letter said.

Gee, thanks!
Now we should all just go away, right?
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/07/2005 15:04 Comments || Top||


Senator Levin calls for plan to empower Iraqi forces
BAGHDAD - A comprehensive plan is needed to hand more power to Iraqi forces and reduce US troop levels in the war-torn country, senior Democratic Senator Carl Levin said during a visit on Wednesday. “I expressed to the president that I opposed a fixed time for withdrawal of American forces but that I do very much favour there being some kind of a plan for those forces to be withdrawn as certain milestones are met relative to the power and capability of the Iraqi forces,” Levin told reporters after meeting Iraqi President Jalal Talabani.
Oh no, a fixed timetable is bad, but milestones are good. Cheez, he really thinks anyone other than the Kos Kiddies will fall for this?
“So that both Iraqi and American people and the other countries of the world understand that we are not here for an unlimited period of time.”
We've already said we'll leave when the Iraqis are ready.
Levin, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, took a swipe at recent comments by US President George W. Bush that the military strategy in Iraq was simply that “as the Iraqis stand up, we will stand down”.

“There needs be some kind of a comprehensive plan ... so that we can see both the increase in Iraqi strength but also some reductions in the American and other coalition forces that occur simultaneously so that it has some meaning and significance to the rhetoric statement about standing up and standing down,” he said.

Levin was also expected to meet with Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari.
Jaafari has an impossible job: educate Senator Knucklehead while remaining diplomatic.
Senator Ted Kennedy, another Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, recently called on US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to resign over mismanagement of the Iraq military campaign.
Attaboy Ted. Another round?
Posted by: Steve White || 07/07/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Anytime somebody uses the word "empower" all I can think of is that they are starting to believe the doublespeak.

That's one of those flag words that makes me look for the robbery scam. If a CEO says it... dump your stock. If a boss says it ... float your resume...

Its one of those code words....
Posted by: 3dc || 07/07/2005 0:07 Comments || Top||

#2  Levin. Right, let asshole politicians who don't have a clue about war, terrorism, the conditions on the ground, the state of the Iraqi forces or their political progress - ad infinitum ad nauseum - run the show. Yewbetcha Carl. BTW, I love the half-glasses on the nose thingy. Makes you look, um, just like what you are: a poser.

Fuck the fuck off, Levin. Aren't you due for a heart attack or something? Get on with it, already. If not, well, eat Drano. Asshole.
Posted by: .com || 07/07/2005 0:58 Comments || Top||

#3  I'll catch hell again for my comments on Levin he is a typical liberal, self hating non religious jew who will do anything he can get away with to the US or say anything he can get away with against the US.
Drano is too good for him and his good pals Teddy and Chuck. Screw the waste of skin.
Posted by: Sock Puppet 0’ Doom || 07/07/2005 1:44 Comments || Top||

#4  I would like to see Levin's hair when facing a stiff Iraqi sand storm.

Good thing the adults are in charge.
Posted by: Captain America || 07/07/2005 3:34 Comments || Top||

#5  News flash asshole. The Iraqis are already doing most of the city patroling. They are running the majority of the raids in the city. They just did a raid which captured over 100 terrorists. They ARE empowered and doing quite well despite your obvious lack of understanding or caring about the issues.
Sit down, STFU and let people who do this for a living finish their job. People like you cause more problems than your pitiful, worthless lives are worth. Just. Shut. up.
Or face our squirrly wrath.....
Posted by: mmurray821 || 07/07/2005 9:37 Comments || Top||

#6  "Empower"?
Look out! He's speaking Democrat!
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/07/2005 9:40 Comments || Top||

#7  Senator Ted Kennedy, another Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, recently called on US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to resign over mismanagement of the Iraq military campaign.

"And I call on Sen. Kennedy to resign over his mismanagement of the Chappaquidick swim team!"
Posted by: Rummy || 07/07/2005 9:55 Comments || Top||

#8  i think its good that Levin broke with the Kennedy-Byrd line of demanding a timetable. Im not sure about the milestones - you should have milestones, and we need to communicate more details to the public than have been done so far, but I wouldnt want to get into a situation where we say "Ok, when there are 200,000 trained Iraqis, we pull out half our force" and then we train 200,000 Iraqis, and we decide based on, say, the situation on the ratlines, that its a bad idea to pull out at that point, and some idiot starts jumping up and down and pointing to the milestones. So more clarity on the plan, yes, but keep sufficient flexibility - this is war, and no plan survives yadda yadda.
Posted by: liberalhawk || 07/07/2005 12:10 Comments || Top||

#9  You're damn right about that LH, absolutely NO plan has ever survived yadayadayada.
Posted by: General Shiipman || 07/07/2005 12:41 Comments || Top||

#10  milestones? wasn't that the name of sayid qutb's book--been reading islamofascism screeds senator--btw zark's running out of male splodeydopes and generally whining--he's going to declare victory and split for al uds--a real muzzie george aitken
Posted by: SON OF TOLUI || 07/07/2005 13:47 Comments || Top||

#11  Milestones are appropriate when the remaining tasks in a project are well defined.

We're in an evolving war. I'm pretty sure there are *working* milestones being used by operational planners. I'm also damned sure it would be a mistake to announce either what they are or what our actions will be when they're reached.

And I'm also pretty damned sure some of them will change in response to broader events.

This is a war. It will be long, messy, uncertain, expensive, and painful.

It is also necessary if we, our way of life and our civilization is going to endure.
Posted by: too true || 07/07/2005 17:14 Comments || Top||


International-UN-NGOs
Whither the $19.2 billion paid out for Iraqi war reparations (Gulf War I)?
Here’s the $19.2 billion question: Among the investigators now dredging the depths of the United Nations Oil-for-Food program in Iraq, is anyone focused on the biggest riptide of cash that flowed from Saddam Hussein via one of the U.N.’s most obscure channels?

That would be the $19.2 billion in Iraqi oil money disbursed by the U.N. over the past 12 years, not in the name of Iraqi relief, but as reparations for Saddam’s 1990-1991 invasion and occupation of Kuwait. This money was parceled out by a U.N. outfit based in Geneva, Switzerland, the U.N. Compensation Commission (UNCC), which has so far escaped the spotlights that have begun to expose the web of graft, kickbacks, and front companies that infested almost every other aspect of Oil-for-Food. All told, the U.N.’s Iraq program involved roughly $65 billion in U.N.-monitored oil sales, of which some $46 billion were designated for relief and oil equipment, with most of the remainder funneled through the UNCC.

And it gets worse. Read the whole thing -- Claudia Rosett is a true journalist, not like the many poseurs that infest so much of the news media.

Posted by: trailing wife || 07/07/2005 07:10 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Here's one juicy tidbit:

The UNCC awards have been allocated in largely secret proceedings, overseen by a total of 58 commissioners over the years, working in groups of threes. And though the names of some of the recipients and partial breakdowns of the sums paid out are available on the UNCC website, the information is both confusing and incomplete. We are told, for example, that thousands of Palestinians received compensation awards, but the names of individuals are withheld, and the money is disbursed via the governments of the claimants — in this case, the Palestinian Authority.


For what - their checks from Saddam got interrupted????

Thieving, lying NGOs and tranzis.
Posted by: anon || 07/07/2005 9:50 Comments || Top||

#2  Un-freakin'-believable! It just gets worse and worse. This makes Enron, WorldCom and the others look like candystore thieves.
Posted by: BA || 07/07/2005 10:17 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Malaysian Muslim Youth Movement to U.S.: Respect Iranian Sovereignty
Words of...'wisdom' from Malaysia's future leaders.

KUALA LUMPUR, July 6 (Bernama) -- The Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia (Abim) has urged the United States government to respect the sovereignty of the democratically elected government of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Abim secretary-general Azizuddin Ahmad... said Mahmoud [Ahmadinejad] had been selected by means of a transparent democratic process which reflected the wishes of the Iranians and even the US government recognised the presidental election. He said that by right, the US government should support the regime change that occurred in 1979 and let the president-elect exercise the mandate of the people that he would lead.

Azizuddin said Mahmoud's involvement in the 1979 Iranian revolution was minor compared with the omission of command by Ariel Sharon, as the Israeli Minister of Defence during the 1980 massacre of Palestinian refugees in Sabra and Shatila.
Posted by: Pappy || 07/07/2005 00:01 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  More confirmation that the bomb is close... All this on one day.
Posted by: 3dc || 07/07/2005 0:09 Comments || Top||

#2  And how is your one-trick-pony remark relevant in this context?

Posted by: Pappy || 07/07/2005 0:59 Comments || Top||

#3  *slaps forehead*

How could we have been so stupid?

Thank you. Soooo much. Now get back to your rockin' back and forth Qu'uran memorization thingy.
Posted by: .com || 07/07/2005 1:01 Comments || Top||

#4  Pappy
All the players and sideliners trying to get slack for Iran at one time?
That's the one trick relevance.
Posted by: 3dc || 07/07/2005 1:36 Comments || Top||

#5  Azizuddin said Mahmoud's involvement in the 1979 Iranian revolution was minor compared with the omission of command by Ariel Sharon, as the Israeli Minister of Defence during the 1980 massacre of Palestinian refugees in Sabra and Shatila.

Nice to deal with people who remember the proper forms.
Posted by: gromgorru || 07/07/2005 5:25 Comments || Top||

#6  Did the mullahs respect US sovereignty in 1979 when they took diplomats hostage? Why should we give a sh*t about them now?
Posted by: Spot || 07/07/2005 8:23 Comments || Top||

#7  Dead right, Spot. The sham of all this is contained in what you said.

On one front they use our sense of propriety and civility and our institutions and customs and laws against us.

On the other front, they shitcan the lot of it, sawing off heads, bombing innocents the world over, and whatever other barbarous acts they can dream up.

No more cover. No more apologist tripe. If they want civility then they can lead the fight against the barbarism. But, just as they steadfastly refuse to take back their religion / ideology from the active jihadis, we must view their obvious inaction as implicit approval - and inevitable complicity.
Posted by: .com || 07/07/2005 8:34 Comments || Top||

#8  The president of iran is purely a ceremonial title, the guardian council has final say in every matter. In fact, I think the grand ayatollah himself has final say. That boils it down from a parliment of a few hundred, down to one guy. One extremely radical guy. Maybe that's why we want to see changes in iran, because the people of iran deserve the same kind of freedom we enjoy. Not just because George Bush is a murdering madman, and we want to destroy islam.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 07/07/2005 9:51 Comments || Top||

#9  Muslim Youth Movement or bowel movement? Either way, it's brown and smells bad.
Posted by: BH || 07/07/2005 10:05 Comments || Top||

#10  Did the mullahs respect US sovereignty in 1979 when they took diplomats hostage? Why should we give a sh*t about them now?

Spot on, Spot! OK, how about this...We agree to respect their national sovereignty like they did ours. Technically, that was an act of war, so we'll reciprocate in kind. How 'bout that you goons?
Posted by: BA || 07/07/2005 10:08 Comments || Top||

#11  I'm pissed off today. Just think what could have been avoided if that limp-dick SOB Dhimmi Carter had the balls to smack the mullahs hard in '79. Arrgh! My blood pressure....
Posted by: Spot || 07/07/2005 10:31 Comments || Top||

#12  Mine too Spot. I am soooo tired of watching the muderous ideology and thugs get a pass by our "civilized" governments and press. They are out to kill us! They want to rule us and forcably convert us! Don't you meatheads get it? Just because the mooks in towels smile at you, doesn't mean they like you, want to be your friend, or desire peace! They are trying to get our guard down! GRRRRRR!!
Posted by: mmurray821 || 07/07/2005 10:38 Comments || Top||

#13  ..compared with the omission of command by Ariel Sharon,..

Not surprisingly, it's all relative to the actions of the Jews.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 07/07/2005 11:33 Comments || Top||

#14  Right Spot!

Or if Jimmy-boy had supported our longtime ally the Shah. He might not have been perfect but we was better then the Mullahs.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 07/07/2005 11:45 Comments || Top||

#15  ... but *he* was better then the mullahs.

(need coffee....)
Posted by: CrazyFool || 07/07/2005 11:46 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran’s nuclear negotiator resigns
Source is Debka. Wait for confirmation...
Hassan Rohani who has led his country’s nuclear talks with the European Union since 2003 has stepped down - also as secretary of the Supreme National Security Council. No reason was given.
Posted by: Fred || 07/07/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Another excuse to delay...
Must be real close to that working nuke.
Posted by: 3dc || 07/07/2005 0:04 Comments || Top||

#2  Hmmm...
Posted by: .com || 07/07/2005 1:07 Comments || Top||

#3  Oops, exceeded his lie quota. Bring on the next one.
Posted by: Captain America || 07/07/2005 3:41 Comments || Top||

#4  radiation poisoning
Posted by: Frank G || 07/07/2005 14:06 Comments || Top||


Iran Wants to Break IAEA Seals on Frozen Atomic Parts
Iran has asked the United Nations' International Atomic Energy Agency to let it temporarily break UN seals on atomic equipment that has been mothballed under an agreement with the EU's three biggest powers, diplomats said yesterday. A senior Iranian official confirmed this was true but denied that it was a violation of its pledge to freeze all activities linked to the production of enriched-uranium fuel, a technology that can be used to in either atomic power plants or weapons. "The Iranians have approached the (UN) agency with a request to temporarily remove seals from a component at the UCF (Uranium Conversion Facility) in Isfahan to conduct a test on this component," a diplomat said on condition on anonymity.
Posted by: Fred || 07/07/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  another clue...
Just around the corner from the bomb...
Take them out now!
Posted by: 3dc || 07/07/2005 0:11 Comments || Top||

#2  I disagree. I think the opposite, in fact. But hey, that's show biz, lol! We shall see.
Posted by: .com || 07/07/2005 1:09 Comments || Top||

#3  ...a request to temporarily remove seals from a component

Someone forgot the combination to the safe and the extra copy is in there.

Seriously, I am getting a sadistic thought and hope that Iran gets the bomb and soon. The US and Israel have anti-missle defenses and I would love to see the UN, EU, and the IAEA get egg smeared all over their faces. "News flash! Iran nukes Paris over not getting enough tribute!"
BREWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
Posted by: mmurray821 || 07/07/2005 12:06 Comments || Top||

#4  I don't think they'd have to directly nuke Paris, mmurray. Like after the Chernoble incident, I do believe much of Europe is downwind from the corridor between the Iranian launch site and the Israeli target... somewhere within which the missile might be exploded in mid-air. Even given their concern about their Iranian customers, I do not understand why France and Germany aren't concerned about the literal fall-out.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/07/2005 12:51 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan/South Asia
HRW: High-level Afghan officials implicated in war crimes
Posted by: Seafarious || 07/07/2005 23:06 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: Tech
Combat Droids Get Smaller and Smarter
July 7, 2005: One of the more successful combat robots is now available in a new model. The PakBot Explorer has three cameras, plus better mobility than earlier models. PakBot UGVs (Unmanned Ground Vehicles) weigh from 25-53 40 pounds (depending on equipment carried), can operate under water and travel on land at speeds of up to 14 kilometers an hour (3-4 meters a second). The new model has built-in GPS, as well as temperature sensors. Most of the hundred PakBots out there are the heavier EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) models. But newer, lighter models are designed for infantry use. The PakBots are controlled via a wireless system (with a range of about 1,000 meters). Costing about $45,000 each, the PakBot first showed up in Afghanistan in 2002, and a year later in Iraq. The infantry troops are encouraged by the models they have been given so far, but want them to be smaller, lighter and more reliable. That’s probably going to take the rest of the decade to accomplish. A ten pound UGV that can be tossed through a door, window or cave entrance, then operated via a hand held controller, or onboard software (artificial intelligence) seems to be the objective.
Posted by: Steve || 07/07/2005 14:20 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1 

geroirhgidfigh ei id dn inv dnbid idf nbdf vbo
kdh gisooiun soj nvi fv i 3PO?
Posted by: BigEd || 07/07/2005 16:21 Comments || Top||

#2  Oh, and can it play CDs, DVDs, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 games? Or at least let 'The Gimp' Kronkowski down in the tech section mod it with parts from the PLL list and local merchants so it can?
Posted by: Radar || 07/07/2005 17:38 Comments || Top||

#3  But can it cough?
Posted by: General Grevious || 07/07/2005 18:11 Comments || Top||


Iraq-Jordan
Top Hussein Lawyer Quits, Chides U.S.
EFL:Time to call 1-800-Sokoloff maybe, Sammy?
AMMAN, Jordan - Saddam Hussein's chief lawyer quit the Iraqi dictator's Jordan-based legal team, saying Thursday some of the team's American members were trying to control the defense and tone down his criticism of the U.S. presence in Iraq. Ziad al-Khasawneh told The Associated Press he tendered his resignation in a telephone call Tuesday to Saddam's wife, Sajida, who is believed to be in Yemen.
Hokay. More money for us.
"I told her I was resigning because some American lawyers in the defense team want to take control of it and isolate their Arab counterparts," said al-Khasawneh, an Arab nationalist who has often expressed support for Iraqi resistance. Among the Americans on the team are former U.S. attorney general Ramsey Clark. Al-Khasawneh said Clark and Curtis Doebbler, another American lawyer helping defend Saddam, were "upset with my statements and have often asked me to refrain from criticizing the American occupation of Iraq and the U.S.-backed Iraqi government."
Whodda thunk it! Ramsey Clark: Bush Stooge! Methinks the counseler maybe full of the, how you say,...shit?
Al-Khasawneh said Saddam's eldest daughter, Raghad, allegedly removed all files related to Saddam's defense from his office. "I was away in Libya when she did all that without my knowledge," he said. Raghad favors the Americans and non-Arabs on the team "because she thinks they will win the case and free her father," he said.
Sounds like Raghead isn't too impressed with them legal skills of yours, counselor?
Saddam's legal team includes 1,500 volunteers and at least 22 lead lawyers who come from several countries, including the United States, France, Jordan, Iraq and Libya. No date has been set for the trial of Saddam, captured by U.S. troops in December 2003.
Yeah, I got nothing to do. Wait! I know! I'll volunteer to work on Saddam Hussein's defense team! That'll look great on a resume!
Al-Khasawneh said Raghad was allegedly seeking to exchange the Jordan-based legal team with an international Emergency Committee for Iraq, which was announced last month in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Just keep those checks rolling in, Raghead, no matter who show's up for this global waste of time...
The committee seeks to ensure a fair trial for Saddam and other officials of the former Iraqi government that was ousted by U.S. forces two years ago, said former Malaysian leader Mahathir Mohamad, announcing the committee. Besides Mahathir, other co-chairs include Clark, former Algerian President Ahmed Ben Bella and former French Foreign Minister Roland Dumas.
You want to handle this one, Inspector Reynaud?
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/07/2005 11:40 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Saddam's eldest daughter, Raghad, allegedly removed all files related to Saddam's defense from his office

Sounds a lot like he got fired. Except lawyers never get fired. They "leave to pursue outside interests"...
Posted by: mojo || 07/07/2005 13:37 Comments || Top||

#2 
Time to call 1-800-Sokoloff maybe, Sammy?

Only if Uncle Saddy is suffering from mesothelioma.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 07/07/2005 14:48 Comments || Top||

#3  1500 volunteers, ya say? Definitely want to get a list of these folks and do some cross-referencing with the intel folks.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 07/07/2005 18:51 Comments || Top||

#4  1500, ya say? put em on buses, take em out to the mass graves. Let em dig some more
Posted by: Frank G || 07/07/2005 20:28 Comments || Top||


What business does the US have in Iraq?
from Amir Taheri - RTWT


The only rational way to approach this issue is to ask: What business does the United States have in Iraq? If we assume it has no business, a perfectly legitimate position, we should be asking not for a time-table but immediate withdrawal. But if we assume the United States is in Iraq on some business then, surely, we cannot talk of withdrawal in abstraction. Also, any success or failure could then be measured against the goals of that business. Thus the real debate concerns the nature of the business the United States may have in Iraq and the best ways of accomplishing it.

Did the United States go to Iraq to seize oil resources and bring oil prices down? If yes, then with oil prices pegged at $60 (Dh220) per barrel compared to $18 (Dh66) before the war, it has failed and better bring its troops back immediately.

Or did the United States go to Iraq only to topple Saddam Hussain and to finish the job which Bush Senior had left unfinished? If that is the case, the United States has succeeded because Saddam and almost all his henchmen are under lock and key. Again, the United States can declare that it achieved its goal and bring its soldiers home.

US President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair, however, claim the US-led coalition is in Iraq on an altogether more ambitious mission, of which the toppling of Saddam Hussain was only the first phase.

That mission is aimed at transforming Iraq from a despotic system into a vibrant democracy. The plan is a part of a broader strategy to bring the Middle East into the global political and economic mainstream.

The US-led intervention in Iraq and earlier in Afghanistan, however, is not the result of starry-eyed altruism but the fruit of enlightened self-interest. Today, the single deadliest threat to the US national security comes from Islamist terrorism which, although it has sympathisers in the West, uses the Middle East as its main support base. Terrorism cannot be defeated and eventually uprooted unless it is deprived of the swamps of despotism in which it breeds like deadly mosquitoes.

The United States and its allies are beginning to abandon the 60-year or so policy of allying themselves with Arab despots in exchange for cheap oil...
Posted by: BrerRabbit || 07/07/2005 08:36 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Read the full story at the link, he starts to actually make sense towards the end of his article.
Imagine that, an arab that actually makes sense!
Never thought I'd live long enough to see that.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 07/07/2005 9:31 Comments || Top||

#2  big jim, do you read Taheri often? He's made sense for a very long time.
Posted by: rkb || 07/07/2005 9:34 Comments || Top||

#3  I thought even this page made good sense....
Posted by: Shiipman || 07/07/2005 9:34 Comments || Top||

#4  I always liked this guy. One of the few arabs that don't wander around, zombie-like, muttering everything is the joooos and the US's fault.
Posted by: mmurray821 || 07/07/2005 10:31 Comments || Top||

#5  Actually, Amir Taheri is an iranian, anti-mullah to his core and quite well informed on ME policies.

You can read many of his column fo free at :
http://www.benadorassociates.com/
Posted by: frenchfregoli || 07/07/2005 11:44 Comments || Top||

#6  Terrorism cannot be defeated and eventually uprooted unless it is deprived of the swamps of despotism in which it breeds like deadly mosquitoes.



And we need to stay the course, and keep a full supply of "bug repellant" handy. This was an appropriate analogy.



I hope most Islamoslimes will "come back" in the next life as some sort of insect that is deastined to be stepped on. CRUNCH. Then eaten by a housecat as a mid-afternoon snack.
Posted by: BigEd || 07/07/2005 11:56 Comments || Top||

#7  Thatn looks like a beatle on the lower left.
Posted by: Aides Egypti Shipman || 07/07/2005 12:43 Comments || Top||

#8  Good read. Reasoned discourse. Wish the MSM in the US would write more like Amir Taheri. One might conclude that word merchants of US MSM are either dumb or lazy or both. Drain the swamp ASAP.
Posted by: John Q. Citizen || 07/07/2005 12:50 Comments || Top||

#9  Are you sure he is Arab? he is from Iran so could be Persian.
Posted by: Hupomoque Spoluter7949 || 07/07/2005 13:26 Comments || Top||

#10  call him an arab and he will behead you with a pencil--he used to be the editor of tehran's leading daily newspaper until the mullahs wanted to liquidate him--he's one of the smartest middle east analysts we have and is on the side of freedom
Posted by: SON OF TOLUI || 07/07/2005 14:00 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan/South Asia
Afghanistan says Al-Qaeda, Taliban leaders are in Pakistan
They've only got to catch them once to settle the argument, don't they?
Afghanistan said that senior Al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders were hiding in Pakistan's tribal areas, the latest salvo in a row between the two neighbours over their success in the so-called "war on terror". The comments by Interior Ministry spokesman Lutfullah Mashal came a day after Pakistan's interior minister was quoted as saying that Osama bin Laden and other key militants may be in southern Afghanistan. "We believe that the senior Taliban and Al-Qaeda leaders are still hiding in the tribal belt of Pakistan's federally controlled tribal area," Mashal told AFP on Wednesday.

US and Afghan officials have long said they think bin Laden and other Al-Qaeda kingpins have been hiding out in the mountains on the frontier between Afghanistan and Pakistan since the Taliban were toppled in late 2001. Islamabad and Kabul have recently traded accusations about whose side of the border the militants are on, and who is to blame for failing to find them. Pakistan's interior minister Aftab Ahmed Sherpao reportedly told state media Tuesday that bin Laden, his deputy Ayman Al-Zawahiri and fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar might be in troubled southern Afghanistan, where the Taliban have stepped up attacks.
Posted by: Fred || 07/07/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  There's been a report of a video released to the net a few weeks ago, of paki troops being routed by jehadi types in Afghanistan..anyone have a link?
Posted by: Red Dog || 07/07/2005 1:45 Comments || Top||


Africa: North
Nour's Trial Adjourned Until After Elections
The forgery trial of opposition leader and presidential candidate Ayman Nour has been adjourned until after Egypt's elections in September, Judge Adel Abdul Salam announced yesterday. But in line with Egyptian law, the trial postponement will not affect Nour's candidacy as he has been charged so far but not condemned. He appeared before Cairo's Criminal Court yesterday and twice last week as a free man. Salam said the trial has been adjourned until Sept. 25, while the elections are scheduled to take place in the first two weeks of the month.

"We would have wished that Nour could have proved his innocence before the presidential elections. It is a very long and unjustified delay," said defense lawyer Amir Salem. Egyptian authorities accuse him of forging some of the signatures needed to obtain state approval for the creation of his Ghad (tomorrow) party last year.
Posted by: Fred || 07/07/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Africa: Horn
Khartoum Readies for Garang’s Return
Preparations were under way yesterday to welcome former southern rebel leader John Garang back to Khartoum following a key January peace accord with the Sudanese government. Meanwhile, the Sudanese Parliament unanimously adopted a new constitution for a six-year interim period provided in the deal that will start on July 9. Garang, head of the Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement, is due to arrive tomorrow on his first Khartoum visit in more than 22 years to take up his post as first vice president a day later, in line with the accord. Garang and his 200-strong delegation are to meet President Omar Bashir and a similar number of officials from the ruling National Congress Party upon arrival, SPLM spokesman Yasser Arman told reporters here.

After the meeting, the SPLM leader is expected to address a crowd of hundreds of thousands of people from north and south Sudan in the capital’s main Green Square. “It shall be the beginning of the process of normalizing relations,” said Amal Abbas, a journalist and member of a National Reception Committee, headed by popular Sudanese singer Mohammed Wardi. In Khartoum, Sudanese lawmakers approved all provisions of the constitution which, among other things, provides for a presidential republic with Bashir staying on as ruler, Garang becoming president of South Sudan and first vice president. He replaces Ali Osman Taha who will become second vice president. The constitution was drafted by a commission, which included a majority of NCP representatives and a little less than a third from the SPLM.
Posted by: Fred || 07/07/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Caption Contest!

"Really? All is forgiven?"
Posted by: .com || 07/07/2005 0:30 Comments || Top||

#2  Naw. he's reading his email from Mrs. Abacha.
Posted by: Seafarious || 07/07/2005 0:33 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine
Abbas Begins Landmark Syria Visit
Posted by: Fred || 07/07/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Checking out the guest houses, Abu Mazen?
Posted by: Seafarious || 07/07/2005 0:36 Comments || Top||

#2  That would be clever of him -- leave the sinking rowboat that is the P.A. to climb aboard the sinking ship that is Syria.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/07/2005 1:13 Comments || Top||

#3  The democratically elected leader of the Palestinian People, visits the democratically elected leader of the Syrian People. They'll discuss the issues of regional security and development....
Posted by: gromgorru || 07/07/2005 5:34 Comments || Top||

#4  LOL!
Posted by: Shiipman || 07/07/2005 9:03 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Thu 2005-07-07
  Terror Strikes in London Underground - Death Toll Rising
Wed 2005-07-06
  Gunnies Going After Diplos in Iraq
Tue 2005-07-05
  Three Egyptians on trial for Sinai bombings
Mon 2005-07-04
  Egyptian envoy to Baghdad kidnapped
Sun 2005-07-03
  Al-Hayeri toes up
Sat 2005-07-02
  Hundreds of Afghan Troops Raid Taliban Hide-Out
Fri 2005-07-01
  16 U.S. Troops Killed in Afghan Crash
Thu 2005-06-30
  Ricin plot leader gets 10 years
Wed 2005-06-29
  The List: Saudi Arabia's 36 Most Wanted
Tue 2005-06-28
  New offensive in Anbar
Mon 2005-06-27
  'Head' of Ansar al-Sunna captured
Sun 2005-06-26
  76 more terrorists whacked in Afghanistan
Sat 2005-06-25
  Ahmadinejad wins Iran election
Fri 2005-06-24
  132 Talibs toes up in Zabul fighting
Thu 2005-06-23
  Saudi Terror Suspect Said Killed in Iraq


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