The Qatar-based satellite TV channel Al Jazeera has vowed to appeal against the seven-year jail sentence given to its journalist Taysir Allouni by a Spanish court on Monday. Allouni was found guilty of "collaboration with a terrorist organisation". News editor Ahmad al-Shaikh has condemned his sentence, calling it "a black day in the history of Spanish justice" and a "dangerous" and "unprecedented action" in the history of journalism.
Allouni, a father of five who is Syrian but has Spanish citizenship, became famous as Al Jazeera's correspondent in Kabul during the US-led invasion of Afghanistan. He also interviewed Osama bin Laden after the September 11 attacks in 2001.
He was first arrested in September 2003 in the southern Spanish city of Granada, where he was living, as part of an investigation into militant activities in Spain. He was then re-arrested in November last year, as the authorities believed he might try to leave the country, and was held in isolation in a prison near Madrid. Last month he was released on medical grounds and put under house arrest, as he is suffering heart and back problems.
The channel urged that he be released on bail for health reasons pending an appeal hearing, and said it stands by him.
"We still believe that our colleague Taysir is innocent of the charges against him," a statement issued by the channel said. "It is a verdict that is based on circumstantial evidence at best. This verdict is a big shock for us. We are convinced of Taysir's innocence."
A spokesman from the Arab Human Rights Committee, Haitham Manna, says that though rights observers had warned them to expect a sentence, he was amazed Allouni was given more than two years. "He [the chief judge] was forced to fabricate a sentence to save the face of Spanish judicial and political forces in this country," he said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/30/2005 00:38 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
Fair enough, but don't bitch at us when the IMU and HuT start running things in Tashkent ...
After cutting off U.S. access to a key military base, Uzbekistan has also quietly terminated cooperation with Washington on counterterrorism, a move that could affect both countries' ability to deal with al Qaeda and its allies in Central Asia and neighboring Afghanistan, U.S. officials said.
The government of President Islam Karimov, one of the most authoritarian to emerge from the collapse of the Soviet Union, has made a broader strategic decision to move away from the 2002 agreement made with President Bush after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and is cooling relations with Europe as well, the officials said.
The move follows tough criticism from Washington and the European Union over Uzbekistan's crackdown on protests in May in Andijan province, where human rights and opposition groups say hundreds died. Uzbekistan has charged that terrorists initiated the violence.
As tensions deepen, Karimov is shifting his strategic alliance toward Russia and China, the officials said. In July, Tashkent banned U.S. troops and warplanes from the Karshi-Khanabad air base, which was used for counterterrorism, military and humanitarian missions.
Because of the internal Uzbek crackdown, the European Union laid the groundwork yesterday for a vote expected on Monday to impose new sanctions on Uzbekistan for failing to allow an independent international inquiry of the Andijan incidents. The measures include an embargo on arms and any equipment that could be used for internal repression, and visa restrictions for any Uzbek official linked to the violence, European diplomats said.
Senior officials from the State Department, the Pentagon and the National Security Council held three hours of talks with Karimov on Tuesday to express U.S. concern about Uzbek human rights violations and the deterioration in relations between the two countries.
"We do want to cooperate, but it has to be across the board, not just on counterterrorism and security but also to support democratic and market reforms," Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried said yesterday in a telephone interview from Kazakhstan. He called the recent Uzbek decision to cut back on counterterrorism cooperation "very disappointing."
A spokesman from the Uzbek Embassy in Washington said his nation is still cooperating with the United States but would not comment further.
The E.U. has been pressuring Washington to impose similar sanctions, but the Bush administration wants to give Karimov one last chance to renew cooperation. "The United States is going to look very closely at whether Karimov responds to our message, and, if not, we will draw conclusions," Fried said. "We're not talking about six months. My purpose was not to drag out the process."
The Bush administration has concluded that Karimov fears democracy more than terrorism, officials said. The biggest threat to his government is the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, which a State Department report says has been involved in attacks on U.S. forces in Afghanistan and has plotted attacks on U.S. diplomatic facilities in Central Asia. Aligned with al Qaeda, it seeks to overthrow Karimov and create an Islamic government, the report says.
The Uzbek issue is gaining more attention on Capitol Hill. Reps. William D. Delahunt (D-Mass.) and Lloyd Doggett (D-Tex.) held a news conference yesterday to urge the White House to end all Pentagon payments to Tashkent and to go to the United Nations to bring the Uzbek leader to justice.
Karimov "inflicts immeasurable pain and misery on his own people and then evicts us from a strategic military facility -- and the Pentagon's idea of a penalty is the gift of millions of U.S. tax dollars," Delahunt said. The Pentagon recently agreed to pay $23 million for past use of the K-2 air base.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/30/2005 02:42 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
karimov still works with Russia,and Russia cooperates with us (it is said) in the WOT. So if say, Karimov heard about the location of a senior AQ, hed pass it to Putin, and Putin would pass it to us.
Sounds more like theyre wont be working with us day to day, more than a turn away from the GWOT in general.
Via DhimmiWatch An imam slated to be sworn in Friday as the second Muslim chaplain in Fire Department history said he questioned whether 19 hijackers were responsible for the Sept. 11 terror attacks, and suggested a broader conspiracy may have brought down the Twin Towers and killed more than 2,700 people.
Just fire the idiot now and get it over with. Isn't everybody tired of that claptrap by now?
In a telephone interview Thursday, Imam Intikab Habib, 30, a native of Guyana who studied Islam in Saudi Arabia, said he doubted the United States government's official story blaming 19 hijackers associated with al-Quaida and Osama bin Laden. "I as an individual don't know who did the attacks," said Habib, 30, a soft-spoken man who immigrated to New York in July 2000 after spending six years in Saudi Arabia getting a degree in Islamic theology and law. "There are so many conflicting reports about it. I don't believe it was 19 ... hijackers who did those attacks."
Then you shouldn't be affiliated with the FDNY. Period. Go back to Soddy Arabia. Stay there. Don't come back.
Asked to elaborate on his reasons for doubting that story, he talked about video and news reports widely disseminated in the Muslim community. "I've heard professionals say that nowhere ever in history did a steel building come down with fire alone," he said. "It takes two or three weeks to demolish a building like that. But it was pulled down in a couple of hours. Was it 19 hijackers who brought it down, or was it a conspiracy?"
Fire, explosion, and hatred. Now go back to Arabia and don't bother people who aren't nuts.
Questioned about who he believed was responsible for the attacks, Habib said he didn't know. He said, however, that he did not expect to raise his doubts with rank-and-file firefighters -- nor did he share them two weeks ago when he participated in several Sept. 11 memorials on behalf of the Fire Department. "My position as a chaplain is that whoever did it, it's a tragic incident," he said. "I feel sorrow for the families who lost loved ones and for the firefighters who died in it. Whoever did it, it was a very wrong thing. It's always wrong to take an innocent human life."
Very pious of you, bub.
A spokesman for the Fire Department, Frank Gribbon, said that Habib was recommended by the department's Islamic Society and was hired "based on his credentials as a religious person. We don't ask new employees about their political views before we hire them." Stephen Cassidy, president of the Uniformed Firefighters Association, could not be reached for comment.
What His Holiness is expressing aren't political views, but a denial of the reality that affected FDNY and cost the lives of too many of its people. If he's too goddamned lazy or illiterate to research the evidence in favor of an attack by 19 krazed killers, which was available within 36 hours of the attacks, then he shouldn't be associated with FDNY.
Habib's remarks about the attacks came in response to questions about whether he thought firefighters would accept a chaplain who had been educated in Saudi Arabia. He said he did not expect that to be an issue because "I come from a country where you're accustomed to living with people of different ethnic, religious and racial backgrounds."
What different religious backgrounds? Salafist and non-Salafist?
When pressed further about whether the hijackers' backgrounds -- 15 of whom were Saudi -- might make his training an issue for still-grieving firefighters, he went on to express his own doubts about the hijacker story.
That, to me, indicates a mind that doesn't work right. If the question involved him and his involvement with Satan's Kingdom, and he answered another question about 19 other guys, then he either wasn't paying attention or he didn't want to answer the question about himself. Either way, they don't need him.
Habib was one of several imams recommended for the chaplain's job by the Islamic Society for the Fire Department, as a result of his work teaching junior high students at Al-Ihsan Academy in Ozone Park, a private Islamic school, where he worked for about five years. "He's a good man," said Hakim Braxton, president of the Islamic Society. "Any statements he's made, he's responsible for ... But I would ask that the citizens of this city give him a chance and judge him on his actions."
His job involves words, not actions. That's what he does for a living. Now, when you talk for a living, generally people expect that what you say makes a sort of sense.
Braxton also stressed that neither he nor anyone in the Islamic Society would agree with anyone who tried to justify the terror attack in any way. "I lost friends, family, co-workers," he said. Braxton described Habib as a "humble, grounded and family man, which is a good thing in this job, because he's trying to help everyone and he's representing a very diverse community."
The very diverse community he's representing appears not to believe that Soddy terrorists were responsible for the attack on the WTC. They think it was a conspiracy, maybe by Jews or by the U.S. gummint or by Esquimeaux or Samoans.
Habib himself said he saw his role as ministering to every member of the Fire Department, not just to Muslims. "Being a chaplain in the Fire Department, I serve the whole Fire Department," he said.
"He's quit, Jim Fred"
Imam resigns as incoming FDNY chaplain after report
September 30, 2005, 12:04 PM EDT: An imam slated to be sworn in today as the second Muslim chaplain in Fire Department history, instead resigned after making controversial remarks on the Sept. 11 attacks in an interview with Newsday. "The Fire Department this morning received the resignation of Imam Intikab Habib from his position of FDNY Chaplain," said FDNY Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta. "Based on comments he made to Newsday, Imam Intikab Habib would have been unable to effectively serve in the role he was appointed to." "I did not want to (resign), but it was best for the department," Habib told NY1 today.
Was it something I said? I'd like to think so...
Posted by: ed ||
09/30/2005 08:52 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
"I've heard professionals say that nowhere ever in history did a steel building come down with fire alone,"
Bring your own physics and engineering rules! They're not universal, you know! You don't have to understand it, just be pretending to quote an expert who does! Make sure to make the authorities in your argument-by-authority anonymous for extra points....
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
09/30/2005 9:06 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Imam Intikab Habib, 30, a native of Guyana who studied Islam in Saudi Arabia
Well, what a surprise!
So when's Hamas getting a rabbi as a chaplain?
What PC bulllshit! When are the FDNY Druids getting their guy? How about the Wiccans, the Moonies, the Scientologists?
Posted by: Donald Trump ||
09/30/2005 9:52 Comments ||
Top||
#4
So, how many Muslims in FDNY? Six? I'd guess more if it were NYPD, but as I understand it, FDNY is exceedingly white - there's less than 400 blacks on the payroll. [I did the numbers, and I figure that if the department matches the general population, there's about fifteen black Muslims, plus however many white converts and any Asian born-that-ways. Say about 20?]
I'm willing to bet that at least some sort of incident occurs. What a massively boneheaded appointment.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
09/30/2005 9:55 Comments ||
Top||
#5
I'd love to know who he thinks was behind it. Press him on this and you'd get a combination of Bush and Mossad.
"There are many conflicting reports"
er, no, there aren't. binny confessed. any "conflicting reports" are simply products of islamonazis seeking to blame others.
I hope there's a real backlash in the FDNY against this a$$wipe.
#6
This, and many other things from Dhimmi watch, convinces me that the Mythical Moderate Muslim is mostly, well, mythical.
Given the people I've known in my rank and files crappy works, almost all of the muslims I discussed with were muslim and/or algerian, tunisian,... (I'm talking about normal, IE not homeboys nor thugs, born in France from french parents) first, and had a muslim-centered worldview alien to "western one", complete with conspiracy theory ("the israelis bomb themselves to blame islam", said to me by a mild mannered, very nice comorean cook)...
I'm sorry, but I really have to question the allegiance, my personal if bigoted opinion being that if you're a "good" muslim, you're obligatory muslim first (this is often combined with being arab, since arabs are by defintion the islamic Master Race).
Only a "bad" (that is secular) muslim can shift his allegiance to another entity such as the USA, the FDNY,... and if you add the fact that any "bad" muslim can re-islamize himself by going back to the texts (and so to jihad), and that most of the "secular" muslims are in fact attentists and follower, anything more than a small muslim presence in an org or a country is hazardous for its coherence.
For example, there are now 10-20% muslims in new professional french army, with up to 30-40% in combat units such as paratroopers, and this pose many problems... not to mention the fact that a survey found that only 1 in ten muslim young men would fight for France, and that many would certainly not fight against "their" country (Algeria, Morocco,..., even if they are 3rd generation).
And the same goes for the belgian army, which had to re-incorporate (due to political pressure) mulsim soldiers ousted because they precisely said they wouldn't fight for Belgium or against a muslim country.
#8
Yo, Intikab, we got a three alarm at Broad and Pearl. Want to come a long and climb the ladder?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
09/30/2005 11:31 Comments ||
Top||
#9
Please go here:
http://nyc.gov/html/mail/html/mailfdny.html
Write a letter of complaint to Nicholas Scopetta, fire commissioner. Urge him to fire/dismiss this idiot, whose foul views are an insult to the memory of the firefighters who died trying to save residents of my city.
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/30/2005 12:34 Comments ||
Top||
#11
Odd, isn't it, that this fellow was recommended by the Muslims in the FDNY?
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
09/30/2005 13:01 Comments ||
Top||
#12
It never fails to amaze me that the Islamic mind can put Bin Laden up as a hero for successfully attacking the great Satan and then in the next breath say that it was all an inside attack.
It really is no wonder they act crazy, because many of them have short-circuited themselves.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
09/30/2005 14:08 Comments ||
Top||
#16
Resigned like a former FEMA Director. I if it was the higher up's who pushed this or the fact no firehouse in NYC would take this Douchebag in?
Posted by: Charles ||
09/30/2005 14:20 Comments ||
Top||
#17
He should leave the US on his own. Too many widows and orphans from that day know either where he lives, or are going to find out, and want to pay him a visit in order to have a little "talk" with him..
#18
Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta: "Based on comments he made to Newsday, Imam Intikab Habib would have been unable to effectively serve in the role he was appointed to."
Understatement of the year
But what the heck! Let's all hold hands and sing a few choruses of KUMBAY-YA. Get those nasty politically incorect thoughts out of our heads, regarding raising more questions about Islam and this Religion of Peace stuff...
#23
Well that was fast. Story comes out in the morning and imam Ostrich is out by noon. Good job NYC. Now deport his ass to Guyana or, preferably, Saudi.
Posted by: ed ||
09/30/2005 19:49 Comments ||
Top||
#1
I don't consider Kevin Sites anti-American. I think he shot a video of a murky, stressful combat situation. Those TV stations that then showed every 15 minutes for weeks the 3 seconds of video of the Marine pulling the trigger are the propagandists and deserving a JDAM in their roof. They are the one who have sided with the mass murderers of Saddam's Baath, Sadr's Iranian sponsored executioners, and Al Qaeda.
Posted by: ed ||
09/30/2005 6:37 Comments ||
Top||
#2
In "The Hunt for Bin Laden", Robin Moore tells of how the Special Ops soldiers loved Sites, making a reference that he could easily be one of them. Sites gets a bad rap for Fallujah incident, but every time I have seen him speak he tells of how confusing the situation was.
#3
Sites gets a bad rap for Fallujah incident, but every time I have seen him speak he tells of how confusing the situation was.
How confusing could it be? Booby-trapping dead bodies or injured combatants was a very real threat at the time. So a terr was dispatched - big deal. At the very least, having to treat, clothe, and feed the bastard is no longer a necessity.
#4
I admit I have a negative bias against Sites - unfair, maybe? But his overblown, self-aggrandizing ads for his website sure don't endear him to me. My wife got a good chuckle when she read one last night.
#5
Sites was a freelancer with guts. He hooked up with FOX, the "We report, you decide" network for awhile and had some great video. The video was truthful and vindicated the shooting by showing movement. Maybe he's feeling slighted, looosing the adrenaline rush of combat, and is crying out for attention.
ht LGF
To almost no one's surprise, Gov. George Pataki banished the proposed International Freedom Center from ground zero on Wednesday, a day before he announced plans to build a half-million square feet of retail space at the World Trade Center site. Any orderly, open process for creating a vibrant, meditative space there has been discarded. Mr. Pataki killed the Freedom Center a few hours before a public forum on its fate was scheduled to be held. He killed it before the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation had a chance to vote on it.
Since late June, it has been clear that Mr. Pataki would no longer support the Freedom Center, except on terms that would render it meaningless. His argument is that the center's plans are simply too controversial, a notion that was also endorsed by Senator Hillary Clinton earlier this week. It seems to have made no difference that this was an idea Mr. Pataki supported early on, or that the Freedom Center's plans are almost precisely what the development corporation proposed in its outline for a cultural presence at ground zero. Nor does it seem to have mattered that the protest against the Freedom Center - or, more truthfully, against any cultural presence at the World Trade Center site - was based on false information and a profound fear of free speech.
At the root of that vitriolic protest was one question: "Why here?" Why imagine creating an institution that would celebrate freedom and foster discussion of its meaning, and the meaning of 9/11, within the memorial quadrant of ground zero? Wouldn't that dishonor the dead? We have never thought so. We believe that the site is sacred to more than death. It is sacred to life and to the principles - as well as the people - attacked there on Sept. 11, 2001. We believe that this country can be made stronger only by free speech. We believe that the power of that site should be used to consider what happened that day and to see what lessons we can derive from it, not only to mourn the dead.
#1
Good read! And this from a former CEO of CBS and Gannett.....
The word âtreason,â which according to my dictionary means the âViolation of allegiance toward oneâs country or sovereign, especially the betrayal of oneâs country by waging war against it or by consciously and purposely acting to aid its enemies,â needs to be revived and used, since many so-called Americans are âconsciously and purposely acting to aid its enemies.â
We all have a choice. When we are at war, we can all choose to join together under our president, regardless of his or her party affiliation, in order to win, preserve our nation and stay freeâORâwe can surrender and allow the flag of another nation, or culture, to fly over our nationâs capitol, while we silently fold away âOld Glory,â with its red, white and blue colors, for another future generation which will follow the footsteps of our founding fathers and be brave enough to free its people and grant them independence once again.
Patrick Henry said, âGive me liberty or give me death.â He made his choice. What is yours?
#2
I've often wondered what effect the killing of one or two ACLU attorney's would have on the rest of the organization. Would they rally and come out fighting - or would they go underground and hide until things cooled off.
I also think that sometimes - some people need to be reminded that political power comes from the barrel of a gun.
#6
This is utter bullshit! Does the ACLU demand that kiddy-porn be released in those cases because the public has a right to know? And you know why they donât release those pictures? Because if they did, parents would storm the jail house and lynch every pedophiles that was caught. I saw a LLL woman on with tucker Carlson (canât recall name) and she stated that they (the LLL) were disappointed that Dick Cheney never was indicted for the Abu Gharib case and hopefully yhese photos will do the trick. No if that doesnât bring the left position into clarity I donât know what will. They want to âgetâ anyone in the Bush administration and if that hurts the U.S. in the process then thatâs ok with them. I guess the Judge is of the same mindset or he would understand that releasing will not add a single conviction to the case but inflame the Arab/Muslim at a critical time in Iraq. Good show ACLU please take your place in Hell. I hope some lawyers sue the ACLU when someone gets killed in the ensuing riots after these pictures/videos are released.
#7
I just hope and pray that not one American or Iraqi dies because of some Al-Queda idiot decides to explode himself at a checkpoint over these photos. And if anyone is then the blame should be laid at the ACLUs doorstep.
#8
Robert, I agree on RICO. Also, acts of sedition come to mind.
We need someone with sufficient prominence to take on and diminish the ACLU.
Posted by: Captain America ||
09/30/2005 15:45 Comments ||
Top||
#9
From a lawyer perspective you are forgetting the purpose of the ACLU.
The ACLU exist to create that BIG CASE that can make a lawyer's name. Once he/she has the NAME they can command BIG FEEs.
#11
I also have to wonder how many times an ACLU attorney has advised someone to commit an act that's against the law in the belief they can use the case to further their agenda.
Wouldn't that count as conspiracy?
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
09/30/2005 16:50 Comments ||
Top||
#12
Yes, that is conspiracy, but it would have to be proven. The person would have to wear a wire and have an approval of a judge to do so, to even have a chance.
An officer who has claimed that a classified military unit identified four Sept. 11 hijackers before the 2001 attacks is facing Pentagon accusations of breaking numerous rules, allegations his lawyer suggests are aimed at undermining his credibility. The alleged infractions by Army Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer, 42, include obtaining a service medal under false pretenses, improperly flashing military identification while drunk and stealing pens, according to military paperwork shown by his attorney to The Associated Press. Shaffer was one of the first to publicly link Sept. 11 leader Mohamed Atta to the unit code-named Able Danger. Shaffer was one of five witnesses the Pentagon ordered not to appear Sept. 21 before the Senate Judiciary Committee to discuss the unit's findings.
The military revoked Shaffer's top security clearance this month, a day before he was supposed to testify to a congressional committee. Mark Zaid, Shaffer's attorney, said the Pentagon started looking into Shaffer's security clearance about the time in 2003 he met in Afghanistan with staff members of the bipartisan commission that studied the Sept. 11 attacks and told them about Able Danger. Zaid said he can't prove the Pentagon went after Shaffer because he's a whistleblower, but "all the timing associated with the clearance issue has been suspiciously coincidental."
Citing concerns with the privacy act, Cmdr. Terry Sutherland, a Defense Intelligence Agency spokesman, declined to release any information on Shaffer. ...more...
#2
Pentagon rules -- sounds like they're kind of like speed limits -- they're set so low, cops can virtually stop anyone anywhere at any time for violating them.
Posted by: jolly roger ||
09/30/2005 6:29 Comments ||
Top||
#3
It's imperative that those who are obstructed, destroyed, and are now covering up the work of the Able Danger team be identified and punished. I am not a conspiracy fan, but this looking like an effort from some well connected people to suppress the what is now known to have been the most promising intelligence effort that might have prevented the 9/11/2001 attacks.
Posted by: ed ||
09/30/2005 6:46 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Showing irresponsibility with $2,012 in credit card debt. He said he paid off the debt.
That's it? If that's a criterion, I might as well not even try for a clearance.
#5
Rummey's head is nearer to the cutting block with every single *&#&)Y!!! misstep that these CYA suits keep making. Wake up call!! Time to lead that marine guard contingent from your office down to these yahoo's and start clearing house.
this looking like an effort from some well connected people to suppress the what is now known to have been the most promising intelligence effort that might have prevented the 9/11/2001 attacks.
It's a fine line. The way this has been played in the press really, really runs the risk of undermining what might well be the most important weapon we have in the GWOT.
I lived through the Vietnam days. What you are pushing to out is going to be lumped -- FAIRLY OR NOT -- with the illegal collection of info on war protestors from those days.
What's at stake here is bigger than hanging the Clinton administration for their series of derelictions.
Now, the minor issue. If this guy got a service medal under false pretenses and is flashing his creds inappropriately, he's a loose cannon at best. I know of several LtCols whose careers came to a screeching halt over that sort of shit.
No doubt the brass is coming down on him, but like I said, there are cases where those same offenses nailed guys.
This guy was in Special Ops. You do NOT want loose cannons in SOCOM.
Period.
and I can't emphasize too much how dangerous the pressure to out Able Danger might turn out to be, guys. Pentagon politics aside, you run the serious risk of exposing collection and analysis techniques that our current lives depend on. Weldon means well, but he's playing with far more fire than he seems to realize.
#9
If Weldon's playing with fire, take the truth to the appropriate intelligence cammittee and have the members pay a visit on Weldon to discuss the national interest.
The other option is there's a big turd on the floor and no body wants to admit it's there or their's.
I don't know which is true. But Weldon's heart seems to be in the right place and nobody seems to have told him to shut up, so I hope he keeps at it.
From everything I can infer about the collection and analysis techniques, there's little anybody could do reduce their risk if they knew how it works without returning to the stone age. This isn't just about satellite phones.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
09/30/2005 10:06 Comments ||
Top||
#10
Showing irresponsibility with $2,012 in credit card debt.
I have a $2500 balance on one of my Visa cards. Color me extra-irresponsible....
#11
"Mark Zaid, Shaffer's attorney, said the Pentagon started looking into Shaffer's security clearance about the time in 2003 he met in Afghanistan with staff members of the bipartisan commission that studied the Sept. 11 attacks and told them about Able Danger."
"The Sept. 11 commission has dismissed the claims. " 2005
I'm not jumping to conclusions but something doesn't smell right.
#12
We do not need to know techniques or methodologies. That is a red herring being pushed by those engaged in emergeny CYA to avoid exposure for their part in this real cover-up. What we need to know is if terrorist activity or terrorist were identified - yes or no. When they were identified. And who failed to kick the info up the chain of command [to the Sec of Def or even the President] to get a authorization to pass said info the agencies responsible for internal national security. Anything else is CYA coverage.
#13
He knew something like this was going to happen, he did the right thing and "fell on his sword". Pulling the security clearance is a big deal even though it's an administrative action (ie, legal rules don't apply). Without the clearance he can't get a beltway bandit job like the rest of the retired DC officer corps.
If the $2,012 of credit card debt was personal debt on a government card it would be an explicit violation of the rules. Still looks like a witchhunt to me, someone probably did a deep background check and only came up with trivial bs.
#14
Mrs D, You can significantly reduce your chances of showing up in a data mining exercise but undertaking 'pattern breaking' activities. The obvious example is paying cash but there are others. If you know or suspect the patterns they are looking for, then you can pretty much guarantee not to show up on the radar.
#15
I have a $2500 balance on one of my Visa cards. Color me extra-irresponsible....
Once I was about an order of magnitude higher. By the grace of God I'm out from under.
If the $2,012 of credit card debt was personal debt on a government card it would be an explicit violation of the rules.
Ah, now that would be entirely more believable. The report didn't state whether it was or wasn't. (quelle surprise)
#16
1) Yes, if there were personal charges on a government credit card it's a violation.
2) Yes, there is important information that could be inferred about our data mining capabilities - and their limitations - if enough info got out about what was seen when.
3) Weldon HAS been told to shut up indirectly by the Pentagon's response.
4) I would expect that the work of Able Danger was classified in a special compartment, meaning that he may well have broken serious security regs back in 2003 depending on the clearances held by those he talked to that year. Whether it was worth it is a separate question - but absolutely no one should expect to divulge compartmentalized info and retain his/her clearance.
Again, it's theoretically possible he broke the law - and not just an administrative reg - in so doing. I doubt he will be prosecuted for it, but I'm not at all sure this guy is a hero.
The accounts of one of the major mosque of New York, named Al-Falah Mosque which was located in the Corona district of New York, and was inhabited by majority of Pakistani and Bangladeshi citizens, has been frozen. The personal accounts of the Imam (chief administrator) have also been sealed along with. The mosque was frequented by various preaching delegations from Pakistan and Bangladesh, and they also held religious congregations. The decision was so sudden that, it transpired on the mosque administration only when they went to the bank for their daily transactions, where they were informed of the "federal freeze" on mosque's funds as well as personal account of the chief (administrator) Imam, Mr. Hafiz Piracha.
According to reliable sources, the mosque was under a strict vigil since a year, because of frequent visits of preaching delegations from all over the Islamic World. However, no arrests have been made so far.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/30/2005 02:55 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Asstes Frozen? Federal Freeze?
Chertoff the Hut?
Son of the Devil, Indeed!
(Chertoff translates from Russian as Devil's Son)...
September 30, 2005: Some interesting trends in the battle for Iraq. The government offensive throughout central (Sunni Arab) Iraq is largely being fought by Iraqi troops. American forces are almost always nearby, and American advisors go in with the Iraqis, to advise, not supervise. But it's mainly an Iraqi show.
This offensive has had three effects on the battle with Sunni Arab diehards.
First, it has killed hundreds of Sunni Arab gunmen, including dozens of al Qaeda foreigners. This included the capture of tons of weapons, bomb making material, other equipment and documents (paper or electronic on laptop hard drives). Prisoners and documents are quickly squeezed for additional information by an intelligence organization that has evolved into a highly effective "lead (to the next raid targets) generating machine." This American intel effort doesn't get the credit it deserves, but that's the nature of intel work, and the way the intel people prefer it.
Second, it has forced the terrorists to largely withdraw operations from Baghdad, and concentrate their remaining suicide bombers against targets in the suburbs, or in other areas of central Iraq where this new campaign is being fought. The terrorists have redoubled their efforts to trigger a civil war between Sunni Arabs and Shia Arabs, even as their supply of suicide bombers declines. Of course, one could say that such a civil war has been doing on for over two years. But al Qaeda wants the Shia Arabs to come down to their level, and massacre women and children. This al Qaeda has been doing for over a year, and it has turned most Iraqis, including many Sunni Arabs, against them. So far, all this al Qaeda strategy has generated is some Shia Arab and Kurdish death squads that round up and murder (after sometimes torturing) Sunni Arab men. Who are the victims? Apparently they are either suspected Sunni Arab terrorists, or men who once worked for Saddams vast security apparatus, and are being hunted by the kin of their victims. So far, the Shia Arabs and Kurds aren't interested in killing innocents, because there are so many Sunni Arab men with blood on their hands. Al Qaeda needs true blood lust from the (non-Sunni Arab) majority of Iraqis, in order, it appears (nothing is obvious with al Qaeda) to trigger enough dead Sunni Arabs to cause neighboring Sunni Arab states to, to, to do what? Order an oil embargo to force coalition forces to leave Iraq, while at the same time invading Iraq to put the Sunni Arabs back in control? But the majority of Sunni Arabs don't want an al Qaeda style religious dictatorship, they prefer another Saddam Hussein (preferably a kinder and gentler one). So a Sunni Arab victory would be followed by another civil war between religious Sunni Arabs, led by al Qaeda, and the secular majority, led by Saddam's Baath Party. With that kind of future to look forward to, it's no wonder Sunni Arab morale is in the dumps.
Third, the ongoing violence has caused a shift in Sunni Arab attitudes. Not a big one, they still believe they should be running Iraq. But there is a kind of resignation. While the Americans have not turned out to be invincible, they have been unbeatable. And the Shia Arab government gets stronger and stronger. Neighboring Sunni Arab states have not made any overt moves to aid the Sunni Arab Iraqis. Indeed, the neighboring countries openly condemn the Sunni Arab terrorism. Many Sunni Arabs just want peace, and some prosperity. They all know that prosperity has returned to the Kurdish north, where there has been peace, and freedom from Saddam, for over a decade. Even in the Shia Arab south, two years of peace have made lives noticeably easier and better. Sunni Arabs want that, and they are willing to stop killing to get it.
On the downside, there's no let up in the extent of corruption and lack of civic spirit among so many Iraqis. The tribal mentality, and "everything is for sale" attitudes are not only alien (at least in terms of degree) to Americans, but a serious obstacle to getting anything done in Iraq. These bad habits are not unique to Iraq, but pervade the entire Arab world. Expats who have spent decades working in Arab countries can entertain you for hours with bitter-sweet stories of the self-destructive habits they have encountered among Arabs.
Americans are getting their faces rubbed in these unsavory customs and it's not a pretty sight. Working with an ally whose favorite target is his own foot can be an unsettling experience. There are exceptions. Many Iraqis understand that honest dealings, and making an effort for Iraq, not just their immediate family or clan, is the key to future peace and prosperity. But these civic minded Iraqis are considered aberrations in their own country, and are often marked for death. Iraqi can be pacified by force, that has been done many times in the past. But the battle for Iraq's soul will determine of the future will be better, or just more of the past.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/30/2005 08:51 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Expats who have spent decades working in Arab countries can entertain you for hours with bitter-sweet stories of the self-destructive habits they have encountered among Arabs.
Tell us the one about the bathroom sinks, feet and nasal passages again.
What motivation will the Shiia have to not destroy the Sunni when we pull out the majority of our forces?
A carrot, a stick, both?
Why allow a dishonest kniving group of overlording Baathists to come in and play in your new government when you know their intention is infiltration and eventual overthrow?
#4
1. main reason is that if they destroy the Sunni, all the neighbors looking for excuses to carve them up will do so.
2. Some Shia, esp in Baghdad, actually have friends and neighbors who are sunni, are intermarried, etc.
3. A jihad against the Sunnis necessarily means empowering the most extreme among the Shiia. Other factions among the Shia wont like that.
4. Many of the technocrats who make Iraq "work" are Sunnis (no this wasnt KSA that could afford to hire foreigners for that). Kill em all, nothing will run.
The top U.S. commander in the Middle East laid out for Congress yesterday al Qaeda's plan for conquering the region in testimony meant to shore up political support for a war against the terror group in Iraq that is taking an increasing number of American lives.
Army Gen. John Abizaid, head of U.S. Central Command, joined Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and two other four-star generals at the witness table as some skeptical lawmakers questioned American strategy in Iraq 21/2 years after a U.S.-led invasion ousted Saddam Hussein.
Army Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the commander in Iraq, acknowledged before the Senate Armed Services Committee a setback in constructing a new Iraqi security force. He said the number of independently operating Iraqi army battalions had dropped from three to one, due, in part, to exacting combat-readiness standards.
He said the coalition still does not control the Syrian border, through which suicidal bombers flow to the ranks of terrorist Abu Musab Zarqawi.
"We have had, since April, an objective of restoring Iraqi control to that Syrian border before the [December] election," he said.
Gen. Casey also backed off his prediction of substantial U.S. troops cuts next year.
"The next 75 days are going to be critical in what happens after that," he testified, referring to a constitutional referendum Oct. 15 and parliamentary elections in December, for which 98 percent of eligible voters are registered.
Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers, making his last congressional appearance as Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman before relinquishing the post today, clashed with Sen. John McCain, Arizona Republican, over progress in Iraq.
"General Myers seems to assume that things have gone well in Iraq," said Mr. McCain, who has said he has no confidence in Mr. Rumsfeld's leadership. "General Myers seems to assume that ... the support for our conflict there is not eroding."
Gen. Myers, who has said the United States is "winning" in Iraq, responded, "I don't think this committee or the American public has ever heard me say that things are going very well in Iraq. This is a hard struggle."
Gen. Abizaid raised the stakes for Iraq by presenting a chilling assessment of al Qaeda's worldwide goals. He said leader Osama bin Laden's sights are set on Iraq and Saudi Arabia, and then the entire region, as well as Asia.
Although the Bush administration describes the conflict as the "war on terror," Gen. Abizaid made clear the enemy is al Qaeda.
"Their objectives are very clear," Gen. Abizaid said. "They believe in a jihad, a jihad, first and foremost, to overthrow the legitimate regimes in the region. But in order to do that, they have to first drive us from the region. This is what they believe. They believe, ultimately, that the greatest prize of all is Saudi Arabia and the holy shrines there."
He said the war against Zarqawi's al Qaeda in Iraq, and al Qaeda worldwide, presents "a rare opportunity to get in front of these extremists and focus on them now before al Qaeda and its underlying ideology becomes mainstream."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/30/2005 02:36 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Understanding!! That's why I like working for this guy!!
BAGHDAD - UN officials on Thursday announced the establishment of a centre for missing people in Iraq to investigate the âhundreds of thousandsâ who disappeared, mostly under ousted dictator Saddam Hussein.
The National Centre for Missing and Disappeared Persons in Iraq will operate under the auspices of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), Iraqâs ministry of Human Rights and other international organizations. The centre will assist with forensics and data investigations and provide support to the families of missing people, according to John Pace, the head of UNAMIâs human rights office.
âIt is very difficult to tell how many people are missing, but estimates vary from hundreds of thousands to a million,â he said. âEvery week or so there is news of new mass graves being found,â he added.
Gee, didn't read about that in the NYT.
To date, some 200 mass graves have been uncovered, he said. Many contain the remains of Saddamâs political opponents, along with those of Kurds or Shiites who rebelled against his regime.
The centre will also look into the cases of some 600 persons reported missing since the 2003 US-led invasion of the country, Pace said. The UN Missionâs Office on Missing Persons and Forensics in Kosovo will help with the training of local experts, UN officials said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/30/2005 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
New office for missing persons to be set up in Iraq
job security..cradle to grave.
Posted by: Red Dog ||
09/30/2005 0:13 Comments ||
Top||
In an exclusive interview with WorldNetDaily yesterday, Hamas senior spokesman Sami Abu Zahri taunted Israel for its vulnerability to rocket attacks and warned that the terrorist group plans to kidnap more Israeli citizens just days after it claimed responsibility for the abduction and murder of a Jerusalem resident.
Zahri also told WND Hamas maintains "good relationships" with Syrian President Bashar Assad and the Lebanese terrorist militant group Hezbollah. "Our relations are good with all the honest forces in the Arab world and this includes Assad's Syria, Hezbollah and other movements and forces," Zuhri said in the interview, which will be released in full on WND this weekend.
Zahri claimed Israel does not have the military capability to stop Hamas' Qassam rockets from flying out of Gaza and hitting nearby Jewish communities. "Israel has always tried to stop Qassam attacks and she always failed to do so, even while using the most sophisticated technological and military tools. ... Hamas succeeded in creating a new military equation against Israel."
Following Israel's assassination this week of a senior Islamic Jihad commander, Hamas' Gaza leader Mahmoud al-Zohar vowed to halt all attacks from Gaza. But Zuhri said Hamas will only cease rocket attacks "as long as the enemy [Israel] is committed to stopping its escalation."
Zuhri took the occasion of the interview to again blame Israel for an explosion at a Hamas victory rally in Gaza last week that killed 21 people, even though the Palestinian Authority Tuesday announced Hamas mistakenly caused the blast. "The Israeli occupation is fully responsible for the rally massacre," Zuhri said. "Photos show and prove that an Israeli aircraft was flying above the area where the rally was happening. Also the rockets we bring to our rallies never contain live explosives." .
A PA probe found Hamas members who mishandled homemade rockets were responsible for the rally explosion, which Hamas reportedly then used as pretext for launching a barrage of Qassam rockets against Israeli Negev communities.
Hamas this week admitted to kidnapping and killing Jerusalem resident Sasson Nuriel, releasing a video of Hamas members interrogating the Jewish merchant with a blindfold strapped around his head. Zuhri warned Hamas will kidnap more Israelis unless Palestinian prisoners are freed and the Jewish state ceases to exist arrest wanted Hamas militants. "This kidnapping is part of the resistance to the occupation and is part of our struggle to free the Palestinian prisoners," he said. "We gave Israel many opportunities to free our prisoners, which was supposed to be part of the [February] hudna cease fire agreement ... but the occupier did not respect this and continues to carry our prisoners to their jails.
"Therefore if we will not succeed in getting our prisoners freed in peaceful ways and through negotiations, we will do everything necessary to liberate them, including kidnapping more Israelis."
#1
Zahri claimed Israel does not have the military capability to stop Hamas' Qassam rockets from flying out of Gaza and hitting nearby Jewish communities.
Now that the Israeli citizenry are out of Gaza, the task potentially becomes much, much easier.
#6
I don't know who said it first (and I don't have time to research it), but the fundamental difference between the Israelis and Palestinians is: the Israelis could wipe out the Palestinians but won't, and the Palestinians would wipe out the Israelis but can't.
The United States and its allies must act to stop Iran's nuclear programs -- by force if necessary -- because conventional diplomacy will not work, three senior Israeli lawmakers from across the political spectrum warned yesterday.
As a last resort, they said, Israel itself would act unilaterally to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear arms.
Iran will not be deterred "by anything short of a threat of force," said Arieh Eldad, a member of Israel's right-wing National Union Party, part of a delegation of Knesset members visiting Washington this week.
"They won't be stopped unless they are convinced their programs will be destroyed if they continue," he said
Posted by: Captain America ||
09/30/2005 02:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Could they accidentally drop a bomb down Assad's chimney on the way through Syria?
#2
These guys need to be talking directly to the Senate and House committees involved in HCON 398 and SCON 81 - now HCON 398 EAS (July 22, 2004 - 108th Congress) - they've wimped out and watered down the "all means necessary" language that came out of the House to "expressing the concern of Congress", primarily due to the gutless cheesedicks in the Senate. The original gave Bush the same clearance he had for Afghanistan and Iraq. This joint abortion isn't worth warm spit, blathering about the IAEA and the EU3 jerkoff.
"Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit upon his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats."
-- H.L. Mencken
Time to apply this, as appropriate, to the US Congress. Most of the shit dropped on Bush's doorstep correctly belongs to this coven of fucking cowards and seditious Lefties.
#5
I hope the IDF generals play Clint Eastwood's movie SUDDEN IMPACT for the pilots the night before they are sent to Iranian Airspace to work over those "peaceful" reactors.
#6
Look, the Israelis are sending the clarion call.
If we didn't want Israeli's involvement in Gulf War 1 and 2 because it would incite the whole ME, why would we want them (rather than us) to club the moolah nukes?
Gotta B us, folks, unless we are ready for a greater ME region conflict (which in my mind is eventually inevitable).
Posted by: Captain America ||
09/30/2005 15:38 Comments ||
Top||
#7
I hope the IDF generals play Clint Eastwood's movie SUDDEN IMPACT for the pilots the night before they are sent to Iranian Airspace to work over those "peaceful" reactors.
#8
The world cannot afford to let the Iranians have nukes, the rest of the ME included, or they will rule the Caliphate from Tehran. Even the Saudis would benefit more if Israel was allowed to take them out, or they will be without customers if the MM's are allowed to succeed. $$$$ Maybe we should offer a mega-reward to anyone who takes care of the problem for the rest of us.
#9
Let the Commie Clintons and their Spetzlamists amke the first move - I doubt Hillary will run for POTUS as long the rogue crises are unresolved. The Clintons may be about POWER and PC, but they are also about getting others to do the hard /dirty work in comparison to themselves -iff believes that POTUS Hillary wants MSM credit for eight years of Bill-style geopol "quiet" and subjective US-Global SOCIALIST "prosperity", then IRAN-NORTH KOREA, SYRIA, AFRICA, CHAVEZ, and TAIWAN, etc. must be mostly resolved by the time she enters office. If Billary want a Socialist Amerika, with Dubya's successes, and hubby Bill discrediting both himself, his "legacy", and the credibility of their own US DemoLeft, Hillary's only chance to be POTUS must come via Bill-style ELEX FRAUD ANDOR MUSHROOM CLOUDS OVER AMERICA, espec new 9-11's with limited national damage but takes out not only Dubya but any MALE GOP- OR ANTI/NON-CLINTON DEM SUCCESSOR TO DUBYA. Outside of these, her best option is to stay a Senator or Congressional Pol. I BELIEVE AMERICA WILL NOT SEE ANY FEMALE POTUS, OR ANY ALL FEMALE POTUS-VPOTUS ADMIN, AS LONG AS THE WOT IS ONGOING. IFF AL QAEDA AND [ANTI-US]WORLD SOCIALISTS/GLOBALISTS WANT TO SEE ANOTHER CLINTON IN OFFICE, RADICAL ISLAM CANNOT NOT ATTACK AMERICA ANDOR SOMETHING MUST OCCUR TO INDUCE AMERICA TO INVADE IRAN AND NORTH KOREA AND WAGE REGIONAL LIMITED WAR AGS THESE AND CHINA. These "Patriots" want the Fed, and only THE FED, to expand and expand and expand while justifying why Americanism and trad Federalism is no good or doesn't work, and that America needs Bigger Govt, more Centralism, more Miluitarization, and more US- and US-paid Global Welfarism, AND WHILE SHOWING WHY AMERICA OR AMERICANS CANNOT BE IN CHARGE OF OUR OWN AFFAIRS ECONOMY,OR ARMED FORCES. IOW, "GLOBALISM" = PC SURNAME FOR MARXISM, STALINISM, SOCIALISM AND COMMUNISM, BY ANY OTHER LABEL OR DESCRIPTION SAVE WHAT IT TRULY IS. Good Conspiracies have two or more parallel scenarios and contingencies occurring at any one time.
#10
Probably won't matter whether we do it or the Israelis do it. If it happens, we will face the war of civilizations (civilization used loosely in the asshat's case) that we have hoped to avoid.
The Mad Mullahs will use the weapons once they have them. The Israelis will not go down quietly, and if we are attacked, we will retaliate massively regardless of who occupies the White House.
I don't see the political will for the USA to take them out before we are attacked. We will have to lose a city or two and a few million people before we will act. The Israelis on the other hand...
As the second intifada entered its fifth year on Wednesday, despite the high number of casualties and continued human suffering, several Palestinians and Israelis feared a third uprising is likely to erupt in the near future, bringing even more pain and loss to both parties. In this pessimistic analysis, the latest violence in the Gaza Strip, even after the Israeli army withdrawal, the escalation in the West Bank and the constant arguments between the two leaderships as an indication the situation was likely to deteriorate dangerously and reach a âblind tsunamiâ as one Israel commentator wrote. Israel continues to target the leaders of Hamas and Islamic Jihad despite both groups halting their operations from the Gaza Strip. For their part, the parties have revealed plans to kidnap soldiers and settlers with the intent of swapping them for Palestinian prisoners, believing this method to represent a last-ditch attempt at freeing Palestinian detainees.
The second intifada, also known al the Al Qadsa uprising, started on 28 th September 2000, following the visit of then opposition leader Ariel Sharon to the al Qasa mosque in occupied East Jerusalem. In the last five years, 1064 Israelis have been killed, including 745 civilians and 7462 injured. On the Palestinian side, 4224 were killed, of which 3733 are civilians and the rest armed men and an estimate 20,000 thousand were injured, mostly civilians, and 8,000 detained. Sharon became Prime Minister 6 months after the start of the intifada, in March 2001. Despite the withdrawal of Israeli troops and the disbandment of settlements in the Gaza Strip earlier this month, a move many believed would encourage peace overtures between the two people, the situation is getting worse.
Israel has postponed the summit between the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Sharon, scheduled for 2 nd October, where the men were to discuss ways to apply the roadmap for peace. According to Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz, the adjournment was announced after the government saw no benefit in holding the meeting.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/30/2005 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Go ahead guys, start a third one and see what happens.
#2
On the Palestinian side, 4224 were killed, of which 3733 are civilians
Complete bullshit from Aawsat. The vast majority killed were armed and killed in the process of attacking Israeli civilians. Decoded muslim doublespeak: 491 uniformed Fatah goons were killed attacking Israelis. Thousands of other terrorists were killed in attempts to kill Israeli women and children.
Posted by: ed ||
09/30/2005 6:00 Comments ||
Top||
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Thursday rejected suggestions from aides that Israel could quit more of the occupied West Bank and unilaterally set a border with the Palestinians after its Gaza pullout. Sharon told a Tel Aviv business conference the only plan on the table was the U.S.-backed "road map" which is meant to lead to a negotiated Palestinian state alongside a secure Israel. "We don't have a better plan than this for Israel's future and I repeat and stress this due to the rumours," Sharon said. "There is only one plan and it is the road map."
The withdrawal of Israeli troops and 9,000 settlers from occupied Gaza and a corner of the West Bank, completed this month, was billed by Sharon as a disengagement from conflict with the Palestinians. Key Sharon advisers had suggested at conferences this week that one day Israel could carry out further withdrawals from the West Bank and unilaterally set a border with the Palestinians if negotiations looked set to fail. "Only unilateral steps can work now," said Eival Giladi, widely seen as architect of the Gaza withdrawal plan and the barrier that Israel is building in the West Bank for what it calls security reasons and Palestinians say is a land grab. Another adviser, Eyal Arad, had said that Israel would set its borders independently, leading to media speculation that Sharon himself was using advisers to float trial balloons, as he did ahead of the Gaza plan.
Palestinians welcomed the Gaza withdrawal, but feared it was a ruse by Israel to keep expanding major West Bank settlements, enclose them within the barrier and effectively set that as a permanent border. Washington hopes the Gaza pullout will spur renewed talks on the road map. But neither side has met its commitments to the plan, under which Palestinians were meant to start disarming militant groups and Israel was to freeze settlement growth. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas shies from disarming powerful militant factions, saying that could lead to civil war.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/30/2005 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Palestinians welcomed the Gaza withdrawal, but feared it was a ruse by Israel to keep expanding major West Bank settlements, enclose them within the barrier and effectively set that as a permanent border.
Peace does not come without a price, and it's for damned sure that the Paleos are NOT going to get everything they want. The sooner they get the idea of we-demand-that-we-get-everything-we-seek out of their heads, the sooner this whole mess can be put behind them.
Needless to say, I'm not expecting that to happen.
#2
This is a good move on Sharon's part. Clinton is responsible for this plan and thus the left must abandon Clinton in order to say that it is not good. *snicker*
Thousands of Palestinians voted yesterday in local elections seen as a test of the political clout of Hamas candidates ahead of a January parliamentary poll. The third phase of local elections for more than 1,000 council seats in the occupied West Bank was also the first Palestinian ballot since Israel completed its withdrawal from the Gaza Strip on Sept. 12 after 38 years of occupation. Election monitors said turnout was high in some West Bank villages with Palestinians rushing to voting centers decorated with posters and national flags as soon as they opened. Armed police stood guard.
President Mahmoud Abbasâ dominant Fatah movement faces stiff competition from rival Hamas, whose charity networks, lack of corruption and suicide bombings have won many Palestinian hearts during five years of fighting with Israel. âParticularly after Israelâs withdrawal from Gaza and the run-up to legislative elections, the municipal results will have important political implications,â Jamal Al-Shobaki, head of the Higher Commission for Local Elections, told Reuters. Shobaki put the turnout of the 127,000 voters at above 70 percent around an hour before polls closed at 7:00pm (1600 GMT). While there was no official extension, organizers said that people who were still queuing would all be allowed their democratic right. Some 2,478 candidates vied yesterday for 1,018 seats.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/30/2005 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
last I heard, Hamas did worse than expected. They blame the Jews of course.
DUBAI - Arab and Muslim countries should not rush to establish ties with Israel now that it has withdrawn from Gaza, Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa was quoted on Thursday as saying. âIsraelâs policies do not deserve Arab courtesy,â Moussa said in an inteview with the Arabic newspaper Asharq al-Awsat conducted earlier this month at the United Nations in New York.
Youse better not do it!"
âWhy are they offering (Israel) free rewards?â he said, referring to Israelâs Foreign Minister Silvan Shalomâs meetings with ministers from Pakistan, Jordan, Tunisia, Indonesia and Qatar at the United Nations.
With each withdrawal they get a free reward. Turn them all in and get a set of dining glasses.
âI donât understand why they are hailing Israel. Because of the withdrawal from Gaza? Doesnât every one know that this is an incomplete withdrawal and that settlements are still being built and that the wall is being built?â he asked.
Moussa said the Arab League did not oppose normalising ties with Israel, but said Arab countries had a âhistoric obligationâ towards the Palestinians and that any ties must be preceded by an Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank and East Jerusalem. âAbiding by the Beirut initiative is key,â he said, referring to an Arab Middle East peace proposal offering Israel normal ties if it withdraws from all occupied Arab land. âArab policies must be based on achieving gains for the Palestinians,â he said. âWhat I see now is exaggerated and unnecessary.â
And who would know more about exaggerated and unnecessary than the Arab League?
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/30/2005 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Hey! If there were GOOD relations... Moussa would need to find a REAL job.
#2
Too bad the Arabs didn't have a âhistoric obligationâ towards the Palestinians before the combined Arab armies got their asses kicked in 1967. In fact there wasn't even anything known as "Palestinians".
Posted by: ed ||
09/30/2005 6:03 Comments ||
Top||
#3
He continued:
"only when all the Jews leave the Middle East or otherwise eradicated will we even consider establishing ties with Israel"
A recent string of bombings - particularly the last brutal attack that maimed a prominent TV anchorwoman - has left many Lebanese frightened over who could be next and increasingly puzzled about what can be done to stop the mysterious attacks. Sunday's bombing that injured TV personality May Chidiac - the first woman to be targeted - was the 14th explosion to hit Lebanon in the past year. The bombs have killed 28 Lebanese, including billionaire Rafik Hariri, the former prime minister. Politicians are bracing for more violence as a U.N. investigation into Hariri's Feb. 14 assassination that is targeting Syria and its Lebanese allies nears its end.
"There is an atmosphere of terror in the country," said Ramonda Jalbout, a 33-year-old mother of two and a lawyer. "One feels afraid of everything, there is absolutely no sense of security, no protection. I've come to feel afraid even of driving my own car and parking it on the street." "If Hariri and all his power and he could not protect himself, there is nothing I can do to protect myself," the woman said resignedly.
Four security generals are held on suspicion of involvement in Hariri's assassination, in which 21 people were killed, but not a single arrest has been made in any of the other bombings, which have targeted politicians, journalists and other prominent Lebanese. Commercial centers, industrial and residential areas have also been hit by bombs stuck to the bottom of vehicles, left in bags on street sides or packed into parked cars.
"I am sad, angry and afraid," wrote Sarkis Naoum, a political analyst in the leading An-Nahar daily who was the last guest Chidiac hosted on her TV program Sunday, a few hours before a bomb exploded under her car. "But fear does not mean we should forsake our duties." Dolly Ghanem, Chidiac's colleague, spoke of an atmosphere of fear and said she and her husband, also a journalist, were being advised by friends "to change cars and take taxis" to avoid assassination. "Caution is necessary ... but I refuse to be more cowardly than the cowards who are trying to assassinate us," she said at a media gathering Thursday to support Chidiac.
Fear only increases with the government's apparent inability to solve the crimes. Interior Minister Hassan Sabei said the authorities were up against a "phantom" carrying out a plan to destabilize the country. Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, warning of more attacks, has sought - and received - help from the FBI, which sent a team that began investigating Wednesday. Many Lebanese politicians have taken refuge abroad, choosing to stay away until security conditions improve. Others who remained here largely stay in heavily protected homes and travel in armed motorcades. Those abroad include legislator Saad Hariri, the son of the slain former premier whose assassination triggered mass protests that forced Syria to withdraw its troops from Lebanon in April after nearly 30 years.
Since then, two anti-Syrian activists - former Communist party leader George Hawi and journalist Samir Kassir - were among those killed in the explosions. In addition, there are the "living martyrs" - Defense Minister Elias Murr, Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh, and Chidiac - who survived bombings with various injuries. Fear and widespread speculation on who might be the next target prompted a popular talk show this week to host an explosives expert to give viewers tips on how to protect themselves. He suggested, among other things, a routine check under vehicles and security cameras on the streets.
In parking lots of supermarkets, malls and cinemas, private security guards are carrying out careful searches of vehicles using increasingly sophisticated bomb detectors. Pedestrians are sometimes subject to questioning. Concrete barriers have risen around politicians' houses.
The bombings have prompted groups of young Lebanese - anti-Syrian and pro-Syrian - to join in a campaign of "Kafa," Arabic for Enough.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/30/2005 08:44 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
In a shocking and unprecedented display of hostility towards India, Major General Mohammad Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, chief of Bangladesh Rifles (BDR), while addressing a joint press conference with his counterpart RS Moosahary, DG BSF, levelled a series of serious charges against India.
The most serious being India's alleged involvement in the August 17 serial blasts that rocked 64 districts of Bangladesh. He also charged India with harbouring 700 criminals wanted in Bangladesh, of whom he alleged 200 were Indian Government officials.
The BDR chief, who launched a virulent diatribe against India at the Press conference, alleged, "BDR has information that people from your side are involved in the blasts. The Indian authorities are unable to control their own people who keep crossing into Bangladesh."
Gen Chowdhury was so charged up at the Press conference that he shot up from his seat when journalists put questions to him. When mediapersons asked pointed questions on Bangladesh harbouring scores of terrorist groups, Maj Gen Chowdhury left the briefing in a huff while a calm and composed Mr Moosahary watched in disbelief.
Unable to defend the wrongdoings of the force he heads and of Bangladesh Government, the BDR chief tried to downplay the Indian point of view by making intemperate remarks and allegations that defied logic.
When asked about the presence of more than 172 terrorist training camps in Bangladesh, he said, "There is not a single insurgent group in our country. We do not allow anybody to use our soil for terrorist activity. There are examples when some arms and explosive were smuggled into Bang-ladesh by your people."
He also denied the role of BDR in the killing of Jiwan Kumar, Assistant Comma-ndant of BSF. "The investigation report and the inquiry ordered by Bangladesh Government cleared BDR personnel of involvement."
An amused BSF chief, who remained calm and seated, refuted the claims of Gen Chowdhury and said, "The inquiry was one-sided and not factual. Jiwan Kumar was shot in the back. The officer was in his shorts and was unarmed. The two BSF men accompanying him, though armed, did not fire. It was a very sad incident and it should not have happened."
As if that were not enough, the BDR chief tried to side-step the issue of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants in India. "Your people keep crossing over to our country. The criminals of your side were involved in the 417 explosions that took place in our country."
His denial came in the face of the BSF chief mentioning the continued efforts of Bangladeshi criminals to commit crime on Indian soil. During the period under review, cases of fence breaching by Bangladeshi criminals have increased by 50 per cent. He also stated that there has been marked increase in cases of cattle lifting and cases of dacoity in which Bangladeshi criminals have caused grievous injuries to Indian villagers. In a recent incident, two women from Tripura were kidnapped and raped by these criminals.
Mr Moosahary conveyed his concern over the large quantity of sophisticated arms and ammunition being smuggled into northeastern states from Bangladesh. Besides the territory of Bangladesh was was also being used for the proliferation of counterfeit Indian currency notes.
Indian intelligence agencies have irrefutable evidence that Bangladesh was playing host to leaders of outlawed organisations, including Paresh Barua and Arvind Rajkhowa of United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), Ranjan Daimari of National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), Jeevan Singha of Kamtapuri Liberation Organisation (KLO), Nayanbashi Jamatia and Biswa Mohan Debbarma of National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) and Ranjit Debbarma of All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF) and 172 terrorist training camps. Mr Moosahary also demanded that Bangladesh should handover Anoop Chetia of ULFA, whose jail term had expired.
When mediapersons asked pointed questions on Bangladesh harbouring scores of terrorist groups, Maj Gen Chowdhury left the joint press briefing in a huff while a composed Mr Moosahary watched in disbelief.
Posted by: john ||
09/30/2005 17:35 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
September 30, 2005: Germany is expanding its troops strength in Afghanistan from 750 to 3,000. While Germany made a big deal of their opposition to the removal of Saddam Hussein, they have always been enthusiastic about their peacekeeping efforts in Afghanistan. German troops have been there since 2001, when German commandoes were sent in. These troops were the first Germans to experience combat in over half a century. Thatâs the longest Germany has ever gone with out its soldiers getting into a battle with someone. The German commandoes were followed, in 2002 by regular German troops, who were part of a peacekeeping force stationed in Kabul. But starting in 2004, the NATO force began to send detachments to other Afghan cities. That effort has been successful in aiding the reconstruction effort, and Germany will supply more troops to expand the effort further. The NATO troops have not seen much combat, but their presence not only discourages Taliban gunmen, but also al Qaeda terrorists, warlord militiamen and bandits. Germany has also been quietly providing training for Iraqi officers.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/30/2005 09:01 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
#2
By cracky,I do believe you may be correct.I will never forget the Honor Germen troops displayed to our first wounded arriveing a Rienstein Hospital.
#4
Them's WWI troops, guys. TGA was but a gleam in his father's eye at that point, I suspect. My maternal granfather might be there, though, along with several of his brothers -- do any of them look related? ;-)
September 30, 2005: Earlier this month, Pakistani troops captured an al Qaeda/Taliban base near the Afghan border. In addition to Pakistani and foreign terrorists captured, there was a great deal of material taken as well. This included guns, ammo, communications gear, laptops, and what was described as a âChinese UAVâ. Actually, it was a fairly large (bright yellow) remote control aircraft. A hobby item, actually. One of the Pakistani reporters later found an identical one in a big city hobby shop, selling for $55. The aircraft was made in China. The Pakistani army reported that the âChinese UAVâ was equipped with a video camera and transmitter, although the army did not release any details on that.
It turns out that China (and Taiwan) are major manufacturers of radio controlled (RC) aircraft for hobbyists. One such model, bright yellow and weighing six pounds, was found in the catalog of a Chinese manufacturer. American troops, usually RC aircraft hobbyists, have modified such aircraft to carry a video camera and a transmitter, and use them in Iraq. Such field expedient UAVs donât have much range (about a kilometer), and can only stay in the air for about 30 minutes per sortie. But these things do the job, giving the troops a view of whatâs behind the next hill, or lurking in the alleyways they are about to pass. Thereâs no reason the al Qaeda gang up in the mountain could not have used their little (well, these things have a wing span of 5-6 feet) RC aircraft for more serious matters. As the old saying goes, never underestimate the enemy.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/30/2005 08:59 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#2
Chuper: Start at Tower Hobbies then modify. Or if you like older prebuilt running ones including jets and choppers there are a few hobby shops around that have them. A certain shop in a downtown Chicago suburb has a very nice selection of these in its basement. (you have to open a door that looks like a shelf to find them in the store. Oh and there are lots of cameras watching while you are down there.)
#5
3dc: Do you know if that shop in Chicago you mentioned will do works-for-hire?
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
09/30/2005 17:22 Comments ||
Top||
#6
There's a guy in Denver that retired from running a hobby store that sold RC kits. He has a scale model Lockheed "Constellation" hanging in his living room (14-foot ceiling) that can take off, land, retract its landing gear, and fly for about 45 minutes before running out of gas. The darned thing is almost nine feet long!
There's not a lot of difference between small UAVs and remote-controlled model planes except the purpose they're being built for. Wonder who's going to get credit for the first "kill" in Afghanistan?
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
09/30/2005 19:56 Comments ||
Top||
September 30, 2005: Where is terrorism going? It's going back to where it has long been; local. Like politics, all (or certainly most) terrorism is local. International terrorism is rare, and usually has a national organization providing needed support (the KGB during the Cold War, al Qaeda in Afghanistan during the 1990s.)
What the remnants of al Qaeda are trying to do now is recreate the Anarchist movement of a century ago, where local groups tried to act with an international purpose. Back then, the Anarchists stayed in touch via letters, and especially the vibrant daily newspapers which, using an efficient international telegraph system and the new wire services (AP, UPI, Reuters, Etc.) had reporters just about everywhere on the planet. Not quite CNN, but close enough. The Anarchists were idealistic, obsessed and murderous young men (and a few women) determined to remake the world. Sound familiar?
The Internet makes a difference by speeding things up. A century ago, international mail took weeks to get delivered. Today, delivery time is a second, or less. This makes it easier for some kind of international network to be created. But it also makes it easy for police to keep tabs on budding terrorists. While the more astute terrorists (or wannabes) use some simple techniques to keep their identity, and Internet activities, secret, most of the pro-terrorist crowd are easily tracked and identified. This has not been an entirely positive thing for police. They now know that al Qaeda, and local terrorists, have become the new folk heroes. The bad guys know how to play on the Hollywood image, posturing with words and pictures on websites. In many parts of the world, manufacturers of t-shirts and other pro-terrorist paraphernalia are not far behind. Recruiting is not as easy as you might think, for the most willing volunteers tend to be the least skilled. But there is a source of manpower for the murder minded terrorists.
In the long run, the short period where al Qaeda was a truly international terrorist organization, with headquarters and training facilities in Afghanistan, will turn out to be a very negative thing for the terrorists. The 911 attacks, and the launching of the war on terror, caused many nations to cooperate in going after terrorists. Suddenly, there were a lot fewer places a terrorist could flee to. Before 911, there were many countries that would give refuge to a terrorist, if these nasty fellows simply declared themselves freedom fighters fleeing oppression in the Old Country. That doesnât work any more. Worse, most nations are sharing counter-terrorist techniques.
While terrorism has been forced to go local, counter-terrorism has gone international. How is this playing out? Deaths among terrorists are up, terrorist attacks down (at least in the West). Most of the terrorist groups represent real grievances, but the terrorists have been constantly defeated in their home countries. Now, their attacks on foreigners have merely created an even more formidable coalition to oppose them. This means that local terrorists are having a harder time. Al Qaeda, rather than making terrorism deadlier, has made it more vulnerable.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/30/2005 08:56 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
The United Nations said on Thursday it had restricted movements of its staff in Kabul after a suicide bombing killed at least 10 people, while the Taliban said it had 45 more suicide attackers awaiting orders to strike.
Wednesday's bombing at a military training centre set up by U.S.-led forces to train a new national army was the worst suicide attack in the capital since the Taliban's 2001 overthrow. The Taliban claimed responsibility and vowed more.
U.N. spokesman Adrian Edwards said U.N. staff in the city, already under night-time curfew, had been placed on restricted movement as a precaution.
"While we are assessing the situation, there is restricted movement on staff," he said.
The security office serving non-governmental organisations has advised against unnecessary movement and told staff to stay on high alert.
In Wednesday's attack, a suicide bomber in the uniform of an army lieutenant rammed a motorcycle into a convoy of buses carrying Afghan soldiers in the eastern part of the city, opposite a base of NATO-led peacekeepers.
Defence Ministry spokesman Zahir Azimi said 10 people were killed, including the bomber. Eight were Afghan army officers or non-commissioned officers and one the civilian driver of one of the buses. Other Afghan officials said 12 people died.
The bombing came 10 days after landmark parliamentary elections, which passed off relatively peacefully despite militant threats. There has been a surge in violence since then.
Taliban spokesman Abdul Latif Hakimi claimed 20 deaths and said most of the victims were foreigners.
"Most of them were foreign soldiers and officers but their Afghan slaves are covering this up," he said by telephone from an undisclosed location.
Hakimi vowed more attacks on foreign forces and said 45 suicide bombers were awaiting orders from Taliban commanders.
"American and British forces are our first target and then we will launch attacks on others," he said.
The attack has again raised fears that insurgents may be importing Iraqi-style tactics into Afghanistan.
Newsweek magazine this month quoted a Taliban commander as saying he had been to Iraq for training and wanted to make use of the expertise acquired there in Afghanistan.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/30/2005 02:44 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
Torn by conflicting emotions, Algerians voted patchily yesterday on a peace plan presented by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika as the only way of turning the page on the country's bloody recent past. Provided they were not involved in rape and mass killings, Mr Bouteflika's charter for peace and national reconciliation grants a pardon to militant Islamists who rose up against the army-backed regime in 1992 after it cancelled their victory in legislative elections.
The charter praises the army for its role in protecting state institutions during the civil war and draws a line under nagging questions about its own role in alleged atrocities. For this reason it has incensed the families of thousands of suspected Islamist sympathisers who disappeared during the war. Most are unsure to this day what happened to their loved ones.
Mr Bouteflika hopes that by offering an amnesty, he can draw down from the mountains at least some of the residual fighters from an al-Qaeda affiliated group known as the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC). By 2000, the war had largely run its course once thousands of militants were killed, jailed or pardoned after surrendering on the terms of a previous truce. But officials estimate a hard core of around 1,000 fighters are still at large, making it difficult for Mr Bouteflika to claim stability has fully returned. Some militants have reportedly grouped in anticipation of a Yes vote by the population. Others have pronounced their determination to fight on in a string of recent attacks in the rugged east of the country.
Mr Bouteflika is counting on a high turnout to legitimise his plan, which would give him sweeping powers for implementation. The signs yesterday were mixed. Many Algerians do want to put the past behind them and think the administration should focus now on tackling social problems exacerbated by the war such as unemployment and housing. But at the small agricultural town of Rais, outside Algiers, where some 400 people including many women and children were butchered by suspected Islamists in 1997, there seemed little appetite for an amnesty. A few men and women trickled in to vote, saying they were responding to the nation's needs, but the official there said that by midday turnout was only 13 per cent, compared with about 30 per cent at the same time in last year's presidential election.
In the nearby town of Blida, about 30 women who lost family members in attacks by armed groups protested by burying their voting cards by the graves of their loved ones. Others, including many of those affected by the Rais massacre, protested silently by boycotting the vote. Mr Bouteflika's critics among human rights activists fear he will use popular endorsement of the charter to close down opposition and enshrine impunity. Others fear that memories of the horrors of Algeria's civil war are too fresh and that burying them will sow the seeds of future discord.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/30/2005 00:59 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
Al-Qaeda has put out a special edition of its new weekly 'news programme', which aired for the first time last week, dedicated to the jailing of Al Jazeera journalist Taysir Allouni. The programme, called Sout al-Khalifa [Voice of the Caliphate], was broadcast over the Internet on Wednesday night, two days after a Madrid court sentenced Syrian-born Allouni to seven years in prison for 'collaboration with a terrorist organisation'.
"A news flash which reached us a short time ago from the Qatari TV channel Al Jazeera," the 'news reader' says, "reports that the Spanish court has processed our brother Taysir Allouni, sentencing him to seven years in prison, and for this reason Sout al-Khalifa has issued a statement on the Internet in which it strongly condemns this action by the Spanish infidel crusader court against the Muslim journalist Taysir Allouni, correspondent of Qatar's Al Jazeera TV. The statement offers complete solidarity with our brother Allouni for the injustice he has suffered in the course of his work."
The newsreader also praised Allouni for the "truth and neutrality" of his reporting.
The video lasts just over a minute and a half and shows a man with his face covered reading the news with a small picture of the former Al Jazeera journalist over his shoulder, in the style of many TV news programmes. Unlike the first edition of the news bulletin, there is no Kalashnikov or copy of the Koran on the desk of the man presenting the 'special edition'.
Al-Jazeera has vowed to appeal against the jail sentence given to Allouni and immediately issued a statement after the sentencing, saying "We still believe that our colleague Taysir is innocent of the charges against him."
Allouni, a father of five, became famous as the satellite channel's correspondent in Kabul during the US-led invasion of Afghanistan. He also interviewed Osama bin Laden after the September 11 attacks in 2001. He was found guilty of helping finance al-Qaeda by acting as a courier for the group while reporting in Afghanistan.
He was one of 24 defendents on trial in Madrid's National Court accused of belonging to the al-Qaeda network. Three faced charges of being linked to the September 11 attacks. Syrian-born Imad Eddin Barakat Yarkas, the man considered the al-Qaeda 'ringleader' in Spain, was sentenced to 27 years in prison, six were acquitted and Allouni was one of 17 defendants given jail sentences of between 6 and 11 years.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/30/2005 00:37 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
An alarming trend is emerging in Kashmir as militant groups are increasingly using children as soldiers in the fight against the Indian Army. Along the border separating Indian- held Kashmir from the Pakistani side, boys as young as 13 and 14 carrying deadly weapons have been arrested by the Indian security services. In the last year alone, 24 children were apprehended. Questioned, the young men revealed they had been indoctrinated at madrassas (religious schools) in Pakistan and were forced to cross into Indian territory after undergoing basic military training.
Mohd Latif, aged 14, originally from Karachi in Pakistan stated he was selected from a religious school where he was studying and received military training at a camp where songs extolling the virtues of jihad (holy struggle) were played during military exercises. Another boy, Mohd Islam, aged 13, from Sihota in Pakistan , was captured along the Line of Control that runs through Kashmir . He denied being told of the dangers of crossing the border or knowing an electric fence separated the two sides. âWe were simply pushed to this side and forced to fight the Indian army,â Islam said.
Javed Maqdoomi, Srinagar police chief told Asharq al Awsat the impressionable young men were selected from religious schools and taught in military camps run by Laskhar-e-Taiba and Hizbul Mujahideen across Pakistan. Intelligence sources revealed that Islamic militant groups have stepped up their recruitment of children for operations in Kashmir as they face a shortage of fighters, with the Indian army killing over 550-armed men so far this year. As local support for the militants decreases, children are increasingly being pushed to take part in armed conflict and, in some cases, face an early death. Young men also evade suspicion and are better equipped to cross the fence without being noticed.
In addition, Maqdoomi said, Pakistan was using children to carry out reconnaissance missions inside Indian Territory with more than 30 captured in border areas in the last three months. Less often, children are recruited from inside Kashmir and receive rudimentary military training; they work as cooks, cleaners, porters, and guides. Ishfaq Bhat, aged 13, was hiding out in the Tangdhar Mountains in Kashmir with a Kalashnikov rifle slung over his narrow shoulders when he was discovered by an Indian army patrol. An estimated 500 children have been reported missing in Kashmir this year alone.
Commenting on what motivates adolescents to leave their homes and take up arms, Khalid Madni, police deputy superintendent of Bandipora, said, âIâve come across cases where Pakistani terrorists in the mountains gave kids 500 Pakistani Rupees (8 USD), asked them to buy cigarettes or batteries with it and allowed them to keep the change. Romance, escape from school, money, what more could a child desire?â
Twelve-year old Altaf Husain, recruited by Lashkar e-Taiba in Pakistan, was rescued with ten other young fighters in their hideout. Recounting his experience, he said, âWe used to wash dishes, gather firewood, and cook food.â He indicated that many children were also sexually abused and any attempt at escaping would result in physical punishment. While increasing, the recruitment of adolescents is not an entirely new phenomenon with a number of young fighters caught throwing grenades at the Indian security forces. âIn the early 1990s,â said Maqdoomi, âa handful of children were involved. Last year we knew of a 100 recruited by the militants and hidden in the mountains. 2005 has not yet ended and the number has already quadrupled.â
Posted by: Fred ||
09/30/2005 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
Algerians voted yesterday on a peace charter presented by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika as the only hope of ending a conflict that has left 150,000 people dead but which opponents dismiss as a pretext to extend presidential powers. Early turnout figures provided by the Interior Ministry showed that less than half â or 44.01 percent of Algerians â had cast their ballots by 2 p.m. (1300 GMT) on a charter whose approval will result in many of those jailed for the killings being freed. The Algerian press said that voter turnout would be the real test of the referendum, with papers repeating the widespread belief that a âyesâ result was guaranteed from the 18-million strong electorate.
Bouteflika launched a âcivil reconciliationâ initiative at the start of his first five-year term in 1999, leading to a partial amnesty for thousands of rebels who laid down their arms. The program was endorsed overwhelmingly in a referendum, and Bouteflika was re-elected in 2004 largely because the peace initiative helped quell the fighting that erupted after the army canceled an election in 1992 which Islamist politicians were poised to win. The violence has eased considerably in recent years, but some 50 people have been killed in September during referendum campaigning.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/30/2005 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
President Hosni Mubarak's younger son Gamal further stamped his authority on Egypt at the ruling party's conference yesterday, declaring his camp's victory over the old guard. In a keynote speech to members of the National Democratic Party (NDP), the 41-year-old Gamal Mubarak took much of the credit for his father's Sept. 7 election landslide and set the tone for the November parliamentary polls. "During the presidential election, the party proved its ability to modernize, proved the worth of the ideas it is has been promoting since the party took a new orientation in 2002," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/30/2005 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
Pakistan has given South Korea all the information it has about suspected exchanges of nuclear technology with North Korea and considers the issue âa closed chapterâ, Pakistanâs prime minister said yesterday. Pakistan has been at the center of investigations into a nuclear black market that is suspected of skirting international sanctions and providing sensitive technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea. âAs regards to any relationship or interaction with North Korea, we have none any more,â Shaukat Aziz told a news briefing in Seoul, ahead of meetings with South Korean officials. âWhatever information we have, we have shared with our friends in South Korea,â Aziz said. âThis is a closed chapterâ.
US officials have charged that the nuclear black market network run by disgraced nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of Pakistanâs atom bomb program, supplied North Korea with technology to produce highly enriched uranium (HEU) for nuclear bombs. The issue is critical because the United States has demanded at six-country talks that North Korea dismantle all of its nuclear activities, including the uranium enrichment program. North Korea has denied having any such program.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/30/2005 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
"This is a closed chapter"
We have the North Korean missiles, they have the Pakistani bomb. You can all go to hell.
oh, and we want some foreign aid.
Posted by: john ||
09/30/2005 19:31 Comments ||
Top||
#2
IOW, Iran and North Korea have enough materials from Russia-China vv politically deniable or PC third parties to produce bombs, enuff to cause heavy casualties ags any LOCAL US-Allied milfors vv ASYMMTERIC NUCLEARIZED "PEOPLE'S WAR" or "BATTLE/WAR ZONE" but NOT enuff to defeat or deter any PC Russian-Chicom mil invasion to "save" = "punish" their regimes from alleged US-Allied "aggression" and "Fascist imperialism"!?
It makes no differ whether the Rogues have one bomb, ten bombs, or one thousand bombs - Dubya and the USA will be blamed by the MSM/LeftMedias for both failing to prevent nuke proliferation = NOT taking any mil action(s) = NOT making concessions or using the UNO to resolve the issues, etc, includ but not limited to NOT having "perfect" Intel. SINCE THE GOP-CONSERVATIVE ARE NOT "PERFECT", THE DEMOLEFTIES ARGUE THEY DON'T HAVE TO BE - and the Wafflings go on and on and on and on................@.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/30/2005 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Referring to the Pakistan-US relations, the foreign minister said that the US wanted to enhance relations with Pakistan. The way the US abandoned Pakistan after the USSR left Afghanistan created a negative impression, said Kasuri, adding that such impressions might affect the relations between both in future.
Could the please explain the above statement in a linear grammar? As currently stated its rather obscure and circular.
#3
Troops withdrawal from Siachen:
If true..wow.
agreeing to stop combat and garrisoning troops on Siachen glacier is like agreeing to stop hitting your own head with a hammer. Unbelievably awesome area.
Posted by: Red Dog ||
09/30/2005 12:13 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Pak is resisting proper demacation of the current positions.
This suggests that their real intention is to occupy the glacier once Indian troops have withdrawn.
Posted by: john ||
09/30/2005 18:03 Comments ||
Top||
Afghanistan and Pakistan renewed their resolve on Thursday to push ahead with their joint campaign against terrorism, which posed a grave threat to both countries. The declaration came in an hour-long telephonic conversation between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his Pakistani counterpart Pervez Musharraf, a senior official at the Presidential Palace said. Karim Rahimi, spokesman for President Karzai, said that the two leaders discussed the gamut of bilateral relations in a frank and candid manner. âThey agreed to continue high-level discussions on expanding mutually beneficial relations,â he said.
"Hokay, Perv, here's how it works: we find them, we catch them, we kill them, you stand and watch. Okay?"
"Umm, but what if they're friends?"
He added that Musharraf and Karzai conferred in detail on peace and security issues, the ongoing campaign against terrorism and ways to strengthen bilateral relations. âThe Afghan president made the telephone call after 7:00pm,â the spokesman revealed. The presidents would exchange visits, for which dates would be firmed up later on, the spokesman said. Rahimi skirted the question when asked if the border-fencing proposal, floated by President Pervez Musharraf during his recent US trip, was also discussed during the lengthy conversation. Answering a query, the spokesman disclosed Deputy Minister Zarar Ahmad Moqbel had been named acting interior minister after Ali Ahmad Jalali resigned a day earlier.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/30/2005 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
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.
An imam slated to be sworn in Friday as the second Muslim chaplain in Fire Department history said he questioned whether 19 hijackers were responsible for the Sept. 11 terror attacks, and suggested a broader conspiracy may have brought down the Twin Towers and killed more than 2,700 people.
The accounts of one of the major mosque of New York, named 
As the second intifada entered its fifth year on Wednesday, despite the high number of casualties and continued human suffering, several Palestinians and Israelis feared a third uprising is likely to erupt in the near future, bringing even more pain and loss to both parties. In this pessimistic analysis, the latest violence in the Gaza Strip, even after the Israeli army withdrawal, the escalation in the West Bank and the constant arguments between the two leaderships as an indication the situation was likely to deteriorate dangerously and reach a âblind tsunamiâ as one Israel commentator wrote. Israel continues to target the leaders of Hamas and Islamic Jihad despite both groups halting their operations from the Gaza Strip. For their part, the parties have revealed plans to kidnap soldiers and settlers with the intent of swapping them for Palestinian prisoners, believing this method to represent a last-ditch attempt at freeing Palestinian detainees. 
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Thursday rejected suggestions from aides that Israel could quit more of the occupied West Bank and unilaterally set a border with the Palestinians after its Gaza pullout. Sharon told a Tel Aviv business conference the only plan on the table was the U.S.-backed "road map" which is meant to lead to a negotiated Palestinian state alongside a secure Israel. "We don't have a better plan than this for Israel's future and I repeat and stress this due to the rumours," Sharon said. "There is only one plan and it is the road map."
Thousands of Palestinians voted yesterday in local elections seen as a test of the political clout of Hamas candidates ahead of a January parliamentary poll. The third phase of local elections for more than 1,000 council seats in the occupied West Bank was also the first Palestinian ballot since Israel completed its withdrawal from the Gaza Strip on Sept. 12 after 38 years of occupation. Election monitors said turnout was high in some West Bank villages with Palestinians rushing to voting centers decorated with posters and national flags as soon as they opened. Armed police stood guard.
September 30, 2005: Germany is expanding its troops strength in Afghanistan from 750 to 3,000. While Germany made a big deal of their opposition to the removal of Saddam Hussein, they have always been enthusiastic about their peacekeeping efforts in Afghanistan. German troops have been there since 2001, when German commandoes were sent in. These troops were the first Germans to experience combat in over half a century. Thatâs the longest Germany has ever gone with out its soldiers getting into a battle with someone. The German commandoes were followed, in 2002 by regular German troops, who were part of a peacekeeping force stationed in Kabul. But starting in 2004, the NATO force began to send detachments to other Afghan cities. That effort has been successful in aiding the reconstruction effort, and Germany will supply more troops to expand the effort further. The NATO troops have not seen much combat, but their presence not only discourages Taliban gunmen, but also al Qaeda terrorists, warlord militiamen and bandits. Germany has also been quietly providing training for Iraqi officers.
Torn by conflicting emotions, Algerians voted patchily yesterday on a peace plan presented by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika as the only way of turning the page on the country's bloody recent past. Provided they were not involved in rape and mass killings, Mr Bouteflika's charter for peace and national reconciliation grants a pardon to militant Islamists who rose up against the army-backed regime in 1992 after it cancelled their victory in legislative elections.
An alarming trend is emerging in Kashmir as militant groups are increasingly using children as soldiers in the fight against the Indian Army. Along the border separating Indian- held Kashmir from the Pakistani side, boys as young as 13 and 14 carrying deadly weapons have been arrested by the Indian security services. In the last year alone, 24 children were apprehended. Questioned, the young men revealed they had been indoctrinated at madrassas (religious schools) in Pakistan and were forced to cross into Indian territory after undergoing basic military training. 
Algerians voted yesterday on a peace charter presented by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika as the only hope of ending a conflict that has left 150,000 people dead but which opponents dismiss as a pretext to extend presidential powers. Early turnout figures provided by the Interior Ministry showed that less than half â or 44.01 percent of Algerians â had cast their ballots by 2 p.m. (1300 GMT) on a charter whose approval will result in many of those jailed for the killings being freed. The Algerian press said that voter turnout would be the real test of the referendum, with papers repeating the widespread belief that a âyesâ result was guaranteed from the 18-million strong electorate.
President Hosni Mubarak's younger son Gamal further stamped his authority on Egypt at the ruling party's conference yesterday, declaring his camp's victory over the old guard. In a keynote speech to members of the National Democratic Party (NDP), the 41-year-old Gamal Mubarak took much of the credit for his father's Sept. 7 election landslide and set the tone for the November parliamentary polls. "During the presidential election, the party proved its ability to modernize, proved the worth of the ideas it is has been promoting since the party took a new orientation in 2002," he said.
Pakistan has given South Korea all the information it has about suspected exchanges of nuclear technology with North Korea and considers the issue âa closed chapterâ, Pakistanâs prime minister said yesterday. Pakistan has been at the center of investigations into a nuclear black market that is suspected of skirting international sanctions and providing sensitive technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea. âAs regards to any relationship or interaction with North Korea, we have none any more,â Shaukat Aziz told a news briefing in Seoul, ahead of meetings with South Korean officials. âWhatever information we have, we have shared with our friends in South Korea,â Aziz said. âThis is a closed chapterâ. 
