In a political blow to Prime Minister Tony Blair, British lawmakers on Wednesday rejected tough anti-terrorism legislation that would have allowed suspects to be detained for 90 days without charge. The House of Commons vote was the first major defeat of Blair's premiership and raises serious questions about his grip on power. Blair had staked his authority on the measure and doggedly refused to compromise.
Lawmakers, including 49 members of Blair's Labour Party, opted instead for a maximum detention period for terror suspects of 28 days without charge. Michael Howard, leader of the opposition Conservative Party, said Blair's authority had "diminished almost to vanishing point" and said he should consider resigning. "This vote shows he is no longer able to carry his own party with him. He must now consider his position," said Howard.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/10/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
""This vote shows he is no longer able to carry his own party with him. He must now consider his position," said Howard."
I can understand how Howard might say this for partisan effect, but did he and the Conservatives actually work against this measure? Are they that politically irresponsible regards the safety of UK citizens?
I've come to expect such self-defeatist / self-hate / scorched-earth stupidity from our Dhimmidonk dickheads, and probably from your Scottish Nationalist Party leader Alex Salmond and the spectrum of similar ilk, but from the Tories? Are the Tories as fucked up as the Moonbat morons?
#2
From the noise they have been making about this for months it appears so PD. The BBC is happy as hell about it. I reality it means almost nothing. I believe the Law Lords would have struck it down if the House of Lords ever passed it.
#3
Are the Tories as fucked up as the Moonbat morons?
Apparently, unfortunately, yes. That is why they no longer win elections and we come, rightly, to look at a socialist, eurocentric, iconoclast, PCer like Tony as our second best (to John Major of Oz) ally in the war on terror. And in Gordon Brown, we get a Scottish,socialist, eurocentric, iconoclast, PCer who will at least remain our second strongest ally. Thereafter?
#4
It is difficult for us Americans to follow this.
In our country people can be detained without being charged for long periods for reasons such as being material witnesses, or for their own protection. One reason for this is that the threshold for charging a person with a crime is pretty high. It may be a bit different in Britain.
#6
Its the whole shizophrenic Western World that needs their morning eye-openers: 9-11 not enough, Spain, London, Israel, Iraq...not enough. Just like in America we have moonbats on the left and right, demeaning our cause and what we fight for, all angling for political advantage while our blessed soldiers endure. That Blair could come this far in the present British climate amazes me. Reminicent of the England of Churchill (not Ward) I admire.
#2
Geez, I wonder if Peter Costello would consider moving here getting involved in US politics? We could use a few men with this guy's salt. I have not seen a "Love it or Leave it" bumper sticker in YEARS!
#4
Mr Costello said Muslims who wanted to live in a country governed by sharia law, which imposes strict limitations on freedoms, would be better off living elsewhere.
It's too bad few government officials here in the U.S. have the gonads to say that sort of thing to any kind of troublemaker.
#5
Mr Costello said Muslims who wanted to live in a country governed by sharia law, which imposes strict limitations on freedoms, would be better off living elsewhere.
Wasn't there a story recently about someone getting in trouble for selling plots of land on the moon? Maybe those actions were too hasty!
TREASURER Peter Costello said radical Muslims would not be allowed to turn Australia into an Islamic state. Mr Costello said Muslims who wanted to live in a country governed by sharia law, which imposes strict limitations on freedoms, would be better off living elsewhere. "If you are somebody who wants to live in an Islamic state governed by sharia law you are not going to be happy in Australia, because Australia is not an Islamic state, will never be an Islamic state and will never be governed by sharia law," Mr Costello said. "We are a secular state under our constitution, our law is made by parliament elected in democratic elections. We do not derive our laws from religious instruction." Mr Costello said anyone who was alienated by Australia's form of government, judicial system and civil rights and wanted something else "might be better advised to find the 'something else' somewhere else".
"There are Islamic states around the world that practise sharia law and if that's your object you may well be much more at home in such a country than trying to turn Australia into one of those countries, because it's not going to happen," he said.
#2
She was recently nominated as spokswoman for the "Aluminum Hat society". We should all take her to her word and put her on trial for sedition, or give her the plane ticket to Canada she wants.
Posted by: 49 pan ||
11/10/2005 10:56 Comments ||
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#3
Liberalism is a mental disorder. But in rare cases, it's curable. :) I should know. Babs' condition is pretty advanced, though.
#5
Again, the reason the Democrats don't support democracy in Iraq is because they don't support democracy in the U.S. Hey, Babs there was a vote last November. You lost.
The mouthpieces of the Democratic Party demonstrate routinely that they have as much to do with real democracy as much as the former Soviet Peoples Democratic Republics had anything to do with democracies or republics.
#9
Babsey is living proof that dementia can strike at any moment without warning. My question is if her website has as many spelling and grammatical errors on this subject as she usually has.
#11
We were clearly deceived by this administration and now we find ourselves fighting a war under false pretenses. There was no connection between Iraq and 9/11, despite Dick Cheney's many assertions. There were no WMD's and the CIA had intelligence which corroborated that evidence. There was no nuclear threat contrary to Condoleezza Rice's "smoking gun becoming a mushroom cloud" scare tactic. And there was no yellow cake purchased from Niger by Iraq as former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, along with our European allies, confirmed. All of these misconceptions and falsehoods were relentlessly stated. But this administration disregarded the facts because they wanted to wage this war, as we learned in the Downing Street memo.
Hmmm... Now just where was that article I read at Rantburg explaining all that away???
Posted by: Bobby ||
11/10/2005 12:49 Comments ||
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#12
BS really tries to live up to her initials. Here is a case of early senility dementia--it began sometime when she began to take herself serious--sometime in her late teens or early 20s.
#15
"....In the climate change seminar, the leader of a non-profit made a commitment to bring wind power to the Native American community." Streisand said.
Since this is from the NYT, you just know we're getting the full unvarnished story, lol.
The New York Times and Judith Miller, a veteran reporter for the paper, reached an agreement today that ends her 28-year career at the newspaper and caps more than two weeks of negotiations.
Ms. Miller went to jail this summer rather than reveal a confidential source in the C.I.A. leak case. But her release from jail 85 days later after she agreed to testify before a grand jury and persistent questions about her actions roiled long-simmering concerns about her in the newsroom and led to her departure.
In a memo sent The Times staff at 3:30 p.m. today, Bill Keller, the executive editor, wrote, "In her 28 years at The Times, Judy participated in some great prize winning journalism."
In a statement, Arthur Sulzberger Jr., publisher of The Times, said: "We are grateful to Judy for her significant personal sacrifice to defend an important journalistic principle," adding, "I respect her decision to retire from The Times and wish her well."
Ms. Miller could not be reached for comment.
Lawyers for Ms. Miller and the paper negotiated a severance package, the details of which they would not disclose. Under the agreement, Ms. Miller will retire from the newspaper, and The Times will print a letter she wrote to the editor explaining her position. Ms. Miller originally demanded that she be able to write an essay for the paper's Op-Ed page challenging the allegations against her. The Times refused that demand - Gail Collins, editor of the editorial page, said, "We don't use the Op-Ed page for back and forth between one part of the paper and another" - but agreed to let her write the letter.
In that letter, to be published in The New York Times on Thursday under the heading, "Judith Miller's Farewell," Ms. Miller said she was leaving partly because some of her colleagues disagreed with her decision to testify in the C.I.A. leak case.
"But mainly," she wrote, "I have chosen to resign because over the last few months, I have become the news, something a New York Times reporter never wants to be."
She noted that even before going to jail, she had "become a lightning rod for public fury over the intelligence failures that helped lead our country to war." She said she regretted "that I was not permitted to pursue answers" to questions about those intelligence failures.
As part of the settlement, Mr. Keller made public a personal letter that he wrote to Ms. Miller regarding a memo he sent to the staff on Oct. 21. In that memo, he spoke of lessons he has learned from the episode.
In his letter to her, Mr. Keller acknowledged that Ms. Miller had been upset with him over his use of the words "entanglement" and "engagement" in reference to her relationship with I. Lewis Libby Jr., her source and the former chief of staff for Vice President Dick Cheney.
"Those words were not intended to suggest an improper relationship," Mr. Keller wrote.
Secondly, he noted that she took issue with his assertion that "Judy seems to have misled" Philip Taubman, the Washington bureau chief, when Mr. Taubman asked her whether she had been on the receiving end of an orchestrated White House campaign.
"I continue to be troubled by that episode," Mr. Keller wrote. "But you are right that Phil himself does not contend that you misled him; and, of course, I was not a participant in the conversation between you and Phil."
Ms. Miller wrote in her letter that she was gratified that Mr. Keller "has finally clarified remarks made by him that were unsupported by fact and personally distressing."
She added, referring to Mr. Keller: "Some of his comments suggested insubordination on my part. I have always written the articles assigned to me, adhered to the paper's sourcing and ethical guidelines and cooperated with editorial decisions, even those with which I disagreed."
She thanked "colleagues who stood by me after I was criticized on these pages."
Ms. Miller, 57, leaves the paper after serving for many years as an investigative and national security correspondent. She has written four books and in 2002 was part of a team that won a Pulitzer Prize for explanatory journalism for reporting, prior to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, about the growing threat of Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda.
But her reporting came under criticism with her subsequent reports suggesting that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction, coverage that helped the Bush administration build its case for invading Iraq but that turned out to be wrong.
Ms. Miller was released from jail Sept. 29 after being locked up longer than any reporter in American history for refusing to testify and reveal her sources in the leak case. The case became a test of press freedoms and it may foreshadow an increase in subpoenas to force other reporters to testify about their confidential sources.
After asserting that she would not disclose her sources, Ms. Miller revealed that her source was Mr. Libby, who has since been indicted on five charges related to the C.I.A. leak investigation and has pleaded not guilty. Then Ms. Miller testified that she could not remember who gave her the name of a covert C.I.A. operative.
In her letter to The Times, Ms. Miller said she agreed to testify only after Mr. Libby gave her a personal waiver to speak and after the special prosecutor agreed to limit his questioning of her to those germane to the C.I.A. case.
"Though some colleagues disagreed with my decision to testify, for me to have stayed in jail after achieving my conditions would have seemed self-aggrandizing martyrdom or worse, a deliberate effort to obstruct the prosecutor's inquiry into serious crimes," she wrote.
#2
Actually, ARMYGUY, I think Ms. Miller was a pretty decent reporter, especially by NYT standards (though I have not figured out why she chose to go to jail). 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend' - if the NYT 'fired' her, she must not be all bad.
#6
In her letter to The Times, Ms. Miller said she agreed to testify only after Mr. Libby gave her a personal waiver to speak and after the special prosecutor agreed to limit his questioning of her to those germane to the C.I.A. case.
I think that's what did it. I hope she doesn't quit reporting altogether.
NBC's senior diplomatic correspondent Andrea Mitchell is claiming that her comments have been deliberately distorted in reports covering a 2003 interview where she said Valerie Plame's identity had been "widely known" before her name appeared in a Robert Novak column.
"The fact is that I did not know [Plame's identity] before the Novak column," she told radio host Don Imus on Thursday. "I said it was widely known that an envoy had gone [to Niger]," she insisted. "I said we did not know who the envoy was until the Novak column." But the actual exchange in question shows that Mitchell was questioned specifically about Plame's CIA employment, not her envoy husband.
"Do we have any idea how widely known it was in Washington that Joe Wilson's wife worked for the CIA?" she was asked by host Alan Murray in an Oct. 3, 2003 interview on CNBC's "Captial Report."
Mitchell replied: "It was widely known among those of us who cover the intelligence community and who were actively engaged in trying to track down who among the foreign service community was the envoy to Niger. So a number of us began to pick up on that."
Sounds pretty clear to me
Confronted with her comments Thursday morning, the top NBC reporter insisted: "[The quote] was out of context."
Pity the whole thing is on videotape
When pressed, a flustered-sounding Mitchell explained: "I - I - I said it was widely known that an envoy had gone - let me try to find the quote. But the fact is what I was trying to say in the rest of that sentence - I said we did not know who the envoy was until the Novak column." Moments later, however, Mitchell changed her story, saying she was talking about both Plame and Wilson:
"I said that it was widely known that - here's the exact quote - I said that it was widely known that Wilson was an envoy and that his wife worked at the CIA. But I was talking about . . . after the Novak column." "That was not clear," she finally confessed, before admitting, "I may have misspoken in October 2003 in that interview."
"misspoken" = inadvertantly told the truth
Her acknowledgment prompted Imus to remark: "It took me a minute to get that out of you."
Still, despite her admission, Mitchell blamed partisan "bloggers" for distorting her comments:
"We've got a whole new world of journalism out there where there are people writing blogs where they grab one thing and ignore everything else that I've written and said about this. And it supports their political view."
"I would have gotten away with it too, if it wasn't for those damm kids!"
The full exchange went like this:
IMUS: Apparently on October 3, 2003, you said it was "widely known" that Joe Wilson's wife worked at the CIA.
MITCHELL: Well, that was out of context.
IMUS: Oh, it was?
MITCHELL: It was out of context.
IMUS: Isn't that always the case?
MITCHELL: Don't you hate it when that happens? The fact is that I did not know - did not know before - did not know before the Novak column. And it was very clear because I had interviewed Joe Wilson several times, including on "Meet the Press."
And in none of those interviews did any of this come up, on or off camera - I have to tell you. The fact is what I was trying to express was that it was widely known that there was an envoy that I was tasking my producers and my researchers and myself to find out who was this secret envoy.
I did not know. We only knew because of an article in the Washington Post by Walter Pincus, and it was followed by Nicholas Kristof, that someone had known in that period.
IMUS: So you didn't say it was "widely known" that his wife worked at the CIA?
MITCHELL: I - I - I said it was widely known that an envoy had gone - let me try to find the quote. But the fact is what I was trying to say in the rest of that sentence - I said we did not know who the envoy was until the Novak column.
IMUS: Did you mention that Wilson or his wife worked at the CIA?
MITCHELL: Yes.
IMUS: Did you mention . . .
MITCHELL: It was in a long interview on CNBC.
IMUS: No, I understand that. But at any point, in any context, did you say that it was either widely known, not known, or whether it was speculated that his wife worked at the CIA.
MITCHELL: I said that it was widely known that - here's the exact quote - I said that it was widely known that Wilson was an envoy and that his wife worked at the CIA. But I was talking about . . .
IMUS: OK, so you did say that. It took me a minute to get that out of you.
MITCHELL: No, I was talking about after the Novak column. And that was not clear. I may have misspoken in October 2003 in that interview.
IMUS: When was the Novak column?
MITHCELL: The Novak column was on the 14th, July 12th or 14th of '03.
IMUS: So this was well after that?
MITCHELL: Well after that. That's why the confusion. I was trying to express what I knew before the Novak column and there was some confusion in that one interview.
IMUS: Who'd you find it out from? Russert?
MITCHELL: I found it out from Novak.
IMUS: Maybe Russert's lying?
MITCHELL: You know Tim Russert doesn't lie.
IMUS: Which would break little Wyatt Imus's heart, by the way.
MITCHELL: Well, which has not happened. But this is (unintelligible). We've got a whole new world of journalism out there where there are people writing blogs where they grab one thing and ignore everything else that I've written and said about this. And it supports their political view. And . . .
IMUS: Bingo.
MITCHELL: Bingo.
I'd get my facts straight, Andrea, if I were you. I'll wager you are going to get a piece of paper from Scooter Libby's lawyers asking you to come sit in the witness box and answer a few questions
Posted by: Steve ||
11/10/2005 09:38 ||
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Still, despite her admission, Mitchell blamed partisan "bloggers" for distorting her comments:
Just like Mary Mapes!
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
11/10/2005 10:40 Comments ||
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#2
So it used to be the "Vast Right-Wing Conspiricy", but now it's "Bloggers"?
Posted by: Bobby ||
11/10/2005 11:11 Comments ||
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#3
but now it's "Bloggers"?
You know how it is with those darn 'bloggers' always fact-checking your ass with those darn 'facts'. How inconvenient! Like Homer Simpson says: Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true!
#7
Don't screw up now, lady. Hubby's retiring in a couple of months. You'l be the only breadwinner in the house. Al will be pissed if you get tossed out on your ass and he has to go bag at Stop and Shop.
#9
Leaks, aside from my kitchen faucet, what about who was responsible for revealing our black opt prisons in Eastern Europe. Like this Novak crap is so bad. Our blessed soldiers and other risk takers are out there dealing with terrorist filth, interrogating, fighting back like a great nation must. What about the democrat traitors slamming our every effort and belittling the cause of our brave souls in harm's way.
#10
Leaks, aside from my kitchen faucet, what about who was responsible for revealing our black opt prisons in Eastern Europe.
We've been told we're supposed to be glad that was leaked.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
11/10/2005 13:15 Comments ||
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#11
"Do we have any idea how widely known it was in Washington that Joe Wilson's wife worked for the CIA?" she was asked by host Alan Murray in an Oct. 3, 2003 interview on CNBC's "Captial Report."
Mitchell replied: "It was widely known among those of us who cover the intelligence community and who were actively engaged in trying to track down who among the foreign service community was the envoy to Niger. So a number of us began to pick up on that."
So, she's saying that her answer applied only to the period afterNovak's column ran? In other words, it was "widely known" to the crack reporters "trying to track down" the Niger envoy only after Novak spilled the beans in his nationally-syndicated column?
Boy, howdy, you can't put nothin' past them reporter-types.
Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Chalabi offered Wednesday to be questioned by the Senate on his role in prewar Iraq but refused to apologize for fueling allegations that Saddam Hussein had hidden caches of weapons of mass destruction.
Accorded a warm reception by the Bush administration, Chalabi lined up Vice President Dick Cheney and five Cabinet officers, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld, for meetings this week and next.
Chalabi, whose reputation in Washington has soared, fallen and now revived, was welcomed by administration officials whom he briefed on Iraq's reconstruction efforts, particularly on energy and financial issues.
But on Capitol Hill, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Rep. George Miller (news, bio, voting record), D-Calif., urged the Senate and House intelligence committees to subpoena Chalabi regarding allegations that he provided false information about Saddam's weapons and leaked U.S. secrets to Iran.
Sens. Durbin, Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., and Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vt., told Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales that Chalabi should be sitting down with FBI investigators rather than meeting with Cabinet secretaries.
"Will the FBI interview Mr. Chalabi during his visit to the United States?" the senators asked in a letter. "If not, why not?"
And on the House side, Rep. Henry Waxman (news, bio, voting record), D-Calif., wrote Rep. Christopher Shays (news, bio, voting record), R-Conn., that if allegations that Chalabi leaked intelligence to Iran are true, he "has betrayed U.S. interests, caused incalculable damage to our national security and contributed to the death of more than 2,000 troops."
Waxman asked Shays, who is chairman of a House national security subcommittee, to cancel a private briefing Thursday with Chalabi and instead hold a public hearing in which Chalabi would testify under oath.
At a news conference, Chalabi denied giving Iran information that compromised U.S. security.
But he said he had offered last year to be questioned, and added, "I am prepared to go the Senate and respond to questions."
At the same time, Chalabi refused to apologize for advising the Bush administration that Saddam had arsenals of weapons of mass destruction.
"We are sorry for every American life that was lost in Iraq," he said. "As for deliberately misleading, this is an urban myth."
In a 45-minute speech at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, Chalabi sketched a hopeful scenario for Iran's economy, including a vast surge in oil production and eradication of corruption.
However, he said rebuilding Iraq's security force was going slowly and U.S. and other troops should remain. He gave no timetable.
The Iraqi army, Chalabi said, had no more potent weapons than submachine guns while the country is surrounded by neighbors with large weapons arsenals.
Even while making senior administration officials available to Chalabi, the Bush administration appeared a bit self-conscious.
"It's not up to us to pick the leaders of Iraq," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said after announcing that Chalabi also would have access to Cheney and national security adviser Stephen Hadley.
For Rice, who met with him for about 30 minutes, it was an opportunity mostly to discuss energy and finance issues, which Chalabi oversees in Baghdad, said State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli. He said the administration has an interest in meeting with a wide range of Iraqi officials, of which Chalabi is only one.
"It was a good meeting. They had a wide-ranging discussion," the spokesman said.
Chalabi said the meeting went "very well." He brushed aside reporters' questions regarding whether he had given the Bush administration misleading information before the war with Iraq.
"It's more important to look to the future than to the past," Chalabi said.
At the White House, spokesman McClellan said of Chalabi, "He is seen as an elected leader of the Iraqi government and one of a number that we have met with in recent months."
"The Iraqi people are deciding their future, and they have a representative government that was elected by the Iraqi people," McClellan said. "We are very supportive of helping the Iraqi people move forward and build a democratic future."
On Capitol Hill, Democrats greeted Chalabi's arrival by calling on Congress' Republican-run intelligence committees to subpoena him to testify about his role in providing prewar information about Iraq that turned out to be false, and allegations that he may be linked to the leaking of sensitive U.S. secrets to Iran.
In a letter to the intelligence panels, Durbin and Miller said that rather than meeting with top administration officials, testimony to those committees "would be a more appropriate venue for an official meeting for Mr. Chalabi."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/10/2005 03:05 ||
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the Bush administration appeared a bit self-conscious. "It's not up to us to pick the leaders of Iraq,"
This pisses me off so much, I think I'll go out and burn a few cars or maybe a train.
#4
It would be great free publicity for his campaign. Imagine an Iraqi important enough to be questioned by the Senate and smart enough to talk back. That'd put him over the top.
The Pentagon inspector general is investigating the Defense Intelligence Agencyâs treatment of an Army colonel who was the first to claim publicly that the government knew about four September 11 hijackers long before the 2001 attacks, officials said on Wednesday.
Among the issues under review is whether the DIA revoked the security clearance of Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer last September in retaliation for repeated comments he made in the media about a military intelligence team code-named Able Danger, sources familiar with the case said.
Revelations about Able Danger, a small data-mining operation that ended in 2000, have reignited debate about whether the United States could have prevented the attacks on New York and Washington that killed 3,000 people and prompted the U.S. war on terrorism.
Pent, , ) of California, Republican chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Armed Services.
Shaffer and his attorney met with officials from the inspector generalâs office on Wednesday.
Shaffer came forward in August with claims that Able Danger had identified September 11 ringleader Mohamed Atta and three other hijackers as al Qaeda members in early 2000. But he said Pentagon lawyers prevented the team from warning the FBI .
Others associated with Able Danger, including the teamâs former leader, Navy Capt. Scott Phillpott, have since made similar statements. But an exhaustive Pentagon search of tens of thousands of documents and electronic files related to the operation failed to corroborate the claims.
Officials with House and Senate intelligence oversight committees have also said there is little substantiating evidence.
U.S. Rep. Curt Weldon (, , ), a Pennsylvania Republican who has championed Able Danger and other data-mining projects, told reporters on Wednesday that Able Danger also uncovered evidence of a threat to U.S. interests in Yemen two days before the 2000 bombing of the Navy destroyer Cole, which killed 17 sailors.
Weldon, who attributed his information to Phillpott, said the Able Danger team passed along the warning through proper channels but no word of danger ever reached the Cole.
"They sent it up but they donât know what happened," Weldon said. "Thatâs part of what needs to be investigated."
Meanwhile, Shafferâs attorneys say their client is in danger of losing his job because the DIA has accused him of obtaining a medal under false pretenses, improperly showing his military identification while drunk and stealing ink pens.
Shafferâs supporters, including Weldon, say the charges are trumped up.
Weldon and Shaffer attorney Mark Zaid both said the DIA recently returned Shafferâs personal effects from his office but mistakenly included several classified documents and another employeeâs mail.
"There are several inconsistencies between the DIA and LTC Shaffer concerning the facts," Hunter said in his letter to Rumsfeld. "The committee also has concerns with certain aspects of how the DIA has handled this matter."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/10/2005 00:18 ||
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The DIA has been fuckin up on several fronts. Collaborating with the WaPo leakers they have been.
Posted by: Captain America ||
11/10/2005 1:24 Comments ||
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#2
Weldon and Shaffer attorney Mark Zaid both said the DIA recently returned Shafferâs personal effects from his office but mistakenly included several classified documents and another employeeâs mail.
This is SO silver bullet. "Yo Karlesha, jis pack all his stuffs in dat box en mails it to him.
Hastert, Frist seek probe into covert-prisons leak The top two Republicans in Congress want the House and Senate intelligence committees to investigate who leaked to the press that the U.S. runs secret prisons overseas. Also yesterday, a U.S. official told reporters that the CIA had taken the first step toward a criminal investigation of the leak of classified information. House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert of Illinois and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee noted that the leak, which said the CIA-run prisons are used to interrogate terror suspects, could threaten national security. "If accurate, such an egregious disclosure could have long-term and far-reaching damaging and dangerous consequences, and will imperil our efforts to protect the American people and our homeland from terrorist attacks," they wrote in a letter to the committee chairmen.
The note calls for a look into who made the leak, what damage was done to the United States and its partners in the war on terror, and whether the information was accurate. The Washington Post reported last week, citing anonymous U.S. and foreign officials, that the CIA for the past four years has run a covert prison system that has included sites in eight countries. Details of the locations of the prisons, referred to as "black sites," are closely guarded among U.S. and foreign officials.
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said the Republicans' call to investigate the leak was "only a play to the press, that's all this is." The Nevada Democrat said the committees could start their own investigations without direction from the leaders, and that if Mr. Hastert and Mr. Frist really were interested in accountability, they would support an investigation into whether the Bush administration manipulated intelligence to make its case for going to war in Iraq.
The political fight comes a week after Democrats forced the Senate into a closed session and won a promise that the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence would undertake just such an investigation. The CIA request to the Justice Department for a criminal referral -- the first step in any investigation -- was first reported by the Associated Press, citing a "U.S. official" on the condition of anonymity, and confirmed separately by The Washington Times. AP reported that the agency's general counsel sent a report to the department about the story in The Post "shortly after" its Nov. 2 publication. The investigation into the disclosure of CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity came about through the same referral procedure. "It's illegal to leak classified information, and classified information was leaked to The Washington Post," a U.S. official told Reuters news agency. About time somebody took the ball into Dem territory. This story may have some legs. They have got to get the 'who done it' out in front of the 'why we do it' and keep it there.
#1
Trent Lott has already claimed that it must have been one of the Redpublican Senators, who were briefed along with (or by?) VP on this very subject just days before the leak. It was a GOP-only meeting, and according to Lott some statements were almost verbatim to what was said in the meeting.
#3
No groin shot in sight. Pat Roberts wants the Justice Dept to finish their investigation before opening it up to the Senate Intell Committee.
Posted by: Captain America ||
11/10/2005 1:39 Comments ||
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#4
Trent Lott has already claimed that it must have been one of the Redpublican Senators, who were briefed along with (or by?) VP on this very subject just days before the leak.
No, that's the Democrat lie about what Lott said.
He said the details of a meeting were leaked. He didn't say those details were the basis of that story.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
11/10/2005 7:48 Comments ||
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#5
From a source of mine on the hill, who is close to the players mentioned in this story, the leak came from a certain Republican Senator from Arizona. You know, the same one who has quite a bit of experience with torture himself.
At first, I found that hard to believe, because it displays a blatant lack of concern for national security in a time of war. After all, how could a former military man possibly be so obtuse, or reckless? But upon further reflection, given his strong position on torture, perhaps he felt this was a way to expose the CIA's goings on. Doing so would bolster his case against torture since this story is nothing more than red meat for the anti-bush MSM.
Factor that into his potential run at the white house in 2008, and you begin to see the political upside to the leak.
#6
elto - Then start the investigation now. A leak is a leak. McCain is a great American, a poor Rupublican, and a terrible conservative. I hope he is defeated in the primaries.
McCain is a likable guy, at least when you watch him on the Daily Show (what? I know it's a shameless vehicle for the Left but it's still funny). I wouldn't mind seeing McCain fall by the wayside, especially if what I've been told is true. I've watched him try to straddle both sides of the fence for years now and while that may make for good politics, it reeks of poor leadership to me.
It seems clear to me that McCain is doing his damndest to capture the middle in preparation for the 2008 race. His position on torture, where he arguably has moral authority over everyone else on the subject, is in my estimiation a calculated attempt to do so. By leaking the secret CIA prisons to the media-- albeit a risky endeavor-- McCain is hoping that public opinion will swell in favor of his position, resulting in him looking like the moderate Republican/war hero who wasn't afraid to stand up to the President and his torture-happy goons.
At least I believe that's what he wants people to think, if my sources are correct.
In announcing the introduction of legislation aimed at preventing illegal aliens from getting driver's licenses yesterday, a North Carolina Republican member of the House of Representatives casually dropped a bombshell that went over the heads of most of the media covering the event â that three members of al-Qaida were recently captured trying to enter the U.S. "This isn't aimed at any one race," said Sue Myrick, who is being mentioned as a potential candidate for governor of the state. "Our main concern is: Who's in our state? This is a critical issue today. They just arrested, down on the border, a couple of weeks ago, three al-Qaida members who came across from Mexico into the United States."
That's how she was quoted in her local daily â the Charlotte Observer. An audio recording of the event confirms the quotation's accuracy.
The capture of al-Qaida operatives trying to gain entry to the U.S. from Mexico or anywhere else would be a spectacular development in the war on terror. Unless, of course, it's never reported.
Myrick cited national security concerns in introducing the bill that would withhold states' federal highway money unless they stop issuing driver's licenses to illegal immigrants. Myrick's bill would target six states, including her own, that still accept taxpayer ID numbers â issued by the Internal Revenue Service â as proof of identity or residence by persons seeking a driver's license. Besides North Carolina, Myrick's office said, those states are West Virginia, Illinois, Utah, New Mexico and Kentucky.
Myrick, who is reportedly exploring the possibility of a run for governor in 2008, challenged current Gov. Mike Easley and the Democrats who control the legislature in Raleigh. "Basically, we're here to call on the governor (Mike Easley) and the legislature in North Carolina to stop issuing driver's licenses to illegal aliens," said Myrick, who was joined by GOP Reps. Patrick McHenry of Cherryville and Virginia Foxx of Banner Elk â both former members of the N.C. legislature.
North Carolina is home to an estimated 300,000 illegal undocumented immigrants, reports the Charlotte Observer. For them, a driver's license is more than just legal authorization to drive. It's a government-approved ID, complete with a picture. Flashing this prized possession can make it easier to keep a job, cash a check or find a place to live.
But she denied that she was targeting Hispanics in low-paying jobs, who make up â by far â the biggest percentage of illegal immigrants in the state. She indicated her real concern was national security â pointing to the al-Qaida arrests, which have not been reported elsewhere.
November 10, 2005: Since 911, no Americans have been killed on U.S. soil by Islamist extremists. But at least six American law enforcement officers have been killed by home-grown terrorist groups. In the words of one extremist apprehended after slaying a police officer in California, his action was intended âto bring attention to, and halt, the police-state tactics that have been used throughout our country." Among the perpetrators have been members of the self-proclaimed Michigan Militia, the Aryan Brotherhood, the National Alliance, and a âChristian Identityâ group.
In addition to these killings, domestic extremists have been involved in numerous instances of attacks on individuals or institutions, ranging from Hispanic citizens to synagogues. Just since the beginning of October, police in Idaho apprehended an extremist with a number of improvised bombs, a woman in Michigan was stabbed by neo-Nazis for âdistrespectâ to their regalia, while in Sacramento three members of the âEarth Liberation Frontâ pleaded guilty to attempted arson in connection with an attempt last December to burn down two homes under construction.
It is estimated that there are over 800 extremist groups in the United States. Most of them specialize in racial or religious hatred, though a fair proportion have political agendas, ranging from neo-Confederates to radical anarchists, plus some others such as animal rights radicals or eco terrorists.
Although domestic terrorists donât get the press coverage accorded to the foreign sort, they do get considerable attention from both official and non-governmental organizations. The FBI, for example, keeps tabs on any group likely to commit criminal acts, regardless of agenda. For example, it recently reported to Congress on âInvestigating and Preventing Animal Rights Extremism,â and has been probing possible links between Aryan Nations neo-Nazis and Islamist terrorists. The two most prominent non-governmental groups that monitor domestic extremism are the Southern Poverty Law Center, which focuses on racist and right-wing groups, and the Anti-Defamation League of Bânai Brith, which concentrates on groups with an anti-Semitic program .
Posted by: Steve ||
11/10/2005 09:30 ||
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Wouldn't the DC snipers qualify as Islamist extremists?
Posted by: ET ||
11/10/2005 9:58 Comments ||
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Shhhh! You're not supposed to notice them, ET.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
11/10/2005 10:02 Comments ||
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I wonder how many of those "800 extremist groups" in the US have never done anything criminal, excepting "thought crimes"? In that a number have been around since the 1950s, and *still* haven't done anything illegal, they are hardly worth including in the list for purposes other than to puff it.
The second big boffo that is usually tried is to equate non-violent groups with violent groups of the opposite extreme. Like equating the John Birch Society, a non-violent right-wing anti-communist organization with the Weathermen, a violent left-wing anti-government organization.
The third trick is to muddle similar groups together, say Greenpeace, PETA and ALF. Greenpeace rarely engages in illegal activity, but when it does, it is usually non-violent. PETA does both, but their violence is indirect. ALF is usually violent, destructive, and now in Britain, human life-threatening with intent to be so.
That being said, Greenpeace is a generally legal annoyance; PETA may or may not be considered a corrupt organization; but ALF is clearly a threat and a criminal organization. Greenpeace should be ignored for the most part, PETA should be dealt with in civil law, but ALF should be criminally prosecuted.
This is a good outline for how that group of 800 should be objectively analyzed. Perhaps 15-20 of them fit into the last catagory.
I have just discovered this excellent and very long series of articles. Highly recommended and one point I'd like to add.
The article refers to one of the men coming back from the airplane toilet 'reeking of chemicals'. I've seen what is below an airplane toilet and its a large receptical full of chemicals (and the obvious). Easily large enough to hide an AK47 or half a dozen.
I'll suggest the men failed to get an expected delivery.
November 10, 2005: Recruiting for the âDesert Protection Forceâ is proceeding well. Intended to number some 1,200-1,500 men, the DPF is a tribally-based police force intended to patrol the enormous and sparsely populated Anbar Province, in Iraqâs west, and, not incidentally, to provide the local Sunni tribes with a stake in the new government. But there have been some glitches. Despite frequent reassurances from senior Iraqi defense officials that the DPF will not be deployed outside of Anbar, tribal leaders remain unconvinced. To reassure them, the government has âdonatedâ vehicles to tribal leaders , and has some of their bright young kinsmen âhiredâ to fill various administrative posts (reportedly some 250 have been so âemployedâ).
Although seen as corrupt practice in Western terms, this sort of activity is commonplace in the Middle East. In Iraq itâs a sign that the country is getting âback to normalcy.â The concerns of tribal elders about the deployment of the DPF outside of Anbar was deliberately intended to elicit such government largess, and the arrangement implies that the Sunni tribes are willing to cooperate with the new government. Willingness to accept bribes is considered willingness to deal, and opens the possibility that those who are being bought, will stay bought.
In reaction to the DPF, al Qaeda has declared it has established a base area in western Iraq, roughly defined by the Iraqi border with Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey and the Kurdish controlled area of northern Iraq. This move has been discussed previously by al Qaeda, but the establishment of the DPF, and the growing number of Sunni Arab tribes, in western Iraq, that are joining the government, has forced al Qaeda to make some dramatic moves. In addition to declaring the "liberated zone," al Qaeda also bluntly threatened the Iraqis in the zone with kidnapping and murder if they do not cooperate with the terrorists.
A further annoyance for al Qaeda was the UN decision to extend its official sanction for foreign military operations in Iraq. The current mandate was set to expire at the end of the year, after the December 15 parliamentary elections. The UN mandate is recognition that there is an Iraqi government in Iraq, and is issued with the approval of the government of Iraq. This sort of thing makes it difficult for al Qaeda, as popular as the organization is with many Moslems, to get any official backing from Moslem governments. Still, many governments, with majority Sunni Arab populations, have been hesitant to establish full diplomatic relations with Iraq (which is run by Shia Arabs). Al Qaeda, for all its faults, is seen as a champion of Sunni (and Islamic conservative) supremacy in the Moslem world. Al Qaeda also has a lot of clout in the international media which, because of the popularity of "opposition to American hegemony" (and related current enthusiasms), get denounced far less than it deserves. So many journalists buy into the "whatever America does must be evil" line, that al Qaeda gets cut a lot of slack, even though they are an organization of murderous terrorists and opposed to most social policies backed by these same journalists. It's a strange situation, but al Qaeda is getting better at taking advantage of it. For example, despite the great hate most Iraqis feel for al Qaeda and the anti-government groups in general, the foreign press still tries to legitimize the terrorists as "insurgents" and freedom fighters. Thus the establishment (via press release) of an "al Qaeda liberated zone" in western Iraq, will get some respectful attention from the general media. After four years of defeats, al Qaeda needs all the victories it can get.
After four days of fighting, the west Iraq city of Husaybah was declared pacified. This campaign featured the first use of multiple Iraqi infantry battalions in a combat operation. Iraqi troops and police are staying in Husaybah, to insure that al Qaeda and Sunni nationalists do not resume their terror campaign to take back control of the area. This is expected to further anger al Qaeda and other anti-government forces, and increase the fighting between anti-government groups. In the last year, there have been more and more battles between these anti-government factions. Of late, it has come down to turf battles between al Qaeda led groups (meaning mostly non-Iraqis) and various Sunni Arab anti-government outfits. The basic problem is that al Qaeda believes it should be the leader of the fight, while the Iraqi groups disagree, to the point of deadly violence. Local civilians are caught in the middle, especially when it comes to money. Both al Qaeda and the Sunni Arab rebels extort "taxes" (protection money) from businesses in areas where they operate. Al Qaeda insists that it should control the money, and its collection. The Iraqi groups, who are fighting to "get the foreigners out of the country," are not happy with Moslem foreigners trying to tell them what to do with Iraqi money. However, al Qaeda continues to cooperate with the Sunni Arab groups, who still have more money and popular support in the Sunni Arab community. But the tensions within the anti-government groups is not going away, even as the Iraqi army and police grow stronger and more effective each month.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/10/2005 09:16 ||
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Is it just me, or is Al Qaeda sounding more like the mafia everyday?
#2
Americans are very naive about the old and honored traditions of bribery, which they mistakenly equate with corruption. In much of the world, bribes are used to show respect, friendliness, familiarity, and status.
From that point of view, a bribe is much like a letter of recommendation, and are mostly objected to by those who could never get a letter of recommendation.
A bribe indicates that you have some wealth, and are not just a poor man in good clothes. It also shows that you are willing to part with the bribe; which those who are greedy or treacherous are loathe to do. The bribe also implies kinship, which can get complex in an extended family. Finally, it is a great way to defer the expense of offered hospitality.
In one prominent Asian family I knew, everybody carried around a few small gold ingots, ornately marked with the family markings. Whenever someone traveled, they always exchanged their ingot with one from the family member they visited. The older members of the family were so respected that they did not need to give an ingot in return, and so each visitor contributed to their retirement.
Also bribes means that you get to know, and keep up with, your extended family. If someone is a "black sheep", everybody knows it, so he doesn't get any bribes. If someone else is very successful, he gives out a lot of bribes to the family as largesse, and his status in the family jumps.
Bribes outside the family reflect not just on you, but on your entire extended family. And since a government employee still belongs to his family, it represents a friendly gesture from your family to his, far more than meaning you want something from him in his office.
But Americans are less and less familiar with this, as they are with haggling instead of paying the retail price. It is a foreign custom.
#3
Hey, Anonymoose, you never did business in New York City or Jersey. Where did the "sqeeky wheel get the grease come from?" Mafia is a good analogy but their food is so much better.
#4
Shadowy area between a bribe and a gift. I invited a couple of Bahraini policemen to dine with me after I managed to keep one of my men from getting arrested (the idiot got drunk at a hotel, went out to dinner at a restaurant and argued with and insulted the owner and his staff). The cops got fed, the owner got profitable business and his staff got a generous gratuity. Bribe? Maybe.
#7
borgboy: Because nobody wants the "Palestinians," including the Jordanians. Black September
Posted by: James ||
11/10/2005 13:30 Comments ||
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According to the press release at the link, the Radisson is a Scandanavian chain (not American, Mary Nazzal was very emphatic about that), owned by Palestinian-Jordanians, and is the hotel chain most involved in supporting Palestinian causes.
Her name may be Mary because she is a Christian, or the Western name she chose for dealing with Scandanavians unable to pronounce a complicated Arab name.
Shimon Peres was ousted as Israel's Labour Party leader on Thursday in an upset victory for a trade union chief whose vow to end a ruling alliance with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon could trigger early elections.
Amir Peretz, 53, largely unknown on the international stage, was declared the winner of a rank-and-file ballot by a 42 to 40 percent margin over Peres, Labour's elder statesman who has won a Nobel Peace Prize but never a general election. Peretz's victory appeared to reflect support for his call for a return to center-left Labour's socialist roots and anger at Peres, 82, for failing to revive Israel's once-dominant party after its crushing defeat in the 2003 election.
"I expected a better evening," a glum Peres told a news conference, clearly stunned by what commentators called an upheaval in Israeli politics. Polls had predicted that Peres, an architect of now-tattered peace deals with the Palestinians, would coast to victory.
Amid chants of "the next prime minister" from supporters, Peretz, head of Israel's Histadrut trade union federation, said: "This can truly be Israel's most important hour." Peretz pledged to pull the party out of Sharon's coalition over free-market reforms and spending cuts he said have worsened the plight of Israel's poor.
Sharon has relied on Labour's support to survive parliamentary no-confidence votes against his government, already shaky because of divisions in his rightist Likud over Israel's Gaza pullout in September.
Peretz said he would call Sharon on Friday to set up a meeting, and Israel's Army Radio said he would push the prime minister to set a date for early elections, which are not due until November 2006.
Gideon Saar, parliamentary whip for Sharon's rightist Likud, called Peretz "irresponsible, very extreme" in his political and economic views and called on Likud to unite against him. Israel's shekel opened weaker after Peretz's victory. ...more...
#1
There has been much talk that Peres and Sharon would both bolt their respective parties and create a third, moderate party, taking the best from both Labor and Likud and abandoning the radicals on both sides. This would also allow them to marginalize the minor parties in Israel, while their coalition would make Isael effectively a one-party state until a loyal opposition could be formed.
#3
Peres is really old, has never led Labor to an election victory. I can understand the discontent. I myself preferred Fuad (Fuad ben Eliezer) but then hes already lost to Sharon also.
Peretz is mainly to the left of Sharon on economics, where Labor has moved very far from its socialist roots. I dont think hes a flaming dove - but wants to break off the coalition largely for tactical reasons - the argument is made that staying in leaved people no reason to vote for Labor - they may as well vote for Sharon.
Hamas said yesterday it was prepared to consider talks with Israel but vowed not to disarm, two months before the group contests its first Palestinian legislative elections. âNegotiations are not our intention, negotiation is a method,â said Mahmud Zahar, leader of the powerful movement in its Gaza Strip stronghold, in a rare interview with Israeli radio.
Zahar is probably the next big helizap target.
âIf the method is able to liberate our land, to liberate our people from Israeli jails, to reconstruct what was destroyed by the long-standing Israeli occupation, at that time we can discuss,â added Zahar, speaking in English. His interview comes just over two months before Hamas is to contest its first parliamentary polls, only the second ever such ballot in the Palestinian territories. Hamas, the most powerful faction in Gaza and the West Bank, is expected to make significant gains, undercutting the decade-long power monopoly exercised by the more moderate Fatah party of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas. Israel says it will not facilitate the vote as long as Hamas insists on running. But looking ahead, when Hamas will likely take up seats in Parliament and even join a coalition Palestinian Cabinet, Zahar did not rule out talks.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/10/2005 00:00 ||
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âIf the method is able to liberate our land, to liberate our people from Israeli jails, to reconstruct what was destroyed by the long-standing Israeli occupation, at that time we can discuss,â added Zahar, speaking in English.
Jordan's tourism industry is likely to take a hard hit after bombs ripped through three five-star hotels in central Amman Wednesday, killing at least 67 people and wounding scores of others.
Yup. That'll do it. People have the choice of going to the Caymans or someplace where there are bombs going off at the hotels, they'll go with the Caymans nine times outta ten...
Tourism is a vital source of income for the kingdom that, unlike its oil-rich neighbours Iraq and Saudi Arabia, boasts few natural resources. The blasts targeted three western-owned chain hotels - the Radisson SAS, the Grand Hyatt and the Days Inn. To some extent, the tragedy - the worst attack in recent years in Jordan - was not unexpected. It followed several smaller ones, most recently in Aqaba on the Red Sea. In December 2002, a U.S. diplomat was murdered by Islamic radicals. But what sets this series of attacks apart from others is that it is apparently the first attack in Jordan by suicide bombers.
As far as Arab countries are concerned, Jordan's a relatively civilized place. But it's crawling with xenophobic Islamists. A Jordanian is active right next door in Iraq, dispatching suicide boomers with wild abandon. Before he was in Iraq, he ran a terror org that was specifically set up to bring down the Jordanian government. It's the same guy and the same group who were responsible for the Millenium plot, that did get broken up. So, no, I'm not in the least surprised.
The Jordanian secret service has not been idle, having stopped a mammoth attack planned for the millenium turnover to 2000. Officials up to and including Jordan's King Abdullah II have described various terrorist plots uncovered by security officials. From the point of view of Islamic radicals, there are many reasons to attack hotels in Jordan, a close ally of the United States. For one, there is the hatred of the United States and Europe that fits with the ideology of terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda and provides a motive for killing western tourists.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/10/2005 00:00 ||
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I have always wanted to vacation in a Muslim country. Sounds fun. What was this about? Jordanian Occuppation of Palestinian land or the Big Satan or the bad frenchies not groveling enough.
#2
Damn, I'll have to re-arrange my annual holiday plans. I was really counting on going to Jordan with the wife and kids. Oh well, the Smokies are nice in the fall.
BASEL, Switzerland, Nov. 9 - In a factory here on the banks of the Rhine, three floors of linked vats and pipes churn out a compound that until recently drew only scant attention. Across the street, workers in protective suits dry that compound to make a white powder, to be packaged and sold as Tamiflu.
Roche, the Swiss pharmaceutical company that makes the drug, opened the doors to its Tamiflu factory Wednesday to allay fears that it might be unable to meet demand for the antiviral drug in the event of a bird flu pandemic. "There's a shortage right now," said William M. Burns, head of Roche's pharmaceutical division. But he quickly added that the company plans to raise annual production capacity to 300 million courses of treatment by this time next year: a drastic increase from 55 million this year and more than 10 times the output capacity in 2003. "This is a capacity significantly larger than the cumulative number of orders we have," Mr. Burns said.
In response to international pressure, Roche also said Wednesday that in the less-developed countries, as defined by the World Bank, it would charge 12 euros ($14.12 at Wednesday's conversion rate) for a five-day treatment and 15 euros in the developed nations. It was the first time Roche had disclosed the price it will charge governments. For seasonal flu, the company charges 20 to 50 euros a course to the public.
Roche also confirmed that it was in talks with Vietnam to provide the finished active ingredients for Tamiflu. Local companies could then put them in capsules "perhaps more cheaply than we can," said Eugene Tierney, head of virology at Roche.
Of 150 requests for licenses, Roche said it has talked with eight possible partners; it expects to shorten the list this month. Roche, Mr. Burns said, has sent out questionnaires to help sift the "commercial opportunists" from those with "serious intent." Roche is trying to find out if "there are people out there that can help us in a serious way," he said.
Bird flu has so far killed 64 people in Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and Cambodia, and infected millions of poultry and other birds. Infection rates in humans could soar if the virus mutates to a form that can be transmitted from person to person, experts have warned.
Roche stood by earlier statements that making Tamiflu was complex, taking up to a year, including gathering the raw materials. Among the criteria to become a manufacturing partner, the company says, is the ability to produce large quantities quickly without interfering with Roche's own supply chain.
Companies like Cipla, an Indian generic drug maker that wants to produce the generic version of Tamiflu, called oseltamivir, could probably supply only small amounts, making little difference in a pandemic, Mr. Tierney of Roche said. Some analysts dispute this, saying it is no more complicated to make Tamiflu than many other drugs.
Non-sequitor alert: it may not be 'more' complicated, but manufacturing pharmaceuticals on a large scale is a daunting operation and can be quite complex. Getting the requisite purity in raw materials and maintaining quality control throughout the process are the keys, and not just anyone can do that.
Gilead Sciences, the American drug company that invented Tamiflu 11 years ago, says Roche has not done enough to manufacture and market the drug, and is trying to regain control; the two companies are in arbitration. Mr. Burns said Roche has had "good discussions" with Gilead aimed at settling out of court. Roche bought control of the patents for Tamiflu 10 years ago.
Analysts also say that ramping up production of shikimic acid, a basic material in the making of Tamiflu, presents a potential bottleneck. Roche relies on a relatively rare Chinese spice, star anise, to make around two-thirds of the acid. The spice, grown in the mountains of southern China, is in increasingly short supply. The Chinese broker that supplies most of it, Beijing Gingko, has received requests for it from generic drug companies, but has declined them, Mr. Tierney said.
Roche produces a third of the acid by fermenting E. coli bacteria. Jan Van Koeveringe, head of global technical operations at Roche, said the company hoped to reverse that proportion, but gave no timeline.
That's genetic engineering and will definitely take time, but once they ramp it up they won't need star anise any more.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/10/2005 10:50 ||
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Torte Lawyers Inc. standing-by now.
1-800 number being reserved as you read this.
#3
(This sounds a tad technical, but its intent is clear. I wonder if Tamiflu is just a pallative, to soothe a scared public?)
"There are 2 distinct H5N1's, and 3 distinct H1N1's making the rounds in Asia. The H5N1's have identical 20 amino-acid deletions, and the H1N1's have identical 16 amino-acid deletions in the neuraminidase sequences. The net effect of these deletions is to drastically decrease the effectiveness of NA inhibitors such as oseltamivir (Tamiflu). The current substrains require 30 times the threshold dose of oseltamivir to effect control as similar strains last year. To date, of Vietnamese contracting the H5N1 strain, there have been no survivors among the group receiving Tamiflu as an anti-viral.
Other modifications include an M2 sequence change in all five strains that renders ion-channel blockers such as amantadine and rimantidine ineffective.
Of common anti-virals, only zanamivir (Relenza) at present appears to retain any effectiveness."
#4
But I knew that Tamiflu was ineffective against the Avian Flu ages ago, and I daren't claim any special medical knowledge or understanding. I'd vote for palliative, Anonymoose; I hear that the Germans have demanded so many Tamiflu prescriptions that pharmacy shelves have been emptied, although that may be just a rumor. Just like the moneyed in this country were demanding just-in-case Cipro prescriptions during the anthrax scare.
Lockheed Martin is developing a warning system to detect nuclear-armed SCUD missiles that could potentially be launched from small ships off the U.S. coast.
"They don't need intercontinental ballistic missile to attack us. An enemy could put a SCUD on a tramp steamer and launch it off the coast," said David Kier, Vice-President of Lockheed Martin's Protection Division.
Because of that non-theoretical threat Lockheed Martin has been investing its own money to develop a system called Passive Coherent Locator (PCL) that could detect such a ship-launched missile and feed accurate tracking information into the existing national missile defense command-and-control system for a response, the Night Watch Information Service reported.
The PCL system involves a network of sensors that could be operational from Washington to Boston within two years of government funding and along the entire U.S. coastline some years later.
Some 75 percent of the total U.S. population of 290 million people and 75 percent of its military bases are within 200 miles of the coast. The number of potential launch platforms is immense, with 130,000 registered merchant ships in 195 countries, NWIS said.
Thousands of SCUDs and other inexpensive short-range ballistic missiles have been dispersed, sold worldwide with some in countries where terrorist groups operate openly.
Iran test-launched a tactical ballistic missile from a ship last year and the threat has become much worse with the rapid proliferation of cruise missiles. China has already supplied many to Iran.
Some 70 countries already possess an estimated 75,000 anti-ship cruise missiles and many of them could be easily converted to land-attack weapons. At least 10 nations already have land-attack cruise missiles and their number is increasing, NWIS said.
A report by the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments stated, "While the Defense Department has numerous programs to address threats to forward-deployed ground and naval forces, it has devoted much less attention to cruise missile threats to the homeland.
"Even the relatively large Seersucker (Russian-built anti-ship cruise missile) can be hidden and launched from a standard 12-meter shipping container," the CSBA report said. "The balance between cruise missiles and defenses currently favor the offense."
During congressional testimony early this year, Air Force Lt. Gen. Henry "Trey" Obering, director of the Missile Defense Agency, said he was "concerned about" the potential for a ship-launched missile attack on the United States.
"There is a difference of opinion in terms of whether that constitutes a real threat, but that's something I'm personally concerned about. So we're working on it."
More recently, Obering told reporters: "We launched a SCUD off an ocean-going platform ... It was very easy to do."
Cruise-missile defense, however, is not part of MDA's responsibility. That responsibility is shared by the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization and the Joint Theater Air and Missile Organization, NWIS said.
Lockheed Martin's PCL has received some assistance in system verification from the government, including defense agencies and NASA, Kier said.
Posted by: DanNY ||
11/10/2005 05:04 ||
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Kudos to Lockheed to putting their own money and effort into starting to defend our population centers. I have thought this is how the US will be attacked, using a fleet of container ships parked outside the 12 mile limit with cruise or small missiles such as an ATACMS class (13 feet long, 180 miles, 500 pound warhead) and the US could not do a thing about. The attacker would even have a measure of deniability.
Now, if only we can begin to think about air defense for our cities.
Posted by: ed ||
11/10/2005 9:15 Comments ||
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Used to have Nike Herc air defense missile sites back in the 60s and early 70s which covered major metropolitan areas like LA, SF, Chicago, NY, Boston, Washington, etc. All phased out. The land is still probably in federal hands for reuse, though I'd move the old SF unit up to Seattle to cover the Boeing plants rather than waste it on the Bay area. To make Rummey happy, these could be manned by NG rather than regulars so he doesn't have to worry his pretty head about manpower issues.
#3
A battery or two of Patriot missles at Fort Tilden in the Rockaways should cover NYC. Most of the old infrastructure still exists.
Dunno how safe the commercial air traffic would be in an engagement though.
Posted by: DanNY ||
11/10/2005 9:37 Comments ||
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#4
Two points: the US Coast Guard quietly got approval for far-at-sea-off-coast searches of suspicious vessels a while back; and second, Germany just signed a contract with Iran to provide them with four large cargo ships.
Since we have invested a LOT of money in layered anti-missile defense against NORK, it would be foolish to let a launch ship through those defenses. There are a lot of old, grizzled US Navy sailors, and they pretty much spend their time contemplating things like this.
#7
For those of you interested in these things, the Coast Guard runs Maritime Fusion Intelligence Centers in Alameda, CA and Dam Neck, VA to track worldwide merchant ship traffic. They are impressive operations, and it's not as easy for the tramp steamer to just pop up and fire as many think. Also, there's nothing magical about the 12 NM limit. We'll stop a ship in the middle of the Pacific if need be.
The Atlantic MIFC's website is: HTTP://www.uscg.mil/lantarea/mifclant
#8
though I'd move the old SF unit up to Seattle to cover the Boeing plants rather than waste it on the Bay area.
That 'unit' and another like it located at Fort Meade Md, were inactivated in the mid-90's. Pentagon/SOF planners believed at that time that additional unconvential warfare resources were no longer required. The term 'assymmetric warfare' was just beginning to be used.
#9
USNORTHCOM: one of Rumsfeld's achievements which flies under most people's radar. Defending CONUS now has a central, joint command structure that isn't also worrying about other areas of the globe. The question is, of course, what forces will be moved under NORTHCOM when needed -- or are quietly operating already.
#10
San Francisco might be better protected than you think. They have a National Historic site Nike base there. The "volunteers" last I heard were trying to get the radars operational again. Always they are looking for volunteers, see: http://www.nps.gov/goga/nike/maps.htm
Posted by: bruce ||
11/10/2005 15:58 Comments ||
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New toys for the rocket scientists? Have fun, bruce!
BANGKOK â Thailand has ruled out any form of autonomy for its Muslim-majority south and said there was no evidence that foreign groups linked to Al Qaeda were involved in the regionâs unrest.
In an interview with AFP, Foreign Minister Kantathi Suphamongkhon rejected an appeal for self-rule. âWeâre not a federal system. Autonomy in that sense is something that is not part of our system,â he said. âItâs a unified system that we have. We donât have the concept of autonomy within our constitution,â Kantathi said.
So there.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/10/2005 00:00 ||
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Indonesia is expected to miss its target of luring six million foreign tourists to its shores this year after being struck by a series of calamities, a minister said Wednesday.
Some of the "calamities" were explosions targeting those selfsame tourists. They don't do that kind of stuff in Tahiti, y'know...
The target of six million had been set after about five million arrivals were recorded for 2004, but the tsunami which devastated Aceh, Bali bombing and bird flu outbreaks meant it would not be reached, he said.
A tsunami will kind of put a crimp into the beach traffic, won't it? But there's a difference between nature and hostile Islamists.
Indonesia's tourism industry, which employs 8 million people, was hit by a suicide bomb on Oct. 1 that killed 23 people, close to the anniversary of an attack on Bali that killed 202 people in 2002. Car bombs at the JW Marriot Hotel in August 2003 and at the Australian embassy in September 2004 in Jakarta have kept foreign travelers away.
But other than that, things are fine. Except for the occasional schoolgirl getting her head lopped off. But they're not tourists, so not to worry...
Wacik said he would try to boost spending on international promotions from three million dollars this year to 18 million dollars in 2006, focusing on the Chinese, Indian and the Middle Eastern markets.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/10/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Oh yeah, focus on those Middle Eastern markets -- they'll feel right at home between the beheadings, the suicide bombers, and the natural disasters.
#3
Kind of helps us "couch potatoes" with our self-esteem and guilt; hand me that remote! Muslim countries are great vacation spots. Out of this world.
DAMASCUS, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad launched a scathing attack against Lebanon's leaders on Thursday, accusing them of turning their country into a hotbed of conspiracy against Damascus.
In an unprecedented attack on the Beirut government, Assad said Prime Minister Fouad Siniora had allowed Lebanon to become a base for Syria's enemies. "The truth we see today is that Lebanon has become a passageway, a factory and a financier of these conspiracies," he said in a televised speech.
Now, he wouldn't be stupid enough to think by taking control of Lebanon again, the investigation would go away? Would he?
Syria, long the main power-broker in Lebanon, ended its three-decade military presence in its neighbour in April amid an international outcry and mass protests over the February killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri.
Assad accused Hariri's supporters of exploiting his death for political ends, saying the late Hariri had been Syria's main ally in Lebanon.
"The truth is those people, or most of them, are blood merchants. They created a market out of Hariri's blood ... Everything has a price," Assad said.
Parliamentary elections in May and June ushered in a Lebanese parliament critical of Damascus for the first time in decades, but relations between the two countries have been strained. Many of the Lebanese now in power blamed Syria for Hariri's death from the outset. Syria has always said it had nothing to do with the killing and has dismissed as politically motivated a U.N. inquiry that implicated its officials.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/10/2005 11:56 ||
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Yeah. You know how that works, don't you, Zippy?
#4
Baby Assad dont get too balsy just because one member of the Arab Council or whatever swung by and declared support. If I remember right they supported another guy a hell of alot more louder with more members hmm what was his name ohh I got Saddam.
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) - Syria's president Thursday reiterated his country's innocence in the killing of a prominent Lebanese politician. He pledged to cooperate - for now - with a U.N. investigation that implicated Syrian military officers but warned such cooperation will stop "when Syria is going to harmed."
President Bashar Assad also disclosed that a U.N. investigator has turned down Syria's conditions set on the investigation cooperation.
"We will play their game" and cooperate, Assad said in a speech at Damascus University. But, he warned, the country will "stop when Syria is going to be harmed."
Syria has come under intense pressure from the United States and the United Nations since the February assassination of Rafik Hariri, a former prime minister of Lebanon. A U.N. Security Council resolution has demanded that Syria cooperate with an international probe into the assassination. The U.N. commission led by German investigator Detlev Mehlis wants to question six Syrian officials in Lebanon.
Assad disclosed in his speech that Mehlis had refused Syria's offers to hold the questioning of the officers on Syrian territory - even in U.N. offices there - or at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo, Egypt, in cooperation with Egypt. Mehlis on Thursday left Beirut for Germany, Beirut airport officials said. Assad said the latest events confirm that "no matter what we did and how much we cooperate, the result will be that Syria did not cooperate."
"Syria is innocent in the absolute sense," Assad said in the wide-ranging and hard-line speech. "Syria is not involved at the government level or at the individual level. The problem is merely a political one in the context of events."
Posted by: Steve ||
11/10/2005 08:34 ||
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#1
I didn't do it!!
Iran outta gas !!!
I had a flat Tire!!
I wasn't THERE!!!!!!!!!
#5
"Syria is innocent in the absolute sense," Assad said in the wide-ranging and hard-line speech. "Syria is not involved at the government level or at the individual level. The problem is merely a political one in the context of events."
"I don't have to be judged on the facts. I just have to be judged politically, and all is well...
Ball is in YOUR court Kofi!"
Iran is confident the International Atomic Energy Agency's November report on its nuclear program will be positive, the country's top nuclear official said on Thursday.
A good IAEA report at the U.N. watchdog's next board meeting later this month will make it more difficult for Washington and the European Union to call for Iran's case to be referred to the U.N. Security Council, diplomats say.
Tehran denies Washington's accusations that it is secretly pursuing nuclear arms and says it only wants to generate electricity. "As our cooperation with the IAEA is on the right track, I believe the report will be positive," said Gholamreza Aghazadeh, head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization. "Iran's improved cooperation with U.N. inspectors will be reflected in (IAEA chief) Mohamed ElBaradei's next report," the official IRNA news agency quoted him as saying.
Aghazadeh reiterated that Iran's nuclear stand-off with the West could be solved through diplomatic channels.
Talks between the European Union and Iran collapsed in August after Tehran restarted uranium conversion, suspended under a November deal with France, Britain and Germany.
"The only solution to our nuclear issue is a political one ... There is no reason to send the case to the council," he said.
Ali Larijani, the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, has formally written to Britain, France and Germany calling a restart of nuclear negotiations.
The EU says it is studying Iran's offer.
Iran has been praised by the IAEA for improved cooperation in recent weeks, including allowing inspectors to visit the Parchin military complex near Tehran. "We see they've accessed the accounts and removed the bribe money, thus we are confident the IAEA will whitwash this bitch and peddle it per the agreement."
#1
Well since the head of the IAEA is named 'Mohamed' my bets are that the IAEA report will be very short on saying anything bad about Iran. It will stay that way until Iran has about 10 Atomic Weapons.
WHILE IRANIAN PRESIDENT Mahmood Ahmadinejad's recent call to wipe Israel off the map has elicited a great deal of much-needed international condemnation, relatively little focus has been paid since to Iran's long-standing support for international terrorism. Thankfully, a recent article published in the German political magazine Cicero, titled "How Dangerous is Iran?" serves as a welcome supplement to the Iranian president's remarks that, among other things, argues that Iran is currently harboring the surviving al Qaeda leadership.
This information is by no means new. In September 2003 for example, the Washington Post reported that "after the fall of the Taliban in Afghanistan, the locus of al Qaeda's degraded leadership moved to Iran. The Iranian security services, which answer to the country's powerful Islamic clerics, protected the leadership." But the same article also claimed that after the May 2003 Riyadh bombings "the Iranians, under pressure from the Saudis, detained the al Qaeda group." Most news reports on Iranian support for terrorism since then have claimed that the al Qaeda leaders are being held in some form of light detention or perhaps loose house arrest.
According to the new information in Cicero, however, whatever the situation might have been in May 2003, it is no longer the case.
After spending some time addressing the disillusionment of the Iranian reformist movement in the wake of the triumph of Ahmadinejad and his hardline backers as well as the threat posed by the Iranian nuclear program, the Cicero article shifts its focus to the issue of Iranian support for terrorism, leaving little doubt that the Iranian regime views terrorism as a legitimate means of achieving its policy objectives. A member of the Jordanian intelligence agency GID is quoted as saying, "Ahmadinezhad [sic] can and will use the terrorist card every time as extortion against the West . . . If Europe does not accommodate Iran in the dispute over the Mullahs' nuclear program, they will threaten terrorism against British soldiers in Iraq and French interests in Lebanon." If British accusations of explosives being shipped into Iraq from Iran for use against Coalition troops are any indication, this card is already being played.
The article's revelations, however, go far beyond that:
The author of this article was able to look at a list of the holy killers who have found safe refuge in Iran. The list reads like the Who's Who of global jihad, with close to 25 high-ranking leadership cadres of Al-Qa'ida--planners, organizers, and ideologues of the jihad from Egypt, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia, North Africa, and Europe. Right at the top in the Al-Qa'ida hierarchy: three of Usama Bin Ladin's sons, Saad, Mohammad, and Othman.
Al-Qa'ida spokesman Abu Ghaib enjoys Iranian protection, as does Abu Dagana al-Alemani (known as the German), who coordinates cooperation of the various jihadist networks throughout the world from Iran. They live in secure housing of the Revolutionary Guard in and around Tehran. "This is not prison or house arrest," is the conclusion of a high-ranking intelligence officer. "They are free to do as they please."
Saif al-Adel, military chief and number three in Al-Qa'ida, also had a free hand. In early May 2003, Saudi intelligence recorded a telephone conversation with the organizer of the series of attacks in the Saudi capital Riyadh that claimed over 30 victims, including seven foreigners, in May 2003. Saif al-Adel gives orders for the attacks from Iran, where he operated under the wing of the Iranian intelligence service.
For years, according to the findings of Middle Eastern and Western intelligence services, Iranian intelligence services have already worked together repeatedly with Sunni jihad organizations of Al-Qa'ida. "As an Islamist, I go to the Saudis to get money," the Jordanian GID man outlines the current practice of Islamist holy warriors. "When I need weapons, logistical support, or military terrorist training and equipment, I go to the Iranians."
As the United States continues to debate both internally and with its European allies over how to deal with Iran and its new president, it would seem that this new information, coming from a country that strongly opposed the Iraq war, would be a welcome contribution to the discussion.
Dan Darling is a counter-terrorism consultant for the Manhattan Institute's Center for Policing Terrorism.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/10/2005 00:12 ||
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"this new information, coming from a country that strongly opposed the Iraq war, would be a welcome contribution to the discussion"
A very diplomatic way of saying casus belli, methinks.
The problem with saying that the US has a casus belli with Iran is that there too many to count. I mean, how far back you want to go? We've had more this year alone than I have fingers or toes. At what point do we stop saying that we have a cause of war and start acknowledging that maybe, just maybe, the Black Hats actually mean that whole "Death to the Great Satan" crap they say every time their parliament goes into session.
Doesn't necessarily mean we have to invade, there are plenty of other options and their regime is becoming more and more brittle under their increasingly lunatic leadership, but so far none of the diplos and the chattering classes want to talk about that. It's long past time somebody knocked them free of their complacency.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/10/2005 3:04 Comments ||
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I certainly don't disagree with any of what you're saying, this is the latest in a long string of solid reasons for decapitating the Iranian nightmare. Perhaps fresher reasons have more punch, lol.
I agree there are multiple ways to deal with them, and decapitation, with (better) or without (such is life) internal coordination is the best of the lot, IMHO. Bush is definitely a go, and so is the House - it's the gutless wankers in the Senate that watered down the Stop Iran from acquiring nukes "by all means necessary" resolutions (the "warrant" Bush needs; see HCON 307, 332 and SCON 73, 81; then see the abortion they passed, HCON 398 / 108th Congress) that showed real promise for bipartisan support to act. Truly disgusting to watch. To be honest, I'm convinced that, thanks to the Senate Dhimmidonks and RINOs, that much of our Senate is too worthless to serve - or save. Bush, The President, has very limited power to "wage war" or anything like it sans such a resolution, contrary to what the idiots everywhere seem to think.
#4
BTW, the previous resolutions were from 108th Congress, if you're using the Thomas site to locate the resolutions. I hate that site, lol.
If anyone needs rock-solid proof that in the House and Senate elections it's important to elect people with the stones to do the heavy lifting, and believe that Iran is a real danger to the world, then the sort of weenies elected in the last cycle should suffice to convince them.
It's sad. Iran will be able to acquire nukes if Bush or Sharon don't take it upon themselves to do something... and for Bush, it would be pushing Executive power to the wall, and then some, since this POS resolution is now the "official" position of the US Gutless Congress. The repetitious and screechy ankle-biters should take note and edumahcate themselves.
#5
Here's another example of voting in gutless wankers. The Patriot Act, which has NEVER been shown to have been abused, not once, ever, by anyone, despite the Hue & Cry⢠of the conspiracists of all stripes and flavors, is being watered down by the 109th.
#6
Senate = ostrich syndrome=appeasement (hangwringing). Appeasers always get it wrong. However, that said, Iran would be wise to forget the nuclear option. Iran's leadership will take their country into oblivion should they develop and use nuclear weapons.
#7
Great piece Dan. There is certainly enough "disillusionment" to go around. The entire Iranian mess has been put on the back burner since the overthrow of Pahlevi and the seizure of the American Embassy over 25 years ago. Just more peanut farmer legacy coming home to roost. Omiter's ref to "ostrich syndrone" and the senate are a bit off. The ostrich only appears to have his head in the sand while feeding. They are not in the least cowardly and will fight and can kill a man with that big front toe if provoked. Unlike the eggs the US Senate lays, the ostrich lays large, delicious eggs and is quite domesticed.
Syria has invited a UN investigator to Damascus to discuss cooperation in a probe into the killing of a former Lebanese premier, the state news agency said yesterday.
I thought they'd decided it was the Mossad and the C.I.A. before they started?
Syria last month dismissed a UN report implicating its officials in the murder by bomb of Rafik Hariri, saying it was politically motivated. A UN resolution demanded it cooperate fully with the inquiry or face unspecified action. âAs we hope that you would agree on the visit ... we propose in this regard the signing of a memorandum of understanding with your committee to achieve the desired cooperation,â Judge Ghada Murad, who heads a Syrian panel investigating the killing, said in a letter to UN investigator Detlev Mehlis. The letter did not directly refer to a request by Mehlis to question six Syrian officials in Lebanon.
But...
A Lebanese source has said the six include Syrian President Bashar Assadâs brother-in-law, Maj. Gen. Asef Shawkat. A spokesman for the Syrian probe panel said yesterday the committee was interrogating six officials named by the UN team and banned them from traveling abroad.
That would seem to include Beirut.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/10/2005 00:00 ||
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The fix is in.
Posted by: Captain America ||
11/10/2005 1:40 Comments ||
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Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad suffered a sharp setback yesterday when his nominee for oil minister withdrew in the face of criticism from lawmakers about his wealth and lack of experience. Sadeq Mahsouli's departure is a domestic embarrassment for Ahmadinejad, who has caused a storm abroad by calling for Israel to be "wiped off the map". The new president has staked his political reputation on bringing his close allies from the conservative religious camp into the Islamic Republic's most prestigious jobs.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/10/2005 00:00 ||
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Ahmadinejad can feel embarassed? Color me shocked.
Also he needs a nickname...wa-a-y too many syllables there...
Girding for a potential fight with the Bush administration, supporters of a ban on torturing prisoners of war by U.S. interrogators threatened Friday to include the prohibition in nearly every bill the Senate considers until it becomes law.
The no-torture wording, which proponents say is supported by majorities in both houses of Congress, was included last month in the Senate's version of a defense spending bill. The measure's final form is being negotiated with the House, and the White House is pushing for either a rewording or deletion of the torture ban.
On Friday, at the urging of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz, the Senate by a voice vote added the ban to a related defense bill as a backup.
Speaking from the Senate floor, McCain said, "If necessary - and I sincerely hope it is not - I and the co-sponsors of this amendment will seek to add it to every piece of important legislation voted on in the Senate until the will of a substantial bipartisan majority in both houses of Congress prevails. Let no one doubt our determination."
The ban would establish the Army Field Manual as the guiding authority in interrogations and prohibit "cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment" of prisoners.
Which is yet to be published but will be available on Amazon.com for inclusion in the al Qaeda manual soon.
The Bush administration has sought to exempt the CIA from the ban.
McCain's stature in the fight is enhanced because he was tortured while he was a prisoner during the Vietnam War. When the Senate voted to include the ban in the defense spending bill last month, it was approved 90-9.
McCain was tortured, now he's torturing everyone else.
The House's version of the spending bill does not contain the torture ban. But Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania, the ranking Democrat on the House Defense Appropriations subcommittee, earlier this week urged his colleagues to accept the Senate provision.
The provision would reverse the Bush administration's contention that conditions placed on the treatment of prisoners of war in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and other international treaties signed by the United States do not apply to foreigners held overseas.
The prisoners "can, apparently, be treated inhumanely," McCain said. "This means that America is the only country in the world that asserts a legal right to engage in cruel and inhumane treatment."
Bush initially threatened to veto the "must-pass" spending bill for the Pentagon if it contained the Senate provision. Later, he sought simply to exempt the CIA from the ban. McCain called that proposal "totally unacceptable."
Opponents of the McCain language contend that setting no-torture ground rules would signal to prisoners that they have little to fear during interrogations, discouraging them from providing information.
Pentagon spokesman Larry DiRita had said Thursday that prisoners captured during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq "know what we do by virtue of interrogation manuals and procedures, And they are trained to resist."
"So there's a perception that the kind of rigidity that comes with these kinds of amendments could restrict the president's flexibility in the global war on terror," DiRita said. "And anything that restricts our ability to engage this highly agile adversary is not desirable."
Let's be clear. McCain wants this to be a show down pitting a supposed pro-torture White House against him and his halo. It's a false debate because no one advocates torture unless in a ticking time bomb scenario. McCain is a fraud and loser.
Posted by: Captain America ||
11/10/2005 19:22 ||
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McCain has had a hard-on to defeat Bush since 1999 when he lost the nomination.
Remember, this guy with the 'halo' was one of the Keating Five -- and the only Republican among them.
Besides his ego, I wouldn't vote for McCain for Pres. because he's never run anything bigger than his office staff, except for his mouth.
#2
McCain's was tortured while he was a prisoner during the Vietnam War. I guess he would have preferred the "take no prisoners" approach that this may promote. As a taxpayer, I have no desire to spend vast amounts of resources on debating the fine points of what is humane and what is not. McCain wants to give halal meals to terrorists; I want to give them lead.
#3
Let's not forget that McCain is the author of the most tyrannical law of the last 50 years, McCain Feingold, which prevents us from speaking up on political issues anywhere near an election.
#4
McCain starts talking when the refrigerator light comes on in the morning. I hope he will be defeated in the primaries. If he is the nominee, I will have to stay home (for the first time since 1968.)
#5
I respect his position on torture, as long as he is willing to spell out what types of practices he considers to be torture. Bandying about ill-defined terms like "inhumane" and "cruel" is great for politicians, but bad for soldiers.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
11/10/2005 19:54 Comments ||
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#6
I respect the issues surrounding torture.
But McCain has ridden that claim to moral fame for way too long now. I suppose the Vietnam war won't die until the last damn baby boomer does, tho.
I applaud your service to the Country, Senator, from a time when it was not recognized as such.
My son served in Iraq earlier this year.
While I appreciate your position on "torture" Senator, I am afraid of a long, costly debate about what is considered "humane" treatment. We
already have a great many Americans who consider underwear on the head as 'torture'!
While I think I understand your position, Senator, I am afraid our enemies will look at your concerns as 'weakness'.
Please reconsider your position, Senator.
Sincerely, ...
Hat tips to other Rantburgers,
Posted by: Bobby ||
11/10/2005 21:38 Comments ||
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McCain gave great sevice during the war but I am sorry he has no place being pro or con on the issue of Torture and Interrogation. The reason is simple he is a victim of such if you have been raped you are inelligeble to serve on the jury of a rape trial. Gives him a automatic biased view from the victim prospective thats why.
Besides that McCain is a LLL not a conservative albiet a center left Dem he is still a dem you just cant tell latley cuase most Dems are Radical Left LLL, Kerry, Dean, Kennedy, Rokefeller, Boxer, Pelosi, ect.....
I am so tired of hearing the dum f*ck excusses on Torture.
Oh torture dont work=== then why the hell is it still used to this day to get info???
Oh the info you get is not usefull====thier is another interrogation tatic were all the info is believable and not some lies??????? not to mention even lies often can be good intellegence barring due to human nature lies are often loosly fact or they arent believable. Beside anyone with half a brain knows all interrogation is cross checked with intell and the interrogator doesnt lay his cards down so the enemy must guess what the interrogator knows when telling his lie becuase those parts he must match or the interrogator knows he is lying and the game continues on and on and on until the lies end and the truth is given.
Oh it makes us like them========="peace-love-&-Happiness" bullsh*t War is hell and the more we sterelize our war tatics the less the threat of war with us becomes the more people we are going to have to fight continuous war or many many wars is worse and more damaging in the long run than few brutal hellish wars. simple common sence annalogy, everyone will fight a bigger guy in a boxing match with rules and all for fun, but not many people unless absolutley nessecary will jump on a big guy with bare knuckles feet knee's all open no rules two man enter one man leave rules. One is no big deal just playing the other is no way. We will have more and more continous war if we continue on this "peace-love-&-happiness" mentality, we are the big guy with boxing gloves and rules why not go a couple of rounds wont get hurt that bad, Total WAR should be our policy short Nukes, War is Hell War is Brutal and we should prosecute it as such we should be the big guy no gloves, Gineva Convention we will honor only if our enemy does period. Otherwise god have mercy on you. This mentality will end this endless purpetual war sh*t we have come to. When we say something only say it if we are prepared to back it up and then our enemies will know when we show up its do or die period. Theodore Roosevelt "Talk Softly & Carry a Big Stick". These changes should be put into our constitution as a ammendment that way we have no more Vietnams, or Samalia's were we deploy our military with BS rules of war made by some f*ck wad in the Ivory Tower with no Heart or Experience in Military. These rules should be simple when the pres deploys the military they should be under the generals control and his sole job is victory or meeting whatever the objective is period.
#9
McCain is not the only person held captive and tortured in Vietnam. Unfortunately, there were many who fell victim to the Viet Cong.
McCain uses his captivity like no one else in public. Books, movies, his entire political career is anchored by his regrettable time held by the Viet Cong.
Posted by: Captain America ||
11/10/2005 22:48 Comments ||
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November 10, 2005: India, apparently pleased with the twelve Heron UAVs it bought from Israel over the last two years, has ordered fifty more (at a cost of $4.4 million each.) The Heron, with a wingspan 28 feet, has a max take off weight of 1.2 tons and carries a 440 pound payload. With a max endurance of up to 50 hours (depending on payload carried), the Heron can be equipped with day and night vidcams, or even a naval search radar. Cruising at about 100 kilometers an hour, and flying as high as 20,000 feet, the Heron is very similar in cost and performance to the United States Predator.
The Indians originally wanted to buy fifty Herons, but it was decided to buy a smaller quantity first, to make sure the UAVs could operate effectively in the wide variety of environments India has to deal with. For example, four of the Herons were equipped with naval search radars, and used to patrol the tropical waters of south India (to keep an eye out for Tamil terrorists trying to smuggle weapons into Sri Lanka). But most of the Herons are intended for use in Kashmir, and along the Pakistani border in general. This often involves operating in frigid temperatures and at high altitudes and mountainous terrain. Apparently, the Heron was able to do the job in all of those climates. The U.S. Army uses a version of the Heron, called the Hunter.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/10/2005 09:27 ||
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Unfortunately Israel like America has learned freedom and safety is borne by expanding its brainpower for the machines of war. or peace, depending on your point of view.
November 10, 2005: There are apparently three groups of pirates operating along the Somali coast. This has turned out to be a lucrative business, despite the number of failed attacks. The pirates have bought maritime radios, so they can listen in on the conversations between ships off the coast. The pirates have also used the radios to issue false calls for emergency assistance, to try and lure ships to within range of their speed boats. The pirates also use the radios to get a better idea of exactly where likely target ships are off the coast, or when they are going to be nearby.
Currently, merchant ships are staying further out to sea (the minimum recommended distance from the coast is now 240 kilometers). It costs ships more money to detour that far out to sea, but given the growing reach, and audacity, of the pirates, this is a small price to pay. If a ships is seized by pirates, the ransom (several hundred thousand dollars, at least) and lost revenue (millions of dollars, depending on the size of the ship and the duration of its captivity), is far more expensive.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/10/2005 09:22 ||
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New deck activity. Arm the passengers and provide free drinks for anyone who bags a pirate. Drink limit is 3--no limit on pirates. Heard these "pirates" are mooselimbs.
#4
Do what was done in the Strait of Malacca. Make it as financially painful as possible. Declare Somali waters a war zone and jack up the insurance rates to the point of screaming. Triple that for ships bound for Somali ports.
What results is a de facto marine embargo of Somalia. The UN/NGOs will caterwaul. The warlords may take the matter of pirates into their own hands, or the nascent Somali government requests international assistance.
Pakistan has certain laws and policies which discriminate against religious minorities, says a report released by the US State Department on Tuesday.
Really? When did that start?
The International Religious Freedom Report 2005 does not blacklist Pakistan â Saudi Arabia, China, Iran, Myanmar, North Korea, Vietnam, Eritrea and Sudan are the eight countries labelled of âparticular concernâ â but does cite it as having shortfalls in allowing religious freedom. The State Department report say Pakistan has âdiscriminatory legislation or policies prejudicial to certain religions,â an apparent reference to the Hudood Ordinances and blasphemy laws.
Apostasizing all the Ahmaddis...
Pakistan was also faulted for failing to intervene in cases of violence against minority religious groups.
... threatening the Ismailis, booming Shiite mosques, machine-gunning Christian churches, that sort of thing...
âThe government took steps to improve the treatment of religious minorities, but there were instances in which authorities failed to intervene in cases of societal violence directed at minority religious groups,â it said.
A pretty high corpse count, in fact. Higher than anyplace else I can think of, with the possible exception of Iraq.
The State Department annually blacklists countries for alleged religious freedom violations based on recommendations from a commission jointly appointed by President George W Bush and Congress.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/10/2005 00:00 ||
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From the Friday Times (a Pak paper)
Whatâs in a name?
A few days ago, television viewers saw the prime minister commiserating with victims of the earthquake in Muzaffarabad. The PM was particularly affectionate to an orphaned child whom he lifted up in his arms and made small talk with to cheer him up. âWhatâs your name, beta?âthe solicitous PM asked. â[b]Osama[/b]â came the reply.
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11/10/2005 17:53 Comments ||
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Egypt went to the polls yesterday to elect a new Popular Assembly for the first time since the country's first multicandidate presidential race earlier this year. The elections are expected to see President Hosni Mubarak's ruling party National Democratic Party (NDP) retain its grip on power despite an unprecedented push from the opposition.
The Opposition Muslim Brotherhood movement cried foul over what it described as widespread fraud by the NDP, but independent monitors gave a more positive assessment of the polling process. Yesterday's poll is the first round in three that will take place in the next six weeks. Election officials reported a turnout of 12 to 15 percent of registered voters.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/10/2005 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
In a political blow to Prime Minister Tony Blair, British lawmakers on Wednesday rejected tough anti-terrorism legislation that would have allowed suspects to be detained for 90 days without charge. The House of Commons vote was the first major defeat of Blair's premiership and raises serious questions about his grip on power. Blair had staked his authority on the measure and doggedly refused to compromise.
TREASURER Peter Costello said radical Muslims would not be allowed to turn Australia into an Islamic state. Mr Costello said Muslims who wanted to live in a country governed by sharia law, which imposes strict limitations on freedoms, would be better off living elsewhere. "If you are somebody who wants to live in an Islamic state governed by sharia law you are not going to be happy in Australia, because Australia is not an Islamic state, will never be an Islamic state and will never be governed by sharia law," Mr Costello said. "We are a secular state under our constitution, our law is made by parliament elected in democratic elections. We do not derive our laws from religious instruction." Mr Costello said anyone who was alienated by Australia's form of government, judicial system and civil rights and wanted something else "might be better advised to find the 'something else' somewhere else".
The top two Republicans in Congress want the House and Senate intelligence committees to investigate who leaked to the press that the U.S. runs secret prisons overseas. Also yesterday, a U.S. official told reporters that the CIA had taken the first step toward a criminal investigation of the leak of classified information. House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert of Illinois and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee noted that the leak, which said the CIA-run prisons are used to interrogate terror suspects, could threaten national security. "If accurate, such an egregious disclosure could have long-term and far-reaching damaging and dangerous consequences, and will imperil our efforts to protect the American people and our homeland from terrorist attacks," they wrote in a letter to the committee chairmen. 
Jordan's tourism industry is likely to take a hard hit after bombs ripped through three five-star hotels in central Amman Wednesday, killing at least 67 people and wounding scores of others. 
Indonesia is expected to miss its target of luring six million foreign tourists to its shores this year after being struck by a series of calamities, a minister said Wednesday.
Syria has invited a UN investigator to Damascus to discuss cooperation in a probe into the killing of a former Lebanese premier, the state news agency said yesterday.
Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad suffered a sharp setback yesterday when his nominee for oil minister withdrew in the face of criticism from lawmakers about his wealth and lack of experience. Sadeq Mahsouli's departure is a domestic embarrassment for Ahmadinejad, who has caused a storm abroad by calling for Israel to be "wiped off the map". The new president has staked his political reputation on bringing his close allies from the conservative religious camp into the Islamic Republic's most prestigious jobs.
Pakistan has certain laws and policies which discriminate against religious minorities, says a report released by the US State Department on Tuesday.
Egypt went to the polls yesterday to elect a new Popular Assembly for the first time since the country's first multicandidate presidential race earlier this year. The elections are expected to see President Hosni Mubarak's ruling party National Democratic Party (NDP) retain its grip on power despite an unprecedented push from the opposition.
