The US-led coalition forces in war-torn Afghanistan Monday said that the Al Qaeda terrorist network and the ousted extremist Taliban regime were sharing information.
"While we do not have specific information regarding the actual ties between Al Qaeda and Taliban, but we can believe that there is some information sharing going on," Laurent Fox, the spokesman for the US military told reporters in the Afghani capital.
Fox said both Al Qaeda and Taliban are the enemies of Afghanistan and the coalition forces are determined to fight against them. But he declined to provide any information about the alleged ties between the two groups.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/13/2005 00:29 ||
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Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and 20 other government, military and Janjaweed militia members should be investigated for ordering, condoning or carrying out atrocities in the Darfur region, a leading human rights group said. The 85-page report by the New York-based Human Rights Watch, released on Sunday, documents through eyewitness accounts, government papers and its own investigations of their alleged role in committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur since mid-2003. "The Sudanese government at the highest levels is responsible for widespread and systematic abuses in Darfur," the report said. "The Sudanese government's systematic attacks on civilians in Darfur have been accompanied by a policy of impunity for all those responsible for the crimes."
The report was prepared for use by the International Criminal Court, which the U.N. Security Council assigned in March to indict individuals responsible for the abuses. Its prosecutor, Luis Moreno Ocampo, addresses the council on Tuesday but has not yet ordered any indictments. In addition, the rights group said the U.N. Security Council should incorporate the list of names in its register of suspects eligible for travel and other sanctions. The council voted for the sanctions nine months ago but has taken no action.
Tens of thousands of Sudanese have been killed since a revolt in Darfur began in early 2003 by non-Arab villagers who accused the government of neglect and repression. The report charged that Khartoum in retaliation armed Arab Janjaweed militia and drafted them into police and other security forces as they looted, raped and drove 2 million people out of their homes. The Khartoum government over the past two years has vigorously denied its affiliation with the Janjaweed and set up its own special courts to try suspects. But Human Rights Watch said the government has made no "genuine" effort to investigate, discipline or prosecute those responsible.
By early 2004 it was clear, even to some soldiers, that civilians were the targets, said the report, entitled "Entrenching Impunity: Government Responsibility for International Crimes in Darfur." One former soldier was quoted as telling Human Rights Watch that when he protested to his commander, he was told, "You have to attack the civilians." Although the Sudanese government probably does not have full control over all militia any longer, the report says the "out of control" state of affairs provides the government with the deniability it believes it needs to counter international protests."
This has been somewhat more transparent than glass from Day One. Anyone who's been fooled at any point regarding Omar's connivance in the atrocities has had to work hard at it. But we've seen the UN work hard to convince itself of five impossible things before breakfast before, so I haven't been surprised at that, either.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/13/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
The report was prepared for use by the International Criminal Court, which the U.N. Security Council assigned in March to indict individuals responsible for the abuses.
Much as I'd like to see these Sudanese bastards hang, something seems... wrong, in having an NGO preparing a report for use by the ICC.
Then again, I shouldn't be surprised, since the intial set-up and staffing of the court was done with full consultation of the NGOs.
#2
What blows my mind, is that this is the world that Mama D and other New Orleansians live in (or at least they want to believe they live in), and yet, this is right here in front of our faces and we can't face it. If Mama D and her ilk spent 1/10 the energy pursuing these goons (instead of Blame Bush(tm) all the time), on something that is a REAL travesty, the world would truly be a better place(tm).
Posted by: BA ||
12/13/2005 13:29 Comments ||
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Despite a wide-ranging FBI investigation, groups aligned with al Qaeda and financed by Saudi Arabia continue to operate in the United States.
Law enforcement sources have told Congress that the Bush administration has allowed Riyadh to provide financial aid to institutions that promote Islamic extremism and fund al Qaeda operatives. They said the administration has sought to avoid a confrontation with Saudi Arabia and jeopardize both energy and intelligence cooperation with the Arab kingdom.
"There's no question about it that had we been talking about another state sponsor, these organizations would no longer be operating in the United States," a source said on the condition of anonymity.
Despite strong evidence of supporting Islamic extremism, the Muslim World League continues to operate in the United States. The organization has two offices in this countryâone in northern Virginia and the second in New York City.
Organization chiefs have been charged with helping Saudi nationalsâincluding supporters of al Qaedaâenter the United States on false pretenses. Over the last three years, the league's office in Virginia was twice raided by the FBI. The last time was in July when its current U.S. director, Abdullah Al-Noshen, was arrested for immigration fraud and is now awaiting trial. The assistant director, Khalid Fadlalah, was arrested and subsequently pleaded guilty to lying on immigration documents to enable Al-Noshen to work in the United States.
The Saudi-backed organization has helped to fund Islamist haters in the United States, including an organization named Dar Al-Arqam Islamic Center in Arlington, Va. Earlier this year, the spiritual leader of Dar Al-Arqam was convicted on charges of conspiring to wage war against the United States. Dar Al-Arqam and MWL share the same address.
The administration has also not stopped Saudi Arabia from funding Muslim organizations in the United States. Law enforcement sources acknowledge that at least 80 percent of mosques in the United States have been essentially taken over by Saudi Arabia, which has provided funds and imams to the houses of worship.
The sources said that over the last year the administration has become more tolerant of Saudi funding and operations in the United States. They said the State Department as well as the U.S. intelligence community has warned that any crackdown on al Qaeda-aligned groups linked to Riyadh would damage or even sever security cooperation with the Arab kingdom.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/13/2005 00:44 ||
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#1
Despite strong evidence of supporting Islamic extremism, the Muslim World League continues to operate in the United States. The organization has two offices in this countryâone in northern Virginia and the second in New York City.
The administration has also not stopped Saudi Arabia from funding Muslim organizations in the United States.
Law enforcement sources acknowledge that at least 80 percent of mosques in the United States have been essentially taken over by Saudi Arabia, which has provided funds and imams to the houses of worship.
The sources said that over the last year the administration has become more tolerant of Saudi funding and operations in the United States.
They said the State Department as well as the U.S. intelligence community has warned that any crackdown on al Qaeda-aligned groups linked to Riyadh would damage or even sever security cooperation with the Arab kingdom.
Dan, do think this article has full credibility, or is it in part hyped by some ax grinders?
Posted by: Red Dog ||
12/13/2005 1:05 Comments ||
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SANAA â A Yemeni court yesterday began the trial of two men accused of trying to assassinate the US ambassador to the country with a hand grenade last year.
âHouzam Al Maas and Khalid Al Halilah plotted in 2004 to kill the US ambassador. They accumulated weapons, monitored his movements and tried to throw a hand grenade at him as he was entering a shop,â a state prosecutor told the court.
Maas pleaded guilty to attempting to kill the ambassador, but told the state security court he was psychologically ill.
"I was insufficient in my faith! That's clearly a mental illness, yer honor!"
Halilah, a taxi driver, pleaded not guilty, saying he only drove Maas to a weapons market. The two face a maximum jail term of 10 years if convicted, but can appeal their sentence.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/13/2005 00:00 ||
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Peopleâs General Congress (PGC) leaders demand that President Ali Abdullah Saleh be the PGCâs candidate for Yemenâs presidential elections scheduled for September 2006, as the ruling partyâs seventh conference draws nearer.
Too bad. Saleh had the chance to be that rarest of critters, an Arab elder statesman. If he accepts â and my first guess is that he will â he's just another president-for-life...
The PGC is due to start functions of its seventh conference next Thursday in the city of Aden after it has finished all the arrangements of the conference, sources in the PGC General Secretariat said to the Yemen Times on Saturday. Around five thousand party leaders and members from constituencies, districts and governorates are due to take part in the conference. These personalities were nominated last month after the PGC made a radical change in its internal system, 65% of its leaders are new faces and 15% is the percentage of womenâs participation in the partyâs seventh conference. Participants in the conference are to elect a party president, vice president, secretary general and monitoring staff, while the party permanent committee will elect the assistant secretary-generals and the party public committee members.
No hint to Presidentâs Saleh nomination was included in the conferenceâs agenda, but the current situation indicates adherence of PGC representatives to Salehâs candidacy. They urged him to come back on his decision not take part in 2006 presidential elections. Ali Abdullah Saleh, PGC President has recently returned from the Islamic Summit held in Mecca to supervise the ongoing election maneuverings in the partyâs seventh conference in Aden.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
12/13/2005 00:00 ||
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The committee, headed by judge Hamoud Al-Hitar, has been purportedly failed in achieving its mission. There has been complaints by security officers demanding the breaking off the committee especially after the recent suicide attack by Yemenis in Iraq. The three Yemenis were a part of the group whom Judge al-Hitar had a dialogue with last year and declared it successful. Many of the supposedly persuaded fundamentalists have returned to working along al-Qaida in Iraq and other countries.
It is estimated that around 500 elements went to Iraq and many are residing in Yemen forming groups.
I find that so comforting. I'm sure the Marines do, too. In fact, I'll bet they're really waiting to meet those guys.
According to the London-based al-Quds Al-Arabi daily security forces have demanded the dissolving of the committee. Judge al-Hitar is currently visiting the United States of America has been promoted as a moderate religious scholar and is advocating for the Yemeni governmentâs efforts in fighting terrorism. On various occasions the Committee declared that it had succeeded in persuading the âmisledâ people into the right track and were, therefore, released after pledging conformity to the law and order.
Who'da ever expected them to go back on their word? That's never happened before, has it?
The Dialogue Committee was established through a presidential decree and is composed of only three scholars headed by Judge Hamod Al-Hitar. Many other religious scholars declined joining the committee in fear that their dialogue with the fundamentalist would backlash and their lives would be targeted by the latest.
Y'know, you might have taken that as a sign that the whole thing was a bad idea...
Posted by: Fred ||
12/13/2005 00:00 ||
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The brother of the Palestinian bomber who blew himself up killing five people at a shopping mall in Israel on Monday was employed as a Math teacher with a well-known English school in Kuwait, sources told the Arab Times on Sunday. Citing personal reasons, the teacher identified as Pervez Abu Saada left the country for an unknown destination a few days ago. The school refused to comment on the incident. Earlier news reports said the bomber Lutfi Abu Saada hailed from a village near Tulkarm in the West Bank. Described as dynamic and efficient, the teacher is a British citizen.
It was not immediately clear whether his family was residing with him in Kuwait. A source at the school said âthe teacher decided to leave of his own free will due to family commitments. He was a good teacher and his work is appreciated by all.â In recognition of his contribution to the school, the teacher was to don the mantle of Deputy head of the institution before the tragedy struck. According to reports, the bomber carrying a bag was challenged by police when he tried to enter the mall. He was reported to have smiled before blowing himself up.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/13/2005 00:00 ||
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DHAKA: Bangladesh police Monday said they thwarted planned suicide attacks by Islamic rebels with the seizure of a massive cache of explosives from a warehouse in the country's south. "We seized over 20 kilograms (44 pounds) of high explosives and other bomb making materials from a warehouse being used by Jamayetul Mujahideen members," said the police chief of southern beach town Cox's Bazar. "We nabbed a young man who confessed that he is a member of Jamayetul's suicide squad. It appears he was waiting for a signal from high-ups for bombings in the town. The explosives were sufficient to make 14-15 big-sized bombs," chief Golam Rasul told AFP.
Meanwhile, an official said the government would allow police to monitor suspicious telephone calls as part of a crackdown on Islamist militancy and suicide bombers, officials said on Monday. President Iajuddin Ahmed signed an ordinance allowing the move on Sunday, said his spokesman, Mokhlesur Rahman Chowdhury. It takes effect immediately. State Minister for Home Affairs Lutfuzzaman Babar said last week the government was determined to crush an Islamist network maintained largely maintained through mobile phones. "We know Islamist leaders use 20 to 30 different temporary cellphone numbers to guide the bombers," he said, "something we are going to crush soon"
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/13/2005 00:29 ||
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Human Scum Guy is back in town!
Pyongyang, December 12 (KCNA) -- Kim Ro Jin, chairman of the Seoul District Federation of University Student Councils under the south Korean Federation of University Student Councils, reportedly issued a statement on Dec. 8 to denounce the human scum including the Grand National Party for destroying the graveyard of unconverted long-term prisoners. Sounds like they've been converted to worm food.
Recalling that on Dec. 5 the hooligans of the wicked conservative organisations including the "Fellowship Society for Special Operatives Dispatched to the North" ruthlessly destroyed the gravestones of unconverted long-term prisoners at the Pogwang Temple in Phaju City, Kyonggi Province and committed thrice-cursed crimes such as pouring paint over wrecks of tombstones and boxes of remains, the statement said this makes even mountains and streams shudder with indignation. Sounds like drunk teenagers to me.
The statement went on: The Grand National Party and Chosun Ilbo which encouraged gangsters to such vandalism while criticizing the graveyard of unconverted long-term prisoners with slanders and fabrications proved through the current case that they are human scum knowing no manners of human being and a group of beasts. We will certainly call human scum to task.
We will revenge on the GNP and Chosun Ilbo a thousand fold for manipulating and agitating the case behind the scene. Dire Revenge Comes to North Korea.
#4
DoDo...KCNA is the official media wing of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the Hermit Kingdom of North Korea.
From time to time KCNA will publish an editorial with the Seethe Meter set to eleven. The DPRK periodically promises to drown the West in a Sea of Fire® with its Army Based Policy® and lots and lots of freshly-squeezed Juche®.
RB commentators usually rate these rants on a scale of 1-10 for the spittle factor.
#6
I only give it a 3.5 due to unintelligibility. Who are the âFellowship Society for Special Operatives Dispatched to the Northâ anyway? A reactionary, anti-proletariat frat? Why would they want to desecrate the remains of âunconverted long-term prisoners?â For that matter, what exactly are âunconverted long-term prisoners?â
Inquiring country revolutionary minds want to know!
#8
This started out so priomising, but immediately lowered itself to pedestrian invective, finishing off flatter than a cheap French Nouveau Beaujolais. Human Scum brought a tear of nostalgia for the KCNA's Good Ole Days but "graveyard of unconverted long-term prisoners" is just does not roll off the tongue. Extra points for revenge, gangster and vandalism, but points deducted for not committing all the way and including pillage and rape. Half credit for fire, must attach "sea of" for full credit. Suggest KCNA staff look at foreign sources for fresher invective. Start google research with "Stomachs roasting in hell".
3.5/10.0.
Posted by: ed ||
12/13/2005 13:24 Comments ||
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A witness denied at the trial of terrorist suspects in Amsterdam on Monday that he was an informer for the security service AIVD.
Saleh B., 28, also rejected the suggestion he gave one of the accused men, Jason W., four hand grenades, one of which were used against police at W.'s home on the Antheunisstraat in The Hague on 10 November. Several members of a police raiding party were injured. After a day-long siege, Jason W. and a second accused man, Ismail A., surrendered.
Mohammed B., 27 - the man convicted of killing filmmaker Theo van Gogh - and 13 other Muslims with Moroccan backgrounds are on trial in Amsterdam charged with membership of
the Hofstadgroep, which the authorities claim was a terrorist network.
W. alleged that Saleh B. had given him a plastic bag, containing the grenades, to mind. B. did not deny he had been in the home on the Antheunisstraat, but he denied providing the explosives.
While W. accused the state's witness of lying, DNA evidence presented to the court indicated no traces from B. were found on the three remaining grenades.
B. said he used to have a stall at a street market in The Hague and he got to know W. because the accused was interested in the business.
Turning to suggestions in the media that he was an informant or agent provocateur, B. denied he was working for the AIVD when he became acquainted with W. He did, however, concede the AIVD had approached him in the past but the contact soon ended.
B. was sparing with his answers on Monday and repeatedly made use of his right not to testify about certain matters. He was arrested on 28 October on suspicion of being part of a terrorist organisation after media reports questioned whether he had been shielded by the security service.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/13/2005 02:25 ||
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#3
They dreamed of implementing Sharia in France and making Paris the capital of the new Caliphate. And they're furious that Allan has been unwilling to make it happen.
The French police announced Monday that they had arrested more than 20 people, including Islamic militants and petty criminals, in the Paris area who were believed to have been plotting terrorist acts in France.
A police statement described the arrests as "an important operation aimed at dismantling an Islamist network linked to a terrorist enterprise."
The police have not yet determined whether the group had precise plans for a terrorist attack. But they found it worrisome that the group included a blend of militant Islamists and petty criminals who were apparently committing common crimes as a way to raise money for terrorism, an intelligence official from the D.S.T. domestic intelligence service said.
Some of the suspects have criminal records, for charges including armed robbery and the possession of false documents, the intelligence official said.
"This was a rather important and rather worrying operation," the official said. "Some of them were very experienced thieves and armed robbers who intended to use the money for terrorist activities. They represented a concrete danger."
The official declined to be identified because it would violate the rules of his agency.
Most of the suspects arrested in predawn raids in several towns in the Paris region were Tunisian or Algerian, or French citizens of North African descent.
The operation, which had been planned for several weeks, was conducted jointly by the D.S.T., detectives from France's organized crime unit and members of the police paramilitary force known as RAID, under the instructions of France's leading antiterrorist magistrate, Jean-Louis BruguiÚre.
Among those arrested was Ouassini Cherifi, a French computer specialist of Algerian descent from a Paris suburb who served two years in prison and was released in 2004. He had been convicted of trafficking in false documents, including French passports, to facilitate the movement of militants to Afghanistan from Thailand via Pakistan several years ago.
It was not known whether the arrests had been timed before Christmas as a warning to would-be terrorists. French officials consider the Christmas season a period of especially high alert for terrorism.
The police have not determined whether the group was trying to help move foreign fighters to Iraq, although the intelligence official said some of them appeared to be linked to a network of individuals helping the insurgency against the Russians in Chechnya.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/13/2005 00:49 ||
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Following the visit of FBI director Robert Mueller to Turkey on Saturday, CIA chief Porter Goss followed in Mueller's footsteps and paid a visit to Ankara for talks with officials from the Turkish General Staff and the intelligence service MIT. Goss might also meet with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and some other government officials while on his trip.
the two visits took place soon after US Ambassador Ross Wilson announced that there were some secret aspects to the visit over cooperating in the fight against PKK. The visits have triggered speculations that the US might start a serious initiative for the neutralization of PKK after the Iraqi elections.
The talks between Goss and Turkish officials will focus on al Qaeda, and on developments in Iraq, Iran and Syria. The Turkish side will submit to Goss a file containing intelligence information about top-level PKK militants in Northern Iraq. Turkey will also convey to Goss its concerns about developments that might pave the way for the founding of a Kurdish state in Northern Iraq. Turkey will warn that such a development would increase the influence of al Qaeda terror network.
Goss is also expected to give to Turkish officials details about CIA planes that have landed at least once in Turkey.
Turkish Land Forces Commander General Yasar BÃŒyÃŒkanit was currently in the US for talks with US officials.
The visit of Goss was taking place in the aftermath of the meeting of Turkish MIT chief Emre Taner with Massoud Barzani, the President of the Kurdish regional government in Northern Iraq.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/13/2005 00:36 ||
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... concerns about developments that might pave the way for the founding of a Kurdish state in Northern Iraq.
Ahh, our dear friends the Turks. The ones that were soooo helpful in the run-up to kicking Saddam's tyrannical ass.
#2
Yes ineed, those nice Turks who pounded the Kurds from the North while ole Saddam pounded them from the South. I wonder what they think about the recent Kurd and IS link up?
#3
These would be the same Turks whose elected government are allowing the smashing of liquor shops and the harassment of non-Muslims in the old-style Ottoman way? I'd suggest long, involved, and ultimately decision-free negotiations are appropriate, with periodic announcements to the local newspapers about why there's been no movement. Yes, the PKK are very bad news, but the Turkish people need to see the consequences of their choice; they are free to chose their own government, and we are free not to help that government out if it goes against our principles. Realpolitik is for fools.
After experiencing massive rioting throughout the country for about two weeks between late October and mid-November, senior French security officials have called upon senior Israeli police officials to give advice on crowd control in the mainly Muslim suburbs of the troubled towns and cities. Mideast sources revealed that the Israeli Police Chiefs, Gideon Ezra and Moshe Karadi, left their country headed for France on Sunday after an invitation by French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy. The French Interior Ministry could not immediately confirm the invitation.
"Who? Nous? Ask for help from a shitty little country like that?"
The Israeli police force is viewed in Arab circles as being as repressive as the army and in October 2000 the police blatantly murdered 13 Israeli Arabs and wounded scores others who were protesting Israeli brutality in the Occupied Territories.
Think they might have something planned for Lyons, huh?
The two Israeli police officers, one Security Chief and the other High Commissioner, will spend four days in France and will meet with their counterparts, including the Republican Corps for Security (CRS), Frances elite anti-riot unit. The CRS was heavily involved in the October-November riots and in trying to contain the violence that was triggered after two youths died in an incident that police maintain they were not involved in.
And did one hell of a job, we might add...
But rumor that the two had died because of a police pursuit sparked off a chain reaction that hit over 20 cities and forced the government to enforce a curfew and invoke security laws that date from the 1950s and the war with Algerian separatists.
... since the situations were somewhat the same. Only it didn't work real well, did it?
Israeli press reports said that Ezra and Karadi would bring the lesson of the 2000 riots to the French, who are said to be "strongly interested" by the experience of the Israeli police. Daily newspaper "Haaretz" said that question of wide-reaching cooperation between the two police forces would be discussed during the meetings this week.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/13/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
An old europen tradition: useful Jews can be tolerated.
#2
This is a very, very significant step for the French. Requests for assistance from the French will not have been limited to CT advisors. There will most certainly have been an intelligence sharing component. The muzzies will not think kindly of the Israeli CT tutoring and partnership, I assure you. Again, this is a big step for the French, something akin to the French saying **** you muzzies.
#3
There is a biiig difference between using the skills of one's inferiours and extending the hand of friendship to one's equals. Given the rhetoric and overt actions of the French government, this reeks of the former. I suggest Israel extract a painful (for France) quid pro quo for sharing the expertise of her law enforcement officers, along the lines of a long-term preferential trade agreement for Israeli products, overt support for Israel at the U.N., and cessetion of all open and clandestine contact and support of Palestinian terrorist groups -- including their political arms. Israeli law enforcement acquired their oh-so valuable expertise directly due to French support of her enemies.
#4
Israel should simply decline. Perhaps next time the French will be in a mood to treat them as something other than a shitty little country, though I doubt it. But let's find out.
American activists camping out at a Cuban military checkpoint outside the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay started their first day of a water-only fast Monday to protest the treatment of suspected terrorists detained at the base. Members of the largely Christian group Witness Against Torture are demanding access to the prisoner camp to meet with inmates. The activists arrived late Sunday at the checkpoint, which is about five miles from the U.S. base, after a five-day march from the eastern Cuban city of Santiago. "We can see the windmills of the U.S. base, we can see some lights off in the distance," Frida Berrigan, 31, said on her cell phone. "We're not right next door, but we are closer to these prisoners than their family members have been since they were arrested."
That does 'em a lot of good, doesn't it?
Berrigan is the daughter of the late Phil Berrigan, a former Roman Catholic priest whose protests against the Vietnam War and nuclear weapons helped ignite a generation of anti-war dissent.
I remember him. He was a priest, but he shacked up with a nun who was similarly goofy and begat Frida, and then God struck him dead.
Stacey Byington, a civilian spokeswoman for U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, said those inside the facility could not see the protesters and only knew of their presence through media reports.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/13/2005 00:00 ||
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"We're not right next door, but we are closer to these prisoners than their family members have been since they were arrested."
Think they'll wander by and do the same near one of Castro's prisons?
Me neither. I think this pack of traitors is more likely to agitate for the execution of the "gusanos" in Castro's prisons.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
12/13/2005 7:42 Comments ||
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Activist Grace Ritter said the group was urging Americans to call the base and President Bush to demand that Witness Against Torture representatives have access to the prisoners.
#3
I'll always be a little pissed we don't shoot the detainees animals after we tap them for all the intelligence we can. The Russians & Chinese certainly would. If the kumbaya crowd did this outside of a gulag, they would be given permanent accomodations inside of it.
#8
I, as a Christian, find this reprehensible. I can't believe these tools are being used like this. Like others have said...get back to me when they protest a gulag in Cuba proper, or in North Korea. Heck, the terrorists are eating better than the protestors...what's the irony in that. I'm ashamed that goons like this claim to be Christian....methinks, if you dig deep enough you'll find some very un-Christian beliefs/activities going on in this group.
Posted by: BA ||
12/13/2005 13:23 Comments ||
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Bush's travel schedule seems to involve as little contact as possible with the country he is in.
I'm simply going to ignore the content of this mess (Fareed Zakaria, writing in Newsweek, about Bush not getting out and meeting the folks when he travels, then riffing to American arrogance in dealing with furriners.) Instead, I'm going to do the Loyal Opposition a favor.
The attacks on Bush aren't working.
There. I said it. It's out of my system. To explain: They're repeating themselves, and they're searching in the wrong places for things to criticize. Bush isn't really stoopid. He's not controlled by insidious mind masters, whether Karl Rove or aliens from Arcturus. He didn't know about 9-11 beforehand and he didn't screw things up afterhand. The war's going relatively well, and the light at the end of the tunnel is not an on-rushing train. Laura's a nice lady, Barny's a nice little dog, and Cheney owned Halliburton rather than the other way around.
Now, if I was the Dems, I'd sit down and have a bit of thought before hollering about how the war can't be won, that we brought it on ourselves, that the administration is corrupt (After Bill Clinton's administration?)
There are a limited number of times that the populace will listen to charges that tax cuts help only the rich. It's not 1969 anymore. Altamont's in the past. Everything isn't Worse than Watergate™ and not everything is Just like Vietnam™.
I know the MoveOn.org crowd would never bite, but for the remaining Dems who haven't lept off a cliff with the rest of the crowd, a few suggestions:
Dems have been taking positions of automatic opposition to everything the Publicans do. This often makes them look stoopid, since many of the things being done are done out of necessity. It would make a lot more sense to say "we can do it better," though admittedly that would require some skullwork to determine precisely how. (Don't like provisions of the Patriot Act? Come up with modifications that still let it work.)
The WoT has become tedious to the nation, but it's necessary for the nation's survival. Admit that now and then. Try and encourage the nation to victory, rather than merely agonizing over the human toll. Try and show a bit of enthusiasm when we score a major success. Discover a hero here and there and shower him with praise. Look angry when you say the name "Zarqawi," and utter it regularly. Make a few suggestions as to how to win the war, rather than criticizing the details of what Bush is doing. Make the war a bipartisan effort, competing with the other side to pursue it.
If Dems are going to criticize Bush, then look at the places where he could use improvement, rather than trying to attack him on his strengths.
Bush isn't stoopid, and he's no more arrogant than most politicians and less so than many. His main fault is that compared to Reagan he's a lousy communicator. There's a large difference between thinking and communicating. But he needs to communicate with the public more. Find somebody a bit more articulate than Howard Dean and there are some political points to be made.
Bush is a linear thinker. When he concentrates on one subject, the others tend to get ignored. It's a fairly common failing, and it's why he has a large and competent staff. When the boss or the staff drops the ball, that's grounds for a conversation on national priorities, which I might add are not limited to abortion and the environment and "good jobs at good wages."
The combination of the staff system and the American penchant for producing murderous lunatics who want to bump off the President do tend to isolate him. If Dems can find some real Merkins who're more credible than Mother Sheehan to keep him in touch with the rest of us they might have a beneficial effect.
Immigration's one of Bush's weak points, because he's trying to please his base, please Vicente Fox, and protect the country at the same time. Since two and possibly three out of three are mutually exclusive, there's always room for helpful suggestion. The Dems could actually take the issue and run with it. If they cold come up with a plan that goes further than registering all newcomers to our shores as Dems they'd collect some credit for the ideas.
Up until Barry Goldwater there wasn't too much difference between the two parties. Pubs were free trade and business-oriented, Dems protectionist and union-oriented. There were conservative Pubs and liberal Pubs, conservative Dems and liberal Dems. Goldwater made it a "choice not an echo," and the Pubs became the conservative party and the Dems the liberal party. With liberalism in its dotage, it's now become a choice between Publican policies and Dem obstructionism and incoherence. The only way Dems are going to fix that is by concentrating on problem solving, rather than sloganeering.
#1
An imperial presidency would be one where we appointed their leaders and made them carry tribute, perhaps 10% of their annual GDP, to Washington. What some of these foreign leaders are angry at is the fact that we no longer automatically defer to their wishes. In the old days, we obeyed them in the interest of maintaining the various alliances and treaties we had in place. Today, we are coming round to the conclusion that (1) many of these treaties benefit them much more than they do us, (2) we are bearing the vast majority of the costs of these treaties, (3) we've run out of concessions we can reasonably make to preserve these treaties and (4) America's interests might benefit if these foreign countries do as they threaten and back out of these treaties towards which we have made so many concessions to preserve. Fareed Zakaria's position is the standard leftist view that foreign interests are more important than American interests. They try to obscure their position by stating that foreign interests are American interests, which is, of course, wrong.
Why, or why doesn't he listen to all them furriners and git their take on how the US ought to be actin'?
Oh, that's right. He's from Texass and everybody knows them Texicans are barely capable of dealing wit' their neighbors and all - or even listenin' to 'em. After all, nobody from Texass could possibly have anythin' higher'n a single digit IQ!
Heaven forbid that someone actually says this and then does exactly what they say they will!
Oh, the humanity! Why, or why won't this halfwit of a President just listen to anyone, 'specially thems whats in the State Dept. and the mainstream media (like the author of this drivel) or them durned furriners he's always goin' t' visit?
#3
FOTSGreg, Hitler met lots of "the people" of the countries he invaded, conquered, and occupied.
Therefore, Bush is worse than Hitler.
ZF, to follow on your thoughts, one thing that really bugs me is how the US is never entitled to "its own best interests" in international dealings. Ev'rybody insists that GWB must act upon behalf of the universe in matters related to borders, industry, economy, and security even as all the other countries pursue their policies based on the interests of their own citizens.
#4
Yo, Newsweek, this is not nearly as interesting as a good Koran-flushing story.
Posted by: Matt ||
12/13/2005 14:26 Comments ||
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#5
What I find amusing is that Colin Powell travelled even less than Bush when he was Secretary of State, and the guy's whole job was to make nice with foreign heads of state. Has Zakaria ever commented on Powell's travel habits? What Zakaria can't get into his tiny brain is that a tiny part of Bush's job is to figure the objectives of American foreign policy and it is the Secretary of State's job to figure out how to carry it out. Foreign interests or junkets don't figure into this. What can't be worked out amicably - well, that's for the War Defense Department to deal with.
#6
The only way Dems are going to fix that is by concentrating on problem solving, rather than sloganeering.
No, the only way the Dems will fix anything is by leaving office, whether by retirment or natural causes, and making way for a new generation with new ideas. The current crop has neither the ability nor the desire to move off the old ideas. The same way the trunks were the me too party until Goldwater, the donks are now the negative party.
#7
Not really relevant to this thread, but interesting nonetheless: the first Congresscritter to install a 1-800 phone line to his office so his constituents could reach him for free.....
#8
It would make a lot more sense to say "we can do it better"
That French senator from Massachusetts tried that:
"I would do it better, I would do it smarter" How exactly??
"By doing it better and smarter" Exactly, what does that mean??
"I would involve our allies" You mean like France and Germany who never miss an opportunity to stab us in the back
"Also, I would do it better and smarter" Thank you Mr. Kerry
WASHINGTON -- A member of the Saudi royal family has donated $20 million to Georgetown University for the study of Islam.
Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal told The Washington Post the image of Islam has been tarnished since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. He is also donating $20 million to Harvard University for the same cause.
The gift is Georgetown's second-largest donation ever. Officials said the Jesuit-run university will use the money to expand its 12-year-old Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding.
The center will be renamed the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding. [Don't make me laugh!--ed.]
The Saudi prince tried to give $10 million dollars to the Twin Towers Fund shortly after the terrorist attacks in 2001. But New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani rejected the donation after Alwaleed criticized U.S. policy in the Middle East.
Posted by: The Happy Fliegerabwehrkanonen ||
12/13/2005 09:31 ||
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#1
Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal told The Washington Post the image of Islam has been tarnished since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Forty-plus years ago my dad was denied admission to Harvard. He maintains to this day it was because he is jewish and they had already filled their quota. I'm glad to see that anti-semitism will finally become the official policy of both G'town and Harvard, instead of being an unspoken 'understanding.'
Posted by: ed ||
12/13/2005 12:48 Comments ||
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#6
The center will be renamed the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding.
We understand you just fine, Princey. You want to waste yer money, no problem. The only people who will use the center are already-muslims and poli-sci guys trying to understand the nature of the enemy.
#7
Smart move. Let's say each endowed professorship is $2 million. That gives the Wahabis say in selecting 10 professors sympathetic to their cause. Each year, 10 profs can indoctrinate several thousand of the nation's brightest (many who will work in the federal government and politics), write numerous questionable papers and hold numerous "Islam is Peace" press conferences to weaken resolve.
The only reasonable and self preserving course of action is the Giuliani response to Bin Talal.
Posted by: ed ||
12/13/2005 14:34 Comments ||
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#8
Is it too much to ask that Harvard and GTown "just say no, thank you" to these guys? Tell 'em to take their thinly-veiled bribes elsewhere. Canada, maybe.
A federal judge on Monday lifted the final legal barrier to building a triple fence in the southwestern corner of the United States. The Sierra Club and other environmental groups argued that Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff lacked authority to waive environmental and other laws that have delayed completion of 14 miles of additional fencing in San Diego. The opponents were desirous of an open border and used the environmental groups as cover
In September, Chertoff waived all laws and legal challenges to building the final 3œ-mile leg through coastal wetlands to the Pacific Ocean. wetlands? The dry hills are "Coastal Sage Scrub" a distinct habitat (I have to deal with this stuff all the time...)
U.S. District Judge Larry Burns said Congress clearly delegated the authority to Chertoff in June. He noted that the executive branch already had significant jurisdiction over national security and immigration policy.
Cory Briggs, an attorney representing the environmental groups, said he was undecided whether to appeal. "I'm not surprised," Briggs said. "If I were a judge, I would have great problems declaring a law unconstitutional." Litigation has stalled the project since it was approved by Congress in 1996. Last year, the California Coastal Commission refused to grant permits, saying damage to sensitive habitats outweighed security benefits. so sad....you're authority's no good here
The Sierra Club lawsuit, filed in February 2004, said the project threatened the Tijuana River estuary, home to more than 370 migratory and native birds, six of them endangered. half a mile or more away
The final leg of the fence would cross steep, rugged canyons including "Smuggler's Gulch," a maze of trails long overrun by illegal border crossers. The federal government launched a crackdown in 1994, erecting a steel wall made of surplus Navy landing mats, adding patrols and installing lights and motion sensors.
Known as Operation Gatekeeper, the effort forced smugglers and migrants inland to sparsely populated highlands and deserts. The 2006 Homeland Security budget includes $35 million to cover most of the work. Gatekeeper's done wonders
The project would require crews to move 2.1 million cubic yards of dirt in Smuggler's Gulch alone, or enough to fill about 300,000 dump trucks.
Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-El Cajon, introduced legislation last month that calls for a 2,000-mile fence from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico. The usual naysayers will say that can't be done as well
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/13/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
wetlands? The dry hills are "Coastal Sage Scrub" a distinct habitat (I have to deal with this stuff all the time...)
hey frank, we gotta protect the mexican desert darters.
Posted by: Sierra Flub ||
12/13/2005 0:32 Comments ||
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#2
You'd be surprised what qualifies as "wetlands" from an environmental law perspective. For those who've been to the Phoenix area you'll recall the permanently dry Salt River bed just north of Arizona State University. An environmental law prof at ASU assisted several groups in their attempts to derail development along the dry river bed because the construction would, in the legal meaning of the phrase, constitute an impermissible "...placing of material in the waters of the United States," an act which is apparently verboten or at least subject to judicial review even when said "waters" consist of a permantenly dry river bed.
Those who've been to the area will also recall that the university blasted away the central portion of a butte adjacent to the dry Salt River bed and inserted a football stadium. After the city of Tempe decided to erect an inflatable dam and turn the river bed into a small lake, a hotel attempted to initiate a development on the off-campus side of the butte but was blocked when an ASU biologist and his environmental law prof buddy discovered a "new species of lizard" that they claimed lived only on the butte, a discovery that automatically qualified the lizard's habitat as that of an endangered species. Odd that a lizard living on a university campus in the middle of a major metro area had gone unnoticed for 100 years until the very week that a hotel announced a multimillion dollar development. Not quite as creative as the infamous California toad that was claimed to engage in interstate commerce but more effective in driving up the cost of development (the real goal of most environmental litigation these days).
#3
well it's about damn time.
While I do believe there are instances that environmental concerns are valid, not here in this arrid dry desert. (While a little bit of sage is kind of okay, alot is downright obnoxious).
Posted by: Jan ||
12/13/2005 1:51 Comments ||
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#4
Stand by Sears, we're gonna need a lot of chain link fense real soon.
#5
AZCat: that cesspit known as "town lake" was and is a nightmare created by people who knew nothing of the history of the place. First of all, they filled it, and continue to fill it with expensive "fresh" water, not the recycled effluent that is city water. 1 billion wasted gallons worth. In a damn desert!
Then, because it is very prone to algae, duckweed, and coliform bacteria, they initially dumped in an s-load of some hyper-poisonous algaecide and sanitizer. But after that wore off, the algae returned with a vengeance. The lake puts off a huge, invisible cloud of spores that means every swimming pool within 10 miles has to hyper-chlorinate all summer to keep from turning green and brown. Ask the local pool supply store guys.
Upriver from the lake is a second lake, caused by rain runoff and a flood last winter. This has bred profligate numbers of mosquitos resulting in the introduction of two different forms of encephalitis, west nile virus, and projected soon to be rampant dengue fever to the area. Hundreds have already been diagnosed with west nile, especially (although there are other big clusters around the other artificial lakes in the area).
Last summer was fairly disease-free, because they shelled out and bought huge numbers of dragonflies to eat the mosquitos.
Finally, the dumbasses are building high-rises in the flood plain next to the riverbed. Having seen the Salt River at flood stage about four times, I look forward to seeing those buildings collapse.
Had they done a little historical research, they would have discovered that the Phoenix area, before the dam lakes were built, was a swampy, diseased area in summer due to the Salt River at low tide. Any family that could would send their children north to get them away from the half-dozen endemic "fevers".
#6
Anonymoose, they've known that the Tempe Town Lake was going to be a cesspool even before they built it. I remember reading articles stating that it was going to be too toxic to allow anyone to swim in it.
And then last year, they decided to have a triathlon around there. I hate to think how many Valley noobs got sick paddling around in that chemical soup. Ick.
Didn't know about the dengue fever, though. Guess I escaped just in time.
#7
This is where some good Operations Research would be useful: You don't need to build the entire fence, just where the traffic is and where THAT traffic would flow to as a second level effect. Employ the 80/20 rule: you don't have to cut the traffic to zero, but just by a large fraction.
People insisted that SDI HAD to be 100% effective until someone realized, and pointed out, that an SDI that was 80% effective had the SAME effect as imposing an 80% cut in the Soviet missile arsenal. Cutting the missile arsenals by 10%, much less 80% would have been hailed as a MIGHTY STEP FORWARD, so the ensuing silence was profound.
#9
Not too many realize how serious a problem dengue is. It's spreading in its range and frequency every year. Get infected by one strain and you get a nasty flu like disease. Get a infected by a second strain and you have a 5% chance of dying from dengue hemorraghic fever.
Vaccines exist, but to use them would kill large numbers because of the second strain infection problem causing DHF.
The only way to control dengue is to control the mosquito vector that spreads it, but they are becoming highly adapted to urban environments. Recent research indicates the mosquitos eggs can survive for 3 months without water and still remain capable of transmitting dengue (from the adult that laid them).
Even large scale and frequent use of insecticides has a limited effect. Anything that encourages mosquitos in an urban environment is sheer lunacy.
#10
No doubt Town Lake and the attendant development was a poorly conceived project from the beginning but that doesn't excuse the abusive environmental litigation employed in the various attempts to derail development in the area.
A dissident group of the Mutahidda Majlis-i-Amal has urged the allianceâs supreme council to sack âcorrupt and ineptâ ministers and restore the âpro-people image of the MMAâ. MPA Khalid Waqar Chamkani, a spokesman of the group, said his colleagues were hoping that the MMAâs central leadership would meet their demands. âWe are loyal to the alliance, because it has promised to replace exploiters with simple, competent and honest ministers. However, some of the ministers are setting an ugly precedent of ineptness and corruption in the province,â he said.
More like carrying on a long tradition, but go ahead...
Mr Chamkani said members of the group had come forward in an effort to make ministers accountable for their wrongdoings. He claimed that people who had voted for the alliance were now feeling disillusioned because ministers were inaccessible and not resolving their genuine problems.
But you do have a religion column on your passport. How's that hoodud bill going, by the way?
The dissident group, which has more than 17 members, wants to replace some of the allegedly âuntrained and corruptâ ministers with honest ones in the larger interest of the MMA and its supporters, he said. Mr Chamkani alleged that some ministers had been minting money through their private secretaries by ordering illegal transfers and postings in the name of departmental adjustments. He said these ministers had angered the MMA followers through their actions and warned that the forward group would not allow them to continue with their unlawful and immoral attitude. He pointed out that four Jamaat-i-Islami MPAs had handed over their resignations to Maulana Mohammad Idrees, a forward bloc leader, in protest against the âanti-people and uncivilizedâ attitude of the provincial cabinet. He dismissed claims made by Senior Minister Sirajul Haq that the JI was not party to the forward blocâs politics. Mr Chamkani insisted that some of the JIâs outspoken MPAs were also part of their group.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/13/2005 00:00 ||
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India is on the verge of acquiring a long-range weapon with Israel scheduled to deliver the 100-km range air to surface stand-off Crystal Maze missile next month.
Manufactured by Rafael, the Crystal Maze is similar to the Popeye all-weather bunker busting missile that is launched from an aircraft to destroy command and control centers, enemy bunkers and even militant training camps from a distance of 80-100 kilometres.
The TV-guided missile, which has a 80 kg warhead, is highly accurate with an error range within three metres. Other than some US allies in Asia and Pacific, this missile is not in the armoury of either China or Pakistan.
The acquisition of Crystal Maze missile is extremely significant for Indian offensive capabilities. For the first time, the IAF will have an air-to-surface launched cruise missile that can be fired from an aircraft. The present Indo-Russian venture Brahmos is essentially an anti-ship cruise missile and it is very difficult for the bulky missile to be mounted on an aircraft.
Apart from the Crystal Maze missile, New Delhi is also looking to acquire Delilah II anti-radiation drone with missile firing capability and Penetration-500 bombs that have the capability to take out runways, radars and concrete bunkers.
The long-range Delilah II drone, akin to USâ Predator used in Afghanistan, has the capability of hanging around (called loiter capability) the target and then hone in at an appropriate time to destroy it.
New Delhi signed the Crystal Maze contract with Tel Aviv two years ago, but the IAF this month gave its green signal after successfully testing the precision weapon at the Mahajan Ranges in Pokhran last month. The IAF first test-fired the missile from a Mirage aircraft in December 2004 at Pokhran but the weapon failed to explode after penetrating the concrete bunker. The second test was performed in April 2005 and this time the missile exploded 200 metres short of the target.
But last month, the missile fulfilled all its test parameters and destroyed the target. Essentially, the missile is launched from a multi-role aircraft like the Mirage that climbs up to height of over 40,000 feet and uses litening pods (Israeli made binocular devices for all-weather targeting) to fix the target from a distance of over 80 km. The missile is launched after target identification.
Posted by: john ||
12/13/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
even militant training camps from a distance of 80-100 kilometres
Err.. Perv, time to close down the camps Perv...
Posted by: john ||
12/13/2005 5:51 Comments ||
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Long article from the usually reliable JPost. What got my attention was the second para quoted below. Sunnis voting for Kurdish parties in order to get good governance? Or just good old fashioned horse trading?
The Sunni Arab delegates, some of them in Wahabi habits with long beards, listened to Barzani's speech "We come to begin negotiations on unifying our lines, to put an end our quarrels with the Kurds," said Shiekh Hamid Yousef, head of the Jumeili tribe.
While ostensibly in Irbil to meet Barzani, said the KRG's Director of National Relations, Dr. Muztaz Goran, "they are also here to vote for the Kurdish list on the understanding that once elected we will provide for them in terms of government services."
#1
well they both have an interest in getting the Shiite fundies out of power - the Sunni Arabs cause the Shiite fundies do mean things to them, and cause they hate Iran, and the Kurds cause they want a relatively secular state, and cause SCIRI incompetence endangers the new Iraqi state, which the Kurds have a lot at stake in. The stumbling block is the future of Kirkuk - but perhaps they can somehow compromise that.
It's the Independent, so it's only slightly better written than the standard screed our pals at JUS.
A thousand days ago, British forces were greeted in Basra with the proverbial flowers. Now the only time most inhabitants of Iraq's second largest-city see any sign of British troops on the streets is when they pass through every three days or so in a heavy armoured column.
Foot patrols by soldiers wearing berets are largely a thing of the past, except in a few safe areas on the fringes of the city. Routine movements between the four main bases around Basra are now entirely by helicopter, even between two sites only five miles apart. On the brief flight between the air base and Basra Palace, the headquarters for British civilian staff, a crew member swivelled a machine gun about as the city slipped past the half-open loading ramp, and flares were fired to decoy heat-seeking missiles.
For most squaddies, this is the only time they get to see anything of Iraq but dust and concrete. The majority of Britain's 8,500 forces spend their time at bases in the desert, where a Spartan lifestyle of camp beds and barn-sized plastic tents is relieved by a daily allowance of no more than two beers (no spirits allowed).
On Thursday Iraqis will vote in greater numbers than ever before for a full-scale government in Baghdad. Short of major trouble, however - which is not expected - the soldiers manning checkpoints on the outskirts of Basra will be the only Britons in uniform to witness anything of this potentially historic event. Polling stations and election centres in the heart of the city will be controlled by the local police, with a ring of Iraqi troops between them and the British.
The irony, as a senior British military source pointed out two months ago, is that security for British forces in Iraq has deteriorated as it has improved for local people. British spokesmen point out that the four provinces they control in south-east Iraq suffer only two per cent of the attacks carried out in the country as a whole. But a tenth of British deaths from the start of the war more than 30 months ago have been suffered since May, with 10 soldiers killed - one in a suicide bombing and nine in a deadly spate of roadside bombings, using shaped charges of a sophistication not seen before.
In October Tony Blair and Jack Straw launched a war of words with Tehran by claiming that the know-how and materials for the bombs came across the border from Iran. The strong implication was that the bombings had the support of the Iranian government, though that suggestion has no support from British sources on the ground in southern Iraq.
The same month, British forces had to use armoured vehicles to smash their way into the city's Jamiat police station, where two members of the special forces who had been keeping a watch on the station had been seized. The rescue operation caused a rupture of relations between British representatives and the local authorities, although these have since been restored, and a section of the police notoriously out of the control of the city's police commander has been disbanded.
The outcome, however, is that British forces have largely withdrawn into their four main bases around Basra. This has brought a halt for the moment to the series of deaths from roadside bombings; the worst soldiers can expect is the odd burst of small-arms fire or attempt to lob a mortar into their positions.
The main mission now, says Major-General Jim Dutton, commander of British forces in south-east Iraq, is security sector reform: cleaning up the police and training the army to the point where Britain can withdraw. The less they see of British troops, the more confidently some local election candidates pronounce that this point should arrive in 2006, or 2007 at the latest. But many are less sure, and no military spokesman on the British or Iraqi side is willing to mention any date.
Britain is also spending heavily on economic aid, "buying soldiers' lives, in effect", as Lieutenant Colonel James Hopkinson, British military commander in Basra, bluntly put it to BBC TV news. "For us to operate in Basra, we need the consent of the people," he went on.
"The longer we stay here, the more difficult it'll become, particularly as we move through national elections ... We are guests, and we need to be very careful not to outstay our welcome." It is a long way from the flowers of spring 2003.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/13/2005 02:20 ||
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so there was flowers...i guess the Indy didnt tell that at time...
#2
OK - last night the Beeb were showing current pictures of Brit troops patrolling in berets, playing football in the street with Iraqi kids and chatting openly and on friendly terms with the locals. The Independent hasn't published the full transcript of the conversation with Hopkinson - who gave an impression of measured optimism about the situation in the South.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
12/13/2005 9:17 Comments ||
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Analysts say that the Israel's "Death Shark" is an intelligence organization's dream machine and the worst nightmare for an Islamic terrorist especially when weather conditions "soften" satellite surveillance.
These kinds of devices are going to revolutionize anti-terrorist operations and intelligence gathering.
I have an online novel that explores the subject and technology if anyone is interested.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon vowed Monday to thwart efforts by his political opponents to draft the 61 MKs needed to delay the March 28 general election and form a new coalition that could last until November. Sharon hinted to Kadima officials that he blamed his arch-rival, former prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu for the maneuver. He said the people behind the move were "the same people who tried to advance the Likud primary," referring to Netanyahu.
Netanyahu denied involvement in the initiative, even though Shinui head Yosef Lapid revealed that Netanyahu called him personally two weeks ago and asked him to support it. The main MKs openly advancing the initiative have been four vocal Netanyahu loyalists in the Likud: Reuven Rivlin, Michael Ratzon, Yuval Steinitz and Ayoub Kara. "We cannot let this story rest," Sharon told the Kadima faction at the Knesset. "We need to say aggressively, seriously and even cynically that this initiative is problematic."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/13/2005 00:00 ||
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"We need to say aggressively, seriously and even cynically that this initiative is problematic."
-- Arial Sharon
Quote of the week! It doesn't even need context to work!
Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi on Monday condemned the assassination of Lebanese MP Gibran Tueni. Tueni was killed in a car bomb in a Beirut suburb on Monday. âThis inhuman act is in line with the ominous goals of the Zionist regime and the enemies of Lebanonâs unity and security,â he said.
"It wuz them! We seen it!"
Asefi said that the Islamic Republic of Iran always supports efforts to maintain peace and security in Lebanon, adding that due to the current sensitive juncture all Lebanese groups and people should strive to neutralize the plots of their enemies through vigilance. The Lebanese Christian MP, Tueni, who was also a prominent journalist and the director of the Lebanese daily Al-Nahar, was killed after a bomb blew up in his vehicle blasting it off the road and setting it ablaze. Firemen recovered the body of Tueni, 48, that of his driver Nicolas Flouti and two other people. Ten other people were wounded, two of them seriously, in the attack at around 9 am (0700 GMT) in the Christian suburb of Mkalles.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/13/2005 10:49 ||
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Another outspoken critic of Syrian involvement in Lebanon, lawmaker and newspaper magnate Gebran Tueni, was murdered yesterday in a mountain road bombing. The crime had many of the hallmarks of previous murderous attacks, which have been blamed on the Syrians, not least the murder of Rafik Hariri in February. Yet because this is Lebanon, all need not necessarily be what it seems to be.
In days of old, the Lebs used to go to Byzantium to relax. They liked it because everything was so straightforward and uncomplicated.
The United Nations investigation has already concluded that Damascus was behind the Hariri assassination. Even as Tueni was slain, the latest report into the earlier crime was on its way to the UN Security Council.
Hence, presumably, the timing of Tueni's departure from this vale of tears...
It is believed to set out in great detail the involvement of top Syrian officials in the politicianâs death. Why would the Syrians compound their problems now by assassinating yet another of their Lebanese opponents?
It's called churning the pot. You keep a lot going on at once so no one can concentrate on the main issue. It's also typical of the stupidity and brutality of the Syrian regime. Pencil Neck's not the man his father was.
Since the Hariri murder, 13 other anti-Syrian Lebanese have been assassinated.
Strangely enough, there hasn't been a single person implicated that we've heard of. Out of 13 murders.
The first crime brought about the end of Syriaâs military presence in Lebanon. Subsequent killings have only embittered many Lebanese who, while they may be grateful for Syriaâs earlier interventions, now wish Damascus to leave its neighbor alone.
Someday, when the Baathists are all gone and Middle Eastern politix resemble the relations current among the Scandinavian countries, someone will actually research the Leb civil war, and — surprise of surprises! — they'll discover Syrian fingerprints all over it.
Why should Syria make its international problems worse by another murder?
Because it regards Lebanon as its property that it somehow hasn't been able to take title to more than temporarily for 5000 years? Because there is no word for "subtle" in Syrian Arabic?
On the face of it, Damascus can only lose because of suspicions that it is again implicated. Therefore suspicions must turn to those who wish to see the Syrians further discomfited.
That'd be the Zionists, of course...
Yet, for anti-Syrian elements to organize the barbarous murder of one or more of their own number, to drive home their campaign against Damascus, would be as repugnant as it is cynical.
See? It couldn't possibly be Lebs, and it surely couldn't be Syrians...
In the looking-glass world of Lebanese rivalries, however, this need not be the only explanation. There are bitter personal enmities and shadowy criminal gangs â who profited immensely from the long years of civil war â and finally, nihilist elements prepared to destroy the Lebanonâs hard-won stability and plunge it back into political chaos.
Whoa! An Arab writer who didn't come up with Zionists as the first suspects! I'm impressed. And he is correct. The alliances and counteralliances among the Leb oligarchy change on a near daily basis. Not all car booms in the country can be traced to Damascus — HE is merely another way of doing business. Paying off a life insurance policy is usually cheaper than compromising, since once the policy's paid off you're done with it and that compromise can be expected to be merely the first in a long line. And there is always that dog-eat-dog undertone that's left over from the civil war, the elephant in the Beirut living room.
Then of course there is the double bluff. Renegade Syrian elements may be carrying out these assassinations in the belief that no one would think them so stupid as to continue such a campaign when the eyes of the world are fixed so sternly upon Syria.
And that'd still be my guess.
Such a strategy would have the added benefit of sowing fear among anti-Syrian Lebanese who see old scores being settled by such ruthless bloodshed.
As I pointed out earlier, the Syrian hand was not only present but influential in the civil war...
We have to assume that the Lebanese police are doing their utmost to investigate each of these dreadful crimes with as much care and detail as possible.
Inspector Clouseau and his men have no doubt been diligent in their duties. They haven't been successful, despite 13 corpses to comb for clues. One really has to wonder why that is, since Mehlis swept in, talked to a few people, swept out, and made his case.
If necessary, perhaps the UN should offer extra resources.
Perhaps a few of Mehlis' investigators?
Far more important, however, is the attitude of ordinary Lebanese. These murders are clearly meant to foster suspicion, anger and, if possible, despair. Outrageous though the attacks are, the Lebanese will be the only losers if they allow themselves to be provoked, to abandon the pluralist political fabric that they have put in place and revert to their former communal alliances. Grim though the present campaign of assassination may be, it is nothing compared to the violent past from which the country has finally managed to escape.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/13/2005 09:40 ||
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"There are bitter personal enmities and shadowy criminal gangs â who profited immensely from the long years of civil war â and finally, nihilist elements prepared to destroy the Lebanonâs hard-won stability and plunge it back into political chaos. "
Of course it IS odd that the criminal gangs and nihilist elements only seem to target anti-Syrian pols.
Which leaves us with Syrians, rogue or not, or a nefarious Mossad plot. Why the Syrians? I'll venture a guess. Elements in Syrian intell expect something to blow up shortly anyway - sanctions, the fall of Assad, shakeup in the elite, or some combination. When Syrias pot starts boiling, Lebanese resources - money, militias, etc - are of particular value in the SYRIAN factional struggle. Killing Leb pols may be part of the game of keeping a power base in Lebanon for use in SYRIAN politics - whether by the intel establishment overall, or particular elements of it.
European Union foreign ministers called on Iran yesterday to show greater respect for human rights, saying the situation in Iran was deteriorating and damaging EU-Iran ties. The EU ministers said they regretted that Iran has failed to hold talks on human rights this year, âdespite the EUâs strong and repeated requests.â
âGreater respect for human rights in Iran is essential for progress in EU-Iran relations,â said an annual EU review of human rights, adopted by the foreign ministers.
Human rights talks with Teheran were to be held alongside negotiations to draft a free trade pact. However, both have been frozen in the wake of European and US fears that Iran is setting up a nuclear weapons programme.
âThe deteriorating human rights situation and the absence of action by the Iranian authorities to reform laws and official practices, which allow human rights violations to occur, cast serious doubtâ on Iranâs intentions to respect fundamental freedoms of their citizens, it said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/13/2005 02:24 ||
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Wouldn't sweat it. Most of the place is going to be glowing green glass soon anyway. Made all the more possible by EU obstructionism.
#2
European Union foreign ministers called on Iran yesterday to show greater respect for human rights, saying the situation in Iran was deteriorating and damaging EU-Iran ties.
So what are you guys waiting for?? Start negotiating!
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, has pledged an investigation into the crash of a decrepit military plane in central Tehran, while thanking the 108 dead for their martyrdom. His comments came after Mostafa Mohammad Najjar, the defence minister, was the target of an impeachment motion filed by a group of parliament deputies angered over reports that the aged C-130 was ordered to fly despite warnings from its pilot. Ahmadinejad said on Sunday of last Tuesday's crash: "The government will hold a serious investigation." Speaking of those killed on board, he said: "But what is important is that they have shown the way to martyrdom which we must follow."
Normally, martyrdom isn't what people have in mind when they get on a plane. I think Point A to Point B is the more usual intent.
The C-130 workhorse - bought from the United States before the 1979 Islamic revolution and starved of crucial spares by US-imposed sanctions - crashed into the foot of a high-rise housing block after suffering engine failure.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/13/2005 00:00 ||
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It's pretty hillarious...these pinheads celebrating martyrdom for everyone but themselves.
#2
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, has pledged an investigation into the crash of a decrepit military plane in central Tehran, while thanking the 108 dead for their martyrdom.
Huuum, did order it himself and just tip his hand..
or the purge of the military begins..?
Posted by: Red Dog ||
12/13/2005 0:21 Comments ||
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"But what is important is that they have shown the way to martyrdom which we must follow."
I can't wait for more planes full of Iranian bigwigs to crash.
Seriously folks, that is one of the weirdest things I have ever read.
Syria has fully cooperated with a UN inquiry into the murder of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri, Syria's deputy foreign minister says. Walid Muallim said there was "no reason for the Security Council to take measures against Syria", despite an interim report implicating Syrian officials in al-Hariri's killing in a 14 February bomb blast. "Syria has fully cooperated with the international commission of enquiry ... to cut the road to those who would try to use this inquiry to political ends against Syria and the region," Muallim told journalists outside Damascus. "Nothing could justify Security Council measures against Syria," he said, adding: "Syria is innocent of this crime."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/13/2005 00:00 ||
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The following are excerpts from Sheikh Yousef Al-Qaradhawi's Friday December 2, 2005, which aired the same date on Qatar TV. Sheikh Al-Qaradhawi is head of the European Council for Fatwa and Research, president of the International Association of Muslim Scholars (IAMS), and the spiritual guide of many other Islamist organizations across the world (including the Muslim Brotherhood). In this sermon, he discusses the Jews at the time of Muhammad, as well as the situation in Iraq, calling for Iraq to be protected from the "American Satan."
Sheikh Al-Qaradhawi: "These polytheist pagan invaders were joined by the Jews - the Jews of the Banu Qurayza tribe, who remained in Al-Madina, and who did to the Prophet Muhammad things that require punishment, by forging an alliance with the Banu Nazir tribe against the Prophet. But the Prophet forgave them and allowed them to remain in Al-Madina. Nevertheless, their nature got the better of them, and they violated the treaty and the covenant of protection between them and the Prophet...
How great is the similarity between past and present, brothers. We Muslims are besieged by many forces that want to uproot the Muslims under various pretexts - the pretext of terrorism, the pretext of fundamentalism, this pretext or that pretext. The goal is to fight this nation. They want to eradicate the nation of Islam... We are now under a siege that resembles the Siege of the Trench, the Siege of Akhzab. But we will be victorious, Allah willing - despite the traps set by Judaism and the Crusaders, and despite the deeds of those who set traps and who deceive. ... The Prophet besieged them for 25 days until they surrendered and agreed to accept his reign. The Prophet called upon them to choose a judge, and they chose Sa'd bin Mu'az, who had been their ally in the Jahiliyya [the pre-Islamic era]. ... He decided that the only treatment they merited was to have their fighters killed, their women taken captive, and their property seized as booty... Some Orientalists claim that Muhammad was cruel to the Jews, but this is how determination should be. One must be firm when firmness is warranted, and gentle when gentleness is warranted...
"I place the responsibility on the Shi'ite brothers more than on the Sunnis, because they are the ones who control the army, the police, the security forces, the regime, and the ministries. They have things the Sunnis don't have. They must not exploit this to kill their [Sunni] brothers, as they do. We want the great Shi'ite clerics, the ayatollahs, the Shi'ite sources of authority, the great authority Ayatollah Ali Sistani... We want the sheikhs of the Houza to issue fatwas forbidding the killing of Muslims by Muslims, fatwas forbidding the killing of Sunnis. The Sunnis issued such fatwas, but we haven't seen the Shi'ite brothers, their clerics, or their ayatollahs issuing similar fatwas. We want them to issue unequivocal fatwas forbidding Muslims from fighting Muslims and killing them on the basis of their identity...
"Soon, on December 15, parliamentary elections will be held. The new parliament members will be elected. In the past, the Sunnis boycotted the elections because they bore the burden of resisting the occupation, and their circumstances prevented them from [participating]. There was no security, and there were many things that prevented them from doing so. Now I call upon the Sunnis to participate en masse in the next elections, to present their candidacy, and to vote. Some clerics issued fatwas saying that elections under the American occupation are forbidden. I say: No! Necessity makes them permissible, especially in light of the fact that the occupation does not appear to be intervening in these elections. If these are free and fair elections, we should participate in them, instead of watching from the sidelines. Then the pie will be divided between those who participated in the elections, and we will continue to fight, and a civil war will break out, and blood will be spilled. For what? I say to my Sunni brothers in Iraq: Participate in these elections en masse...
"In the previous elections, they promised to amend the constitution after the coming elections. There are many things in the constitution opposed by the Sunnis, such as expanding the federations, the distribution of resources, and so on. This is your chance to say your piece and to amend this constitution. I call upon my brothers to join the political battle. We should not ignore the political aspect. I call upon my brothers, members of the Association of [Sunni] Muslim Clerics, headed by Sheikh Hareth al-Dhari and his brothers... I call upon them not to be extremist in this matter, to look at all sides of the issue, and to try to take advantage of this opportunity, so that others [the Shi'ites] won't later say: We gave them an opportunity, but they refused to take it. No. We don't want them to say that. We want to take advantage of this opportunity, and we insist upon realizing our right and not missing this opportunity.
"I pray for Allah to open our brothers' eyes, to make the present in Iraq better than the past, and the future better than the present. I pray for Allah to protect Iraq from overt and covert civil strife, to protect it from the evils of divisiveness and racism, and to protect it from the whispers of all satans, the human satans, the satans among the djinn, the American satans, and other satans."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/13/2005 00:00 ||
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Sheikh Al-Qaradhawi is head of the European Council for Fatwa and Research, president of the International Association of Muslim Scholars (IAMS), and the spiritual guide of many other Islamist organizations...
"We Will Be Victorious, allan Willing"
Any reason we can't send Tookie over there and turn his face into shotgun pellet pincushion, too?
see ya Tookie and may Al-Qaradhawi join you real soon. Allen Akbar
Posted by: Red Dog ||
12/13/2005 0:52 Comments ||
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Yes Mr Al-Qaradhawi, it is rather unfortunate that your Sunni brothers are blowing up other Muslims on a daily basis, isn't it? In fact, they're killing so many that most of us Satans in the West are starting to suffer from jihad-fatigue, and can't wait to get our troops back home so that all you true-believers can continue blowing each other up in peace.
Posted by: Filthy the Dog ||
12/13/2005 1:15 Comments ||
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As Red Ken would say.. a 'man of peace' and 'a moderate'
Posted by: Howard UK ||
12/13/2005 13:01 Comments ||
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Won't someone please, please blow this moron's head off? Paging all wetworks teams!
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.
Sudanese President 
SANAA â A Yemeni court yesterday began the trial of two men accused of trying to assassinate the US ambassador to the country with a hand grenade last year.
Peopleâs General Congress (PGC) leaders demand that President 
The brother of the Palestinian bomber who blew himself up killing five people at a shopping mall in Israel on Monday was employed as a Math teacher with a well-known English school in Kuwait, sources told the Arab Times on Sunday. Citing personal reasons, the teacher identified as Pervez Abu Saada left the country for an unknown destination a few days ago. The school refused to comment on the incident. Earlier news reports said the bomber 
After experiencing massive rioting throughout the country for about two weeks between late October and mid-November, senior French security officials have called upon senior Israeli police officials to give advice on crowd control in the mainly Muslim suburbs of the troubled towns and cities. Mideast sources revealed that the Israeli Police Chiefs, 
American activists camping out at a Cuban military checkpoint outside the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay started their first day of a water-only fast Monday to protest the treatment of suspected terrorists detained at the base. Members of the largely Christian group 
A federal judge on Monday lifted the final legal barrier to building a triple fence in the southwestern corner of the United States. The Sierra Club and other environmental groups argued that Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff lacked authority to waive environmental and other laws that have delayed completion of 14 miles of additional fencing in San Diego. 
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon vowed Monday to thwart efforts by his political opponents to draft the 61 MKs needed to delay the March 28 general election and form a new coalition that could last until November. Sharon hinted to Kadima officials that he blamed his arch-rival, former prime minister 
Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi on Monday condemned the assassination of Lebanese MP Gibran Tueni. Tueni was killed in a car bomb in a Beirut suburb on Monday. âThis inhuman act is in line with the ominous goals of the Zionist regime and the enemies of Lebanonâs unity and security,â he said. 
Another outspoken critic of Syrian involvement in Lebanon, lawmaker and newspaper magnate 
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, has pledged an investigation into the crash of a decrepit military plane in central Tehran, while thanking the 108 dead for their martyrdom. His comments came after Mostafa Mohammad Najjar, the defence minister, was the target of an impeachment motion filed by a group of parliament deputies angered over reports that the aged C-130 was ordered to fly despite warnings from its pilot. Ahmadinejad said on Sunday of last Tuesday's crash: "The government will hold a serious investigation." Speaking of those killed on board, he said: "But what is important is that they have shown the way to martyrdom which we must follow." 
Syria has fully cooperated with a UN inquiry into the murder of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri, Syria's deputy foreign minister says. Walid Muallim said there was "no reason for the Security Council to take measures against Syria", despite an interim report implicating Syrian officials in al-Hariri's killing in a 14 February bomb blast. "Syria has fully cooperated with the international commission of enquiry ... to cut the road to those who would try to use this inquiry to political ends against Syria and the region," Muallim told journalists outside Damascus. "Nothing could justify Security Council measures against Syria," he said, adding: "Syria is innocent of this crime."
Sheikh Al-Qaradhawi: "These polytheist pagan invaders were joined by the Jews - the Jews of the Banu Qurayza tribe, who remained in Al-Madina, and who did to the Prophet Muhammad things that require punishment, by forging an alliance with the Banu Nazir tribe against the Prophet. But the Prophet forgave them and allowed them to remain in Al-Madina. Nevertheless, their nature got the better of them, and they violated the treaty and the covenant of protection between them and the Prophet... 
