The Salafist Group for Call and Combat (GSPC) issued a eulogy for Sheikh Abu Musab al-Seif, the âShariâa responsible manâ of the Chechen mujahideen, on the groupâs website yesterday, December 13, 2005. The GSPC sends condolences from the mujahideen in Algeria to those in Chechnya, describing al-Seif as a âvisionaryâ and a symbol of preaching jihad. Further, they state that the Islamic nation that produced such a leader is capable of producing others to take their place, the ongoing âblessed jihadâ will be more insistent to carry on the Chechen way.
According to media reports, Abu Omar al-Seif, a Saudi scholar who has been affiliated with al-Qaeda leadership in Chechnya, was killed during a confrontation with Russian soldiers near Dagestan during the beginning of this December.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/15/2005 02:14 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
They're not a 'human' rights group, they're a 'Yemeni' rights group. There's a difference.
SANAA - A Yemeni rights group demanded on Wednesday that the government release from prison five men who were freed earlier this year by US authorities from the Guantanamo Bay detention centre in Cuba. âTheir imprisonment is a blatant breach of Yemenâs constitution and its pledge to respect human rights according to international conventions and agreements,â said the National Committee for the Defence of Rights and Liberties.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/15/2005 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
SEOUL - North Korea said the US ambassador to Seoul, who labelled Pyongyang âa criminal regimeâ, was the worst ambassador in history and should be recalled, its official media reported on Wednesday.
Now there's some old-time spittle.
Alexander Vershbow, the US ambassador to South Korea, said at a forum on Dec. 7 that Pyongyang was engaged in the sale of weapons and illicit narcotics and Washington would not lift sanctions against it as long as those activities continue. âThis is a criminal regime,â he said.
It issued three critical comments of Vershbowâs comments on Tuesday calling him the âgovernor generalâ of a colony and on Wednesday took their criticism to a new level.
New levels of juche!
âAmbassador Vershbow is the most bitchy and malignant ambassador in history,â said a commentary in the state-run Minju Joson newspaper. âWe doubt whether Ambassador Vershbow has enough knowledge about the DPRK to make such comments,â the commentary said, according to a Korea-language report on the Northâs official KCNA news agency cited by South Koreaâs Yonhap news agency.
Bitchy and malignant? I like him already!
In a shorter report carried in English on KCNA, North Korea misspelled the ambassadorâs name, calling him âBershbowâ. âThe Korean nation will certainly suffer greater misfortune if Bershbow is allowed to behave as he pleases. He had better apologise for his malarkey to the DPRK and go back to his country as early as possible,â the paper said.
I'm surprised that the Norks know the word 'malarkey'. Perhaps ex-Sgt. Jenkins taught the propaganda writers some English.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/15/2005 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
I know you are, but what am I?
Posted by: Alexander Vershbow ||
12/15/2005 0:21 Comments ||
Top||
#2
No wonder he got "bitchy". The Norks misspelled his name! I would get bitchy too.
#4
LOL I love that graphic, did you get fromthe DNC site? Clearly they still think of the U.S. and DPRK are at war while we are sending them food. I wonder what it says in Korean?
Posted by: Mike ||
12/15/2005 15:26 Comments ||
Top||
#9
Didn't some congressmen & senators call use just those terms (bitchy & malignant) against Bolton during the confirmation hearings? Perhaps they share some political advisors with Kimmy.
LEBANESE youths and ethnic "lions" from Melbourne are preparing to join Sydney's race riots, with busloads of troublemakers rumoured to be heading north.
Expectations among the young Lebanese community in western Sydney that further trouble will develop over the weekend comes despite calls from their religious leaders, police and politicians for both sides to calm down.
One 22-year-old ethnic Lebanese man yesterday told The Australian he and his friends were ready for a turf war. "The boys reckon it'll be like a scene out of Braveheart," he said.
Sources within the Lebanese community said three busloads of young men from Melbourne - Lebanese, Serbians, Italians and Greeks - and more than 30 carloads were expected to arrive in Sydney today and tomorrow.
"I've talked to a few mates in Melbourne and I know that some of my other buddies have too," said a 29-year-old Lebanese man from Lidcombe, in Sydney's west.
"We're expecting about 30 cars and a couple of busloads of Leb, Serb, Italian and Greek lions to punch on with us."
A Melbourne nightclub bouncer of Bosnian extraction also said word was "getting around" about groups of young men heading to Sydney to fight.
NSW police last night expressed concern about the possibility ethnic numbers would be bolstered by interstate visitors.
A Victorian police spokesman said the force was "monitoring the situation" but had no specific information about the plan.
Prominent Melbourne Muslim leader Waleed Aly yesterday discouraged his community from joining the fray. "It's a stupid thing to do," he said.
Gold Coast police are also bracing for trouble on Sunday, boosting on-duty numbers after text messages urged locals to "crack some skulls".
Police contingency plans have been made despite Queensland Premier Peter Beattie's view the text messages were a hoax.
THE Federal Government has cast doubts on David Hicks's ability to return to Australia if he were to be granted British citizenship and released from the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay. The Australian terrorist suspect has been given a possible pathway to freedom after Britain's High Court directed the UK government to register Hicks's British citizenship. The British Home Office is considering whether to take up its right to appeal the ruling. Hicks's legal team believes that if Hicks is registered as a citizen, the British government will remove him from US military detention, just as it did for nine other Britons once held at Guantanamo Bay.
But the Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, has raised questions about Hicks's return to Australia if he were to gain his freedom and renounce Australian citizenship. "In so far as he's a British citizen, then he would have to make application to come to Australia if he wished to do so and that's something we would consider if the circumstances ever arose," he said.
Despite the court ruling, there is considerable doubt about Hicks's hopes for freedom. Even without the appeal issue, with Hicks jailed in Cuba, there could be logistical difficulties that might prevent him completing the paperwork he would need to secure British citizenship. And even if he were to gain citizenship, there is no guarantee the UK government would seek his release. Hicks's US military lawyer, Major Michael Mori, remains optimistic. "We know that the US and the United Kingdom have an agreement that any British detainee will not face the military commission and we see the other nine detainees have all been released and returned to England and not prosecuted under British law," Major Mori told Southern Cross Broadcasting. "I would expect Mr Hicks to receive the same treatment."
Unlike the other British citizens released from Guantanamo Bay, Hicks is facing charges of conspiracy to commit war crimes, attempted murder and aiding and abetting the enemy. The nine other men were never charged. Mr Downer believes this could be a problem. "In the case of the nine Britons who were in Guantanamo Bay, none of those nine was ever charged," he said. "I doubt very much the Americans would drop charges of conspiracy to commit war crimes and attempted murder."
While the Australian government might be trying to wash its hands of the British ruling, critics believe it is a potentially embarrassing development. "It's a matter between David Hicks and his lawyers in the British courts," Mr Downer said. "That's really not a matter for Australia." Prime Minister John Howard said it was up to the British to decide how they proceed. "The British will decide what they're going to do themselves," Mr Howard said.
Opposition Leader Kim Beazley said the government would look foolish if Britain came to the aid of Hicks while Canberra let him languish in Guantanamo Bay. He said the Australian government should be insisting on a proper trial as the British government had done with the United States. Lex Lasry QC, an independent observer to the military commission process, said he failed to understand why the government had never taken a stand against Hicks's military trial. "I've never been able to understand why the Australian government insists on saying with a straight face that this process is fair," he told ABC radio. "The Australian government may yet turn out to look silly because they have condoned a process that the British government simply won't condone."
Posted by: ed ||
12/15/2005 10:19 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Even without the appeal issue, with Hicks jailed in Cuba, there could be logistical difficulties that might prevent him completing the paperwork he would need to secure British citizenship. And even if he were to gain citizenship, there is no guarantee the UK government would seek his release.
Australiaâs armed forces will be revamped to better fight terror and crack down on weapons of mass destruction under a new strategy unveiled by Defence Minister Robert Hill on Thursday.
The new defence outlook is designed to make the Australian military more flexible and increase troop numbers, and puts the fight against terror and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction at the centre of planning.
It also includes plans for major purchases, such as heavy-lift aircraft, to help Australian forces deploy quickly to regional troublespots and to help deliver aid in the event of regional disasters.
âDefeating the threat of terrorism, countering the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and supporting regional states in difficulty remain the governmentâs highest priorities,â Hill said.
Australia, a strong ally of the United States, has about 1,300 forces in and around Iraq, as well as 200 special forces in Afghanistan helping U.S. forces hunt down Taliban an al Qaeda fighters. Australia also has a military aid team in Pakistan.
But Australia has also taken a stronger military role in the Pacific region in recent years, sending more than 5,000 troops to East Timor to quell militia violence in 1999, and sending 1,400 military personnel to the Solomon Islands in 2003 to help stop the countryâs decline into violence and anarchy.
Australia is also strong supporter of the regional Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), designed to intercept the illegal transport of weapons of mass destruction, which has the support of 60 nations.
Defence analyst Aldo Borgu, from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said the review had a stronger defence focus on global issues and Australiaâs regional interests.
âThe problem is there is a big step up in the rhetoric in the strategy, but not a big step up in capability,â Borgu told Australian television.
Hill said under the new defence outlook, Australia will pass new laws to allow the defence forces to help civil authorities in Australia during periods of national emergency.
He said Australia aims to expand army troops numbers by 1,500 over the next 10 years, with the army to be restructured into new flexible battlegroups, while Australia would look at new tanks, helicopters, trucks and transport to help with army deployments.
âIn the years ahead, we might also find ourselves facing challenges that cannot be anticipated or predicted easily,â Hill said. âThis puts a focus on forces that are versatile, robust, joint and integrated,â he said.
Australiaâs army currently has about 42,000 soldiers, including 16,800 reservists and 25,400 permanent soldiers.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/15/2005 01:55 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Fortunately Oz does not have Posse Comitatus since they disarmed their own citizenry just a while back. Wonder how many of their voters are rethinking that move?
#3
Just for the record, there are 5mill known firearms in Australia, of which 2.5mill are registered. 1996 gun laws changes removed semi auto's and pump shotguns, unless you are a pro feral shooter. We dont know how many illegal weapons the Lebanese (and other) gangs have in Sydney, but guns or not us AUSSIES not putting up with it.
Queensland Premier Peter Beattie has dismissed a racist text message campaign in his state as a hoax, but said he is not taking any chances about Sydney's ethnic violence spreading north.
And Victorian police, who have intercepted text messages inciting people to violence, also said they are not expecting riots in the state but are preparing for a worst case scenario.
Text messages and emails calling for racial unrest, similar to those which helped fuel last weekend's riots in southern Sydney, have began circulating outside NSW.
On the Gold Coast, text messages have surfaced calling for people to start "cracking skulls".
The question, of course, is whose skulls.
Mr Beattie said he believe nothing would eventuate in Queensland but complacency was not an option. "You can never obviously rule out that it won't happen totally, but my view is it's just a few idiots taking advantage of what's happened in Sydney to create a bit stupidity," he told Channel 9. "I don't take it seriously."
"The police are investigating but our view is that it's a hoax.
"I don't believe that we'll have a repeat of what happened in Sydney here in Queensland, but we won't take any chances.
"We have very strong anti-vilification laws that make sure any behaviour that we've seen elsewhere can be punished by law and will be."
In Victoria, police have intercepted a text message inciting race violence and tracked down the person who sent it. But Chief Commissioner Christine Nixon said the young man involved would not be charged. "It's a young man who I think made a mistake, had no real potential to create any problems but thought, just hop on board and just be part of the group of people who might want to make some trouble," she told Nine. "He really had no potential or capacity to do that."
Ms Nixon said police in her state also were not taking any chances. "We've got our people out there and we believe that we'll be able to deal with it," she said. "It can happen anywhere. When you get what happened in NSW with young people, you fuel it with alcohol and heat and some tension and some fear in the community, then these things can happen.
"And none of us should stand there and say it's not possible and it's not going to happen."
Police powers will be boosted during an emergency session of NSW parliament today amid fears of more racial violence in Sydney. Under the changes, police will have the power to lock down trouble spots, confiscate cars, and order hotels and bottle shops to stop serving alcohol.
#1
For their own safety perhaps Australia should make boat trip tickets to Indonesia available to all Arabs who feel they have been persecuted because of their race (and or drug dealing and gang raping).
#2
"We have very strong anti-vilification laws that make sure any behaviour that we've seen elsewhere can be punished by law and will be."
These wouldn't be the anti-vilification laws that were used to prosecute Christians who quoted from the Koran, would they? If so, you should understand there's not a lot of confidence in them being applied with good will or sense.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
12/15/2005 10:20 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Are the contents of prayertime speeches made by various mosque imams being examined for violation of "anti-vilification" statutes?
THE violent attacks in Sydney had exposed the anti-Arab racism that existed in Australia, a national Arabic council said today. The Australian Arabic Council (AAC) chairman, Roland Jabbour, said the council was concerned and alarmed by reports text messages were continuing to circulate in Sydney and spreading to Melbourne and other Australian cities.
The messages follow two nights of violent attacks in Maroubra, Cronulla and Brighton-le-Sands, apparently in response to a race riot at Cronulla on Sunday in which people of Middle Eastern appearance were chased and attacked.
State and national leaders need to convene a conference with police, academics and community leaders to find a long term solution to race issues, Mr Jabbour said. Mr Jabbour called for calm and restraint, but said the events had exposed the anti-Arab racism that existed in Australia and the AAC had predicted such attacks would happen. "Arab Australians have had to cope for some time with vilification, racism and abuse after numerous international and domestic events," he said.
Any comment about the Arab yoots harrassing the women on the beach?
"We are more than anybody aware of the fringe elements of society that have racist agendas and prejudicial propensities.
"This reality must now be recognised by political leaders and government agencies as a significant impingement on the rights of Arab and Muslim citizens."
Nope, guess not.
Mr Jabbour said denials by political leaders that the violence was fuelled by racist sentiments ignored the historical context of events in Australia. He pointed to Australia's involvement in the first Gulf War in the early 1990s, ...
... clearly an act of racism to liberate a Muslim country from an invading Muslim thug ...
... the rise of Pauline Hanson and One Nation, the Federal Government's refugee policies, the Bali bombings ...
... he'll have to explain in some detail why the Bali bombings are anti-Muslim ...
... and the recent anti-terror legislation.
Mr Jabbour said politicians and media commentators had fanned the flames of racial tension. "It is time that political leaders and media commentators took some responsibility for the current climate of fear and hatred and show some courage to deal with the real issues in a cooperative manner rather than scapegoating communities," he said.
Also time for the Muslim communities to control their yoots, but of course he didn't say that.
#2
So Fred, when will we have the annual Rantburg Victim of the Year awards? I think the AAC might have a good chance -- but then France and the DNC have a good running too. Looks to be quite a compitition this year.
#3
What I don't understand is why the Aussies don't go over the list of visas and such for those that came into the country as political refugees and reevaluate their status depending upon the nation they came from.
Afghanistan is no longer run by the Taliban and they could use some educated folks coming back with Aussie dollars in their pockets. Leb isn't exactly out of the forest yet but perhaps if they got some more rapists and drug dealers to head back they might pump their economy a bit.
#4
...and now that they've established ourselves as the victim here they can go ahead and call for jihad. Jihad, as everybody knows, is perfectly acceptable as a defense whenever Islam comes under attack. Not a bad strategy, actually - small, pinpoint attacks, gradual increase in tensions until the other side retaliates, and then claim victimhood and cast your fight as one of defense. Devious little f*ckers.
#5
... he'll have to explain in some detail why the Bali bombings are anti-Muslim ...
You missed the bit about the anti-terror legislation. From what I've read, it's all very neutrally worded, and doesn't single out any particular group. So why is legislating against support for or agititating for violence "racist"?
Unless, of course, you consider it your God-given right to support, motivate, and commit acts of violence.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
12/15/2005 10:18 Comments ||
Top||
#6
"It is time that political leaders and media...show some courage to deal with the real issues in a cooperative manner rather than scapegoating communities."
#8
the reporting out of Australia is beginning to borders on the ridiculous. Is this a game where we are supposed to solve the mystery of what is really happening? Do we get a prize if we get it right?
#9
Golly gee whillikers, ya mean ta say that the beachfront comments made by these Arab yoots are based on race rather than religion? That's the only way any retaliation against such offensive language could be construed as "racist." Otherwise, if the comments are based on an attempt to impose Arab religious value judgements upon those who do not participate in said faith, well then, it's an issue of religious dispute now isn't it?
Perish the thought that anyone would have the stones to highlight such a glaring discrepancy in any of the journalistic coverage. Such reportage might make it increasingly clear that a certain bunch of oppressive whingeing theocratically inclined wingnuts are seeking to obtain influence over the rights and liberties of their host nation. Naw, no pattern of behavior here. Nope, nope, nuttin' ta see, now move along folks.
#10
The "Arab Youths" are in fact Leb gangs.
Leb gangs comprise of Muslim Lebanese males from southwest Sydney. Lakemba is the epicentre, with Lakemba Mosque being their religious focal point. The night after the beach riot, 500 muslim males gathered around the mosque to "defend" it from non-existent attackers, then rioted around the streets.
In the past week the Lebs have:
* shot at school kids having Christmas carols
* burned down 4 churches in southwest sydney
* travelled to beach suburbs cronulla, maroubra and brighton-le-Sands and smashed up shops and cars
* stabbed and beaten Anglo men and women.
Yet their doings are only called "youths" in "race riots" so often the media mistakes it and thinks racist Anglo Aussies did it. They did not. They only had a protest on Sunday at Maroubra over the Leb gang bashing of two lifesavers (hijacked by a couple hundred racists who beat up some middle-eastern looking people who weren't even Lebs and chased a woman and tore her hijab off - and have thus tarnished everyone with a legitimate complaint against the Lebs and ensured the media will never report fairly on the issue).
Keysar Trad, media spokesliar for the Lebs has put the victim spin on it.
It's all the fault of racist Australia.
What we need is a multicultural, multiracial, anti-Leb gang protest outside Lakemba mosque.
A peaceful protest so the media cannot spin us as racists.
We need all those who've suffered Leb gang violence to get together: Asians, Whites, Blacks, Christians, Atheists, Jews, and protest peacefully outside Lakemba mosque.
Protest for women's rights: have women in bikinis there to hammer the message that what you wear does not make you a slut or justify rape.
Protest for our right to live in peace.
Then when (not if) the Leb gangs attack, take it peacefully. Cop the hit in front of the TV cameras so there can be no claiming the victim culture.
We need to win the media battle, they've had undeserved sympathy too long.
Meanwhile, Residents of sydney streets should be forming emergency response groups. Get every able bodied male on your street on a mobile phone list. If any one member is threatened or sees a carload of armed Leb gang causing trouble, they sms the group.
All who can and are near mobilise within 5 minutes to help each other.
This is a Leb tactic. This is how they run over the law. We have to use the same tactic because it works. We need to help each other.
MA. Sen. John Kerry said last night that if Dems retake the House, there's a "solid case" to bring "articles of impeachment" against President Bush for allegedly misleading the country about pre-war intelligence, according to several Dems who attended. Kerry was speaking at a Christmasholiday party for alumni of his WH '04 bid.
About 100 campaign vets gathered at Finn McCool's bar in D.C. to hear him. In a short speech, Kerry praised Dems who were working on Senate and House campaigns, and then said, according to one listener: "If we take back the House, there's a solid case to bring articles of impeachment against this president." Another listener heard a slight variation: "If we win back the House, I think we have a pretty solid case to bring articles of impeachment against this President." Kerry then quickly added, according to several in the audience, "Don't tell anyone I said that."
Kerry Comm. Dir. David Wade, in an email, said his boss was joking. Wade: "Is it really a story that, with a smile on his face and to ensuing laughter, at a Christmas party for his hardest working troops who are still working to win in 2006, a Democrat joked about why these diehard Democrats needed to keep dreaming of a Democratic Congress? Impeachment jokes in Washington are as old as Don Rumsfeld and as funny as Dick Cheney is gruff. Only the truly humorless would say bah humbug to the rarest of partisan red meat." Wade said Kerry often asks this question: "How are the same Republicans who tried to impeach a President over whether he misled a nation about an affair going to pretend it does not matter if the Administration intentionally misled the country into war?" More Wade: "Good luck finding a Democrat in America who disagrees..."
But several in Kerry's audience said the comment made them uncomfortable, in part because they believed the press would discover what Kerry said and report it accurately twist its context. In keeping with Kerry's wishes, several attendees, while acknowledging what he said, declined to comment when asked about the remarks.
Dem strategists know that many in their base might favor impeachment. But they do not want the party to appear hyper-partisan, especially when Cong. approval ratings struggle to reach 30 percent. Most Dem strategists believe that Americans would not stomach a second drawn-out, polarizing impeachment trial in the span of ten years. Others do not believe Bush deserves to be impeached. Dem leaders have cautioned colleagues not to use the word "impeachment" when speaking to base crowds.
An Impeach PAC, led by Democrats.com's Bob Fertik, has raised about $40,000 since November and promises to spend it in competitive races. And at least three national polling firms, Research 2000, Zogby and Rasmussen, have included the impeachment question on surveys. This should convince some stay-at-home Republians to vote next year.
#2
MA. Sen. John Kerry said last night that if Dems retake the House, there's a "solid case" to bring "articles of impeachment" against President Bush for allegedly misleading the country about pre-war intelligence, according to several Dems who attended.
#5
The present moronic leadership is the reason that everyone in my family has left the Democratic Party. And the reason that I will never vote Democrat again : their base is slightly to the left of Trotsky, and holds all forms of American patriotism in contempt.
#8
JFnK got 47% of the vote in the last election. He's not out of the mainstream of American political opinion. Not that that doesn't frighten me, but there's lot's of fools out there who buy what the MSM sell. That's why advertisers pay them. Or at least used to.
#9
The Democratics display an astounding lack of understanding regarding the Constitution and the chain of ascendancy.
If the President were to be impeached and if the Senate were to vote to remove him from power, the Presidency would fall to the Vice President. If the VP were also impeached and removed for some reason, the Presidency would fall to the Speaker of the House. After that, I believe the next in line is the Secretary of State.
I believe all of the above are Republicans so an impeachment would gain them nothing...
#11
Sorry - but the Dims come and do this, they will start falling. They will push too many good people over the edge with what is an obvious abuse of power.
Those militia boys have lain quite. Let the Dems try this and the miltiias will all of a sudden show themselves.
And there are plenty of Americans who will take up arms under the rights as put forth in the Declaration of Independance - taking .50 BMG Barret to the Democrats who at that point will be destroying the republic.
Things are going to get very ugly - and the Dem party will cease to exist with the physical and political backlash.
The marvel to me is that such traitorous and seditious behavior is not only practiced, but that its ENCOURAGED by the Democrats.
#12
Good, but for me the Dems real "ace-in-the-hole" for 2008 will be "Amer Hiroshimas" - the only way the power-manic, anti-US Lefties can save knowingly failed and failing Socialism. SOWG, and SWO/CWO is by anarchy and war. They want Revolution, they want Anarchy, they want "Amer Hiroshimas" ags their own cities and people - you know, those Lefties-Socies whom left America and the Western world to abdicate/defect/depart to Commie Asia, etc. only to come back penniless, disenfranchised, and disillusioned about the Worker's - and People's Socialist paradises overseas. Ditto for those same about Euro-Socialism. HYPER-CORRECTNESS/DENIAL HAS BECOME SO ACUTE WID THE LEFTIES THEY PREFER TO SEE THE DE FACTO DESTRUCTION OF AMER VOTERS AND CITIES, AND THE DE FACTO DEFEAT, SUBORNMENT, AND DESTRUCTION OF THE AMERICAN NATION, THAN ADMIT TO MAKING ANY MISTAKE(S) OR HAVING FAULTS. Its funny when on comedy TV like DREW CAREY, but not when 3000 Persons die, and more stand to die, or at least glow in the dark, thanx to wilful and deliberate global anti-Amer nuke proliferation.
The House is expected to vote today on a border enforcement and employee work verification bill, which calls for more U.S. Border Patrol agents, mandatory database checks of employees' eligibility to work, expanding expedited removal of illegal aliens and allowing sheriffs along the border to help enforce immigration law.
The House Judiciary Committee chairman yesterday backed off his provision to make illegal aliens felons and instead proposed a misdemeanor charge for unlawful presence, angering some Republicans who wanted the higher penalty. Some Republicans already were threatening to try to block the bill if they didn't get a chance to vote on amendments such as ending birthright citizenship and allowing local authorities to aid federal immigration officials. Yesterday's change just fueled their determination.
Initially the bill made felons out of the estimated 11 million illegal aliens, thus making them ineligible for legalization. But yesterday the bill's chief sponsor, Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr., Wisconsin Republican and Judiciary Committee chairman, said he will amend the bill today to make it a misdemeanor. His spokesman, Jeff Lungren, said the felony requirement actually would have delayed deportation of those now here illegally, while the lesser charge speeds it up. "In order to get a conviction on a felony, you'd need a jury trial," he said. "A misdemeanor doesn't need a jury trial, but you can detain them while putting them through immigration proceedings."
He said a misdemeanor still accomplishes their goal, which he said was to target those who overstay their temporary visas. Under current law, overstaying a visa is a civil offense but not a criminal offense, and if caught an alien can delay deportation for years by demanding a trial. Overstays account for about 40 percent of illegal aliens in the country.
The change caught supporters, opponents, and apparently Mr. Sensenbrenner himself by surprise. During a meeting of the House Rules Committee, which was setting the rules for today's debate and deciding which amendments will get floor votes, Mr. Sensenbrenner repeatedly said the bill makes unlawful presence a felony.
Republicans who support the bill were shocked when they heard about the change during the committee meeting. "That's what the look of surprise is on my face," said Rep. Steve King, Iowa Republican, who said only a felony charge would get illegal border-crossers entered into a law-enforcement database. It also takes three misdemeanors, but only one felony, for someone to be temporarily barred from re-entry.
Democrats and a few Republicans said the bill falls short because it doesn't offer a path to citizenship for current illegal aliens. That's a feature, not a bug. They demanded a chance to offer an amendment granting legal status to illegal aliens. People in Hell are demanding ice water.
Many other Republicans, meanwhile, said the bill falls short because it is weak on enforcement. They are demanding the chance to pass amendments that would end birthright citizenship for children of illegal aliens born on U.S. soil; build a barrier system along the border; and allow local law-enforcement authorities across the country to aid federal immigration officials.
Both sides were threatening to vote against the debate rules if their amendments weren't allowed. If they joined forces, Republicans who want more enforcement combined with the Democrats and Republicans who want legalization could be enough to defeat the debate rules, which would block the entire bill.
I dunno. Merely tresspassing (assuming no vandalism or burglary) isn't a felony, is it? I'd make aiding and abetting someone trying to invade a felony, including providing water stations.
#1
The House Judiciary Committee chairman yesterday backed off his provision to make illegal aliens felons and instead proposed a misdemeanor charge for unlawful presence, angering some Republicans who wanted the higher penalty.
I'm not convinced that if this had stuck it would have mattered. Local city administration would probably instruct the police agencies under their control to disregard immigration status should such details come to light in any incident.
Merely tresspassing (assuming no vandalism or burglary) isn't a felony, is it?
Nope - typically a misdemeanor. (might be different where US government property is concerned, like near an airport tower, or similar facility)
#2
I heard Congressman Ed Royce on John and Ken today and he said the felony part was dropped as it would require a trial or hearings whereas a misdemeanor illegal could get sent back on the next plane after pleading guilty or an immigration judge hearing....
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/15/2005 21:06 Comments ||
Top||
#3
The problem is that they don't show up for the hearing after being ROR'ed and promising to show.
I would go with the misdermeanor if it also gave them a 10 year or lifetime immigration ban.
And end the stupid birthright citizenship for children of illegals.
And end *all* federal funds to 'sanctuary cities' such as Seattle. Let them get the illegals to build their new {light rail | viaduct | etc... }
At least 51 people who crossed the border illegally have been arrested on suspicion of terrorism since such tracking began 14 months ago, according to figures released to Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., by the Department of Homeland Security. Tancredo, a leading congressional advocate of immigration reform, says the figures document the national security risk the nation's porous borders pose on the eve of Congress' first attempt in nearly a decade to rewrite immigration law.
Since October 2004, the Joint Terrorism Task Forces have kept track of arrested terrorist suspects who are in the U.S. illegally. The JTTF document released to Tancredo shows 51 people were arrested who had "entered without inspection" into the U.S. from countries such as Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt, Syria and Pakistan. "If this isn't a wake-up call to our lax border security, I don't know what is," said Tancredo. "What scares me is not this list from federal law enforcement â after all, we've already caught those terrorists. What scares me is the potentially hundreds of terrorists who make their way through our porous borders each year and go undetected."
The suspected illegal alien terrorists were arrested on a wide variety of charges, from smuggling weapons to illegally wiring large sums of money into the country, the document says.
Tancredo noted that this week, the House of Representatives is scheduled to complete a bill to strengthen border security and help enforce immigration laws. "Judging by these terrorism figures, Congress is not acting a moment too soon," said Tancredo. "Knowing what we know now, what could Congress say if a terrorist attack occurred that secure borders would have prevented? We've relied on our good fortune for too long â we must protect Americans by stopping terrorists before they get here."
Last month, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, head of the Senate Judiciary Committee's subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Citizenship, said he's been shown "anecdotal evidence" suggesting an Arabic presence along the U.S.-Mexico border. He noted the Bush administration has not publicly released the information because it is "a matter of intelligence." Cornyn said he has seen beverage boxes with Arabic language and other items, including the image of a commercial airliner striking a building. He is working with other senators to craft legislation that supports the president's proposed guest-worker program but adds stricter border and worksite enforcement measures.
Also in November, WorldNetDaily reported U.S. Rep. John A. Culberson, also a Texas Republican, said there had been an increase in apprehensions of so-called "special interest aliens," or SIAs, along the border â many from countries where al-Qaida is known to operate. In testimony Nov. 10 before the House Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Claims, Culberson â a member of the congressional Immigration Reform Caucus headed by Tancredo â told the panel, "I am particularly concerned that aliens from countries such as Iraq, Iran, Syria, Indonesia and the Sudan are entering our country illegally."
In January, the discovery in Texas of a jacket featuring an Arabic military badge and an airplane headed toward a tower with the words "Midnight Mission" fueled fears of a possible connection to terrorism.
#1
Are the terrorists really driven by self-serving politics and personal demons? Or are they driven by religion? And if it's religion, are they following a manual of war contained in their scripture?
Answer: All of the above.
"Strategic themes suggest Islam is radical by nature," according to the briefing, which goes on to cite the 26 chapters of the Quran dealing with violent jihad and the examples of the Muslim prophet, who it says sponsored "terror and slaughter" against unbelievers.
F&%king Duh!
"Muhammad's behaviors today would be defined as radical," the defense document says, and Muslims today are commanded by their "militant" holy book to follow his example. It adds: Western leaders can no longer afford to overlook the "cult characteristics of Islam."
Another BGO (Blinding Glimpse of the Obvious).
It also notes that unlike Judaism and Christianity, Islam advocates expansion by force. The final command of jihad, as revealed to Muhammad in the Quran, is to conquer the world in the name of Islam. The defense briefing adds that Islam is also unique in classifying unbelievers as "standing enemies against whom it is legitimate to wage war."
It's about time they realized this.
The hardest part of formulating a strategic response to the threat is defining Islam as a political and military enemy. Once that psychological barrier has been crossed, defense sources tell me, the development of countermeasures -- such as educating the public about the militant nature of Islam and exploiting "critical vulnerabilities" or rifts within the Muslim faith and community -- can begin.
Let the countermeasures begin. It's only been FOUR YEARS since these conclusions should have been arrived at. Thank goodness I've been reading Rantburg for much of that time. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has opposed using force to resolve the issue of Iranâs nuclear programme, saying it should be settled within the framework set by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Following a meeting with visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki on Wednesday, Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri said Pakistan supported the Iran-European Union dialogue process on the nuclear question. âWe hope that the talks will resume soon and lead to an amicable solution,â Kasuri said, reiterating Pakistanâs support to Iranâs legitimate right as a state party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/15/2005 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Following a meeting with visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki on Wednesday, Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri said Pakistan supported the Iran-European Union dialogue process on the nuclear question.
Dialogue. Yeah. While they're all talking, work on the Mullah's Bomb proceeds apace.
In response to the ever-growing sense that the United States is doing poorly in Iraq, indeed in the view of many is actually losing the war, the U.S. government has launched a campaign to persuade everyone that this is not so. In November, 2005, the U.S. National Security Council published, with great fanfare, a document entitled "National Strategy for Victory in Iraq." And President Bush has been pushing its line vociferously in public speeches.
What this document argues is that victory is occurring, but occurring in stages, that victory is a vital U.S. interest, that the U.S. has a quite clear strategy for victory, but that this victory will take time. The key sentence in this wordy document, which evades all concrete analysis of what is actually going on, is a quote from President Bush's speech on Oct. 6, 2005: "In Iraq, there is no peace without victory. We will keep our nerve, and we will win that victory."
We will keep our nerve, says Bush. But his Rasputin, Vice-President Cheney, is not so sure, since he constantly asserts that U.S. critics of the Bush administration, however mild their criticism, are undermining this "nerve" and risk making the U.S. lose its resolve. The number of Republican Congressmen and Senators who are worried that the voters have already lost their "nerve" and might vote against them seems to be increasing at a very rapid pace, and seems to be having a great impact on the "nerve" of these Republican politicians.
When Rep. John Murtha, ex-Marine and longtime stalwart hawk, called for pulling out of Iraq, most commentators felt he was the unofficial voice of large numbers of senior military officers who were unable to voice their concerns publicly. Is this loss of their nerve? Neither Murtha nor the hidden senior military officers would define it this way. They see a situation in which the U.S. will not at all be able to win the kind of victory Bush is talking about, and by staying in Iraq they believe that the U.S. armed forces are being weakened as a military force able to do its work elsewhere in the world. They want to cut their losses before the U.S. armed forces lose even more.
It seems clear now that virtually every member of the U.S. coalition that has military forces in Iraq intends to reduce its number, if not fully withdraw them, in 2006. It seems fairly clear that the U.S. itself will do this. Nobody of course admits to losing their nerve, but public opinion at home and impending elections are taking their toll.
What about the Iraqis? There are two main groups of Iraqis - those who are energetically fighting the U.S. forces and any Iraqis thought to be cooperating with them, and the others. Those who are energetically fighting the U.S. are said, in this U.S. document, to be composed of three groups: rejectionists (Sunni Arabs who have not "embraced" the changes); Saddamists (who wish to restore the old regime), and terrorists affiliated with or inspired by Al Qaeda. The U.S., according to this document, has more or less given up on the latter two categories but hopes to persuade "many" of the first group to reduce their opposition. There does not however seem to be much evidence that this is happening. In short, those whom the U.S. calls its "enemies" do not seem to have lost their nerve, or their competence in fighting.
But what about the other Iraqis? Here the U.S. seems to be counting on the new Iraqi security forces, presumably under the authority of the new Iraqi government. I say presumably because it is obvious that these security forces are deeply infiltrated both by the "enemies" of the U.S. and by various militias - two kinds of Kurdish militias, and at least three kinds of Shi'a militias - who are pursuing their own objectives under the cover of being the national army. The U.S. says it is counting on these security forces to take over its task of fighting the "enemy" - that is, those who reject all legitimacy to the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
But is the objective of those who control various parts of the new security forces really the same as those of the Bush regime? Do they intend to be "a full partner in the global war on terrorism" - the longer-term goal of the U.S. according to this document? Is this credible over the longer run? Even if those who are in the new government now are still there two years from now (itself a dubious proposition), why would they want to play this role when it can only make it more difficult to create even a moderately stable political situation in Iraq?
And finally, among winners and losers, more attention is being paid by observers today to the possibility that the big winner will be Iran. It is not that even a Shia-dominated government in Iraq will be in any sense a stooge of the Iranians. It is simply that they will not in any way want to play a role of being hostile to Iran, and therefore could not, will not, be sympathetic to U.S. objectives vis-a-vis Iran.
Do not ask for whom the bell tolls in Iraq. They toll for George W. Bush, and the United States. Bush claimed the U.S. went into Iraq so that it would not have to fight this "war" on U.S. soil. But the contrary is happening. The turmoil is coming to U.S. soil with a vengeance. One of the claims as to why the U.S. should not immediately withdraw from Iraq is that it might result in an Iraqi civil war. But no one discusses what kind of civil war might be in the process of developing in the United States.
#1
Bush claimed the U.S. went into Iraq so that it would not have to fight this "war" on U.S. soil. But the contrary is happening. The turmoil is coming to U.S. soil with a vengeance.
The difference being that it's not the jihadis that's bringing it here. It's being sown and cultivated by home grown traitors.
#4
Article: But no one discusses what kind of civil war might be in the process of developing in the United States.
I'm trying to figure out whether the author is threatening to take up arms against the elected government of these United States. Or maybe he's saying that lefty criticism of the Iraqi campaign is the moral equivalent of civil war.
#5
Lefties like you Wallerstein are welcome to start a civil war. I promise you'll die quickly, but no promises about cleanly. See, you lefties forget who serves in the armed forces, and who owns the guns as civilians... hint: its neither you nor the left.
Author of: 'The Rise and Future Demise of the World Capitalist System'
I have made an effort to piece apart what I think of as the five major cleavages of our modern world: race, nation, class, ethnicity, and gender.
I have to acknowledge that there were three turning-points in my political and intellectual development. The first, as I have already indicated, was my struggle with the issues that have plagued the left for most of its organizational history â the struggle between the Second and Third Internationals. The second was my encounter with Africa and with national liberation movements, which enabled me to put the debates of the Internationals into their proper context, as essentially debates primarily within the pan-European world, debates that ignored the fundamental ongoing polarization of the capitalist world-economy. And the third was the world revolution of 1968, which I experienced directly at Columbia University
I acknowledge a continuing intellectual debt to Marx, Freud, Schumpeter, and Karl Polanyi.
In his own words, an old Marxist, ivory tower socialist at an Ivy League bastion of liberalism.
Now do you understand why he is such a self-aggrandizing lefty nutsack?
#8
Ah yes, one of the "notables" from my old school, SUNY-Binghamton, deigns to honor us with his pithy comments. My logic prof, in shooting down fuzzy-minded liberalisms, used to say "young man, that argument might pass muster with Wallerstein and his acolytes but it won't wash in my class..."
A straw poll conducted after voting closed in Iraq's election on Thursday showed the dominant Shi'ite Islamist bloc retained a strong following, but was being challenged by former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's secular list.
More than 500 interviews with voters by Reuters reporters across Iraq indicated strong support in Shi'ite areas for the United Iraqi Alliance (UIA), the senior partner in a ruling coalition with the Kurds.
The UIA says it has won 57 percent of the national vote for Iraq's first full-term parliament since Saddam Hussein fell.
But Allawi appeared to have made up ground from his 14 percent showing in January's poll for an interim assembly.
The Reuters poll suggests Allawi could be a force in mixed areas like the capital Baghdad, which has 59 of the 230 regional seats available in the 275-seat parliament.
He has a strong following among secular Sunnis and Shi'ites in Baghdad but the informal poll suggests the test for him will be how many of his fellow Shi'ites in the capital remain loyal to the Islamist UIA, or "555" list.
Voters interviewed as they left a polling station in a mainly Shi'ite area of Baghdad showed 48 percent voted for the UIA, with Allawi's list scoring 38 percent.
A high voter turnout was reported in the mainly Sunni Arab western province of Anbar, where most people boycotted the January ballot or were too scared to vote, allowing the Shi'ites and non-Arab Kurds to dominate the interim assembly.
The Reuters poll suggested the Anbar vote was split between the Islamist Sunni Iraqi Accordance Front (IAF), followed closely by Saleh al-Mutlak's secular Iraqi Front for National Dialogue, which has strong Baathist links.
In the other predominantly Sunni province of Salahaddin, which includes Saddam's hometown of Tikrit, former Baathist Allawi appeared to be challenging the two Sunni lists.
From 50 voters surveyed in Tikrit, Reuters found 14 had voted for Allawi, 13 for the IAF and 12 for Mutlak's list.
Iraq's southern provinces -- the battleground between Islamist and secular Shi'ites -- produced a mixed picture.
The UIA, made up of the three Islamist Shi'ite parties, appeared to have retained a clear majority in its traditional strongholds.
In the holy city of Najaf, about 90 percent had voted for the Shi'ite Islamists and in the city of Hilla, 70 percent of those polled also said they had chosen the UIA.
But the Shi'ite bloc looked to command only about half the vote in Basra, Iraq's second largest city, in the south.
The Kurdish coalition, which won 25 percent of seats in January, retained overwhelming support in the northeastern Kurdish provinces over its Kurdish Islamist rival. My prediction for an Allawi/Kurdish lead government is looking good.
#3
The interesting bit here is Allawi is picking up significant Sunni support. Note the numbers from Tikrit. Based on the report I posted yesterday some secular Sunni support maybe going to the Kurdish list as well.
An Allawi/Kurdish government would mean secular parties have beat out the religious parties. The reaction of the shiia religous parties should be interesting.
#5
Good for them and good for the lack of violence. I can't wait for the DNC press release on this illegal and probably stolen election in Iraq. I heard that Diebold sent the ink that people are dipping their fingers into. Probably Haliburton supplied those plastic vote holder thingies. I can't see the un certifying this election as anything but an out and out fraud.
#6
Does it matter who 'wins'? Whoever does not win will claim fraud or such and take up arms (and bombs) against the winner. In the end, the stronger force will win - Iranian-backed Shia.
#7
An Allawi/Kurdish government would mean secular parties have beat out the religious parties. The reaction of the shiia religous parties should be interesting.
Not to mention the reactions from the left.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
12/15/2005 17:49 Comments ||
Top||
#8
I don't care who gets voted in. The way I see it all Iraqis won today.
Posted by: Scott R ||
12/15/2005 22:09 Comments ||
Top||
Ayad Allawi, who is now leading a quest to block Shiite religious parties from establishing overwhelming dominance of Iraq in Thursday's national elections, learned to survive Iraqi politics from two men standing in the dark at the foot of his bed with axes.
The predawn attack in 1973 proved to be only the forerunner of decades of ambushes and bombings; in Iraq's three-week election campaign, attackers killed 13 of Allawi's associates. He says the bedside assault came at the behest of Saddam Hussein, who sent armed henchmen to his London apartment after a falling-out between Allawi and the Baath Party.
"I was fast asleep, 3 o'clock, and suddenly -- it was God's will -- I opened my eyes. And I saw these shadows at the end of my bed. There were two of them, staring," Allawi said.
"For half a second, I wondered if I was dreaming," Allawi said, relating the story with gusto more than three decades later. "I saw something flickering, and I knew I was not dreaming," he said, and guffawed.
Blows from an ax split open Allawi's skull, unleashing a torrent of what Allawi initially thought was hot water but turned out to be blood. Other blows laid bare the bones in his leg, and then in his wife's arm when she tried to save him, he said. The battle went on for "six, seven, eight minutes," Allawi said; he managed to wrest an ax from one of the men before they fled, leaving him for dead.
"I fought," Allawi said. "And I survived."
He then added the obligatory axiom of the Muslim world: "But it's God's will, really."
On Thursday, Iraq's Shiite religious parties vie with the disparate groups of Sunni Arabs, secularists and others that Allawi hopes to rally in a battle that many on both sides see as a matter of life or death. The likely coalition government formed out of the National Assembly elected Thursday will complete the new constitution and determine the extent to which Iraq becomes a religious state, like neighboring Iran. It will decide whether Iraq splits into three or more sub-states or remains united, and will have considerable influence over whether the country slides into full-scale civil war.
Political violence already has killed tens of thousands since the U.S. overthrow of Saddam in 2003, and each ethnic, religious and political group fears persecution if the vote brings their opponents to power.
The Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, the Shiite religious party founded in exile in Iran that now leads Iraq's transitional government, portrays Allawi as a closet Baath Party loyalist who would end the political prominence that religious Shiites have enjoyed since soon after the U.S. invasion. On Tuesday, the Supreme Council's armed wing, the Badr Organization, appeared to warn that it would fight to overthrow Allawi if he emerged as the ultimate winner in Thursday's election. "We are warning now: We will raise our weapons as we did before if the Baathists come to power again," said Hadi Amari, leader of the Badr Organization, which now describes itself as a political movement.
"First of all, I'm not a Baathist," Allawi said Wednesday after earlier declaring, "I hate Saddam for what he did to Iraq."
"Secondly, I think this is very anti-democratic, this statement," he said. "It really represents that in the name of democracy they want to rape and confiscate democracy."
"When we all agreed that the ballot box will be the decisive factor for Iraqis to pick the next government, then we should respect it," Allawi said, wearing a pink tie and suit and speaking the fluid English of Iraqis whose time in exile was spent in the West. "It's like me saying, 'If the Islamists win, I'll declare war.' How can this help?"
Allawi, who for years worked closely with the CIA, was installed as prime minister last year by the U.S. occupation authorities. He was unseated in elections in January for a transitional government that for the first time brought Iraq's Shiite majority to political dominance. He earned a reputation for toughness during his time in office, particularly for moves against armed Shiite militias.
Allawi blames those militias for a mob attack that he narrowly escaped during a visit to Najaf this month. He also said that some of the attacks on his followers were carried out by men in police cars belonging to the Shiite-dominated Interior Ministry. He offers documents that he says are proof that the current government of Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari ordered surveillance of him and his followers.
Allawi has benefited politically from the widespread public dissatisfaction with al-Jaafari's government, which took office in April, inheriting an exploding insurgency and seemingly insurmountable shortages of electricity and oil.
Allawi spent much of ensuing 10 months abroad, raising funds and building support for his secular coalition.
A British-educated neurologist, Allawi is affable and polished. His backers fear that a consolidation of power by Shiite religious parties would deepen the role of Islam in politics and society and boost the influence of hard-line leaders from neighboring Iran. They also fear Shiite proposals to transform the government into a federal system with highly autonomous regions, and a growing influence of armed Shiite and Kurdish militias. "People do have this concern that Iraq may splinter and split and be dismembered, and this is what we want to avoid at all costs," Allawi said. "Because if Iraq fragments, God forbid, it will fragment not into two or three, it will be even more fragments. And it will be a fragmentation that will be quite chaotic, and it will spill over into the region and also affect the stability of the world at large," Allawi said, alluding to the global dependence on Middle East oil.
Adel Abdul Mahdi, a top prospect of the Shiite religious alliance to become prime minister, faults Allawi for reaching out to every faction but the Shiite alliance.
"He's a friend; I respect him," Abdul Mahdi said. But "I think he would have served his slate better if he had sent some friendly signals to the alliance and didn't start to attack the alliance on the basis of sectarianism; that the alliance wants to have a religious government."
Abdul Mahdi, now a vice president in al-Jaafari's administration, said Allawi's attacks have instead helped to unify the religious alliance. "We were much more confused before the campaign, but when he started to attack ..."
Allawi's hope of blocking the Shiite parties may be out of reach. In the January elections that were largely boycotted by Sunni Arabs, the Shiite alliance won 140 seats, compared with the Allawi bloc's 40, in the 275-seat National Assembly. This time, Allawi's prospects rest on drawing support from religious Shiites who have not been given specific decrees by top ayatollahs about how to vote. To become the new assembly's choice for prime minister, however, Allawi would also have to win post-election backing of Sunni Arab, secularist, Kurdish and other legislators to achieve a two-thirds majority.
But in almost any outcome, the religious Shiites are expected to hold enough seats to block any candidate for Iraq's top political spot. If Shiite religious parties fail to win a commanding majority, other candidates, such as Abdul Mahdi or Ahmed Chalabi, a secular Shiite and master maneuverer, might have a better chance.
Whether all that can play out without the country descending into civil war is an open question.
"I hope logic will prevail," Allawi said. "I hope a national-unity sense will prevail, to get away from sectarianism and to think about Iraq and the future of Iraq and the future of the people. Because, you know, at the end of the day, if people fought for themselves as Shiias and Sunnis and Christians or Arabs and Kurds, and they don't fight for themselves as Iraqis wanting a civilized decent Iraq for every Iraqi, then everybody's going to lose.
"I hope that once we get through the elections, then the urge for forming a national unity government that would sail Iraq into calmer waters, a brighter future, would prevail," he said. "Unfortunately, all the indications so far" -- he gestured at the documents that he said showed the government was spying on him -- "this is the joke."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/15/2005 02:08 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
The former military wing of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq threatened Tuesday to take up arms against former Saddam Hussein loyalists if they make gains in Thursday's legislative elections. The blunt warning by the Badr Organization contradicted earlier remarks by the head of SCIRI, Abdel-Aziz al-Hakim, in which he said his group's former militia was ready to help with election security. "If Baathists regain power, we will take up arms against them just as we did against Saddam Hussein," warned Hadi al-Amiri, head of the Badr, that many say still wields weapons.
His comment was aimed at Iyad Allawi, a former member of Saddam's ruling Baath Party who later broke with the movement and plotted a failed CIA-backed coup against the then dictator. Making a last campaign stab, Hakim warned against possible fraud, while meeting with tribal chiefs from the south. Hakim also said "the Badr Organization is ready to mobilize 200,000 of its men in all parts of Iraq so they can play a role in defending Iraq and Iraqis."
Tuesday marked the end of a campaign marred by assassinations, the latest of which was the murder of Sunni candidate Mizher al-Dulaimi in the troubled western city of Ramadi. Allawi is seen as the candidate most likely to draw off Shiite votes from the SCIRI-dominated United Iraqi Alliance, the main Shiite choice in the election. Allawi, who heads a largely secular list that encompasses Shiites, Sunni Arabs and Kurds, is appealing for the middle ground, urging Iraqis away from a religious vote. Allawi has accused militias, mainly Badr, of trying to assassinate him and of being behind abductions and torture uncovered by discoveries of secret police jails.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/15/2005 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Badr Brigades threatens to take up arms against former Saddam loyalists
Iraqâs former prime minister warned against vote rigging in Thursdayâs parliamentary elections and called on the current government and the electoral commission to âprovide all the necessary conditions in order to ensure the integrityâ of the vote." Iyad Allawi was speaking at a press conference held at the offices of the National List, which he heads. He expressed hope that the elections would lead to "a balanced parliament that will lead to the creation of a strong government that could enforce stability in Iraq.â
He urged his fellow Iraqis to take part in the elections, adding, âAs Iraqis we all have to head for the polls to cast our votes with transparency and integrity, based on our conviction that the results will be in the best interest of Iraq.â
Asked whether an Islamic government will be formed if he lost the elections, Allawi stated that his party, the Iraqi National List had previously announced it âdoes not accept an Islamic government be established in Iraq, meaning that Islam rules over politics.â He added, âWe belong to a national liberal school of thought. We do not believe in an Islamic state in Iraqâ. In case such a situation, âI believe that Iraq would descend into the abyss."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/15/2005 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
Today's feel good story.
The Palestinian Authority was denied extra funds at Wednesday's donor conference in London because it failed to adhere to spending limitations, according to Israeli and international sources at the meeting.
The PA had hoped to use the meeting of international goverments, called the Ad-Hoc Liason Committee, to secure additional money, but the donors expressed concern that the Palestinians had exceeded their budget on payroll and weren't inclined to provide more funds.
The request was outside the scope of the gathering, which was not a formal pledging conference but was intended to establish a policy position for the spring when pledges will be made.
A World Bank study released ahead of the conference reported that the PA could go bankrupt if it didn't curb its salary spending. The PA has been running a monthly deficit of $57.1 million, accumulating a total deficit of $542 million through September, according to the report.
The document produced at the conclusion of the meeting cited, among other concerns, that "The PA has not managed to maintain budget discipline, and the situation has become untenable." More at the link.
Geez, blow up a couple of subways in London, burn a few thousand cars in France, behead people in SE Asia, and all of a sudden the terrorists' enablers find the bloom is off the rose for some reason.
If they just stuck to killing Joooooos....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
12/15/2005 14:54 Comments ||
Top||
#2
The Palestinian Authority was denied extra funds at Wednesday's donor conference in London because it failed to adhere to spending limitations, according to Israeli and international sources at the meeting.
Hardly good news I would have preferred:
The Palestinian Authority was denied extra funds at Wednesday's donor conference in London because it failed to meet their road-map commitments, according to Israeli and international sources at the meeting.
#3
Its good news because without extra money they will have to slash the payroll and that means more people who aren't being paid off and brings the end game closer.
The Paleos don't produce anything (well hardly anything) that anyone wants. They are entirely dependant on international welfare. They are just not viable as a economic entity and I see no possible way they could be. Without that welfare they will either starve or leave.
Less money means more fighting over a smaller pot of money, more chaos, and the donors get more fed up with pouring money down a hole.
The road map doesn't mean anything and never did, because its predicated on the Paleos achieving some semblance of a viable state and I see no possibility of that.
#4
The only thing nowadays that the Paleos produce are dead innocents. Since the early 90s, the Islamics have been pushing the Paleo Christians out of places like Bethlehem, and destroying the traditional pilgrimage industries that supported so many people in those areas. Now, Christian tourism is almost non-existent and the Paleo Christians are an endangered species in the formerly Christian areas of the West Bank.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas faced new turmoil and violence in his ruling Fatah party ahead of Palestinian elections on January 25.
'new' turmoil and violence?
Dozens of gunmen stormed the Fatah headquarters in Gaza City on Wednesday, fired into the air and demanded that Abbas postpone the elections, witnesses said. They charged that Abbas had removed winners of the Fatah primaries from the partyâs candidates list.
Prominent Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti, who is jailed in Israel on charges that he financed and backed deadly shooting attacks against Israelis, threatened to split away from the party unless Abbas reconsidered the list, Fatah sources said.
According to leaks, Abbas has annulled many of the results of Fatah primaries following widespread violence and vandalism at polling stations, and instead nominated members of Fatahâs âold quardâ to the list.
Just helping his friends, that's all.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/15/2005 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
In Israel, Premier Ariel Sharon tried to hush a political uproar caused by a report in the US weekly Newsweek, which quoted one of his top advisors as saying that in theory, Sharon would accept a Palestinian state in Gaza and 90 per cent of the West Bank, and a compromise on Jerusalem, in exchange for peace.
Sources in the premierâs entourage said Wednesday morning they were âfuriousâ with advisor Kalman Gayer, who made the remarks, said to be an âembarrassmentâ for Sharon less than four months before elections on March 28.
The premier issued a statement late on Tuesday, dismissing the comments as âcomplete nonsenseâ. âThe remarks attributed to Kalman Gayer absolutely contradict my positions and my views,â the statement said, adding: âUnited Jerusalem will remain Israelâs capital forever.â
Members of Sharonâs former hardline Likud party said the remarks were the âfinal proofâ that, if elected, the premier planned to âdivideâ Jerusalem and that his new Kadima party was as left-wing or more so than the Labour Party. However, the former head of the Israeli Peace Now movement and new Labour Party member, Yariv Oppenheimer, said Sharonâs policies of the past years, which encouraged settlement construction throughout the West Bank and around East Jerusalem, proved otherwise.
The December 5 issue of Newsweek paraphrased Gayer as saying that although Sharon was willing in theory to make those compromises, he did not believe the Palestinians would be able to deliver peace, and for their part make the necessary compromises, during his lifetime.
He's right. Abbas can't deliver the goods and there's noone else in Paleo-land that is going to compromise with the infidel Joos. Figure out the borders, build a wall and be done with them.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/15/2005 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Give the pals a chunk of Jerusalem. Build a wall between the two sections and forbid anyone from crossing. Make sure the Temple Mount is on the Israeli side.
Build the wall so that the Temple Mount is in a pocket between the two sides. That way Pals can be allowed in at Israeli sufferance but cannot necessarily get through to Israel proper. Hold the pocket (and access) hostage to Pal good behavior.
#2
âUnited Jerusalem will remain Israelâs capital forever.â
A nice poke-in-the-eye-with-a-burnt-stick for the Palestinians. Not that the Arabs would ever allow Israeli access to Jewish shrines if they kept the gates. I used to advocate dividing Jerusalem like Berlin once was and putting it under control. After the UN's incompetence plus the constant lies and atrocities by Israel's Arab enemies, they can do whatever they see fit. No matter what path Israel takes, it will be infinitely more fair than anything the Arabs would ever bring to the table.
JERUSALEM - Israel said on Wednesday it had authorized the construction of hundreds of new apartments in five West Bank settlements. A defence ministry spokeswoman confirmed Wednesday that Mofaz authorized the construction of 200 housing units âwithin the municipal boundariesâ of Maâaleh Adumim, east of Jerusalem.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/15/2005 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
U.S. President George W. Bush on Wednesday called Iran a "real threat" and lashed out at President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad over the country's nuclear program and calls for the destruction of Israel.
"Iran's a real threat," Bush told Fox News in an interview in which he repeated his charge that Iran was part of an "axis of evil" along with North Korea and prewar Iraq. "I called it part of the 'axis of evil' for a reason," Bush said.
"I'm concerned about a theocracy that has got little transparency, a country whose president has declared the destruction of Israel as part of their foreign policy, and a country that will not listen to the demands of the free world to get rid of its ambitions to have a nuclear weapon," Bush said in the interview.
Ahmadinejad, a former Revolutionary Guardsman who was elected president in June, said Israel must be "wiped off the map" in October, provoking a diplomatic storm and stoking fears about Iran's nuclear ambitions.
Earlier on Wednesday, Ahmadinejad triggered another wave of international condemnation when he declared the Holocaust, in which 6 million Jews were killed by the Nazis, a myth.
Washington accuses Tehran of seeking nuclear weapons. Iran says its nuclear program is only for generating electricity.
In dealing with Iran, Bush said he continued "to work the diplomatic front," but that his objective was to "end tyranny."
To Iran's leaders, Bush said, "I would hope they'd be wise enough to begin to listen to the people and allow the people to participate in their government."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/15/2005 02:07 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Heh. Not many boxes left to check off, now. This was the big one, the one that officially opens the door, and AhmedHitler big mouth made it possible. Thx, nitwit. Keep it up.
A day after the murder of MP Gebran Tueni, international figures reiterated their condemnation of the crime and gave the Lebanese government and people full backing. "France is ready to back any demand from the Lebanese government for an inquiry into the killing of anti-Syrian deputy and journalist Gebran Tueni," French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said on Tuesday. "I wish to stress France's resolute commitment at the side of the Lebanese authorities for full light to be shed [on this] hateful crime," Douste-Blazy told a news conference. "We will back Lebanon's demands within the international community," he said.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in brief remarks, reiterated her condemnation and called Tueni and his newspaper, An-Nahar, symbols of a free press. "The Lebanese people know that the U.S. is behind them. The United States will remain steadfast in its support of the Lebanese people and the international community should so as well," Rice said.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/15/2005 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#2
Just remember one thing, Lebanon : as General Patton said, "I would rather have a German division in front of me than a French division behind me." The Frogs will backstab you in a heartbeat.
UNITED NATIONS â The Security Council began considering ways to keep pressure on Syria to cooperate with a U.N. investigation into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri after hearing Tuesday that Damascus had burned documents and intimidated witnesses.
Several diplomats said the council was not ready to consider sanctions or call for the arrest of suspects from the Syrian president's inner circle after closely questioning the chief investigator, German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis. Instead, the council is mulling a new draft resolution reflecting two requests from the Lebanese government: to widen the inquiry into Hariri's death to include other political killings, and to create an international tribunal that would try suspects in the Hariri assassination.
It would be too much for the U.N. actually to do something, of course.
In a closed-door Security Council session, Mehlis described interviews with five high-level Syrian officials at the United Nations compound in Vienna last week. He said a sixth had not yet been interviewed, who a diplomat close to the investigation confirmed was Asef Shawkat, the president's brother-in-law and head of Syrian military intelligence. Mehlis did not reveal the names of those interviewed or urge their detention, saying that "it would not be helpful" at this point in the inquiry.
Their being bumped off by Syrian security would put a real damper on the investigation.
An early draft of Mehlis' first report to the Security Council named some of Syrian President Bashar Assad's close aides as suspects, including Shawkat and Maher Assad, the president's younger brother and commander of the Republican Guard. The names were not in the final report released to the public.
The Syrian government did not grant the interviews until a week before the deadline, causing Mehlis to lament a pattern of "reluctance and procrastination." He urged Damascus to be "more forthcoming" and to cooperate fully and unconditionally with the inquiry. "At this rate, the investigation might take another year or two," he told the U.N. Security Council. A council resolution threatens sanctions if Syria does not comply quickly and completely.
Put Carla del Ponte in charge and I'll be drawing my 401k down before it's over.
U.S. Ambassador John R. Bolton said that details in the report about disappearing documents, grudging testimonies and witness intimidation made it clear that Syria was trying to block the inquiry and should be pressured to comply with investigators' demands. "On the part of the United States there is absolutely no wavering from the proposition that Syria is not going to get away with obstructing this investigation," he said. "It's not going to cover up the actions of its senior officials, and it's not going to escape the consequences."
France introduced a draft resolution Tuesday evening seeking an extension of the investigation beyond its six-month mandate, which expires Thursday. It also proposes establishing an international tribunal to try suspects in the assassination and expanding the investigation to include political killings in Lebanon since October 2004, at the discretion of the commission. Since then, four prominent Lebanese critics of Syria have been killed by car bombs, including newspaper publisher and politician Gibran Tueni on Monday.
Interesting how the Frenchies are being so helpful. Why, it's almost like there's a plan ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/15/2005 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#2
I'm sure their have a conference to discuss having a luncheon about having another conference to discuss the wording of the not-too-strongly worded letter any day now.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
12/15/2005 13:52 Comments ||
Top||
#5
To paraphrase A. J. Rimmer:
"Here's my proposal: Let's get tough. The time for talking is over.
Call it extreme if you like, but I propose we hit it hard and
hit it fast with a major -- and I mean >major< -- leaflet campaign,
and while it's reeling from that, we'd follow up with a
drive, a car boot sale, some street theatre and possibly even some
benefit concerts. OK? Now, if that's not enough, I'm sorry, it's
time for the T-shirts
and if that's not enough, well, I don't know what
will be."
Posted by: bruce ||
12/15/2005 18:38 Comments ||
Top||
The March 14 political forces renewed their campaign against Syria, blaming it for the assassination of MP and leading journalist Gebran Tueni and calling for an emergency parliamentary session to debate the fate of the Syrian regime's last representative in Lebanon, President Emile Lahoud. "By assassinating Gebran Tueni, the Syrian regime ... has renewed its war on Lebanon," said MP Boutros Harb as he read a statement following a meeting of the Independence Intifada coalition - of which Tueni was a leading member.
Tueni, 48, the general director of An-Nahar newspaper where the coalition held their meeting, was killed in a car bomb on Monday just a day after his return from France where he had been spending time for fear of an attempt on his life. "We urge Parliament to hold an emergency session to discuss the dangerous situation generated by the police state that prevails at the highest level, namely the president of the republic," said Harb, who, along with several other politicians, has been calling for Lahoud's resignation since the killing of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Lahoud's mandate was "renewed by force at Syria's request in violation of the Lebanese Constitution, and this has paralyzed the executive power and led to the crisis threatening Lebanon's independence and fate," said Harb.
Despite their division from the March 14 gathering since the return of their leader MP Michel Aoun from exile, Aoun's parliamentary Change and Reform bloc joined in the meeting, but didn't stay long and left before the release of the official statement. "We were not invited, but we came in solidarity with the martyr Tueni," said MP Ibrahim Kenaan. Aoun's bloc left the meeting early, raising speculation of a difference in opinion between the two sides that has grown since the parliamentary elections. Harb clarified that the statement reflects the opinion of those that remained until the end of the meeting. "This statement is a representation of the opinions of people who are here now," he said at the news conference following the hour-long meeting.
So Tueni, like lots of other Lebanese pols, was hiding out in France for fear of his life. Presumably somebody tipped him the coast was clear, whereupon he was boomed.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/15/2005 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
I heard (on the radio, no link) that Tueni knew his life was forfeit and chose to return anyway.
As the country mourned its latest loss Beirut MP Gebran Tueni, the deadlock between the Shiite ministers and the majority coalition in the government continued, with the Amal-Hizbullah ministers asserting they would not participate in Thursday's Cabinet session. Energy and Water Minister Mohammad Fneish reiterated the decision of Shiite ministers to boycott the Cabinet session, and told The Daily Star that ministers from both Hizbullah and the Amal Movement are "standing by our decision."
It's a variant on the same tiresome tactics of the MMA in Pakland...
Asked whether there had been any contact made by premier Fouad Siniora regarding the issue, Fneish said: "We are not concerned with any calls that might be made. We are still taking our time to discuss our position with our authorities."
"We got all the time in the world. Our masters in Teheran haven't told us what to do yet."
The Shiite ministers had withdrawn from Monday's Cabinet session, and suspended their participation pending talks with their leaders after they rejected the vote to call for an international court to look into the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri.
"That Mehlis fellow is entirely too competent. We'd rather have a Leb handling it. They're controlled a lot more easily."
Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's office told The Daily Star that the Cabinet session will still go on Thursday in the absence of any presence by the coalition of Shiite ministers. "I don't think the Shiite ministers will attend the Cabinet session, but it will go on as normal," a spokesperson said. He added: "However, it is important to note that the ministers are operating in their ministries as usual, and they are not boycotting their work in their administrations."
"At least not yet."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/15/2005 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
The Saudi daily Al-Watan reported November 27 that 122 women were recently arrested in Iraq for "attempting to carry out suicide operations." On December 6 two women bombers were successful in detonating themselves and 43 Iraqis.
Other women lining up to become Al Qaeda suicide bombers include Iraqi Sajidi Mubarak Atrous al-Rishaqi, whose failed attempt last month in the Amman attacks and subsequent confession on Jordanian TV were seen throughout the world. Another notable example was Muriel Degauge, the Belgian convert who blew herself up in an attack on an American patrol in Iraq last month.
The successful campaign by Al Qaeda to enlist female suicide bombers began with the launch of Al-Khansaa, Al Qaeda's women's magazine last year. The magazine was named after Al-Khansaa bint Omar, a poetess of the pre-Islamic period who converted to Islam during the time of Muhammad, and is considered to be the "mother of the Shahids [martyrs]." When her four sons died in the battle of Al-Qadissiyya, she did not mourn but thanked Allah for honoring her with their death. Following suicide attacks in Israel, the mothers of the bombers are often found making similar statements on Arab TV.
An editorial in Al-Khansaa's first issue in August 2004 stated: "Our goal is Shahada [martyrdom] for the sake of Allah, and our goal is [to gain] the pleasure of Allah and His Paradise. We stand shoulder to shoulder with our men. ... We will stand covered by our veils and wrapped in our robes, weapons in hand, our children in our laps, with the Koran and the Sunna of the Prophet of Allah directing and guiding us. The blood of our husbands and the body parts of our children are the sacrifice by means of which we draw closer to Allah.... The wind of Paradise is already blowing."
Another article by Umm Badr titled, "Obstacles in the Path of the Jihad Warrior Women," details how women must prepare for jihad, including emotionally, militarily, and physically to prepare for "direct conflict with the enemy."
A November 25 report in the London Arabic daily Asharq Al-Awsat dis cussed Web sites that are affiliated and sympathize with Al Qaeda which often refer to the role of women in Chechnya's jihad. The article stated that Chechen rebel leader Shamol Basayev always took pride in the "Black Widows" who engaged in suicide operations against the Russians after losing their husbands in battles. The widows wore black gowns that concealed explosive belts and played an important part in the hostage taking operations of the Moscow theater and Beslan school massacres. Approximately 27 women successfully carried out suicide attacks against the Russians.
The article also quoted London Islamist Hani Al-Sibai, who heads the Al-Maqrizi Center for Historical Studies. He claimed that Ms. Al-Rishaqi's failed attack was Al Qaeda's "first attempted operation to be carried out by a women." In Iraq he explained, "Women do not even need to seek permission from their husband, father, or brother to participate in jihad" and "that al-Zarqawi's group would not deprive women of the rewards of martyrdom if they are able to fight."
While "72 Black-Eyed Virgins," are the well-known rewards of male suicide bombers, one would-be female Palestinian bomber caught in Israel recently told the press that religious authorities taught her that the reward of women martyrs is to "become the purest and most beautiful form of angels at the highest level possible in heaven."
It should be mentioned that the most influential Arab religious, political, and media personality have celebrated female suicide bombers over the past few years. For example, the first female Palestinian suicide bomber, Wafa Idris, was called the Arab world's "Mona Lisa" and "Joan of Arc."
The Egyptian Nasserite weekly Al-Arabi, stated: "Wafa Idris... became the most beautiful of the women in this world. ... What is more beautiful than the transformation of a person from a chunk of flesh and blood to illuminating purity and a spirit that cuts across generations?"
Salah Muntasir wrote in the leading Egyptian government daily Al-Ahram: "Wafa Idris has not faded from my [mind] since I saw her picture for the first time. ... Her dreamy eyes and the mysterious smile on her lips, that competes with the famous smile some artist drew on the lips of Mona Lisa - Wafa's smile is more beautiful."
Some Arab writers have denounced female suicide bombers, but overall their voices have been drowned out by those who support them.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/15/2005 02:18 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
"women martyrs become the purest and most beautiful form of angels at the highest level possible in heaven." Say what you will but that is some powerful faith there. I have noticed that the mental state of the Boomers (male or female) is shaky at best and most would be diagnosed as clinically depressed. This lends itself to the assholes who are recruiting boomer but somehow seem to look outside their circle of friends and family. I think if they widely publicized that fact, the boomer pool would shrink considerably. Ever hear of a boomer being related to a terrorists bigwig or having ties to a certain organization?
#2
For example, the first female Palestinian suicide bomber, Wafa Idris, was called the Arab world's "Mona Lisa" and "Joan of Arc."
Mona Lisa? Why are they referring to a piece of art that is MASSIVELY against sharia, since it depicts a human being?
Joan of Arc? She fought for the liberation of France, led to her role by the God of Christ. She didn't kill herself, she was killed. A true martyr, unlike the blood thirsty barbarians the Muslim world has taken to calling "martyrs".
The Egyptian Nasserite weekly Al-Arabi, stated: "Wafa Idris... became the most beautiful of the women in this world. ... What is more beautiful than the transformation of a person from a chunk of flesh and blood to illuminating purity and a spirit that cuts across generations?"
ITTM: "What is more horrific than the transformation of a person from a chunk of flesh and blood to an expanding cloud of flesh, blood, and bone that rips into the flesh of innocent people?"
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
12/15/2005 10:25 Comments ||
Top||
#3
"women martyrs become the purest and most beautiful form of angels at the highest level possible in heaven."
This is completely unislamic. The Koran, that book who has existed from all eternity (ie before world creation) explicitly says that women go at the lowest level of paradise. It makes no exceptions for women martyrs. In other words when needed those bastards don't hesitate for one second in to distorting their (un)holy book.
#4
Killing for God. Rewarded by sex (at least for the men). Sounds more like a satanic cult than a religion worshipping God. Why don't suicide bombers ever question -- hey, if this is such a great idea -- how come the guy putting me up to it isn't doing it? I'll be if someone starting publishing photos of the body parts of bombers in the aftermath, some of this would stop. Why don't these magazines publish photographs of children with limbs blown off or people blinded and maimed so these women can glorify and slobber over what great and godly works they are contemplating. If I caught anyone doing this, they'd be in a cell with the gathered up body parts of victims of their sister or brother bombers for a month or so. Pure, unadulterated evil.
#5
Keep in mind that a lot of the Palestinian broads (sorry, wanted to call them something stronger) doing this are trying to get rid of their own or their families' shame.
Wafa Idris was infertile, and was ridiculed for not producing children. Another one took getting frisked at a border checkpoint way too seriously, and another one was screwing around on her husband and was told this was the only way she could get over the shame she brought down on her family. That stupid broad who tried to blow up the hospital treating her for her badly disfigured face (caused by one of her male relatives...fancy that!) is another one trying to restore what passes for "honor" among those freaks.
Until that culture grows up, it's hopeless. I don't think that they can or want to, however.
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.
SEOUL - North Korea said the US ambassador to Seoul, who labelled Pyongyang âa criminal regimeâ, was the worst ambassador in history and should be recalled, its official media reported on Wednesday.
THE Federal Government has cast doubts on 
, in which he said his group's former militia was ready to help with election security. "If Baathists regain power, we will take up arms against them just as we did against Saddam Hussein," warned 
Iraqâs former prime minister warned against vote rigging in Thursdayâs parliamentary elections and called on the current government and the electoral commission to âprovide all the necessary conditions in order to ensure the integrityâ of the vote." 
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas faced new turmoil and violence in his ruling Fatah party ahead of Palestinian elections on January 25.
A day after the murder of MP 
UNITED NATIONS â The Security Council began considering ways to keep pressure on Syria to cooperate with a U.N. investigation into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri after hearing Tuesday that Damascus had burned documents and intimidated witnesses.
"By assassinating Gebran Tueni, the Syrian regime ... has renewed its war on Lebanon," said MP 
As the country mourned its latest loss Beirut MP 
