The Darfur peace deal the Sudanese government and a major rebel group signed on Friday may be doomed from the start, since two other rebel groups balked at signing the accord to end what the United Nations has called the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
"Unless the right spirit, unless the right attitude and right disposition is there, this document isn't worth the paper it is signed on," warned Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, host of the drawn-out Darfur talks in Abuja, the Nigerian capital.
The international community "should be celebrating that there is an agreement, but not by any means treating this as the end of the story," said Colin Thomas-Jensen, an expert on the Horn of Africa at the International Crisis Group in Washington. "It's the question of doing now the diplomatic heavy lifting and the implementation of it. ... The government of Sudan and the rebels have signed numerous agreements," including an April 2004 cease-fire, "all of them systematically violated."
Hours after this week's third deadline passed at midnight Thursday and the talks teetered on the brink of collapse, observers broke into applause as government officials and members of the Sudan Liberation Army -- the main rebel group fighting the Sudanese army and its proxy militia, the infamous Janjaweed -- signed the last page and initialed each of the 85 pages of the revised peace agreement. Under the accord, the Khartoum government would yield to rebels' demands for power-sharing, disarming its militia, accepting more rebels into the national security force and compensating war victims.
Western diplomats hope the deal will end three years of war in Darfur, in which at least 180,000 civilians have been killed and more than 2 million displaced in western Sudan -- a crisis that the Bush administration has called genocide and that has galvanized protest movements in the United States and elsewhere. Brokered by U.S. and British officials and African Union mediators in 11th-hour negotiations, the accord would allow a U.N. peacekeeping force into Darfur to protect the 8 million civilians who live there.
"One shouldn't get overly optimistic that (the end of genocide) is the result," said Roberta Cohen, an expert on Sudan and humanitarian issues at the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank. "It doesn't necessarily mean (the two sides) would adhere to their word."
Khartoum touted the signing of the accord as a major success.
"The deal is peace," said government spokesman Abdulrahman Zuma. "I think that the victory today is for Sudan."
But two of the factions walked out of the negotiations early Friday. One of the rebel leaders who did not sign the peace deal, Abdel Wahid Nur, said the proposed accord was "a big disaster" and did not guarantee the disarmament of the Janjaweed. Another group that also balked at signing the deal is the smaller Justice and Equality Movement.
The chasm between the rebels deepened further when Abdulrahman Moussa, one of the top negotiators for Nur, announced Friday that he was forming his own Front for Liberation and Renaissance.
Although the international community will probably eventually bring these groups into the peace process, these last-minute splits showed that "the chronic distrust between the rebel groups and the government and the rebel groups themselves simply will not go away," said Thomas-Jensen. He pointed out that two other, smaller rebel groups broke away from the peace process several months ago and did not even participate in the last leg of the drawn-out negotiations. Divisions also exist within the Sudanese government, he said, and "there are elements of the Sudanese government that are going to pursue a military solution to this conflict no matter what."
Friday's draft accord provides for the carefully choreographed disarmament of Darfur rebels and government proxy militias, integration of a minimum 5,000 rebels into Sudan's security forces, re-education of 3,000 rebels to prepare them for civilian life, help for the more than 2 million displaced Darfur residents, and a prominent representation for the western Sudanese in the national government.
Humanitarian agencies hope the agreement will pave the way for relief groups to bring aid to the region, which has been too dangerous for many aid groups to operate, before the rainy season in June makes dirt roads in Darfur impassable for relief vehicles. The European Union's executive commission, which has been closely following the talks in the Nigerian capital, said Thursday it would contribute $125 million for a humanitarian and initial recovery package in Darfur.
The agreement calls for a protection force for civilians, but does not specify who would be its members. The United States hopes Khartoum would allow United Nations peacekeepers, backed by NATO logistics and training, to monitor the peace process, augmenting the 7,000 thinly spread out and poorly equipped African Union troops, who have been unable to stem the bloodshed.
The African Union says it is running out of money to keep even these peacekeepers in Darfur for much longer, but Khartoum has been reluctant to accept U.N. troops, and al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden last month urged his followers to go to Sudan to fight against them. On Friday, however, Sudanese officials signaled they were willing to accept U.N. peacekeepers.
"The government has no reservation whatsoever about any U.N. involvement or participation after the signing of the peace agreement," Zuma said. "The United Nations is the only party that could help us, really, in implementing this peace agreement."
But some Africa experts caution against accepting at face value Khartoum's stated willingness to make concessions.
"I worry that the government's quick acceptance of this ... proposal means they aren't really serious about implementing anything," said John Prendergast, a Sudan expert and a former senior Africa specialist for the Clinton administration.
The war erupted in 2003 when rebels in Darfur, an ethnically mixed wasteland the size of France, began attacking government targets, claiming that the Arab-led government in Khartoum was neglecting the region and oppressing black Africans in favor of Arabs.
Human rights activists accuse Sudan's Arab-dominated central government of unleashing the Janjaweed -- "devils on horseback" -- to murder and rape civilians and burn villages, but Khartoum denies the charge. Although most of Darfur's residents are Muslims, the Janjaweed consider them apostates and say Islam permits enslaving, raping and slaughtering them.
The humanitarian crisis and violence have spilled into neighboring Chad, which has sheltered hundreds of thousands of Darfur refugees, and into the Central African Republic.
Starvation accompanies the violence. Aid workers say their food stocks for the region's 2.8 million people who rely on food aid are nearly depleted. Last week, the U.N. World Food Programme, the main agency providing aid in Sudan, slashed its food rations for refugees in Darfur to about half of what is considered the minimum daily nutritional requirement.
Although the peace agreement should ease access to the people in need of relief, it will not immediately alleviate the suffering of the starving millions, said Trevor Rowe, a WFP spokesman.
"War or peace, there's still no money. People are still hungry. We don't have food, we can't (deliver it to) the regions that are affected," Rowe said. "If there's a sudden outbreak of peace, I don't know how the politics of humanitarianism change."
"It's an important step toward peace but this is definitely not the end of the genocide," said Ivan Boothe, a spokesman for the Washington-based Genocide Intervention Network, which has raised $250,000 to support African Union peacekeepers protecting civilians in Darfur.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/06/2006 05:35 ||
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I hope the rebels said "No thanks" to the offer of a helicopter.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan Friday urged Sudan and rebel groups to "move quickly" to implement the peace agreement they just signed in order to end the conflict in Darfur. Annan said the peace deal reached in Abuja, Nigeria, now gives the opportunity to strengthen peacekeeping operations in Darfur, starting with the African Union forces that have been in the war-torn region for the past two years.
The UN is planning to deploy peace troops to replace the AU by year's end. The Sudanese government and the main rebel group, the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army, signed the deal, which was followed by a splinter rebel group later on Friday. Annan said the humanitarian operations in Darfur need to be expanded to include donors from the Gulf states and other countries in addition the European Union and the United States.
The rest of the world has to finance Sudan? The place with the oil wells?
"I welcome the peace agreement," Annan told reporters at UN headquarters in New York. He called the agreement an "historic opportunity to bring this ... conflict to an end. I appeal to the parties to implement their commitments in good faith so as to stop the bloodshed and ongoing violence in Darfur, and to cooperate with the AU and the UN on the ground."
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2006 00:00 ||
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yep, Kofi's my main man, hes been a big help settin up the stage!
Violence in Sudan's bloodied Darfur region won't end overnight despite a peace agreement signed by the government and the main rebel group, a top US envoy to the talks said Friday.
When the events on the ground don't match the words on the paper, it's probably the paper that's wrong.
Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick, who helped nail down the accord in the Nigerian capital of Abuja, hailed it as an "important step" toward ending one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. "But now we must turn to other vital steps including implementation," an admittedly exhausted Zoellick told reporters in a conference call from Abuja.
Right. Once I made the decision to regrow my hair the important part was done. But now I have to turn to other vital steps, including implementation.
Zoellick expressed hope the accord would produce a "significant decline" in the bloodshed in Darfur, where three years of fighting has left up to 300,000 people dead from attacks, famine and disease, and some 2.4 million homeless.
A "significant decline" would be, say, 100,000 deaders and 1.5 million homeless. That just doesn't seem like progress to me.
"Is it going to change overnight? I wouldn't say that," he added. "Darfur is going to remain a dangerous place and it's going to remain a place of violence."
Bingo.
Zoellick, Washington's point man on Sudan, made his remarks after the Khartoum government and the main rebel faction signed a peace deal for Darfur although other rebel groups refused to go along. The accord offers a referendum in the arid desert region, and obliges the government, which the United States has accused of genocide, to disarm and neutralise its Janjaweed militia allies by mid-October 2006.
Since they're trying to invade Chad with the Janjaweed, I don't see that happening.
It also provides for the rebel movements to be represented in the Sudanese government, and creates a fund for the reconstruction of Darfur. But Zoellick admitted that monitoring the agreement would present challenges until a 7,000-strong African Union peacekeeping contingent in Darfur is beefed up and eventually expanded into a larger UN force with NATO support.
That'd be the UN force with NATO support that Bashir's opposed to...
"There's still a lot of distrust and fear on the ground. There's a lot of danger on the ground," he said.
I'd distrust people who were trying to kill me, too.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2006 00:00 ||
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I'm very dubious about this deal and the many that came before it that were broken by the government. It's 'kill all the black Christians' that motivates them.
Posted by: Captain America ||
05/06/2006 18:11 Comments ||
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they don't even tolerate black muslims....Ima thinkr there's opportunities to move weapons testing from China Lake to Sudan...
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/06/2006 20:02 Comments ||
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Egypt is the cradle of Sunni Islamist radicalism, but since the Luxor terrorist attack in November 1997, in which 58 foreigners and four Egyptians were killed, there has been no significant jihadist activity, despite al-Qaeda's return to the Middle East in the wake of the war in Iraq. All this began to change in September 2003. At that time, Egyptian police arrested 23 suspected Islamist militants who allegedly sympathized with al-Qaeda and sought to carry out attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq and elsewhere. The group included 19 Egyptians, a Turk, a Malaysian, an Indonesian and three Bangladeshis-all students at Cairo's Al-Azhar University.(1)
After seven years of a de facto timeout from terrorist operations conducted on Egyptian soil, the new jihadist campaign against Egypt began with the first attacks in Sinai, on October 7, 2004, targeting Israeli tourists in the Sinai Peninsula and killing at least 34 persons and injuring over 150. The Abdullah Azzam Brigades, a heretofore unknown al-Qaeda affiliate group claimed responsibility.
My instinct tells me that the Azzam Brigades are a generic false moustache name for Zark's very underrated al-Tawhid organization.
Then, on March 29, 2005 an Egyptian man stabbed and wounded two Hungarian tourists in Cairo in revenge for Western policies towards Iraqis and Palestinians. This was followed soon after by the April 7, 2005 bombing near the Khan al-Khalili bazaar in Cairo, which killed three tourists and wounded 18 other bystanders. Egyptian authorities initially announced that the bomber, Hassan Rafaat Bashandi acted alone, but then other three suspects were arrested, one of whom died in police custody.
That's just a reminder to us outsider watchers not to place too much reliance on the accuracy of data, especially when it's translated from Arabic.
Two weeks later, Ihab Yousri Yassin, pursued by the police, launched himself from the bridge behind the Egyptian museum in Cairo and subsequently detonated a bomb, wounding seven, including two Israelis, an Italian and a Swede. Soon after this incident, Yassin's sister and his fiancée armed with guns opened fire on a tourist bus in the Sayyida Aisha neighborhood. This marked the first time that a woman had ever engaged in Islamist violence in Egypt.
Mohammed Mahdi Akef, general guide of the Muslim Brotherhood, condemned the attacks. Brotherhood leader Isam al-Aryan claimed Egypt had reached a "boiling point," due to the lack of political reform and said the involvement of women was an indicator of popular despair.(2)
That's merely self-serving on their part. There is a Muslim Brotherhood danger to Egypt, and Hosni is managing to make it more pronounced due to his inability to choose between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea. The takfiri threat is separate — takfir isn't part of the MB line of patter.
KUWAIT CITY Several hundred Kuwaitis demonstrated in favour of electoral reform yesterday as ministers prepared to discuss draft legislation aimed at addressing the issue. The demonstrators gathered peacefully near the heavily guarded government headquarters, a few days after the high court revoked a 27-year-old law that banned public gatherings without prior authorisation.
The demonstrators voiced support for proposals to slash the number of constituencies from 25 to five amid accusations that the small electorates created by the current system paved the way for vote-buying. We want it to be five, the demonstrators chanted.
The reform bill is expected to be submitted to parliament on May 15 if it wins cabinet approval. Ministers were due to meet to discuss the bill later last night.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/06/2006 00:09 ||
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Netrakona police submitted a charge sheet against six persons including the JMB second-in-command, Siddikul Islam alias Bangla Bhai, and his wife Fahima Chowdhury in the December 8 bomb blast case. The accused six are Kawser Ahmed alias Yunus, Asaduzzaman Panir, Salahuddin, Ataur Rahman Sunny, Siddikul Islam alias Bangla Bhai and his wife Fahima Chowdhury.
Mohammad Alauddin, sub-inspector of Netrakona police station also the investigation officer of the case submitted the charge sheet Thursday evening to a Netrakona court. The charge sheet said JMB chief Abdur Rahman's name was dropped from it as the police failed to find out any evidence linking him with the blast in Netrakona. Officer-in-Charge of Netrakona Police Station Samiul Alam said the accused were involved with the December 8 bomb blast in front of Netrakona Udichi office in the district town where eight persons were killed and over 50 others were injured. Local elites, leaders of different political parties and residents of the town protested the dropping of Abdur Rahman's name from the charge sheet.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2006 00:00 ||
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"We want Abner!" "We want Abner!" Chanted the local elites.
Sergei Markedonov, the head of the interethnic relations department at Moscow's Institute of Political and Military Analysis, says ethnic nationalism in Russia's North Caucasus region is beginning to give way to a new ideology -- radical Islam. He spoke to RFE/RL North Caucasus Service correspondent Mariyat Shkhalakhova.
RFE/RL: How does the political scene appear to be changing in the North Caucasus?
Sergei Markedonov: There are a number of symptoms of growing destabilization. The first is the changing character of the political dangers Russia faces in the [North] Caucasus. If in the beginning of the 1990s, and until the middle of the 1990s, the main challenge for the Russian state in the Caucasus was ethnic nationalism, now the main danger is not ethnic nationalism, but radical Islam.
RFE/RL: Is this a new trend that is unique to the region, or has the same transformation been witnessed in other parts of the world?
Markedonov: The North Caucasus follows the same road traveled by North Africa and the Middle East. We can recall that the main terrorist groups in the '60s and '70s in North Africa and in the Middle East were secular nationalist groups. In the '80s and in the '90s the landscape changed and radical Islamic extremist groups became the most active.
RFE/RL: Is ethnic nationalism leaving the political scene in the North Caucasus as well?
Markedonov: One way or another, ethnic nationalism is a European phenomenon that was exported to eastern (Islamic) countries. As an ideology, as a discourse, it undergoes a certain crisis. On the other hand, the ethnic groups that came to power in the Northern Caucasus in the '90s 'privatized' authority -- isolating themselves and leaving the native nationalities they claimed to represent without a voice, and using them only as infantry troops for rallies.
RFE/RL: What are the specific characteristics of radical Islam in the region?
Markedonov: Radical Muslims are operating in a postcommunist society. The collapse of communism has left a niche for demands for social justice. Radical Muslims have occupied this niche of egalitarianism, the niche of social justice.
RFE/RL: Does Chechnya continue to be the main trouble spot for the Kremlin in the region?
Markedonov: Daghestan has become the leader in terrorist activities. Just last year it surpassed Chechnya in terms of the number of terrorist acts. Daghestan has become a territory in which Islamism is very active. Daghestan, has become a leader is this competition, shall we say, in this negative kind of competition.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/06/2006 05:29 ||
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It only took him 10 years of terrorist attacks to grasp it.
As the latest messages from Osama bin Laden and Ayman al Zawahiri have once again confirmed, al Qaeda is a careful observer of Western political affairs, often crafting its words and actions in order to have an impact on political decisions made by Western leaders. One of al Qaedas main short-term goals, as formulated by many of the groups strategists, has been to force countries that have contributed to U.S. efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan to withdraw their troops. As a consequence, in al Qaedas plans, the U.S. will find the financial, military, and political burden of conducting the two campaigns too burdensome.
The strategy has been outlined, among other places, in Jihadi Iraq, Hopes and Dangers, a sophisticated political analysis of the war in Iraq that was circulating on the Internet around the fall of 2003. The document has been considered the ideological inspiration for the March 2004 Madrid train bombings, as it indicated Spain as the weak link of the chain among the European countries that had troops in Iraq. We think that the Spanish government could not tolerate more than two, maximum three blows, after which it will have to withdraw as a result of popular pressure, said the document. It was wrong: one blow strategically executed a few days before the elections made Spaniards oust the pro-war Aznar government. The newly elected Socialist government, as promised during the campaign, immediately withdrew Spanish troops from Iraq, signaling al Qaedas first success in manipulating the political life of a European democracy.
It appears that al Qaeda is playing politics in Europe once again, this time targeting Italy. Last April Italian voters ousted Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, a staunch supporter of U.S. efforts in the war on terror who sent a contingent of 1,600 troops to Afghanistan and 2,700 to Iraq. Italians voted to replace Berlusconi with Romano Prodi, who heads a coalition government whose main components have repeatedly called for the withdrawal of all Italian troops. Since Prodis election Italian troops have been hit with repeated attacks in both Iraq (3 soldiers killed on April 27) and Afghanistan (2 killed today). The attacks came as surprises, since Italian troops are involved mostly in peace-keeping missions and have been attacked only sporadically in the three years they have been operating on the ground in the two countries. Hence the suspicion, revealed by Italian military intelligence, that the attacks in Iraq and Afghanistan have been coordinated in order to put pressure on the new Italian government to withdraw its military contingents. Knowing that the new government is already inclined to withdraw troops, but has not taken the decisive step in order not to open its mandate with a faux pas with Washington, al Qaeda might be trying to put additional pressure and to, once again, influence the democratic process of a European country. Well see in the next weeks if they have scored another victory.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/06/2006 05:28 ||
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Gen. Michael V. Hayden, who senior administration officials said Friday was the likely choice of President Bush to head the Central Intelligence Agency, has a stellar résumé for a spy and has long been admired at the White House and on Capitol Hill.
But General Hayden, the principal deputy director of national intelligence, would also face serious questions about the controversy over the National Security Agency's domestic surveillance program, which he oversaw and has vigorously defended.
His Senate nomination hearing, if he is chosen to succeed Director Porter J. Goss, is likely to reignite debate over what civil libertarians say is the program's violation of Americans' privacy.
Mr. Bush has often reserved decisions about top-level appointments until just before they are announced, but senior administration officials said Friday that General Hayden was the clear leading candidate.
Confirmation hearings would give the administration's opponents a highly visible forum for questioning not only the eavesdropping program but President Bush's overall handling of national security.
And while he might bring to the beleaguered C.I.A. the power of his ties to the White House and to his current boss, John D. Negroponte, director of national intelligence, General Hayden could find his background as an Air Force officer and specialist in technical intelligence systems does not suit some at the C.I.A., which specializes in traditional espionage.
The C.I.A. has long resented the expenditure of billions of dollars on technical systems, like spy satellites, while complaining that the budget for human spies has been too low.
Even though General Hayden has not been closely associated with Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, his pedigree as a military officer could reinforce concerns at the spy agency that the Pentagon is intruding into its traditional bailiwick.
While General Hayden has extensive administrative experience, he would face daunting challenges at the C.I.A., an agency that has been demoralized and has endured turbulence since the mid-1990's. As N.S.A. director until last year, General Hayden oversaw the program to intercept international phone calls and e-mail messages of Americans and others in the United States believed to have links to Al Qaeda.
General Hayden, 61, has been the program's most public defender, repeatedly asserting that it is legal and constitutional even though the eavesdropping is done without warrants from a special court set up in 1978 to authorize such surveillance.
"I've taken an oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States," General Hayden said at the National Press Club in January as he defended what the Bush administration calls the Terrorist Surveillance Program. "I would never violate that Constitution, nor would I abuse the rights of the American people."
Some critics of the program say that General Hayden's public assurances that N.S.A. has always followed the laws governing domestic eavesdropping are difficult to square with his role in the secret program.
Marc D. Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington, said the nomination would be strongly opposed by civil libertarians.
"We have to confront the chilling prospect that the incoming head of the C.I.A. believes it's permissible to conduct warrantless surveillance on the American public," Mr. Rotenberg said Friday night.
Last year the C.I.A. lost its half-century-old standing at the center of the sprawling intelligence bureaucracy, as Mr. Negroponte succeeded Mr. Goss as the president's chief adviser on intelligence.
Melissa Boyle Mahle, a C.I.A. officer from 1988 to 2002 who wrote a 2004 book on the agency, "Denial and Deception," said, "The benefit of someone coming from the D.N.I.'s office is obvious he'd have the immediate ear of Negroponte."
Though he has spent seven years at the N.S.A. and the director's office and away from the Pentagon, General Hayden is a career military intelligence officer. Several senior military officers have been C.I.A. director, and the current deputy director is Vice Adm. Albert M. Calland III of the Navy.
A bigger issue for some intelligence professionals might be General Hayden's lack of experience in traditional human intelligence.
Some officials want to intensify the C.I.A. concentration on the clandestine service, and Mr. Goss's resistance to such a narrowing of the agency's mission is said to have been one reason for his ouster.
General Hayden, who grew up in a working-class family in Pittsburgh, drew mixed reviews at the N.S.A. He overhauled its management but began a multibillion-dollar modernization program, known as Trailblazer, which ran huge cost overruns and is widely considered to be a failure.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/06/2006 05:03 ||
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He seems like a good guy. Any idea from the 'burg whether he'll be hardnosed enough to keep the pressure on the leakers and others in the CIA who don't seem to follow orders very well?
#3
He's going to run into a firestorm in the Senate. He's one of the top guys at NSA, and his nomination will allow the goofy, dumb-assed liberal Dems to climb all over Bush once again. Count on CBS, CNN and the NYT providing lots of air-time and print for the assault.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/06/2006 11:56 Comments ||
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Politically, the assault will be good for the administration. Spying on terrorists remains popular. I welcome the debate.
#5
I very good pick. He is from Pittsburgh as I am and is life long friend of the owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Dan Rooney (a revered figure in the NFL). A good catholic man. Most importantly he is a rabid fan of the Super Bowl champs the most hard nosed team in the NFL the Pittsburgh Steelers. Heis tough enough...God bless him in his new assignment.
#6
The preceding post was brought to you by the Greater Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce - which is (very) loosely affiliated with the Rantburgh (heh) Get 'Er Done Council. We also support the nomination of Gen Hayden and advocate the Nuke Option be employed at the first opportunity.
#7
hey Cleamble Cravins1399 that be snoop spook snark!
Posted by: Halliburton ferrets out snark div ||
05/06/2006 21:32 Comments ||
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The donks better be very careful with their firestorm. The vast majority of Americans support what has been done and that is without a strong defence ever having been made. If Hayden comes out and really stuands up for what has been done with domestic spying, it could really hurt the donks in September.
#9
One Dem has already predicted a "food fight". I'm sure that makes Americans comfortable about that parties' ability to protect them....
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/06/2006 22:02 Comments ||
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FrankG - Protect them from what?
I'm convinced a significant segment (at least 30%) of the population is simply too self-absorbed and has zero appreciation for any such efforts. They might be concerned about immigration, probably pissed at Halliburton and Exxon (or whoever) about gas prices, and really burned that Geena Davis is out of work and, BTW, How 'bout them [insert sports team here]!
Recently, my confidence in the American public has only been buoyed by their negative reaction to the illegal alien protests. On every other point, many seem as clueless as the Moonbats. 9/11 is a distant bad dream which they were happy to dismiss as the aberration the MSM pushed.
Our successes undermine the support. Ironic, no? As I've seen posted here, I believe there are two possible tracks... If we have a few very bloody failures, we'll regain the momentum to a fast-track solution: pre-emption and overwhelming force responses resulting in the elimination of the cesspools where the enemy breeds and the expulsion of those within our midst. If we aren't, if the status quo continues and we are merely bled from a thousand cuts, we will be undermined from within. Effectively, it's time to pray for rain.
#11
I think we need to attack the cesspools here too. I am fed up with the Democrats and anyone who votes for or provides excuses for them. I am also feed up with Republicans that act like poodles instead of Republicans.
Posted by: SPoD ||
05/06/2006 23:45 Comments ||
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An effort by the American military to discredit the terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi by showing video outtakes of him fumbling with a machine gun suggesting that he lacks real fighting skill was questioned yesterday by retired and active American military officers.
Just goes to show you can always find someone to disagree with any course of action you take.
In an outtake reportedly taken from a videotape made by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the terrorist leader needed some help firing a machine gun.
That's a pretty good indication he doesn't spend a lot of time firing one, isn't it?
The video clips, released on Thursday to news organizations in Baghdad, show the terrorist leader confused about how to handle an M-249 squad automatic weapon, known as an S.A.W., which is part of the American inventory of infantry weapons. The American military, which said it captured the videotapes in a recent raid, released selected outtakes in an effort to undermine Mr. Zarqawi's image as leader of the Council of Holy Warriors, formerly Al Qaeda in Iraq, and suggested that his fighting talents and experience were less than his propaganda portrays.
Nowadays, when you spend your time putting together operations, you don't really spend a lot of time sending rounds downrange. Infantry does that. It's called division of labor. Zark may have fired rounds at live targets to satisfy his vanity, but he doesn't take part in operations on a regular basis.
But several veterans of wars in Iraq or Afghanistan, as well as active-duty officers, said in telephone interviews yesterday that the clips of Mr. Zarqawi's supposed martial incompetence were unconvincing.
Maybe to them...
The weapon in question is complicated to master, and American soldiers and marines undergo many days of training to achieve the most basic competence with it.
Zark's been in Iraq since '02. The Merkins have been there since '03. He's had many days. And if he didn't know how to operate it, he shouldn't have been showing off with it.
Moreover, the weapon in Mr. Zarqawi's hands was an older variant, which makes its malfunctioning unsurprising. The veterans said Mr. Zarqawi, who had spent his years as a terrorist surrounded by simpler weapons of Soviet design, could hardly have been expected to know how to handle it. "They are making a big deal out of nothing," said Mario Costagliola, who retired as an Army colonel last month after serving as the operations officer for the 42nd Infantry Division in Tikrit, Iraq.
I politely beg to differ. He was showing off with the weapon. That implies he's a big he-man who knows how to use it. The outtakes show him as a blowhard putting on a show, a Hollywood Hero.
An active-duty Special Forces colonel who served in Iraq also said that what the video showed actually had little relationship to Mr. Zarqawi's level of terrorist skill. "Looking at the video, I enjoy it; I like that he looks kind of goofy," said the Special Forces officer, who was granted anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly on military matters. "But as a military guy, I shrug my shoulders and say: 'Of course he doesn't know how to use it. It's our gun.' He doesn't look as stupid as they said he looks."
It's not his skill with the weapon that's in question. It's a propaganda piece from our side, and the man looks like an ass. That's its value. I'd guess that the SF officer and probably Col. Costagliola both know that, though the NYT report apparently can't grasp it.
The release of the captured video reflected the dueling public relations efforts between the American-led forces fighting in Iraq and the terrorists and insurgents.
More like the dueling public relations efforts between the American-led forces and the New York Times.
It also reflected increasing interest by the military and civilian strategists in trying to ridicule Mr. Zarqawi. "In Arab and Muslim societies, pride and shame are felt much more profoundly than they are in Western culture," said J. Michael Waller, a professor at the Institute of World Politics, a graduate school in Washington. "To find video like this that can cut him down to size and discredit him is a real way of fighting terrorism."
Thank you, Mr. Waller. Those words were sufficiently small that the NYT writers (plural) should have been able to understand them, though had they done so there would have been no story.
A paper written by Professor Waller advocating the use of ridicule against the insurgents has been circulating at the Pentagon and among military commanders with experience in Iraq recently, according to several military officers.
Good Gawd, I hope so. Sometimes I really miss having Spike Jones around.
But the retired and active officers said the public presentation of the tape did not address elements that were disturbing, rather than amusing: the weapon was probably captured from American soldiers, indicating a tactical victory for the insurgents. And Mr. Zarqawi looked clean and plump.
"Of course the release of the tape accomplished its purpose. Since it did, let's quickly change the subject."
"I see a guy who is getting a lot of groceries and local support," said Nick Pratt, a Marine Corps veteran and professor of terrorism studies at the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies in Germany.
Actually, he looks like he's getting too many groceries. I wonder if he can still touch his toes?
"You cannot say he is a bad operator."
He's a bad person. He's probably the most competent terrorist alive today. He's a lousy machinegun operator.
He added, "People should be careful who they poke fun at."
Duh? Am I missing something? Who the hell else would you poke fun at if not the enemy? The innocent dead? The wounded and maimed? I suppose they're less likely to cut your head off it they catch you, but I'd still go with Mr. Zarkleman over all others, save Binny.
David S. Cloud contributed reporting for this article.
#1
Read this yesterday, NY Slimes provides more cover for Zarq
Posted by: Captain America ||
05/06/2006 18:13 Comments ||
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#2
The New York Times is obviously mining military news releases for negative stories about the military, choosing to use its news pages as a vast anti-American editorial section. It would be nice if they would mine jihadi news releases for negative news about the terrorists. Such as the lies the terrorists periodically release from time to time about their casualties and coalition casualties, and about dead terrorists that the jihadis claim to be civilians. But that will never happen, of course, since the Times's mission is to slam Uncle Sam, not highlight the things that would make America's enemies look bad.
#3
note any military names? Unnamed sources can say anything you want...might as well have sock puppets (no offense, SPoD) doing marrionette interviews. Just as credible. NY Times sucks a$$
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/06/2006 20:06 Comments ||
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#4
"And the NYT was able to interview hundreds or even thousands of unnamed senior officers who all agreed that we are losing the war in Iraq, and that they are all republican conservatives who are going to vote for Hillary because Bush is a poopy-pants."
#5
"The weapon in question [M-249 squad automatic weapon] is complicated to master, and American soldiers and marines undergo many days of training to achieve the most basic competence with it."
Oh, bullshit. My kid used one in the Guard. The only part of using it that requires more than a few minutes of practice is breaking the damn thing down, cleaning it and re-assembling it.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
05/06/2006 20:27 Comments ||
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#6
Yah, Dave, but knowing you, he probably learned a lot about machine guns, autocannons, and mortars just growing up around the house.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
05/06/2006 21:21 Comments ||
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#9
I concur Dave. The worst thing about the saw (besides cleaning it's number of parts) is remembering to pull the charging handle to the rear w/your palm up to the sky. I cut the heck out of the palm of my hand as a boot not heeding that.
These "colonels" or whoever should've taken the opportunity to shut the fuck up on this one. Also - how did they get telephone interviews w/our guys in Iraq? Anyways, this is a big propoganda piece for us to show this douche bag as a fuck up - we need to run w/it. BTW - he does look as stupid as we think he does. Fuck the 'times - pussies.
#10
"Also - how did they get telephone interviews w/our guys in Iraq?"
All I can think of is they've probably been carefully rooting around for malcontents over there and cultivating what few they can find to serve as "sources" whenever they need quotes to justify their negative spin.
Take care over there, BH6.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
05/06/2006 22:36 Comments ||
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#11
Now if only Parker & Stone where in charge of the propaganda effort...
Federal prosecutors said Friday that they would retry a California man on charges that he lied to F.B.I. agents about his son's stay at a terrorist training camp in Pakistan.
The man, Umer Hayat, a naturalized American citizen, has been free on bail since Monday after a federal jury in Sacramento deadlocked on the charges against him. A mistrial was declared on April 25, the same day a separate jury convicted his son, Hamid Hayat, of lying to federal agents and providing material support to terrorists by attending a camp of Al Qaeda in 2003.
McGregor W. Scott, a United States attorney in Sacramento, said in a statement on Friday that the severity of the charges against the elder Mr. Hayat, and evidence that included a videotaped confession, warranted a second trial.
"In the post-9/11 environment in which we live, lying to the F.B.I. in the course of a terrorism investigation is serious misconduct," Mr. Scott said. "False information may result in agents losing valuable time to foil a deadly plot, or perhaps bringing the wrong person or persons under suspicion."
The new trial is set to begin June 5 in federal court in Sacramento.
Mr. Hayat's defense lawyer, Johnny Griffin III, said the government's decision to retry his client, who initially volunteered to speak with F.B.I. agents, would not advance its war on terror. "In pursuing this fight, the government needs information, eyes and ears in the community," Mr. Griffin said. "But people will be less apt to talk now."
Mr. Griffin said the government had alienated the Muslim community in its handling of Mr. Hayat's case. "To now go back and retry it sends a message," he said. "If you cooperate and we don't like what you are saying or we don't believe you, we will prosecute."
The jury in the elder Mr. Hayat's trial, which lasted nine weeks, deadlocked 7 to 5 and 6 to 6 on the two counts against him. Umer Hayat, 48, an ice cream vendor, and his son, Hamid, 23, live in Lodi, Calif., a small farming town south of Sacramento.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/06/2006 05:37 ||
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A group of irate economy air passengers were arrested after storming the first class cabin of an international flight in mid-air, it has been revealed.
The pilot of the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) jet radioed ahead after 14 people upgraded themselves.
They were all arrested on suspicion of endangering the aircraft after landing at Manchester Airport on Friday.
The mutiny came after the plane was delayed for four hours on the tarmac in soaring heat at Islamabad Airport.
The luxury section was said to be virtually empty on the Boeing 747 while economy was packed.
Police were called before the plane landed in the UK because the passengers refused to leave when asked by cabin crew.
A spokesman for Greater Manchester Police said: "Police at Manchester Airport were alerted to a problem on an incoming PIA flight from Pakistan.
"Several passengers were reported to be trying to enter the first class area of the plane.
"When the plane landed, 14 of the passengers were arrested on suspicion of endangering an aircraft in flight.
"They have all been bailed until the end of June, pending further inquiries."
The airline has refused to comment.
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05/06/2006 19:31 ||
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#1
I guess their frequent flyer bennies really suck.
Virtually endorsing an Uttar Pradesh minister's announcement of a reward for anyone beheading those reponsible for caricatures of Prophet Mohammed, Samajwadi Party leader Beni Prasad Verma on Saturday said he would give half his properties to the person who killed the cartoonist. Speaking to reporters here, SP General Secretary Verma, alleged Christian countries had always been "anti-Muslim".
That's a true statement for much of history. Likewise, Muslim countries had been anti-Christian. Nowadays most Christian countries are falling over themselves to be 'fair' to Muslims, while most Muslim countries continue to be virulently anti-Christian. There's a seeming lack of symmetry there, but I'm not sure of Mr. Verma will see that. Actually, I'm sure he won't ...
Haji Yaqoob Qureshi, Uttar Pradesh's minister for Haj, had earlier announced a reward of Rs 51 crore for anyone who beheaded the artist reponsible for the cartoons first carried by a Danish publication. The move triggered a widespread controversy that cost Qureshi his ministerial post.
Verma said the Samajwadi Party had always fought for the dignity and pride of Muslims and would not tolerate their humiliation. Alleging that the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre was anti-Muslim, Verma claimed it had pressurised Uttar Pradesh Governor T V Rajeshwar not to give his assent to the Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar Urdu University Bill.
#1
Sounds like the country with the second-largest Muslim population in the world may be heading for an 'insurgency' expanded south of Kashmir. That is what this kind of rhetoric is about.
#2
Verma isn't even muslim... but election time is near and he wants to win the muslim vote...
Posted by: john ||
05/06/2006 13:53 Comments ||
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#3
Officer Bull Pupp, Mrs. Kwakk Wakk, Pauline Parrot, the Mock Duck, Walter Cephas Austridge, the Door Mouse, Krazy Katbird, Krazy Katfish, and Joe Stork all wish to express their anger at having the honorable and respectable Krazy Kat compared to Mohammed(MTLHMOHS).
#6
Once again, this brings up the notion of having a "assassination dead pool" for villains like Verma.
If you're not familiar with it, it is different than a typical dead pool, because people place a wager on the individual dying on a particular date, and whoever is closest to the actual date, wins. You can enter as many times as you like, pushing the pool into the thousands or tens of thousands of dollars.
The entires and the payoffs are anonymous.
So, in effect, let's say you are just an ambitious young man who knows Mr Verma. You also believe that on a particular day next week, he might encounter a bullet. If you placed a mere $10 wager on that date, you might win the entire pool, which would then be discreetly "PayPal'ed" to your account.
Imagine Mr Verma's surprise when he discovers that people are predicting his death to the tune of $20,000 US. About 900,000 Rupees. A healthy sum for an ambitious young man in India, who just happens to be a good guesser.
I suspect that once word got out and the pattern was established that if you put out a contract, one will be put out on you, then a lot of this crap would end in a hurry.
Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) leaders demanded on Friday that Sharia should be enforced in Pakistan. They also pledged support to Iranians and Palestinians in their war against the United States. Addressing a conference on enforcement of Sharia, opposition leader in the National Assembly Maulana Fazlur Rahman and MMA leader Liaqat Baloch criticised the government for its policies. Fazl said that Pakistan took a U-turn on Afghanistan soon after the 9/11 attacks on the United States. He said that Taliban government was pro-Pakistan, while the Karzai government was pro-India. He said that now Pakistan's western borders were not safe. He said that Taliban did not raise the issue of Durand Line, but the current Afghan government was focusing on the issue.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2006 00:00 ||
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The decision to be a US ally in the war against terrorism was correct, but ultimately it put Pakistan's integrity at stake, Major General (r) Ghulam Umar told Indus television on Friday. "It is necessary that every thing America wants us to do is in our national interest," Umar said, adding, "The US protected its national interests while fighting the war against terror, but we damaged our national interests."
This is Islamic logic, kind of like what pilpul is to the Jews, only it doesn't have to make sense.
He said that Pakistan wanted to eliminate terrorism and extremism from it soil, while the US had other goals to achieve. "See what is the result of the war on terror. We are damaging our national integrity, and the national security has become a serious problem for us," Umar said. He said that Pakistan's difficulties were multiplying as a result of the war against terror.
Y'see, Pakland wants to eliminate terrorism and extremism from its soil. The U.S. goal is to eliminate it worldwide, specifically be eliminating the terror organizations and those who spawn them. That's incompatible with the Pak goal. In Pakland, those very organizations are so tightly and intricately tied to the regime that at times Perv has to slow down to avoid hitting himself in the rear end. Sometimes he reverses and backs over his front bumper.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
"Sometimes he reverses and backs over his front bumper."
"There, there! They didn't mean it!... Here, blow your nose!"
US Under Secretary for International Trade Franklin Lavin dismissed notions that Pakistan was a failed state on Friday, saying the country had enormous potential for investment by US commercial concerns. Lavin told reporters that Pakistan's economy had been performing well and had attained one of the highest growth rates in the world. He said the purpose of his visit was to discuss and line-up issues with Pakistani ministries. "Bilateral trade between Pakistan and the United States is increasing," he said, adding that he would meet Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz today (Saturday).
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
From what I've learned here at Rantburg U, I'd say Pakistan is a resounding success! They set out to create the perfect Islamic State. And there it is.
#2
One man's perfect Islamic state is another man's failed state.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2006 0:43 Comments ||
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#3
Pray tell Mr Lavin, where exactly would you recommend US investors put their money? Madrassas-R-us? "Free your mind, let us fill it", StoneAWench? "She had it coming" Crazy Ahmeds red wire-blue wire lottery Inc? "72 raisins are just a snip away" DialADope? "Need a shahid? We're on the case!", AcidChuckers of Lahore "She had it coming" (a recurrent theme)...
This is quite fun ;)
What a dolt - who in their right mind is going to invest in that hellhole, when you've got India right next door?
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
05/06/2006 2:28 Comments ||
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#4
Enormous potential, including big Paki egos.
"Bilateral trade between Pakistan and the United States is increasing,"
#6
Pakistan is NOT a failed state. It's failed to even be accepted as a "state". It's a collection of people who not only hate all outsiders, but most of each other as well. There is no unity, and never has been. The only thing that's kept Pakistan from splintering into 20 different tribes is its unified hate of India.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
05/06/2006 14:54 Comments ||
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#7
If it were a state, why did it murder its own estimated 1.8+ million people in East Pakistan in '71 and never since admitted that - besides it was India who saved the Bangladeshi.
If India otoh is half as mean(and partisan ala islamo brotherhood)as these Pakis, it would have helped its own fellow Tamils to walk right over Sri Lanka's Singhalese long ago. Of course India's clearly a better bet anytime despite the abundance of leftist typos.
Kashmir's main separatist political alliance said on Friday it wanted to invite Islamist militants fighting in the disputed region to join new peace talks with New Delhi.
The comments by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, chief of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC), came two days after the group agreed with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to set up a system to discuss solutions to the Kashmir dispute. Hurriyat is an alliance of nearly two-dozen separatist political groups. "Well definitely, once this process takes on, once we are able to have a blueprint, the Hurriyat can also try to get them on board (using) whatever influence we have," Farooq told Reuters in an interview.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2006 00:00 ||
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Insurgents and the United States use propaganda such as the video of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi fumbling with his rifle as a tactic in the war. But some analysts say neither side has been effective in exploiting such messages to achieve its goals.
Basim al-Sheik, editor in chief of the Iraqi daily ad-Dustour, said both sides are trying to sway public opinion.
"In reality, both sides lost," he said. "Al-Zarqawi lost his support when he carried out his barbaric acts against innocent Iraqis, and the Americans lost when they failed to stop it and arrest him. The only one who pays is the Iraqi citizen."
Video released Thursday by the U.S. military command showed a frowning al-Zarqawi struggling with his machine gun and wearing American tennis shoes. U.S. officials said the clips were edited from a version posted on Islamist Web sites last month that depicted al-Zarqawi as a confident warrior.
Reaction among Iraqis appeared divided along sectarian lines. Shi'ites, the group attacked by al-Zarqawi's followers, seemed more inclined to accept the lampooning of the militant. Sunnis, who form the core of the insurgency, repeated doubts.
"If it is authentic, the part of the video I saw on TV today shows that al-Zarqawi lacks the basic knowledge of weapons that any soldier should have," said Abdel-Hassan, a Shi'ite government employee. "This could hurt his image."
But a Sunni, Sattar al-Dulaimi, questioned whether the Americans have their own agenda for al-Zarqawi.
"The reason the Americans haven't captured or killed al-Zarqawi is that they need an Al Qaeda connection to justify their occupation of Iraq," he said.
Shortly before noon Friday, a roadside bomb killed three U.S. soldiers in Babil province, south of Baghdad. The U.S. military did not provide other details.
But Iraqi police said a military convey was the target of the blast.
Denmark plans to cut 80 troops from its 530-strong contingent in what officials call a reorganization of forces, the government said Friday.
The troops are in the southern Iraqi city of Basra.
The plan, expected to pass, will be presented May 18 to lawmakers.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/06/2006 05:31 ||
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#1
Amazing considering the Zarqawi has nearly the entire MSM working on his behalf. Never questioning, never analyzing, never criticizing his actions, goals and methods with the slightest degree of distain demonstrated daily for those of the Coalition and particularly America. Its also amazing given that it wasn't Rummy but the uniformed leadership of the Pentagon who choose to outsource coverage of the war to that same MSM, rather than use in house manpower as they did in WWII to deliver the story.
#2
I now consider it a stroke of luck that the US military allowed the MSM to cover the war. They have discredited themselves beyond repair. The MSM has indeed swayed the opinions of the liberals who are hearing what they want to hear and they have also swayed the opinions of others who don't really pay attention, but I'm not sure how much that really matters in the big scope. People who pay attention to what's going on have zero respect for their inaccurate and poor reporting from the war. They provide a useful service only in that you can get a feel for what's going on by just making an adjustment for their ridiculouos bias. Also, the dedicated can sift through the MSM trash, hoping to to find useful scraps.
#3
We have two posted articles today commenting on what the Danes are doing in Iraq. The AP says that the Danes are cutting 80 troops; the Pakistan Daily Times says that the Danes are extending their commitment of 500 troops. They're probably both factually accurate, but the pro-American spin comes from Pakistan and the anti-American spin comes from the AP. We live in interesting times.
I wonder what the MSM would have done with a video of Rumsfeld fumbling with a machine gun.
Posted by: Matt ||
05/06/2006 11:18 Comments ||
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Denmark will keep its 500 troops in Iraq for another 12 months, a government source told Reuters on Friday. The current mandate for Danish troops to remain in Iraq runs out on July 1. The government had no plan at present to reduce the number of troops, who are all stationed near Basra in the south of Iraq, the source said. Denmark has been part of the US-led multi-national security force in Iraq since the end of the 2003 war.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2006 00:00 ||
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European diplomats say the US is blocking European Union (EU) plans to resume direct financial aid to the Palestinians.
Good for us. Glad to see the national testicles are still in place.
Funds would be channelled through the office of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, rather than the Hamas-led government, under a proposal by the EU's executive arm, the European Commission.
This would no doubt be a special, non-fungible type of money, the kind that wouldn't free up such other money as Hamas has to be spent on arms and ammunition and importing more rockets from Iran.
The Commission says sending money in this way for specific basic services, such as health and education, might avert or delay a collapse of the Palestinian Authority.
And the downside of a collapse of the Paleostinian Authority is...?
Like proposals floated by Britain and France, it says donors could establish a pool of funds in coordination with the United Nations, the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund. A European Commission document says Mr Abbas "could act as an interface between the international community and the Palestinian Authority."
To what end?... Sorry. I meant, to what rational end?
"He would, de facto, play the role of go-between for the international community," it says.
You've got something resembling Somalia growing there, and the rest of the world is expected to take care of them while they indulge their collective penchant for mindless violence?
The diplomats say the Bush administration has moved in recent days to scuttle the proposal on the grounds it would take pressure off Hamas to renounce violence, recognise Israel and abide by interim peace deals.
More good sense from our side, even though it's nothing but a statement of the obvious.
Hamas officials and some western diplomats say the US goal is to shore up Mr Abbas while making it impossible for the Palestinian Authority to function.
Just because we've stated a goal doesn't mean it's really our goal. We always have a "real" goal, y'know, and it's always nefarious.
The US and EU have cut off direct aid following Hamas's rise to power in January elections, in which it trounced Mr Abbas's Fatah faction.
Which was busy doing Paleostinian things to each other the usual shootouts, riots, and burning each other's houses down.
They have placed no restrictions on aid going through Mr Abbas or his office. Meanwhile, a union representing Palestinian government employees says its members will go on strike later today because their salaries have not been paid for the past two months.
Brilliant. Simply brilliant. Turnip blood is good for wind and limb.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
While Dubya may have finally affirmed America is in WW3, vv FREEREPUBLIC.com and "United 93" film, how can America block money that isn't its own, plus block money for the sake of an alleged "EU" org that the voters of Europe have not formally approved of.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert yesterday turned down an offer from the moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to resume peace talks as five Palestinians were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a training base of the Popular Resistance Committees in Gaza City.
I don't speak Hebrew, mind you, but I think that can be loosely translated as "Hell, no!"
An army spokeswoman confirmed that an Israeli aircraft had fired missiles at the training base in the Tal Al-Hawa neighborhood of the city in the first military strike since the new governing coalition took office Thursday. Among the victims was Jumaa Doughmoush, brother of committees member Momtaz Doughmoush, who was behind a failed car bombing at the Karni crossing between Israel and Gaza, medics said. The rest of the dead were also members of the Doughmoush family but Momtaz himself escaped, committees spokesman Abu Sherif said.
Cue "Family Affair" theme...
Meanwhile, thousands of indignant Palestinians marched throughout the Gaza Strip and the West Bank yesterday in support of the beleaguered Hamas-led government, heeding calls by the Islamic group to remain defiant in the face of a bruising economic boycott by the West.
"Death to the infidels! We're Numbah One!... At something."
Earlier, in a push for peace, Abbas phoned Olmert to congratulate the Israeli leader on formation of his new government, which was sworn into office late Thursday, according to Palestinian officials. Olmerts aides said a meeting with Abbas would be possible, but ruled out negotiations as long as the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority refuses to recognize Israel or renounce violence.
Kinda hard to hold peace talks when somebody's trying to kill you, isn't it?
Hamas has refused to budge, despite the urgings of Abbas and intense economic pressure by Western donors. The United States and European Union have cut off hundreds of millions of dollars in direct aid to the Palestinian Authority, demanding that Hamas end its calls for Israels destruction.
All they have to do is wait them out. They know they Euros will come around...
In an attempt to avert a humanitarian crisis, the EU proposed yesterday creating a fund to funnel aid to the Palestinians while bypassing the Hamas government.
That way the Hamas government can concentrate on the important things, like launching rockets. Having to put together a budget and raise money and such would distract them.
The proposed fund would be jointly run by the EU, the US, Russia and the United Nations, which together form the Quartet of sponsors of the road map Mideast peace plan. EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said the fund, to be discussed at a Quartet meeting next week, would allow the international community to ease the dire conditions of the Palestinian people while avoiding contact with Hamas.
And relieving Hamas of the responsibility of easing the dire conditions of the Paleostinian people.
In Gaza City, protesters burned and trampled American, British and Israeli flags. In the West Bank city of Ramallah, Hamas collected donations in boxes from thousands of supporters, including women who gave their necklaces and rings. Collecting donations from people is not going to solve the problem but it is a symbol for the Arab and Muslim countries because when they see that we give to our government they will start doing the same, said Ibrahim Abu Salem, a Hamas lawmaker from Jerusalem.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2006 00:00 ||
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#2
Check out the LGF photo - yup, it's flag burning day again - one of the few growth industries in Gaza...
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
05/06/2006 3:22 Comments ||
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#3
Maybe we coukd sell them flags to burn, coated with two kinds of poison, one absorbed through the skin, one when the combustion fumes hit.
No need for repeat sales.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
05/06/2006 8:36 Comments ||
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#4
Collecting donations from people is not going to solve the problem but it is a symbol for the Arab and Muslim countries because when they see that we give to our government they will start doing the same,
Don't hold your breath, Ibrahim. Hasn't happened so far and won't ever. Pals are scum to muslims. Shouldn't you be more upset about the fact that muslims won't aid Palestine than the fact that infidels are fed up funding their enemies? Can you even get your mind around that little fact? Wanna start burning some Saudi flags?
#5
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert yesterday turned down an offer from the moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to resume peace talks as five Palestinians were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a training base of the Popular Resistance Committees in Gaza City.
Sweden has granted a visa to a Hamas minister, the first by a European country since the militant group took control of the Palestinian Authority, Palestinian officials said on Thursday. Palestinian minister for refugee affairs, Atef Odwan, told Reuters he had been granted a visa by Sweden to attend a conference there on refugees to be held on May 6 to May 8. "I appreciate the position by Sweden which dealt with the issue not on political grounds but on purely academic grounds," he said. Swedish officials were not immediately available for comment.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2006 00:00 ||
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I see Sweden has completed it's Change Case for auto payroll deduction of jizya.
The European Commission has said it is ready to offer 34 million euros ($43 million) in humanitarian aid to the Palestinian territories, whose government is on the verge of bankruptcy. Louis Michel, the humanitarian aid commissioner, will make the offer to the EU's 25-member states "in the next few days", his spokesman said, adding that the new money would be used for food aid, sanitation, water and health projects.
The European Union is the biggest donor to the Palestinians, many of whom live in poverty, but it suspended direct aid to the government after Hamas took office in March because Hamas refuses to renounce violence or to recognise Israel. Israel has also slapped heavy financial sanctions on Hamas, compounding a financial crisis that could bring the group down. The more than 160,000 civil servants on the payroll of the Palestinian Authority, amounting to a wage bill in excess of $120 million a month, have not been paid for two months.
The Euros slapped the sanctions on because Hamas refuses to renounce violence or recognize Israel. To date they've done neither. All they had to do was wait the Marshmallow People out.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2006 00:00 ||
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Indonesia's popular Muslim party will launch a fund raising campaign this weekend for the Palestinians, whose Hamas-led government is in financial dire straits after Western countries halted aid.
The Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) will organize a rally on Sunday in the capital Jakarta to kick off the campaign, said party official Muhammad Razikun and the rally is expected to draw 100,000 party supporters.
"This campaign is to show our solidarity with the Palestinians, who have been punished for their democratic choice," Razikun said.
PKS chairman Tifatul Sembiring said the campaign aimed to raise
10 million dollars in one month and called on Indonesians to give 10,000 rupiah (about one dollar) each to help the Palestinians.
"To all PKS supporters in Indonesia, I appeal to you to pitch in to ease the burden of the Palestinian people," he was quoted as saying by the state Antara news agency.
The PKS is popular especially among young urban Muslims. Although a newcomer in the 2004 parliamentary elections, it finished first in Jakarta with 24 percent of the vote. It has 45 seats in the 550-strong national parliament.
Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim country, is a staunch supporter of the Palestinian struggle for nationhood and has no diplomatic ties with Israel.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono last week urged countries against halting aid to the Palestinian government led by the radical Islamist group Hamas.
The Palestinian Authority has been facing a cash crisis since Hamas' election victory in January led the United States and European Union to freeze aid to the body.
Hamas has acknowledged that the coffers are empty and that it is unable to pay government salaries.
#2
Of course, it's not like if they could spare some time for Darfur. I wonder if they did the same for the 2004 tsunami (I mean, the Aceh part, of course)? The paleo cause truly is the center of the Global Ideological Jihad, isn't it?
SOUTHEAST Asia's most wanted terrorist, Noordin Mohammad Top, has built his own following of diehard loyalists separate to the Jemaah Islamiah network.
But his behaviour since last year's second Bali bombing suggests he is running short of money and experienced operatives, says a report by the International Crisis Group.
Last week Top, wanted over a string of bombings, including the two Bali attacks, again eluded Indonesian police as they mounted a pre-dawn raid on a house sheltering close associates in Wonosobo, central Java.
Two men killed in the raid, Baharudin Soleh (alias Abdul Hadi) and Gempur Budi Angkoro (alias Jabir) were trusted lieutenants of the shadowy 38-year-old Malaysian terrorist. "The loss on April 29 of the men who served as both couriers and recruiters has to be a significant blow," the ICG report concludes.
Hadi had been entrusted by Top with the task of "ripening" the suicide bomber who attacked the Australian embassy in Jakarta in 2004.
The ICG study shows how Top has created his own group of bombers outside the mainstream JI network while on the run from the biggest counter-terrorist hunt ever mounted in Indonesia.
Top now calls his splinter grouping "al-Qa'ida for the Malay archipelago", although he still regards himself as the leader of JI's military wing.
"Noordin may think of himself as JI, but since the 2003 Marriott bombing has been running his own show that is seen as a deviant splinter by many in the JI mainstream," said Sidney Jones, the ICG's Southeast Asia project director and the world's leading expert on JI.
According to the ICG report, Top is not a strikingly impressive figure. He is neither a skilled orator nor does he speak Arabic. Although he is a Salafi Muslim, his religious knowledge is limited.
"He has a knack for surrounding himself with devoted followers who possess skills that he does not, however, and his ability to elude police for so long has enhanced his stature," it says.
It argues that Top aspires to head a "tightly organised military machine with cells across Southeast Asia designed to mount terror attacks on the US and its allies, 'kafirs', anti-Islamic governments including Indonesia, and other enemies of Islam". Paradoxically, his constant movement could enhance his ability to set up new terrorist cells although it means less direct supervision of actual operations.
The study finds that while JI continues to provide the core of Top's new network -- both Hadi and Jabir were JI members since 2004 -- he has reached out to young men from other organisations with no links to JI.
Terror expert and author of Inside al-Qa'ida Rohan Gunaratna told The Weekend Australian it was only a matter of time before Top was killed in similar circumstances to those leading to the death of his compatriot and fellow bombmaker Azahari bin Husin. Azahari died in November last year during a shootout with police at his hideout in a remote village in East Java.
Last week, when Indonesian police blew open the door of the modest house in the Wonosobo raid, they also discovered an explosive device that was "active" and ready to use.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/06/2006 05:09 ||
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One of the jailed Bali bombers is reported to be guiding Indonesia's most wanted terrorist, Noordin Mohammed Top, in recruiting suicide bombers. A International Crisis Group (ICG) report says Top has communicated with Mukhlas, the imprisoned Bali bomber now on death row.
Top is suspected to have masterminded the 2002 Bali bombings, which which killed 202 people, including 88 Australians. ICG analyst Sidney Jones says security at Mukhlas's prison in Bali has been lax. "What we know is that up through October 2005, when Mukhlas was moved to a maximum security prison in Java, he was continuing to issue materials from his cell in Bali," she said. "Now, we haven't seen anything come out since he was moved to that maximum security prison. But one of the problems has been that there's incredibly lax control over materials and people that go in and out of Indonesian prisons and it's just a warning that because that kind of communication took place when he was in Bali, the Indonesian authorities need to be absolutely sure that it's not taking place where he is now."
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2006 00:00 ||
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BEIRUT Lebanese Parliament on Thursday passed two laws that President Emile Lahoud had vetoed earlier, dealing a major blow to the pro-Syrian leader in his battle with legislators trying to oust him.
The legislature passed the bills by a simple majority. As they had been approved once before, they became law on Thursday without having to be signed by the president. The one law organises the affairs of the Druse community, an Islamic sect, and the other deals with the Constitutional Council, the supreme court for legislative questions.
Lahoud criticised the parliaments move, issuing a statement that described the passage of the bills as regrettable and provocative.
"My Syrian masters will be most displeased."
Earlier this year, Lahoud had refused to sign the bills and sent them back to parliament saying they needed to be endorsed by consensus. His move was seen as an attempt to stop the anti-Syrian majority in the assembly from having its way.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/06/2006 00:06 ||
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Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad vowed on Friday that the country would pursue its nuclear programme until it could mass-produce atomic fuel, and branded those trying to stop it as bullies. Tehran intends to continue our activity until we manage industrial-scale production of nuclear fuel for our atomic power stations, said Ahmadinejad, according to a text of his speech at a regional summit here. He stressed Irans desire to work within international law and under the scrutiny of the UNs watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Meanwhile, US Ambassador to the UN John Bolton on Friday challenged Russia and China to come up with legal alternatives to break the impasse on a draft UN resolution ordering Iran to suspend its nuclear programme. Russia and China object to the use of Chapter VII of the UN Charter, usually invoked by the UN Security Council for peacekeeping missions and other legally binding actions. That provision also allows for sanctions and even war but a separate resolution is required to specify either step. One of the issues we are discussing is what constitutes a mandatory resolution, whether Security Council resolutions that are not under Chapter VII are mandatory or not, Bolton said. The issue whether there is another way that is acceptable is something that we have asked the Russians and the Chinese to provide. We are waiting to hear how one might do that, he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Bolton on Friday challenged Russia and China to come up with legal alternatives to break the impasse
Smart move by Bolton, put the "solution" back on the commies.
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan urged the United States on Thursday to enter direct talks with Iran over Tehran's nuclear ambitions, saying that this step could lead to an acceptable resolution of the crisis. Annan said that the Iranians may have been holding back in previous negotiations with European Union powers Britain, France and Germany, and might be more forthcoming if the United States were at the table. He made the suggestion in an interview on The News Hour with Jim Lehrer on US public television stations.
"If everybody - all stakeholders and key players - were around the table, I think it would be possible to work out a package that would satisfy the concerns of everybody," Annan said when asked whether it was time for the United States to get involved in direct talks. "Should they (Iran) be offered a diplomatic package allowing them to pursue nuclear energy for peaceful ends "and they resist that, how do they explain it to the world?" he asked.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2006 00:00 ||
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I'll just hold my stake over here then, shall I?
Posted by: Captain America ||
05/06/2006 1:28 Comments ||
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The way this whole ugly mess is heading, Kofi is going to see sunshine alright - just it's going to be bottled...
Does anyone seriously think the UN can do *anything* worthwhile anymore?
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
05/06/2006 2:36 Comments ||
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"...Annan urged the United States on Thursday to enter direct talks with Iran..."
That's so odd. I could have sworn that Bush has spoken very directly and clearly about this. Isn't that why Iran and all the diplomats have been have been in such a tizzy? Can Bush be any more direct except by bombing Iran?
A member of a password-protected al-Qaeda-affiliated forum posted yesterday, May 4, 2006, a suggestion to the mujahideen in Iraq and Afghanistan to use remote-controlled airplanes laden with explosives, rather than suicide bombers, to target enemy forces. Inspired by the rocket depicted in the Mujahideen Shura Councils release Tuesday, April 25, 2006 of Abu Musab al-Zarqawis video speech, the author states: I told myself if they can make a rocket, what prevents them from making an armored vehicle, tank or a plane to achieve the targeted goal? This is to defeat the cross and its helpers. He suggests where the planes may be purchase and provides technical specifications and ideas for expanding the load they may carry.
Members responding to the suggestion to execute suicide operations, but without a suicider, take two different views of the idea being tenable and magnificent, and others which question the motive. On members states his belief that there is a larger goal implicit in a suicide operation than striking the enemy, and this is a love to have their bodies torn for the Sake of Allah.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/06/2006 05:39 ||
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Jihadis have tried that... it didn't work...
2003 article.
Jammu, October 19
Pakistan-backed militants have smuggled tiny remote-controlled toy planes into Jammu division from across the border to target VIPs and aircraft, official sources said today.
Pakistan-backed militants, particularly those of the Laskhar-e-Toiba, have smuggled 20 remote-controlled toy planes to Jammu to target VIPs and aircraft in Jammu and Kashmir and cause terror and security problems, the sources said. The toy planes, made of plastic material, have been smuggled from across the Line of Control and the international border from Pakistans launching pads Bhimber, Nikiyal, Samani, Kalsan, Basanter and Koteqube during the past over a month, the sources said, quoting intelligence reports and intercepts. These toy planes, weighing 3 to 4 kg, have a capacity to carry up to 2 kg of explosives, enough to damage an aircraft or blow up a vehicle, they said. PTI
Posted by: john ||
05/06/2006 14:34 Comments ||
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Expect an explosive growth in the Pakistani light-aircraft industry.
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.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan Friday urged Sudan and rebel groups to "move quickly" to implement the peace agreement they just signed in order to end the conflict in Darfur. Annan said the peace deal reached in Abuja, Nigeria, now gives the opportunity to strengthen peacekeeping operations in Darfur, starting with the African Union forces that have been in the war-torn region for the past two years. 
Violence in Sudan's bloodied Darfur region won't end overnight despite a peace agreement signed by the government and the main rebel group, a top US envoy to the talks said Friday. 
Netrakona police submitted a charge sheet against six persons including the JMB second-in-command, Siddikul Islam alias Bangla Bhai, and his wife Fahima Chowdhury in the December 8 bomb blast case. The accused six are Kawser Ahmed alias Yunus, Asaduzzaman Panir, Salahuddin, Ataur Rahman Sunny, Siddikul Islam alias Bangla Bhai and his wife Fahima Chowdhury. 
The video clips, released on Thursday to news organizations in Baghdad, show the terrorist leader confused about how to handle an M-249 squad automatic weapon, known as an S.A.W., which is part of the American inventory of infantry weapons. The American military, which said it captured the videotapes in a recent raid, released selected outtakes in an effort to undermine Mr. Zarqawi's image as leader of the 
Virtually endorsing an Uttar Pradesh minister's announcement of a reward for anyone beheading those reponsible for caricatures of Prophet Mohammed, Samajwadi Party leader 
Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) leaders demanded on Friday that Sharia should be enforced in Pakistan. They also pledged support to Iranians and Palestinians in their war against the United States. Addressing a conference on enforcement of Sharia, opposition leader in the National Assembly Maulana Fazlur Rahman and MMA leader Liaqat Baloch criticised the government for its policies. Fazl said that Pakistan took a U-turn on Afghanistan soon after the 9/11 attacks on the United States. He said that Taliban government was pro-Pakistan, while the Karzai government was pro-India. He said that now Pakistan's western borders were not safe. He said that Taliban did not raise the issue of Durand Line, but the current Afghan government was focusing on the issue.
The decision to be a US ally in the war against terrorism was correct, but ultimately it put Pakistan's integrity at stake, Major General (r) Ghulam Umar told Indus television on Friday. "It is necessary that every thing America wants us to do is in our national interest," Umar said, adding, "The US protected its national interests while fighting the war against terror, but we damaged our national interests." 
Kashmir's main separatist political alliance said on Friday it wanted to invite Islamist militants fighting in the disputed region to join new peace talks with New Delhi. 
Denmark will keep its 500 troops in Iraq for another 12 months, a government source told Reuters on Friday. The current mandate for Danish troops to remain in Iraq runs out on July 1. The government had no plan at present to reduce the number of troops, who are all stationed near Basra in the south of Iraq, the source said. Denmark has been part of the US-led multi-national security force in Iraq since the end of the 2003 war.
European diplomats say the US is blocking European Union (EU) plans to resume direct financial aid to the Palestinians. 
Israeli Prime Minister 
Meanwhile, thousands of 
The European Commission has said it is ready to offer 34 million euros ($43 million) in humanitarian aid to the Palestinian territories, whose government is on the verge of bankruptcy. Louis Michel, the humanitarian aid commissioner, will make the offer to the EU's 25-member states "in the next few days", his spokesman said, adding that the new money would be used for food aid, sanitation, water and health projects.
One of the jailed Bali bombers is reported to be guiding Indonesia's most wanted terrorist, Noordin Mohammed Top, in recruiting suicide bombers. A International Crisis Group (ICG) report says Top has communicated with Mukhlas, the imprisoned Bali bomber now on death row. 
BEIRUT Lebanese Parliament on Thursday passed two laws that President Emile Lahoud had vetoed earlier, dealing a major blow to the pro-Syrian leader in his battle with legislators trying to oust him.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad vowed on Friday that the country would pursue its nuclear programme until it could mass-produce atomic fuel, and branded those trying to stop it as bullies. Tehran intends to continue our activity until we manage industrial-scale production of nuclear fuel for our atomic power stations, said Ahmadinejad, according to a text of his speech at a regional summit here. He stressed Irans desire to work within international law and under the scrutiny of the UNs watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan urged the United States on Thursday to enter direct talks with Iran over Tehran's nuclear ambitions, saying that this step could lead to an acceptable resolution of the crisis. Annan said that the Iranians may have been holding back in previous negotiations with European Union powers Britain, France and Germany, and might be more forthcoming if the United States were at the table. He made the suggestion in an interview on The News Hour with Jim Lehrer on US public television stations.
