You get the idea that the Canadians are taking this NATO mission business seriously? More seriously than the Belgians?
OTTAWA -- New shipments of light-armoured vehicles are headed to Afghanistan to bolster the arsenal of Canadian troops and replace those damaged in the conflict with the Taliban. Twenty more LAV-IIIs -- nimble armed carriers capable of carrying six to 10 troops -- will be sent overseas in the near future.
"They are going over to make up for vehicles that have been damaged and to augment our operational stock of vehicles in the theatre," said Major Daryl Morrell, a military spokesman. "We maintain an operational stock of vehicles overseas that are surplus to needs so that if you have one that breaks down, that is injured in some way, then we have got something right there to replace it."
Eleven of the machines have been seriously damaged during operations in Afghanistan, Major Morrell said. In the interest of keeping the information from the Taliban, he would not say how many of those can eventually be repaired and returned to service.
The LAV-IIIs cost about $2-million each, but that includes the cost of training and some ongoing maintenance. The Canadian army currently has 547 of the vehicles in service but will not divulge how many are in Afghanistan.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/13/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
It's called spine
Posted by: Captain America ||
09/13/2006 0:35 Comments ||
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#2
How many German troops are over there? They should have no less than 40,000. Likewise for France. Italy and Spain should have at least 20,000 each. Frickin idiots.
HALIFAX, Nova Scotia (AP) - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she told Sudan on Monday there is no chance of improved relations with the United States if it flouts the world's demand for U.N. peacekeepers in Darfur.
Rice gave reporters a brief account of her morning meeting in Washington with Sudanese Foreign Minister Lam Akol. She was visiting Canada to thank that ally for its generosity in helping stranded American air passengers during the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks. "I won't say that we made progress, but I will say that I delivered the strongest possible message in the strongest possible terms to the Sudanese government that any hope for bettering relations between the United States and Sudan rests on Sudan's cooperation with the United Nations Security Council resolution," she said.
Rice said Akol carried a letter to President Bush, which she had not seen. He also "brought hope for better relations between the United States and Sudan, and I told him in no uncertain terms that wasn't on the agenda unless Sudan acted responsibly," she said.
Also pressuring the Sudanese government, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee introduced legislation Monday calling for targeted sanctions against those responsible for atrocities in Darfur. The bill by Indiana Republican Richard Lugar calls for sanctions against people determined by the president to be "complicit in, or responsible for, acts of genocide, war crimes or crimes against humanity in Darfur."
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/13/2006 00:00 ||
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I believe we are about four years past "relations"
Posted by: Captain America ||
09/13/2006 0:36 Comments ||
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ALL new Australian citizens would have to pass English tests under a plan to be announced soon by the Howard Government within weeks.
Thousands of migrants are refusing to take part in taxpayer-funded English courses each year and those applying for citizenship only need to show they understand the questions they are asked for citizenship to be granted.
A decision on mandatory English tests for citizenship is to be announced soon by Andrew Robb, parliamentary secretary for immigration and multicultural affairs.
"If these people want to reside here and take citizenship, they should have a functional grasp of English, that is why I have been canvassing the idea of a compulsory citizenship test with an English test component," Mr Robb told the Herald Sun.
All new non-English speaking migrants would also be encouraged to have English lessons to help them integrate into Australian society.
"We already have a compulsory test for skilled migrants - this year nearly 100,000 skilled workers, around 70 per cent of all migrants - were required to sit such a test," Mr Robb said.
"For refugees and the families of skilled migrants, they have an entitlement to English lessons if they haven't got functional English."
Although optional for non-skilled arrivals who speak little or no English, as few as 62 per cent of those turn up for study.
Senior ministers, including Alexander Downer, have expressed support for making English skills essential for migrants.
The push comes after Prime Minister John Howard called on all Muslims to learn and speak English and make stronger attempts to integrate into Australian society.
"Fully integrating means accepting Australian values, it means learning as rapidly as you can the English language if you don't already speak it," he said.
Mr Downer has also pressed for migrants to learn English.
"All migrants should speak English. If you come to Australia as a migrant and you can't speak English then you're going to be enormously disadvantaged," the Foreign Affairs Minister said.
"Migrants who come here and aren't able to learn the language are going to end up becoming alienated from the mainstream of society."
The number of migrants entering the English courses rose last year from 34,000 to 36,000.
#2
Always liked the Aussies. At least they have the stones to do what we are too politically correct to contemplate. For that matter, US schools should be compelled to teach US history and Western civilization (yes, the dead white guys) to receive federal funds. If they want to teach the touchy-feely crap, let them do it on their own nickel. Multiculturalism is a mechanism that the Left is using to try and destroy the American identity and heritage.
Australian Muslim representatives are voicing outrage at comments by the country's two top politicians, who urged immigrants from Islamic societies to fit in, learn English, treat women with respect, and shun extremism. 'voicing outrage' is sort of a habit with ya'll, aint it?
An Islamic leader warned that the remarks could antagonize Muslims and lead to a repeat of incidents such as the rioting in a Sydney beachside suburb last December, when groups of youngsters -- described as having a Middle Eastern background -- fought with whites.
Prime Minister John Howard late last week said migrants should integrate into the way of life in their new country but that a minority of Muslims was opposed to accepting Australia's values.
"Fully integrating means accepting Australian values -- it means learning as rapidly as you can the English language if you don't already speak it," he said in a radio interview.
"People who come from societies where women are treated in an inferior fashion have got to learn very quickly that that is not the case in Australia."
Howard's remarks drew a swift and critical response from Muslim leaders.
Ameer Ali, chairman of an advisory group set up by the government to combat extremism in the 300,000-strong Muslim community, told a radio station the remarks could stoke violence.
"We have already witnessed one incident in Sydney recently in Cronulla," he said in reference to last December's riots. "I don't want these scenes to be repeated because when you antagonize the younger generation ... they are bound to react."
Other Muslim community representatives said the line adopted by Howard was encouraging racial tension.
But Howard stood by his position, denied he was singling out Muslims, and refused to apologize.
"No matter what the culture of the country from which they came might have been, Australia requires women to be treated fairly and decently and in the same fashion as men," he told reporters later.
"If any migrants coming to this country have a different view, they'd better get rid of that view pretty quickly."
Howard said while "99 percent" of Muslims in Australia had integrated, it was "self-evident" that a small section was unwilling to do so. "It's up to all of us to try and overcome that resistance."
He said the critical Muslim spokesmen were "missing the point."
Howard also addressed the issue in an op-ed piece published Saturday, in which he said those who reject integration viewed calls to integrate "as some kind of discrimination."
"It is not. It is commonsense and, importantly, it is also a powerful symbol of a new migrant's willingness and enthusiasm about becoming an Australian."
Howard's number two and possible successor, federal Treasurer Peter Costello, endorsed the prime minister's comments, and added some of his own.
Costello said in a television interview Sunday that Australia's successful integration of migrants was attributable to "the attitude that when you come to Australia, whatever arguments you might have had in the old country, we start again and we start again with a common set of values and a common language."
He also said Islamic leaders should be more public and unequivocal in denouncing terrorism being perpetrated "under the cover of religion."
They should also make it clear to prospective converts to Islam "that when you join this religion you do not join a radical political ideology," Costello added.
His comments brought additional condemnation from Muslim representatives, who said they would only further alientate the community.
Writing in Sydney's Sunday Telegraph, conservative columnist Piers Akerman denounced what he called "shrill cries of outrage from self-described leaders in Australia's Islamic community."
In Australia, he wrote, as was the case in the U.S. and Britain, "Muslim organizations have deliberately installed themselves as permanent aliens and adapted a culture of constant carping about the majority, from whom they maintain their isolation with such bitter determination."
#6
His comments brought additional condemnation from Muslim representatives, who said they would only further alientate the community.
"Come, be part of our nation. Be one of us!"
"CAN'T YOU SEE YOU'RE ALIENATING US!!! YOU'RE JUST STOKING THE HATRED!!!"
Sod 'em. Ship 'em half way to Indonesia, and let them swim the rest of the way.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
09/13/2006 11:35 Comments ||
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#7
Many came as refugees from the Taliban. Taliban is gone.... The only legit reason to resist assimilation is if you intend to bug-out again someday. Methinks that day has come.
#8
They are doing exactly the right thing. TELL them to comply to the culture. If they refuse...they will... this is the prelude to confining them prior to forced expulsion. As to their threats of violence, just let it be known that the police may overlook attacks on Muzzie youth creating problems. I would predict that after a few dozen are found beat to death the rest will go quietly.
#9
Waiting for the other shoe to drop: Or ship out.
Posted by: ed ||
09/13/2006 11:55 Comments ||
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#10
Islamic societies are being asked to:
"fit in,
learn English,
treat women with respect,
and
shun extremism"
AND THEY REFUSE. And they blame. And they threaten violence, while at the same time absloving themselves of any responsibility. And they bitch and whine and carry on.
"No matter what the culture of the country from which they came might have been, Australia requires women to be treated fairly and decently and in the same fashion as men," . . . "If any migrants coming to this country have a different view, they'd better get rid of that view pretty quickly."
Here, here!
Australia is unique in its sense of nationalism. Being "Australian" is a thing, in and of itself, about which certain personal and social "agreements" are inherent in the concept (and the oath of citizenship).
When Howard speaks about integration (into Australian culture/society), and says it "is commonsense and, importantly, it is also a powerful symbol of a new migrant's willingness and enthusiasm about becoming an Australian"he's inviting them to become part of what Australian culture IS, not what it isn't. Austalia is not supposed to be a "parking lot" for non-assimilating idiots.
But the stupic Islam-icks want to remain isolated and backward while they wait for orders to attack. These guys aren't EVER interested in becoming part of any other country than their supposedly eventual "world caliphate" where they can f-ck goats and donkeys and little boys to their heart's content, after they're done raping women, little girls, and mutiliating their genetalia.
#11
"We have already witnessed one incident in Sydney recently in Cronulla," he said in reference to last December's riots. "I don't want these scenes to be repeated because when you antagonize the younger generation ... they are bound to react."
This is not exactly what happened. Actually, he was wearing a pinstriped suit, black shirt, white tie, fedora hat. What he said, in a thick gangster accent was:
"It would be a shame....a REAL shame...if you was to antagonize dem......IF you know what I mean. Cuz if deez young guys was antagonized, dere's no tellin' how angry dey could get. And dey get pretty angry sumptimes. And dey react. bad. REAL bad. So's if youse know whats good for youse, you'll do what we tell ya's ta do. And shaddap about it. And like it. Capisce?"
#12
We have the same problem in uk where only one community does not want to fit into western ideals but wont leave because of the welfare system.End the welfare system and these leeches would scarper!!!!!
#13
We have the same problem in uk where only one community does not want to fit into western ideals but wont leave because of the welfare system.End the welfare system and these leeches would scarper!!!!!
#15
Gotta love John Howard. That sorta clear speak is hard to come by in this country. Fit it, learn English, treat women with respect and shun extremism. Maybe we can convince him to give some clear speaking lessons our our pols.
An Islamic leader warned that the remarks could antagonize Muslims and lead to a repeat of incidents such as the rioting
Threat #2:
Ameer Ali, chairman of an advisory group set up by the government to combat extremism in the 300,000-strong Muslim community, told a radio station the remarks could stoke violence.
Threat #3:
"We have already witnessed one incident in Sydney recently in Cronulla," he said in reference to last December's riots. "I don't want these scenes to be repeated because when you antagonize the younger generation ... they are bound to react."
The Muslim leaders are effectively justifying and giving tacit permission for those who follow them to use violence as they see fit.
Australia has the good sense to understand this sort of thuggish subtext (see post #11 if you are unclear on the subject). All that remains is the instant deportation of those who make these veiled threats, because that's what they are. Extortion, blackmail, whatever you wish to call it. This crap must end and end in a fashion intensely displeasing to those who attempt to lever against society with such thuggishness.
#18
"I don't want these scenes to be repeated because when you antagonize the younger generation ... they are bound to react."
Let 'em. Cave in their fuckin skulls a few times and maybe they'll get the message. The mooks seem to think violence is a one way street. Best they find out that it's not...
#21
""No matter what the culture of the country from which they came might have been, Australia requires women to be treated fairly and decently and in the same fashion as men."
Good looks or not, that is a mouth a woman could kiss. Aussie men are getting hotter everyday.
Posted by: Jules in the Hinterlands ||
09/13/2006 17:47 Comments ||
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#22
Think the short version is "Fit in or f**k off." If the Muslims want to try violence, I think they will find that the Aussies will return it on an apocalyptic scale.
REGENSBURG, Germany Pope Benedict XVI has weighed in on the sensitive issue of rapport between Islam and the West: He said that violence, embodied in the Muslim idea of jihad, or holy war, is contrary to reason and God's plan, while the West was so beholden to reason that Islam could not understand it.
Nonetheless, in a complex treatise delivered Tuesday at the university here where he once taught, he suggested reason as a common ground for a "genuine dialogue of cultures and religions so urgently needed today."
In all, the speech seemed to reflect the Vatican's struggle over how to confront Islam and terrorism, as the 79- year-old pope pursues what is often considered a more provocative, hard- nosed and skeptical approach to Islam than his predecessor, John Paul II.
As such, it distilled many of Benedict's longstanding concerns, about the crisis of faith among Christians and about Islam and its relationship to violence. And he used language open to interpretations that could inflame Muslims, at a time of high tension among religions and three months before he makes a trip to Turkey.
He began his speech by quoting a 14th-century Byzantine emperor, Manuel II Paleologus, in a conversation with a "learned Persian" on Christianity and Islam -"and the truth of both."
"Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached," the pope quoted the emperor.
The pope went on to say that violent conversion to Islam was contrary to reason and thus "contrary to God's nature."
But the section on Islam made up just three paragraphs of the speech, and he devoted the rest to a long examination of how Western science and philosophy had divorced themselves from faith - leading to the secularization of European society that is at the heart of Benedict's worries.
This, he said, has closed off the West from a full understanding of reality, making it also impossible to talk with cultures for whom faith is fundamental.
"The world's profoundly religious cultures see this exclusion from the divine, from the universality of reason as an attack on their most profound convictions," he said. "A reason which is deaf to the divine and which relegates religion into the realm of subcultures is incapable of entering into the dialogue of cultures."
Several experts on the Catholic Church and Islam agreed that the speech - in which Benedict made clear he was quoting other sources on Islam - did not appear to be a major statement on, or condemnation of, Islam. The chief concern, they said, was the West's exclusion of religion from the realm of reason.
Still, they said that the strong words he used in describing Islam, even that of the 14th century, ran the risk of offense.
Renzo Guolo, a professor of the sociology of religion at the University of Padua, in Italy, who often writes about the church and Islam, said he was struck by the suggestion of Islam as distant from reason.
"This is maybe the strongest criticism because he doesn't speak of fundamentalist Islam, but of Islam generally," he said, "Not all Islam, thank God, is fundamentalist."
The Reverend Daniel Madigan, rector of the Institute for the Study of Religions and Cultures at the Pontifical Gregorian University, in Rome, said the central point was that "if we are really going into a serious dialogue with Muslims, we need to take faith seriously."
But, he said of the quote from the emperor, "You clearly take a risk using an example like that."
Marco Politi, a Vatican expert for the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, said that "the text reveals his deep mistrust regarding the aggressive side of Islam."
"Certainly he closes the door to an idea which was very dear to John Paul II - the idea that Christians, Jews and Muslims have the same God and have to pray together to the same God," he said.
The speech was a central moment in Benedict's six-day trip home to visit Bavaria, where he grew up, became a priest, a prominent theologian and, finally, a cardinal.
Earlier in the day, at an outdoor Mass here attended by some 250,000 people, he expressed similar concerns as in the speech, urging believers to stand up against the "hatred and fanaticism" that he said were tarnishing the image of God.
#1
"Certainly he closes the door to an idea which was very dear to John Paul II - the idea that Christians, Jews and Muslims have the same God and have to pray together to the same God," he said.
He is right. Christians and Jews pray to the same God. Muslims pray to a bloodthristy moon god.
#2
I think the Muzzies really liked it when the former pope kissed a copy of the Koran. At least the one who was with him for the phot op really appeared pleased.
#3
He began his speech by quoting a 14th-century Byzantine emperor, Manuel II Paleologus, in a conversation with a "learned Persian" on Christianity and Islam -"and the truth of both."
"Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached," the pope quoted the emperor.
Brings a tear to the eyes, it does. And gives me a reason to finally finish the third volume of the history of Byzantium.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
09/13/2006 13:34 Comments ||
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#5
That paragraph below from the Pope sums up what us and the civilised world must wake up and realise is the evil of islam!!!!!!
"Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached," the pope quoted the emperor.
#8
And we can thank those wonderful marxists for the 70 years of Soviet undermining of western culture which has decimated the religous foundation of Europe. They created a vacuum that Islam is only too happy to fill.
#9
And we can thank those wonderful marxists for the 70 years of Soviet undermining of western culture which has decimated the religous foundation of Europe. They created a vacuum that Islam is only too happy to fill.
Yes, spirituality, and demographically (european wimmen vote with their belly).
But not only Europe.
Haven't you a thing called "Culture war" (while it should be called "resistance against cultural marxism") there in the USA?
#10
"Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached," the pope quoted the emperor.
The pope went on to say that violent conversion to Islam was contrary to reason and thus "contrary to God's nature."
OK. Now that explains the situation quite well. What do you suggest, Pope Benedict? As a non-Catholic Christian, I'd like to know.
#11
The pope went on to say that violent conversion to Islam was contrary to reason and thus "contrary to God's nature."
-hahaha, maybe he should read the whole koran and realize that 90% of the bullshit therein is not only contrary to the nature of the Almighty but to anyone w/half a brain, or anyone having any remote concept of science, anatomy, medicine, government, philosophy........
#2
That's the cost of being Jewish in Europe these days. What are these people fussing about? If the rest of their society cared, the Palestinians wouldn't be all the rage over there, now would it?
Posted by: DanNY ||
09/13/2006 05:43 ||
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#1
He contended that even though the vast majority of Muslims firmly oppose terrorism, most believe that the West must understand that extremism and terror are difficult to eradicate as long as civilian Muslims face discrimination and are killed by western acts of war.
Asked for his honest opinion on the terrorist organization al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden, the imam said "I think this is something thats been made up." He also questioned whether the September 11 attacks were actually orchestrated by Muslims, and lent credence to so-called "conspiracy theories" that suggest otherwise.
Either he doesn't get out much or he's a brazen liar, LOL. I think I know which one applies here...
#3
He contended that even though the vast majority of Muslims firmly oppose terrorism, most believe that the West must understand that extremism and terror are difficult to eradicate as long as civilian Muslims face discrimination and are killed by western acts of war.
Translation: "So long as you resist, we'll kill you."
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
09/13/2006 7:22 Comments ||
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#4
So who's the guy in the videos?
Posted by: Bobby ||
09/13/2006 9:17 Comments ||
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#5
I was talking about the "Al Qaeda Doesn't Exist" theory last night in the "O Club," but under the leftist conspiracy theory viewpoint rather than the Moslem immigrant one:
The Left is always saying that Al Qaeda doesn't exist.
Do they have a plan if the face-behind-the-mask isn't Dick Chainey but instead a loose conspiracy of Sudanese, Saudis, and Pakistani intelligence agents?
(and later)
I know this sounds like an odd thing to say about a bunch of conspiracy theorists, but the truth is they are neither imaginitive enough or paranoid enough. Believing that Dick Cheney is the devil is "safe" compared to thinking that the 9/11 attacks were really orchestrated by a foreign nuclear-armed state via proxies.
(but wait, there's more)
Beelzechainey could, after all, be thwarted by a bunch of ace rookie reporters just like Trickey Dick was. In WPL (Hmm. Western Plaguelands?) they'd just behead the reporter like they did to Daniel Pearl.
Negative flip sides to "Al Qaeda doesn't exist" for Moslem immigrants instead of rage-against-my-allowance twentysomething high school students are left as an exercise for the reader.
Hmmm... They both have beards, but the North Pole would seem awfully uncomfortable for someone from Saudi Arabia... But Norway is awfully close to 90 Degress North, so maybe the "Imam" has info we don't?
The Dutch Minister of Justice Piet Hein Donner seems to have lost his mind. In an interview he stated that he would welcome Islam as a new pilar of the Dutch society. He also wont oppose the implementation of sharia the strict islamic law in the Netherlands if a 2/3 majority wants it.
He said that the majority counts because that is what democracy is about. In the interview he also critisises politicians that "rage a religious war against Islam" since the the attacks on 9/11. Than he also sees a violent confrontation with young muslims coming up in the Netherlands. He said he would like to have some one from the European Arab party in the parliament to deal with these problems.
He even named Abou Jahjah as an potential candidate for this job. Mr Jahjah has openly supported the Hezbollah and other terror organisations in the past.
The interview with The Dutch minster of Justice Piet Hein Donner will be published in the Dutch weekly Vrij Nederland and in a book which will be published this week.
#1
The very crystallization of the Euro-Viewpoint.
Posted by: J. D. Lux ||
09/13/2006 11:13 Comments ||
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#2
If 2/3 of the Dutch want his head on a pike, would that be okay, too? So can we get a show of hands here? All in favor of putting this asshole down before he gives away your very existence...
Geez, talk about too stupid to live abject dhimmitude...
#9
gromky, everyone knows Qusling was a Norwegian... we are talking "quisling" here, not "Quisling". The name was adopted as description of certain specific set of behavior.
#11
At al-Amst al-Ordam, in the al-Khaland province of The Islamic Caliphate of Eurabia, al-P'it al-D'ner, self-appointed chief executioner of Western Civilization, celebrated with his friends a stoning party, where a number of Christians, and Joooooooz, were executed as a public example of defiance of Sharia....
Americas newest Muslims arrive in the afternoon crunch at John F. Kennedy International Airport. Their planes land from Dubai, Casablanca and Karachi. They stand in line, clasping documents. They emerge, sometimes hours later, steering their carts toward a flock of relatives, a stream of cabs, a new life.
This was the path for Nur Fatima, a Pakistani woman who moved to Brooklyn six months ago and promptly shed her hijab. Through the same doors walked Nora Elhainy, a Moroccan who sells electronics in Queens, and Ahmed Youssef, an Egyptian who settled in Jersey City, where he gives the call to prayer at a palatial mosque. I got freedom in this country, said Ms. Fatima, 25. Freedom of everything. Freedom of thought.
The events of Sept. 11 transformed life for Muslims in the United States, and the flow of immigrants from countries like Egypt, Pakistan and Morocco thinned sharply. But five years later, as the United States wrestles with questions of terrorism, civil liberties and immigration control, Muslims appear to be moving here again in surprising numbers, according to statistics collected by the Department of Homeland Security and the Census Bureau.
Immigrants from predominantly Muslim countries in the Middle East, North Africa and Asia are planting new roots in states from Virginia to Texas to California. In 2005, more people from Muslim countries became legal permanent United States residents nearly 96,000 than in any year in the previous two decades. Our government hasn't learned a thing.
More than 40,000 of them were admitted last year, the highest annual number since the terrorist attacks, according to data on 22 countries provided by the Department of Homeland Security.
Many have made the journey unbowed by tales of immigrant hardship, and despite their own opposition to American policy in the Middle East. They come seeking the same promise that has drawn foreigners to the United States for many decades, according to a range of experts and immigrants: economic opportunity and political freedom. Those lures, both powerful and familiar, have been enough to conquer fears that America is an inhospitable place for Muslims. America has always been the promised land for Muslims and non-Muslims, said Behzad Yaghmaian, an Iranian exile and author of Embracing the Infidel: Stories of Muslim Migrants on the Journey West. And how often do you call Americans infidels?
Despite Muslims opposition to Americas foreign policy, they still come here because the United States offers what theyre missing at home.
For Ms. Fatima, it was the freedom to dress as she chose and work as a security guard. For Mr. Youssef, it was the chance to earn a masters degree. He came in spite of the deep misgivings that he and many other Egyptians have about the war in Iraq and the Bush administration. In America, he said, one needs to distinguish between the government and the people. News flash: In America the people ARE the government, except when the government acts in direct opposition to the stated wishes of the majoritiy of the people, like letting you in the country. By going against the wishes of the vast majority, the government will be voted out.
Who am I dealing with, Bush or the American public? he said. Am I dealing with my future in Egypt or my future here?
Muslims have been settling in the United States in significant numbers since the mid-1960s, after immigration quotas that favored Eastern Europeans were lifted. Spacious mosques opened in Chicago, Los Angeles and New York as a new, highly educated Muslim population took hold. Link: the King Fahd mosque
Over the next three decades, the story of Muslim migration to the United States was marked by growth and prosperity. A larger percentage of immigrants from Muslim countries have graduate degrees than other American residents, and their average salary is about 20 percent higher, according to census data.
But Sept. 11 altered the course of Muslim life in America. Mosques were vandalized. Hate crimes rose. Many falsely reported. Care to compare the bodycounts of Americans killed and maimed my muslim jihad in the US vs. citizens killing muslims in retaliation?
Deportation proceedings began against thousands of men. Some Muslims changed their names to avoid job discrimination, making Mohammed Moe, and Osama Sam. Scores of families left for Canada.
Yet this period also produced something strikingly positive, in the eyes of many Muslims: they began to mobilize politically and socially. Across the country, grass-roots groups expanded to educate Muslims on civil rights, register them to vote and lobby against new federal policies such as the Patriot Act. There was the option of becoming introverted or extroverted, said Agha Saeed, national chairman of the American Muslim Task Force on Civil Rights and Elections, an umbrella organization in Newark, Calif. We became extroverted.
In some ways, new Muslim immigrants may be better off in the post-9/11 America they encounter today, say Muslim leaders: Islamic centers are more organized, and resources like English instruction and free legal help are more accessible. But outside these newly organized mosques, life remains strained for many Muslims. To avoid taunts, women are often warned not to wear head scarves in public, as was Rubab Razvi, 21, a Pakistani who arrived in Brooklyn nine months ago. (She ignored the advice, even though people stare at her on the bus, she said.) Muslims continue to endure long waits at airports, where they are often tagged for questioning. Americans are funny that way. We'd rather inconvience you than get blown up while travelling.
To some longtime immigrants, the life embraced by newcomers will never compare to the peaceful era that came before. They havent seen the America pre-9/11, said Khwaja Mizan Hassan, 42, who left Bangladesh 30 years ago. He rose to become the president of Jamaica Muslim Center, a mosque in Queens, and has a comfortable job with the New York City Department of Probation. But after Sept. 11, he was stopped at Kennedy Airport because his name matched one on a watch list. 1. The Islamic Thinkers Society (a subsidiary Al Muhajrioun) is closely tied to the Islamic Circle of North America (Muslim Brotherhood) which operates out of Jamaica, Queens. 2. Jamaica Muslim Center sponsors The Islamic Thinkers Society
A Drop, Then a Surge
Up to six million Muslims live in the United States, by some estimates. Yes, CAIR's, try 1.8 million via the most comprehensive survey in 2000.
While the Census Bureau and the Department of Homeland Security do not track religion, both provide statistics on immigrants from predominantly Muslim countries. It is presumed that many of these immigrants are Muslim, but people of other faiths, such as Iraqi Chaldeans and Egyptian Copts, have also come in appreciable numbers. By Jove, I think this reporter almost got it.
Immigration from these regions slowed considerably after Sept. 11. Fewer people were issued green cards and nonimmigrant visas. By 2003, the number of immigrants arriving from 22 Muslim countries had declined by more than a third. For students, tourists and other nonimmigrants from these countries, the drop was even more dramatic, with total visits down by nearly half. Should have doubled the drop.
The falloff affected immigrants from across the post-9/11 world as America tightened its borders, but it was most pronounced among those moving here from Pakistan, Morocco, Iran and other Muslim nations. Several factors might explain the drop: more visa applications were rejected due to heightened security procedures, said officials at the State Department and Department of Homeland Security; and fewer people applied for visas.
But starting in 2004, the numbers rebounded. The tally of people coming to live in the United States from Bangladesh, Turkey, Algeria and other Muslim countries rose by 20 percent, according to an analysis of Census Bureau data. The uptick was also notable among foreigners with nonimmigrant visas. More than 55,000 Indonesians, for instance, were issued those visas last year, compared with roughly 36,000 in 2002.
The rise does not reflect relaxed security measures, but a higher number of visa applications and greater efficiency in processing them, said Chris Bentley, a spokesman for United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, part of Homeland Security. Like VisaExpress?
Like other immigrants, Muslims find their way to the United States in myriad ways: they come as refugees, or as students and tourists. Others arrive with immigrant visas secured by relatives here. A lucky few win the green-card lottery. Ahmed Youssef, 29, never thought he would be among the winners. But in 2003, Mr. Youssef, who taught Arabic in Egypt, was one of 50,000 people randomly chosen from 9.5 million applicants around the world. As he prepared to leave Benha, a city north of Cairo, some friends asked him how he could move to a country that is killing people in Iraq and Afghanistan, he recalled. But others who had been to the United States encouraged him to go.
He arrived in May 2005, and he found work loading hot dog carts from sunrise to sundown. He shared an apartment in Washington Heights with other Egyptians, but for the first month, he never saw his neighborhood in daylight. I joked to my roommates, When am I going to see America? said Mr. Youssef, a slight man with thinning black hair and an easy smile. Only three months later, when he began selling hot dogs on Seventh Avenue, did Mr. Youssef discover his new country. He missed hearing the call to prayer, and thought nothing of unrolling his prayer rug beside his cart until other vendors warned him against it. He could be mistaken for an extremist, they told him.
Eventually, Mr. Youssef found a job as the secretary of the Islamic Center of Jersey City. He plans to apply to a masters program at Columbia University, specializing in Arabic. Like when I was growing up, the Spanish classes were stuffed with kids born in Mexico. No educational value, but an easy A.
For now, he lives in a spare room above the mosque. Near his bed, he keeps a daily log of his prayers. If he makes them on time, he writes Correct in Arabic. I am much better off here than selling hot dogs, he said. Great. killing people in Iraq and Afghanistan, and living in a mosque that sponsors the genocidal Islamic Thinker's Society. Thank you very much Homeland Insecurity.
Awash in American Flags
Nur Fatima landed in Midwood, Brooklyn, at a propitious time. Had she come three years earlier, she would have seen a neighborhood in crisis. Hundreds of Pakistani immigrants disappeared after being asked to register with the government. Thirty shops closed along a stretch of Coney Island Avenue known as Little Pakistan. The number of new Urdu-speaking pupils at the local elementary school, Public School 217, dropped by half in the 2002-3 school year. That happens when 10,000 Pakistani illegals flee to Canada to avoid La Migra.
But then Little Pakistan got organized. Papers? We doan need no steenkin papers.
A local businessman, Moe Razvi, converted a former antique store into a community center offering legal advice, computer classes and English instruction. Local Muslim leaders began meeting with federal agents to soothe relations. The annual Pakistan Independence Day parade is now awash in American flags.
It is a transformation seen in Muslim immigrant communities around the nation. They have to prove that they are living here as Muslim Americans rather than living as Pakistanis and Egyptians and other nationalities, said Zahid H. Bukhari, the director of the American Muslim Studies Program at Georgetown University.
Ms. Fatima arrived in Brooklyn from Pakistan in March with an immigrant visa. She began by taking English classes at Mr. Razvis center, the Council of Peoples Organization. She has heard stories of the neighborhoods former plight but sees a different picture. This is a land of opportunity, Ms. Fatima said. There is equality for everyone.
Five days after she came to Brooklyn, Ms. Fatima removed her head scarf, which she had been wearing since she was 10. She began to change her thinking, she said: She liked living in a country where people respected the privacy of others and did not interfere with their religious or social choices. I came to the United States because I want to improve myself, she said. This is a second birth for me.
Posted by: ed ||
09/13/2006 10:39 ||
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#2
This is nothing but PC bullshit propaganda. We need to immediately stop entry of any Muzzies into this country. They pretend compliance just until their numbers rise. We need to start plans for mass deportation of all Mooselimbs from this country. We need to start thinking about large detention camps. This is every bit as dangerous here as in Europe. We have no doubt what is happening there. We stand by idly while this plays out right in our faces. Has everyone lost all common sense and a sense of survival and preservation ?
#3
Six months ago I would have said:
If they remain Muzzies, despite all the warm and fuzzy BS about opportunities, freedoms, shedding hijabs, yadda, then they do not belong here, period. Islam is incompatible with freedom. The days comes when they will have to choose between them.
#7
" . . . after she came to Brooklyn, Ms. Fatima removed her head scarf, which she had been wearing since she was 10. She began to change her thinking, she said: She liked living in a country where people respected the privacy of others and did not interfere with their religious or social choices. I came to the United States because I want to improve myself, she said. This is a second birth for me.
See -- it's the women who know what's up with Islam. Even though I don't want to see any more Islam-ick extremists or supports of such in this country, we gotta remember the other side of the coin. I mean if you were a forward-thinking Moslem female, wouldn't YOU want to get the hell out of your Islamic stink hole?
#9
Khwaja Mizan Hassan, 42, who left Bangladesh 30 years ago. He rose to become the president of Jamaica Muslim Center, a mosque in Queens, and has a comfortable job with the New York City Department of Probation.
What an ideal position to recruit dissaffected felons to islam. Hassan is an enemy agent and the Jamaica Muslim Center an enemy base on US soil.
Posted by: ed ||
09/13/2006 13:14 Comments ||
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#10
and has a comfortable job with the New York City Department of Probation.
#11
The big problem is that even if these folks are all good and fine and cuddly modern Muslims it means the exact type folks needed to turn Muslim nations around are not in those Muslim nations where they are needed.
It is the same problem we've seen with Cuba. Yeah the Cubans that come to America are great people but Castro might not have survived so long without that pressure valve letting off steam.
Same with Mexico and its corrupt political mess. Same with most of the third world. We have to learn that sometimes our helping the individuals screws the masses.
#13
Vote out all politicians, democrat or republican who do not approve restrictions on immigration from Muslim majority countries. This is more important than the current Mexican illegal alien problem and more easily implemented. Allowing continued Muslim immigration is national suicide. One look at Europe is all that should be required.
#16
While your at at it.. lets stop all the Jews, Indians, Europeans, or anybody that can contribute to your ungrateful country. who cares any way....in 10 more years China will be bigger than the US ever was. Everybody can just pack up and go there.
#1
Al-Asi wrote about Jewish "control" of Western countries' and the end of Israel, "The Israeli Zionists have convinced themselves that their presence in Palestine is permanent. They have even managed to deceive world public opinion into believing this myth. The brainwashing that has gone into this effort is phenomenal
A Muslim talking about "brainwashing". Pardon me while I laugh hysterically.
Normally I would interlace the article with a number of smarmy, but witty (of course) comments. But I think this article, especially regarding character issues with Natelie Maines, speaks for itself. She comes across as a bitter, foul-mouthed, immature bi***. The two sisters appear to be having some 2nd thoughts. Read the whole thing.
The international press won't get their first look at the documentary Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing until its gala premiere at the Toronto Film Festival tonight. But EW.com got an early look at the sure-to-be-controversial doc in Los Angeles and can attest that the film will continue to bring the (ex?) country trio more plaudits from progressives and further condemnation from conservatives. And if you think singer Natalie Maines had some harsh words for President Bush in public, wait till you hear what she had to say about him behind the scenes.
In one memorable scene, Maines watches news footage of the president being interviewed about the furor that followed the singer's on-stage comment that she was ''ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas,'' which resulted in the group being dropped from most radio stations, as well as protests and plummeting sales. ''The Dixie Chicks are free to speak their mind,'' Bush told Tom Brokaw at the time, adding, ''They shouldn't have their feelings hurt just because some people don't want to buy their records when they speak out. You know, freedom is a two-way street.''
Continued on Page 49
#5
'Now that we've f---ed ourselves, I think we have a responsibility to continue to f--- ourselves'
And there you have it. BDS, Moonbattery, LLLism, Tranzism, PCism, all rolled into one, perfectly defined. Don't learn anything, just do even more of what proves you're a loser who has no grasp of reality. Have you, by design or simple opportune idiocy, made yourself into an icon of rash infantile stupidity? Well okaaay then, cash in on it! There will "always" be similar losers who will part with some scratch to maintain you... until there's not. Then, as Besoeker points out, you will move on to your new career in the service industry.
Perhaps, hand in hand with the immediate gratification phenomenon so prevalent today, is a type of time myopia, call it a now bubble, where those who are in the thrall of the first symptom have no future vision, no concept of ramifications, no appreciation for cause -> effect.
Now where have we seen that before?
I haves a theory, heh...
There is no appreciable difference between our native-grown Moonbat idjits and the Muzzbat idjits, except the local variety, call them HedoNazis, try to drown themselves in what they imagine to be outrageous, er, pioneering, self-gratification while the Muzzy variety tries to drown itself in IslamoNazi self-defeating hate.
Sure, they're both demonstrably "surplus", humans which are simply "broken", beyond help or hope, and a generally degrading influence on all they come in contact with, thus worthy of warehousing or eradication by any society which hope to survive in the real Darwinistic world. But in the end, they merely "fry themselves up", LOL, to no substantive effect - assuming we're paying attention and acting upon common sense. I think of them as social mine canaries. They voluntarily extinguish themselves in their pompous deluded dementia - and show us where the behavioral boundaries are for any society that maintains a will to actually survive the slings and arrows (LOL) of evolutionary mutation.
Our Moonbats, as long as we keep the numbers in check, thus provide us a valuable, though temporary, service. As we identify each new outbreak, we must strap 'em down and pump 'em full of the latest warehousing compounds - or snuff 'em, if the society has reached that level of realism. Surplus is surplus. Historically, we squander our societal assets as far as is demanded by the, then current, societal squeamishness. A waste, but necessary to mollify the half-measures segment.
The Muzzbats, since they indoctrinate from birth and embrace tenets which both dissuade individuals from thinking as individuals as well as threaten upon pain of death anyone from straying, prove their society has no place, provides no value, and deserves summary removal. So remove them. Do it well, do it thoroughly, make it permanent and irreversible. We've seen the resurgence of other pathogenic dangers, such as polio, when their extinction was obviously left incomplete... Learn from those mistakes. Remove with extreme prejudice.
I (now) join all of the others here who have decided our squishy-soft approach toward these surplus people has played out and they've proven themselves unworthy. I had hopes and tried to convince myself otherwise, but hell, color me non-squishy, now. I'm late to the reality, but I get it.
Sorry for the bandwidth. I've been re-evaluating this stuff a lot, lately. Yesterday's comments have finally been digested, the reality accepted, and that quote just opened the door for saying what I've concluded. I'm always late, it seems, LOL. So sue me, LOL.
#6
ROFL! Uh, that was a "fun" read, flyover. I think you're onto something there, too. Something fundamental and relevant. More!
A warm welcome to the growing club. I'm still working to get past my own remaining "squishy-soft" indoctrination... the domestic pussification program, intensely supported by every internal enemy in our midst, has affected most everyone born after WW-II in some degree - and dealt me a glancing blow, too. But I know where I gotta go, and that there's actually no other choice anyway, though that doesn't make it easy for anyone. :-)
#7
Initially, sisters Emily Robison and Martie Seidel seem downcast over their apparently nose-diving popularity, but Maines assures them, ''I think this is better for our career.''
Post this in the "We're Lost, But Making Great Time" column.
#9
Good read flyover. My disgust/anger with the moonbat crowd seems to move on an emotional sin wave. September is a tough month and October, a bad month for Night Stalkers, becomes unlivable.
Rantburg, through folks like TW .com and LOTP, know their history and bring historical snips of moonbats from every war. As I look through American history in wartime coupled with my education here on this site it seems that this is what a democracy looks like during war. This also looks like it is about average when we talk moonbats. The ignorant can be tenacious in their beliefs. We must stay vigilant in our internal struggle to keep the moonbats at bay and out of power, our civilization depends on it. When this is over they will fade into the footnotes as pacifists and apologists.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
09/13/2006 8:55 Comments ||
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#10
Welcome to the reality club, flyover. We will take all the good people we can get to combat the LLL.
I guess the Dixie chicks are really shooting for the Canadian LLL audiance.
#11
"This also looks like it is about average when we talk moonbats"
Not to disagree with you 49 Pan, but I think it's way more than any previous war, except for maybe Vietnam. Yes, moonbats have always been around in one form or another in every war we've fought, but due to the explosion of the information age, the vehement anti-US 'blame America first' movement has a much louder voice than before. Sad to say, but we used to be united, and moonbats were the lunatic fringe---and treated as such. Now they're mainstream. We do have a divided electorate. The next few years could very well decide if we can step back from the brink of oblivion into rationality again.
#12
Maybe my disgust with them has reached its limit and thier retoric is blocked from my hearing. Now when I'm out and I hear them talking, I'm not angered or even willing to debate them. I do point them out to whoever I'm with as an example of what heppens when ignorance over rides logic and common sense.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
09/13/2006 9:53 Comments ||
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#13
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#16
[golf clap] Superb rant, flyover. Better late than never!
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/13/2006 11:05 Comments ||
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#17
ignore them. It's the sweetest response
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/13/2006 11:35 Comments ||
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#18
Concerts crashed and burn. But the sale charts said otherwise reporting big movement. Hmmm...wonder if the FTC would stick its nose into something that indicates fraud or attempted manipulation of the interstate market?
Brilliant! Such eloquence - such creativity! Sean Penn could not have done better.
/do I really need a sarc tag?
Perhaps, hand in hand with the immediate gratification phenomenon so prevalent today, is a type of time myopia, call it a now bubble, where those who are in the thrall of the first symptom have no future vision, no concept of ramifications, no appreciation for cause -> effect.
That paragraph nails my teenage son. But at least he has the excuse of still-tender years.
It also explains why the Dixie Chicks have made such a point of saying good riddance. "I'd rather have a smaller following of really cool people who get it," says Maguire, "who will grow with us as we grow and are fans for life, than people that have us in their five-disc changer with Reba McEntire and Toby Keith. We don't want those kinds of fans. They limit what you can do."
RE: Record sales - those numbers a very much like the bottom line on a Hollywood film. That is to say they're pretty much what the record company wants them to be. The numbers can be juggled sufficiently without fraud that the company can look at you with a straight face and say, 'It's doing fine', but in reality not a lot of albums are being sold.
As of today, the DC's are at #7 on the Billboard Country Chart - pretty good until you remember that they are on a North American tour, and they should be doing a bit better than that.
But let's take a look at their tour schedule for a second, shall we? From October 6th through November 8th, they're out of the country. Any takers that Miss Natalie will be mouthing off left and right? She never seems to say much when she has to face the people who are buying most of their albums.
And I think the other two are really biting their tongues - not sure how much longer they're going to put up with it.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
09/13/2006 15:16 Comments ||
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#25
49 Pan, can I quote you from your post in #9? "The ignorant can be tenacious in their beliefs." That has email signature line all over it. Thanks!
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
09/13/2006 19:09 Comments ||
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#27
Well, they better be pulling in a ton of foreign sales (both record and concert tickets) to make up for the falling ones here. I really doubt they are, and that's the only bottom line that counts. If this keeps up, their label will cut their losses at the soonest opportunity.
I mean, whoopee, they're at #7, but that's only with a ton of hype, and it's less than half of their sales before all this crap exploded. Add to that the cancelled concerts/smaller venues in strong country markets, toss in country stations that are refusing to play any of their music (even the older pre-controversy songs), and you got yourself a problem bigger than Natalie's derriere.
#28
Stupidity is a terminal illness. It may be like cancer, and take a decade to kill you, or it could be like a rifle bullet and happen instantaneously. Either way, it'll get you. That applies to individuals, groups, and societies. European stupidity is on the verge of destroying several societies. The stupidity of the Dixie Chicks, insulting their primary audience, making stupid statements overseas, and just plain screwing up will bring their careers to a painful dead end. SO sorry, but that's the price of stupidity. Hope you socked some of that money you earned earlier away, gals - you're going to need it.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
09/13/2006 22:41 Comments ||
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#29
Hope you socked some of that money you earned earlier away, gals - you're going to need it.
Whatever money they don't have socked away they can make up in tips.
#30
re:#4, besoeker. Speaking as a Georgian (I believe you're one too), "I'm ashamed that the Dixie Twits are now Waffle House waitresses in my home State." I don't want 'em. Good riddance, I say.
Posted by: BA ||
09/13/2006 23:20 Comments ||
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#31
This bitch needs to be raped and beaten so she falls off planet Imspecial and lands back on Earth.
I'm adopting the enemy's tactics.
Rosie O'Fat on her moral equivalency warpath already. Does anybody actually watch 'The View'? Rosie ODonnell: " And just one second, radical Christianity is just as threatening as radical Islam in a country like America." Elisabeth Hasselbeck: We are not bombing ourselves here in this country. ODonnell: "No, but we are bombing innocent people in other countries. True or false?" Joy Behar: "But, but Christians are not threatening to kill us. Theres that difference. This group is threatening to kill us."
-- Exchange among Rosie ODonnell, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, and Joy Behar, The View, ABC, Sept. 12, 2006.
#13
Since there's no difference, she should abandon the much-hated U.S. and go live in a country with radical islam.
I know she's rich, but I'd still gladly chip in for the plane fare.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
09/13/2006 20:44 Comments ||
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#14
And in THE VIEW's audience, there's the future Amerikan Poliburo-Prezidium. most of their faces-bodies in the shadows of dark lights + clapping their hands > THEY-WHOM-MUST-NOT-BE-NAMED = THEY-WHOM-CANNOT/MUST NOT-BE-SEEN-BUT-MUST-BE-OBEYED.
ROSIE must be a KOFI-ite > the USA-West must give up its WW2 charge to ensure that the post-Leagueof Nations UNO is successful AND WHILE STILL PAYING THE SINGULAR BULK OF THE UNO'S COSTS WITHOUT ASKING WHERE THE $$$, aka US-ONLY PUBLIC TAX DOLLARS, WENT.
The Bush administration has won concessions from key Senate Republicans in proposed legislation on standards for detainee treatment and the rules for military trials of terrorism suspects, although some disagreements persist between the lawmakers and the White House, Senate sources said yesterday.
The disagreements that remain involve whether suspects can be convicted with evidence they are never allowed to see, an approach favored by the administration but opposed by the Republican senators. The two sides also still differ over the terms of a related amendment to the U.S. War Crimes Act that would limit the exposure of CIA officials and other civilian personnel to prosecution for abusive treatment of detainees, the sources said.
In a sign that Congress is nonetheless preparing to act quickly to establish "military commissions," as the trials are known, and provide other legal relief sought by the administration, the Senate trio at odds with the White House circulated a revised bill yesterday containing their concessions.
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John W. Warner (R-Va.), Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) last week had circulated a draft that diverged more sharply from the White House's version. But President Bush's speech on the plan Wednesday, when he announced his intention to put 14 key terrorism suspects on trial, has made Senate Republicans more wary of bucking the White House.
House Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), meanwhile, announced yesterday that he has drafted a competing bill that closely tracks the administration's preferences. He said it would be marked up by his committee on Wednesday.
Lawmakers thus will be considering three bills -- the Senate and House bills plus the administration's own bill -- that contain many provisions the administration has sought. This prospect has raised concerns among human rights groups and defense attorneys who say the plans offer inadequate protections for defendants and would set a precedent for the use of similarly worrisome rules at foreign trials of captured U.S. personnel.
Can anyone name a country that, since the end of WWII, had held US military personnel prisoner in a war situation and respected their rights? Anyone? Bueller?
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/13/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Bush has got to take them on when confronting the big issues. He's ceded far too much ground with regard to Executive powers.
Posted by: Captain America ||
09/13/2006 0:40 Comments ||
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#2
But-t-t, US Laws do not apply, or is not suppos to apply, to non-US citizens andor non-legal US aliens or residents, to include armed members of any group or faction not internationally recognized as being employed by, or an entity of, another sovereign Gummermint. And while a Fed Judge has ruled that portions of Geneva apply to terrorists, to my knowledge the US Congress has not formally legislated any changes in the laws, which basically means nothing will change for Islamist Detainees until the Congress does. ERGO, CAN BE "TORTURED" WID GLAZED CHICKEN AND CHRISTINA VIDEOS FOREVER - BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA..
#3
Why "since the end of" WWII? It's not like Japan and Germany treated POWs humanely. Name a country that has ever respected the rights of US prisoners. Our only hope of that is to go to war with Britain, Australia, or Canada (before they're overrun by Muslims, that is).
Posted by: ST ||
09/13/2006 8:50 Comments ||
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#4
Germany by and large did respect our prisoners, as did the Italians. It wasn't a good life as a prisoner, of course, but the Int'l Red Thingy was allowed in, parcels did arrive, and our prisoners were treated much better than the Russkies.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/13/2006 11:09 Comments ||
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#5
Malmedy.
Posted by: ST ||
09/13/2006 12:30 Comments ||
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#6
You just have to google -
"Inspired by a documentary film by World War II veteran Charles Guggenheim, "Berga: Soldiers of Another War," (PBS, 2003), Cohen's carefully researched, fully documented and elegantly written book should be read by everybody who thinks the war crimes of the Germans were limited to fellow Europeans. In "Soldiers and Slaves," he tells the story of 350 American POWs captured in the final days of 1944 and the first few days of 1945 during the Battle of the Bulge and how they were transported to a slave labor camp near the city of Berga on the Elster River in eastern Germany to construct underground facilities to produce and store synthetic fuel.
The POWs arrived in February 1945 to find themselves working in appalling conditions alongside European slave laborers, many of them from nearby concentration and death camps. Cohen, a foreign affairs correspondent for The New York Times, incorporates into the story of the Americans the parallel tale of Mordecai Hauer, a young Hungarian Jew transported to Berga from Auschwitz, where his mother was murdered. Hauer, blond and blue-eyed, could be played by actor Owen Wilson, Ben Stiller's sidekick in so many movies. As a young man, he looked just like Wilson.
What makes the 350 prisoners unusual is that they were chosen because they were Jewish, or looked Jewish to their German captors, or were "troublemakers." The non-Jews among the POWs included Johann "Hans" Kasten, an Hawaiian-born private of German descent who was repeatedly beaten by his captors because he refused to distinguish between Jews and non-Jews among the POWs.
To Kasten, a loyal American soldier who contributed to Cohen's account of Berga, his captors were the ones dishonoring German culture and tradition and he finally managed to escape along with two other prisoners. The Kasten family is prominent in Milwaukee financial circles. Kasten, born in 1916, told Cohen that he was raised a Lutheran but really was a devout atheist. He was a self-described hell raiser. After the war he moved to Manila, vowing after his ordeal in Berga to "never live in a place where it snows." He is a retired manufacturing executive. He sounds like a guy I'd like to meet!
The rest, including about 80 American Jews selected at Stalag IX-B near the spa city of Bad Orb before being shipped off to Berga, were worked to exhaustion digging tunnels. At least 73 of the 350 died or were killed by the Germans led by an exceptionally brutal German National Guard sergeant, Erwin Metz. Metz was imprisoned by for less than 10 years by the Americans; by way of contrast, SS Lt. Willy Hack, another brutal slave-driver, was captured by the Russians in 1951, tried and hanged in 1952. When Kasten was liberated by American soldiers, he went on a fruitless but vividly described quest in a commandeered Mercedes to find and kill Hack.
Despite a thorough investigation by a U.S. Army major named Vowell, the very existence of American POW's at Berga was hushed up by high-ranking American officials. Cohen says the American powers that be decided we needed the Germans - even the worst war criminals among them - in our cold war against the Soviets. This was also the case with another beneficiary of slave labor named Werner Von Braun, as well as Albert Speer, who was spared hanging at Nuremberg.
All the survivors of Berga had to sign a document ensuring secrecy about the German slave labor camp. Despite Major Vowell's comprehensive report, bureaucrats denied the existence of the camp to inquiring relatives of those who died. None of the survivors received U.S. Army compensation or disability benefits based on their mistreatment at the camp. It wasn't until a few years ago that the Germans themselves finally paid compensation to the surviving POWs under slave labor legislation enacted under pressure from death camp survivors and nations, including Russia and Israel.
Metz was released from prison in the mid 1950s. The author presents convincing evidence that he murdered in cold blood Morton Goldstein, a German-speaking Jewish soldier, "while attempting to escape." The dispute over Goldstein and the cover-up by American forces was deplored by Kasten and all the other survivors of Berga.
The methodical Germans closed down Berga as Allied forces neared and led the POWs and the concentration camp workers on separate death marches, following a pattern described by author Daniel J. Goldhagen, Max Hastings and other historians. The senseless forced march resulted in the deaths of at least 50 of the estimated 73 among the POWs. The European prisoners fared even worse-including being shot for stealing apples along the march route. To the "law-abiding" Germans, this constituted "theft of German property"! "
#8
Or the way Pfc. Thomas Lowell Tucker and Pfc. Kristian Menchaca were barbarically tortured and slaughtered and and the video released for muslims to masturbate to. Our laws are for the civilized. Fuck the barbarians.
Posted by: ed ||
09/13/2006 15:17 Comments ||
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Establishments catering to gringo underage drinkers, Americans wanting to toke up in Canada, and Tijuana donkey shows expected to be hardest hit....
If you're thinking of flying or taking a cruise in 2007 that will include destinations in Canada, the Caribbean or Mexico, you should plan to get a passport this fall.
Under new government regulations, by Dec. 31, travelers to and from the Caribbean, Mexico and Canadaplus Bermuda and Panamawill be required to have a passport to enter or re-enter the United States. A year later, on Dec. 31, 2007, the requirement will be extended to all land-based border crossings as well.
This is a change from prior travel requirements under which you could go to Canada, Mexico or most Caribbean countries and re-enter the U.S. with a driver's license and birth certificate.
Only about 25 percent of Americans have current, valid passports. But the State Department is experiencing unprecedented demand for passports, due in part to this new regulation. More than 10 million passports were issued during the last fiscal year, and the State Department reports that it is on track to issue over 13 million this year.
#3
Wonder if they'll accept the Military ID card from our troops at Ft. Drum [10th Mountain Division] just across the border from Canada and an hour or so drive from beautiful Kingston, or from Ft Bliss, soon to be home of the 1st AD? Was good enough to travel cross borders in Europe back in the 70s and 80s. But then again, the core apparatchik of the State Department never liked the uniform military.
#6
bzzzt! Nitpick! Tiajuana is the river (home of sewage and hazardous materials)... Tijuana is the City (home of painted zebras donkeys, donkey shows, and whores old enuf to be yo grandma), RWV - thought you were local?
from a born and raised San Diegan (Hilltop High '77) :-)
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/13/2006 21:51 Comments ||
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(KUNA) -- Immediately after a failed suicide attack on the US embassy in the Syrian capital, Pakistan Tuesday beefed up security around US and other western missions as well as western interests in the country, said officials.
Here in the capital and in the southern port city of Karachi police patrolling was increased and heavy police and Rangers deployment circled the diplomatic enclave following the Damascus bombings, security officials told KUNA. They said security had also been strengthened around the foreign fast food chains, and other buildings. "Security has been put on high alert as before", said Tariq Yasin, the police chief of Islamabad's diplomatic protection department, told reporters.
Security across the country was already on high alert on the eve of the fifth anniversary of 9/11. Pakistan is a key US ally in the global war against terrorism.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/13/2006 00:00 ||
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Pakistan does not need US-led coalition forces based in Afghanistan to help them capture Osama Bin Laden on home soil, NWFP Governor Jan Orakzai said on Tuesday. "If Osama's presence is confirmed in any part of our area adjoining Afghanistan, or for that matter anywhere in Pakistan, we have these troops stationed there to carry out that job," the governor told a press conference. "We have not deployed our 80,000 troops for nothing. They are there for a purpose," he said. "We are guarding practically all the possible crossing routes."
"We have our friends with electronic intelligence," Mr Orakzai said. "We have our own means of electronic intelligence. And the political administration has its own intelligence system."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/13/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
" No, no, we need no assistance. We will have him soon. Maybe next month. Certainly within the year. Before the spring attack season certainly. "
#6
..You know, let me suggest something here: Given some of the stories over the last few days, especially the 'agreement' that got signed between Perv and the Wazooz - does anyone think it's possible that a CYA is being set up for Perv because we DO have Osama or Zawahiri finally boxed in, if not caught? Something along the lines of, "Look - we left y'all alone, and we told the Yankees it was cool - not our fault they came in there after you..."
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
09/13/2006 11:40 Comments ||
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Mike, it's no longer possible to tell if Perv is on our side. Period. I hope you're right, but I'm not counting upon it. Perv's inability or unwillingness to dismantle the ISI can no longer be construed as anything but continued voluntary participation in terrorism.
BRUSSELS: Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf warned the West on Tuesday that Taliban insurgents were a more dangerous terrorist force than Al Qaeda because of the broad support they had in Afghanistan. "The centre of gravity of terrorism has shifted from Al Qaeda to the Taliban," he told EU lawmakers, adding, "This is a new element, a more dangerous element, because it (the Taliban) has its roots in the people. Al Qaeda didn't have roots in the people."
Musharraf said he was certain that Taliban fighters were being commanded by former Taliban ruler Mullah Omar from a base in southern Afghanistan, where NATO troops are struggling to contain an insurgency. Musharraf rejected criticism that Pakistan was not doing enough to prevent the Taliban from mounting attacks on NATO troops and also urged the international community to do more to rebuild Afghanistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/13/2006 00:00 ||
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Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf warned the West on Tuesday that Taliban insurgents were a more dangerous terrorist force than Al Qaeda because of the broad support they had in Afghanistan the tribal agencies and his own intelligence agency.
There, that's better.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
09/13/2006 8:51 Comments ||
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Omar is living in a "safe-house" in Quetta, and has been since about November, 2002. I'm sure that safe-house is being guarded by the finest that the ISI can round up. An ARCLIGHT strike may not get him, but it would certainly send the message he's no longer safe anywhere in this world.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
09/13/2006 22:54 Comments ||
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I confess. It was me. The Paks just looked so innocent, they were so happy, sitting around and playing with their stoopid puppies and kittens and fluffy bunnies all day. I just couldn't resist it.
BRUSSELS: President General Pervez Musharraf has blamed the West for breeding terrorism in his country by bringing in thousands of mujahideen to fight the Soviet Union in Afghanistan and then leaving Pakistan alone a decade later to face the armed warriors.
"An' we wudn't doin' nuffin'!"
Musharraf told the European Parliaments foreign affairs committee on Tuesday that Pakistan was not the intolerant, extremist country often portrayed by the West, and terrorism and extremism were not inherent in Pakistani society.
Neither are turbans, automatic weapons, daily exhortations to jihad, and hatred of all things foreign and domestic...
Whatever extremism or terrorism is in Pakistan is a direct fallout of the 26 years of warfare and militancy around us. It gets back to 1979 when the West, the United States and Pakistan waged a war against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, Musharraf told EU lawmakers. We launched a jihad, brought in mujahideen from all over the Muslim world, the US and the West We armed the Taliban and sent them in; we did it together. In 1989 everyone left Pakistan with 30,000 armed mujahideen who were there, and the Taliban who were there, he said, adding that Pakistan had paid a big price for being part of the coalition that fought the Soviet Union.
Musharraf said that the scourge of terrorism had been eliminated from Pakistan and that efforts were underway to root out extremism, but this would take time. Musharraf also urged Pakistani expatriates to invest in Pakistan and to send maximum foreign exchange to boost the countrys economy. The president stressed that they play a role in enhancing the dignity and prestige of the country. He said that Pakistan and Belgium had strong economic ties, which needed further expansion.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/13/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Pervert proves once again he is nothing more than a warmed over pile of shit. There is nothing in Pakland worth saving. Let's get on with it.
#4
Pakistan had paid a big price for being part of the coalition that fought the Soviet Union.
Uh-huh. So why all the Paki cash to the jihadis in Kashmir?
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
09/13/2006 5:23 Comments ||
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"Musharraf told the European Parliaments foreign affairs committee on Tuesday that Pakistan his palace was not the intolerant, extremist country building often portrayed by the West, and terrorism and extremism were not inherent in Pakistani society his palace."
#6
Wait ... if the Taliban are worse, why blame the West for bringing in thousands of mujahideen? That's a red herring. The Taliban could not have succeeded without Pak support. It's your own damn fault. Don't blame it on the West.
#7
Can't forget Perverse initially refused cooperate in the attack against Taliban Afghanistan until a stern phone call came from Washington. That enlightened him that own his butt is at stake. Every response henceforth from Pakiland can be accurately measured by this yardstick cand onsideration - whether his butt is at risk or not.
Governments ruling more than half of U.N. member states will be asked this weekend to sign a declaration pledging to work to "transform the present unjust international order" dominated by a "hegemonic" power -- a clear reference to the United States.
Adoption of the statement, drafted by Cuba's communist regime, is to be a highlight of this week's summit of the 118-member Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).
The summit, in Havana, draws together countries ranging from U.S. allies such as Singapore, Pakistan and India, to its harshest critics -- including Iran, North Korea, Venezuela, Syria and Zimbabwe.
The grouping was formed during the Cold War, as developing nations sought to steer a "non-aligned" path between the West and the communist bloc. It frequently was derided for failing to achieve that stated goal - Cuba, a Soviet satellite, was a founding NAM member, and communist Vietnam joined during the 1970s.
Since the end of the Cold War, NAM has struggled to carve out a role for itself. In its draft text, Cuba, which assumes the chair for the next three years, makes it clear what role Havana and its allies envisage for the movement. "The absence of two conflicting blocs in no way reduces the need to strengthen the NAM as a mechanism for the political coordination of underdeveloped countries," the document says. "Now more than ever it is essential that our nations remain united and steadfast and are increasingly active in order to successfully confront unilateralism and actions by any Power aimed at imposing hegemonic domination."
#1
They who vote for this resolution should feel the hegemoic power of the unilateralist movement when their foreign aid is cut off, since it is one of those "manifestations of unilateralism and actions marked by attempts at hegemonic domination."
Well, it'd be nice.
Posted by: Bobby ||
09/13/2006 10:44 Comments ||
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Sounds like a great time to drop a MOAB and knock out a few enemy leaders.
#4
"to condemn all manifestations of unilateralism and actions marked by attempts at hegemonic domination."
"abstention from ... exerting pressure or coercion"
"abstention from resorting to the threat or use of force."
"the condemnation and rejection of the imposition of coercive unilateral measures"
That sounds really good. When do we get any of it? Oh, and "F*ck the Palestinian leeches."
Posted by: The Cuban People ||
09/13/2006 12:35 Comments ||
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The US Should submit a UN resolution establishing that we will no longer pay a unilateral, hegemonic, share of the UN bills and suggest that UN headquarters be moved to Havana at the Venezualan expense.
#8
If this was of *any* concern, then Dick Cheney would make a few phone calls and it would fall flat, making a loud and gelatinous farting noise.
However, if we're utterly contemptuous of the organization, then we would not stand in the way of them insulting us. Those who seek to curry favor with us would be polite and vote "no", and our diplomats could politely sneer at those who aligned themselves with our enemies.
Invite them to some function and serve Stouffer's chicken ala king instead of pheasant under glass, served with aged malt liquor.
And if they were really snarky, issue them paper napkins and offer a self-serve buffet of the local "delicacies" like rats in white creme sauce, and chunks of dog marinated in rotting fish juice, to show our "respect" for their culture.
#10
"Word, 3dc. Any recipient of American foreign aid that signs this villanous screed should be cut off faster than a granny doing 40mph in the fast lane."
Agreed! But what will probably happen, is their aid will be increased by the Morons in the State Department. What do you want to bet?
#11
Fine, let's do as these idiots suggest. First, reduce all our embassies to "missions" with fewer than 50 people. Require both a passport and a visa IN ADVANCE for any visits to the US, or even passing through if the layover is more than six hours. Let's reduce our imports from these countries, and cut ALL military, civilian, and humanitarian aid. Let's require a bilateral treaty for any defense, humanitarian, cultural, or political exchange. Let's tell the UN that it has 90 days to relocate, and we don't care where, as long as it's not on US territory. Also inform Annuss that we'll no longer bankroll the UN or any of its functions, period. Establish by law the restriction that no US-developed technology or developments will be allowed outside our borders unless the receiving country agrees to abide by US patent and copyright laws.
The United States issues more patents in a month than any other nation does in a year. We issue more copyrights in a day than most countries issue in a year. The US is significantly ahead of every other country in almost every field. Let the parts of the world that want to be anal suffer the consequences of their behavior, and let our friends enjoy the benefits of mutual respect for one another.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
09/13/2006 23:35 Comments ||
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Yoohoo, Dubya, is this the beginning of the "USA UNDER OWG AND ANTI-AMER GLOBAL COMMUNISM-SOCIALISM BY FORCE" thingy. Time to send in the Motherly Commie Airborne against decadent Fascist Nazi = Klutzy Half-a-Communist Amerika ala RED DAWN.
#13
Among some 50 leaders attending the heads of state portion of the Havana summit will be some of the world's most controversial political figures, including Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Venezuela's Chavez, President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, Sudan's Omar al-Bashir and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. North Korea will be represented by Kim Jong-il's deputy, Kim Yong-nam. Whether ailing Cuban President Fidel Castro will attend remains unclear.
I say we get Mr MOAB and Mrs JDAM to crash the party.
But since we probably won't do that lets follow Old Pat's advice.
No Doubt Kerry, Kennedy, Murtha, and the rest are already wondering 'what did we do to offend them?'
As MSM says all is lost in Anbar province, comes this....
SUNNI leaders in al-Anbar province, long a bastion of resistance to the American presence in Iraq, are urging the American military to arm tribes against al-Qaeda, which is viewed as the most powerful force in the area.
They believe that this is now the best way to bring peace to the province that includes the violence-plagued cities of Fallujah and Ramadi.
Resentment of al-Qaeda militants among tribes and other insurgent groups has erupted into violence periodically since spring 2005. Over the past year the anger has led to a permanent rift and constant fighting in the western province that borders Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. There is a struggle between people of al-Anbar province and some of the [militant] organisations working there, but the Americans are not taking seriously the peoples efforts to make peace, said Ayad al-Samarrai, the No 2 official in the Islamic Party, the largest Iraqi Sunni party.
When the Americans attack an area, they disarm the locals and keep them weak but the terrorists have already fled. When the Americans leave, the terrorists return and the people do not have any weapons to protect themselves.
Mr Samarrai said that leaders from al-Anbar had made several proposals to the Americans, including arming the tribes to fight al-Qaeda, providing teams of bodyguards for tribal leaders, clerics and politicians who opposed al-Qaeda and making an intense recruitment push to build an indigenous army and police force.
Posted by: Captain America ||
09/13/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Lordy, here we go again... The classic Arab blame game - anybody but themselves will do.
The problems in Iraq, AFAICS, are:
1) The Shia have squandered their opportunity to rise above asinine sectarian stupidity. Holding the majority and government power, they're stuck in payback mode - and mere toadies for...
2) Iran sees Iraq as an easy regime to subvert and convert into yet another asshat proxy. They've succeeded too, methinks - the Iraqi "government" is a tool - little different from the Lebs. This situation will continue until the Iranian regime is capped.
3) The Sunnis, in a nostalgic return-to-power bid to commit mass suicide, have embraced the snakes, foreign and domestic, and now, in the purrfekt Muzzy mold, don't like the results of their mindless choice. They are living proof, in that speshul Arab way, that it sucks to be terminally stupid.
4) Iraq's Sunni neighbors have used it to relieve themselves of their crops of idiots and troublemakers, a pressure valve using the imams and tuning the Friday message over time, and hoping against reality they'd succeed in restoring some Sunni power.
Were it not for the Kurds, bless 'em, I could easily post something that would some think I've swilled the DhimmiDonk Kool Aid. I didn't, but DAMN! it would be so easy and convenient to do. And that is a subtle but important fundafuckingmental difference, IMO, between the Dhimmis and and those who want us to succeed in the WoT... far too subtle for some, I fear.
#2
How about:
1. Put a high fence around the Arab Triangle and Basra province to keep them in and anyone else out.
2. Use the US military and the Kurds to police the wire. (2a. eliminate any Iranian or Syrian interference with extreme prejidice.)
3. Ship in all the small arms they can take.
4. Let them play until they're tired.
Two possible results:
The Muzzies learn that it isn't worth it, or -
No more Muzzies (like the Two Cats from Kilkenny.)
Iraq's prime minister on Tuesday made his first official visit to Iran, asking the Islamic regime to crack down on al-Qaida militants infiltrating his country and seeking new deals to help Iraq's troubled oil industry.
Premier Nouri al-Maliki had a red-carpet reception at the office of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. After their meeting, the two leaders exchanged jokes at a joint press conference. "All our assistance to the Iraqi people will be to establish complete security in this country," Ahmadinejad told the press conference, according to the state-run news agency. "Iran and Iraq enjoy historical relations. These relations go beyond from neighborly ties. Our relations will remain excellent," he said.
Al-Maliki said his visit would be "a turning point in the expansion of relations between Iran and Iraq that enjoy historical and ancient ties." Asked about allegations that Iran was interfering in Iraq, al-Maliki said, "There is no obstacle in the way of implementing agreements between Iran and Iraq."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/13/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
"Our relations remain excellent" > you betcha boy, and relations will be even better after Iran takes over Iraq, the ME + Muslim world + world itself.
#6
Well, this IS some kinda setback in the democracy experiment for Iraq. Heh. The Iranian takeover of Iraq, or at least control of Iraq becomes more transparent every day. Just like Syria neutralized and compromised Lebanon.
Collectively, the Kurds are the only ones that have paid their dues and deserve their own country. During the time we provided air cover for the Kurds after GW1, they did something with the time and protection that were given them.
After the liberation of Iraq from Saddam by the US, the Sunnis embraced al Q and the thugs. The Shiites like Sistani played politics with murderers like Tater.
However the two of them respect the iron fist when it deals them a mortal blow. Now we are getting back into Wrechards 3 conjectures land. The only way I see this problem solved without the use of ultrahigh temperature reactions is to take the money out of the equation, and that gets back to the terror financiers. Then the rest of them can pound sand or kill each other or both for another millenium in their respective sandboxes.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
09/13/2006 9:36 Comments ||
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So funny... Iran is a huge part of the reason why there are so many insurgents to begin with. Of course they can provide security... they just pass the word on to their people that they have been funding to stop... and all of a sudden they look like the hero's.
The Israeli prime minister informed the cabinet Sunday Sept 10 that the time had come to reach for a diplomatic horizon. Offering to meet Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas without pre-conditions, he brought back to life the moribund Middle East road map. So what happened to his realignment plan which filled all the empty space on his campaign platform only six months ago?
The answer lies in Washington, where he is in very hot water with the Bush administration. First, the White House was angered by the way Olmert, defense minister Amir Peretz and foreign minister Tzipi Livni mismanaged the Lebanon war and, in doing so, got in the way of Americas plans for Iran. This was followed by a further complaint: During his May visit to Washington, the Israeli prime minister presented the US president and the two Houses of Congress his realignment (aka convergence) plan for a partial withdrawal from the West Bank. He asked for American support and received it with an ovation.
Two and a half months later, that same prime minister ditched his realignment plan only forgetting to drop a word to Washington. That was too much for the administration to swallow. Olmert was given to understand that it was totally unacceptable for him to discard a Middle East program taken seriously and adopted by the US government like an old shoe.
It was only then that Olmert began to realize the extent of the damage he had caused US-Israel relations. Last weekend, he sent his senior advisers, Yoram Turbovitch and Shalom Turjman, to Washington to pour oil on troubled waters. But they were ill-prepared. Confronted by secretary of state Condoleezza Rice and national security adviser Stephen Hadley, the two Israeli officials announced Olmert was ready to make a fresh start with a new plan. What plan?
Since there was no plan, the prime ministers office decided to give the Middle East roadmap the kiss of life for the umpteenth time and invite Abu Mazen to return to the game as a player. Most Israelis received the news with a yawn (|Weve been there before). But the Labor ministers, the prime minister and foreign minister grabbed eagerly for the suddenly floating roadmap as a lifesaver for their sinking administration. These events took place during the weekend break in Washington. So no US response can be expected before Monday.
RAMALLAH, West Bank - Palestinian unions vowed on Tuesday to keep striking despite assurances from president Mahmud Abbas that salaries would be paid after a deal on a national unity government which could lead to renewed Western aid payments.
These statements by Abu Mazen (Abbas) wont stop the strike that started 10 days ago, Bassam Zakarna, chairman of the public sector employees union, told AFP. Abbass promise is for the media, not for us. We want money negotiations and there have been no money negotiations, he added.
Earlier, Abbas promised civil servants striking in front of his Gaza City office that they would receive within weeks wages unpaid in full since the Islamist Hamas movement formed a cabinet in March. I hope that with Gods help the salaries will begin to be paid before the start of Ramadan. Things are progressing in a good direction, he said.
So far Allan's not provided Mahmoud with a pot of gold ...
The statement came a day after Abbas struck a power sharing deal with the ruling Hamas movement, triggering renewed hope that Western aid payments would soon return to the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority.
It'll fool the Euros of course, but I'm hoping Dubya and Condi know better.
Tens of thousands of Palestinian civil servants have been on strike since September 2 to claim full salary payments, shutting down schools and many public services, including sanitation, in the territories.
Abbas appealed for the unions, which are thought to be close to his Fatah party, to end the action after he and the Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniya announced the deal on the coalition government Monday.
But the unions rejected his calls. This strike is not connected to the type of government and it will continue because what matters to us is the payment of our salaries, Zakarna told reporters Monday. Teachers union head Jamil Shahada said: We promised union members that their demands would be met and the strike will continue as long as that is not the case.
In one small way it's amazing: the Paleos actually are demanding accountability from their leaders. A small way, I know.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/13/2006 00:00 ||
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The Paleos are sorta demanding accountability, well enough of it so they can go back on the dole provided by taxes taken from decent wage earners in productive parts of the world.
It's a start, I guess. A femto start. A good money after bad start.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
09/13/2006 9:42 Comments ||
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I don't think that the word "accountability" enters the equation in the Paleo world. The just want dole/salaries/money. Wheter they themselves consider or conceptualize to be accountable for work rendered is an intriguing question.
The United Nations' trade and development agency warned Tuesday that the Palestinian economy was declining dramatically, leading to a worsening this year of already high unemployment and poverty levels in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. "The economy of the occupied Palestinian territory is on the verge of collapse," the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development said, adding that "projections indicate economic decline to levels not seen for a generation."
Somehow they still manage to afford lotsa guns and ammo, and lotsa rockets.
The Geneva-based body, known by its acronym, UNCTAD, said per-capita income in the Palestinian territories would fall in 2006 to half of what it was before an outbreak of Israeli-Palestinian fighting late in 2000. Median income, it projected in its 19-page report, would also fall well below the absolute poverty line and more than half the Palestinian work force will be affected by unemployment by the end of the year.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/13/2006 00:00 ||
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When did the paleos ever have 'an economy'? They've always depended either on weapons and ammo food and financial relief from surrounding Arab states or from Israel itself.
#7
What's keeping it afloat now? I can't imagine anybody willing to invest in a state that they have more than a fifty percent chance of losing everything and the payoff is maybe marginal at best. To my knowledge the only growth industry in the PA is begging. They are very good at playing victims of oppression, but they cant even produce enough water/power/food to sustain their population. How about instead of buying another shipment of arms they build a wind farm, desalination plant, or a modern farm that can produce food. Next year build more and repeat until the country comes out of the 10th century.
#8
Somehow they still manage to afford lotsa guns and ammo, and lotsa rockets.
I'm not so sure they can. The level of violence seems to be down. The Paleos came in a distant second to Hezb'Allah in the last war and look like a bunch of losers to every one.
It is not even clear that Iran is prepared to restore Hezb'Allah's spent munitions. Why would anyone invest in the loser Paleos? They don't even have a leadership to give the money to. The Paleos face abandonment by their Arab and Euro allies. Then they'll become more familiar with Mr. Rock and Mr. Hardplace.
#9
Using the typical Paleo as an example, can someone explain the value of human life ?
Last I read it was around $5 for the elements once rendered.
If you belive as I that they are worth next to nothing, then can we save some of them and help them to become productive ?
Yes, but only the very young, and a few others. But considering the cost of helping them and the fact that the Paleos are just the tip of the iceberg, the total cost of saving , and helping to become productive far exceeds the cost of the bombs and bullets needed to wipe them out. However, if we separate them, save them, and help them to become productive, we will feel better. And if we bomb them into extinction, we will destroy that in us which is good and human.
This is where it pays to be an elite. You get someone else to do the dirty work so your own feelings will not suffer, and at the same time you can stand just out of reach and protest.
My only escape from this dilemma is to fool the muzzies into exterminating themselves, while we feel good blaming the whole thing on the democrats and the MSM.
Wake me up, this is a nightmare.
#11
"No mo money Akbar. How are we going to blow ourselves up?" "Well Ali, how 'bout you eat this baking soda and I'll drink this vinegar. Then we'll have sex and see what happens."
Meretz party chair, MK Yossi Beilin praised on Tuesday the decision to release 18 senior Hamas members from Israeli jails. "From the very start it was clear that their imprisonment was primarily as a bargaining chip, and not because they posed a risk, and that is something which goes against the very norm of legality in Israel," Beilin said. The Hamas members were arrested after the kidnapping of Cpl. Gilad Shalit in June.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/13/2006 00:00 ||
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From the very start it was clear that their imprisonment was primarily as a bargaining chip, and not because they posed a risk
Who f&cking cares? Get the soldiers back. That's all that matters.
#4
DepotGuy, no. Hamas "government" is responsible in the criminal activity of a hostage taking. Don't tell me that if they wanted, Shalit would be released the next minute. The only problem is that Israel does not have a clear legal mechanism to address this situation. But there is no equivalence here.
#5
"The only problem is that Israel does not have a clear legal mechanism to address this situation. But there is no equivalence here."
How about this for a clear legal mechanism? If these people yes people (not some ambiguous association like "government") are responsible, then try them for the abduction, convict them, and throw them in the jug. If they are a security threat, as first asserted, then do the same. Hell if they are indeed security threats pop their melons from half a mile away and call it a day. But abductions as a negotiation tactic are the same no matter who the actors are. And if you hadnt noticed this type of thing only invites more of the same in the future.
Notice the pattern: Paleos get jailed for terrorist activity. Some other Paleos abduct an Israeli to demand release of prisoners. Israel is squeamish and complies. That has been going on for years. And THAT invited further abductions. And they will continue, regardless what Israel does.
So, maybe a change of the stratagem may work out to something different?
Im a little slow on the uptake so let me see if I follow.
Palestinians abduct a soldier in hopes of a prisoner swap Bad.
Israel abducts Palestinian officials as trade-bait Good.
The reason theyre not the same thing is because Israel took their captives after the Palestinians took theirs first.
(Pay no attention to the existing prisoners Israel has or if the Palestinians take more prisoners...otherwise it gets really convoluted.)
And so if there is an exchange it really isnt a prisoner swap like in the past its more of ah um oh yeah its a good will gesture. Gotcha!
The political program of the proposed Palestinian unity government does not include any explicit or implicit recognition of Israel's right to exist, Hamas leaders in the Gaza Strip stressed on Tuesday. Shortly after the agreement over the formation of a national unity government was reached, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Fatah officials had said that, as far as they were concerned, Hamas had indirectly recognized Israel.
They explained that the political guidelines of the proposed unity government, which endorsed the decisions of the 2002 Arab summit in Beirut, were tantamount to recognizing Israel's right to exist. However, a statement issued by Hamas on Tuesday stated: "The political program of the unity government does not contain any explicit or implicit recognition of the legitimacy of the Zionist entity. Nor does it include any concession on Hamas's principles and positions. Hamas will continue to abide by its own program, especially regarding the resistance and the refusal to recognize Israel."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/13/2006 00:00 ||
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They have a knack for eating camel butter and eating the camel as well.
"Once the occupiers are out, many of Iraq`s problems will be resolved," Irans Ali Khamenei tells visiting Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki Wednesday
He attributed part of Iraqs problems to foreign occupiers and the performance of the former tyrant regime for another. Iran considers it its duty to extend practical assitance to the Iraqi people and government, including backing Iraqs recovery of its sovereingty. In Baghad , car bombs killed 22 people in Baghdad Wednesday and police found 60 bodies bound, tortured and shot - most in Sunni districts but some also in Shiite districts neighborhoods of the capital.
Posted by: Captain America ||
09/13/2006 16:22 ||
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Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah reiterated Tuesday night that kidnapped soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev would not be released if Israel did not return for Samir Kuntar. Kuntar, the longest-serving confirmed Lebanese prisoner in jail in Israel, is serving multiple life terms for the killing of three members of the Haran family and that of policeman Eliyahu Shahar in a raid on Nahariya in 1979.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/13/2006 00:00 ||
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We've gone over this already, so I'll just say that Israel needs to start executing Hezbollah prisoners or leveling city blocks of Hezbollah neighborhoods in Lebanon until the soldiers are freed. Kuntar goes home in a box.
#2
One box is not nearly enough for this worthless piece of slime. He should be pulled apart into many small pieces, allowed to rot, then sent back in as many shoeboxes as required.
#3
Nasalboyallah start the year proclaiming there would be a return of this refuse from Israel. To give in to him on this scum would only enbolden them.
Posted by: Captain America ||
09/13/2006 0:46 Comments ||
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#4
If Israel doesn't have the balls to kill him do this:
20 hits of Acid!
have men dressed like Jinn beat him up.
2 hits of Acid every day until just before released
1 massive dose of bz just hours before release.
Mebbe so, but I still prefer Frank's suggetion of bludgeoning the bastard with a rifle butt until he's a drooling idiot, much the same way that Kuntar dashed out the brains of four year-old Einat Haran.
#8
Israel needs to start executing Hezbollah prisoners
Maybe Israel could film some intimidating figures wearing balaclavas and holding automatic weapons to stand over their hostages and shout some incoherent religious slogans right before they behead them. Then they could release the film over the internet for maximum exposure.
#9
Maybe they can airdrop Samir right on the Hizb'Allah HQ, in perfect health, along with a Herc load of the rest of his buddies tied on a skid. Sort of a high altitude LAPES exercise. And keep the skids coming until the jails are cleared out.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
09/13/2006 9:49 Comments ||
Top||
#10
I prefer dropping live prisoners out of perfectly good airplanes all over Lebanon.
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/13/2006 16:29 Comments ||
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#16
Impale the motherf*cker and leave his carcass on the border w/lebanon for all to see. Impale a new criminal each day after until the IDF lads are released. It's been way past time to go 13th century on them.
UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Israel has made "significant progress" in the gradual withdrawal of its forces from south Lebanon in the month since the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution to end the conflict there, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Tuesday in a report.
And they're the only ones who have.
The report said both Israel and the Islamic militant group Hezbollah had mostly complied with the cease-fire that was called for in that resolution, aside from one major raid by Israel on Aug. 19 and several minor violations.
"What's in the trucks, Nasrallah?"
"Supplies. Humanitarian supplies."
"Humanitarian supplies? Those fins look pretty sharp."
"Yeah, you could get hurt. Now go away."
The U.N. Security Council had asked Annan to report back periodically on the implementation of the resolution, which paved the way for the cease-fire that took effect on Aug. 14. He said Israel has withdrawn from about two-thirds of the area it occupied in south Lebanon, and has promised to leave entirely by the time Lebanon deploys 15,000 troops and the U.N. sends 5,000 peacekeepers there.
I thought the 'peacekeepers' were supposed to arrive first, then the Lebs, and finally the Israelis would leave. Silly me.
Annan, who recently returned from an 11-day trip to the region, said the process would be finished in the coming weeks. He did not say how many Israeli troops remained in south Lebanon. "On the ground, significant progress continues to be made as regards the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces and the deployment of the LAF (Lebanese Armed Forces)," Annan wrote in the report.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/13/2006 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[9 views]
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#1
Kofi removal 'significant'
UN removal more 'significant'
Posted by: Captain America ||
09/13/2006 0:47 Comments ||
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#2
I thought the 'peacekeepers' were supposed to arrive first, then the Lebs, and finally the Israelis would leave. Silly me.
Lol - I figure it has to do with the dissipation time required for dispersal of the Jooo cooties...
Air America Radio will announce a major restructuring on Friday, which is expected to include a bankruptcy filing, three independent sources have told ThinkProgress.
Air America could remain on the air under the deal, but significant personnel changes are already in the works. Sources say five Air America employees were laid off yesterday and were told there would be no severance without capital infusion or bankruptcy. Also, Air America has ended its relationship with host Jerry Springer. I miss them already
#3
In scoundrel corporations, Chapter 11 (reorganization) is done solely for time for the board to loot anything left of value that would otherwise go to investors and creditors. Then, after a time, they move to Chapter 7 (liquidation), which allows their creditors to attempt division by zero.
This would mean that Seattle's Rob Glaser of RealNetworks is trying to steal back every dime he foolishly invested in AA.
#8
We need Air America to continue in order to protect the rest of talk radio from censorship/shut down under the guise of the 'fairness doctrine' (the predecessor to McCain-Feingold in 'repealing' the Second Amendment.)
#11
#10 - iirc, Kroc's widow gave them an endowment that will basically keep them going without government money. Which is something that should have kicked in immediately.
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.
HALIFAX, Nova Scotia (AP) - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she told Sudan on Monday there is no chance of improved relations with the United States if it flouts the world's demand for U.N. peacekeepers in Darfur.
Australian Muslim representatives are voicing outrage at comments by the country's two top politicians, who urged immigrants from Islamic societies to fit in, learn English, treat women with respect, and shun extremism.
The Dutch Minister of Justice 
The international press won't get their first look at the documentary Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing until its gala premiere at the Toronto Film Festival tonight. But EW.com got an early look at the sure-to-be-controversial doc in Los Angeles and can attest that the film will continue to bring the (ex?) country trio more plaudits from progressives and further condemnation from conservatives. And if you think singer Natalie Maines had some harsh words for President Bush in public, wait till you hear what she had to say about him behind the scenes.
(KUNA) -- Immediately after a failed suicide attack on the US embassy in the Syrian capital, Pakistan Tuesday beefed up security around US and other western missions as well as western interests in the country, said officials.
Pakistan does not need US-led coalition forces based in Afghanistan to help them capture Osama Bin Laden on home soil, NWFP Governor Jan Orakzai said on Tuesday. "If Osama's presence is confirmed in any part of our area adjoining Afghanistan, or for that matter anywhere in Pakistan, we have these troops stationed there to carry out that job," the governor told a press conference. "We have not deployed our 80,000 troops for nothing. They are there for a purpose," he said. "We are guarding practically all the possible crossing routes."
BRUSSELS: Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf warned the West on Tuesday that Taliban insurgents were a more dangerous terrorist force than Al Qaeda because of the broad support they had in Afghanistan. "The centre of gravity of terrorism has shifted from Al Qaeda to the Taliban," he told EU lawmakers, adding, "This is a new element, a more dangerous element, because it (the Taliban) has its roots in the people. Al Qaeda didn't have roots in the people." 
BRUSSELS: President General Pervez Musharraf has blamed the West for breeding terrorism in his country by bringing in thousands of mujahideen to fight the Soviet Union in Afghanistan and then leaving Pakistan alone a decade later to face the armed warriors.
Governments ruling more than half of U.N. member states will be asked this weekend to sign a declaration pledging to work to "transform the present unjust international order" dominated by a "hegemonic" power -- a clear reference to the United States.
Iraq's prime minister on Tuesday made his first official visit to Iran, asking the Islamic regime to crack down on al-Qaida militants infiltrating his country and seeking new deals to help Iraq's troubled oil industry. 
The Israeli prime minister informed the cabinet Sunday Sept 10 that the time had come to reach for a diplomatic horizon. Offering to meet Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas without pre-conditions, he brought back to life the moribund Middle East road map. So what happened to his realignment plan which filled all the empty space on his campaign platform only six months ago? 
RAMALLAH, West Bank - Palestinian unions vowed on Tuesday to keep striking despite assurances from president Mahmud Abbas that salaries would be paid after a deal on a national unity government which could lead to renewed Western aid payments.
The United Nations' trade and development agency warned Tuesday that the Palestinian economy was declining dramatically, leading to a worsening this year of already high unemployment and poverty levels in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. "The economy of the occupied Palestinian territory is on the verge of collapse," the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development said, adding that "projections indicate economic decline to levels not seen for a generation." 
Meretz party chair, MK Yossi Beilin praised on Tuesday the decision to release 18 senior Hamas members from Israeli jails. "From the very start it was clear that their imprisonment was primarily as a bargaining chip, and not because they posed a risk, and that is something which goes against the very norm of legality in Israel," Beilin said. The Hamas members were arrested after the kidnapping of Cpl. Gilad Shalit in June.
The political program of the proposed Palestinian unity government does not include any explicit or implicit recognition of Israel's right to exist, Hamas leaders in the Gaza Strip stressed on Tuesday. Shortly after the agreement over the formation of a national unity government was reached, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Fatah officials had said that, as far as they were concerned, Hamas had indirectly recognized Israel. 
Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah reiterated Tuesday night that kidnapped soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev would not be released if Israel did not return for Samir Kuntar. Kuntar, the longest-serving confirmed Lebanese prisoner in jail in Israel, is serving multiple life terms for the killing of three members of the Haran family and that of policeman Eliyahu Shahar in a raid on Nahariya in 1979.
UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Israel has made "significant progress" in the gradual withdrawal of its forces from south Lebanon in the month since the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution to end the conflict there, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Tuesday in a report.
