Poland has announced it will send 1,000 troops to Afghanistan next year as part of the Nato peacekeeping force there.
I just knew this would happen; Poles go where Belgians and Frenchies fear to tread.
They will join 100 Polish soldiers already on the ground in Afghanistan, but will not arrive until February. The announcement comes after Nato generals met on Wednesday to demand an extra 2,500 troops for the operation in southern Afghanistan.
But the BBC's Jonathan Marcus says Nato officials in Belgium are making it clear the Polish deployment will not provide the solution commanders had hoped for. Our correspondent says they urgently need more troops before the onset of winter, when the fighting will slow down. It is also unclear whether the Polish troops would be available to help the most dangerous part of the mission, in the south, our correspondent says.
Posted by: Rafael ||
09/14/2006 13:55 ||
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#1
Poles killed more Germans in 1939, than the French did in 1940. Tough group.
#2
the Poles are our allies and friends, trading partners - we need to tighten up with them and treat em well. Take from the French, Germans, Spain, and Italians and give to the Poles, Bulgarians, Czechs, et al - the NEW alliance
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/14/2006 19:32 Comments ||
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#3
All true, the Russians delayed "rescuing" the Poles from the Nazis because they wanted to Nazis to deal with them first.
Posted by: Captain America ||
09/14/2006 21:18 Comments ||
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I believe the pattern is to deny it, then a couple days later take the objective and ignore any cries of "Toldja so."
The Islamic Courts Union, a militia controlling much of Somalia, has rejected claims from the government that it is advancing on a strategic port. The denial came after the Somali government's ambassador to Ethiopia said on Wednesday that the Islamist union was planning to capture Kismayo in the south of the East African country. Abdikarim Farah, told Reuters on the sidelines of an African Union meeting in Addis Ababa: "The Islamic Courts' forces are marching to occupy Kismayo. This is a challenge to the TFG [Transitional Federal Government]... The Islamic Courts are not going to succeed by choosing military means, it has to renounce this option."
Kismayo is the largest port in the south. It is controlled by an independent militia, the Juba Valley Alliance - led by Colonel Abdikadir Adan Shire, who is also known as Barre Hiraale. Shire is the present defence minister.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/14/2006 00:00 ||
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South Korea's vice foreign minister Wednesday confirmed reports that the United States had offered one-on-one talks with North Korea on the communist nation's nuclear program, but was rejected. However, a U.S. official said in Washington that no new offer of direct talks had been made to Pyongyang.
South Korea's Yonhap news agency and other media reported Tuesday that the chief U.S. nuclear envoy, Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, proposed a meeting with his North Korean counterpart during a recent stop in China. The North did not accept the offer, the reports said. "I understand that Assistant Secretary Hill made such a gesture on his own initiative in an effort to resume" six-nation talks on the North's nuclear program, South Korean Vice Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan told a news briefing.
A U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the ongoing process, reiterated, however, that the United States would only see the North as part of meetings with other countries, such as the nuclear negotiations.
The two countries have maintained communications through the North's mission to the United Nations in New York. Washington says the channel is only for communication purposes, not negotiation.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/14/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
One of these days NorK is going to figure out that nukes do not equal a better economy. At best it may coerce people into feeding you, but not much more. Even then, you have to work your butt off to keep posturing yourself. It's more work to get out of doing the work than if you just did the work in the first place.
I wonder what's going to happen when they figure this out.
North Korea is encouraging its people to breed rabbits for food, the impoverished regime's official media reported Wednesday. "Rabbit-breeding farms have been built to rapidly increase parent rabbits which have a high fertility rate, grow fast and produce much meat with less feed," the state-run Korean Central News Agency reported.
The report said rabbits were "the most economically profitable domestic animals" due to the mountainous country's limited arable land. "Rabbits are being raised by collective and widespread methods at factories, enterprises, cooperative farms and schools, to say nothing of stock-breeding farms," KCNA said.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/14/2006 00:00 ||
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#4
"BREAD, LAND, + FREEDOM", etc > you know, why all fluffy bunnies everywhere and anywhere are owned by the Gummermint, lest they fill their fluffy minds wid thoughts of decadent Capitalist Westernist lettuces and revolt against proper Bunny Socialism and OWG.
#7
There ya go, Gorb. Whatever it takes to feed the bunnies could be fed directly to the folks, without waiting. And some of the bunny food is used to keep them alive, until 'harvested', and a great deal is turned into ... well, bunny waste.
The old "you can't get something for nothing" problem.
Next up: a perpetual motion machine to generate limitless electricity!
Posted by: Bobby ||
09/14/2006 6:08 Comments ||
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#5: We lived on rabbits for years. This might be the first intelligible news out of NK ever.
Yep, Rabbit is very good food, ate many. About as easy to raise as chickens.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/14/2006 6:19 Comments ||
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#9
I am at a loss for words. Rabbits are for cuddling and caring for and buying presents. You would be eating God's most beautiful and most favorite creation.
And we're a shitload more intelligent than a damn chicken.
#10
My dad used to raise rabbits in Cuba. They are indeed easy to raise, and their favorite food was available if you had a machete and enough willpower to get your butt off bed. The problem was, when Cuba became really poor, bunny theft became constant, at least twice a week, and after a few months of that crap, dad gave up the bunny raising altogether, and concentrated on black market activities instead. And North Korea is even poorer than Cuba is.
#11
MMMMM Bunny! Kind of on the greasy side but I doubt colesteral is a problem in the magic hermit kingdom. Maybe we should send some spices/veggies to go with wabbits? I know what I am having for lunch!
#12
I am at a loss for words. Rabbits are for cuddling and caring for and buying presents. You would be eating God's most beautiful and most favorite creation.
Not you Brer, you're safe. It's hard to kill a bunny when it blogs on Rantburg.....
#17
I think we should send Michael Moore over there to film this. Does anyone remember the similar scenes in Roger and Me?
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
09/14/2006 15:28 Comments ||
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#6: Great. Now just what exactly are the fluffy bunnies supposed to eat?
UUmmm, I know that it's probably going to sound like a joke, we fed ours "Purina Rabbit Chow" along with any spoiled or leftover veggies from the garden, also all the "Cut Away" veggie waste, they also loved an occasional Blackberry vine, (Complete with thorns) to gnaw on.
As for the "Bunny Waste" it's great fertilizer, just let it sit and rot for a year, then turn it into the garden soil, a endless cycle so to speak.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/14/2006 19:06 Comments ||
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#18: "Purina Rabbit Chow"
There's also Purina Monkey Chow, I've heard, but never seen!
Well, all South Korea has to do is start shipping Rabbit Chow to NorK by the bargeload. I hope the population isn't forced to eat it directly, but it would make more sense if they did.
And they should throw in a few bags of Purina Idiot Chow here and there for their microcephalic dictator. No need to label who things are for. They'll know who to give it to when they read the label.
If they need fertilizer, they can use their dictator. If they can get anything to grow from it, they can say that they got something useful out of him after all. :-)
BTW: Didn't someone say "Let them eat cake!" some time ago shortly before she lost her head? I think "Let them eat rabbit!" is close enough that the result bears repeating.
#20
#6: Great. Now just what exactly are the fluffy bunnies supposed to eat?
in a perfect world, ex-Dem Presidents from the 70's
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/14/2006 20:50 Comments ||
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#20 "#6: Great. Now just what exactly are the fluffy bunnies supposed to eat?
in a perfect world, ex-Dem Presidents from the 70's"
Whatchoo got against bunnies, Frank? :-(
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
09/14/2006 21:24 Comments ||
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if they take out Carter? absolutely nothing
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/14/2006 22:02 Comments ||
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There's also Purina Monkey Chow, I've heard, but never seen!
Monkey Chow Diaries: ... can a human subsist on a constant diet of pelletized, nutritionally complete food like puppies and monkeys do? For the good of human kind, I'm about to find out. On June 3, 2006, I began my week of eating nothing but monkey chow: "a complete and balanced diet for the nutrition of primates, including the great apes." Maybe I'll lose weight. Maybe I'll gain superhuman monkey strength. Maybe I'll go crazy. Maybe it's too late.
PARIS (Reuters) - Deputy al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri has urged a militant Algerian Islamist group to punish "Crusader nation" France, even though it vehemently opposed the U.S.-led war in Iraq, a newspaper said on Thursday. Still on the sh*t list, despite opposition to the Iraq war. Being a halfway dhimmi will not cut it.
The Le Figaro daily cited a security expert who had reviewed the entire tape, released on Monday, in which Zawahri called on the Algerian GSPC group to become "a bone in the throat of the American and French crusaders."
He also urged the GSPC -- the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat -- to sow fear "in the hearts of the traitors and the apostate sons of France" and to crush the "pillars of the Crusader alliance." You have to admit, even with translation, the terrorist prose flows, not like NORK prose. The writers must have the high-pro-glow.
The expression crusader refers to medieval military campaigns waged in the name of Christendom to recapture the Holy Land from Muslims, and is frequently used in Islamist circles to designate enemies of Islam.
When Zawahri's message was initially released on the Internet, to coincide with the 5th anniversary of the September 11 attacks on the United States, media reports focused on threats to attack U.S. allies in Gulf Arab states and Israel.
But Anne Giudicelli, head of the Terrorisc (sic) security consultancy and who reviewed the whole tape, told Le Figaro the anti-France message had dominated the homepage of the Internet website used by the GSPC for the past few days. Frawnce has really pissed us off!
The group emerged from the Armed Islamic Group blamed for a massacre of civilians during a bloody insurgency against Algeria's military-backed government in the 1990s.
It is viewed as a major threat by the French security services and sources quoted by Le Figaro said it had switched its focus to taking part in the international jihad -- which means holy war in Arabic -- after losing influence at home. The Jihad grass is greener in Frawnce, and we are getting our a$$es kicked in Algeria. We're outa here.
Many French people believe their country is less of a target for Islamist-inspired attacks because of France's stance over Iraq, but officials say that cuts no ice with militants. That's right you folks are still toast. It's the Jihad Way
A ban of the traditional Muslim headscarf in secular state schools, close French intelligence links with its former North African colonies combating Islamist extremists, and its role in NATO operations in Afghanistan against the Taliban militia, have secured France's status as a "Crusader nation," experts say. With that resume, the French govt will never get off the al Q sh*t list. Of course that list has been constantly updated for 1300 years or so.
France is also dispatching some 2,000 troops to join a peacekeeping force in its former protectorate Lebanon, putting it in the front line of a mission that Zawahri has denounced. Oops! Made enemies again.
On Monday, Pierrre de Bousquet de Florian, head of the DST domestic security service, said the threat of terrorist attack remained "very high and very international."
"For our Islamist adversaries, our country is frankly in the Western camp, the crusaders in their words, and we will be spared nothing," he told RTL radio on Monday.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
09/14/2006 14:34 ||
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#1
Hang on to hat Frenchy!!! Oh and by the way You LOST MY BAGS AGAIN!!!!!ASSWIPES
#2
Many French people believe their country is less of a target for Islamist-inspired attacks because of France's stance over Iraq, but officials say that cuts no ice with militants.
I'll put this into food terms so the French can more easily understand it.
Just because you feed the crocodile doesn't mean you're off the menu.
#2
Hamas is living proof that just about anything short of a ham sandwich can be democratically installed (and I'm not so sure about the ham sandwich either). As to whether it is worthwhile to elect such trash as Hamas is another matter entirely. It is for this reason that the Palestinians need to be made keenly aware of just how idiotic they've been to vote in a known terrorist organization.
#3
I meant the above comments to be transposed over to how sharia law can be democratically installed as well, and about of equal worth as installing Hamas.
#5
Gee, I thought that Sharia was the replacement for democracy. Therefore this a-brain is saying that democracy should be able to vote itself out of existence.
Guess he's a big advocate of one man, one vote, once.
Unbelievable the moral / philosophical knots these transi,pc whack jobs can twist themselves into.
#8
The key to American Democracy is not the rule of the majority; it is the just protection of the minority. Failure to recognize this is the root of much human suffering.
#10
I was on a thread with a muzzie last week and he said that if the teachings in the koran were followed then democracy wasn't needed. His honesty and openness were amazing.
#12
Donner expressed amazement that his original remarks have been met with such hostility.
It is remarkable how appeasement-minded Europe still is. I think British PM Blair was trying to warn against this sort of krap in an editorial he wrote in the last few days. If I were Dutch, I'd think it would be good for Mr Donner to resign. People just do not see the threat to Western Civilization. As with the decline of the Roman Empire, people became more enamored with who would provide the greatest about of Government goodies, they ignored the threats, thus came the Visigoths.
There are two murders in Murder in Amsterdam. The first took place on May 6, 2002, when an animal-rights advocate, for obscure reasons, gunned down Pim Fortuyn, a charismatic politician with a populist program combining law-and-order conservatism, opposition to immigration and gay liberation. About a year and a half later a young Dutch Muslim of Moroccan descent, incensed by a film critical of Islam, shot the filmmaker-provocateur Theo van Gogh dead in broad daylight. As a parting gesture, he pinned a manifesto to the twitching body with a knife. It was all, as the prime minister of the Netherlands put it, un-Dutch.
Well, perhaps more Dutch than it seemed, Ian Buruma proposes in his shrewd, subtly argued inquiry into the tensions and resentments underlying two of the most shocking events in the recent history of the Netherlands. For one thing, both killers traveled to the crime scene by bicycle. More seriously, both murders represented the sort of highly pitched moral confrontation that could be regarded as a Dutch specialty. The killings were, in a sense, principled murders.
Mr. Buruma writes ,It is a characteristic of Calvinism to hold moral principles too rigidly, and this might be considered a vice as well as a virtue of the Dutch.
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#1
Van Gogh, more than anyone, had warned about the dangers of violent religious passions, and yet he behaved as though they held no consequences for him.
That's because they weren't supposed to. People aren't supposed to die just because they hold unpopular opinions. As to perpetuatinging an ultra-violent, genocidal, mysogynistic and intolerant religion ... maybe that's another matter.
The west is largely based on the idea of reciprocation.
Most reciprocation is positive sum such as capitalism (i.e. acknowledgement of others property rights), which is why we don't live in self-inflicted poverty stricken shitholes like most muslims.
Some reciprocation is mutual i.e. what we call "tolerance" is actually reciprocal indifference i.e. they might not like the bible and you might not like them buggering each other but you agree not to stop each other.
HOWEVER when there is no reciprocation such as islmic immigration there will be conflict.
Democrat Ned Lamont said Wednesday the U.S. is weaker because of the war in Iraq backed by rival Sen. Joe Lieberman, and he called for shifting forces to Afghanistan and elsewhere.
"We have sacrificed our daughters and sons and our treasure in a war we didn't have to fight," Lamont said. "We have ignored the real threats and security needs in the war we should be fighting, the one against the terrorists. ... Senator Lieberman believes that President Bush has it right in Iraq. I believe that he's dangerously wrong."
The Democrat, who upset the three-term Lieberman last month in Connecticut's Democratic primary, spoke at Yale Law School Lieberman's alma mater. Lamont received a degree from Yale School of Management. After the defeat, Lieberman embarked on an independent bid in hopes of holding onto his seat.
Lamont's campaign got a boost Wednesday from former President Carter, who offered a blistering critique of Lieberman's support for the Iraq war. "He was one of the originators of public statements that misled the American people into believing that the Iraqi war was justified," the former Democratic president said on CNN's "Larry King Live."
"He's joined in with the Republican spokespersons by saying that Democrats who disagree are really supporting terrorism," Carter said. "So for all these reasons, I've lost my confidence in Joe Lieberman and don't wish to see him re-elected."
Lamont, a multimillionaire businessman who spent about $4 million of his own money in the primary, is tapping his personal fortune once again. He has written checks totaling $1.5 million for his general election bid, his campaign confirmed Wednesday. Lamont gave his campaign $1 million on Sept. 11. He wrote a $500,000 check on Aug. 22.
Lamont's anti-war stance propelled his candidacy and the November election is seen as a referendum on President Bush's policies and the war. Lieberman is a staunch supporter of the war.
"Today we have five times as many troops in Iraq as we have in Afghanistan," he said. "We spend more in a month in Iraq than we do in a year in Afghanistan. These decisions are wrong and they have left us less safe."
Lieberman campaign spokeswoman Tammy Sun called the speech "partisan, slashing rhetoric."
"There were no new constructive ideas and certainly nothing to assure voters that he understands the threats we face not just in Iraq, but around the world, and that he will do what's right to keep America safe," she said.
The two candidates continue to trade accusations over the war. Lamont recently contended Lieberman has missed 31 of 61 votes on Iraq since the invasion in 2003. Lieberman says he has a nearly 95 percent voting record.
"It is the job of Congress to provide the necessary checks and balances, to work with the president when he's right, but to hold him to account when he's wrong," Lamont said. "President Bush rushed us into this war based on trumped-up intelligence, and Senator Lieberman cheered him on every step of the way. President Bush failed in the execution of this war, and Senator Lieberman failed to hold him to account."
#1
Jimmah is becoming the willing attack dog for the Dummocrats. He's willing to go anywhere to put his face in front of the cameras. I guess he realizes, as his days wind down, that his reputation places him near the bottom of the pile for failed presidencies. But,like Murtha, he is nothing but a buffoon. He is really showing what a nitwit he was/is.
#4
Jimmah should have stuck to Habitat for Humanity to fill out his final days. His failed presidency may have been lessened by doing good deeds. Folks may have thought he had some redeemable qualities even though he was a failed leader. But noooooo....got to stick his peanut brain into things and prove he is a nut-less "Jimmah the Dimmah". Now we cast a jaundiced eye to his time in the White House and people see the current tribulations with the Islamic d...heads leads right back to his failed policies with the hostages in 1979. No favorable legacy for you, young man...
#6
I take a look at jimmays current picture and wonder HOW that bag of flesh is being helf together. I know it's wrong to wish death on a ex-president but still, somebody take a stapler to this guys mouth.
Posted by: Charles ||
09/14/2006 16:56 Comments ||
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You know the feeling, huh, Jimmy. Still can't get over how the voters turned you and your sweater out of office. It wasn't anything personal Hmmm, yes it was and you still can't take the hint.
WASHINGTON, Sept. 13 The Senate Judiciary Committee today endorsed a bill backed by the White House to have a secret court review the constitutionality of the Bush administrations eavesdropping program.
By a party-line vote of 10 to 8, the committee sent the bill to the Senate floor, where a vote could come next week. The bill embodies an agreement reached by President Bush and the committee chairman, Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, under which the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court would review the eavesdropping program.
Todays vote was a victory for the White House in the continuing debate over the proper balance between national security and personal liberties, but it was far from the last word. Many Democrats are sure to try to derail or amend the measure when the Senate takes it up. Indeed, the Judiciary Committee voted today to send other provisions to the Senate floor for debate, even though they are not wholly compatible with the Specter-White House agreement.
Posted by: DanNY ||
09/14/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
RINOS are RINOS for a reason - the Milyuhn dollar questionne' is what will happen when they stop being RINO's, and what freedom-loving Americans get back from Clintonian Fascist Nazi America = Limited Commie Amerika + Gummermint once the WOT is finally won.
#2
Joe, the WOI would last for a while. I don't think that the Dhimmidonks would exist in their current form when the WOI is over. Once again, the label liberal may be returned to their rightful owner, a classical liberal.
President Bush has acceded to his father's urging and has made former Secretary of State James Baker a leading adviser on Iraq.
Administration sources said Mr. Baker, head of the congressionally mandated Iraq Study Group, has been discussing with the president recommendations on an exit strategy that could begin after the November elections. They said Mr. Baker's approach to Iraq differs sharply from that of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
I'm not sure I like this. I've never trusted Baker, even recognizing that he's very good at what he does.
The sources said Mr. Baker has maintained an extremely low profile and slips in and out of Baghdad without fanfare. They said that unlike the elder Bush's national security adviser, Brent Scowcroft, Mr. Baker has avoided stepping on the toes of such senior officials as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who has been wary of Mr. Baker's access to the president. "The president has understood that he needs a trusted outsider without any personal stake in U.S. policy on Iraq," an administration source said. "Jim Baker also has a lot of clout and credibility on the Hill."
Over the past two months, Mr. Baker has been shuttling to Baghdad where he has been meeting U.S. diplomats, military commanders as well as Iraqi politicians. The sources said Mr. Baker has also been quietly meeting with leaders in Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
The sources said Mr. Baker's increasing access to the president comes amid declining confidence in Mr. Rumsfeld. They said that until June 2006 Mr. Rumsfeld consistently reassured the White House and Congress that the Sunni insurgency war would diminish.
Which it will, though not as quickly as we all want.
"Those who sought to join Baker and Bush came from the circle around the former president [Bush]," a source said. "But in this case, there was clear support from Republican leaders in the Senate and House."
One such Republican was Rep. Frank Wolf of Virginia. Mr. Wolf said Mr. Baker, who in 2004 was the president's envoy to win debt relief for Iraq, was serving the role of a physician solicited for a second opinion. "What the United States needs on Iraq is some fresh ideas from people able to speak out, and no one is more qualified to do that than Jim Baker," Mr. Wolf said.
Mr. Baker's role has already resulted in quiet agreement by Congress to support the war in Iraq through 2006. On Sept. 7, the Senate agreed by a 98-0 vote to allocate an additional $63 billion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The upcoming election had nothing to do with that of course, it was all Jim Baker. Ah-huh.
But Mr. Baker is not expected to simply draft recommendations. The sources said the president has been quietly using the former secretary of state to convince key Arab allies to support Washington's strategy in Iraq. They said the most important of those allies is Saudi Arabia, which has been highly skeptical of the administration's policy.
Mr. Baker has been in his post since March 2006 and was said to have urged for a clear exit strategy in 2007.
Which, coincidentially, is about the time we all figured the Iraqi police and army could handle most things themselves. Criminy, I could have given Bush that advice.
At the same time, the former secretary was said to have envisioned a long-term regional and international effort to stabilize Iraq. Last week, the Pentagon reported that 145,000 U.S. troops were in Iraq, the highest level since December 2005.
"It is clear that the president will make his decision based on his own judgment," the source said. "But there are already signs that Baker has become an influence."
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/14/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Baker scares the hell out of me. No use for Israel in his realpolitik mideast...
#2
This fall under the "Be carefull what you ask for" category for the Dems. They wanted a change in direction from Bush, now they will get it and wish Rummy was still calling the shots.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
09/14/2006 1:22 Comments ||
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#3
GWB is playing for keeps in the Middle East. My optimistic take is that Baker's current involvement has more to do with paving the way in region for action on Iran.
I hope you're correct because Baker does not instill confidence in me either. He's got a fetish for "stability" and I'd rather not go back to the status quo ante. Even with Saddam gone, it would seem hardly worth one American life if the Region totally backslides.
#5
Baker is not the guy I would have chosen under any circumstances. Zero confidence in the backstabbing leaking grandstanding SOB.
Posted by: DanNY ||
09/14/2006 4:52 Comments ||
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#6
"They said the most important of those allies is Saudi Arabia, which has been highly skeptical of the administration's policy." Yes, well, we all make mistakes. We should have allowed Saddam to take over the Saudi oil fields, and then made him a deal he could not refuse. After he had tamed Saudi clerics.
#7
The Saudis must be ecstatic - he is their bitch, after all.
What else he is, well, that's rather hard to say in a forum with a sinktrap. Sometimes I think he was born in the wrong era - he would've been a perfect fit in Huey Long's back room. The kind of political whore and horsetrader the Dhimmicrats love, someone they can "work" with. Color me disgusted with Geo41 for, after years of wheedling and suborning his own son's vision, foisting this dinosaur on W. If he has his fingers in any other cookie jars, Iraq being bad enough, then this is one giant step backward.
He got Iraq, not Iran. It's not like there's really a lot he can screw up in Iraq. Sure he'll make sleazeball deal like a donk. Baker is a schmoozer who can get all the parties except Iran to cool their jets about Iraq and buy some calm there, but don't pay too much attention to how he does it. That will open up more running room for dealing with Iran, the real problem. At least, I hope that's the plan.
#11
Baker, Shmaker, this will not end until we kill Iraqis. That's all they understand. They will grow tired of funerals, believe me.
Changing the dining room chairs will not escape from PC war to viscous inhuman war.
#12
Out of left field: What if he is consulting Baker because Condi Rice might be up for a promotion? Baker would be a shoe-in as a short-term Secretary of State.
Think of it as Karl Rove's crown jewel: one hour after Hillary announces for president, Dick Cheney announces he is retiring, and Bush nominates Condi Rice as VP. Hillary gets pushed back to page 6.
#13
LOL, Anonymoose! Now that is brilliant. Diabolical and Machiavellian. This is the sort of post that I was talking about... dump the paranoia and think like this, LOL. Simply brilliant.
As soon as President Bush asked Congress to enact legislation codifying military tribunals to try suspected al-Qaida terrorists and to permit warrantless eavesdropping on suspected al-Qaida communications in and out of the United States, Graham started objecting.
"No one, Democrat or Republican, wants to impede the ability of our national security apparatus to find what the enemy is up to," Graham told the Birmingham (Ala.) News, "but no American should be monitored by their government believing they're part of an enemy plot without some judge checking the government's homework."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/14/2006 00:00 ||
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#2
"but no American should be monitored by their government believing they're part of an enemy plot without some judge checking the government's homework."
And no Al Qaeda member is an American. So what if a few real Americans are caught in the crossfire. Be nice, apologize, set them back on their feet whatever it takes, and carry on.
#7
From the same people who play slight of hand with the terms immigrant and illegal immigrant. Considering that SCOTUS just extended 'American' protection to non-Americans, it's just another three card monty with terms.
#8
On the flip side, almost as soon as "anti-terrorist" legislation is passed, ambitious and political prosecutors try to use it against anybody, often based on unpopular crimes and unpopular defendants. This happens to most new laws.
Remember the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) Act? 95% of the time it is used to "arrest" peoples' houses and cars for drugs, even if the people themselves aren't arrested, and it's not even their drugs. But when it was passed, it was done with the assurance that its draconian measures would only be used against organized crime syndicates.
The bottom line is that, no matter how much we like a tough law against terrorism, we have to live in fear that another Bill Clinton will be elected, who with the complicity of his own Janet Reno and hand-picked federal prosecutors, will viciously turn that law against ordinary American citizens, who have done things like vote republican.
Ironically, even though democrats are the most likely to crave intrusive laws and abuse them, such as Al Gore's national ID card idea, the republicans have seized on the issue and used such tools for good anti-terrorist purposes.
This may eventually force the democrats to go against the grain and oppose intrusive security as "anti-freedom". Not surprisingly, they might make considerable political gain by doing so, that is, offering to prune away federal surveillance, inspection, databasing, and information collection and manipulation.
Of course, for the wrong reasons. But better they should be in this frame of mind, than having a democrat Justice Department compiling and using dossiers on their political enemies.
Eventually, it will be good to lift the WoT laws anyway, once the threat has been reduced. No reason in the world to search blond haired, blue eyed grandmothers in airports, unless you suspect they are illegally smuggling kinky underwear.
"This may eventually force the democrats to go against the grain and oppose intrusive security as "anti-freedom". Not surprisingly, they might make considerable political gain by doing so, that is, offering to prune away federal surveillance, inspection, databasing, and information collection and manipulation."
HUH? LOL. You been hiding out under a rock for the last 4+ years? This is beyond dumb... As for the rest, beware that "woop woop" sound. Got any, y'know, facts to present to back up the paranoia? Man, I am flabbergasted. For someone who usually makes good sense, this is just a pile of silly half-baked shit.
#10
Don't just blame Graham, although he deserved it, also blame John Warner and McCain. These people live in a world of ideals, sans reality.
One justification is that, should one of our soldiers get captured without a uniform, we would want him/her to be treated in the same manner we treat terrorists. What pure bullshit!
If anyone (US or otherwise) is caught out of uniform by the enemy, they (either US or otherwise) would not be eligible for the Geneva Conventions.
Warner, McCain, and Graham shouldn't win reelection (or elected president). They should be ashamed to show their faces in public.
Posted by: Captain America ||
09/14/2006 15:45 Comments ||
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#11
If Teddy wasn't camped there for life, Goober Graham would be far & away the stooopidest and most useless member of the Senate. He makes Specter tolerable. This RINO bastard makes me puke whenever I see or hear his voice, just like Teddy.
#12
flyover: Timetable. Before 9-11, both political parties were big advocates of increasing security.
Clinton's ID checks at airports and Gore's national ID card idea, for example. However, while the republicans were looking at the real threat, the democrats were looking at new and better ways of controlling "the people" of the United States.
It's a socialist thing. They ignore the big picture in favor of controlling the minutiae of peoples' lives. Someone called it "government by boy scout", really caring what people eat for lunch and what brand of toilet paper they use, while ignoring things like, say, war. And it was also corrupt, using their office and power to keep power, and oppress their political enemies.
Well, 9-11 happened, and thank god the republicans were in office. They passed an s-load of new laws to tighten security, and USED those laws against the enemy.
But the WoT is winding down. The next president will inherit it, and will have very different priorities. Domestically, some of these priorities will be like Patriot Act II, getting rid of security measures we thought we needed, but don't really accomplish anything, cost a lot of money, and annoy the hell out of the public.
But government programs have hellacious inertia. They are terribly hard to get rid of.
So, when looking at the democrats, we face two possible futures. Sooner or later they will get some control in government. Our first alternative is them turning these republican security laws against the American people, making our lives miserable.
Raw politics, utterly shameless in trying to get and keep power. They WON'T continue to pursue terrorists with them, so keeping them at all is just giving a loaded gun to rapist sociopaths.
And *this* is why I proposed that the democrats take the same stance they took after Vietnam and Watergate against security. It might well be better for us, the American public, if our security wasn't as tight as it could be, *if* it took these powerful tools out of the hands of the corrupt morons who would turn them against us.
In other words, if we are to be led by dangerous, unethical, immoral wackos, we want to keep them as powerless as possible. They will never seek to help us, so at least let's not let them have the tools to hurt us.
And ironically, if they do turn again to strict limitations, they might help a republican president eliminate the parts of security we don't need, while keeping the ones we do.
This is one of the problems of bad security law. It is hard to eliminate what doesn't work, without appearing to be "soft on security".
#13
So...McCain, Warner, and Graham Cracker are possibly in favor of bail being set for captured terrorist 'suspects'? How far are they willing to go to sell out/PC pander our country down the river of 'legal' handwringing? How does this situation qualify for the "better to set one guilty person free than convict 5-10 innocents"?
Have they no concept of US citizen rights vs everyone else in the world? This is intolerable insanity and the cause of national suicide. I would expect President Bush to veto any milktoast 'bill' passed out of this senate committee. This situation qualifies for the Law West of the Pecos....fair trial and hang the guilty bastards.
#14
Okay. I give up. I'll respond to what I see that moves me...
You're far more paranoid than anyone I personally know, so your comments strike me as obviously outside the norm.
I think I hear you saying that laws like the Patriot Act would become dangerous in a Dhimmicrat's (or any true demagogue's) hands. Possibly, if they're written incredibly badly. The Patriot Act s not an example. If you can point out an abuse of that law, just to kick off some substance, then I'd be grateful. It is my understanding that no credible example has ever been found... just bullshit paranoia and dire warnings from phoney guardians of the constitution (ACLU , etc) or tinfoil twits (too numerous to name) of how abuses were inevitable - which seems to be at the heart of your comment. Prove it.
This is the hallmark screed of the "truthy" segments... "Danger! Bush will be breaking down your door any minute!" Uh huh. I require more than such manufactured fears. Show me the proof.
"But the WoT is winding down."
No. Not hardly. Not for a decade or two of this slow-motion death by a thousand ACLU cuts, grinding PC shit, and judicial agendas - or whenever they get their hands on a nuke or two - whichever comes first. The camel's nose is under the tent in several places - and if needed I can provide examples of Islam's progress in undermining our societal norms...
I happen to agree with you about the inertia thing, but obviously not to the same degree. There have been classic dire warnings bandied about since the republic was founded. We're still here. To your stated end, I happen to believe in rational sunset provisions being added to every law. Makes common sense - something that's in short supply in DC, or not part of the "plan" to rape, loot, and pillage as long as the sponsors hold office, LOL.
I guess I'm just not paranoid about having laws that allow us to seek out and capture or kill the assholes who would kill us. I don't mind being vetted for travel or whatever. I have nothing to hide and nothing of which I am ashamed. They can take my prints - or any other biometrics they want which can uniquely identify me, and use it when I vote or seek a DL or anything else that can be used as ID. What the fuck is wrong with that? I don't fear it, I welcome it because it allows us to end this overstayed visa BS, the illegal hordes can be picked off as they attempt to access our systems, bogus voters could be shut down forever, and on and on. A threat to me or my freedom? Hardly. I shut down my crack and meth labs months ago and my supernotes operation has produced more than I could ever spend, anyway.
#15
I'm with 'moose. I'm not afraid of having these laws to do what we all want them to do. But I am afraid of a Clinton or a Nixon in the WH who use them to terrorize people for reasons utterly unrelated to the initial purpose of the law. Look at the way obstruction of justice and lying to an investigator have been used on Martha Stewart, Scooter Libby, Conrad Black, and many others. Look at the way they handled Craig Livingstone, the anthrax guy, and Rush Limbaugh's medical records. There are bad men in government and they do abuse their power. So we should not be surprised when we give them expanded powers in an emergency and they abuse them sooner or later.
#17
The system's broken. We have 3 branches to keep power in check, yet the democraps have during Clinton's dark days murdered a White House staffer, murdered the Secretary of Commerce, wipped out a religious cult, man, woman, and child, and kidnapped a child immigrant and delivered him into servitude without a mumble from the Department of Justice. The Congress finally revolted when he started open sexual encounters within America's house, which he was renting out piecemeal. Selling military secrets, stealing presidential flatware and White House gifts, pardoning damgerous criminals and destroying evidence are Slick Willy Clinton's legacy.
This kind of behavior was not supposed to happen. It was supportive democraps who helped Clinton through all of these examples of bad behavior.
As patriotic Americans, it is our duty to destroy the corrupt democrap party regardless of political concerns. If the republicans are to be opposed, then let those who would start a party of honest people to do so.
McCain has named his prospective cabinet, Opie is Attorney General and Warner is SoD.
Posted by: Captain America ||
09/14/2006 21:31 Comments ||
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#19
flyover:
http://tinyurl.com/lkfwf
"...Within six months of passing the Patriot Act, the Justice Department was conducting seminars on how to stretch the new wiretapping provisions to extend them beyond terror cases," said Dan Dodson, a spokesman for the National Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys. "They say they want the Patriot Act to fight terrorism, then, within six months, they are teaching their people how to use it on ordinary citizens."
Prosecutors aren't apologizing...
http://tinyurl.com/p7fox
The USA Patriot Act made it possible for federal investigators to search and bug a 360-foot tunnel under the U.S.-Canadian border, then watch and listen as hundreds of pounds of marijuana was carried through it.
Agents installed video and audio devices after getting a "sneak-and-peek" warrant, which allows searches without immediately notifying a subject.
http://tinyurl.com/nbfk2
"These documents underscore the ACLU's concern that the JTTF inappropriately regards public protest as potential 'domestic terrorism,' and investigates and builds files on the political activities of peaceful dissenters because of the mere possibility that their activities will attract participants who may violate the law," said Mark Silverstein, ACLU of Colorado Legal Director. "By casting its net so unjustifiably wide, the FBI wastes taxpayers' money and threatens to chill legitimate dissent."
"Homeland Security makes 500 local gang arrests."
"US teen gets prison for making 'terrorist school threat'"
'Town claims Patriot Act authorizes it to kick "homeless people out of a train station"'
"Under guise of anti-terror policy, feds issued subpoena to get information on student anti-war protestors and military intelligence agents probe 'suspicious' attendees at law school conference."
"Anti-terror task forces investigate and spy on domestic environmental and hunger activist groups."
July 14, 2004: "In fact, of the 38 cases cited in the report as examples of how the Patriot Act has been used, 18 appear unrelated to terrorism. Many have to do with crimes such as child pornography and child molestation."
Provision of Patriot Act intended to exclude potential terrorists from truck driver certification is interpreted by TSA to bar "law-abiding ex-offenders whose criminal records have nothing to do with terrorism or national security", mostly drug offenses, from truck driver work force.
http://tinyurl.com/qqfzz
"Cecilia Beaman is a 57-year-old grandmother, a principal at Pacific Middle School in Des Moines, and as of Sunday is also a suspected terrorist..."
"In the name of homeland security, state strengthens trespassing laws on farms to protect animals from activist groups."
"NSA insiders report that Hayden approved special intercept operations on behalf of Bolton and had them masked as training missions in order to get around internal NSA regulations that normally prohibit such eavesdropping on U.S. citizens."
"FBI shuts down 20 antiwar web sites: an unprecedented act of Internet censorship" My point is not to argue that these are unreasonable. My point is that under a president like Bill Clinton, each of these possible abuses could be magnified a hundred-fold. Remembering the abuses they committed even before these strong laws were passed.
#20
ROFL. Of all the items you listed, only Cecelia evoked anything but a smile...
Proof of Law Enforcement using anything it can find to do its job. I don't see, other than the possibility that Cecelia is as stated - which not necessarily true, anything but good news in those egregious examples of "abuse". Do you REALLY think ANY of those are bad things?
The cops have been on the short end of the stick for the last, what, 40 years? Since the "rights" people you seem to think are so sensible, tied their hands behind their backs and gave so many benefits of the doubt to the crooks and killers and pedos that we've seen a flood of people, guilty as hell, skate on technicalities.
Look, I love freedom. I also love law and order. I want bad guys nailed. You have proven nothing other than the cops have more tools, for the first time in 2 generations, to fight the assholes among us.
Hey, no sweat. Fear on.
There are, indeed, unscrupulous assholes who might actually misuse the law. None of your examples proves any such thing. They demonstrate that people are smart and resourceful. They demonstrate that there were unintended benefits to the Patriot Act, LOL.
Y'know, unscrupulous political assholes don't need the Patriot Act. The San Antonio DA figured out a way to force a good politician into retirement by using the OLD ways of fucking the system. And he's succeeded in spite of the fact it was as transparent as glass. Does that prove anything? No, but I wanted my post to be as long and as impressive as yours. I don't know if I've succeeded, but it's been fun.
KATHMANDU - Nepals Maoist rebels said on Wednesday they suspected the multi-party government of amassing weapons for its army, highlighting the continued mistrust between both sides despite a slow peace process. Dozens of army trucks thought to be carrying arms were headed for Kathmandu through a highway linking it with the southern plains bordering India, rebel spokesman Krishna Bahadur Mahara told Reuters but did not say where they came from.
The trucks are now in military barracks near Gajuri, Mahara said referring to a village 70 km (45 miles) west of the capital. We think they are carrying arms.
India, Nepals giant neighbour, has supplied arms including automatic rifles in the past to the army to fight the rebels.
An army spokesman denied the trucks were transporting weapons. It is a normal convoy move. There are no arms and ammunition, Brigadier General Nepal Bhusan Chand said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/14/2006 00:00 ||
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The speaker of the Iraqi parliament said Tuesday that a controversial plan to partition the country into three autonomous regions is politically dead. Mahmoud al-Mashhadani said in an interview that legislation to implement a concept known as federalism, which threatened to collapse the country's fragile multi-sect government, would likely be postponed indefinitely after a meeting of political leaders on Wednesday.
The federalism plan would create a Shiite region in southern Iraq much like the autonomous zone in the north controlled by the Kurds. Sunnis have generally opposed the plan, on grounds that it would leave them only with vast swaths of desert in the country's middle, devoid of the oil reserves in the other regions. The constitution that Iraq adopted last fall allows for a form of federalism. Sunni parties supported the charter only reluctantly and joined the current government on condition of a resumption of federalism discussions, in which they hoped to kill the concept.
"If federalism is to be applied now, it will lead to the secession of the south and the establishment of an Islamist extremist state in the center of the country," said Mashhadani, an outspoken Sunni Arab who is the third-ranking official in the government. "It is not possible to venture or to start the application of federalism now. Look, Iraqi blood is more important than federalism." When asked to predict the likely outcome of Wednesday's meeting of political leaders, he said: "We could agree on the principle and then postpone the topic for four years."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/14/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Sunnis have generally opposed the plan, on grounds that it would leave them only with vast swaths of desert in the country's middle, devoid of the oil reserves in the other regions.
After all their boycotts and refusal to participate, it's hilarious to watch the Sunnis scramble for political position now that they realize they're about to be stuck with the fuzzy end of the lollipop. There isn't a bigger bunch of sanctimonious Arab bastards who deserve this sort of political marginalization more. Their track record in Iraq is a running joke.
#2
"The United States is a federated system and it is leading the world. But this was after the Civil War," Mashhadani said. "So must we go through a civil war in order to achieve federalism?"
I just loved that statement.
I'm not sure why.
Posted by: Bobby ||
09/14/2006 6:15 Comments ||
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#3
I suspect that in the long run, the Sunnis will be divided into two groups. The urban Sunni will integrate and get along with most of the Shiite, and the rural Sunni will be encouraged to emigrate to Jordan.
Already, it is the urban Sunni that "go along to get along", and have few illusions, though they are very concerned about being oppressed by the radical Shiite. They could become a "comfortable minority."
The rural Sunni are pestiferous, however, and yet would possibly be welcomed with open arms in Jordan, being ethnically closer to the ruling Jordanian bedouins than either the Iraqi Shiites or the majority Palestinians in Jordan. This would help even out the non-Paleo demographics in Jordan.
This would also free up the Euphrates Valley for a lot of unified-Iraqi development.
The urban Sunni would also have a lot to contribute, being an educated class, and would win favor from the government by becoming government and business leaders.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party is likely to get four portfolios in the coming coalition government, while the ruling Hamas will get seven in addition to the post of prime minister, Ramattan news agency reported on Wednesday. Ramattan said the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Third Way would get two portfolios respectively. The Democratic Front would get one. Mohammed Dahlan, a prominent Fatah leader, negotiator and former minister, would be in charge of the new Ministry of Civil Affairs in the coalition, the report said. The civil affairs department now is part of the Interior Ministry. Its work includes daily coordination with Israel.
Ramattan added that the new coalition government would come into being in two weeks and still be headed by Prime Minister Ismail Haneya of Hamas. According to Ramattan, current Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahar will hand over his post to Hanan Ashrawi, an independent lawmaker representing the Third Way bloc in the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC). There were still disagreements on the interior portfolio, with Hamas nominating current minister Said Siam, who was strongly opposed by Fatah.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/14/2006 00:00 ||
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#2
Israel has an effective veto, in that they collect customs' duties for the Paleos under a formal agreement. They have been passing on some of these funds to al-Fatah, by default. I am unaware of any funds controlled by Israel, being passed on to Hamas.
#3
No recognition of Israel, no US aid. Who cares what the makeup of their coalition is? No work-arounds, no rewording, no obscure references, just simple recognition of Israel or zero bucks. It's about time for Hamas to learn some real-world lessons. All of their propaganda, their "social works" and everything else they stand for had better come crashing down around their ears if they refuse to recognize Israel. This "blank spot on the map" male bovine fecal matter must end.
#4
They don't need US aid unfortunately so long as the Europeans become willing to fund them again. Why can't Europe at least make the oil nations foot the bill?
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice stressed Wednesday that the new Palestinian unity government must adhere to the three demands of the international community - recognizing Israel, renouncing terror and accepting previous agreements with Israel. In a joint press conference at the State Department, following a meeting with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Rice said that the US believes that the principles set by the quartet represent the will of the international community. "It's hard to have a partner for peace if you don't accept the right of the other party to exist. It goes without saying that it's hard to have a process for peace if you do not renounce violence."
At the same time, Rice reiterated the US's commitment to continue negotiations with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, even after he joins a national unity government with the Hamas. "He is someone with whom we can work and we are working," Rice added.
Foreign Minister Livni said at the press conference that Israel is willing to negotiate with Abbas and that "stagnation is not Israel's government's policy," adding that Israel will find ways to revive the peace process. Rice met Livni for an hour long working meeting, followed by a joint dinner. Earlier, Livni met with US President George Bush who dropped into her meeting with National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley at the White House.
In her meetings in Washington the Israeli foreign minister is also discussing the importance of implementing UN resolution 1701 in order to prevent the Hizbullah from re-arming and attacking Israel again. She will meet Thursday with Vice President Dick Cheney and with leading members of Congress.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/14/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
I do not think any good will come from the visit to the Muslim world of a person who has such ideas about Islams prophet, Ali Bardakoglu, a cleric who is head of the Turkish governments directorate of religious affairs, said in a television interview there.
#3
They hate it when people tell the truth about them.
Posted by: Charles ||
09/14/2006 16:59 Comments ||
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#4
Benedict has the unique chance to play a pivotal role in how this world views Islam. As the head shepherd of his gigantic flock, he is obligated to point up the significant threat that Islam has been, is and shall remain if it does not genuinely reform itself.
As the leader of a reformed church, Benedict must add similar restructuring to the list of issues confronting Islam. He has already done well by highlighting the lack of religious freedom in Muslim majority nations. It is time to add Islam's capital punishment of apostasy to the list as well.
I wonder if Islam will have the termerity to issue a death fatwah against Pope Benedict. That would certainly make clear just how obsessed it is with global domination. Needless to say (then why say it?), I applaud Pope Benedict and wish him every success in fighting Islam's craven doctrine.
#5
I wonder if Islam will have the termerity to issue a death fatwah against Pope Benedict.
You mean they haven't already? I thought it was assumed.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
09/14/2006 17:47 Comments ||
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#6
The full text of the Pope's remarks can be found here.
The thrust of his speech was the fundamental difference in Christian and Islamic concepts of reason and God, not jihad. He used a 14th century conversation to illustrate his points. Key quotes "The decisive statement in this argument against violent conversion is this: not to act in accordance with reason is contrary to God's nature. ... as a Byzantine shaped by Greek philosophy, this statement is self-evident. But for Muslim teaching, God is absolutely transcendent. His will is not bound up with any of our categories, even that of rationality. ...At this point, as far as understanding of God and thus the concrete practice of religion is concerned, we are faced with an unavoidable dilemma. Is the conviction that acting unreasonably contradicts God's nature merely a Greek idea, or is it always and intrinsically true?"
#7
Is the conviction that acting unreasonably contradicts God's nature merely a Greek idea, or is it always and intrinsically true?"
There's the money quote.
We're finding that a reasonable God is quite a different being than the unreasonable Allan. The greeks may recognize "reason" and find this an important part of God's nature, Allanites may not question the enslavement to blind and ignorant following demanded by their Allan - to whom "reason" is unknown, and so forbidden to Allanites.
#8
Is the conviction that acting unreasonably contradicts God's nature merely a Greek idea, or is it always and intrinsically true?"
Acting unreasonably contradicts life and nature, whether you enter God into the equation or not. Rationality begets consistency. As Ayn Rand noted; In a contest between two individuals the one who is more consistent will prevail. An inconsistent individual will, at some point, be forced to revise their strategy. One who must change horses in midstream rarely goes on to break the tape.
This goes to the heart of a benevolent or malevolent universe. By dint of the anthropic principle alone, this universe is unquestionably benevolent. Otherwise human life, not to mention biological life in general, would not exist. A benevolent universe rewards rationality and reason. One look a Darwinian evolution proclaims this in no uncertain terms. The efficacy and elegance of natural selection is nothing short of breathtaking.
It is intrinsically true that life is predicated upon reasonable action. Regardless of whether creation is by God's hand or that of unassisted nature, acting unreasonably is less productive, less often successful and less efficient. This benevolent universe rewards efficiency and penalizes unreasonable acts.
One look at the glaring stagnation and endemic corruption of Islamic societies confirms the unreasonable aspect of their culture. That acting unreasonably is contradictory to divine and natural schema is not merely a Greek notion. Ratiocinate behavior is the wellspring of human progress and prosperity.
The Allanists certainly have mastered the fine art of strategic victimhood, haven't they?
I'll make a prediction: within a decade, Muslims will have replaced African-Americans as the Democratic Party's "Officially Recognized Poor Helpless Victims." Prepare for shameless pandering like you've NEVER seen before, from a brand-new alliance born in Hell itself.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
09/14/2006 17:07 Comments ||
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#5
Adding to the above, there's a good essay by David Warren today over on RealClearPolitics.com, Our Real Enemy is Within Us, in which he says
I continue to be optimistic about what can be done, should we summon the will to do it. I have written repeatedly that a robust and unified Western response to "Islamofascism" could fling it quickly onto the trash-heap of history, to join Nasserism and Baathism and other earlier manifestations of Arab nationalism and socialism. Smack it hard, without apology.
My pessimism is founded in the fear that this robust and unified response cannot be mobilized. We have a huge fifth column in the West, and it is not the Muslim immigrants. They become radicalized only because our "victim culture" encourages them to nurture their grievances.
As they say, "RTWT"...
Posted by: Dave D. ||
09/14/2006 18:20 Comments ||
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#6
Asking the Pope to become dhimi is what this amounts to. We will see.
#7
Red State has a very interesting post that gives historical context to the quote the Pope selected. There is a lot more to his comments than appears on the surface.
#8
They become radicalized only because our "victim culture" encourages them to nurture their grievances.
I call male bovine fecal matter.
The cartoonifada disproves this completely. Nowhere in the west did we "nurture" the massive over-reaction seen throughout so many Muslim majority countries. While our spineless acquiesence to the indignation that accompanied these offending drawings only encouraged further outrage, it in no way inspired or drove it.
Islam is the epitome of a "victim culture", right from the get-go. I've said it before; Muslims are skinless people living in a sandpaper world. Tough shit for them.
I've got a demand, too: QUIT DEMANDING AND GROW THE HELL UP.
Whiny-assed losers.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
09/14/2006 21:29 Comments ||
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#10
About 24 years ago a muslim damn near assasinated a Pope who turned out to be a giant of the 20th Century. Was the muslim paid by the commies? Yeah, I think so.
But this is the year 2006. a muslim even tries to assasinate a Pope and I can promise you a tipping point will be reached. Dearborn will burn together with portions of NY, LA, Tuson, Atalnta, Chicago...shall I go on?
Posted by: Mark Z ||
09/14/2006 21:33 Comments ||
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#11
Muslims demand an apology from the Pope...and in Germany, a Turkish muslim knifed a 70 year old Catholic priest.
The Air Force, the only service opposed to creation of a Unified Medical Command, saw its arguments get strafed, rocketed and bombed during a Sept. 6 meeting of the Defense Business Board, a group of outside management experts that advises Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
The board unanimously recommended that Rumsfeld immediately appoint a task force to oversee establishment of a Unified Medical Command by Jan. 1, 2007, a year sooner than Defense officials had planned.
The command would take charge of all direct-care health services of the Army, Navy and Air Force. It would streamline medical logistics, purchasing, information technology, research and development, facility operations, and the education, training and assignment of medical personnel.
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#2
The Air Force knows this is only step one. This is going to end up with the Air Force with the same relationship with the Army as Naval Avation and the Marine Corps have with the Navy. And that's the way it should be. The Air Force go it alone attitude was a major factor is the Israeli debacle. We don't need that. We need an Air Force whose CoS flew A-10s.
#3
* The Tricare Management Activity, which oversees the triple-option health plan for military families and retirees, be realigned to function alongside a unified command, with a new focus on policy and oversight. Management of the Tricare benefit in time would be outsourced to the private sector.
Back in the 70s when the military went VolAr, they paid squat. The Donks were also out to punish the military for Vietnam by financially strangling them. So one of the recruit/retention gambits was that the government/military will provide med care in retirement. You get your pay off 'later'. Now like any business that faces increasing costs in that sector, they're going to off load not only the service but they've also started to off load the cost on the user.
Me? I understand the financial pinch and will work around. However, I'd at least expect 'leaders' to step forward and admit that they're reneging on the advertising, that the costs are prohibitive to sustain, that it has to be rationed. Cause this is what is in the playing cards for every other 'entitlement' program the government runs. If you're going to make the uniform military face it today after you screwed them on pay and now are going back on representations made before, you better damn well be warning the rest of the population now - you're next.
I believe that this medical command will be comparable to Transportation Command. The individual services are still responsible for the administration of their bodies (i.e., Military Sealift Command is still Navy, MTMC is still Army, etc., but all are part of TRANSCOM), but the unified command will make oversee tasking of the assets.
The Sri Lankan government has denied that it agreed to hold unconditional peace talks with Tamil Tiger separatists, as announced by international mediators yesterday. "The Government of Sri Lanka is highly disturbed with regard to the statement made by the Norwegian facilitator, as the government neither agreed for unconditional talks nor was consulted," the government said in a statement on Wednesday.
Keheliya Rambukwella, Sri Lanka's defence spokesman, said he was "surprised" when Erik Solheim, Norway's international development minister, announced on Tuesday that the two sides had agreed to talks without any conditions. Solheim told a meeting of the country's aid donors that negotiations could begin in the first week of October in Oslo, the Norwegian capital.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/14/2006 00:00 ||
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Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says nuclear standoff resolvable by dialogue Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Thursday that his countrys nuclear standoff with the West can be solved through dialogue, while calling for unspecified New conditions in negotiations.
Ahmedinejad, on an hours-long stopover in Senegal en route to Cuba for a summit of the Nonaligned Movement, said the debate over Iranian nuclear enrichment could be solved peacefully.
"Were partisans of dialogue and negotiation. We believe that we can resolve our problems in a space of dialogue and justice - together, he told reporters. "I must announce, were available, were ready for new conditions in talks, he said without elaborating. Ahmadinejad spoke in Farsi, with his comments interpreted into French.
Iranian president says nuclear standoff with West can be resolved peacefully; adds: there is no need for UN sanctions against his country; US should moderate its language
Oil-rich Iran says it needs uranium enrichment to produce fuel for nuclear reactors that would generate electricity. Enrichment can also create material for atomic bombs, however, and the United States and other nations suspect that is Tehrans real goal.
Asked if he believed his country would be slapped with UN sanctions, as pressed by the United States, Ahmadinejad said there was No reason for sanctions and called on the US to moderate its language. "The American leaders should prefer to not speak in an angry fashion, he said, before asserting that his country is a natural international leader.
We believe the on the basis of law and justice, we can better lead the world, he said at an early-morning briefing, amid a powerful electrical storm that brought power cuts to the conference hall, before flying onto Cuba. Ahmadenijad earlier met with President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal, a heavily Muslim and deeply impoverished West African nation.
Ahmadinejad last visited West Africa in July, when he addressed an African summit in Gambia, declaring solidarity with the impoverished continent and lashing out at the West. Then as now, Iran was locked in a dispute with the United States and European Union over its nuclear program. Iran is in negotiations with the West, but faces sanctions for rejecting the UN Security Councils demand that it freeze uranium enrichment, which can be used to make nuclear arms. The United States is considered a strong ally of Senegal. Most of Senegals 12 million people are Muslim, practicing a moderate and sometimes mystical version of the faith heavily influenced by local religious leaders, called marabout.
While deeply impoverished, Senegal has never seen a coup detat and Wade, a longtime opposition leader, took power after winning elections in 2000 that vanquished the party that had ruled since independence from France in 1960.
#3
Sweet merciful crap! Where to start with this delusional psychotic nutbag?
"The American leaders should prefer to not speak in an angry fashion,
This from the rectal cavity that wants to "Wipe Israel off of the map". Oh, that's right, Jewish Holocaust isn't about anger, it's the standard RDA of terrorist bile.
he said, before asserting that his country is a natural international leader.
If you want to be led back to the stone-age. Special Rubble Theme Parks to be installed soon.
We believe the on the basis of law and justice, we can better lead the world,
Yeah, sure. As in; Lead this world straight into another Islamic cesspool of genital mutilation, human rights abuse and theocratic autocracy. I've got your leadership right here, you frickin' loon.
he said at an early-morning briefing, amid a powerful electrical storm
Lebanese militants broke international humanitarian law by firing thousands of rockets into Israel and killing dozens of civilians during the recent conflict, an Amnesty International report charged Thursday. The human rights group called for a United Nations inquiry into war crimes possibly committed by both Israel and Hezbollah, but their report focused on the actions of the Lebanese militants during the 34-day conflict.
Hezbollah launched nearly 4,000 rockets into northern Israel in July and August, killing at least 150 Israelis, including 39 civilians. The firing of rockets into urban areas in northern Israel disregarded international laws that call for distinction between civilian and military targets, Amnesty said. "Targeting civilians is a war crime. There's no gray area," said Larry Cox, Amnesty's executive director in the United States.
Although Hezbollah denies targeting Israeli civilians, it fired inaccurate rockets packed with thousands of metal ball bearings that sprayed out to maximize harm to civilians, Amnesty said. The report is Amnesty's most extensive condemnation of Hezbollah since the conflict began in July, and comes after Amnesty accused Israel of violating international law with indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks on civilian targets in Lebanon. The human rights group previously called on the Lebanese militia to release two kidnapped Israeli soldiers and abstain from targeting civilians.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/14/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
CYA time for "Amnesty". I still don't trust them. Israel is their favorite whipping boy...
#2
It's a pity nobody's going to do a damn thing about it because, sadly, there isn't really a throat to wrap your fingers around. Of course, Amnesty (and the UN) are perfectly aware of that. They only like to attack groups and states that are not going to attack them. Maybe Amnesty and the UN needs their own armies so they can grow some balls.
#5
Damn...I should always keep my 'Super 3D Nuclear Surprise Meter (tm)' on me at all times...
Posted by: SHaKeY STeVe ||
09/14/2006 9:28 Comments ||
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#6
Day late and dollar short. Took them way too long to figure out they pissed off some big donors when they only went after Israel when the bullets and rockets were flying.
#7
But most importantly, they decided to focus on the comparatively minor war-crime. By the far the more important was HB's systematic placement of non-combatants at risk in Lebanon by deliberate basing of military activities (the rocket firings in question) amongst protected persons (and use of protected sites like schools/hospitals etc. for military facilities like command posts and munitions stores).
THIS is the key war crime in question - and arguably the far more serious, under Geneva and other rules of war (attackers must only use deliberation and balance military gain against cost to protected persons/places in launching attacks, so the attacks on Israel were in some cases colorable as military in objective). But focusing on HB's most egregious violations would, of course, completely negate AI's and others' cases against Israel (which are poor on their own merits, see parenthetic comment preceding). All of the attention and condemnation - rightly - would be directed at HB's behavior in Lebanon which compelled Israel to launch attacks with unavoidable damage to non-combatants.
The infrastructure attacks by Israel outside the south are another matter (though probably quite defensible on military grounds). But HB's systematic and egregious violations - which subjected its own civilian population to risk and suffering - those are obviously the outstanding war crime issue of the conflict, and yet AI and others studiously avoid it.
#8
They avoided mentioning the firing of those missiles from within civilian areas as war crimes, because that would have vitiated any accusations of war crimes against the Israelis. In short, they deliberately pulled their punches in order to preserve their ability to slander Israel.
#9
By the far the more important was HB's systematic placement of non-combatants at risk in Lebanon by deliberate basing of military activities (the rocket firings in question) amongst protected persons (and use of protected sites like schools/hospitals etc. for military facilities like command posts and munitions stores).
Bing-effing-go, Verlaine. The anti-civilian nature of Hezbollah's attacks are run-of-the-mill and very well known. In other words, nothing new or controversial. The way Hezbollah intentionally threw Lebanese civilians into the Israeli meat-grinder is what stinks here. Funny how the spotlight missed that little gem.
they deliberately pulled their punches in order to preserve their ability to slander Israel.
Iran's oil minister on Wednesday denounced suggestions that his country might use oil as an economic weapon as "baseless," reaffirming Teheran's commitment to supplying crude markets despite its standoff with the West over its suspect nuclear program. Kazem Vaziri Hamaneh told an OPEC conference in Vienna that Iran - the 11-nation cartel's No. 2 producer behind Saudi Arabia - kept its crude exports flowing even during its long war with Iraq in the 1980s and would not use its oil as a political lever now. "OPEC and Iran are committed to ensuring oil supplies," he said during a panel discussion.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/14/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Just talking about IT is enough to give the market shivers...Iranian Prez is masterly at jawboning crude higher and higher...
#3
Oil is 80% of their income anyone who really thought they were going to turn off the taps causing instant collapse of their economy risking revolution. All the while our gas prices go up what say 2bucks tops big deal so for a limited period of time we pay what the EU has been paying since time. All the while the US gets their cuasi belli.
It was a hollow bluff to begin with and now they are saving face Muslim style by coming out contradicting their previous statements while outright pretending the previous were just some exaggeration misunderstanding of the evil WEST.
The only way Iran would go with the oil weapon would be if the rest of OPEC played too then the pain on the West would be crippling.
#4
I think the Saudis would be plenty happy with oil at, say $120/B, and Iranian production and export shut down while the Mad Mullahs are being over thrown. They'll just never admit it.
Would be worth the economic dislocation to take Iran out of the market.
This, coupled with the fact that the Iranians import most of their gas, sounds rather like a strategic vulnerability. Makes you think that one of the last things the mad mullahs really want is to close the Straits of Hormuz.
As an aside, I propose we rename the Straits of Hormuz to the Straits of Hormel. Goes nicely with the Gulf of Rumsfeld, don't you think?
President Jacques Chirac met in Paris with a special envoy sent by Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, though no details of the talks were released. Hashemi Samareh and Chirac discussed questions of regional importance during the Tuesday night meeting, Chirac's office said.
Chirac "reaffirmed France's support" for EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, who has been leading European efforts to persuade Iran to suspend its nuclear activities, the presidential Elysee palace said in a statement. Solana was to meet with Tehran's chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, on Thursday for a third round of talks aimed at getting Iran to freeze its nuclear program. The venue of the meeting remained uncertain, though Paris is a possibility.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/14/2006 00:00 ||
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Chirac just wanted to reassure Iran that France was on their side.
BEIRUT - President of the European Parliament Josep Borrell is to visit Lebanon on Thursday to convey MEPs solidarity with the people of Lebanon.
Any chance he'll visit Israel to convey solidarity with the Israeli civilians who were shelled?
This visit will have special symbolic value because the parliament was extremely alarmed at the spectacular military escalation and the resulting humanitarian crisis, a statement by the European Unions Beirut office said.
And symbolism is what the EU is best at, afterall.
According to the statement Borrell will discuss the serious humanitarian problems facing Lebanon and ... will assure them of the financial backing of the European Union. Borrells visit will also provide an opportunity to prepare for Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Senioras forthcoming visit to the European Parliament, the statement said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/14/2006 00:00 ||
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Lebanon's Interim Interior Minister Ahmed Fatfat said Wednesday that remarks made the previous day by Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah were "incitement to murder," adding that if there would be any more political assassinations in the country, the Hizbullah leader would be directly responsible.
Nasrallah told Al-Jazeera television on Tuesday that the majority faction in the Lebanese parliament "stuck a knife into the back" of the Hizbullah movement and cooperated with Israel and the US during the war in Lebanon.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/14/2006 00:00 ||
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#2
Lebanese minister: Nasrallah is inciting murder
Yes he is. Now cap Nasrallah's @ss and be done with it. Or do you need this psycho maggot to turn more of your nation into a cluster bomb strewn wasteland?
#3
Well, they said they were going to destroy the government when they were done fighting, and now they are doing it. Methinks that the bravery comes from stupidity. He should have gone against Hezb'Allah instead of flowing with it. Oh well. Maybe next time. Boy these guys learn the hard way if ever.
The German government approved Wednesday the plan to send up to 2,400 troops from its air force and navy to the UN force in Lebanon. Meanwhile, Norway decided to send four naval ships to join the UN force in the region.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/14/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Elements of the "LSAH" or perhaps "Gross Deutschland"?
_________I got the late nite crazies from my Kat! :)
#3
Navy and Air Force are lovely, no doubt, but not helpful when ground troops are needed Perhaps that's all they have left after their committments in Bosnia and Afghanistan.
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.
The Islamic Courts Union, a militia controlling much of Somalia, has rejected claims from the government that it is advancing on a strategic port. The denial came after the Somali government's ambassador to Ethiopia said on Wednesday that the Islamist union was planning to capture Kismayo in the south of the East African country. Abdikarim Farah, told Reuters on the sidelines of an African Union meeting in Addis Ababa: "The Islamic Courts' forces are marching to occupy Kismayo. This is a challenge to the TFG [Transitional Federal Government]... The Islamic Courts are not going to succeed by choosing military means, it has to renounce this option."
South Korea's vice foreign minister Wednesday confirmed reports that the United States had offered one-on-one talks with North Korea on the communist nation's nuclear program, but was rejected. However, a U.S. official said in Washington that no new offer of direct talks had been made to Pyongyang.
North Korea is encouraging its people to breed rabbits for food, the impoverished regime's official media reported Wednesday. "Rabbit-breeding farms have been built to rapidly increase parent rabbits which have a high fertility rate, grow fast and produce much meat with less feed," the state-run Korean Central News Agency reported. 
The speaker of the Iraqi parliament said Tuesday that a controversial plan to partition the country into three autonomous regions is politically dead. Mahmoud al-Mashhadani said in an interview that legislation to implement a concept known as federalism, which threatened to collapse the country's fragile multi-sect government, would likely be postponed indefinitely after a meeting of political leaders on Wednesday.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party is likely to get four portfolios in the coming coalition government, while the ruling Hamas will get seven in addition to the post of prime minister, Ramattan news agency reported on Wednesday. Ramattan said the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Third Way would get two portfolios respectively. The Democratic Front would get one. Mohammed Dahlan, a prominent Fatah leader, negotiator and former minister, would be in charge of the new Ministry of Civil Affairs in the coalition, the report said. The civil affairs department now is part of the Interior Ministry. Its work includes daily coordination with Israel. 
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice stressed Wednesday that the new Palestinian unity government must adhere to the three demands of the international community - recognizing Israel, renouncing terror and accepting previous agreements with Israel. In a joint press conference at the State Department, following a meeting with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Rice said that the US believes that the principles set by the quartet represent the will of the international community. "It's hard to have a partner for peace if you don't accept the right of the other party to exist. It goes without saying that it's hard to have a process for peace if you do not renounce violence." 
Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says nuclear standoff resolvable by dialogue Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Thursday that his countrys nuclear standoff with the West can be solved through dialogue, while calling for unspecified New conditions in negotiations. 
Lebanese militants broke international humanitarian law by firing thousands of rockets into Israel and killing dozens of civilians during the recent conflict, an Amnesty International report charged Thursday. The human rights group called for a United Nations inquiry into war crimes possibly committed by both Israel and Hezbollah, but their report focused on the actions of the Lebanese militants during the 34-day conflict.
Iran's oil minister on Wednesday denounced suggestions that his country might use oil as an economic weapon as "baseless," reaffirming Teheran's commitment to supplying crude markets despite its standoff with the West over its suspect nuclear program. Kazem Vaziri Hamaneh told an OPEC conference in Vienna that Iran - the 11-nation cartel's No. 2 producer behind Saudi Arabia - kept its crude exports flowing even during its long war with Iraq in the 1980s and would not use its oil as a political lever now. "OPEC and Iran are committed to ensuring oil supplies," he said during a panel discussion.
President Jacques Chirac met in Paris with a special envoy sent by Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, though no details of the talks were released. Hashemi Samareh and Chirac discussed questions of regional importance during the Tuesday night meeting, Chirac's office said. 
BEIRUT - President of the European Parliament 
Lebanon's Interim Interior Minister 
The German government approved Wednesday the plan to send up to 2,400 troops from its air force and navy to the UN force in Lebanon. Meanwhile, Norway decided to send four naval ships to join the UN force in the region.
