(SomaliNet) Somali’s interim Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi has accused on Tuesday the Islamic Courts Union of leading the country into bloody war after inviting foreign fighters. Mr. Gedi made the comments in a news conference he has held today in Baidoa city, the base for the transitional government, shortly after his arrival and flew back to Nairobi for the Great Lakes summit. “President Yusuf and I have discussed about the security concerns in the country and we are aware of that the so called Islamists and their allies are still continuing to pour foreign troops in Bur-Hakaba and Dinsor towns of Bay region and that is not secret but it is known by the government, its people and the international community,” Mr. Gedi said while answering to the reporters in Baidoa.
Asked about whether his government are worry about possible attack from the Islamic Courts, Gedi said “we have been hearing these days that the ICU threatened that they would isolate Baidoa and attack the government base so as to get rid of it in the next few days and we see these remarks as senseless and day light dream.”
Mr. Gedi was also asked about the today’s warning by the Islamic Court in which they said they would attack the Ethiopian troops if they don’t withdraw from the country within seven days and he replied “if they do hunt Ethiopians they know their country so they should go there but if they have other propose, it would be seen,” Ali Gedi also said that his government would start soon on pushing the IGAD countries to implement the peace keeping mission in Somalia after the UN Security Council adopted the US proposed resolution which lifts partially the 14 years violated arms embargo on Somalia and then authorize deployment of 7,000 regional troops in the country.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/13/2006 00:00 ||
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(SomaliNet) The powerful Islamic Courts Union, controlling much of southern and central Somalia, has on Tuesday given Ethiopian government seven days to pull its troops out of Somalia and warned Kenya not to allow Ethiopia to use its land as base for the war on Islamists.
In a news conference held in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, Sheik Yusuf Mohamed Siad known as 'Inda-Ade' the chief security of ICU said they would count seven days for Ethiopia to withdraw its forces from Somalia otherwise they would face a bad catastrophic. "We have issued the warning when we received reliable information relating that Ethiopian troops were planning to launch an attack from Somalia-Kenya border," Sheik Inda-Ade said. "We also give warning to Kenyan government not to allow Ethiopian forces to use its territory as base for attack".
He said Ethiopian troops should leave Somalia within seven days. "If Ethiopia does accept our wish then we can start talks with them," Sheik Inda-Ade added that if Ethiopia does not withdraw its troops from Somalia, the Islamic Courts will decide the right step of evicting Ethiopians out of Somalia. He warned that the war will be a regional one if Ethiopia does not take its troops out of the country.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/13/2006 00:00 ||
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#3
Did the muzzies forget to offer them the chance to convert to the one true, supremacist faith before going out to kill the Ethiopians? Shame. The muzzies are forgeting the dictates of the koran.
Posted by: Mark Z ||
12/13/2006 12:23 Comments ||
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Posted by: ed ||
12/13/2006 13:10 Comments ||
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#4
This spending on military toys has been ongoing for a while. They fear the Mullahs. Joke is, due to their lazy inbred children, no one can keep these toys going for long. Most likely try to bring in Germans. They could try Russkies, but they have an inherent mistrust of the Bear. Americans chafe too much living in the Magic Kingdom. French probably can't even maintain their own systems, let alone any others.
#5
I bet the Chinese are hustling hard to get into maintaining Saudi toys - but so far Saudi contracts with US prohibit it. At some point getting all new Chinese hardware and maintenance contracts will be cheaper than maintaining and adding to existing American origin hardware, and the Chinese will no doubt offer some serious 'loss leader' prices on Migs, etc.
#7
Pass the iodine-laced popcorn, if ya know what I mean......
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/13/2006 19:22 Comments ||
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#8
As other Bloggers/POsters had indicated, the Saudis and other MUslim Govts. know MOUD > ISLAMISM = RADIC FUNDAMENTALISM is a PC excuse for so-called "PERSIAN-ISM", that Radical Iran as led by Moud + cabal wants to be the SOLE = ONLY SOURCE of world Islamic thought and power, including for any future Islamic OWG. 'Tis another reason among many for Dubya-USA to stay in the ME, another reason for demo "regime change" in Tehran.
#9
Our appeasing to Iran and Syria has shown the Sauds we can be someones bitch. Don't think for a second the Sauds aren't going to try to do the same. I heard about the reaming Chainey got from them.
Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the United States, Prince Turki Al-Faisal, abruptly resigned his post after only 15 months on the job and left the country, The Washington Post reported Monday. Arab News learned from a source in the embassy that the ambassador flew out of Washington on Monday afternoon, after informing US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and his staff at the embassy that he would be leaving the position. “It is true he left the country, but he is going to attend his son’s graduation in London,” said the source, who said Turki will return to Washington in January. Turki’s predecessor, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, held the job for 22 years.
Fascinating. I wonder when the other shoe will drop...
Captain Ed suggests that he's leaving for one of two reasons: 1) his brother Saud, the current foreign minister, is ill/dead/vulture watching, and so Turki is needed at home to be the new FM, or 2) Abdullah is suddenly becoming more stable/vulture watching, and Turki is getting ready to make a power grab. Turki left without all the usual diplomatic nicieties, so something is up.
Option 3: He wants to spend more time with his family. Something big is gonna boom Stateside, and Turki is making like a tree and getting the hell outta here.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/13/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Option 4: The entire ME is about to explode and the Saudi's want all hands on deck to be able to have trusted people at more locals simultaneously in the Saudiland.
I am not sure who is going to jump first but I think come early next year all hell is going to break loose. Syria/Isreal/Hezbollah/Lebanon/Hamas/Fatah/Isreal/UN aka French-Italian jumbalia, US/Iran=Iranian suppported terrorism choas across Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qutar, Bahrain, Lebanon, maybe Europe, the of course the regulars Somalia/ICU/Putland/Ethiopia, Sudan
My guess well into 08' we will still be trying to control the mess. I was worried that Bush was broken and had lost heart but after seeing him step out and literally jump on the d*ck of that British reporter over admitting defeat and wrong I am now leaning more towards the lesson Bush learned was "talk softley (no bring it on) BUT carry a big stick".
Iran gets thier fuel to light Basheur in March 07' and supposibly according to Debka (I have seen guesses earlier like march) it will be September to go HOT. Once Basheur goes hot that is the point of no return. We can't take Iran's nuke program down and leave Basheur (fuel maker) running. And once Bashuer is hot thier is no president going to sign off on attacking it a man made Chernobly is just not going to fly.
#4
Come on Zenster. Maybe there is a perfectly innocent explanation --- maybe he just didn't like all these questions about the slaves employed in soddy embassy.
#9
I also feel something big is up. I've a feeling that Mahmoud's Ahmadinajacket's "end of year" promise of a big surprise is not planned for March but for our end of year. Dec. 31. Christmas possible.
If the Saud visa students are also leaving, something is on the way.
#11
Thine is right. We'll have to watch to see what other Meccan Diaper Heads flee.
Wonder how sick his brother is. I haven't heard of him going to Mayo lately. Speaking of which, the Saudis that were in Rochester Minnesota (Mayo) disappeared around 9-11 and one of the hijackers was in Rochester shortly before.
These princesses of Saud were up to there camel's eyeballs in 9-11. They must have been.
Forth option, Turki can't find young enough boys in the DC area. Feel free to make a Senate page joke.
#15
How does option #3 feel IRT the recent "I don't back no stinking trucks up" Muzzie student driver? And ORBUSMAX today reported that an Oregon truck driver was the victim of ID theft by a Muzzie who was found in the NY city area.
I agree that something big and not fun is up...
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The incoming Democratic chairman of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee promised on Wednesday to combat what he denounced as President George W. Bush's war-time trampling of American rights.
"We have a duty to repair real damage done to our system of government over the last few years," Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont said in outlining his panel's agenda for the 110th, Democratic-led Congress, which is set to convene on January 4. "Americans' privacy is a price the Bush administration is willing to pay for the cavalier way it is spawning new databanks. But privacy rights belong to the people, not to the government," Leahy said.
Leahy made the comments in a speech entitled, "Ensuring Liberty and Security Through Checks and Balances," to be delivered at the Georgetown University Law Center.
Leahy and other Democrats have complained about Bush's tactics in the war on terror, particularly the Republican president's warrantless domestic spying program that Democrats and some Republicans say violates the law. But as the minority in Congress, Democrats were unable to hold hearings or pass legislation to stop or revise such programs.
Having won control of Congress from Republicans in last month's elections, Democrats have promised oversight hearings on Bush's prosecution of the unpopular Iraq war. They will also be positioned to push legislation to change the president's policies, though Bush could veto them. "We are way overdue in catching up to the erosion of privacy," Leahy said. "This will be one of our highest priorities."
Leahy said he also would press for accountability "over the use and abuse of billions of taxpayers' dollars, sent as development aid to Iraq." He also said his committee would consider measures to help Iraq build an effective law enforcement and legal system, a need stressed by the bipartisan Iraq Study Group that made recommendations to Bush on changing his Iraq policies.
#4
Actually, Leahy may be on to something here. That is, the democrats cannot out-do the republicans as far as security goes; but the trouble is that they try, by embracing security programs that are wrong.
So, in truth, they might actually gain political advantage by going *against* greater security.
Think about it, if they went whole-hog, and offered to go back to even before the 1990s in domestic security, how many people would be very interested? For example:
1) Airline security. Abolish the TSA. Allow people to board flights with just a picture ID. Travel to Mexico and Canada with just State ID.
2) Pass a federal law severely restricting the use of security cameras.
3) Outlaw non-medical, non-research DNA databases except by the FBI, and then only for felony convicts and crime evidence.
4) Abolish a national ID card. If you need one, a passport is sufficient.
5) Prohibit the CIA, the Pentagon, and other federal agencies from conducting domestic spying operations; which will be solely FBI jurisdiction.
Stuff like this.
NOW, I DID NOT SAY ANY OF IT WAS A GOOD IDEA, JUST THAT THE PUBLIC MIGHT LIKE IT.
So objectively, even if it is a really bad idea, do you think the democrats could make political hay out of it?
#5
Leahys’ prepared comments were pretty much as expected. Investigate the BushCo-Military-Industrial complex, NSA = McCarthyism, Illegals deserve amnesty cause their just like dear ole granpappy, and the Administration will have to felate the Dems if they want any movement on new judicial appointments. However, the Vermont Senator also announced he is establishing the completely new “Senate Select Sub-Committee on Human Rights”. One can only imagine how this catch-all Committee will attempt to give credence for every bitch, moan, and hand ringing ACLU-type issue ever to come down the pike
#6
Dubya correctly interpreted 9-11 as that either America rules the world, or America will be destroyed. Radical Islam = Osama can't complain becuz of their late 18990's, pre-9-11 FATWAS declared agz AMerica; + ditto for the US-INternational Left's unilateral reservation of its right TO USE FORCE + VIOLENCE, ANY MEANS NECESSARY, IFF AMERICA DOES NOT ADOPT OWG + SOCIALISM btwn Year 2015-2020.
IT WAS RADICAL ISLAM + ANTI-US LEFTS THAT DECLARED WAR AGZ AMERICA, AND IS THE TRUE
"BULLY" HERE. "FORTRESS AMERICA = AMERIKA" IN ANY FORM will NOT work as long as we continue to elect Waffle-ist = Potemkinist, PYWAR leaders whom argue "USSA, NOT USSR, ergo USSA is the One AND ONLY ONE whom has to surrender". ALL YOU'RE GONNA END UP WITH IS A OWG = is a GLOBAL ARMY- MILITARY STATE THAT IS ALSO A GLOBAL ANARCHY/MAFIA/CRIMINAL/NEPOTIST/CANTON-IST STATE, one that history + human behavior suggests may inevitably devolve into GLOBAL WARRING STATE(S), e.g ancient China = Asian Steppes. GOING BACKWARD, NOT FORWARD. Switzerland at present may be a "specialist/
niche" Euro-power, full of mountains, beauty, and Banking, but it is just one one Euro-State/Power among many and no way is it the econ-mil-pol strongest - iff Canton-centric Switzerland does NOT dominate either Europe or Eurasia or any Region at present, what makes one believe a GLOBAL, "SWITZERLAND"-style OWG WILL???
SECULAR OR ISLAMIST, THE RADICS ARE FIGHTING FOR TOTALITARIAN CENTRALISM + GOVT-ISM + UNIVERS STRATIFICATION.
Sen. John Kerry, whose "botched joke" about U.S. troops in Iraq dealt a blow to his presidential ambitions, will travel to Iraq this weekend to meet with soldiers, political leaders and military officials. '08 Damage Repair Tour™
"I've talked to plenty of guys who've come back from Iraq, who are there now, who understand exactly what happened," Kerry said of his joke in a telephone interview Tuesday with The Associated Press. "They laugh at it." "And at me, but I think it's 'good laughter', heh heh"
The Iraq stop will be part of a nine-day Mideast trip that includes stops in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Israel. where he will rediscover his jewish and muslim heritage..., depending on your voting bloc
A week before the midterm elections, Kerry told a group of California students that individuals who don't study hard and do their homework would likely "get stuck in Iraq." He said he meant to say "get us stuck in Iraq," but the "botched joke" intended to criticize President Bush forced the senator to apologize and then lay low for the remaining days of the campaign. "Terayyyyza! They're mocking me!"
The Massachusetts senator, who was widely criticized for the quip, said he'd be happy to apologize to any soldiers he encounters in Iraq who don't understand what happened. "as long as they bring a 'Lucky Hat™'"
"For anybody who misunderstood (the joke) or got only the White House presentation of it, I'd apologize, obviously," he said. (sic) For all of us too stoopid to understand the comedic genius of John Frickin' Kerry ...
Kerry will spend the latter part of his trip with a potential presidential rival and fellow member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Christopher Dodd of Connecticut. Sen. John McCain of Arizona, considered the Republican front-runner in the 2008 race, also plans a trip to Iraq. Dodd? A Balogna Waitress Sandwich?
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/13/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
So, he considers this to be a tutoring session to edumacate all those intellectual unfortunates stuck in Iraq? His arrogance truly knows no bounds.
#3
"...said he'd be happy to apologize to any soldiers he encounters in Iraq who don't understand what happened".
hmmm, he still feels that soldiers "don't understand"
who's calling who stupid here, and making our guys work hard protecting him over there.
My God
Posted by: Jan ||
12/13/2006 2:31 Comments ||
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#4
He's taking a chance. One black eye, and that really will be the end. Lets see how close he gets.
#10
There are certain congressmen that show up in a combat area strictly for a photo op. The Pentagon orders hand-picked soldiers on the NCO fast track to stand next to them, for which they are rewarded.
The politicians do not talk to them, then leave.
Some politicians don't even bother with standing near soldiers anymore. They just want a picture of themselves "in country", then they get back on the plane and leave.
A similar thing is done in Hollywood, where stars will exit a limo at an event, have their picture taken, then climb back into the limo and be driven away, not even entering the event. For which the top stars are paid tens of thousands of dollars.
#11
Kerry hates the very idea of the US military. He hates what it stands for. He hates it's patriotism and selflessness. Anyone with even a rudimentary understanding of Kerry's writings, actions and statements knows this. Amyone who is fooled by his visiting the troops was a fool to begin with.
#12
"...said he'd be happy to apologize to any soldiers he encounters in Iraq who don't understand what happened".
He won't have to evplain to any of us, anywhere. We understood EXACTLY what he was saying! What a moron.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
12/13/2006 8:54 Comments ||
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#13
Does this asshole possibly realize that no one with half a brain buys that "botched joke" bullshit? Does he realize what an even phonier, condescending fraud he looks like taking this trip?
Chances are, he doesn't.
Who's the idiot stuck in Iraq now, Jawn?
#14
How many troops will be going to the that day and not using toilet paper. Hoping for the chance to shake hands with the coward that called them, our soldiers terrorist, murderers and rapist?
I'm willing to be he'll be visiting more mosques that troops.
#16
My hope is that Kerry goes on a patrol and during that he is attacked. During the attack, a bad guy (17ish) gets hit by 50cal rounds and stumbles away with Kerry in hot pursuit. After catching said wounded bad guy we get a full color movie of Kerry dispatching said bad guy ala Cambodia some 40 years later. Only after this engagement Kerry is arrested because killing a wounded enemy is (as was then) a war crime and not an act of heroism. But I will settle for another slip of the tongue (sic), which is a more likely scenario.
Posted by: john ||
12/13/2006 12:00 Comments ||
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#20
I gather that the standard procedure after being hit by a 50 cal round it to spread your arms, legs and torso in different directions by about 30 feet.
#22
Kerry should run w/Gore in 2008. They can both talk about all the things they never did in 'Nam. Kerry can talk about all the wounds he never received and Gore can talk about all the fire fights he never witnessed.
A federal judge on Tuesday agreed to delay trial until fall 2007 for seven men accused of plotting terrorist attacks against Chicago's Sears Tower and government buildings in other major cities. US District Judge Joan Lenard granted a motion by the defendants' lawyers to allow more time to prepare for trial and file defense motions. Jury selection had been scheduled to begin in March but is now delayed until early September.
The seven men were arrested in June on a four-count grand jury indictment charging them with conspiracy and material support charges stemming from an alleged plot to blow up the Sears Tower and destroy FBI offices and other buildings in Miami, Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and Washington.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/13/2006 00:00 ||
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A Pakistani judge has ruled there is not enough evidence to try a key suspect in an alleged airline bomb plot on terrorism charges.
He has moved the case of Rashid Rauf, a Briton, from an anti-terrorism court to a regular court, where he faces lesser charges such as forgery.
Pakistan has presented Mr Rauf as one of the ringleaders behind the alleged plan to blow up flights out of London.
The British authorities say they foiled it with Pakistan's help in August.
They say proceedings against suspects arrested in Britain will go ahead.
'Explosives'
The arrest of Rashid Rauf in Pakistan triggered arrests in the United Kingdom of a number of suspects allegedly plotting to blow up transatlantic flights.
The Pakistani authorities described him as a key figure.
But an anti-terrorism court in Rawalpindi found no evidence that he had been involved in terrorist activities or that he belonged to a terrorist organisation.
As well as forgery charges, Mr Rauf has also been charged with carrying explosives.
But his lawyer says police evidence amounts only to bottles of hydrogen peroxide found in his possession.
Hydrogen peroxide is a disinfectant that can be used for bomb-making if other chemicals are added.
The BBC's Barbara Plett in Islamabad says the judge's decision has reinforced the already widespread scepticism there about the airliner plot.
Several commentators said the threat was deliberately exaggerated to bolster the anti-terror credentials of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and that it helped to demonise British Muslims of Pakistani origin.
The Crown Prosecution Service in the UK said the dropping of charges against Mr Rauf in Pakistan would "make no difference" to the case against the men charged in Britain.
'Suspected conspiracy'
In August, the British government requested the extradition of Mr Rauf, a Briton of Pakistani origin who returned to Pakistan four years ago, in connection with a 2002 murder.
Scotland Yard declined to discuss which murder case the request related to.
The government in Pakistan, which has no extradition treaty with the UK, said it was considering the request.
Rashid Rauf was arrested in Pakistan earlier that month over the alleged plot to blow up US-bound aircraft, Pakistan's foreign ministry said.
He has been described by Pakistan's government as a "key person" in the "suspected conspiracy".
The August arrests led to increased airport security around the world, causing major disruption.
Passengers on many flights were forbidden to take liquids aboard aircraft.
The family members of the soldiers who were killed in the attack on Parliament in 2001 have returned the medals of gallantry to the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
The move comes on December 13, the fifth anniversary of the attack.
The families had earlier threatened to return the medals if the President considers the mercy petition of Mohammed Afzal Guru, convicted for being the brain behind the attack.
Accompanied by All India Anti-Terrorist Front chief M S Bitta on the fifth anniversary of the attack, they also expressed shock over Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil's remarks that they were being provoked by the Bharatiya Janata Party.
"We did not order the execution of Afzal. It's the court that has ordered it. But this vile politics over his death sentence, which is being delayed, has led us to return these medals," Ganga Devi, widow of sub-inspector Nanak Chand, said.
They met the media holding a placard that contained photographs of all the slain security personnel.
The families said they the medals should be placed in the National Museum until Afzal, who has been convicted in the case, is executed.
"We will take back these medals after Afzal is hanged," Jayawati, widow of head-constable Vijender Singh, said after returning the medal to a Rashtrapati Bhavan director.
The families rejected Patil's remarks in Parliament about them, which they said have left them sad and shocked.
The Supreme Court had sentenced Afzal to death and set October 20 for the hanging.
But Afzal applied for mercy. Parts of Jammu and Kashmir and a few other places across the nation have seen protests against the Supreme Court's verdict.
Terrorists on December 13, 2001, stormed the Parliament complex in a bid to blow up the India's seat of power.
The attack was foiled by security men, seven of whom died in the battle with the terrorists.
Posted by: john ||
12/13/2006 13:17 ||
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The UPA Government on Wednesday made it clear that there is little chance of Parliament terror attack mastermind Mohammed Afzal Guru being hanged during its remaining term.
“Statistics of the past 10 years reveal that on an average it takes seven years to decide upon a mercy petition. The law will take its own course,” Home Minister Shivraj Patel told both Houses of Parliament amid angry protests from the BJP-led NDA.
Posted by: john ||
12/13/2006 13:20 Comments ||
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KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - President Hamid Karzai on Wednesday lashed out at Pakistan for the third time this week, accusing the neighboring country of trying to make "slaves" of the Afghan people.
Karzai's rhetorical barrage against Pakistan started in a tearful speech Sunday, when he said terrorists from Pakistan are killing Afghan children. He ratcheted up his criticism Tuesday, directly charging the Pakistan government with supporting the Taliban.
On Wednesday, he again took direct aim at Afghanistan's eastern neighbor.
"Pakistan hopes to make slaves out of us, but we will not surrender," Karzai said in a school courtyard, in a 90-minute speech punctuated by frequent applause from several hundred students.
He said Afghan students may aspire to lofty career goals, but that "Pakistan wants you to be a gatekeeper at the hotel in Karachi."
Afghan and Western officials have long blamed Pakistan for not doing enough to stop terrorists from training on its soil and then crossing the border to attack in Afghanistan. Several suspects recently arrested for allegedly planning suicide bomb attacks have come from Pakistan.
Pakistan's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Tasnim Aslam, said the Taliban are operating well inside Afghanistan, and reiterated that Islamabad is standing up to the problem.
"Pakistan is doing whatever is needed to counter extremism and terrorism and not to allow its territory to be used for militant activities in Afghanistan. We have deployed 80,000 troops. We are taking military action," she said.
NATO's International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan has to do more, Aslam said.
If Afghan refugees living in Pakistan return to their home country, "this would remove the presence of Afghans close to the border, which appear to prompt the allegation from Kabul," she said.
Pakistan Foreign Minister Khursheed Kasuri said Karzai was misinformed and was merely looking for a scapegoat.
"To those who say this, I would like to say that it is a common human reaction when you have difficulties, you find somebody else to blame. I am not talking about President Karzai," Kasuri said Wednesday in Islamabad.
"People who are well-informed ... they know better. They know what Pakistan is doing, they know the price that Pakistan is paying," Kasuri said.
According to a tally by The Associated Press based on reports from Afghan, NATO and coalition officials, nearly 4,000 people have died in violence during 2006 — mostly militants but also including about 300 civilians.
Posted by: john ||
12/13/2006 13:02 ||
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#1
Nothing like airpower to keep them nasty slavers away.. I'm sure India would like to setup an airbase or two, or three in Afghanistan...
Posted by: john ||
12/13/2006 13:07 Comments ||
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"People who are well-informed ... they know better. They know what Pakistan is doing, they know the price that Pakistan is paying," Kasuri said.
Prolly about $250 a head for suicide boomers.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
12/13/2006 13:08 Comments ||
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#3
Slaves of allah. Slaves of Pakistan. What's the difference?
Posted by: ed ||
12/13/2006 14:20 Comments ||
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WASHINGTON — The US government has given an initial $78 million as part of a $144 million contract to Lockheed Martin for tasks related to the production of 18 new Advanced Block 52 F-16 aircraft for Pakistan.
Earlier this year, the governments of Pakistan and the United States signed a Letter of Offer and Acceptance (LOA) agreeing to the purchase of 18 Block 52 F-16s. The LOA provides Pakistan an option for an additional 18 aircraft. The new aircraft will modernise the existing Pakistan Air Force fleet, bringing a robust and versatile defensive capability to the nation's military. The final Pakistan F-16 under this contract will be delivered in 2010, a company release said. As long as we have the software kill switches ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/13/2006 00:00 ||
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Why don't we just sell them straight to the Chinese?
#2
The Russians reportedly have delivered two? advanced SU-27/30's to CHAVEZ - Two vs 18, hence Chavez still threatens and a mighty arms race now ensues.
#3
wanna bet they malfunction at disastrously inappropriate times when posed against us?
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/13/2006 0:18 Comments ||
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#4
Steve, if they were getting F-22s I would worry. As for F-16's, I have no doubt that the Chinese already have a better set of drawings than the USAF.
#6
I am not against trade, just looking for a remote trigger, explosion, fire, acid, gas, little egineering malfunction... whatever flies under their noses? Maybe a combination of different approaches?
I just want assurance when they head towards our boys, someone hits "the red button" as they disappear from radar, is that too much to ask?
#7
So, what are they buying these expensive aircraft with, our latest financial aid package? Why don't we just stop sending these traitorous maggots any foreign aid and simply give the money directly to our aviation sector as a subsidy?
#10
This a real travesty. No, there are a lot of things the Chinese still want to know. They are offering $8 million on the open market for delivery of a functionimg P&W powerplant. They may have prints, but they still need to dissect a working copy. Same for fly-by-wire. They have prints but need to see all details up close to fathom how it really executes. Plus all the associated weapons suites. This is more than folly and stupidity by your US gov't. Give the funds to Lockheed if bribes are so important. Do no deliver weapons systems directly to the enemy.
#11
Next year there will be a mysterious crash of a Pak "F-16". Very little wreckage will be recovered and China's Chengdu will have a block-52 to study
Posted by: john ||
12/13/2006 12:51 Comments ||
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#12
Based on things posted here, I was under the impression that Pakistan only has workable advanced toys so long as American technicians do the maintenance. In other words, they get to swank around with their shiny toys, which repatriate large amounts of the jizya we've been paying, but only so long as we're willing to go along playing pretend. Separate from the China issue, how wrong am I, O Rantburg experts?
President Hamid Karzai on Tuesday blamed Pakistan for violence in his country, saying “state elements” were supporting insurgents in Afghanistan. “The problem is not the Taliban,” Karzai told reporters. “The problem is with Pakistan”, Karzai added, for the first time making such comments publicly, adding he had been negotiating with Islamabad for the “past five years”. “If you resolve the difficulties with Pakistan, the question of the Taliban will go away automatically,” he said. “The state of Pakistan was supporting the Taliban, so we presume if there’s any Taliban they are (being) supported by state elements.” Asked if he meant Pakistan’s government, the president said: “Yes, of course — everybody knows that and that’s very clear.” Karzai said he proposed a regional peace council to ask Pakistan to stop backing the Taliban.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/13/2006 00:00 ||
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NWFP Governor Ali Mohammed Jan Orakzai on Tuesday defended a peace pact with militants in North Waziristan, saying the signatories had no links with the Taliban in Afghanistan. Orakzai said the pact had brought peace. He conceded that between 150-200 foreign militants were still in the region, but said that was a quarter of the number in 2004. His comments followed an International Crisis Group report that the pact had created a virtual Taliban mini-state. “I would say everybody has won because of this agreement,” said Orakzai in an interview with Pakistan Television that was aired on Tuesday. He said the agreement was concluded with tribesmen and Islamic students who had no links with the Taliban in Afghanistan. “Their leader is not Mulla Omar,” he said, and denied that militants had set up courts in the area.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/13/2006 00:00 ||
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Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) President Qazi Hussain Ahmad has written letters to all the treasury members of the Senate and the National assembly asking them to resign voluntarily or they would be answerable to God for supporting the un-Islamic WomenÂ’s Protection Act (WPA).
In his two-page letter, Qazi has asked the parliamentarians to read the book on Islamic laws written by Prof Khurshid Ahmed accompanying the letter and then decide if their decision of supporting the WPA was correct. The government, he said, wanted to make Pakistan a secular state and promote obscenity following the agenda of the US and Europe.
Begum Mehnaz Rafi, member of the Standing Committee for WomenÂ’s Development in the National Assembly, told Daily Times that she had received the letter but would not reply to it. She said she wanted to ask Qazi why his team and he had not resigned from the National Assembly after the house passed the bill.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/13/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
She said she wanted to ask Qazi why his team and he had not resigned from the National Assembly after the house passed the bill.
Same as Kerry; he's right and everybody else is wrong.
Posted by: Bobby ||
12/13/2006 6:28 Comments ||
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#2
Old blowhard and his party said that they would resign if it passed, but haven't done so. Not only has their cred suffered a major hit by supporting a law as popular as hemorrhoids, followed with an empty threat, but now there are elections coming up with these things on everybody's mind.
This is a big win for Perv, and well-played. If these guys lose a bunch of seats in the next election, the madrassas will lose their political protection, and Perv can, in turn, kick *their* ass.
#5
Ya keep the honor killings of little girls, kill your wife if she leaves pIslam, marry your little girls off at 6 just as Muhamhead did. I personally saw that kind of crap over there.
Caption for above photo: "Grab that camel's balls thus and say, Allen Ackbar!"
#7
I thought Qazi and the MMA already solved this problem by swearing they would all resign. He ain't going back on his and allah's sacred oath, is he? Why that would be blasphemy.
Posted by: ed ||
12/13/2006 13:46 Comments ||
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#8
Where is allan's judgement? Maybe allan is taking a break at allan snackabr.
#1
"As for literature - the list of banned books is so long that it would be easier to name the ones that are permitted and approved. This is true even in large countries like Egypt, and [even] for masterpieces of our cultural [heritage], like the One Thousand and One Nights. [Works by] Abu Nawas, Bashar Ibn Bord, Al-Isfahani, Al-Madari, and hundreds of others were banned from bookstores in the 20th century.
Remember, each year tiny Portugal translates more books into the obscure Portuguese language than those translated into Arabic by all of the MME (Muslim Middle East) countries combined.
To me, it works better with italian and spanish, from which I can sort out a meaningful word here and there when reading, even if I don't speak them. Damn those furriners!
#8
Yeah, I still think "Moderate Muslims" are to be found in the same quantities as unicorns and yetis. You've got to be one stupid bastard to follow that totally insane religion and anyone who openly admits to doing so is not only dangerous but too damned stupid to hold American citizenship or be allowed within the borders. Screw them and their pedophile punk prophet. Deport the lot of them ASAP.
Posted by: mac ||
12/13/2006 17:36 Comments ||
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The U.S. Army is on schedule to get its 155mm Excalibur "smart shell," into service a year late, after paying the manufacturer, Raytheon, $22 million to get the shell to the troops a year early. Currently, it looks like a dozen or so Excalibur shells will arrive in Iraq next February for a final field test. If there are no glitches, larger quantities will reach the troops by April, 2007.
The army has been hustling to get the Excalibur to the troops (who are eager to receive it), but testing keeps revealing more bugs in the system. This can be a problem with Excalibur, because the justification for the $50,000 shell is its ability to hit a target in situations where friendly troops, or civilians, are very close by. Earlier this year, there were problems with some shells not getting the GPS signal. If the Excalibur shell does not get the GPS signal, you have to make sure it's unguided trajectory will take it where there are no friendly troops or civilians. Having to do this every time you use Excalibur can be complicated, time consuming, and often not possible. These problems were solved, but then some temperature related problems were encountered. They were fixed, but still more testing must be conducted.
Getting "smart shells" to work effectively is nothing new. Back in the 1980s, the 155mm Copperhead round was developed, at great expense, to take out tanks with one shot. The Copperhead was laser guided. That is, it homed in on laser light that a forward observer was creating by pointing a laser at the target. It was the same technique used with laser guided bombs. But this was expensive technology. Each of the 3,000 Copperhead shells eventually built, cost several hundred thousands dollars (the price varied, up to half a million bucks, depending on who was doing the calculating). While a "dumb" artillery shell will land with 75 meters of the aiming point, the Copperhead would land within a meter or two. But so what? It turned out there were many easier, and cheaper, ways to destroy enemy tanks. This was demonstrated during the 1991 Gulf War, when a few Copperhead shells were used, successfully, but to reactions of, "whatever."
Russia developed its own version of Copperhead, Krasnopol, and sold some to India. During a 1999 war with Pakistan, high in the Himalayan mountains, Krasnopol proved very useful in taking out enemy bunkers, without causing avalanches or destroying the few pathways up the steep hills. The Indians paid about $40,000 for each Krasnopol shell (two thirds what the Copperhead was supposed to cost originally), and found it a good investment. This encouraged the American developers of the next generation smart shell, Excalibur. But GPS guided shells proved to be a tough technology to perfect, and we'll have to wait until 2007 to see if the effort was worth it.
In Iraq, the troops are already using the 227mm MLRS GPS guided rocket. With a range of 70 kilometers, and a 200 pound explosive warhead, a few GMLRS (G for "Guided") vehicles (each carrying eight rockets), can cover a huge area with very accurate fire. The GMLRS has been a great success, and the army is hustling to get enough rockets built to meet demand.
#1
Versus the cost of having an A-10 overhead with GPS guided loads? Remember the object is to get ordnance on target, not particularly how it got there.
#2
Probably an intra-service fight for bucks. The arty boys are getting antsy about all the new high tech toys that are replacing the need for dumb old arty guns. So, they need to jump on the high tech bandwagon.
#4
I used to work in the test and measurements for the Air Force and RARELY do you get an operational product that does everything you want. When they tested the Bradley 60 minutes did a big report on how many problems were found during testing. DUH! Testing and especially field or operational tests is where problems are identified and then if possible corrected. If we tossed a project every time it ran into problems during testing, our forces would be running around with muskets and pikes. FYI I saw a discovery channel test of the Excalibur and if they get teh kinks out it will be one bad ass weapon.
#5
Cyber Sarge, I have a musket (but no pike), and THAT's buggy too !
I'm inclined toward gromgorru's suggestion, frankly (acknowledging that there is a case for precision solutions such as the Indian's discovered, but in those cases why not just use MLRS ?)
Posted by: Carl in N.H. ||
12/13/2006 12:12 Comments ||
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#6
I think a GMLRS rocket costs a whole lot less than Excalibur and covers 4 times the area.
Posted by: ed ||
12/13/2006 13:30 Comments ||
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#7
Eventually, artillery will need to create a running shoot capability like the M-1 Abrams. That is, a 155MM or 8" gun that can accurately deliver rounds while the gun is moving at 35mph.
Such a system would also probably have to have an anti-armed-UAV AA system on the same carriage, as armed UAVs would be its chief threat.
#8
In the chaos/fog of War = Battles, Grunts are NOT gonna want to stick around no matter what weapon is incoming or who's doing the firing - IF THE ARMY-USDOD WANTS NANO-PRECISION = PERFECT STRIKE, BETTER TO DEV SMART LAWS + RIFLE-FIRED MISSLES. Remember the RIFLE GRENADE? BATTLEFIELD ROBOTICS? Telescopic/Transformation Tech > part of the future LAND WARRIOR SYSTEMS was for Grunts = Squad/Fire Team Specialists to be carrying around Micro-UAVS that explode on target, i.e. "FLYING/WINGED GRENADES" can fly thru windows, around corners, and behind Walls + Rooftops???
The United States supports the Syrian people's desire for democracy, human rights, and freedom of expression. Syrians deserve a government whose legitimacy is grounded in the consent of the people, not brute force.
The Syrian regime should immediately free all political prisoners, including Aref Dalila, Michel Kilo, Anwar al-Bunni, Mahmoud Issa, and Kamal Labwani. I am deeply troubled by reports that some ailing political prisoners are denied health care while others are held in cells with violent criminals.
Syria should disclose the fate and whereabouts of the many missing Lebanese citizens who "disappeared" following their arrest in Lebanon during the decades of Syrian military occupation. The Syrian regime should also cease its efforts to undermine Lebanese sovereignty by denying the Lebanese people their right to participate in the democratic process free of foreign intimidation and interference.
The people of Syria hope for a prosperous future with greater opportunities for their children, and for a government that fights corruption, respects the rule of law, guarantees the rights of all Syrians, and works toward achieving peace in the region.
#2
These comments to me sound like a "Blow me Assad" answer to the "baker commision Coombyaaa sit together fix all talk talk".
I am leaning more and more to the fact that Bush has some fire left. That he is not broken maybe a bit not so "bring it on" but still game for staying offensive.
#3
The second statement in the statement, I think, is the mailed fist. It reads to me as: Bashar commands an illegitimate government, and the US will believes that the Syrian people have the right, even the duty, to topple it.
But that's my opinion. We've seen these kind of statements before during the autumn of 2002 and the winter of 2003. Aimed at a different regime, though.
#7
ALLAHSWISDOM.com > anti-Israel/USA Muslim blogger[paraphrased] > Once [Radical] IRAN acquires nuke weapons, the march of Islam will never be stopped. JERUSALEM will under Muslim control or mostly Muslim control between Year 2010-2012, whereas the Israeli/Jewish State will be suborned iff not DESTROYED BY 2020.
As argued before, RUSSIA-CHINA = LEBANON-SYRIA vv ISRAEL in 2006 > IFF AND WHEN AMERICA = AMERIKA, USSA = SSR/USR, GOES DOWN FOR THE ANTI-US, OWG, GLOBAL COMMIE-SOCIALIST COUNT, DOES NOT MEAN RUSSIA-CHINA WILL BE SAFE FROM IRAN = RADICAL ISLAMISM [nuclearized].
Tehran, 12 Dec. (AKI) - Many members of the Evangelical Church in Iran were arrested before the beginning of a two-day conference questioning the existence of the Holocaust, which ended on Tuesday, members of the congregation say. "In the night between Sunday and Monday, right before the beginning of the conference on the Holocaust, many members of the Evangelical Church were arrested in Tehran and in the north of the country," an Iranian Protestant pastor told Adnkronos International (AKI).
Those arrested are Hamid Reza Tolouinia, Firouz and Shirin Sadegh in Teheran; Behnam Irani and Shain Taghizadeh, in Karaj, 80 km north of the capital; and Peyman Salarvand, Sohrab Sayyadi, Yousef Nedarkhani, Parwiz Khalaj and Mohammad Beliad in Rasht, on the Caspian Sea.
Authorities have provided no official reason for the arrests of the members of the Protestant Church, who have all converted from Islam, but fellow congregation members suspect the reason is their criticism of the government-sponsored conference which questioned the extermination of six million Jews during World War II.
"We don't want to endorse the racial and anti-Christian policies of this government which in the name of Islam is committing injustices of all sorts," said the evangelical pastor who asked to remain anonymous.
Iranian Catholics also slammed the conference before the Holy See issued a statement on Tuesday it said was linked to the gathering.
"The Shoah (Holocaust) was a great tragedy before which we cannot remain indifferent," the Vatican said in the statement. "The memory of those horrible events must remain as a warning for people's consciences, to eliminate conflicts, respect the rights of all peoples, and exhort for peace, truth and justice."
The head of the Arab League met Lebanese leaders on Tuesday in an effort to mediate an end to a political standoff between the government and the Hezbollah-led opposition. Amr Moussa is meeting leaders from both sides to seek a way out of a crisis which some fear could turn violent in a country that has gone through two civil wars in the past 50 years. "I don't carry with me initiatives, but there are ideas that I hope to discuss," Moussa told reporters at Beirut airport. Asked if he was optimistic, he said: "There must always be hope."
Moussa met Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, whose cabinet is supported by Washington, and Parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri, whose Shi'ite Amal Movement is part of the opposition and an ally of Damascus. A Sudanese Arab League envoy on Monday made little progress in bridging the gap between the government and the opposition, which is demanding veto power in the cabinet.
Parliamentary majority leaders who control the cabinet are refusing to give in. They say that doing so would lead to greater Syrian and Iranian influence in the Lebanese government.
Both countries back Hezbollah, which in turn has branded the cabinet a U.S. government in Lebanon.
"Hezbollah and the opposition are waiting for a few days for what the Arab effort will yield. But there is a feeling that matters will reach a dead end," analyst Rafik Nasrallah told Reuters.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/13/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Have you thought of asking James Baker for advice?
For the "kill 'em/deport 'em all" crowd who think there aren't any Muslims willing to speak out in favor of democracy and the American way of life. Posted here in its entirety.
The first thing one must understand about this whole hullabaloo with the Muslim imams taken off a Phoenix-bound plane in Minneapolis is that it most definitely was not about the right to prayer or freedom of worship.
And much as the imams and their handlers may try, it is certainly not about victimization.
But because the case of the six imams (five from the Valley) and US Airways Flight 300 has taken on a life of its own, it would be helpful to look and see what lessons can be gleaned from this story.
All of us as Americans have endured the incremental inconveniences of air travel since 9/11. From 3-ounce fluid limits to random searches, those of us with the first name Mohammed can also attest to humbling profiling. Most of us are quite willing to endure all this because we know the inherent dangers of flying in the world today.
There is little argument that American airport concourses have become clinics of anxiety-laden travelers who have become vigilant in spotting anything out of the ordinary. This vigilance and anxiety is even more acutely felt by U.S. Transportation Security Administration agents and airline crews. They will never be rewarded for a safe flight. But they will be globally vilified for one lax call that leads to tragedy.
Into this highly charged environment comes this incident of the imams returning from their conference. To ignore the larger context is to virtually live in an airtight bubble.
The preponderance of evidence points to some troubling coincidences during flight preparation, regardless of where we stand on this issue. The distribution of their seats, while in fact random, raised concern. Changing seats after boarding, rather than before, raised concern. Conversations in Arabic after boarding raised concern. Seatbelt extenders raised concern. However, no passengers refused to board after seeing and hearing the imams pray aloud at the gate. Taken individually, each of the reported actions could be something any of us would do. However, in totality, although unfortunate in retrospect, it remains hard to fault a cautious crew who must act with little information to ensure a safe flight.
But let us look at the response of the imams since the incident.
They rushed toward the media never looking back. They have taken their story of victimization to every soft media they could find. They then stoked the same tired Muslim flames of victimization through their own political pulpits in mosques around the Valley.
Organizations like CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations) and the Muslim American Society also immediately jumped on board, even before the imams' flight reached Phoenix the next day, and began whipping up the drums of victimization. Their handlers flew in from across the country staging rallies and pray-ins so they could teach the American people about this supposed tragedy of injustice.
As a devout Muslim, I have watched this painfully protracted saga unravel, fearing what comes next. The media, especially print media, have bent over backward to hear minorities' fears. Yet public opinion has not seemed to budge in favor of the imams. The lesson here lies in why. It has to do with credibility.
We are all creatures of passion. This fiasco has stirred the passionate cry of victimization from the Muslim activist community and imam community. But where were the news conferences, the rallies to protest the endless litany of atrocities performed by people who act supposedly in my religion's name? Where are the denunciations, not against terrorism in the abstract, but clear denunciations of al-Qaida or Hamas, of Wahhabism or militant Islamism, of Darfurian genocide or misogyny and honor killings, to name a few? There is no cry, there is no rage. At best, there is the most tepid of disclaimers. In short, there is no passion. But for victimization, always.
Only when Americans see that animating passion will they believe that we Muslims are totally against the fascists that have hijacked our religion. There is only so much bandwidth in the American culture to focus upon Islam and Muslims. If we fill it with our shouts of victimization, then the real problems from within and outside our faith community will never be heard.
Though this was not about prayer, let us look at the prayer itself: certainly a central part of our faith both alone and in congregation. The Quran teaches Muslims that God did not make our faith to be too difficult. Thus, during travel, many of us pray alone in silence when we cannot find a private place or where public display is not appropriate.
Prayer is an intimate thing, five times a day for Muslims. It is a personal conversation with God and not about showing others how devout we are.
Congregational prayers are preferred, but in travel (as three of the imams did apparently do) they can be combined upon their arrival in Phoenix.
Alija Izetbegovic, former president of Bosnia-Herzegovina, once said he was never so close to God in his prayers as a Muslim as he was during his solitary confinement for 12 years as a political prisoner struggling for liberty under Josip Broz Tito's oppression.
These imams would do well to learn from President Izetbegovic. He further understood the separation of religion and politics.
He understood God teaches us in the Quran that our religion is based upon intention and that if we perceive that the public situation is not conducive to our congregational prayer, that a forgiving God will understand.
Because these imams and their handlers just don't get it, it's time we Muslims found leadership and organizations that do.
Our predicament is unique, fragile and precarious. We Muslims are a relatively new minority in a nation that gives us freedoms that no other Muslim nation would allow.
Whether we acknowledge it or not, a radical subset of our faith community is seeking to destroy the basis for this liberty.
Either we predominantly direct our passions against these radicals or Americans will not count us as allies in this consuming struggle.
M. Zuhdi Jasser is a Phoenix physician and chairman of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy. He can be reached at Zuhdi@aifdemocracy.org.
#1
Either we predominantly direct our passions against these radicals or Americans will not count us as allies in this consuming struggle.
Here the author is certainly right. If he or any other "moderate Muslims" cannot bring themselves to begin radical reformation of their church they will remain part of the problem and not its solution.
After a while, silence is no longer consent. Silence becomes a lie. Whatever moderate Muslims might exist are so silent as to be inaudible. While it is their privilege to remain so, it is also our privilege to neglect sorting them out of those who finally are deported or interred for seditious acts.
Islam is on an intentionally malign collision course with reality and the West has no obligations beyond making that impact as lethal as possible for all Islam. It is up to Muslims who wish to preserve their faith from history's scrapheap to begin immediate and radical reformation of it.
No other form of rehabilitation will have sufficient outward signs to be detectable. It must be radical reform so that the outside world can be convinced of the sincerity shown. Less vigorous activity will too easily fall into the convenient and absolutely appropriate category of taqqiya. This bed of lies is something that Islam has made for itself and those who wish to save it must somehow overcome that perception of duplicity.
Again, the only convincing display will be that of vigorous and radical reformation which sees the swift and, if needs be, violent removal of those who advocate violent jihad and jihadism in general. Few other measures will be found assuring by a population already weary of constant Islamic atrocities.
#4
how exactly is chairing an organization and writing a column in a major paper being silent? What else is this man supposed to DO? Give up his medical practice and run through the streets with a sandwich board on? Run an ad in the NYT? Perhaps he lacks the money.
#5
I don't think it's that no one believes the sentiment is genuine, lh, but that the insident ratio is so low. How many Muslims share his worldview and press it in polite company? How many press it in the mosque, where such principles as mercy and peace should predominate?
#6
This is not an example of the fabled missing MM. This asshole is just intelligent enough to read the tea leaves. He sees that this has done incredible damage to the Muzzie cause among the American populace. The bag of shit exploded in their faces. He's just srambling to do a CYA for the dumbass ummah.
#8
I don't need to be a conspiracy freak, it's easy to do on this subject. One guy speaking moderate and saying what we want to hear in this country, takes something away from the notion that Islam is basically flawed and / or evil. It's really a Religion of Peace goes the meme, which prevents officials in the government from seeing what it really is. Color me skeptical. This guy may be honest, but it is better to be wary and skeptical then to buy into the RoP Kool-Aid.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/13/2006 19:20 Comments ||
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#9
M. Zuhdi Jasser is a Phoenix physician, a community activist, and a former U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander.
#10
This is not an example of the fabled missing MM. This asshole is just intelligent enough to read the tea leaves. He sees that this has done incredible damage to the Muzzie cause among the American populace. The bag of shit exploded in their faces. He's just srambling to do a CYA for the dumbass ummah.
Guess what? Despite my personal reservations due to taqqiya and so much else that is deceitful about Islam, I'm more than willing to believe that Dr. Jasser is sincere. However, as pointed out so candidly by Parabellum, "All he needs to do is convince a few million more muslims to join him."
If this was happening a few days after 9-11, I'd be cheering loudly and hoisting this up with every hope. IT'S FIVE YEARS LATER, and if this is all that Islam has to show for half a decade of navel-gazing, then I give it pretty long odds.
Alaska Paul put it pretty well without resorting to the (perfectly entitled) taqqiya excuse:
One guy speaking moderate and saying what we want to hear in this country, takes something away from the notion that Islam is basically flawed and / or evil. It's really a Religion of Peace goes the meme, which prevents officials in the government from seeing what it really is. Color me skeptical. This guy may be honest, but it is better to be wary and skeptical then to buy into the RoP Kool-Aid.
When even America's president is still sipping at the Religion of Peace [spit] Kool-Aid, we're better off and much safer NOT buying into the meme.
I know that it's asking a lot to demand that moderate Muslims start a campaign of radical reform. Unfortunately for Islam, this poisonous doctrine has already taken a lot from me. Even if it is only my hatred of slaughter that has been sacrificed, there is a single bit of humanity that I never thought to lose. Much more is gone besides that; A lasting sense of security, any knowledge that the world my children might inherit could be peaceful and an overriding notion that this war could go on for DECADES.
While moderate Muslims are not obligated to pursue a course of radical reform, neither am I required to be impressed by anything less. I see few, if any, other persuasive measures that moderate Muslims can take that will be sufficient to allay the well-founded concerns that any sane person should have about the infectuous and toxic nature of modern-day Islam.
#11
Bzzzzzt! Nope. You lose. There are Muslims who do speak out against this jihadi crap, but they aren't news worthy. What draws more viewers? Muslims destroying stuff and killing people, or the Muslims saying stop? It's a moot point. You aren't going to see any Muslims speaking out against extremists in the news, unless they are lesbian and kind of hot.
/Even when it does happen, that's not going to be the big focus.
//Can't blame anyone there though...
///If danger is in your face, you focus on the danger, and not the others trying to fight it.
////Ask anyone who has had a gun pointed at them
#12
I'm not sure what the ratio of moderate to immoderate is.
However, many moderate muslims are afraid to speak out against their coreligionists for a very good reason- it leads to being snubbed by the immoderate clique (and maybe physical abuse too). Thus the moderate muslims are themselves victims of Islam.
#13
We need to find a way to kill the radicals and give these types more of a voice.
If Islam is ever going to be reformed, it needs to clear the top so the bottom can grow in influence.
That means the wahabbist and radical shia madrassas need to have their Imams removed from power, violently if neccesary and of their lives if they try to continue teaching and preaching hatred (unfortunately that will be the only way most of them will go). Then they need to be dismantled, and proper education emplaced.
I've waited for a looong time for someone, anyone, to identify the Saving Grace of Islam. There isn't one. If you say there is, then you do not know Islam in practice... or you're one of them.
Life is hard. It's even harder if you're stupid. It's fatal if you seek to end my way of life.
Pretty small judging by a British survey: Many British Muslims Put Islam First
When asked, "Is Britain my country or their country?" only one in four say it is.
Thirty percent of British Muslims would prefer to live under Sharia (Islamic religious) law than under British law.
According to the report, "Half of those who express a preference for living under Sharia law say that, given the choice, they would move to a country governed by those laws."
Twenty-eight percent hope for the U.K. one day to become a fundamentalist Islamic state.
"hardcore Islamists" constitute nine percent of the British Muslim population.
A slightly more moderate group is composed of "staunch defenders of Islam." This second group comprises 29 percent of the British Muslim population.
The scary reality is that only three percent of British Muslims "took a consistently pro-freedom of speech line on these questions."
Seventy-eight percent support punishment for the people who earlier this year published cartoons featuring the Prophet Mohammed.
Sixty-eight percent support the arrest and prosecution of those British people who "insult Islam."
When asked if free speech should be protected, even if it offends religious groups, 62 percent of British Muslims say No, it should not.
Forty-five percent say 9/11 was a conspiracy by the American and Israeli governments. This figure is more than twice as high as those who say it was not a conspiracy. Tragically, almost one in four British Muslims believe that last year's 7/7 attacks on London were justified because of British support for the U.S.-led war on terror.
I believe American elites are afraid to conduct such a survey in the US and the fallout from it.
Posted by: ed ||
12/13/2006 22:51 Comments ||
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#17
And Muzzy First and Taqiyya cancel out the margins.
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.
(SomaliNet) Somali’s interim Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi has accused on Tuesday the Islamic Courts Union of leading the country into bloody war after inviting foreign fighters. Mr. Gedi made the comments in a news conference he has held today in Baidoa city, the base for the transitional government, shortly after his arrival and flew back to Nairobi for the Great Lakes summit. “President Yusuf and I have discussed about the security concerns in the country and we are aware of that the so called Islamists and their allies are still continuing to pour foreign troops in Bur-Hakaba and Dinsor towns of Bay region and that is not secret but it is known by the government, its people and the international community,” Mr. Gedi said while answering to the reporters in Baidoa. 
(SomaliNet) The powerful Islamic Courts Union, controlling much of southern and central Somalia, has on Tuesday given Ethiopian government seven days to pull its troops out of Somalia and warned Kenya not to allow Ethiopia to use its land as base for the war on Islamists. 
Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the United States, Prince Turki Al-Faisal, abruptly resigned his post after only 15 months on the job and left the country, The Washington Post reported Monday. Arab News learned from a source in the embassy that the ambassador flew out of Washington on Monday afternoon, after informing US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and his staff at the embassy that he would be leaving the position. “It is true he left the country, but he is going to attend his son’s graduation in London,” said the source, who said Turki will return to Washington in January. Turki’s predecessor, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, held the job for 22 years.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The incoming Democratic chairman of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee promised on Wednesday to combat what he denounced as President George W. Bush's war-time trampling of American rights.
Sen. John Kerry, whose 
A federal judge on Tuesday agreed to delay trial until fall 2007 for seven men accused of plotting terrorist attacks against Chicago's Sears Tower and government buildings in other major cities. US District Judge Joan Lenard granted a motion by the defendants' lawyers to allow more time to prepare for trial and file defense motions. Jury selection had been scheduled to begin in March but is now delayed until early September. 
President Hamid Karzai on Tuesday blamed Pakistan for violence in his country, saying “state elements” were supporting insurgents in Afghanistan. “The problem is not the Taliban,” Karzai told reporters. “The problem is with Pakistan”, Karzai added, for the first time making such comments publicly, adding he had been negotiating with Islamabad for the “past five years”. “If you resolve the difficulties with Pakistan, the question of the Taliban will go away automatically,” he said. “The state of Pakistan was supporting the Taliban, so we presume if there’s any Taliban they are (being) supported by state elements.” Asked if he meant Pakistan’s government, the president said: “Yes, of course — everybody knows that and that’s very clear.” Karzai said he proposed a regional peace council to ask Pakistan to stop backing the Taliban.
Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) President Qazi Hussain Ahmad has written letters to all the treasury members of the Senate and the National assembly asking them to resign voluntarily or they would be answerable to God for supporting the un-Islamic WomenÂ’s Protection Act (WPA). 
The U.S. Army is on schedule to get its 155mm Excalibur "smart shell," into service a year late, after paying the manufacturer, Raytheon, $22 million to get the shell to the troops a year early. Currently, it looks like a dozen or so Excalibur shells will arrive in Iraq next February for a final field test. If there are no glitches, larger quantities will reach the troops by April, 2007. 
The head of the Arab League met Lebanese leaders on Tuesday in an effort to mediate an end to a political standoff between the government and the Hezbollah-led opposition. Amr Moussa is meeting leaders from both sides to seek a way out of a crisis which some fear could turn violent in a country that has gone through two civil wars in the past 50 years. "I don't carry with me initiatives, but there are ideas that I hope to discuss," Moussa told reporters at Beirut airport. Asked if he was optimistic, he said: "There must always be hope." 
