Muhammad Ali Adam comes from one of the most feared tribes in south Darfur, the Arab Falata. As a Janjawid fighter he helped his militia to rape, loot and murder its way through village after village. Yet he is among a growing number of Arab gunmen switching sides as they grow disillusioned with the Khartoum Government.
If I remember the actions which we did, I feel very sorry and sometimes I cry, he said, sipping sweet, black tea with half a dozen of his new comrades from the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA), deep inside Jebel Mara, the mountainous stronghold of the anti-Khartoum rebels.
Once they would have tried to kill each other. Commander Adam, with his dark tan and Khartoum-issued, Chinese-made Kalashnikov, cuts an unlikely figure as a rebel commander. Yet he now ventures regularly into the hillside town of Gorolang Baje home to the Fur people that gave Darfur its name to take orders from his new superiors, who used to be his foes.
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Posted by: Steve White ||
05/11/2007 01:06 ||
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#1
The UN made it crystal clear that the US was to keep it's nose out of the Darfur situation, that they would handle it. Here we are 4 years later and the only reason that the murdering has let up a bit is that they are running out of people to shoot at. I can't see where it is doing us any good at all to pay the bills for those filching swine.
China responded yesterday to increasing international criticism of its close friendship with Sudan, appointing a special representative for African affairs whose first task will be to focus on the Darfur crisis.
As in, how to sweep it all under the rug.
It is the second time in a week that China has taken action in Sudan that marks a shift from Beijings policy of not interfering in the affairs of another nation. Chinese leaders have been stung by criticism that Beijings failure to do more could jeopardise its prestige during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
Liu Guijin, an Africa veteran and former ambassador to Zimbabwe and South Africa, has been appointed as special representative. A Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said: Since the situation in Darfur has drawn significant international attention, [his] work will focus on the Darfur issue.
The appointment comes a day after 108 members of the US House of Representatives wrote to Hu Jintao, the Chinese President, urging Beijing do more on Darfur or face a public relations disaster during the Olympics. The letter said: It would be a disaster for China if the Games were to be marred by protests from concerned individuals and groups, who will undoubtedly link your Government to the continued atrocities in Darfur, if there is no significant improvement in the conditions.
It added that unless China acted, history will judge your Government as having bank-rolled a genocide.
Earlier this week China agreed to send nearly 300 military engineers with a UN peacekeeping force to Sudan.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/11/2007 00:14 ||
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#1
See also STRATEGYPAGE >PEACEKEEPING > CHINA WORKS BOTH ENDS article.
#3
In related news: Nobody cares about China's continued brutal occupation of Tibet, its threats to annihilate the democratic republic of China in Taiwan, its alliance with nihilist-dystopian North Korea or its barbarous totalitarian oppression of its own citizenry. Keep those Walmart shoppers happy.
#4
Exactly, Excalibur. Just let your local TV station know that you won't be watching the Olympics in 2008 so they might as well show Barney Miller reruns instead.
#7
that marks a shift from Beijings policy of not interfering in the affairs of another nation.
They must have used a snow shovel to scoop that much bullshit into a line of print. China is complicit in some of the most vile and ruthless tyrannies on earth.
In related news: Nobody cares about China's continued brutal occupation of Tibet, its threats to annihilate the democratic republic of China in Taiwan, its alliance with nihilist-dystopian North Korea or its barbarous totalitarian oppression of its own citizenry. Keep those Walmart shoppers happy.
Bingo, Excalibur. I'm glad to see that someone else has arrived at the decision to boycott Wal-Mart. Their purchases represent a solid 10% of our trade imbalance with China. The Chinese Olympics need a shaft in their spokes. I wonder if the pro-Tibet leftists will be able to bring themselves to boycott their socialist utopian brethern in Beijing.
#8
Walmart's April-to-April sales are down 3.5% while other retailers are up. Maybe a boycott is under way already, or maybe people have caught on that really cheap crap is still crap.
Wherever I look at China the creepy factor starts to kick in. The buses here in NYC are advertising a Chinese exhibition of human bodies, preserved, skinned and disected. The posters show a young, healthy Chinese man (with his Chinese eyes) who was flayed and preservatised. I look at him and think, "what was your story, pal?"
#9
They're worried about conditions in Darfur+Sudan alright. Worried about their oil wells and oil worker technicians. The ones murdered and kidnapped by Islamo nutcases. Soooo, it is necessary to expedite 300 military engineers(is this their version of spec ops?) to the area. And, if this isn't enough there's 300,000 more where they came from. Short but sweet message from ChiComs----don't ever f**k with us again.
New York, May 9, 2007The Committee to Protect Journalists mourns the death on Saturday of Mohammed Abdullahi Khalif, a contributor to the private radio station Voice of Peace in Somalias northeastern, semi-autonomous region of Puntland. Khalif was killed by crossfire while covering an army raid on an illegal gun market in the city of Galkayo.
Crossfire? Is the RAB providing consultation services?
Khalif died from a bullet to the chest as soldiers were raiding the dealership to recover an assault rifle allegedly stolen from the army, according to the National Union of Somali Journalists and local journalists. One other person died and several others were wounded in the raid.
This tragic event reminds us that reporting the news anywhere in Somalia is dangerous, CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon said. We mourn the loss of Mohammed Abdullahi Khalif and extend our condolences to his family and colleagues. Khalif, believed to about 25, had contributed news reports to the station on a voluntary basis since last year, Director Mohamed Ali Ahmad told CPJ today. He had worked as a station technician for several months before that, Ahmad said.
Khalif is the 15th journalist killed on duty in Somalia since 1992. In recent months, [Puntland] authorities jailed a radio correspondent for nearly two weeks and, in March, issued a decree prohibiting activities of media groups without prior consent of the government.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/11/2007 00:00 ||
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(AKI) - The Moroccan and Algerian authorities are worried jihadists currently in Iraq could return home and set up new terror cells, Moroccan terrorism expert Abdallah Rami told Spanish daily El Pais. "They will come to continue waging holy war which for them is like the call to prayer," he said. Cities such as Tetouan in northern Morocco and El Oued in Algeria could become real hotbeds for jihadi recruitment, the paper warns.
Many of the jihadists are ready to use what they learned in Iraq back in their own countries. "And this is what North Africans fear," said Rami. He is a researcher at Morocco's Centre for the Study of Social Sciences. The members of North African jihadi cells are Salafites. "For Salafites, there is not much difference between the United States and the Moroccan government, which it considers apostate," said Moroccan terrorism expert Mohammed Darif.
"Al-Qaeda's priority remains Iraq," said Mohammed el Ayadi, a political scientist at the Hassan II Mohammedia University in Mohammedia, northwestern Morocco. "For bin Laden's network, Morocco currently respresents a logistical base above all," he added.
No hard data exist on jihadi terrorists who have volunteered to wage holy war in Iraq, but many are from Algeria, experts say. In the deprived Jamaa Mezuak neighbourhood of Tetouan, at least 40 young jihadists went to Iraq according to the Moroccan weekly Le Journal. Similiar numbers of jihadists are believed to have headed to Iraq from El Oued. The Moroccan and Algerian authorities remain on high alert after several recent suicide bombings in Casablanca and Algiers.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/11/2007 02:29 ||
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#1
Everybody is worried that the jihadis will return from Iraq to terrorize their home countries. But how many actually make it home again, versus getting captured or killed? And with all the turnover of management post-0/11, what kind of training are the survivors receiving?
(AKI) - In a surprise move, some of the main defendants in the maxi-trial for the 2004 Madrid train bombings began a hunger strike on Thursday. According to various Spanish websites Youssef Belhadj, Hassan el Haski, Rabei Osman el Sayed (known as Mohammed the Egyptian, arrested in Italy in June 2004) and Abdeljamid Bouchard announced their decision in letters sent to the prison authorities. The first three are considered the "brains" behind the 11 March, 2004 attack in which 191 people were killed. The prosecution says the fourth, Abdeljamid Bouchard, was one of those who physically carried out the bombings.
The hunger strikers argue that the accusations against them are unjust and during Thursday's hearing some defendants managed to show two protest placards to the television cameras. They say their situation is unbearable.
I have a potential solution ...
The strike acquires additional weight in Spain because it comes after a controversy that has far from died down. In March the convicted terrorist of ETA, Iñaki De Juana Chaos was granted house arrest after a 100 day hunger strike. He was transfered from a Madrid hospital to the Basque country for what the Zapatero government referred to as "humanitarian reasons". Several days ago, De Juana Chaos - now completely recovered - was photographed while he was strolling with his girlfriend and the controversy re-exploded amid criticism of the government of being 'soft' on convicted ETA terrorists.
Way to go, Zappy, now that you've made your bed ...
Posted by: Fred ||
05/11/2007 02:29 ||
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#2
As I said, the clues who led to arrests of islamists just before the elections appear to have been fabrivcated. By the way the judgement is looking more and more like a farce with crucial analysis not having been performed, with 90% suspects who were police informants and prosecution witnesses contradicting not only one another but at times themselves.
#7
Nope. The goal had been reached: installing Zapatero. Listen, there is a lot of info available in Spanish about the falsifications and coverups in the investigation. You have everything. Bombs who suddenly appear in police station between debris who had been thoroughly searched, sniffer dogs who sniff nothing in a minivan, their trainer looks in the minivan dinds it empty and then once it is moved to police statiion they find explosives, clothes full of DNA, no analysisi of the explosives used in the trains... Oh and the Socialist Party has showed an enormous interest in trying to snuff out the investigation.
In case you think I am a conspiranoid I can provide you with the URLS to the antiterrorist court who is trying them. You will get it direct from the horsemouth. Provided you can read Spanish.
I translated some of the material for Rantburg but at one point I was moderated.
#8
Indeed. JFM's translations were a fascinating look into the underbelly of Socialists plotting to take power, no holds barred. It was quite an eye opener for me, still terribly naive after all these years.
#9
Not much different between the Socialists in Spain and the Dummycrats in Washington, except there hasn't been a terrorist attack to help bring them to power. They simply use lies, deceit, and the complicity of the MSM to achieve their goals. That doesn't make the stink any less appalling.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
05/11/2007 16:21 Comments ||
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#10
The racine burgers are always ready in case they change their minds.
CHERRY HILL, N.J. - He railed against the United States, helped scout out military installations for attack, offered to introduce his comrades to an arms dealer, and gave them a list of weapons he could procure, including machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades. These were not the actions of a terrorist, but of a paid FBI informant who helped bring down an alleged plot by six Muslim men to massacre U.S. soldiers at New Jersey's Fort Dix.
And those actions have raised questions of whether the government crossed the line and pushed the six men down a path they would not have otherwise followed. It is an argument entrapment that has been made in other terrorism cases, and one that has failed miserably in this post-Sept. 11 era.
One defense attorney on the case, Troy Archie, said no decision has been made on whether to argue entrapment, but based on the FBI's own account, "the guys sort of led them on." Rocco Cipparone, a lawyer for another one of the defendants, said he will take a hard look at "the role of paid informants and how aggressive they were in potentially prodding or moving things along."
Continued on Page 49
#1
Iff NOT "hatred of America", then maybe t'was the $$$ > ASIA TIMES - CONVERT, OR WE WILL BEHEAD YOU. Or SSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHH you can pay US$1600.0 in the name of Allah to prevent your beheading.
#4
Tatar, called a Philadelphia police officer in November, saying that he had been approached by someone who was pressuring him to obtain a map of Fort Dix, and that he feared the incident was terrorist-related, according to court documents.
I thought he called the police to see if someone he suspected to be an informant actually was. That's what previous articles on the subject said... presumably based on comments from the police.
#5
Entrapment will not work. Never has, never will - when it comes to the original intent. Informer didn't start working these guys until after the circuit city kid ratted them out about the video. Lawyer talk at $500 per hour. Wonder if they are PD's or being paid and if being paid - by whom? Follow the money.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
05/11/2007 10:28 Comments ||
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#6
Notice that their lawyers don't come right out and say that they plan to claim entrapment. This is all AP spin.
#7
No Muslims are ever guilty of anything. The people who did this can't be real Muslims, it's a case of entrapment, it's a case of Islamophobia, it's a Zionist plot to demonize Muslims, blah, blah...
Former Los Angeles Times Baghdad Bureau Chief Borzou Daragahi says he doubts the "surge" in Iraq will work, and describes Iraq citizens as "hostile" and "humiliated" after four years of war.
Asked by Brian Lamb, in a forthcoming C-SPAN interview, about his personal views on the war, he replied: "I think at this point, it just it seems like its become a disaster. I mean, I dont think anyone could dispute that. Its just going very, very, very, very badly." He said he had mixed feelings about the invasion but "As time wore on, though, as the bodies mounted, it just seems more and more like a really bad mistake."
#1
The presence of the U.S. soldiers is very humiliating to the Iraqis. Even those who, in their minds know that it's necessary to have the soldiers there, at least some kind of force there preventing an all-out civil war from getting even worse...I don't think they appreciate American culture."
If true, these thankless assholes can kneel and service every single one of our troops. I have long suspected such ingratitude and still, somehow, hope that this is not the case. Still, from all that has gone before, it is extremely difficult to imagine that most Iraqis do not view their American liberators as an occupying force. If so, may the fleas of a thousand camels infest their armpits.
#2
STRATEGYPAGE > WHY WWII HASN'T ENDED YET!?. Overseas, US milfors are predomin well-liked - are LIKABLE, WELL-ARMED AND WELL-TRAINED, FEW INCIDENTS AGZ LOCALS, and espec WELL-PAID. Good friendships and good for the local economies.
#3
His assessment of the war ("bodies piling up") doesn't stand up to scrutiny, as it adopts the usual implicit framework that ignores the carnage that was the norm pre-invasion (quieter, but worse) and freezes the clock (it ain't fixed by now, so the entire enterprise can be judged today). And several of the indicators he claims are not improving actually are improving, depending on which part of the country you're talking about. Even, in Anbar, the security situation.
His line about no military solution will put him in good company in the US Army, where military solutions are not in vogue. I think he makes a very interesting point about "surge" resources not matching the needs. So we've gone from a hopeless strategy (hand over to Iraqis instantaneously, rely on political change to magically produce security) that was under-resourced to a dubious strategy (create "breathing room" for Iraqi politicians who can't deliver ANY of the elements doing the killing, no matter how much time they have) that is under-resourced.
He's probably right about general Arab perceptions - which damns them, and affects not a whit the value/desirability of the invasion and regime removal. But at least as excerpted here he falls for the usual problem of not highlighting the cognitive dissonance of Iraqis who couldn't off the old regime on their own, and who can't help much in stopping the predations of their countryment that are now the problem in the country, and who mostly fear our departure any time soon, yet who criticize us for mistakes and failures. He knows better than to let this go by.
Unsurprised but still disappointed to see this. Dealt with him quite a bit over there, and found him smart, likeable, and fair-minded.
#4
Agree, Verlaine. There are times I wonder, "Is it worth it?" And then I think about the islamo-vermin that, for all intents and purposes, appear to be taking the whole of islam back to the 7th century.
#7
Yeah, they probably don't like needing a chaperone, but they do. So sounds like they have decided to hate the chaperone. Great. You don't miss the water until the well runs dry. I wonder what they'll think of th good ol' days then.
#8
The US held the Panama Canal for decades, until it was believed that no other world power would seize it. Similarly, Much of Iraq has to be held for the same reason. Having an elected assembly that is composed of some of the same type of fanatics that carried out the 9-11 slaughter, is hardly conducive to creating a just peace in Iraq. What wasn't in place in 1945, that didn't foster continued belligerence in Japan and Germany? Mosques.
#11
-- On charges that the press is too negative on Iraq:
Well, I would just say, show me those goods.
For example, is infant mortality going down? Is the number of attacks on U.S. and coalition forces going down?
Are the number of Iraqis who are fleeing the country declining? Is there an increase in employment? So, lets see the facts.
Is there a decrease in the number of U.S. soldiers and Iraqi civilians being killed day to day? If there is, weve reported it. I mean, if there has been and we put it prominently on page one.
I remember when the recent Baghdad security plan first went into effect, and there was a dramatic decline in the number of sectarian death squad executions, that was on the front page of the Los Angeles Times.
So, I think that the people who say that criticism should at least read our product first.
So, he shows one example in the span of a few sentences where he otherwise just changes the subject. What, exactly, does infant mortality rates and fleeing Iraqis have to do with negative press?
Or maybe this is just too nuanced for me; perhaps Captain Nuance John Kerry can help me on this point...
The only thing I believe whole heartedly in the entire piece. Of course one doesn't tell the whole truth to the folks back home -- there is no way they can put it in proper perspective without having been there, under those conditions. When Mr. Wife was hospitalized with amoebic dysentery in India (as is normal, the first symptom is copious rectal bleeding; think blood flood -- very upsetting!), his colleagues called me every single day to lie to me about his condition. It wasn't until years later that I found out about the need to bring in one's own sealed needles because the hospital nurses only have a few to share out for the entire floor (AIDS was a growing concern even then, not to mention more exotic diseases), the insects skittering along the walls, the need to bring in trustworthy food and water... and I'm quite certain I still don't know all.
One tells the happy stories and the quaint ones, but not the things that would worry them when there's nothing they can do to help. On the other hand, not telling the tales that give management in the home office a real feel for the situation on the ground strikes me as reportorial malpractice. How can they know what's really important, what the trends are as opposed to the details of individual events, if they do not have an accurate understanding of the overall atmosphere?
#13
It begs the question, "Do you want help and deal with a little humiliation, or do you want to be glassed so we don't have to deal with you and your terrorist fucking issues?"
Your choice.
Plus, I believe this waste of skin and oxygen as much as I believe code Pinko.
#14
like so much "reporting", this smacks of repeating Sunni talking points. Of course their humiliated! They went from being in charge to being a tiny minority in a democracy.
As for the Shia, they've never had it so good and they know it. If you read Iraqi blogs, you can usually tell who's sunni and who's shia: The sunni always complain about everything and the Shia say things have never been better (excepting security).
Al
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
05/11/2007 9:32 Comments ||
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#15
I'd say to Borzou Daragahi, go tell your problems to your main stream media fraternity of which you are a member and the liberal left wing of the dhemmicrat party. Come to think of it there is only a liberal left wing now. You are an Irania-born freelance writer which makes you and what you say suspect immediately.
#16
I might further add, quit whining and get your shit together. Give up your self-indulgent sanctimony. There are soldiers dying for Iraq to be free. Do you give a shit about them and their families?
#18
The German "race" was "humiliated" at Versaille (with terms more lenient than they had granted the Russians less than a year previous). And that is a lie too many people still accept to this day; the Nazi party, the War and the Holocaust notwithstanding. A little thing like free elections is not going to stand in the way of some leftard experiencing vicarious humiliation.
Socialism is not a political ideology. It is a psycho-sexual pathology. In this respect it is the same as islam.
#19
Why would anyone believe a journalist. All journalists are 1. Traitors 2. Liars 3. Hate America 4. Support Jihadi's in thought, word and deed and 5. Support Democrates - The party of traitors, rapists, murderers, and bigots. Now occasionally some journalist will prove that he/she is not these things, but until that happens, I consider all of the above to be true.
#20
The only reason Iraq is not a paradise by now is because the country is filled with Iraqis.
Yes, many of them are decent citizens who want a productive life but several million of them are willing to destroy the entire country rather than forge a better existence together.
In truth, they should feel humiliated at seeing what a hell they have made of their country after being handed freedom from a brutal dictator.
#21
-- On charges that the press is too negative on Iraq:
Well, I would just say, show me those goods.
OK, piehole apologist of Saddam, try this -
"Nevertheless, Iraq's economy is booming. Many Iraqis--denied employment under Saddam Hussein's regime for reasons of ethnicity, sectarian identity, or for refusal to join the Baath party, now have jobs. Iraqis' own private investment, aided with capital remitted from family members abroad, has enabled the private sector to boom. Banks, restaurants, and furniture stores occupy what just last year were empty lots or abandoned storefronts. In August 2005, new business registrations have topped 30,000; this figure does not include the number of start-ups which still ignore Iraqi-registration rules.
Ordinary Iraqis are financially better off now than they were at any time in the past two decades. According to World Bank and International Monetary Fund estimates, per capita income has doubled since 2003. Iraq's per capita gross domestic product is today almost twice that of Yemen and nearing that of Egypt and Syria, hardly a sign of failure in a country in which, just three years ago, antiwar groups insisted children were starving en masse. Statistics aside, the Iraqi economic boom is apparent to anyone who visits an Iraqi market. Not only are appliances and luxuries in the stores, but customers are actually purchasing them."
http://www.aei.org/publications/pubID.23402,filter.all/pub_detail.asp
#22
Zenster - why would you believe this journalist? See what Velaine says in #4.
It's not just this particular journalist, Bobby. Far too much of what is happening in Iraq demonstrates a monumental level of ingratitude and willingness to participate in the most mindless tribal savagery imaginable. Verlaine's excellent comments only serve to cement these perceptions.
(create "breathing room" for Iraqi politicians who can't deliver ANY of the elements doing the killing, no matter how much time they have)
This one succinct observation, with which I agree, is something that makes me ready to abandon all hope. Were it not for the necessity of having a forward base in the Middle East, I'd be ready to let Iraq stew in its own murderous vitriol. Sure, I'd love to see America succeed in setting up a stable democracy in an Islamic country. All indications point towards this being one enormous pipe dream. Islam is so inimical to democracy and Western notions of liberty that only the total deconsctruction of this hostile and Neanderthal creed will serve to release the Middle East's population from such a living Hell.
Yeah, Lenin et al signed away most of Russia, west of Moscow. Hearts-and-minds crap is the worst poison pill ever to afflict Western Civilization. Let's slaughter terrorists, and forget about everything else.
WASHINGTON - The Democratic-controlled House voted Thursday night to pay for military operations in Iraq on an installment plan, defying President Bush's threat of a second straight veto in a fierce test of wills over the unpopular war. The 221-205 vote was largely along party lines and sent the measure to a cool reception in the Senate, where Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., is seeking a compromise with the White House and Republicans.
Republicans argued that a withdrawal would be disastrous. "Now is not the time to signal retreat and surrender. How could this Congress walk away from our men and women in uniform," said Rep. Jerry Lewis (news, bio, voting record), R-Calif.
A few hours later, the House passed legislation providing funds for the war grudgingly, in two installments. The first portion would cover costs until Aug. 1 $42.8 billion to buy equipment and train Iraqi and Afghan security forces. Under the bill, it would take a summertime vote by Congress to free an additional $52.8 billion, the money needed to cover costs through the Sept. 30 end of the fiscal year.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/11/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
WND/WORLDNEWS > DEMS WANT TO PAY FOR WAR EVERY TWO MONTHS?
#3
The cost is in lost projects and extremely costly purchasing agreements, JohnQC. Suppliers don't like to sell expensive things on less than multi-year contracts, and research projects can run a decade or longer before a usable product is developed. The Pentagon might be able to keep the troops in bullets and MREs, but I suspect that anything beyond that is going to be problematical, significantly overpriced, or both.
President Bush said today he accepts the idea of including benchmarks for progress in Iraq as part of an emergency war spending bill, but he rejected what he called a "piecemeal" funding approach now under consideration in the House and vowed to veto it if it reaches his desk.
In a news conference at the Pentagon after receiving a briefing from the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Bush leveled sharp criticism at congressional Democrats, accusing them of seeking political gain from the war-funding bill, and he warned them not to "hamstring" U.S. commanders in the field or include "pork" projects in the supplemental appropriations bill. Yet he also expressed a desire to find "common ground" with Congress.
House Democrats began working on a new formula that provides interim funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for two months. The proposal would give Bush half the money he has requested for the war effort, with a vote in July on whether to approve the rest based on the Iraqi government's progress in meeting political and economic benchmarks. A vote on the proposal is expected in the House tonight.
Bush today warned lawmakers not to send him such bill, urging them to provide full funding without timetables or restrictions. "Time's running out, because the longer we wait the more strain we're going to put on the military," he said in the news conference at the Pentagon. "My message to the members of Congress is, whatever your beliefs may be, let's make sure our troops get funded," he said. "And let's make sure politicians don't tell our commanders how to conduct operations. Let's don't hamstring our people in the field. That's my message."
He said that in September, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and the joint chiefs plan to "make recommendations about troop levels based upon the conditions on the ground," taking into account the views of the top U.S. commander in Iraq, Army Gen. David H. Petraeus. That approach, Bush said, "stands in stark contrast to members of Congress who say, we're going to determine troop levels based upon politics or the latest opinion poll or how we can get our members elected."
He added, "The idea that the House of Representatives put forward is one that we will fund our troops by piecemeal." He said Gates feels strongly that this is "a bad idea" because it would delay certain procurements and military contracts. "There's a lot of uncertainty in funding when it comes to two-month cycles," Bush said. "So we reject that idea. It won't work."
He also accused lawmakers of being "ready to fully fund unrelated domestic spending items and only one-half of the money requested for our troops." "They got it wrong," he said. "They ought to provide 100 percent of the money for people who wear the uniform, and leave these special pork projects out of the bill. So I'll veto the bill if it's this haphazard, piecemeal funding."
However, Bush continued, "One message I have heard from people from both parties is that the idea of benchmarks makes sense. And I agree. It makes sense to have benchmarks as a part of our discussion on how to go forward. And so I've empowered Josh Bolten to find common ground on benchmarks. And he will continue to have dialogue with both Republicans and Democrats." He referred to Joshua B. Bolten, the White House chief of staff and one of his designated negotiators on a new war funding bill.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/11/2007 00:00 ||
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WASHINGTON (AP) - The Democratic-controlled House defeated legislation Thursday to require the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraq within nine months, then pivoted quickly to a fresh challenge of President Bush's handling of the unpopular war.
The vote on the nine-month withdrawal measure was 255-171. The bill drew the support of 169 Democrats and two Republicans. There were 59 Democrats and 196 Republicans opposed.
I'm surprised about the 59 Democrats. Are the Blue Dogs sending a message?
On a day of complex maneuvering, Democrats said they would approve legislation funding the war on an installment plan, and Bush said he would veto it. But the president, under pressure from lawmakers in both parties, coupled his threat with an offer to accept a spending bill that sets out standards for the Iraqi government to meet. "Time's running out, because the longer we wait the more strain we're going to put on the military," said Bush, who previously had insisted on what he termed a "clean" war funding bill.
Bush's critics in Congress treated his willingness to apply benchmarks to the Iraqis as a concession, but said they wanted more. "Democrats are not going to give the president a blank check for a war without end," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California. To buttress her point, Democrats advanced legislation for a vote later in the evening providing funds for the war grudgingly, in two installments. The first portion would cover costs until Aug. 1 - $42.8 billion to buy equipment and train Iraqi and Afghan security forces.
Under the bill, it would take a summertime vote by Congress to free an additional $52.8 billion, the money needed to cover costs through the Sept. 30 end of the fiscal year. "We reject that idea. It won't work," the president declared after a meeting with military leaders at the Pentagon.
Democratic officials, speaking privately, said Pelosi had agreed to allow the vote on the withdrawal measure in the hope that her rank-and-file would then unite behind the funding bill. But in an increasingly complex political environment, even that measure was deemed to be dead on arrival in the Senate, where Democrats hold a narrow advantage and the rules give Republicans leverage to block legislation.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/11/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
WND > TERRORISTS FORM A WESTERN BASE. Tri-Border/Frontier area [Brazil-Paraquay-Argentina]of South America. MUSLIM CAB DRIVER quote > "Iff Bush attacks Iran, IN TWO MINUTES HE WILL BE DEAD". Move along , boyz, clearly no "Terrorists in America's backyard" here, ala FORT DIX.
#2
Errr...the Blue Dogs get an earful during the Spring Break? I'm sure the moonbats will offer up their Lamonts to show the real stand on the war by the electorate. Didn't float too well in Connecticut. Could start a new pool of 'independents'. 50 or so would be a good start. That'll help the Donks. Money, tv spin time, and emotion versus real seats. Tough choice.
The former New York doctor accused of swearing allegiance to al Qaeda told a federal jury yesterday he was more interested in polygamy than terrorism.
Rafiq Sabir testified in Manhattan federal court that when he worked in Saudi Arabia in 2005, he reflected on the virtues of multiple wives. He read Islamic texts on the subject and wanted to convince his wife it could work. "I wanted to have another wife. She was not for that at all, polygamy," Sabir said. "I figured I could come back [to the United States] and talk to her about it, at least talk."
A father of four kids with a complicated marital history that includes at least four wives, Sabir said he believed polygamy was the solution when his current wife refused to have more kids.
"While you were in Saudi Arabia, did you attempt to get involved with al Qaeda?" defense lawyer Ed Wilford asked. "No. Absolutely not," the doctor replied. Federal authorities say he promised to treat injured jihad fighters.
#3
#1 - Jim, ya see, if he joined alQaeda, he would be helping to impose Sharia on the US and the rest of the world, so his wife would just have to agree.
It's all very logical if you think about it.
#4
with a complicated marital history that includes at least four wives
I have just one wife, and that is a challenge amongst itself. These people are just plain crazy to have more than one. It doesn't surprise me that they try to pull Islamic justification in a country that it is illegal. In England it is becoming a huge problem. That and Sharia courts to justify it.
I remember seeing a similar story in the NYT a few months back. Link Thousands of New York's African immigrants are thought to be practicing polygamy as they did in their native countries, where it is legal; practice is clandestine because polygamy is grounds for exclusion from US under immigration law; no agency is known to collect data on polygamous unions, and many agencies that deal with immigrant families in New York have adopted don't-ask-don't-know policy; some men have one wife in US and others abroad; Islam is often cited as authority that allows polygamy, but practice is cultural tradition in Africa that crosses religious lines, and some Muslim lands elsewhere sharply restrict it; some African immigrant women speak bitterly of polygamy, saying they had no choice but to accept their husband's other wives; many women accept situation, fearing to expose their husbands to arrest or deportation; presence of polygamy in New York was revealed after March 7 fire in Bronx that killed woman and nine children in two families from Mali; owner of house and father of five children who perished had two wives in that home, on different floors
#5
Not very PC to say it, but was he not aware that here in America, a whole class of men has gone polygamy one better - they have many children to several women, and NO wives. I mean, if it was more kids he wanted. Just sayin'...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
05/11/2007 9:16 Comments ||
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#6
Likle it or not, doc, when ya get the wives, the jihad usually comes with them...
#10
There was an article recently on some animal who had six women pregnant at the same time, none of them his wives. He found himself in front of an incredulous judge wanting an explanation of the circumstances. His response: "I be concubining."
The muzzies have nothing on this worthless piece of homegrown dog feces. I have two questions: where were these women's thinking abilities when they stripped and got into bed with this man, and where were the American citizenry's thinking abilities when they permitted laws to be passed that would force taxpayers to provide for the spawn of such pairings?
http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070310/NEWS01/703100357/-1/CINCI
Posted by: Mac ||
05/11/2007 21:29 Comments ||
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SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) - Jurors convicted a Chinese-born engineer Thursday of conspiring to export U.S. defense technology to China, including data on an electronic propulsion system that could make submarines virtually undetectable. Chi Mak also was found guilty of acting as an unregistered foreign agent, attempting to violate export control laws and making false statements to the FBI. Prosecutors had dropped a charge of actually exporting defense articles.
Goodbye, and don't bother writing.
When the verdict was read, Mak at first showed no emotion but then appeared to hold back tears as defense attorney Marilyn Bednarski teared up and rubbed his back. Defense attorney Ron Kaye's face was flush.
Mak faces up to 45 years in prison when he is sentenced Sept. 10, Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg Staples said. It took jurors close to three days to reach a verdict after a six-week trial.
The government accused Mak, a naturalized U.S. citizen, of taking thousands of pages of documents from his defense contractor employer, Power Paragon of Anaheim, and giving them to his brother, who passed them along to Chinese authorities over a number of years. Chi Mak's wife, brother and other relatives also have been indicted and are to go on trial together June 5.
Mak, 66, was arrested in 2005 in Los Angeles after FBI agents stopped his brother and sister-in-law as they boarded a flight to Hong Kong. Investigators said they found three encrypted CDs in their luggage that contained documents on a submarine propulsion system, a solid-state power switch for ships and a Power Point presentation on the future of power electronics.
Mak acknowledged during the trial that he copied classified documents from his employer and kept copies in his office. He maintained he didn't realize at the time that making the copies was illegal.
He also didn't know that encrypting all that information onto a CD was illegal, and he certainly didn't know that having family members deliver it to Chinese intelligence was illegal. He's kinda slow even though he's an engineer.
Kaye said the defense team still believes Mak is innocent. "We believe the facts of the case have been manipulated, and we believe Mr. Mak didn't necessarily get a fair trial," Kaye said.
Sure, sure, whatever, file the appeal. Bye.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/11/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
He appears to have the same brain rot as Gonzalez. Doesn't know what he doesn't know, but he does know he's not guilty. "Can I just leave now?"
#3
DO NOT LET PEOPLE WORK IN SENSITIVE POSITIONS UNLESS THEY ARE THIRD-GENERATION AMERICANS. What's so hard? In their rush to get ahead they fall behind really.
#5
Please, we must have MORE! MORE multi-culturalism, more minority preference hiring, foreing students, more affirmative action.... old white men be damned, go away!
#9
DO NOT LET PEOPLE WORK IN SENSITIVE POSITIONS UNLESS THEY ARE THIRD-GENERATION AMERICANS.
I'm sorry, but that's just silly, gorb. Someone like my mother, who came over a month shy of her 21st birthday after surviving the Nazis, has greater loyalty to the country that gave her sanctuary and citizenship than any of the BDS-spouting idiots who think of themselves as this country's elite.
I don't think so. That is true for you. And most people who came over to get away from Germany and contribute to the war effort against Germany through America. But today it is different. We don't have the same kind of filtering going on here/now as we did then. First of course we have to be PC or it just doesn't stand a chance in the The Real World According to America, hence the third generation thingy. Second, why do we need people from India and China helping us out with this stuff? The countries would not send their spies over here unless it was worth it in terms of narrowing the gap. They aren't going to come up with it themselves, and it would just take us a little bit longer to do it ourselves. I'd say make the trade and be done with it. In the long run, we would be ahead. Even if some feelings got trampled. Mine included, believe it or not.
And even after WWII I belive it was the Rosenburgs who gave the A-bomb secrets to Russia. After other foreign scientists helped us put it together.
Julius Rosenberg was born to a Jewish family on May 12, 1918 in New York City. He graduated from the City College of New York with a degree in electrical engineering in 1939 and in 1940 joined the Army Signal Corps, where he worked on radar equipment. Ethel Greenglass (the future Mr.s Julius Rosenberg) was born on September 28, 1915, in New York City.
Both were born American citizens, gorb. Given the timing of German-Jewish immigration to the US, his family could well have been here since the mid-1800s, making him possibly 3rd or 4th generation American. It was the Jews of Eastern Europe and Russia who came later, at the turn of the century. And, Julius used his engineering degree as a soldier in the US Army to help further the war against the Nazis and the Imperial Japanese... before he stole those A-bomb secrets and gave them to his Soviet masters.
I know. I was just pointing out how even the third generation idea can be turned on its head. But it can make first generation even scarier, too. Nothing's straightforward, but I think my idea is more straightforward than the alternative, which seems to be downright dumb to me to be having Chinese and Indian citizens designing our next-gen weaponry for us. Most are good, but it only takes one to really sell the whole farm for us.
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) - The United States filed charges of conspiracy and providing support for terrorism Thursday against a Guantanamo detainee accused of working as a driver and bodyguard for Osama bin Laden. Salim Ahmed Hamdan is the third Guantanamo detainee to be charged under a new set of rules signed last year by President Bush after the Supreme Court rejected the previous system.
Hamdan, who is from Yemen, has been detained at Guantanamo since May 2002. It was his legal challenge that forced the Bush administration and Congress to draft new rules for the military trials, known as commissions, for the men held at the Guantanamo Bay detention center in eastern Cuba.
In the charging documents, the military said Hamdan conspired with bin Laden and other al-Qaida leaders in the bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, the attack on the USS Cole in 2000, and the terrorist attacks in the United States on Sept. 11, 2001. In addition to working as bin Laden's driver and bodyguard, the U.S. said Hamdan transported and delivered weapons to al-Qaida and its associates and trained at terrorist camps.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/11/2007 00:00 ||
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#2
This is were we lose the WoT. No more prisoners, please! Just kill bastards. No need for Gitmo, no Abu Grhaib, no lawyers messing around wtih rights and habeaus corpus BS. Maybe Eric Olson can come up with a new set of ROEs.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
05/11/2007 10:40 Comments ||
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Ahmed Rashid is one of the leading analysts on Afghanistan and Central Asia and the celebrated writer of the book, Taliban: Islam, Oil and the Great Game in Central Asia. The Friday Times spoke with him to ascertain his opinion on the current situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan-Afghanistan relations. Excerpts:
The Friday times: What elements would you identify as crucial to any understanding of Afghanistan and its problems?
Ahmed Rashid: There are three elements in the equation: the international community, including NATO-ISAF troops; the Afghan government; and Pakistan. The international community is responsible for peace-and-security and reconstruction, the Afghan government for curbing corruption and dealing with the menace of drugs, and Pakistan for controlling the Taliban on its side. The crisis is that none of these players is doing their job. NATO countries are not prepared to commit enough troops; there is not enough money for reconstruction; six years after the liberation of Afghanistan, not one new powerhouse has been built. On his part, [President Hamid] Karzai has been ineffective in dealing with the twin issues of corruption and drugs and he has made all the wrong cabinet appointments.
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Posted by: John Frum ||
05/11/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
This is not a rogue operation
And Pakistan still gets billions in aid and weapons every year
Posted by: John Frum ||
05/11/2007 6:13 Comments ||
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#2
Let me guess what most of the players want here.
For us to leave, but keep sending the money.
Do that, and everything will be fine, right?
#1
LOL > Great to see that Americans haven't lost their love for song and humor. "Rock down" > Gawd help me I do love humming TWISTED SISTER's "I WANNA ROCK".
After three years of training by coalition forces - and nonstop combat with insurgents - Iraqi army and police units are battle-hardened, highly motivated and skilled in battlefield drills. "At the tactical level ... we're doing quite well," says Lieutenant General Martin Dempsey, a senior official in the coalition training organization. "They're fighting, dying, being wounded, being moved around country." He says 5,300 Iraqi soldiers from outside of Baghdad have been brought in for the "surge."
That last point - their ability to deploy - is a sure sign that Iraqi army units are improving. "Battalions disintegrated last year when we tried to move them around. Now we have them ready to move," says Major General William Caldwell, top commander in Iraq. "That was not even possible six months ago," Dempsey points out.
"We've run numerous command and control exercises - the ministers themselves participate. Now they appreciate the details."
Even the troubled Iraqi police - suspected by many of having been infiltrated by extremist militias - are apparently getting much better. Police trainer Brigadier General David Phillips says the police "are much more professional" now that systems are in place to punish corruption.
Despite these improvements, leadership remains a major failing for Iraqi forces - both at the national level and at the level of non-commissioned officers on the battlefield. Iraq's highest military leaders, including government ministers, and police and army officers still need babysitting by U.S. and other coalition mentors. "The higher up in echelons in command you go, the more vulnerabilities in leadership become evident," Dempsey says. "Most of the senior leaders are from old regime - and old habits die hard," he adds. "There was a tendency to dramatically oversimplify things not much attention to detail."
That's a problem Dempsey is working hard to remedy. "We've run numerous command and control exercises - the ministers [of the Interior and Defense Departments] themselves participate. Now they appreciate the details."
U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Daniel Speckhard says that ongoing "surge" operations in Baghdad have forced the ministers to learn quickly. In the past, he says, ministry leaders focused solely on strictly military solutions to security problems. That's changing: recently the government formed defense planning committees focused on using diplomacy, reconstruction and other "soft power" functions to resolve conflict. Still, Speckhard is skeptical. "It's too early to draw conclusions that there are encouraging signs" of long-term improvement.
Plus, the relentless demands of day-to-day combat have prevented the slow, steady training necessary to build up an experienced NCO corps, according to Dempsey. "They would like to have a U.S.-style NCO corps, but they realize it's a long way off."
The Iraqi army NCO Corps is growing, but there is a shortage of NCOs in the training establishment because every soldier is needed at the front - and this has a detrimental effect on the security force's ability to sustain improvements in training and development. Dempsey says the coalition's plan for training Iraqi NCOs is evolving to ensure that enough non-coms remain in the training base.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/11/2007 00:03 ||
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#1
Hell, there's apparently a growing shortage of mid-level NCO's in the US Army. They are turning in papers after these continued deployments and extensions supposedly. Nothing works well in the Army without a lot of NCO grease.
#2
Who can blame them. When they do deploy they arent allowed to do their job. My father was a policeman for 30 years, he'd arrest the crooks and the judge/jury would let them go. I can tell you from first hand experience, it doesn't take long to demoralize someone when you let the bad guys off the hook on a regular basis.
#3
But, most of us know that the shooters need a strong infrastructure of support and facilities. It is the logistics, the supply train, the C4, the administrators, the trainers, the cooks, the chaplins, et. al. that make a real army mobile and deadly:)
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
05/11/2007 10:46 Comments ||
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#4
Actually, these failings are epidemic in the Arab world. In most of these countries, the soldier's family is expected to take over the logistical support, and sustain the men when the payroll is "late". As a result, when a unit is moved, the men desert because they will litteraly starve unless they are re-united with their families.
The creation of a police force is an even bigger challenge. There is litteraly nothing in the Arab world equivelent to what we would call a local police force. That job is handled by the tribal or clan militias. Getting the Iraqis to grasp the concept is the first challenge before moving to other concepts.
Al
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
05/11/2007 16:55 Comments ||
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#5
The USA needs to do what has to be done both to empower and entrench ME democracy, as well as protect itself, even iff it means a "peacetime" draft. Never mind about domestic Radical Activists and related anti-US agendists - WE ALREADY KNOW THEY'LL SUPPORT ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING FROM THE LEFT, CENTER, ANDOR RIGHT THAT PUTS GOVT IN CHARGE WHILE ALSO ARGUING AGAINST THE SAME. Remember, they are no so-called LIBERTARIANS = "LIBERALS" on the Left, ONLY COMMIES, SOCIALISTS, GOVTISTS, and GOVT-CENTRIC POLS WHOM DON'T WANT TO CALL THEMSELVES SUCH. "Fascists" are both despicable criminal Nazis whom are also well-meaning but imperfect defective LIMITED COMMIES-GOVTISTS-ABSOLUTISTS depending on the Politix-Correctness of the moment.
BAGHDAD - US Vice President Dick Cheney told American soldiers at a base near Saddam Husseins home town on Thursday that militants had made Iraq the frontline in the war on terrorism. Cheney spent the night at Camp Speicher near Tikrit.
On Thursday Cheney directed his comments more towards militant groups like Sunni Islamist Al Qaeda, which US and Iraqi officials accuse of trying to ignite sectarian unrest with car bomb attacks against mainly Shia civilian targets. Were fighting a war against terror, Cheney said in prepared remarks to troops, before later flying to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.
We are here, above all, because the terrorists who have declared war on America and other free nations have made Iraq the central front in that war.
His unannounced visit to Iraq, part of a Middle East tour, signalled growing US impatience at Iraqs slowness in passing laws on oil distribution and other key measures as US military commanders build up troops to secure Baghdad. But in a positive sign, the office of Iraqs Sunni Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi said the senior Sunni leader had been comforted by recent meetings with political leaders aimed at addressing Sunni Arab concerns.
Hashemi and other senior figures from Iraqs largest Sunni Arab bloc had warned they might quit the government of Shia Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki if their grievances were ignored. On Wednesday, Cheney held round table talks with Hashemi, Maliki and President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd. Vice-President Tareq al-Hashemi was comforted by the results of recent meetings with political officials that witnessed intense political movement, a statement from his office said without elaborating on what that movement was. (Hashemi) described it as a step in the right direction, even though there is still a long way to go to resolve all the differences.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/11/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
DRUDGEREPORT/WND > IHT > CHENEY TO IRAN-WE [USA-USNavy]WILL STOP YOU; + CHENEY WARNS IRAN ON US RESOLVE. USA will work wid regional nations and Allies to stop Iran = Radical Islam from dominating ME, will use US naval power, etc. to keep Gulf-ME sea lanes open [by force iff necessary] + to preclude any Iranian efforts to interfere in local States. MORE EVIDENCIA THAT DUBYA IS INDEED "ENTRENCHING" AND WILL NOT WITHDRAW, EVER, EVEN IFF MEANS HIM + ADMIN ARE POTENS TARGETS OF NEW FUTURE TERROR ATTACKS, INCLUD BY WMDS.
GAZA CITY (AFP) - A Hamas-run television station defied Israel and the Palestinian government on Friday by continuing to air a controversial children's puppet show with a Mickey Mouse lookalike preaching resistance. Actually, it's "hate", but whaddya expect from AFP?
Israel and Jewish groups have slammed the Al-Aqsa programme over calls made by the copycat mouse named Farfur and by a little girl for resistance against Israel and the United States, and for its overtly Islamist message.
Complete with Islamic songs and calls for cities in Israel to return to Palestine, Friday's episode apparently sought to prepare children for their end-of-year examinations -- with Farfur being told that cheating is forbidden. Asked why by an Al-Aqsa television reporter, he looked left and right to see what his friends were writing and answered: "Because the Jews destroyed my home and I left my books and notes under the rubble." Oooh. The Jews ate my homework. Try another one, Farfur. Every kid in Gaza uses that one. "I'm calling on all children to read more and more to prepare for exams because the Jews don't want us to learn," Farfur then said after being told he had failed the test. Or maybe Farfur's just...stupid?
On Thursday, the chairman of the board of Al-Aqsa television, Fathi Hamad, refused to bow to pressure to cull the "Tomorrow's Pioneers" programme or to doctor its content. "This campaign of criticism is part of a plan orchestrated by the West and the occupying power to attack Islam on the one hand and the Palestinian cause on the other," he said. Awwwwwww, look what you made us do...
Palestinian information minister Mustafa Barghuti had asked Al-Aqsa to withdraw the show, which he said adopted a "mistaken approach" to the Palestinian struggle, and said that it was wrong to politicise children's television programming. Might be fun to see Farfur go up in a blinding white flash right in the middle of "Tomorrow's Pioneers". Sorry, kids. The Jews have created "technical difficulties".
#3
"This campaign of criticism is part of a plan orchestrated by the West and the occupying power to attack Islam on the one hand and the Palestinian cause on the other," he said.
#4
If Sderot wasn't so close and in the possible fallout path, I'd say use a nuke JDAM, but that would be "insensitive"...
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
05/11/2007 18:56 Comments ||
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#5
I sure hope the Disney lawyers will be all over this like stink on a monkey for copyright infringement, like they would be if I opened up a "Mickey's Mouseburgers" hamburger stand in Anaheim.
PCHRs preliminary investigation indicates that at approximately 9:00 on Thursday, 10 May 2007, the child Shayma Jaser Jarghoun, 7-year old girl from Khan Yunis, was admitted to the European Hospital in the city. She was suffering from moderate shrapnel wounds in the feet sustained when a homemade grenade was thrown during an armed intra-clan clash involving members of her family. Goatloaf! Again!
Bastard! I hate you!
Eat steel, bitch!
BOOM...
At approximately 8:20 on the same day, Musallam Mustafa El-Shaer (47) from El-Bureij refugee camp was injured by a bullet in the right thigh, fired by one of his relatives over a financial dispute. El-Shaer was taken to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir El-Balah for treatment, where his injury was listed as moderate. Hey, ya got that twenty you owe me?
Die, bastard!
BANGBANGBANGBANG...
At approximately 23:00 on Tuesday, 8 May 2007, Salim Abdel Fattah El-Sharabi (35) from Nablus was killed in Ras El-Ein Quarter in Nablus. Gunmen killed El-Sharabi in a crime motivated by a clan dispute. He was killed by multiple bullets to the upper body. Hey, Acmed. Your goat shit on my lawn again.
Die, infidel pig!
BANGBANGBANGBANG...
At approximately 08:30 on Thursday, 10 May 2007, unknown gunmen traveling in a civilian car intercepted Lieutenant Colonel Manar Sadat Awaja, 42, from the Police investigation bureau, who lives in Nusiarat tower buildings, when he was traveling in his car to his work in Gaza City. They forced him out of his car and abducted him. I'm a cop! Why are you abducting me!
It's your turn...
At approximately 12:00, Mohammed Faisal Barbakh, 36, an officer of the Palestinian National Security Forces from Khan Yunis, was admitted into Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, as he was wounded by several gunshots to the feet, when he attempted to attack Muhannad al-Hijjawi, Director General of the Palestinian Telecommunication Company in Nablus who is visiting the Gaza Strip. Al-Hijjawis bodyguards fired at Barbakh. Barbakh has some differences with the company. Hey! You billed me for BET and Telemundo! They aren't part of my package! Eat lead, infidel dog!
OUCH! OUCH-OUCH-OUCH!
Which leads to...
Following this incident, at approximately 12:30, many members of the Barbakh clan, including gunmen, attacked the building of the Palestinian Telecommunication Company in the center of Khan Yunis. They opened fire at the building and forced employees out. At approximately 15:30, they set fire to the third floor of the building, damaging it heavily Well, seeing how Mohammad was a cop and all, we'll have to round up the family and burn down the Palestinian Telecommunication Company to teach it to respect law and order. As a result of the indiscriminate shooting in the area, 8-year-old Akram Mohammed Barbakh was wounded by a gunshot to the shoulder. The family that shoots up the local telecomm office together, stays together. I guess they couldn't find a sitter. Ah, what the hell, Akram could probably lug some ammo for them. And it would be good for him to get out instead of sitting in front of the TV all day watching that Hamas Mickey Mouse guy all day. He might get brainwashed...
At approximately 16:30, members of the clan attacked Yaqoub Sami Abu Ghalwa, 25, a cameraman of Associated Press and the Palestinian News Agency, and destroyed his camera, when he was photographing the incidents in the area. The exclamation point on a big day for the Barbakh clan...
#3
members of the clan attacked Yaqoub Sami Abu Ghalwa, 25, a cameraman of Associated Press and the Palestinian News Agency
Attacking more journos? Sounds like the Palestinians are suffering from a severe case of "victim deprivation". The Israeli security fence is paying off in so many ways!
#5
I look forward to PCHR's WWofG. I always get a good laugh at the ineptitude of these people. And we actually thought they could run a country! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
05/11/2007 17:20 Comments ||
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(AKI) - Palestinian and Israeli security sources believe there are approximately 15 active tunnels in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip and Egypt. The tunnels are being used by various militant organizations to smuggle arms, drugs and people, or to transport and lay explosives, daily Haaretz quoted the sources as saying. There are at least 10 other tunnels in the area that are not in use for "technical" reasons, the sources said.
The Rafah tunnels are being controlled by the most powerful clans in the area, who consider them a very lucrative source of income, Haaretz reported. Palestinian security forces have identified a new trend in the use of the tunnels: suspected Palestinian criminals are increasingly using the tunnels to escape abroad, according to Palestinian security forces. In some cases, criminals in custody are managing to escape along them with the help of their jailers.
Earlier this week, Palestinian security forces uncovered a tunnel in the Tel al-Sultan neighborhood of Rafah, close to the border with Egypt. During the operation, Palestinian smugglers opened fire on security force members.
The commander of the Preventive Security force in Rafah, Yussef Siam, told Haaretz that as part of a broader anti-tunnel offensive, the tunnel was blocked using a new technique. The security forces dig every 10 meters or so along the tunnel, and then pour reinforced concrete into the holes.
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has demanded that intensive efforts be undertaken to counter the tunnel problem, the senior officer said, adding that Palestinian security forces need sophisticated technology to uncover the tunnels and their efforts were being carried out in coordination with the Egyptian authorities.
Unrest in the Gaza Strip, particularly the southern parts appeared to be the focus of a massive deployment of Palestinian police Wednesday night.
Thousands of Palestinian police reportedly began deploying in Gaza City as part of the first phase of a security plan approved by the cabinet, a Palestinian official said.
The first duties of the police would be to direct traffic and fight crime, officials said. The overall goal is to put an end to the chaos, clan warfare and violent infighting that has plagued Gaza, officials said, quoted by Haaretz.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/11/2007 02:28 ||
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Looks like the tunnels are impacting PA revenues.
#2
How the hell can you pour REINFORCED CONCRETE into a hole?! We must really be falling behind the muzzies technologically, every reinforced concrete pour I've ever seen had re-bar in it.
#6
shoulda hired these tunnel rats for Boston or the new Seattle Sound Transit dig. experience pays and they could always send the $$ home or smuggle some explosives back with their hollowed out Koran.....
#7
Depotguy---Great Link to the Rodenator! They basically make a FAE, a fuel-air explosive out of propane and oxygen and light it off. The video is a h00t! Nice shockwave u/g takes them out. That would get some attention in Gaza, with a BIG Rodenator.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
05/11/2007 22:53 Comments ||
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JERUSALEM - An Israeli newspaper on Thursday disclosed plans to build three new Jewish neighbourhoods around Jerusalem in the occupied West Bank that foresees the construction of more than 20,000 housing units. The plan has been drawn up by a municipal committee and must still be approved by national authorities, the Haaretz daily said.
Deputy Mayor Yehoshua Pollak was quoted as saying it aimed to link Jerusalem with the Gush Etzion bloc of Jewish settlements to the south and other settlements to the north, around the West Bank political capital of Ramallah. In each of those cases, the plan is for 10,000 homes. An additional 500 homes would be built in the heart of occupied east Jerusalem, near the Palestinian area of Abu Dis.
Haaretz said the decision resulted from the fact that the national planning and construction committee had rejected a plan to expand Jerusalem westward. But city councilman Pepe Alalou, a member of the leftist opposition Meretz party, denounced the project, whose sole purpose is to bring about a provocation that could jeopardise the relative calm in the city.
Israel conquered east Jerusalem in the 1967 war and later annexed it. A dozen new neighbourhoods have been built there and house more than 200,000 Israelis. Another 245,000 Palestinians live in that part of the city.
Anybody think Israel is going to give up access to the Wailing Wall? Anybody think Israel will allow Jordan, or a Paleo state, or anyone to tell Jews they can't walk the streets of Jerusalem? The Israelis already made it clear, they annexed the eastern part of the city after the '67 war, and they're not giving it back.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/11/2007 00:00 ||
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HAARETZ > ISRAEL MUST MAKE LIFE BEARABLE FOR PALEOS IN GAZA. Yep, 'tis NOT the PA. Paleos could've had a State, [and more], but instead "CHOSE AN UPRISING", violence and mayhem and Qassam rockets.
#2
We call it the Western Wall now. It's a matter of pride.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
05/11/2007 8:05 Comments ||
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#3
The quid pro quo for evacuating the settlements on the far side of the security fence was always to resettle the inhabitants on the near side, effecting unilaterally the land swap Israel had proposed, and the Palestinians rejected, in negotiations past. Finally the plan is being acted on.
This is actually an actuation of the first step of Anonymoose's plan: the Palestinians refuse to behave, so they permanently lose territory they claim as their own. The next iteration is the clearance zone on the Gaza side of the border, to prevent rocket launches from landing on the Israeli side of the fence. Go, Israel, go!
#5
This is actually an actuation of the first step of Anonymoose's plan: the Palestinians refuse to behave, so they permanently lose territory they claim as their own. The next iteration is the clearance zone on the Gaza side of the border, to prevent rocket launches from landing on the Israeli side of the fence. Go, Israel, go!
I second the emotion.
Not good enough.
Hey, it's a start, Excalibur. At least Israel is beginning to occupy land once claimed by the Palestinians. Let's all hope this is a process whose end result is the comprehensive displacement of ALL Palestinians from within Israel's borders. Nothing less will suffice to put an end to vile Palestinian terrorism.
TEHRAN, May 10, 2007 (AFP) - Iran Thursday said it was ready to step up cooperation and share technical know-how with fellow US foe North Korea, as a top official from the reclusive state held talks in Tehran, Iranian media reported.
Iran's Vice President Parviz Davoudi said there was "no limit" to expanding ties with Pyongyang after holding talks with North Korea's Vice Foreign Minister Kim Yong Il. "Tehran sees no limit in expanding ties and cooperation with Pyongyang," Davoudi was quoted as saying by the student ISNA news agency. Iran "is ready to offer its achievements in different fields but especially the economy, infrastructure and technical services for the progress of North Korea," he added.
According to ISNA, Kim Yong Il said that "North Korea wants to use valuable Iranian experience in all fields, especially investment and construction." He was later due to meet Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/11/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Top NKorea official holds talks in Tehran
*channeling tu
humm..exchanging bark and wish fungus soup recipes?
#3
BIGNEWSNETWORK > IRAN, NORTH KOREA VOW TO WORK TOGETHER TO RESIST ARROGANT GLOBAL POWERS. In other news, STRATEGYPAGE > ISRAEL EXTENDS ITS REACH TO IRAN - JERICHO 3 missle now operational. Can reach all of Iran + Pakistan. Compare to Iran's SAHAB's series.
DAMASCUS - Syria will not cooperate with a UN-backed tribunal to try suspects in the killing of a former Lebanese premier if the court takes actions that undermine Syrian sovereignty, President Bashar al-Assad said on Thursday. We have nothing directly to do with the court. Any cooperation requested from Syria that compromises national sovereignty is totally rejected, Assad told a parliament session in the Syrian capital.
"You'll never take me alive!"
Some dont differentiate between cooperation and abandoning sovereignty. The abandonment of sovereignty means that Syrian law no longer protects Syrian citizens, Assad said.
Diplomats said the comments indicated that it would be difficult for Syria to cooperate with the tribunal if it indicts Syrian officials.
Reeeeeaaally? Ya think?
Assad has repeatedly denied any Syrian involvement in the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri, but has said any Syrian found to be involved would be tried by a Syrian court.
Except for him and his pals. There's bound to be a fall guy somewhere.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said this week Washington might seek to force setting up of the tribunal by the UN Security Council after a political crisis in Beirut paralysed parliament and blocked any attempts to get Lebanon to approve the court.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/11/2007 00:00 ||
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DAMASCUS - Syrian President Bashar Assad said on Thursday that the Israeli government was not ready to make peace with Syria, stressing that negotiations must resume from the point they had last reached in 2000. He warned that weak governments in Israel are capable of launching aggression ... we should be cautious.
Olmert can't figure out what to have for breakfast, I don't think he's capable of launching a war.
In fact, there is no progress in the peace process and there is no contact with Israel over this issue, neither secret nor overt, because Israel is not ready for a just and comprehensive peace that requires, to be implemented, strong leadership that could make decisive decisions, Assad said, addressing the first session of the parliaments 9th legislative four-year term.
He means that Israel isn't ready to surrender.
He said that Israel would be required to show a clear and unequivocal readiness to give back the occupied land to the 1967 borders. The return of the Golan is nonnegotiable for us.
Why don't you make them leave? Oh right, the vaunted Syrian military has a problem with that. Short of that, what are you going to offer in exchange -- peace? Maybe Nasrullah will co-sign that check?
Assad made it clear that Syria had no conditions for resuming peace talks with Israel, but added that the peace process had requirements which are bases and principles that Syria could never abandon.
Returning to the zero point is impossible. Negotiations must resume from where they had stopped, he said.
Negotiations are parked right about where the last Israeli tank stopped on the road to Damascus.
Assad said the policy of isolating Syria has faced nothing but failure, adding that he who wants to isolate Syria is in fact isolating himself from the regions issues, because Syria has its role.
None of it good.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/11/2007 00:00 ||
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Peace is knowing that that road to demascus is paved in rubble if you do not stop fucking around. I love your family but do not like AT ALL what you did to Harri. You are Way over your head and need to know that this is not a foreign policy quib. I saw this before, look back a fvew thousand years.
Is there ANYTHING you can do better today than thousands of years ago?
I AM sure there is, and unless you stop fucking with Gods Army and HIS ops, I assume you to be pretty hostile.
#3
Assad blames Israel for the lack of peace', while the Syrian military prepares for war near the Golan. A Syrian & Iranian triggered war directed at Israel shall result in Damascus being the Near-East's newest parking lot - in a flash.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
05/11/2007 7:43 Comments ||
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He said that Israel would be required to show a clear and unequivocal readiness to give back the occupied land to the 1967 borders. The return of the Golan is nonnegotiable for us.
Assad made it clear that Syria had no conditions for resuming peace talks with Israel,
I dunno; kinda sounds like that Golan thingy's stuck in his craw. I wonder how those two paragraphs got by the editor?
#5
Of course they're not ready to "make peace;" they're still alive and living on Allah's land. Once they're all dead or marched into the sea, then we'll have peace on terms the moslems can accept.
BEIRUT - Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri has set September 25 as the date for MPs to elect a new president for the country mired in political crisis, according to a newspaper interview published on Thursday. I will call on September 25 for a session of parliament to elect the president, provided we have a two-thirds majority quorum, or at least 86 members present in the 128-seat parliament, he told An-Nahar newspaper.
President Emile Lahouds mandate was extended for three years in September 2004 under a controversial constitutional amendment passed with the support of Syria, which at the time was the key power-broker in Lebanon. The extension of the pro-Damascus Christian presidents term has been one of the major causes of a political crisis which has split Beirut into pro- and anti-Syrian camps.
While the anti-Syrian camp holds the majority in parliament, the opposition led by the Hezbollah party walked out of the Western-backed coalition cabinet of Prime Minister Fuad Siniora in November. Berri, who himself heads the pro-Syrian Amal party, has since refused at the bidding of his Syrian masters to convene parliament on the grounds that the rump Siniora government was no longer legitimate.
Only one candidate, Christian former general Michel Aoun, who has sided with the Shiite Muslim group Hezbollah, has so far come forward to run for president.
The opposition suspects the anti-Syrian camp will stay away to block the required quorum, in the absence of a consensus candidate as president, a post which is reserved for Maronite Christians under Lebanons confessional system.
The Syrians and Hezbollah will do whatever it takes, and boom as many pols as necessary, to ensure that there is no election.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/11/2007 00:00 ||
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INFOWARS/PRISONPLANET > POTUS Bush has allegedly ordered the Fed to prepare and plan for possible SURPRISE, "DECAPITATING" ATTACKS ON THE US GOVT. Gotta respect Dubya becuz it means he de facto knows his life [plus many in the USG-NPE + elsewhere in USA] is in the Terror crosshairs, to include WMD ATTACKS.
#4
Be sure to check out the other Bezmenov videos on the site, including Demoralization and the American Media. The former sounds a lot like the 9-11 "Troofers" and other professional conspira-loons.
#5
WND.com > HAL LINDSEY > 2007: NUCLEAR ATTACK AND INVASION OF THE UNITED STATES. Hugo Chavez threatening to unleash "army of operatives" inside the USA. Osama's boyz in AQ allegedly working wid MS-13 Mafia criminal-gangs, etc. to sneak 'em in across the borders.
#6
YOUTUBE VIDEO also has article on FREEREPUBLIC and other blogs. No surprise that "useful idiots" will be eliminated once their utility ends. STALIN and MAO EXECUTED LOTS OF 'EM, EVEN WHEN THEIR BETRAYAL WAS UPON THE DIRECT ORDERS OF STALIN-MAO ANDOR TO THE LATTER's POL ADVANTAGE.
* STRATEGYPAGE > Why Muslim Radicals hate women. Economically, women become Xtra competitors for jobs wid large populations of [young]men where environments are tightly controlled or non-democratic - read, SOCIALIST, ABSOLUTIST, or DESPOTIC, ETC. Article - national stability and stable, lower populations will result when women have high or better opportunities for work outside the home, OTHER THAN BEING FORCED TO STAY PERMAN PREGGERS BECUZ GUBMINT-SOCIETY = ISLAM REFUSES TO REFORM OR CHANGE.
the so called "conservative" movement is full of them as well. Most of the jew neocons who wave the red white and blue and talk about family values are former radical leftists and red diaper babies. do you think that their beliefs have changed? Not at all. They just found a new way to manipulate patriotards into accepting communist agendas in the guise of anti terrorism or anti hate.
Hunh? Must be the same guy who called me a "right-wing commie."
#8
Well exJAG, I was thinking about becoming a right-wing commie. These posts at LGF would serve as the basis for a Communist-Republican Manifesto I am thinking about publishing:
I really like the idea of cruising around in our Neo-Gorky propaganda plane, broadcasting Mark Levin screeds and air-dropping Anne Coulter leaflets and dried tofu rations to the recently blockaded lib enclaves like Berkeley and Boulder.
Enough of that and all but the most devoted moonbats will come over to our side.
I kind of dig the severe but elegantly tailored high-collar Stalin uniform too.
#11
Full disclosure: The interviewer in this clip, G. Edward Griffin, is affiliated with the John Birch Society and is a major crank if his extensive bibliography is any guide.
This does not necessarily affect the validity of Bezmenov's testimony, but it is worth keeping in mind.
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.
Muhammad Ali Adam comes from one of the most feared tribes in south Darfur, the Arab Falata. As a Janjawid fighter he helped his militia to rape, loot and murder its way through village after village. Yet he is among a growing number of Arab gunmen switching sides as they grow disillusioned with the Khartoum Government.
New York, May 9, 2007The Committee to Protect Journalists mourns the death on Saturday of Mohammed Abdullahi Khalif, a contributor to the private radio station Voice of Peace in Somalias northeastern, semi-autonomous region of Puntland. Khalif was killed by crossfire while covering an army raid on an illegal gun market in the city of Galkayo. 
(AKI) - The Moroccan and Algerian authorities are worried jihadists currently in Iraq could return home and set up new terror cells, Moroccan terrorism expert Abdallah Rami told Spanish daily El Pais. "They will come to continue waging holy war which for them is like the call to prayer," he said. Cities such as Tetouan in northern Morocco and El Oued in Algeria could become real hotbeds for jihadi recruitment, the paper warns.
(AKI) - In a surprise move, some of the main defendants in the maxi-trial for the 2004 Madrid train bombings began a hunger strike on Thursday. According to various Spanish websites Youssef Belhadj, Hassan el Haski, Rabei Osman el Sayed (known as Mohammed the Egyptian, arrested in Italy in June 2004) and Abdeljamid Bouchard announced their decision in letters sent to the prison authorities. The first three are considered the "brains" behind the 11 March, 2004 attack in which 191 people were killed. The prosecution says the fourth, Abdeljamid Bouchard, was one of those who physically carried out the bombings.
WASHINGTON - The Democratic-controlled House voted Thursday night to pay for military operations in Iraq on an installment plan, defying President Bush's threat of a second straight veto in a fierce test of wills over the unpopular war. The 221-205 vote was largely along party lines and sent the measure to a cool reception in the Senate, where Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., is seeking a compromise with the White House and Republicans.
The former New York doctor accused of swearing allegiance to al Qaeda told a federal jury yesterday he was more interested in polygamy than terrorism. 
SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) - Jurors convicted a Chinese-born engineer Thursday of conspiring to export U.S. defense technology to China, including data on an electronic propulsion system that could make submarines virtually undetectable. 
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) - The United States filed charges of conspiracy and providing support for terrorism Thursday against a Guantanamo detainee accused of working as a driver and bodyguard for Osama bin Laden. 
(AKI) - Palestinian and Israeli security sources believe there are approximately 15 active tunnels in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip and Egypt. The tunnels are being used by various militant organizations to smuggle arms, drugs and people, or to transport and lay explosives, daily Haaretz quoted the sources as saying. There are at least 10 other tunnels in the area that are not in use for "technical" reasons, the sources said.
DAMASCUS - Syria will not cooperate with a UN-backed tribunal to try suspects in the killing of a former Lebanese premier if the court takes actions that undermine Syrian sovereignty, President Bashar al-Assad said on Thursday. We have nothing directly to do with the court. Any cooperation requested from Syria that compromises national sovereignty is totally rejected, Assad told a parliament session in the Syrian capital.
DAMASCUS - Syrian President Bashar Assad said on Thursday that the Israeli government was not ready to make peace with Syria, stressing that negotiations must resume from the point they had last reached in 2000. He warned that weak governments in Israel are capable of launching aggression ... we should be cautious.
