SAN'A, Yemen (AP) - Nine people have been arrested in connection with the July suicide attack on a Spanish tour group which killed 10 people, a security official said Monday. The government said it used helicopters to track down the suspects south of the capital, San'a. The suspects included three Yemenis who had recently returned from Iraq, the security official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
The attack happened in early July when a suicide bomber plowed his explosives-laden car into the tour group's convoy at a temple linked to the ancient Queen of Sheba in the central province of Marib. Eight Spaniards and two Yemenis were killed.
Officials said earlier this month that they had used DNA to identify the body of the suicide bomber, 21-year-old Abdu Mohammed Saad Ahmed, a Yemeni citizen. The government said he was part of a 10-person terror cell that included eight Yemenis, a Saudi national and an Egyptian. The Egyptian, Ahmed Bassiouni Dewidar, an alleged al-Qaida operative, was killed three days after the attack while resisting arrest.
Prior to Monday's operation, more than a dozen people had been detained in connection with the investigation, but none of the members of the terror cell had been captured.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/14/2007 00:00 ||
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The US "surge" of troops in Iraq is likely to fail, a British parliamentary committee said Monday as it delivered a critical report on London's foreign policy in the Middle East. "It is too early to provide a definitive assessment of the US 'surge' but it does not look likely to succeed," the House of Commons Foreign Affairs committee said in a wide-ranging document. "The committee believes that the success of this strategy will ultimately ride on whether Iraq's politicians are able to reach agreement on a number of key issues."
"And also on our ability to move the goalposts or whatever it is you Yanks call it."
Instead, it called on the government to set out what action it was taking to foster political reconciliation between Sunni and Shia Muslims and Kurds in Iraq. And it called for evidence of Iran's backing for insurgents in the south.
"Other than all the Farsi scribbles on the mortar bits and the Basiji dogtags we keep finding lying around, that is."
The report comes as Prime Minister Gordon Brown, like his predecessor Tony Blair, faces pressure to withdraw British troops. There is growing disquiet, including within the military, that its presence is hindering rather than helping Gordon Brown Iraq.
Elsewhere, lawmakers
reviewed their Indymedia talking points and
renewed criticisms of Blair's Middle East policy and particularly his refusal to call for an immediate ceasefire during Israel's conflict with Hezbollah militants in Lebanon last year.
Coupled with Iraq, lawmakers said British foreign policy had damaged the country's reputation in the Arab and Islamic world and could affect its ability to influence the political situation in the Middle East. Brown's administration needed to work at rolling over and exposing its belly to improve and restore the country's standing as an honest broker in the region, they added.
On the Israel-Palestinian issue, British and Western governments' attitude towards Hamas had helped seal the fate of the fledgling national unity government and had failed to resolve factional violence, they said. As a result, the committee urged a rethink on British policy on Hamas, which the European Union and the United States deem a terrorist group. It suggested the government deal directly with moderate members to help the peace process. With Blair now special envoy for the Middle East Quartet of the UN, EU, United States and Russia, his mandate should be widened from Palestinian institution building to direct talks with Hamas and other parties, it added.
On Lebanon, the committee urged direct engagement with moderate Hezbollah lawmakers in parliament. And it said more should be done to forge links with Syria because of its significant role in most of the key issues affecting the region.
#2
Elsewhere, lawmakers reviewed their Indymedia talking points
Once again, Vaseline in our time...
Delphi and tu Score!
Posted by: Red Dawg ||
08/14/2007 3:05 Comments ||
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#3
If field troops aren't allowed to treat a little ethnic cleansing of Sunni-Shiite areas as conducive to security, then failure is certain.
If Republicans support Clintonism - like the Kosovo' sharia enforcement - then Americans will be handed a choice: Clintonism v Clinton. That would hand Hillary a witches broom flight to the White House.
#4
Elsewhere, lawmakers reviewed their Indymedia talking points
Light blue highlighter means a Seafarious comment, Red Dawg. The poster's comments are in strong yellow, as opposed to Fred's lighter, post-it note yellow.
#7
On the Israel-Palestinian issue, British and Western governments' attitude towards Hamas had helped seal the fate of the fledgling national unity government and had failed to resolve factional violence, they said.
NAW, couldn't be that the Paleos got the gov't they voted into office, could it. Nope, it's Britain and the U.S.'s fault that Hamas groupies are so violent. Jeebus, how do these yahoos get elected?
Posted by: BA ||
08/14/2007 9:14 Comments ||
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#8
Such is the sad state of the British leadership nowdays. Surrendering as fast as they can to the Islamofascists.
#10
If they took a moment to compare this with the IRA I don't think they would make those statements. I don't remember any calls to negotiate with them (the IRA). The way it was resolved was constant pressure and the IRA renouncing violence.
#11
"The committee believes that the success of this strategy (the surge) will ultimately ride on whether Iraq's politicians are able to reach agreement on a number of key issues."
This is a clue to what's wrong in EU. What IS important is what the politicians do. Here in the US we simply replace those jerkoffs if they don't play well together. Perhaps we should replace a few Iraqi politicians to help the surge succeed. Not to impress the British lawmakers, but as a prelude to replacing them.
In the real world, the surge is a process of removing al Qaeda and al Qudslink from the streets of Iraq. When that job is complete, the surge is a success. It may be good timing to coordinate surge success with the next Iraqi election.
A positive story?? From a newspaper that said a year ago we had lost?? What is with all the backpeddeling? Rest at link.
If we're winning it must be because we had the benefit of their sage European advice.
When describing Iraq, the word "peace" is seldom used. Truth be told, the Americans have restored order to many parts of the county. But Iraq remains fractured, and where new schools are built today, bombs could explode tomorrow.
The Iraq war came within a hair of returning to Ramadi in early July. The attackers had already gathered four kilometers (about 2.5 miles) south of the city, on the banks of the Nasr canal. Between 40 and 50 men dressed in light uniforms were armed like soldiers and prepared to commit a series of suicide bombings. They had already strapped explosive vests to their bodies and loaded thousands of kilograms of explosives, missiles and grenades onto two old Mercedes trucks. But their plan was foiled when Iraqis intent on preserving peace in Ramadi betrayed them to the Americans.
#1
George Bush with less than 18 months. It couldn't been that rather than the surge? Now could it?
Been measuring the damage you've created in the last 7 years with the American people? Get the measure that the rad left isn't the American public? Sorry jack, we're not chumming up again to bail you out of the next one. There are those of us who want to hold tight in Iraq, but we damn well want to see the withdraw plan for Germany and S.Korea.
Posted by: ed ||
08/14/2007 12:21 Comments ||
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#3
Great article, makes one even prouder to be an American. The surge and time will continue to win over Iraqis and Iraq just may end up being the model that the rest of the ME aspires to. I can hope can't I?
Posted by: Tinfoil hat. ||
08/14/2007 13:52 Comments ||
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#4
I think you might be onto something P2K.
I'm sure the new Prez(they're hoping a Donk) would just love to grab the reigns and drive home a good ol' victory for us in 2009. Wouldn't that be convenient? Wouldn't have to do the work, just take all the credit for a victorious campaign. And after 5 years of trying to sabotage the whole thing.
Could it be that the news is that good that even the MSM are getting behind the "strong horse"? Or, do they just see the future and wanna be "on top" of reporting it?
Posted by: BA ||
08/14/2007 14:46 Comments ||
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#7
Dubya's/USA's Regional-Global Entrenchment + post-Dubya 2008 Elex posturing > Moud-Mullahs can either face implosion, or else must escalate and push/induce the USA to invade Iran, even iff it means risking worldwide = geopol mil confrontation amongst the great powers. RADICAL MULLAHS > WORLD IN CHAOS-DARKNESS + DECLINE OF MODERN CIVILIZATION ala OIL/RESOURCES CATACLYSM, GLOBAL-SOLAR WARMING, ETC. IS ULTIMATELY TO RADICAL ISLAM'S ADVANTAGE. An alleged "DYING WORLD/PLANET" dominated by a Radical Islam oft criticized or belabeled as a faith/ideo of death + anti-materialist totalitarianisms. RADICAL MULLAHS WOULD BE HAPPY/ECSTATIC IFF THE SUN WENT NOVA TODAY.
Ahmed condemned all the eight hundred prisoners to death. The following morning, they were led with ropes tied around their necks and their hands bound behind their backs to the Hill of Minerva, a few hundred meters outside of the city. De Marco writes:
All of them repeated their profession of the faith and the generous response they had given at first, so the tyrant commanded that the decapitation should proceed, and, before the others, the head of the elderly Primaldo should be cut off. Primaldo was hateful to him, because he never stopped acting as an apostle toward his fellows. And before placing his head upon the stone, he told his companions that he saw heaven opened and the comforting angels; that they should be strong in the faith and look to heaven, already open to receive them. He bowed his head and it was cut off, but his corpse stood back up on its feet, and despite the efforts of the butchers, it remained erect and unmoving, until all were decapitated. The marvelous and astonishing event would have been a lesson of salvation for those infidels, if they had not been rebels against the light that enlightens every man who lives in the world. Only one of the butchers, named Berlabei, believed courageously in the miracle and, declaring himself a Christian in a loud voice, was condemned to be impaled.
During the beatification process for the eight hundred, in 1539, four eyewitnesses spoke of the prodigy of Antonio Primaldo, who remained standing after being decapitated, and of the conversion and martyrdom of the executioner. This is the account of one of the four, Francesco Cerra, who in 1539 was 72 years old:
Antonio Primaldo was the first to be slaughtered, and without his head he remained upright on his feet, nor could any of the efforts of the enemy knock him down, until all were killed. The butcher, stunned by the miracle, confessed that the Catholic faith was the true one, and insisted on becoming a Christian, and for this the pasha condemned him to death by impaling.
The war on terror continues in Iraq. We're standing together in that desperate country as a part of a strong coalition. America appreciates the contributions and sacrifices of nearly 3,000 soldiers that Italy has deployed in that country. We honor the memory of 19 Italians killed by a terrorist's bomb last November, and the memory of the Italian soldier killed this week.
And we honor the courage of men like Fabrizio Quattrocchi, a baker who went to Iraq to work as a security guard. He was kidnapped by terrorists, and faced his killers with the bravest defiance. Just before he was murdered, he stood up and shouted, "Now I will show you how an Italian dies!" (Applause.) In that moment, this good man from Genoa showed us that, and more: He showed us how a hero lives.
Now all our efforts in Iraq are approaching a crucial moment. The Prime Minister and I had a strategy session on how to help the Iraqis realize their liberty. I appreciate his good, strong advice. On June 30th, our coalition will transfer its authority to a sovereign Iraqi government. With the assistance of the United Nations and our coalition, Iraqi citizens are currently making important decisions about the nature and the scope of that interim government.
In time, Iraq will be a democratic nation at the heart of the Middle East. This will send a powerful message from Damascus to Tehran, that democracy and freedom can bring hope to lives in every culture. (Applause.) And this advance of freedom will bring greater security to America, to Italy, and to all who love freedom.
As June 30th approaches, the enemies of freedom grow even more desperate to prevent the rise of democracy in Iraq. That's what you're seeing on your TV screens -- the desperate tactics of a hateful few; people who cannot stand the thought of free societies in their midst. They're targeting brave Iraqis who are leading toward democracy, such as Mr. Saleem, who was assassinated in Baghdad on Monday. They're murdering Iraqi policemen, who stand as symbols of order. They kill foreign aid workers who are helping to rebuild Iraq. They attack our military. You see, their goal is to undermine the will of our coalition, and to drive us out before our mission is complete. They will not succeed. They will not shake the will of America or our coalition. (Applause.)
My resolve is firm. The resolve of the Prime Minister of Italy is firm. The resolve of the American people is firm. Our military is skilled and determined. We all understand the stakes are high for America and the world. We will not be intimidated by thugs and assassins. We will win this essential victory in the war on terror. (Applause.)
These are historic times. This is an historic moment. The world watches for any weakness. They will see no weakness in America. They will see no weakness in Italy. We will answer every challenge. U.S. soldiers and Iraqi security forces are systematically destroying the illegal militia in the south of Iraq. Coalition forces are working with Iraqis in Fallujah, to end control by Saddam loyalists and foreign fighters. We're building up Iraqi security forces so at some point they can safeguard their own security. We're flexible in our methods, but our goal is unchanging: Iraq will be free; Iraq will be a democratic nation. (Applause.)
Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the controversial former Dutch MP who now works for a conservative American think-tank in Washington, has strongly criticised the Labour party for its attitude towards Labour councillor and chairman of the ex-Muslim committee Ehsan Jami.
Hirsi Ali, who has the same spokeswoman as Jami, told the Dutch press that the Labour party seems to have more solidarity with intolerant fundamentalists than freedom fighters such as Jami. Hirsi Ali said she supports Jami and condemned the barbarians who attacked him. Gotta love the scare quotes.
Jami was placed under police protection last week following an attack by three men believed to be Islamic fundamentalists. Jami has made a number of controversial statements about Islam.
Labour leader Wouter Bos has made it clear that his party will not support the ex-Muslim committee and said he was unhappy with the way Jami has chosen to attract attention for problems within the Muslim community.
What started as a simple request to wear a pendant containing passages from the Qur'an spiralled into a daily dose of harassment for a Muslim cadet at the RCMP training academy, the Canadian Human Rights Commission heard yesterday.
It was the first day of a tribunal examining Ali Tahmourpour's complaint that he was ridiculed for his Muslim beliefs and subjected to unwarranted criticism while at the academy in Regina from July to October 1999. He was terminated 14 weeks into the 22-week program.
Tahmourpour, born in Iran, initially filed a complaint with the commission in March 2001. At that time, the government argued he was let go because of poor performance and the commission dismissed his complaint. Soon after, the Federal Court of Canada asked that it be reconsidered.
The request was based on the commission's failure to consider RCMP statistics, which show a 7 per cent attrition rate among cadets as a whole, but a rate of almost 16 per cent among visible minorities. The rate, calculated from 1996 to 2001, includes both dismissals and resignations from the force. Federal Court Justice John Evans ruled the figures should have been considered in that case, as they were "sufficiently suggestive of the discriminatory practices alleged."
Tahmourpour, 35, began his second hearing in front of the commission yesterday by painting a bleak picture of an RCMP unwilling to accept diversity within its academy. He described his first fitness class, where cadets were ordered to remove all jewellery. Tahmourpour asked a sergeant if he could keep wearing his religious pendant. The sergeant agreed but then mocked him in class for wanting to wear it. "It ostracized me. It singled me out," he said. "It was the first destructive moment in my training."
He said he was pulled out of class daily by the academy's staff and criticized for taking too many notes, sitting in a too-formal position and for being too soft-spoken. "I saw no validity to the things I was being criticized for. I saw it as harassment." The other minorities, he said, would "poke fun at their own ethnicity, their own ancestry just to gain acceptance."
He also described being ridiculed and yelled at for an hour and told his English was unintelligible, and another incident where an officer mocked his Arabic signature.
#1
if the pendant isn't part of the uniform then why should he be able too wear it.
Posted by: Jesus saves ||
08/14/2007 8:28 Comments ||
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#2
Another setup. Infiltrate traditionally non-muslim institutions, endlessly complain that your "rights" are being violated, then once their patience has come to an end and they boot you out, claim civil rights violations. Been there. Done that. When will the west wise up?
#9
He said he was pulled out of class daily by the academy's staff and criticized for taking too many notes, sitting in a too-formal position and for being too soft-spoken. "I saw no validity to the things I was being criticized for. I saw it as harassment."
A time honored method for weeding out those that don't fit.
Posted by: Natural Law ||
08/14/2007 10:37 Comments ||
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#10
Perhaps Mr. Tahmourpour would like to try his luck at the US Marine Corps Boot Camp.
Posted by: ed ||
08/14/2007 10:41 Comments ||
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#11
When you're talking about the Human Rights Commission, it isn't the quality of evidence, but the seriousness of the charges that decide the case.
#12
Jeebus, has Grace at Rangerup been replaced? What's with the Divavillage ads, Fred (not that I'm complainin' mind you)?
Posted by: BA ||
08/14/2007 11:27 Comments ||
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#13
The RCMP go out of their way to recruit minorities. The affirmative action door is open so wide that it's not surprising that the quality goes down and more wash out.
If this guy can't handle a joke or two, how's he going to handle a few hundred rioters swearing, spitting and throwing rocks at him?
#2
Here's to hoping he holds his breath until they comply.
Posted by: ed ||
08/14/2007 12:14 Comments ||
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#3
Screw'em all. None of them have the experience, let alone a general understanding of mil ops, to justify any of them discussing tactical or operational procedures. Do you want this man to direct your next life saving surgery? Let's see, if he saw it done on the Discovery or the Learning Channel, that makes him an expert? Set policy at the strategic level, maybe. However leave the implementation to those who were trained to do the job.
#4
Obama is not ready for prime time. O.K. with me. I was not going to vote for him anyway. It is the height of irresponsibility to say "Stop air-raiding villages and killing civilians." This is no different that what the other dhimmis are saying; it plays right into the hands of enemy propaganda. I couldn't vote for anyone that is such a dumb a$$ about the war.
McCain got sucked into the dhimmi web of immigration. I couldn't vote for anyone that was duped so easily. Same way with Obama. He is saying everything all over the map to try to get nominated and elected.
This election is kind of like the phony war of 1939-1940 in France--not much happening yet.
#5
This is why Obama will not win this time. By the time November comes around he will be done in the polls and funding. Hillary will most likely be the dhimocratic choice since the rest of the field is a joke.
I still believe that Hillary will not win in a general election because so many people completely hate her. Almost 50% negative view? Almost impossible to overcome. Even for Clinton Inc.
#6
Screw'em all. None of them have the experience, let alone a general understanding of mil ops, to justify any of them discussing tactical or operational procedures. Do you want this man to direct your next life saving surgery? Let's see, if he saw it done on the Discovery or the Learning Channel, that makes him an expert? Set policy at the strategic level, maybe. However leave the implementation to those who were trained to do the job. just like George W., his training as a spoiled brat sure made him effective as the leader of the military....
#7
I hate to throw cold water on a good pig-pile, but it looks like the AP twisted O'Bama's words 180° from their meaning (here's more info). He was, apparently, talking about Afghanistan. Of course, the real meaning doesn't make him any less unqualified for prime time, but it shows that AP isn't ready for prime time either.
#8
T&T show where GW dictated tactical ops. Otherwise, take your whine a stuff it. George, like Mr. Lincoln has spent a couple years trying to find a general who knows how to fight. To paraphrase the former Secty of Defense, you go to the war with the generals you have. A personnel system oriented to professional managers and not fighters is going to hand you a number of people who can generally avoid defeat but generally can't find victory unless it's clean and pat like WWII or the first Gulf War.
#9
"just like George W., his training as a spoiled brat sure made him effective as the leader of the military...."
Are you being serious? If so then you are truly a mental midget - get a grasp on history. Washington undertook one of the most arduous missions during colonial times by delivering the original dispatch that opened the French/Indian War. Read "Washington Frontiersman" or "His Excellency" to get a feel for just how militarily competent George really was. Took on the greatest mil power in the world at the time w/only about 40% of the colonists in support of the endeavor -- but God he was so horrible because he didn't do it perfect -- (where have I heard that before) -- idiot.
#11
He is saying everything all over the map to try to get nominated and elected.
This seems to be a pronounced trait amongst modern democrat presidential candidates. Even more astonishing is the way they somehow imagine that America's voting public will not perceive this as being the spineless pandering it is.
#13
oops, tehehe, Thanks TW. BTW -- I live 45 min's from the queen city now as well...at least for the next 3 yrs.
Anyways, back to t&t - at least the current GW has some background in flying aircraft and understanding the mil culture. Barrack was the son of a soldier IIRC but has never served a day in uniform himself nor seems to grasp the complexities of foreign policy. I stick to my first summation -- idiot.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice wants to continue serving President George W. Bush until he leaves the White House, her spokesman said Monday after Bush's top aide Karl Rove resigned. "The basic question is: Is she planning on sticking around? The answer to that question is, 'yes,'" State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters.
Rice became secretary of state in 2005 at the start of Bush's second term in office after being his national security advisor since January 2001. McCormack said that while Rice and other cabinet officials "serve at the pleasure of the president," the top US diplomat has "got a lot on the agenda" for the next 17 months, including grappling with the Iraq war, the Israel-Palestine question as well as the North Korean and Iranian nuclear issues.
"And she has a lot that she wants to accomplish on behalf of this president, on behalf of the American people," he said. "She looks forward to tackling those issues, and when she's done, heading back to Stanford," Mccormack said, referring to the leading US university where she was provost, the institution's chief budget and academic officer for six years until 1999.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/14/2007 00:00 ||
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The banned Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) activists on Monday protested the murder their provincial leader Aslam Farooqi, at Qissa Khawani Bazaar.
Addressing the protesters, speakers including SSP President Mulana Mohammad Ahmed condemned the killing Aslam Farooqi and said that people should pay tribute to the deceased for his martyrdom. They said it was not the police who arrested the killer, but that the deceased's family nabbed him and handed him over to the police. They said the killing of Aslam Farooqi would produce more people like him. Meanwhile, some angry protesters beat up a man suspecting him to be a Shitte; however, Khan Raziq Police Station officials managed to rescue the man.
Witnesses told Daily Times that the protesters caught Qaiser filming the demonstration and beat him up, considering he was a Shitte with some bad intentions. Khan Raziq Police Station House Officer (SHO) Rahmatullah Khan also sustained minor injuries in the scuffle.
An SSP activist told Daily Times that the man was carrying a pistol and that he might kill another leader of the organisation. Police later took the man to the police station. MPA Ibrahim Qasmi also arrived at the police station and he later told Daily Times that the man, Qaiser was beaten up on the suspicion of being a Shitte, but actually he was a Sunni. Police later freed Qaiser.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/14/2007 00:00 ||
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President General Pervez Musharraf said on Monday that Pakistan's fight against terrorism and extremism was in its own national interest and not at the behest of any other country. "We are not fighting terrorism and extremism for the sake of America, but we are confronting this menace in our own interest," the president said in response to a question in a special television programme called 'From Aiwan-e-Sadr'.
The president described terrorism and extremism as the country's biggest challenges as they were a serious threat to peace, security and development. He said Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups were hiding in the tribal areas and were involved in terrorist activities. "It is time that the entire nation rises against them," he said, adding that poverty and lack of education were the root causes of militancy. "Our policy is pro-Pakistan...I strongly believe that Pakistan comes first," he said. "I do not blindly pursue policies of others and see everything from Pakistan's point of view."
He recalled that there was Western pressure on Pakistan to despatch troops to Iraq, which he resisted. Similarly, there was Western opposition to the formation of a Hamas government after it won elections in Palestine, but Pakistan recognised it. On several occasions, Pakistan voted "against the wishes of others" on human rights issues at international forums. There were several objections to the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline plan, "but the project is in our interest and we are pursuing it," he said. About statements made by US presidential candidates calling for unilateral US action in Pakistan's tribal areas, the president said, "I am 200 percent sure that these [views] are [held] neither at the official nor government level."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/14/2007 00:00 ||
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A coalition of Iraqi Sunni Muslim insurgents warned Saudi Arabia on Monday against opening an embassy in Baghdad, saying the move would comfort the Shiite-dominated government. The Iraqi insurgent umbrella group, the Jihad and Reform Front, warned Saudi Arabia against an embassy. "At the time that the Iraqi people, particularly the Sunnis, look for the support of their brothers everywhere ... Saudi Arabia comes out with a strange wish to support al-Maliki by opening an embassy in Baghdad," the group said in a statement posted on its Web site. "The Jihad and Reform Front warns against such a step and calls on the government and people of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia not to implement this wish, especially at this time when al-Maliki's government is in its worst and weakest situation," the statement said.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/14/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
As a consolation prize, the pricks will be allowed to open another one in the US of A. Seems their "charities" are down a litte in donations!
Posted by: Albert Whains2850 ||
08/14/2007 13:06 Comments ||
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The deportees mentioned in the article are the shitters from the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem, several years back.
The Hamas government in the Gaza Strip has banned the custom of using firearms in weddings. I doubt that it is the "returned bullets kill people" consideration. However, if their opponents fire bullet at weddings, less remain for opposing Hamas. But logic is not strong trait in these places, so I'd have to go with a simple "control freaks" premise.
"They beat us with clubs, chairs and rifle butts," said Yassin al-Harimi, one of the deportees. "They cursed us and told us that the Jews are better than us. I'll be danmned! I have no doubt that it is true, but suspect a hubris on Hamas side. Jews are better than Hamas, too.
The IDF under Defense Minister Ehud Barak is planning a ground assault deep into Syrian territory if Syria attacks Israel with missiles AKA Resistance, according to a report by Channel 10's military affairs correspondent.
The reporter said Syria possesses thousands of missiles capable of hitting virtually any point within Israel. The only way to counter this threat, he said, would be to launch a swift strategic ground assault into Syria until the missile attack ceases.
#2
It has never crossed their minds that Syria is a nation ruled by a 10% of minority Alawite Shiites over 90% Sunnis and Kurds, and that Israel could not only scare the Syrian government to death, but *also* get the support of every Sunni government, especially Egypt, Jordan and Saudi, simply by saying:
"If Israel is attacked by Syria, we will depose Assad, and ask the assistance of the Sunni nations in restoring majority rule with peacekeepers, in return for which they, not Israel, will guarantee Syria becomes a peaceful and democratic nation. Israel will leave, and they will insure a peaceful transition."
That statement would make Assad, Syria, Hezbollah, and Iran poop themselves.
#3
Good idea moose,
Only, if I was Israel I would give it after the 24 blitz of ground forces into Damascus.
"Israel was attacked by Syria, we have deposed Assad, and ask the assistance of the Sunni nations in restoring majority rule with peacekeepers, in return for which they, not Israel, will guarantee Syria becomes a peaceful and democratic nation. Israel will leave, and they will insure a peaceful transition."
Hamas Islamists in control of the Gaza Strip enforced on Monday a new ban on unlicensed street rallies, firing in the air to disperse activists of the rival Fatah movement and confiscating cameras recording the scene. Hamas's Executive Force said organisers had failed to apply for a permit to hold a rally, in accordance with new regulations issued late on Sunday. A Fatah official called the ban an "illegal decision by an illegal and illegitimate force".
Members of the Executive Force fired in the air while others confiscated yellow Fatah flags at Gaza's main square, where activists had gathered for the rally. The Hamas security men, shouting "filming is forbidden", confiscated news cameras and cellular phones equipped with cameras.
They also entered the office of the Arab satellite channel Al-Arabiya and seized a video camera and a tape after journalists working for the station refused to hand over a recording of the events at the square. Ehab al-Ghsain, spokesman of the Hamas-run Interior Ministry in Gaza that is in charge of the Executive Force, said rally organisers must seek a permit 48 hours before a gathering "so we can prepare protection for participants".
How's that dictatorship thing working out?
And more:
Men jailed in Gaza: A Fatah official said on Monday Hamas is holding 120 Fatah members in Gaza Strip jails, the first time the faction has given a detainee figure since the Islamist movement took control of the territory in June. Hamas has denied imprisoning Fatah men over their membership of President Mahmoud Abbas's faction, saying that only common criminals are behind bars.
A Fatah official, speaking on condition he not be identified, said hundreds of Fatah members had been detained by Hamas's Executive Force since the brief civil war in Gaza two months ago. "Out of them, there are still 120 still in jail. Twelve others remain unaccounted for," the official said. Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said the official's remarks were aimed at covering up what he said were the arrests in the West Bank of 420-490 Hamas supporters by the Fatah-dominated security services of President Mahmoud Abbas.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/14/2007 00:00 ||
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#2
Sounds like the perfect opportunity for the new British ME delegation to showcase their negotiation skills with those elusive "moderate" HAMAS members.
A spokesman for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement dismissed Monday a media report alleging that some Fatah members had joined the movement in order to continue to carry arms.
"Certainly not!"
Abu Ahmad, official spokesman for the Al-Quds Brigades, military wing of the Islamic Jihad, said his group had nothing to do with a statement that was issued in the brigades' name on Monday.
"That was other mouthpieces!"
"The Brigades is very meticulous in choosing its recruits" and selects them after studying the background of all potential members, Abu Ahmad said and stressed that the only reason for joining the movement was to "fight the Zionist occupation forces, defend the interests of our people and regain our stolen rights." Abu Ahmad denied, in an indirect allusion to Hamas, that some people had joined the movement to "attack this or that side (Hamas)." He added that the Al-Quds Brigades would remain a safety valve for Palestinian unity and would never be a factor of tension on the Palestinian scene.
"Keep those cards and letters coming! Especially the ones with cash in them."
A statement had been issued earlier Monday alleging that dozens of Fatah members had joined the Islamic Jihad in order to avoid having their weapons confiscated. The statement accused the new recruits in the Islamic Jihad of forming units in order to launch attacks against the Executive Force, which was loyal to the dismissed cabinet, led by Hamas former Prime Minister Ismail Haniya.
Mostly. The two they have in hand got reduced sentences and three are on the lam...
Jordan's State Security Tribunal on Monday sentenced five people to prison on charges of recruiting suicide attackers for Iraq in a manner undermining Jordan's relations with a neighboring state. The tribunal, which held a session Monday, sentenced to three years and four months in prison Zuhair Jamal Hamdan Hamdan (aged 34) and Nidal Ata Mohammad Salem (aged 34). But the sentence was reduced to 20 months in jail after taking into consideration alleviating circumstances.
Their work at the summer camps for troubled yoots weighed heavily in their favor...
The same tribunal issued in absentia sentences of five years in prison against Mohammad Hassan Hussein Aadili, Iyad Mohammad Ahmad Terfan and Bilal Abdel-Rahman Al-Sharqawi, who are still at large and are facing the same charges as the other two.
According to the text of the indictment, the five were Jordanians but had plotted together to "recruit suicide attackers in Jordan" and sending them to Iraq to fight Multi-National Forces (MNF) there in complicity with other Syria-based terrorists.
The investigation into the case showed that some of the conspirators had started their conspiracy during hajj (Islamic pilgrimage) rituals in the holy city of Makkah, where they met some people there, whose identity was not diclosed.
The Hamas Movement said, in return to an invitation for dialogue proposed by Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi Monday, that it was ready for an open dialogue with the West. Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zehri said the invitation for dialogue between the West and the Palestinian movement, as proposed by Prodi, was "deeply appreciated by Hamas." He added that similar invitations for dialogue had come from "other European sides" including a delegation of UK legislators, who slammed their government for its attitude towards Hamas and called for opening a dialogue with the Palestinian movement.
Abu Zehri stressed that these invitations for dialogue have underlined "the mistake committed by the West and Europe in the way they dealt with Hamas." He expressed hope that such invitations would receive positive responses and stated that his movement was ready for dialogue with the West. Prodi had underlined, in a recent statement, the "need to engage in a dialogue with Hamas to help achieve its political development." The Italian prime minister had added that Hamas had become a reality on the ground but remained a complicated structure that needed to be developed with European help.
#2
it was ready for an open dialogue with the West
None of which includes recognition of Israel but lets not quibble.
He added that similar invitations for dialogue had come from "other European sides" including a delegation of UK legislators, who slammed their government for its attitude towards Hamas and called for opening a dialogue with the Palestinian movement.
Paging Nancy Pelosi to the white courtesy phone.
Abu Zehri stressed that these invitations for dialogue have underlined "the mistake committed by the West and Europe in the way they dealt with Hamas."
Yes, theyre both so totally fucking stoopid as to not believe in taqiyya.
The Italian prime minister had added that Hamas had become a reality on the ground but remained a complicated structure that needed to be developed with European help.
Of course! Without European help Hamas might bloody well shrivel up and die! Perish the frickin thought.
The US embassy warned Monday of possible "terrorist" attacks in the Philippine city of Cotabato and nearby areas on the southern island of Mindanao. A travel advisory warned that "as of mid August there is a continuing terrorist threat in central Mindanao to include Cotabato City." The advisory added, "The threat could affect such public places as bus terminals and shopping malls. US citizens should exercise extreme caution in central Mindanao."
"Calling all citizens! BOLO for Asian-looking men and/or women in bus terminals and shopping malls! Or possibly foreign-looking men and/or women in bus terminals and shopping malls! That is all!"
It urged Americans living in central Mindanao to reassess their personal security, keep a low profile and avoid public gathering places. The warning came after the Philippine military launched an offensive against the militant Islamic Abu Sayyaf group on the nearby southern islands of Basilan and Jolo.
Iran's president said Tuesday he has "serious doubts" that his country is supplying weapons to Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan, refuting allegations by some Western officials that Iran is arming the militants. Wow...I feel better. And all this time I was under the mistaken impression Iran was aiding AQ-A and the Taliwhackers
Speaking during his first-ever visit to Afghanistan, President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad called Iran's eastern neighbor a "brotherly nation" whose stability is paramount for the region. Sunni Afghanistan...Shia Iran? Yeah...brotherly.
When asked if Iran is supplying weapons to the Taliban by a reporter from Voice of America, a U.S.-funded outlet, Ahmedinejad laughed and said the United States doesn't want Afghanistan and Iran to be friends. And the Joooooooooooos, too. Don't forget the Joooooooooooos.
"The same allegation are made in Iraq. They are saying that they discover some weapons," Ahmedinejad said at a news conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. "What is the reason why they are saying such things? Iran is a big country. I have serious doubts about this issue." Not me. I have no doubts about this issue. By the way, where is your buddy al Sadr?
Ahmedinejad's trip comes a week after President Bush said during a news conference with Karzai last week in the United States that he thought Iran was playing a destabilizing role in Afghanistan, where the Taliban have stepped up attacks the last two years. Haven't you heard? Bushitler is building the case to attack Iran, declare martial law, suspend the Constitution and the elections so Bushitler, Cheneyhitler, and Rovehitler can establish the 4th Reich!!! Oh yeah...maybe not Rove cuz he resigned. But definitely Bushitler and Cheneyhitler. That's what I read on the DU and Kos. It is.
The U.S. military has charged that Iran is supplying weapons to Shiite militias in Iraq who are fighting against U.S. troops there. The fact that some of the ordnance boxes have Persian writing is a Joooooooooooooish plot. The captured RG trainers are actually Jooooooooish actors. The EFP's were made to look like they were made in Iran by the Jooooooos.
Some Western and Persian Gulf governments have also alleged that the Islamic government in Tehran is secretly bolstering Taliban fighters. Among U.S. officials a prevalent view is that Iran, while not an ally of the Taliban, is seizing any opportunity in both Iraq and Afghanistan to complicate U.S. stabilization efforts. Bunch of cynics. Iran is a fun loving, peaceful country.
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair wrote in a May edition of the Economist magazine that it is "clear" the Taliban is receiving arms from "elements of the Iranian regime." The top NATO commander in Afghanistan, U.S. Army Gen. Dan McNeill, told The Associated Press in June that "I don't doubt that somewhere the Iranians may have helped the Taliban." Exactly what you'd expect from a lackey of Bushitler.
Officials from NATO's International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan have said they have no proof that top Iranian leaders have engineered or approved of weapons being supplied to the Taliban.
Iran calls the accusation part of a broad anti-Iranian campaign and says it makes no sense that a Shiite-led government like itself would help the fundamentalist Sunni movement of the Taliban. And why wouldn't you believe Iran?
Karzai praised Iran's role in Afghanistan, while the two leaders presided over the signing of a number of bilateral agreements in a number of fields, including security, counter-narcotics and agriculture. OK...sarcasm off. Iran certainly has a vested interest in a destabilized Pakistan and Afghanistan. If you don't believe they are supplying cash, arms, and trainers to AQ and the Taliwhackers, you probably have your head up where the sun doesn't shine.
#3
FREEREPUBLIC > Salvation of entire World + Humanity can be only thru Islam + obeyance of same. World + humanity to be destroyed by God iff Islam is not followed.
WASHINGTON - The United States on Monday placed a Lebanese Islamist group blamed for major fighting at a Palestinian refugee camp on its international terrorism balcklist. The State Department announced that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has designated the Al Qaeda-inspired Fatah al-Islam, which is suspected of having links with Syria, as a specially designated global terrorist group under an executive order aimed at cutting off finances to extremist organizations.
The step, which had been expected, cuts off Fatah al-Islam from the US financial system and freezes any assets it or its members may have in the United States or under US jurisdiction, the department said in a statement. The United States condemns the recent violence perpetrated by Fatah al-Islam in the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp and supports the government of Lebanon and its security forces in their efforts to promote stability and rule of law throughout the country, the statement said. This terrorist group threatens the safety and security of the Lebanese people and the region.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/14/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Might consider putting the whole lot of islam on the terrorism blacklist.
Israeli media reported on Monday that Syria has acquired an array of advanced Russian-made anti-aircraft missiles as part of a military build-up ahead of a possible war with the Jewish state. Syria currently has "the densest anti-aircraft deployment in the world," Israel's mass-selling Yediot Aharonot daily quoted a military source as saying. "Syria has purchased from the Russians the world's most advanced surface-to-air missiles. This is the last word in plane interception technology.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/14/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Uh, could someone remind me again where syria gets money to do this? I thought their only export was pictures of chinless leader schmoozing with comrade nancy peloon...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
08/14/2007 1:19 Comments ||
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#2
Syria currently NEEDShas "the densest anti-aircraft deployment in the world,"
#3
Not to worry. If it comes to an air war, those SAM sites will be the first ones to go. Let 'em deplete their military funding with fixed defenses, then watch them "blow up real good" on the cable news.
#6
But it takes time, resources and lives to take out these SAMs and get at what they are protecting. In the mean time the Syrians will be firing missiles and rockets at Israeli population centers.
Posted by: ed ||
08/14/2007 9:27 Comments ||
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After more than five years, the Pentagon revealed why it is holding a Saudi nicknamed "the Professor" at Guantanamo Bay, saying he once lived with a Sept. 11 conspirator and received a stipend from Osama bin Laden.
Shaker Aamer's lawyer denies the allegations, made after British Prime Minister Gordon Brown last week requested the release of the Saudi, who has been an unofficial leader among the detainees, and four other former residents of Britain.
The Bush administration, which has been urging other nations to accept Guantanamo prisoners amid international pressure to close the military jail, warned that the five detainees and particularly Aamer are dangerous men.
A senior U.S. official said Aamer shared an apartment in London in the late 1990s with Zacarias Moussaoui, a confessed al-Qaida conspirator and the only person in the United States charged in the attacks, and met with Richard Reid, imprisoned in the U.S. for trying to blow up an American passenger jet with explosives hidden in his shoes.
Aamer also trained in the use of explosives and surface-to-air missiles and lived on stipends in Afghanistan paid by bin Laden, the official, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Detainee Affairs Sandra Hodgkinson, told The Associated Press. "He has been involved in a lot of significant terrorist plots," Hodgkinson said Wednesday.
...
But Hodgkinson said she was disclosing allegations against Aamer and the four other British residents Jordanian Jamil el-Banna; Libyan-born Omar Deghayes, Ethiopian national Binyam Mohamed and Algerian Abdennour Sameur to underscore "the risk these individuals pose," though the U.S. had no plans to try any of them.
Deghayes, she said, has been associated with a militant group in Libya and has "direct connections" to al-Qaida operatives in Europe; Mohamed trained on use of explosives and proposed to al-Qaida leaders that uranium from hospitals be used in terror attacks.
Sameur has attended al-Qaida training courses, while el-Banna is suspected of participating in a terrorist organization in Spain, she said.
Stafford Smith, who represents all the men, denied the allegations and said he might pursue defamation charges against Hodgkinson in Britain to "stop this verbal torrent of falsehoods."
Posted by: ed ||
08/14/2007 11:57 ||
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A microwave-generated plasma shield that could help aircraft evade radar or protect it from WMD attacks was granted a patent today. The "pseudo surface microwave produced plasma shielding system," could be used "as a stealth system from RADAR and SONAR, a protection system from weapons of mass destruction (WMD), and a weapon system to generate and launch plasmoids as a plasma gun."
A pseudo surface microwave produced plasma shielding system is a simple device that creates a prescribed plasma environment with a prescribed plasma density gradient, and protects an object surrounded by this environment as a shield. Pseudo surface microwaves interacting with an artificial intelligence equipped on board are used to create and to adjust this plasma environment for a particular application. This plasma environment provides potential capabilities of military applications of the plasma in the system. Examples of military applications include a stealth system from RADAR and SONAR, a protection system from WMD, and a weapon system to generate and launch plasmoids as a plasma gun. The scope of this invention extends to commercial applications of this plasma shielding system as a conditioned and controlled flow field, for example, a boundary layer and turbulence control system, and a lift control system to improve flight performance and flight economy of aircrafts.
That's not all, the patent also says the plasma system could be "a new type of engine." It would work "as a heating method alternative to the conventional combustion method that uses petroleum based fuel in the combustion chamber of an engine."
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.
SAN'A, Yemen (AP) - Nine people have been arrested in connection with the July suicide attack on a Spanish tour group which killed 10 people, a security official said Monday. The government said it used helicopters to track down the suspects south of the capital, San'a. The suspects included three Yemenis who had recently returned from Iraq, the security official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
The US "surge" of troops in Iraq is likely to fail, a British parliamentary committee said Monday as it delivered a critical report on London's foreign policy in the Middle East. "It is too early to provide a definitive assessment of the US 'surge' but it does not look likely to succeed," the House of Commons Foreign Affairs committee said in a wide-ranging document. "The committee believes that the success of this strategy will ultimately ride on whether Iraq's politicians are able to reach agreement on a number of key issues."
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice wants to continue serving President George W. Bush until he leaves the White House, her spokesman said Monday after Bush's top aide Karl Rove resigned. "The basic question is: Is she planning on sticking around? The answer to that question is, 'yes,'" State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters.
President General Pervez Musharraf said on Monday that Pakistan's fight against terrorism and extremism was in its own national interest and not at the behest of any other country. "We are not fighting terrorism and extremism for the sake of America, but we are confronting this menace in our own interest," the president said in response to a question in a special television programme called 'From Aiwan-e-Sadr'.
A coalition of Iraqi Sunni Muslim insurgents warned Saudi Arabia on Monday against opening an embassy in Baghdad, saying the move would comfort the Shiite-dominated government. The Iraqi insurgent umbrella group, the Jihad and Reform Front, warned Saudi Arabia against an embassy. "At the time that the Iraqi people, particularly the Sunnis, look for the support of their brothers everywhere ... Saudi Arabia comes out with a strange wish to support al-Maliki by opening an embassy in Baghdad," the group said in a statement posted on its Web site. "The Jihad and Reform Front warns against such a step and calls on the government and people of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia not to implement this wish, especially at this time when al-Maliki's government is in its worst and weakest situation," the statement said.
A spokesman for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement dismissed Monday a media report alleging that some Fatah members had joined the movement in order to continue to carry arms.
The Hamas Movement said, in return to an invitation for dialogue proposed by Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi Monday, that it was ready for an open dialogue with the West. Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zehri said the invitation for dialogue between the West and the Palestinian movement, as proposed by Prodi, was "deeply appreciated by Hamas." He added that similar invitations for dialogue had come from "other European sides" including a delegation of UK legislators, who slammed their government for its attitude towards Hamas and called for opening a dialogue with the Palestinian movement.
WASHINGTON - The United States on Monday placed a Lebanese Islamist group blamed for major fighting at a Palestinian refugee camp on its international terrorism balcklist. The State Department announced that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has designated the Al Qaeda-inspired 
