Contrary to rumors surrounding the Air Combat Command's stand-down of all 100,000 active-duty airmen ordered for tomorrow, the U.S. will not be devoid of fighter aircraft to protect the nation.
Michael Kucharek, spokesman for NORAD and USNORTHCOM, told WND the stand-down does not include the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserves assigned to NORAD. About 70 percent of the aircraft involved in NORAD alerts are Air National Guard or Air Force Reserves aircraft, according to Kucharek.
Meanwhile, NORAD and USNORTHCOM will be on alert status Sept. 24 when the U.N. convenes a high-level meeting on climate change and the following day when the General Assembly begins its 62nd Session in New York City.
The stand-down Friday was ordered by Gen. Ronald Keys to conduct a command-wide review of operations, safety procedures and checklists after the Aug. 30 incident at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota, according to the Air Force Times. At Minot, six cruse missiles with nuclear warheads were loaded onto a B-52H and flown to Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana without the bomber crew or ground command realizing nuclear weapons were on the aircraft.
Military sources insisted to WND the incident was a procedural glitch and there is no suspicion within the military of any other purpose.
At the U.N. Monday, Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon will chair the meetings, and numerous heads of state are likely to attend. According to Kucharek, Canadian and U.S. NORAD aircraft will be armed and on alert status, prepared to scramble from unspecified NORAD airbases.
Kucharek told WND the aircraft involved in the alert will be F-15s and F-16s assigned to the NORAD Air Defense Deterrence Mission.
Under Operation NOBLE EAGLE, which NORAD has conducted since 9/11, fighters on alert have scrambled from alert sites and diverted from irregular air patrols more than 2,400 times, Kucharek told WND. More than 44,000 sorties have been flown in support of the missions, including support from tanker and AWACS aircraft.
"NORAD and USNORTHCOM missions," Kucharek said, "are conducted in close collaboration with homeland defense, security and law enforcement partners to prevent air attacks against North America and to safeguard the sovereign airspaces of the United States and Canada by responding to unknown, unwanted and unauthorized air activity approaching and operating within these airspaces, and to provide aerospace and maritime warning for North America."
As WND reported, NORAD is a bi-lateral U.S.-Canada command and USNORTHCOM is a U.S. continental military command that works with its counterpart Canada Command.
Kucharek also confirmed NORAD and USNORTHCOM were scheduled Oct. 15-20 to conduct exercise Vigilant Shield '08, a series of field exercises testing response abilities against a variety of potential threats, including the simulated detonation of three radiological dispersal devices within the USNORTHCOM and U.S. Pacific Command areas of responsibility. The primary locations for the Vigilant Shield '08 field exercises will be Oregon, Arizona and the territory of Guam.
WND reported Bush administration plans to utilize USNORTHCOM as a U.S. military command to direct the operations of troops deployed in a wide range of continental North American emergencies, including health epidemics, natural disasters, terrorist events and even domestic violence or civil disorder. This raises of few important questions.
#1
1) A service-wide stand down over a minor administrative error that nobody cared about, or even knew about, until the AF made an issue of it?
2) Several catastrophes have been predicted for tomorrow, Friday, September 14. It is a triple witching day on Wall Street, terrorist threat level is heightened because of the Petraeus testimony, and rumors about. Why pick that day to have a stand down?
3) And why also mention an upcoming exercise and how the administration plans to use the AF as part of its disaster preparedness operations?
#2
Note that conspiracy theories are already flying wild :
- El Al has no flights on the 14th, hence the jooooooos know the "neocons" are gonna pull an another 9/11, just like the 4000 joooos not showing up at the WTC on 9/11 (well, IIUC, El Al has no flight on friday and saturday because of shabbat, but, who am I to disturb good conspiracy theories with that?)
#3
Moose, this is pretty much the way things have always been handled. The issue with the nukes was not a minor administrative error, it was a fubar of epic proportions. The one thing that the services cannot be casual with is nuclear weapons. The fact that only the Munitions Squadron commander was sacked in the first 24 hours is indicative of how flat-footed the AF command structure was taken by this. The command-wide stand-down for review and "education" is a common practice when the AF wants to emphasize something. The exemption of the fighters assigned to NORAD and NORTHCOM is not unusual because they don't deal with nukes anymore.
As to points 2 and 3, it looks like these were responses to questions posed by the WND. Picking the day for a stand-down was probably done independently of any considerations about potential disasters. It is unlikely that ACC would be involved in any immediate response to a catastrophe, certainly not an immediate nuclear response. With regard to point 3, the fact that USNORTHCOM has responsibility for military actions within the US including the use of troops and equipment for disaster relief is nothing new.
Experiences in different Services, at different times, at different levels, perhaps. Certainly different areas of expertise. As for dear anonymous5089, he wades through the mud so that we don't have to. It's useful to know what the conspiracy nuts are spouting, as well as the Progressive netroots; we're then prepared when such memes edge into the mainstream
#8
Actually, I took Anonymous5089's comments as ironic / sarcastic in nature. That said, I can be pretty dense sometimes.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
09/13/2007 12:43 Comments ||
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#9
- Also, that B52 incident was a cover story to steal a nuke to use as a black ops against a city in CONUS, to start a war with iran
Ooooh, can we pick? San Francisco? Dearborn? How to decide, how to decide... LOL
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
09/13/2007 12:50 Comments ||
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#10
well, if i really have to pick one, i vote for Dearborn -- there's far too many Bay Area Lizards that i'm sure good Rantburgers wouldn't want to vaporize...
(tho' if it must be, a little warning to be out of town would be nice!)
#12
You could join the Pakistani Hockey League then there would be no difference.
Posted by: ed ||
09/13/2007 13:09 Comments ||
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#13
Hmmmm, so many choices! I'd go with Mecca, Medina, Qom, Islamabad, Tehran...
Darn, is that all I get?
Posted by: Titus Hayes4699 ||
09/13/2007 13:18 Comments ||
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#14
Oscar Theater2320, especially. It is never a wise idea to do a stand down indifferent to other events. It has been two weeks since the Pinnacle - Dull Sword event, so why not pick uncontroversial Wednesday, Thursday, or next Monday or Tuesday for the stand down?
If for no other reason, Friday could result in a major, but otherwise normal, correction to the stock market. By tying up your personnel in a stand down, they may personally lose millions of dollars in stock market trades.
And we are still in the what we could call the "Petraeus window" of higher than normal terrorist act concerns.
If, as might be the case, the AF is getting a pre-Iran shakedown inspection, that is all well and good too. But still not a good day for a stand down.
#15
Id save any unaccounted for nuke until the DNC, is in full swing, that would be "Maximum Effect".
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/13/2007 14:57 Comments ||
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#16
Stand down affects nuclear capability primarily. Not necessary to have buffers, B1s and B2s available but they are always on 24 hour alert status regardless.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
09/13/2007 15:45 Comments ||
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#17
And why also mention an upcoming exercise and how the administration plans to use the AF as part of its disaster preparedness operations?
Moose, it sounds like they released the standdown notice in a weekly press briefing that covered a lot of topics. Just a normal document dump.
And having the "stand down" on Friday before payday is the perfect time to get peoples attention. Normally we'd have one foot out the door planning our weekend from the moment we reported for work. Not tomorrow. The deputy commander (designated hard ass) and first shirt will be ripping new ones all day long. Glad I'm retired.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/13/2007 19:42 Comments ||
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#18
The standdown was announced several days ago.
You can figure that the mistake will end the careers of a dozen or more officers and senior enlisted. This was a very BAD thing and the Air Force will probably do a bit of housecleaning. I would expect that there may even be a courtmartial or two out of it, depending on the level at which the rules were breached.
#19
Another Nostradamus and Guam Taotamona production of almost an Oliver Stone film - D *** NGED DELICIOUS PENN STATE PIZZA SUBS! Time to complain to Professor Atta.
#20
I continue to maintain that America has the most sterling track record regarding stewardship of its nuclear arsenal. However unfortunate, concomitant to that stewardship is the necessary discipline of anyone who becomes lax in their handling of these maleficent weapons.
Per 'moose, the timing seems a little inopportune but the spirit of this exercise is entirely justified. Even the remote possibility that a single nuclear device could go astray due to preventable mistake or error is simply unacceptable. It is precisely such a blunder that our deadliest enemies seek to capitalize upon.
Were it not for the unusual degree of peril America now faces with respect to Islam, I might have more sympathy for those who are about to suffer mightily due to this monumental snafu. In light of Islam's threat, I am obliged to step aside and let the courts martial have at it.
If America is to be this world's preeminent nuclear superpower, we'd damn well better act like it. I believe we can, right down to any potential future use that looms on the horizon.
Somali opposition leaders announced an alliance with Islamic fighters Wednesday and vowed to "liberate the country through the barrel of the gun," raising the specter of more violence for the faction-riven Horn of Africa nation.
The new Alliance for the Liberation of Somalia was formed in Eritrea, archrival of Ethiopia, which has sent troops into Somalia to back the Somali government. The alliance gave Eritrean troops two weeks to withdraw. Zakariya Mohamud Haji Abdi, speaking by telephone from the Eritrean capital where Somali dissidents have been holding a six-day conference, said the Ethiopians faced "extinction" if they did not head the warning. "They occupy a large swathe of Somalia and it will be hard for them to escape from the Somalis if they are defeated. We offer them a safe access if they surrender now," Abdi said.
He said the new alliance would be led by a 191-member central council, representing the four parties that took place in the Eritrea conference an Islamic group that controlled the Somali capital until being ousted by Ethiopian troops late last year; dissidents expelled from the Somali parliament; civil society figures; and expatriate Somalis. "The alliance has two wings, political and military," said Abdi. "The political wing will lobby for the ejection of the Ethiopians from Somalia while the military wing will liberate the country through the barrel of the gun."
Much of Somalia has been without a functioning government since 1991, when rival warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and then turned on each other. The current fragile government, which is backed by the U.N. and neighboring Ethiopia, has struggled to assert control and has been attacked by insurgents almost daily since December, when it toppled the Islamic group from power in Mogadishu and much of the south of the country.
Islamic fighters vowed to fight an Iraq-style insurgency and the U.N. says they are receiving weapons from Eritrea. On Saturday, a top U.S. official said that Eritrea could be added to a list of countries that sponsor terrorism, in part because Somali Islamic leader Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys, who is on U.S. and U.N. lists of terrorism suspects, openly attended the dissidents' conference.
Fighting between the Islamic extremists and the transitional government is complicated by a web of clan loyalties. Many powerful Somali figures command their own private militias, with fighters who believe their leaders' alliances are more important than ideology. Thousands of civilians have been killed in fighting in the volatile south of the country and on Wednesday, UNICEF said thousands of children were severely malnourished and in urgent need of food aid. The country is deeply impoverished but aid groups say insecurity is hampering their operations.
The involvement of Eritrea and Ethiopia is a further complication. Eritrea fought a bloody war for independence from Ethiopia that ended in 1993 and another war over a border dispute from 1998-2000. Tensions between the two remain high, and they may see Somalia as a proxy battleground.
Abdi said Somalis were running out of patience with Ethiopian troops and may commit reprisals if they have the opportunity. "Ethiopians have massacred a lot of Somalis during their stay," he said. Human rights groups say that all sides routinely kill and maim civilians.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/13/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
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#1
Much of Somalia has been without a functioning government since 1991
Left alone, I suspect they'll do just fine. We've not had one in the U.S. since the 1950's.
#2
Since the alternative to a non-functioning government is not a competent benign government, but something like Zimbabwe or Cuba, they made the right choice.
Posted by: Gary and the Samoyeds ||
09/13/2007 8:55 Comments ||
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#1
Calderoli is no stranger to controversy over Islam and is often accused of making racist comments.
Last year, he lost a ministerial post in a centre-right government led by former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi for wearing a T-shirt with cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad offensive to Muslims.
I bet he wore it in a very stylish way though!
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
09/13/2007 18:09 Comments ||
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#2
If Christians went ballistic about every remark someone made about Christianity in this country like the muslims...
Controversially, 9/11 was chosen as the date to sign the "European Declaration for Tolerance." It aims to draw attention to what the former Muslims see as the lack of freedom of religion within Islam.
Former Muslims from several European countries signed the declaration in the Hague on the sixth anniversary of the terror attacks in the United States Tuesday. Other signatories included many well-known Dutch politicians, authors and journalists.
The date of the declaration, Sept.11, was symbolically chosen in order to condemn the terror and intolerance perpetuated by radical Islamic militants, though critics argue that choosing the date unfairly links Islam to terrorism.
The ex-Muslim committees from the Netherlands, Britain, Germany and the Scandinavian countries wanted to draw attention to what they refer to as the "lack of freedom of religion within Islamic culture."
Ex-Muslim, Ehsan Jami, an Iranian-born Dutchman, launched the initiative to sign the Declaration of Tolerance. Jami, 22, a Labour Party member of the city council in a district near The Hague, has been attacked for his views three times. "There are five sharia schools in Islam which say if you leave Islam you must be killed," Jami, 22, told Reuters in an interview.
Muslims are not allowed to renounce their faith, according to a strict interpretation of Islam and those who do are subject to imprisonment or death in some Muslim countries. The mullahs/imams appeal to the State for the execution order, and the State obliges. Sometimes the local religious leaders get carried away and start a riot and the officers of the State ignore the ballyhoo, and take their cut of the proceeds.
Ex-Muslims reignite divisive debate over Islam
The movement of Muslim apostate committees, which was spearheaded earlier this year by Jami and Mina Ahadi, an Iranian living in Germany, has reignited a divisive debate about Islam and has put the lives of such self-declared "ex-Muslims" in danger.
In Germany, Ahadi also lives under heavy police protection.
In highly publicized interviews, Jami's blunt attacks on Islam has offended many Dutch Muslims and commentators have drawn comparisons between the local politician and the rhetoric of right-wing politician Geert Wilders, who has called for complete ban of the Quran.
Jami has referred to the Muslim prophet Mohammed as "criminal," compared Islam to fascism and Nazism, and explained that he decided to launch the committee of former Muslims to call attention to "persistent taboos" about renouncing the Islamic faith.
Divided support for ex-Muslim group
Initially, the Labour Party did not support Jami and his committee, and the Dutch Vice-Prime Minister Wouter Bos told the news daily Volkskrant he did not approve of such a committee that "offends Muslims and their faith." A simple confirmation of the the Left's universal appetite for "plantation" politics.
But the Dutch public rallied around Jami, putting pressure on Jacques Tichelaar, Labour's parliamentary leader to sign a declaration of support for the ex-Muslim committee.
However, Han Noten, who is the Dutch senate's Labour faction leader, criticized his party's stance. In a commentary for Wednesday's NRC Handelsbad newspaper, he said the Committee of Ex-Muslims was "oversimplifying reality" and that Jami's methods succeeded in "polarizing society."
"Signing the declaration on September 11 can only be interpreted as a provocation," Noten added. "It suggests that former Muslims are innocent and Muslims are guilty." Wow.
The right to renounce the Islamic faith
Jami's "Committee of Ex-Muslims" wants imams and Muslims to recognize fellow Muslims' religious rights, including the right leave the faith. "We are breaking the taboo that comes with renouncing Islam, but also taking a stand for reason, universal rights and values and secularism," said a declaration signed by Jami, Ahadi of the German chapter, and their British counterpart Maryam Namazie, who is also of Iranian origin.
Ahadi, who belongs to the German group called "Wir haben abgeschworen," meaning "We have renounced," said it was significant that the three leaders were from Iran, since they had all witnessed the political repression under the Islamic Republic firsthand.
There are some 400 committee members in Germany, including non-Muslim Germans, according to Ahadi. The British council of ex-Muslims has around 70 members, and Jami's committee has only two official members. "We have received hundreds of support e-mails and that's what counts," Jami told the AFP news agency. "We're more of a movement."
#1
Well, unless the ex-muzzies start beheading and blowing up people, it isn't likely that the western European leaders will do much. Bunch of spineless wimps.
#2
This is of critical importance for Islam. Once Muslisms learn that people were able to leave Islam and survive very few will remain in it.
While we are at it, I think some of the "Islamicrage boy Muslims" are just intimidated: pray publically, dress like an Arab, obsrve Ramadan, seethe on comand or else...
And the funny thing is that Ahmed can be toeing the Party line due to fear of Mahmoud the fanaticc while Mahmoud does it because he fears Ahmed. Break the chain of fear and Islam will crumble.
That is why it doesn't allow conversions to other religions.
#3
"Signing the declaration on September 11 can only be interpreted as a provocation," Noten added. "It suggests that former Muslims are innocent and Muslims are guilty."
#4
That statement should be thrown right back in his face.
Former Muslims *are* innocent, unless they have broken the national law, *not* Sharia Law; and Muslims *are* guilty, if they call for murder or violence against *anyone*.
Former Muslims should be like anyone else who obeys the law. And Muslims who DO NOT threaten others with violence and death *also* have the right to be treated like everyone else.
Simple. If you do not break the law, you are not a criminal. If you break the law, you ARE a criminal.
#5
though critics argue that choosing the date unfairly links Islam to terrorism.
Oh, alright, then. How about (these are "beginning dates" if a longer showdown, like Beslan):
10/12: Anniversary of Bali #1 (2002),
3/11: Madrid train bombing (2004),
7/7: London train and bus bombings (2005),
7/21: London attempted #2 bombing (2005),
10/1: Anniversary of Bali #2 (2005),
9/1: Anniversary of Beslan (2004),
6/25: Khobar Towers bombing (1996),
2/26: WTC #1 (1993),
10/23: Moscow theater attack (2002),
12/22: Richard Reid shoe bomb (2001),
5/8: Bus bombing in Karachi (2002),
6/14: Car bomb at US Consulate in Pakistan (2002),
7/4: Attack at LAX's El-Al counter (2002),
12/27: Truck bomb in Grozny, Chechnya (2002),
5/12: Riyadh bombing of US housing (2003),
5/16: Casablanca bombing (2003),
11/15 & 11/20: truck bombings of synagogues, British Consulate, and HSBC bank in Istanbul (2003),
2/27: bombing of Phillipine ferry by Abu Sayyaf, the largest sea-based killing yet (2004),
8/24: bombing and downing of 2 Russian passenger jets by Checnyan sepratists (2004),
9/9: bombing of Aussie embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia (2004),
10/7: bombing in the Sinai peninsula (2004),
11/2: murder of Theo van Gogh in Amsterday (2004),
12/6: attack on US Consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (2004),
7/23: Sharm-al-Sheikh, Egypt bombing of tourists (2005),
10/29: Multiple bombings in Delhi, India (2005),
10/29: Attack on 4 Christian school girls, 3 of which were beheaded in Indonesia (2005),
11/9: 3 bombings at hotels in Amman, Jordan (2005),
2/2: Attack that killed at least 5 Christians (3 of which were kids) in Indonesia by Abu Sayaaf (2006),
3/7: Bombings in Varanasi, India (2006),
7/11: Multiple train bombings in Mumbai, India (2006),
7/31: Stopped attack in Germany on trains as a result of the Mohammad cartoons (2006),
8/10: Stopped the Heathrow Airport (London) bomb plot (2006),
8/30: First incidence of SJS (Sudden Jihadi Syndrome) in US, as an Afghani ran over 19 (killing 1) people with his SUV in San Francisco area (2006),
9/12: Attempt to storm the US embassy in Damascus, Syria (2006),
2/19: Lahore, India train bombing (2007),
4/11: 2 suicide car bombs in Algiers, Algeria (2007),
5/7: Ft. Dix, NJ bombing plot stopped (2007),
5/22: Ankara, Turkey bombing (2007) in market,
6/3: JFK airport fuel depot bombing plot stopped (2007),
6/30: Attempted car bomb at Glasgow Scotland airport, which only burned the driver (who later died, after suffering bad burns, tee-hee) (2007).
Note that these do NOT include almost daily bombings in Iraq, Israel/Palestine, or a lot of the bombings in Kashmir, unrest in Lebanon, or even African bombings (Sudan and Somalia).
Posted by: BA ||
09/13/2007 12:09 Comments ||
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#6
it isn't likely that the western European leaders will do much.
I'm sure the Belgian gov would love thump these folks' heads.
Posted by: ed ||
09/13/2007 12:19 Comments ||
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#7
Dang it. Forgot the USS Cole attack, the twin African Embassy attacks, the Bojinka plot, the Y2K bomb plot, etc.
Ah well, you all get the drift....
Posted by: BA ||
09/13/2007 13:37 Comments ||
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#8
BA, update and finalize the list and we'll make it a separate post. It would be useful as an educational tool. You can e-mail to Fred or one of the mods if you wish. AoS.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/13/2007 14:20 Comments ||
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#10
Han Noten, who is the Dutch senate's Labour faction leader, criticized his party's stance. In a commentary for Wednesday's NRC Handelsbad newspaper, he said the Committee of Ex-Muslims was "oversimplifying reality"
Wow."Oversimplifying reality". That's as impressive a kow-tow to Islam as declaring that we should ignore what Ayan Hirsi Ali says because her opinions are "colored by her life experiences".
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
09/13/2007 19:03 Comments ||
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#11
Doc, that was taken from Wikipedia (just search "terrorist attacks"). I was shocked at how many, albeit smaller, attacks go on. There are a lot of attacks listed in Columbia (FARC) too, but *obviously* the large majority of them are RoP related.
And, I only started at 9/11/01 (with a few known attacks earlier on US interests). The further back you go, the more it's "Israel only". Man, have they really opened this up world-wide.
Posted by: BA ||
09/13/2007 20:41 Comments ||
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#12
I was sooooo impressed with your memory until I scrolled down, BA. ;-) That's ok, though. I've no doubt you'll impress me again. It's what Rantburgers do, after all. And I will have a tea party soon -- I promise!
There is no such thing as a "Right to Renounce Islamic Faith".
Even the most minute concession to this enables Islam's stranglehold upon the ummah.
PEOPLE HAVE THE ABSOLUTE RIGHT TO RENOUNCE ANY FAITH IN AN ENTIRELY UNMOLESTED FASHION AT ANY TIME THEY SO CHOOSE.
Period. End of line. Finis.
To somehow deem Islam worthy of any vengeance upon Muslim apostates legitimizes its vile slavery and mind control. There is no Right to Renounce Islam. There is only the unalienable right to pursue whatever peaceable spiritual quest that does not violate the social contract.
Islam violates the social contract on so many levels and in so many ways as to have been irrelevant centuries ago.
"It is aimed at integrating Islam in Dutch society," ISBO interim director Yassin Hartog told reporters. "The values we convey are similar to those of the Dutch constitutional state."
As of the current school year all Dutch primary schools will have access to an official teaching curriculum about Islam for pupils aged four to 12. The new curriculum, the first of its kind in the Netherlands, was officially presented in the As Soeffah primary school in Amsterdam on Monday.
The method was developed by the Foundation for Teaching Methods (SLO) and the Board of Islamic Schools Organisation (ISBO), an umbrella organisation of 42 Muslim schools in the Netherlands. This school year all 42 ISBO schools as well as four other Islamic schools in the Netherlands will begin to use the new study material. Public primary schools can also request that the textbooks be used, in accordance with the wishes of parents.
The ISBO stresses that the teaching method is aimed not only at children studying at Muslim schools, but also at Muslim and non-Muslim children at public schools. The new teaching method is seen as particularly important because Muslim teachers have so far been compiling their own teaching material.
Previously, textbooks were authored by conservative religious leaders from other parts of the world.
In 2002, the Dutch intelligence service said in a report that it was worried about the influence of fundamentalist Muslim organisations on Dutch Muslim schools. The report encouraged former education minister Maria van der Hoeven to develop an official Dutch teaching curriculum about Islam. The new Dutch material consists of four text books for grades 1-8, set in the context of Dutch society.
"It is aimed at integrating Islam in Dutch society," ISBO interim director Yassin Hartog told reporters. "The values we convey are similar to those of the Dutch constitutional state."
So long, Holland, and thanks for all the stroopwaffel. It was nice knowing you.
The new method reportedly teaches children to renounce the idea of Muslim exclusivism. Instead, it gives insight into the position of Islam among other faiths. The textbooks contain information about the Muslim prophet Mohammed, explain the basics of being a proper Muslim and various Muslim customs and ideas. The textbooks also deal with issues like the Hadj or pilgrimage to Mecca, the month of Ramadan and the head covering for women and girls. "Our textbooks do not tell children: all Muslims wear head covering," Hartog said, "We say: Muslim girls wear head scarves, but may also choose not to."
The ISBO said it is already preparing the next part of the series, which deals with topics including sexuality and homosexuality.
#1
The new method reportedly teaches children to renounce the idea of Muslim exclusivism. Instead, it gives insight into the position of Islam among other faiths.
Musliculturalism. Wonderful, enjoy it while you can.
#3
damn I hear a Hot air sucking sound, were in for an atomic grilling.
Posted by: Red Dawg ||
09/13/2007 1:39 Comments ||
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#4
Muslims are bound by "sunna" or an absolute obligation to follow the example of their "prophet." And they are prohibited from divergence ("bidah") from the path ("sirah").
Peace to a Muslim means nothing but a stage of war preparations, leading to inevitable bloody conflict.
#5
"The values we convey are similar to those of the Dutch constitutional state."
The only difference is that we're in charge. And women cover their faces. And we beat you if you don't pray to allan. But that's all. Oh, and if you don't convert you pay us money. And there isn't any voting. But that would be it. Oh, and imams make all the legal decisions based on the koran.
#6
The textbooks contain information about the Muslim prophet Mohammed, explain the basics of being a proper Muslim and various Muslim customs and ideas.
Such as child rape, forced genital mutilation, slave-taking and endless war.
Posted by: BA ||
09/13/2007 10:09 Comments ||
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#9
It's the first step (hopefully) of taking the Muslim school curriculum away from the Wahabbis who have owned it up till now. It appears optional for the non-Islamic schools which, if it the material doesn't appear on exams, won't likely bother -- in my experience there is practically an infinite amount of supplementary teaching materials available, on any subject a professor can think of to publish. My darling math professor sister-in-law, f'r instance, was looking into developing an entire series of primary grade level math supplements using the Pokemon cards. I was involved in pulling together lesson plans for a variety of subjects using our elementary school's five acre nature preserve. Having and using are two very different things in the Ed biz.
One day after Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., sharply questioned the top U.S. commander in Iraq, Rudy Giuliani blasted his Democratic presidential rival, accusing her of spewing "political venom" in the Iraq war debate. "I dont know what shes trying to say when shes accusing a general of the willing suspension of disbelief, Giuliani said Wednesday on the "Randy and Spiff" show, a radio program which airs in Atlanta. The former New York mayor repeated his criticism of the Democratic frontrunner for president later in the day Wednesday during a media availability in Akron, Ohio.
When Army Gen. David Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker came before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday, Clinton said that their claims of progress in Iraq require a "willing suspension of disbelief."
"Despite what I view is your rather extraordinary efforts in your testimony both yesterday and today, I think that the reports that you provide to us really require a willing suspension of disbelief."
Giuliani accused Clinton of "playing into" a MoveOn.org ad that ran in the New York Times Monday that read: "General Petraeus or General Betray Us?"
After co-host Spiff Carner said, "She's trying to tell us that she knows more about the whole situation than he does, Giuliani shot back by saying, Doesnt it also sound like shes also saying that he isnt telling the truth?
"I really do think to accuse a general of the willing suspension of disbelief, particular in the atmosphere that Moveon.org has created with these terrible attacks, I dont know, I mean I think thats not the way in a responsible way to go about , you know, forging the foreign policy of the United States and the military policy of the United States. I think this name calling, you know, saying to people, willing suspension of disbelief, and then saying the horrible thing they said about betrayal -- that is the last thing we need right now."
"What we need right now," he added, "is a reasoned account, we need statesmanship not political venom.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/13/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency
#1
Hildebeast is like the scarecrow, a tin-man and a lion from the Wizard of OZ who respectively are trying to find a brain, heart and courage as well as and MONEY and VOTES!
#5
Oh, I dunno. You make four stars, you've probably been through the dog and pony show before. Petraeus might've found it amusing, like playing with kittens with a ball of string...
A respected think tank concluded Wednesday that the United States has lost influence as a result of failings over the Iraq war, encouraging its detractors including Iran and Russia and jeopardizing stability in Asia and the Middle East. Ah, the "respected" think tank thing. Wonder if that was the language used in the 80s when IISS backed a robust US strategic nuclear posture? But to the main problem - WHERE, WHEN, and HOW has the US lost ANY influence because of Iraq? Specifics? Oh, that's right - there aren't any. Thought so.
In its annual report on global security, the International Institute of Strategic Studies painted a bleak picture of conflict in the Middle East, an emboldened al-Qaida and growing Islamic radicalism across Europe. New European leaders offer hope of a fresh approach in the fight against terrorism, the report said, but success is unlikely with the White House struggling to command global respect. WTF? "Emboldened" AQ? Examples, please? New European leaders offer WHAT "fresh approach" in the WOT? Examples, please? Do they mean Sarko, who if anything will move French policy even closer to ours (French intel and covert shenanigans have always generally been consistent with US and other allied approaches, public and political irresponsibility notwithstanding). So, IISS, do you think there's any govt. office on Earth that doesn't take the WH's phone call when it comes in? WTF about "struggling to command global respect"? Utter nonsense - but something you can hear every 15 seconds at any university faculty lounge, brainless Beltway "think tank" environment, or cocktail party with "informed" people.
With weak leadership from Washington, "the risk is that simmering international tensions will spill over and endanger global prosperity," the report said. Quadruple WTF? Which tensions will spill over, where? Do they mean the WH's abandonment of the first intelligent MidEast policy in decades, when Dubya finally told the Palestinian psycho-gangsters to f**k off? Uh, probably not. And how the F is "global prosperity" endangered? Uh, excuse me, IISS, the US is THE source of global prosperity - not just its consumer demand, or its technology and innovation, but its commitment to free market development. And typically for the apparently rather dim security nerds at IISS, they have no idea how feeble and transitory would be the impact of nearly any conceivable "spilt over" tensions. They don't understand economics any better than they understand power and military force.
The institute warned that a string of thwarted terrorist plots in Europe highlights the increased radicalization of Islamic communities on the continent and a wider failure to disable Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network. Can I scream now? How the F do THWARTED terror attacks - none of them particularly innovative, large, or bold - indicate anything other than an effective surveillance operation? So total, utter obliterarion of every single aspect of AQ operations is the standard for success? AQ hasn't laid a finger on CONUS for six years, is hunted and on the run everywhere they still exist, and they haven't been "disabled"?
"The United States and its allies have failed to deal a deathblow to al-Qaida; the organization's ideology appears to have taken root to such a degree that it will require decades to eradicate," the report said.
It took decades to build, don't see the panic in failing to eradicate it overnight.
What, no "deathblow" to AQ and its "ideology"? Shocking. Since the "ideology" is nothing more than a rationalization for various kinds of power-mad, often sociopathic violent criminal activities by people exploiting ignorance, racism, feelings of inferiority, and desperation, how exactly does one deal it a "deathblow"?
In Iraq, U.S. troops need more support from Iraqi politicians to deliver improved security, the institute said. "There are grave doubts, about the ability, let alone the willingness, of the Iraqi government to do this," said the report.
If the additional 30,000 U.S. troops deployed this year does not bring "sustainable security and political compromise" by early next year, the surge will have failed, the think tank said. Oh, blow it out your a**, IISS. Achieving all that in the next 6 months would exceed any political-military accomplishment in human history by several orders of magnitude - but that's the LOW bar you set? Idiots.
Authors of the study asserted that the damage to international security and American standing from the Iraq war will take years to repair. Did they have staff meetings to review and ensure they hadn't missed a single unsubstantiated, stupid meme spawned by the very well founded and historically quite cheap and effective US pre-emptive elimination of one of modern history's most dangerous and odious regimes? Oh, and by the way - what "damage to international security"? Examples? The elimination, capture, and interrogation of thousands and thousands of jihadis? The gigantic advantage gained in intel and covert ops against the two principal threats to security in the region, Iran and Syria? The leverage gained over the "friendly" Sunni s**t-holes who pass for our friends in the region? And, most important, apart from the small, incapable minds of idiots in academia and politics and media and "respected think tanks", just exactly where and how has American standing been damaged? Specifics, please? Not holding my breath ...
This is the sort of "intellectual" cover, to supplement the non-stop distortion and even falsehoods from major media, that the academic and quasi-academic worlds provide to buttress the upside-down thinking inside the fantasy bubble within which so many of our fellow citizens languish. Anyone discouraged yet?
#1
Excellent inline commentary, Verlaine. This one sorta jumps out at you:
Authors of the study asserted that the damage to international security and American standing from the Iraq war will take years to repair.
It is doubtful in the extreme that these IISS fuckwits could possibly wrap their microenchephalic minds around how much more damaging inaction would have been to "international security". These turds are so obsessed with tarring America that they can't even step away from their noxious task long enough to properly examine the reality of the situation.
Finally, just how much more damaging would it be to America's "standing" if we had not taken the fight to al Qaeda after the 9-11 atrocity? No decent American citizen would be able to hold their head up if we had left unanswered such a monstrous indignity to our nation. Toppling terrorist regimes and their sponsors has rightfully become our national pasttime. Those who cannot understand the dire need and moral obligation to do so are simply beyond redemption.
#2
"This is the sort of "intellectual" cover, to supplement the non-stop distortion and even falsehoods from major media, that the academic and quasi-academic worlds provide to buttress the upside-down thinking inside the fantasy bubble within which so many of our fellow citizens languish."
Yup. That about sums it up. Liberal think-tanks, leftist academics, the "progressive" media, and the leadership of the Communist Democratic Party have waged a non-stop, coordinated campaign to discredit EVERYTHING the Administration has done, or has sought to do, against the Islamic threat right from Day One. They are relentless.
For the last couple of months I've been compiling a list of links to Rantburg articles relating to the Liberal Establishment's efforts to undermine the GWoT. So far I'm up to August of 2006, and the list already has more than 15,000 entries.
"Anyone discouraged yet?"
You betcha. I think we're in for a WILD ride.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
09/13/2007 7:34 Comments ||
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#3
A death-blow to the ideology?
That would be Islam.
Let's do it.
Posted by: Gary and the Samoyeds ||
09/13/2007 8:57 Comments ||
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#5
Verlaine, I enjoy reading a good fisking, but what you've done has to be illegal. I just can't decide whether to report you to HRW or PETA.
Posted by: Matt ||
09/13/2007 14:10 Comments ||
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#6
Ass-kicking inline, Verlaine. If the IIS authors could feel this commentary physically they would be curled up in a fetal ball crying for mommy.
Posted by: Jonathan ||
09/13/2007 15:16 Comments ||
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#7
Finally, just how much more damaging would it be to America's "standing" if we had not taken the fight to al Qaeda after the 9-11 atrocity? No decent American citizen would be able to hold their head up
Much worse than that, Zenster. Had we not answered Al Qaeda'a challenge, as they expected we would not, every American outside our borders would be at the mercy of any Muslim who decided to experience Sudden Jihad Syndrome. Think kidnappings, murders, rapes, hijackings whenever a jihadi felt the inclination to shear the Amriki sheep as he is, after all, entitled. Followed by the rest of the kuffir world. To have done nothing would have been to surrender.
Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaaf Chiarman Imran Khan was barred from entering the city after he landed here at the Karachi airport on Wednesday. Imran said he would return to Karachi after 30 days. Imran was sent back to Islamabad on a Shaheen Air International flight SAI 123 at 12:30pm. Several party workers, including PTI Sindh President Zubair Khan, were also arrested outside the airport.
Imran Khan was stopped by force, PTI international coordinator Ali Zaidi told Daily Times. Is this a democratic country where a political leader is not allowed to enter a city? Zaidi questioned. A large number of police were deployed on Shahrah-e-Faisal. Airport Security Force personnel not only surrounded the airport building but also the runway from PIA Colony to the Pehlwan Goth turn. Police also tortured and arrested 17 party workers, PTI officials said. Imran has condemned the government action and announced that he will return to Karachi after the ban (on his entry to Sindh) expires after 30 days, Zaidi said.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/13/2007 00:00 ||
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The prestigious Hockey Champions Trophy, due to be held in Lahore in December, has been moved away from Pakistan due to safety and security concerns.
Most people don't think of Pakistain when it comes to hockey, but the Bawahalpur Maple Leafs have been tearing them up for years. Adding heavy weapons to the usual fistfights lends an entirely new dimension to the sport.
"I went to a war and a hockey match broke out."
It was an extremely hard decision and one we took with many regrets for the Pakistan hockey community, said International Hockey Federation (FIH) President Els van Breda Vriesman in a news release on Wednesday. During the last few months we tried everything we could to keep the Champions Trophy in Pakistan. This was unfortunately impossible due to circumstances not related to hockey or sport and completely beyond the control of the FIH and the Pakistan Hockey Federation.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/13/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
What the hell's the Stanley Cup doing in Pakistan!
H/t Confederate Yankee.
At this wind-swept base near the Iranian border, the main points of Gen. David Petraeus' testimony to Congress were met with widespread agreement among soldiers: The American troop buildup is working, but the military needs more time.
Most of the soldiers at FOB Delta, some 100 miles southeast of Baghdad, were out on patrol or sleeping when Petraeus' comments were broadcast late Monday and Tuesday in Iraq. But some heard it and others have read about it, and say they agree with their commander's assessment.
Staff Sgt. Matthew Nicholls of the 71st Medical Detachment, visiting FOB Delta from his post in southern Iraq to do an assessment, said the military still needs time to clean up mistakes made after the 2003 invasion, including the need to build an Iraqi army from scratch and to secure the borders. "I think our initial assessment was too rosy," he said after reading about the hearings while sitting in the library at the recreation center. "It takes time to build an army and I think we should've secured the borders right away."
As usual, if you're looking for common sense you go and find a sergeant ...
The 36-year-old from Mobile, Ala., also said American politicians need to be more understanding. "They can be critical because they are politicians and their main goal is to be re-elected, but they see a much more limited piece than the troops on the ground," he said. . . .
Posted by: Mike ||
09/13/2007 06:23 ||
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#1
ABC News... is that the one Ms. Couric reports for?
Thai police said on Wednesday there was no truth to reports triggered by an allegation on a Sri Lankan government website that a top Tamil Tiger leader had been arrested in Bangkok. Ive checked with related police bureaux - the Immigration Police, the Metropolitan Police and the Special Branch. There has been no report of a Tiger rebel arrested in Bangkok, national police spokesman Lieutenant-General Ronnarong Youngyuen said. If wed arrested him, we would have made good publicity out of it, Ronnarong said.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/13/2007 00:00 ||
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Iran could help the US in Iraq if Washington and London stopped accusing Teheran of arming insurgents, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told a British TV channel Wednesday.
Ahmadinejad told Channel 4 News that Iran had influence across Iraq and appealed to the US and London to drop claims that Teheran is waging a proxy war inside its neighbor. "We can help solve many problems in Iraq; we can help secure Iraq; we can help the attackers and insurgents go out of Iraq, if the American and British governments correct themselves," Ahmadinejad told the TV program, speaking through a translator.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/13/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Fine with me, so long as we continue to capture and kill Iranian advisers and weapons traffickers who have brought arms from Iran into Iraq.
#3
The Bush administration knows and has tabled essential plans contingent on a level 'playing field' in the region conducive to a US pullout in the future. Iran would have to be bombed extensively through all fronts and infrastructures along with regime change, to 'equal Iraq'! Since "W" can't control when and how many insurgents and disillusioned Islamic fanatics will become suicide volunteers, the troop reduction goals for next summer is nothing but a pipe dream. In fact, the closer we get to Election day November 7th 2008, the higher the odds are that the 'leveling scenario' will be implemented against Iran, in lieu of a more likely turnover of the presidency on January 21st 2009. "W" DID say, that the next president will determine when the troops come home!!
#5
It could help Iraq turn into a fundamentalist shia theocracy...
Posted by: Ol Dirty American ||
09/13/2007 5:53 Comments ||
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#6
". . . if the American and British governments correct themselves."
We couldn't possibly help fix things until you lie about our intentions. Of course, we have no qualms about making problems for you without your saying a word. Go figure.
Is it just me, or do these regimes only seem to want/know how to negotiate from a position of power, be it real or only perceived?
My thoughts [in no particular order, because they aren't! :-) ] are that this probably has something to do with appearing to be the strong horse so people will follow them. This crap kind of leadership model needs to be knocked out of their heads replaced with a "consent of the goverened" model before we can trust them to carry on in a civilized manner and not devolve the minute we walk away. Perhaps some serious TV-based lectures on the disadvantages of one and the advantages of the other ought to be considered. I'll bet 99% don't have a clue, and that's too many for the remaining 1% to fix even if they wanted to. Their religion prevents them from having anything to do with charging/paying interest, which is the part and parcel of a western economy. Their religion also seems to herd them back in the direction of this prehistoric model of "government" and social structure that we see even today, which involves too much exposure to dominance/submission (starting with the womenfolk), symbolism of being devout like praying until your forehead bleeds from pounding the pavement five times a day or anti-infidel hate speech etc, and a suicidal reliance on the clergy, who by nature seem to have way too many power freaks anyway who are all striving to be the supreme mullah which involves more of all the displays of devotion/hate talk on steroids if they want to get anywhere.
Seems impossible to me unless some of the core concepts in the Kooran are stripped away. But even then, folks like BinHiden will go dig up an old Kooran and the whole process starts over again, so there goes my "unless".
Advisors to Syrian President Bashar Assad are pressuring him to respond to the alleged IAF attack by "landing a blow to an Israeli target," the Kuwait-based Al-Jareeda reported Wednesday. According to the report, Israel targeted long-range missile batteries that were brought to Syria from Iran. The report said five IAF fighter jets carried out the attack. Israel Radio quoted the Kuwaiti paper to the effect that the group advocating a military response is being spearheaded by Assad's brother in law, who has met in recent days with senior Hizbullah and Hamas officials in an effort to draw up an operation plan.
The Kuwaiti paper also reported that the Syrian army has begun drafting reservists from the armed corps, missile corps and anti-aircraft units, and quoted "sources in the know" who said the draft was a response to Israel raising its level of readiness in the north.
Meanwhile, Syria's UN Ambassador, Bashar Jaafari, denied the reports on Wednesday, claiming the Israeli jets escaped without hitting their target, Israel Radio reported. Jaafari also said Israel's silence over the alleged strike resulted from the fact it constituted a violation of international law.
According to a report by The Nazareth-based al-Sinara newspaper Wednesday, the IAF targeted a joint Syrian-Iranian missile base in northern Syria. Reportedly, the Iranian-funded installation was razed to the ground. The report claimed its information was gleaned from an "Israeli source."
An official in the Bush administration told the New York Times Wednesday that in recent days the IAF has flown over Syria several times in an attempt to gain intelligence on a number of suspected nuclear facilities Israel believes have been sponsored by North Korea. "The Israelis think North Korea is selling to Iran and Syria what little they have left," the official told the Times, adding that the alleged strike had not necessarily provided evidence to confirm the intelligence.
Meanwhile, North Korea slammed Israel for the alleged air strike, calling it a "dangerous provocation" aimed at breaching Syria's sovereignty and upsetting peace and security in the region. "North Korea harshly condemns the said incursion and expresses solidarity and support of the Syrian nation in its righteous cause of safeguarding national security and peace in the region."
Also on Wednesday, the Lebanese daily Almustakbal reported that since the alleged IAF foray over Syria last week there have been severe disturbances in Lebanese communications systems and cellular frequencies.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/13/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Boy, it must be hell, the pressure Baby Assad is under to 'kick some ass' from his advisors, and knowing a smart bomb could have his name on it (ie, yassin)! Plus, I don't think Mossad has actually signed the "No Assassination Doctrine" that President Ford put into law in the US, and Baby Assad knows this!!
#2
claiming the Israeli jets escaped without hitting their target
But of course. And now Syria must "respond with force" because the Israelis missed their targets. The usual putrescent spinning of defeat into "victory".
#3
I think NK is upset 'cause Syria hadn't paid fer the nuclear materials. Now that they're spread out over the landscape there is little reason for Syria to pay the bill.
#5
Can't help but wonder why the ship(s) carrying the NK material didn't suffer an unexplained loss at sea rather than wait until the cargo was unloaded. Since NK's circle of friends do not include the civilized world, the ultimate destination woundn't have mattered much. And there ain't a lot of evidence that floats....so max deniability abounds.
That would be *so* funny. The Israelis have already shown they can fly over his country with impunity (and didn't they fly over his *palace* last year?), and he knows their stuff *works*, so he must be changing his undies on a regular basis. Guffaw!
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
09/13/2007 18:17 Comments ||
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#7
How come I have a mental image of his "advisors" sitting there with Assad:
Assad: What do you think we should do in light of the Joos incursion of our air space?
Advisor #1: Boss, you should respond with force.
Assad: But the Joos know where my summer palace is and can reach it w/o our radars barely going off.
Advisor #2: I know boss, but you gotta respond in force. I double-dog dare ya!
*snicker*
Posted by: BA ||
09/13/2007 20:36 Comments ||
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#8
Iff it is proven true that NK did give nucmats to Syria [and possibly Iran], then NK has basically been caught lying about the details and peaceful purposes of its nuclear agenda, as NK is giving nucmats to Nations-Govts that suppor Terror groups.
We enter those rogue nations, sample their fissile refining facilities and obtain isotopic fingerprints that allow us to trace, track and identify those players who are responsible for proliferation or distribution to inimicable forces. Who ... incidentally perish in massive nuclear firestorms.
Israel and Syria have tried to keep an airstrike that took place in Northern Syria 6 days ago under wraps. Now that the attack by Israel has been exposed, will Syria finally stand up to the Jewish state? Israel recently carried out reconnaissance flights over Syria, taking pictures of possible nuclear installations that Israeli officials believed might have been supplied with material from North Korea, The New York Times reported Thursday. A US administration official said Israeli officials believed that North Korea might be unloading some of its nuclear material on Syria, the Times reported. "The Israelis think North Korea is selling to Iran and Syria what little they have left," the unidentified official was quoted as saying.
"It wasn't big. It was a quick strike. They were engaged by the Syrians, they dropped their ordnance and scooted out of there," said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity. "The Israelis are trying to tell the Syrians: 'Don't support a resurgence of Hezbollah in Lebanon'."
No official Israeli comment was issued on allegations that its military carried out an attack deep inside Syria last Thursday, despite confirmation of a strike by a defence official of Israel's main ally the United States. Citing anonymous Israeli sources, an Arab Israeli newspaper, the Assennara, said on Wednesday that the jets "bombed in northern Syria a Syrian-Iranian missile base financed by Iran.... It appears that the base was completely destroyed."
Israeli officials have refused to comment on the report, as Prime Minister Ehud Olmert "specifically instructed ministers not to talk about the incident related to Syria at all," a senior Israeli government official said earlier this week.
This silence -- uncharacteristic in a nation notorious for media leaks -- continued on Wednesday, with even visiting French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner saying he was also being kept in the dark. "I asked my hosts and they did not inform me," Kouchner told reporters in Jerusalem when asked about the reported strike, as he wrapped up his first visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories. "If indeed... they have bombed a weapons convoy which was headed to Lebanon, we understand why they would do it," he said. "Everybody in Lebanon knows that large quantities of weapons arrive from the Syrian border."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/13/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
It's not so much that Israel wants to deny the strike occurred, but what was targeted and how vectored the approach and 'escape'. This would allow maximum confusion on the part of Syria and the retraction of 'hidden assets' that require 'relocation' on the part of Israel and the US!
#3
we needed the new russian missles, reporsts i-- saw stated a heli borne mission as well???--- best way to defeat'em...especially with the batteries iran has up around it's nuke sites..
Posted by: dan ||
09/13/2007 9:49 Comments ||
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#4
"If indeed... they have bombed a weapons convoy which was headed to Lebanon, we understand why they would do it," he said. "Everybody in Lebanon knows that large quantities of weapons arrive from the Syrian border."
...A FRENCH minister said that? Holy crap. We ARE living in interesting times.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
09/13/2007 16:23 Comments ||
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UN workers and a de-mining expert on Wednesday entered the refugee camp devastated by a 15-week-long battle between Lebanese soldiers and Islamist fighters, a UN official said. The group visited Nahr al-Bared refugee camp to assess damage to buildings of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) inside the shantytown still off-limits to civilians and the media, Hoda Samra said. "It was a quick exploratory mission to survey UNRWA buildings and water wells inside the camp" in northern Lebanon, she told AFP. "The buildings are severely damaged."
The UN team, escorted by army troops, was accompanied by a de-mining consultant from the Britain-based Mine Advisory Group (MAG), she said. The delegation also included an engineer from the private construction firm Khatib and Alami which has been selected by the Lebanese government as a consultant for the reconstruction of Nahr al-Bared, another UN source said.
On Monday, Lebanon appealed for almost 400 million dollars in international aid to rebuild Nahr al-Bared which was devastated by the battle between troops and Islamists of the Fatah al-Islam militia.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/13/2007 00:00 ||
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#2
On Monday, Lebanon appealed for almost 400 million dollars in international aid to rebuild Nahr al-Bared which was devastated by the battle between troops and Islamists of the Fatah al-Islam militia.
Here's an idea. How about they level the place and tell the former inhabitants to take their sweetness and light somewhere else?
Saudi Arabia said on Wednesday a compromise proposed by Lebanese opposition leader Nabih Berri offers a chance of breaking the political deadlock in Lebanon and electing a new president. After the initiative announced by Mr Nabih Berri, there is cautious optimism. There is a chance, Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al Faisal told reporters in the Red Sea city of Jeddah. The proposal marks a change from the previous position of the pro-Syrian opposition, and this could lead to a solution, he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/13/2007 00:00 ||
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[4 views]
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Posted by: Fred ||
09/13/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
"Why should we rebuild the camp? The Palestinians brought destruction to this area, so let another, wealthier country host them," she said.
"The Palestinians protected Fatah al-Islam in their camp and they took money from them," said 'Mukhtar' (local official) Jamal Abu Khalil, who said he nearly died after being shot by a sniper from inside the camp. "They are betrayers, so we decided as civilians that we will fight the Palestinians - and the Lebanese army if they try and rebuild the camp."
The Palestinians just can't spread all that joy and light fast enough.
Iran is not looking to develop nuclear weapons, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told Britains Channel 4 News Wednesday amid continued global concern at its refusal to halt uranium enrichment.
In a live interview from the grounds of the presidential palace in Tehran, Ahmedinejad told the broadcaster through a translator: We dont want a bomb. We are against bombs, actually... From a political point of view, its not useful... Why do we want a bomb?... Whats the use of it? We dont need it.
In a chaotic interview, in which Ahmadinejad, the presenter and translator often all spoke at the same time, the Iranian president said there was no reason for the Islamic republic to stop enriching uranium. Ahmedinejad earlier told state television in Iran that they will not step down under pressure.
Elsewhere in the interview, Ahmadinejad hedged on questions about whether Iran was directly supporting insurgents in neighbouring Iraq, as suspected by both Britain and the United States. He also maintained his tough line against Israel, although with language more measured than his 2005 comment that he wanted to see the Jewish state wiped off the map, and was unrepentant over his questioning of the Holocaust.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/13/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Mahmoud, Your coordinates are dialed in, comprende midget?
You are in the sights a$$hole, the cross hair kind,
sleep tight pendejo!
Posted by: Red Dawg ||
09/13/2007 0:41 Comments ||
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#2
Iran doesn't need nuclear weapons the same way a pyromaniac locked inside a powder magazine doesn't need a lighter.
Private communication networks installed illegally in Beirut by the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah have been removed, a cabinet minister said Wednesday. "Minister of Telecommunications Marwan Hamadeh informed the government that ... the cables that had been installed in Beirut have recently been removed," Information Minister Ghazi Aridi said after a cabinet meeting. "It is necessary to continue the action in the other regions" where the cables have also been also installed by Hezbollah, he told reporters.
On August 27, the government formed a committee to draft a report on information that Hezbollah had installed its own system of communication in Beirut, its suburbs and the south of the country. The Lebanese government had on August 8 disclosed that a secret underground telecommunications network has been set up by Hezbollah throughout south Lebanon and the southern suburbs of Beirut. Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh revealed that the installation of underground cables, which run parallel to the state's phone system, had been "discovered by chance and following rumors" in the southern town of Zawtar al-Sharqieh in the Nabatiyeh district.
Hamadeh said authorities would launch a "speedy" probe into the set up of a new phone line networking by Hezbollah in south Lebanon. He said that "technical reports" later showed that the work has expanded to reach Yohmor in east Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, with another wireless networking being set up between the southern port city of Tyre and Abbassieh as well as in other regions of Tyre province. Sources close to Hezbollah said such a network was set up for the "security protection" of the groups' leaders.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/13/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
It would be interesting to know which houses the cables were routed to.
I found this video series on the UK Wahabi website, www.as-sahwah.com, and followed the link to Youtube.
Youtube suppresses objective criticism of the Islamic cult and the aggressive conduct of Muslims. Yet they allow open terror recruitment.
The terrorist on the videos claims to be an escapee from Bagram Prison, in Afghanistan, where the US has a base. In the video on the escape, he claims that "allah" helped them escape. More likely, al-Qaeda used their proceeds from the drug trade, to bribe guards.
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.
One day after Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., sharply questioned the top U.S. commander in Iraq, Rudy Giuliani blasted his Democratic presidential rival, accusing her of spewing "political venom" in the Iraq war debate. "I dont know what shes trying to say when shes accusing a general of the willing suspension of disbelief, Giuliani said Wednesday on the "Randy and Spiff" show, a radio program which airs in Atlanta. The former New York mayor repeated his criticism of the Democratic frontrunner for president later in the day Wednesday during a media availability in Akron, Ohio. 
Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaaf Chiarman Imran Khan was barred from entering the city after he landed here at the Karachi airport on Wednesday. Imran said he would return to Karachi after 30 days. Imran was sent back to Islamabad on a Shaheen Air International flight SAI 123 at 12:30pm. Several party workers, including PTI Sindh President Zubair Khan, were also arrested outside the airport.
Advisors to Syrian President Bashar Assad are pressuring him to respond to the alleged IAF attack by "landing a blow to an Israeli target," the Kuwait-based Al-Jareeda reported Wednesday. According to the report, Israel targeted long-range missile batteries that were brought to Syria from Iran. The report said five IAF fighter jets carried out the attack. Israel Radio quoted the Kuwaiti paper to the effect that the group advocating a military response is being spearheaded by Assad's brother in law, who has met in recent days with senior Hizbullah and Hamas officials in an effort to draw up an operation plan. 
Israel and Syria have tried to keep an airstrike that took place in Northern Syria 6 days ago under wraps. Now that the attack by Israel has been exposed, will Syria finally stand up to the Jewish state? Israel recently carried out reconnaissance flights over Syria, taking pictures of possible nuclear installations that Israeli officials believed might have been supplied with material from North Korea, The New York Times reported Thursday. A US administration official said Israeli officials believed that North Korea might be unloading some of its nuclear material on Syria, the Times reported. "The Israelis think North Korea is selling to Iran and Syria what little they have left," the unidentified official was quoted as saying.
UN workers and a de-mining expert on Wednesday entered the refugee camp devastated by a 15-week-long battle between Lebanese soldiers and Islamist fighters, a UN official said. The group visited Nahr al-Bared refugee camp to assess damage to buildings of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) inside the shantytown still off-limits to civilians and the media, Hoda Samra said. "It was a quick exploratory mission to survey UNRWA buildings and water wells inside the camp" in northern Lebanon, she told AFP. "The buildings are severely damaged."
