#1
From the article: One geologist argued that unlike other longitudes, Mecca's was in perfect alignment to magnetic north.
Unfortunately, for him, a) all longitude lines point to the true north pole, and b) the magnetic north pole moves over time, so even if Mecca's longitude pointed to the magnetic north pole today, it wouldn't have pointed there during Mohammed's time, and won't point there in the future.
Posted by: Rambler in California ||
04/21/2008 13:11 Comments ||
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#4
The meeting also reviewed what has been described as a Mecca watch, the brainchild of a French Muslim. The watch is said to rotate anti-clockwise and is supposed to help Muslims determine the direction of Mecca from any point on Earth.
But what happens if you put it on upside down? Do you pray to Antarctica? Does your head explode?
#5
Actually i think that GMT was an invention of the American Railroad tycoons: having noted the difficulties in establishing any sort of schedule for their trains, they decided upon using the established longitudinal lines and since 360 divides real nice by 24, you get the various time zones (+/- local geographical or socialogical interests). Of course if we DID want to adopt Mecca time, we would have to start by taking today's date and subtracting about 1300 years (+/- local interests)
#6
Bomb mecca into dust, and the problem is solved. A couple of 10MT nukes would do nicely. Or let God do it with a small asteroid - say a half-mile in diameter.
Actually, God doesn't care. Latitude and Longitude are man-made measures, just as are hours and minutes, feet and miles, pounds and tons, meters and liters and bears, oh my! ISlam needs to put a sock in it.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/21/2008 14:06 Comments ||
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#7
He said the English had imposed GMT on the rest of the world by force when Britain was a big colonial power, and it was about time that changed.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
04/21/2008 15:28 Comments ||
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#10
Damn djinns stole my Miller Time. What is Qaradawy gonna do about that?
Posted by: ed ||
04/21/2008 15:34 Comments ||
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#11
Here's a cool movie (scroll down a bit) showing how the magnetic dip poles have varied with time. The location of the pole can change up to 50 km per day. So unless Mecca migrates like the poles, it ain't on a great-circle with magnetic north. In fact, any Mecca-locating devise that uses a compass will be off by some amount, though I imagine the current ones use GPS (we wouldn't introduce an error, would we?;)
Posted by: Jitch, Scourge of the Veal Cutlets ||
04/21/2008 15:58 Comments ||
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#12
Muslims will find 1000 reasons, backed up by so called "scholars", that try to make Islam mathematically perfect, without any good evidence.
#14
It's a lot more complicated than you realize. Saudi Time says dawn is always 6:00 AM and sunset is always 6:00 PM, so as the time in each hour/minute etc. changes with the seasons.
This is why people needed an objective measure of time independent of the sun.
I had to write a module for Citibank that kept track of differing time zones and daylight saving time around the world (it differs by country).
We wound up leaving Saudi Arabia out because it was just too complicated.
Al
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
04/21/2008 16:59 Comments ||
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#16
I think they've not thought it out well, let's give them Mecca Time.
Absolutely nothing would ever coincide with them again, picture the head explosions trying to hijack an aircraft that left an hour ago (The rest of the worlds time) while they're trying to get to the terminal on their "Holy" time, likewise all other schedules would never "Mesh" with their time.
We could include a Fatawa that anyone using "Infidel Time' be beheaded to boot.
Solve a whole lot of problems.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/21/2008 23:34 Comments ||
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#2
A major victory for Islam. To have Britain and Europe to all their 7th century dark ages belief a 'race', and get all the privileges associated with such a term in a PC world.
Just shows you how dumbed down the folks across the pond are these days.
#3
Actually, if asked, I think most Englishmen would say the problem is Pakistanis, not Islam.
Importantly, European nations tend to get primarily one variety of Muslim. For example, Germany gets Turks. I suspect this is because Muslims from different countries do not get along.
TOKYO - North Korea told the United States in December it has produced a total of around 30 kg (66 lbs) of plutonium, about 20 kg less than what the United States estimates, a Japanese newspaper reported on Monday. The daily Tokyo Shimbun reported that North Korea's chief envoy to the talks, Kim Kye-gwan, told his U.S. counterpart, Christopher Hill in North Korea last December the North had used about 18 kg of its plutonium stockpile for nuclear development and around 6 kg for its first and only underground nuclear test in October 2006.
The newspaper,citing a source involved in the six-way talks on North Korea's nuclear programme for the report, did not elaborate on what the remaining 6 kgs was used for.
The United States, which estimates that communist North Korea has produced more than 50 kg (110 lb) of plutonium, has demanded Pyongyang submit a "complete and correct" declaration of its past and present nuclear activities.
When is it going to be clear to the world that the Norks will never come clean?
North Korea has said it has accounted for its past and current activities as required. But the United States says that the North has not discussed any transfer of nuclear technology to other countries, notably Syria, nor has it accounted for its suspected pursuit of uranium enrichment. Uranium enrichment could provide North Korea with a second way to produce fissile material for nuclear weapons in addition to the its plutonum-based programme.
Under the second phase of the six-party deal, once North Korea has produced its nuclear declaration, the United States is expected to relieve it of sanctions under the U.S. state sponsors of terrorism list and Trading With the Enemy Act. In the third phase, North Korea is expected to dismantle its nuclear facilities at Yongbyon and abandon all nuclear weapons in exchange for further economic and diplomatic benefits.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/21/2008 00:00 ||
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#2
It just seems to me that NorK had far less equipment than Iran has, and that they somehow managed to come up with 30kg of Uranium. Is my gut instict off?
#6
Perhaps the food aid won't be forthcoming for a bit. With Sarkozy in France, perhaps they could cut off the Dear Leader's supply of Courvoisier and hit him where it hurts.
#7
Good thing they discontinued their pursuit of nuclear weapons technology; hard to say how much they could make if they had not done so.
i feel so much safer knowing they are no longer a threat.
#8
BUSH: NORTH KOREA MAY BE STALLING ON NUCLEAR PROGRAM
No shit, Sherlock.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
04/21/2008 15:21 Comments ||
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#9
TOPIX > US WANTS NORTH KOREA TO DECLARE PLUTONIUM WARHEADS, + specific accounting of any and all plutonium-centric/based uses. In return, IICC, the USA will accept or tolerate [read - NOT CRITICIZE OR TAKE ACTION AGZ NK] NOKOR's
"indirect" acknowledgement of nuklar collusion wid SYRIA, PAKI, etc.
Chronic food shortages are not new in North Korea. But United Nations officials warn the situation is likely to get worse. They say the country is facing dire food shortages due to last August's heavy floods, which destroyed much of the nation's crops.
The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization predicts North Korea will suffer the largest food deficit since 2001. It says the country will have a shortfall of 1,600,000 tons of rice and wheat.
A spokeswoman for the World Food Program, Christiane Berthiaume, says food shortages have led to a doubling of prices of staple foods in the capital, Pyongyang, over the past year. She says prices are now at their highest recorded levels since 2004, making food unaffordable for most people.
"Now, it takes one-third of a month's salary just to buy a few days worth of rice. So, families, and especially vulnerable persons will suffer from the lack of access to food. They are going to eat fewer meals and they will have a poor diet and this will increase their vulnerability to disease and illness," said Berthiaume. "You know the situation is already quite dire. Thirty-seven percent of young children are chronically malnourished and one-third of mothers are malnourished and anemic."
Famine in North Korea in the 1990's is believed to have killed about one million people and stunted the growth of many children. Until 2005, the World Food Program had been helping more than six million people, about one-quarter of the population. Then the government told the U.N. agency to reduce its operation.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/21/2008 00:00 ||
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#2
ION TOPIX > a GLOBAL WARMING-INDUCED/EFFECTED FAMINE also looms for the PHILIPPINES by 2020, as per Perts. Also > LARGE PARTS OF SOUTH, EAST ASIA including AUSTRALIA.
Interesting - considering vari claims and Net artics on GLOBAL COOLING = ICE AGE/MINI-ICE AGE > ergo COLD FOGGY SLEETY REGIONAL-GLOBAL WEATHER ergo COLD WEATHER ergo TOO COLD TO GROW TROPICAL -GROWING NORMAL FOODSTUFFIES.
#3
This makes me very angry. South Korea is complaining, and justifiably so, about the fact that their people are beginning to have an obesity problem. There has never been a more stark contrast between the bounty produced by capitalism and the starvation produced by communism. I'm sure there's a very special spot in Hell reserved for the Great Leader and the Dear Leader, and I'd bet it's manned by more than a few of their former subjects...
#10
As I understand it, they're weaving famine into clothes, TU
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/21/2008 19:31 Comments ||
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#11
pretty friggin ingenious if you ask me
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/21/2008 19:32 Comments ||
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#12
especially in volume, cuz they're ALL gonna be "small"
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/21/2008 19:33 Comments ||
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#13
On a slightly related theme, I recall reading that after WW2, japan's population jumped in height, an direct effect of more plentiful food,(And higher quality too) averaging 6 to 9 inches increase in only two generations.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/21/2008 23:40 Comments ||
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#14
TOPIX > IMF: FOOD CRISES CAN TOPPLE WORLD GOVERNMENTS + PHILIPPINES:NO FOOD SHORTAGES + PRESIDENT ARROYO'S JOB AT STAKE + PHILIPPINES TO CONTINUE TO IMPORT RICE DESPITE REDUCED PRICE + UN FAO MAY HEP ASSURE FOOD SUPPLY.
MCDONALD's > Looks like MANILA GOVT has told or requested local Mickey D's to cut back on RICE PORTIONS [e.g. BRKFAST/SPAM PLATTERS].
ALso from TOPIX > PHILIPPINES POPULATION AT 89 Milyuhn.
ME > OLD DREAM/VISION > ASIA-PACIFIC "EARTH CHANGES" + DIASPORAS > iff vari "Food Crises/Famine" reports are correct, THE PI + ASIA ESPEC THE PHILIPINES MAY FACE THE EQUIVALENT OF THE CATASROPHIC IRISH POTATO FAMINE EXCEPT WID LOSS OF MANY MILLIONS MORE THAN IRELAND.
The time to preclude NATIONAL-REGIONAL-TRANSREGIO FAMINE + FOOD CHAOS IS NOW, NOT 2015 OR 2020.
* I ask US-World Astron-Sciens Perts again > IS THE SUN OKAY?
Firefighting officials say a mosque in southern France was slightly damaged in an overnight arson attack. Fire and rescue officials in the Haute-Garonne region say the fire broke out early Sunday morning after a garbage can was set alight inside the building.
The arsonist, or arsonists, were thought to have entered the mosque through an unlocked door. The mosque is located in the Toulouse suburb of Colomiers. Officials say a dozen firefighters quickly put out the blaze, which slightly damaged a small room in the building.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/21/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Thank goodness the fire didn't reach the armory....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/21/2008 1:23 Comments ||
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#2
barbara - so true it's not funny. But I laughed all the same.
#4
There's a french blog which keeps the count of the cemetaries desacrations and vandalism and/or looting (for the thriving religious art blackmarket, notably for asian collectors)churches - bottom line is, french churches and Christian resting grounds are targeted over once a week, by satanist losers, angry Youths( lots and lots of arsons in the french "occupied territories", roving gypsy career thieves,... in a total and absolute msm silence, bar the local press from which the blog takes its news.
BUT, a garbage can is set alight outside a mosque, and not only does it makes national news, but I get that too in the internal news agencies. Sweet.
#5
Thats true - all the murder of school teachers and school burnings happening in Thailand don't get even a buried minor mention in the MSM. And Dafur? Only when Bush can be blamed....
But just fart in the presence of the [un]holy Koran and its front page news for days because you deepely offended the master race religion.
#1
So if you Justice Department guys come across some terrorist plot against the Washington Post, I wouldn't worry about it. Probably just some nuts talking ragtime. Give us the "not terrorist related" line and move on to something else...
Pakistani government in the country's northwest is set to free a top militant leader shortly after over six years in detention in a reconciliation process with the militants, a government spokesman said Monday. Maulana Sufi Muhammad is the founder of 'Tehreek-e- Nafaz-e- Shariat-e-Mohammadi' (TSNM), a Pakistani organization which aims to strictly enforce Shariat in the country, was arrested in late 2001 after he was returning from Afghanistan.
Sufi Muhammad had crossed into Afghanistan along with hundreds of his supporters to help Taliban in fight against the Americans and foreign forces.
The TSNM, who had been operating in the North-West Frontier province, was banned by President Pervez Musharraf.
Sufi Mohammad encouraged and organized thousands of people to fight against the western powers invading Afghanistan at the time of the downfall of the Taliban in 2001. Most of his Mujahideen were killed or arrested by the Northern Alliance, and only a few were able to return to Pakistan, including Sufi Mohammad.
Worked well, didn't it ...
Maulana Fazlullah, son in law of Sufi Mohammad is now leading the TNSM and had been engaged in fierce battle with the security forces in Swat valley in the northwest.
"I'm comin' for ya, Pops!"
Sufi Muhammad is in prison but under treatment in a Peshawar hospital and a government leader said that talks have been held between the government officials and members of TSNM. "The release of Sufi Muhammad will help in containing violence," Zahid Khan, information secretary of the ruling Awami National Party in the northwest said.
How, exactly? Is he reforming? Did he renounce violence? Did he convert to Christianity?
Khan said that the release of Sufi Muhammad is the first step and talks are underway with the militants to free other people as part of the reconciliation process.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/21/2008 12:56 ||
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#1
Most of his Mujahideen were killed or arrested by the Northern Alliance, and only a few were able to return to Pakistan, including Sufi Mohammad.
So explain to me again how this mook became a "top militant leader"?
#3
There's a shipping container in Afghanistan with his name on it.
Posted by: ed ||
04/21/2008 15:44 Comments ||
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#4
Pakistani government in the country's northwest is set to free a top militant leader and give him a job with the ISI shortly after over six years in detention in a job fair reconciliation process with the militants, a government spokesman said Monday.
The international community should help the NWFP Government in their peace negotiations with the Taliban, Geo News quoted NWFP Information Minister Sardar Hussain Babak as saying. Babak told a ceremony in Swabi that the government was negotiating with the Taliban because it wanted peace in the region. Pashtuns are a peace-loving people and want the region to prosper, he said. “Peace alone is the symbol of progress and prosperity,” he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/21/2008 00:00 ||
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The origin of a significant amount of the terrorism the world faces links back to Pakistan, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said on Sunday.
While addressing a press conference after emerging from marathon talks with NWFP Chief Minister Ameer Haider Hoti, and NWFP Governor Owais Ahmed Ghani, Miliband underlined the need to address the core issue of security in border areas between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Talks with militants: However, he voiced support for reconciliation with those militants who are willing to renounce terrorism. “Our [the British] position is very clear: we should negotiate with those who are willing to negotiate and we should reconcile with those who are willing to reconcile,” he said. His comments come on the heels of the provincial government’s secret talks with militant leaders.
Miliband said Britain did not reconcile with those Irish Republican Army members who refused to renounce terror. “Those who are willing to renounce terrorism, I think, it is important to reconcile with them,” he added. “Reconciliation designed to marginalise those who are using extremist means for ideological reasons seems to be the correct approach and deserves strong support.” Official sources said the chief minister discussed efforts to engage militants in Swat and the Tribal Areas with the British foreign secretary. “The provincial government emphasised the need to engage the militants to find a negotiated settlement which can be more lasting,” the officials who attended the talks told Daily Times.
Miliband appeared satisfied that negotiated settlements regarding the militancy problem would be lasting.
“Non-negotiated settlements are not really settlements. They are just a pause in fighting,” the British foreign secretary, who paid his maiden brief visit to Peshawar, told journalists. The British foreign secretary also arranged to meet relatives of local victims of terrorism. “Terrorism is a problem for Pakistanis,” he said.
Independent judiciary: He reiterated the British governmentÂ’s support for an independent judiciary and strong democratic institutions in Pakistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/21/2008 00:00 ||
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[4 views]
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#1
ROFL
“Our [the British] position is very clear: we should negotiate with those who are willing to negotiate and we should reconcile with those who are willing to reconcile,”
And his position on those that won't reconcile? That won't negotiate? That lie and break agreements? (crickets)
What a buffoon. Too bad that virtually all of the late great UK has sunk to this level.
Hell, they can't even capture pirates anymore....cause of their human rights, chew-know.
Lopez: What will be Deuce FourÂ’s place in the history of this war?
Yon: I have called al Qaeda a gang. Another way of saying that is that al-Qaeda is a cult. It requires slavish obedience to an evil code and it is horrible in many ways but it gives young men especially something with which to affiliate.
The Deuce Four battalion, led by LTC Erik Kurilla in Mosul in 2005 when Mosul was one of the most dangerous places in Iraq, was a counter-cult, a warrior cult, brave, dangerous, honorable. Kurilla, who is one of the great weapons in the U.S. arsenal, was the cult leader. And he knew it. He modeled courage and honor and death for the enemy. He became a legend in Mosul and his example inspired not only his own troops but Iraqi Army and police who wanted to be like him. The book has lots of Kurilla stories. But the point is you have to give the young men a model to aspire to that isnÂ’t the al-Qaeda model. And then you have to kill lots and lots of al-Qaeda and never give in to them, because the young men have to understand that your model wins. And that you should always treat the locals with respect and dignity.
Lopez: Will David Petraeus be president of the United States?
Yon: He would make a great president. But the best thing the U.S. is going to get out of Iraq is a great generation of leaders who have had a unique experience in American history of trying to help freedom and democracy and the rule of law take root in a culture that has never known them. Someone should write a book about what that experience could mean for American democracy.
Even more so than WWII. The new Greatest Generation.
In a performance worthy of former Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Al-Sahhaf, also known as "Comical Ali," a spokesman for one of the remaining Sunni insurgency groups in Iraq told Al Jazeera last month that 44,000 U.S. troops had been killed in that country.
That is about 11 times the actual number of U.S. casualties in Iraq, which hit 4,000 near the end of March, according to the Associated Press.
Ibrahim Al-Shammari, spokesman for the Islamic Army of Iraq, told Al Jazeera that the discrepancy between the 4,000 casualties reported by Western news agencies and the 44,000 claimed by his group was caused by the U.S. not counting the deaths of soldiers "who have Green Cards."
"Dr. Al-Shammari, what does it mean to you that 4,000 U.S. soldiers were killed in Iraq?" a moderator on Al Jazeera asked Al- Shammari during a March 24 broadcast translated by the BBC.
"This figure means a lot to us because it is the first time the number of U.S. deaths amounts to 4,000. This means a lot to the American people," said Al-Shammari. "The figure we have is 4,000 plus 40,000, and not 4,000 as they claim. This shows the deep trouble the U.S. Administration engaged-"
At this point, according to the BBC translation, the moderator interrupted Al-Shammari. "Excuse me, the figure you have is 44,000?" the moderator asked.
"The Americans do not count those who have Green Cards," explained Al-Shammari. "The Americans do not count those who die in explosions on a daily basis. The Americans do not count deaths among the logistic support teams and other Green Card holders, as I said," he added.
"They only count holders of U.S. nationality. Our people in the Islamic Army had found earlier some of the mass graves for U.S. soldiers in Al-Iskandariyah area, Al-Habbaniyah, and elsewhere; and there are recorded videos of these," he said.
"Do you have an accurate calculation and a clear follow-up on this issue that allows you to announce the figure 44,000?" asked the moderator.
"Yes, we in the military office have precise statistics that are highly professional in calculating the daily losses and casualties of the enemy," said Al-Shammari.
The Islamic Army of Iraq is one of the leading remaining Sunni insurgency groups operating in Iraq. In a Congressional Research Service report on Iraq published in December, analyst Kenneth Katzman noted that there are numerous Sunni insurgents factions that have "no unified leadership."
"Some groups led by ex-Saddam regime leaders, others by Islamic extremists," he wrote. "Major Iraqi factions include Islamic Army of Iraq, New Baath Party, Muhammad's Army, and the 1920 Revolution Brigades."
#4
This always drives me nuts. There have been 4032 US *fatalities* as of this writing. There have been somewhat more than 31,000 US casualties requiring evac - it starts getting hazy when you try to count actual woundings, because a certain percentage don't require evacuation, and my source has stopped listing the latter catagory.
But the above article manages to hit a double-fault - one side counts an (inflated?) casualty list as fatalities, while the other side calls the fatality list the casualty list in the course of rebutting the first side.
I rather blindly threw around the 40,000 casualty number myself earlier this month - applying the 10-to-1 ratio I've been hearing thrown around throughout this conflict. But I got the ~31,000 number from here.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
04/21/2008 11:37 Comments ||
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#5
If you count John Kerry type wounds, the casualty count would be in the millions.
Posted for a second day so that we can laugh at Mookie some more ...
BAGHDAD — Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice mocked anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr as a coward on Sunday, hours after the radical leader threatened to declare war unless U.S. and Iraqi forces end a military crackdown on his followers.
Rice, in the Iraqi capital to tout security gains and what she calls an emerging political consensus, said al-Sadr is content to issue threats and edicts from the safety of Iran, where he is studying. Al-Sadr heads an unruly militia that was the main target of an Iraqi government assault in the oil-rich city of Basra last month, and his future role as a spoiler is an open question.
"I know he's sitting in Iran," Rice said dismissively, when asked about al-Sadr's latest threat to lift a self-imposed cease-fire with government and U.S. forces. "I guess it's all-out war for anybody but him," Rice said. "I guess that's the message; his followers can go too their deaths and he's in Iran."
It's like she reads Rantburg ...
Rice praised al-Maliki for confronting al-Sadr's Mahdi Army, which had a choke hold on Basra, Iraq's second-largest city. The assault was al-Maliki's most decisive act by far against al-Sadr, a fellow Shiite and once a political patron. Kurdish and Sunni politicians, including a chief rival, have since rallied to al-Maliki, and the Bush administration argues he could emerge stronger from what had appeared to be a military blunder.
"Some of the violence is a byproduct of a good decision," to take on militias and consolidate military power, Rice told reporters following a few hours of meetings and lunch with Iraqi leaders. "That, I think, is what has given the sense to the Iraqis that they have a new opportunity, a window of opportunity," Rice said. "I don't think you would have seen this kind of unity," before.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/21/2008 00:00 ||
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[3 views]
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#1
Let's see if Mookie will show his face now that he's been called out by a woman.
#3
"Its like she reads RANTBURG" > Uh oh, iff true then she knows I think she has great legs - prob means I'm also in trouble wid Ann Coulter for wanting to see Ann go back to being a brunette now and then. Madonna? Whitney? Paris? Lindsay? DEAD MAN POSTING, MICHELLE OBAMA WAITING IN LINE, AND ITS NOT EVEN EOM MAY 2008 YET!
#12
Mookie's not only a coward, he's uglier than a mud fence after a heavy rain, and he smells worse than a pigsty in the hot sun. Condi was being nice to him, just calling him a coward.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/21/2008 14:32 Comments ||
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#13
Jeebus, OP, what'ya got against mud fences and pigs??? Now, if you'd compared Mookie to an attorney, well, then....
Posted by: BA ||
04/21/2008 15:17 Comments ||
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#14
I personally think Mookie was called out as a coward and sissy by the, and I hate to admit this, next Vice President of the United States.
I think this is going to be fun to watch over the next few days as al-Sadr tries to some how salvage his manhood.
Condi does a pretty good verbal circumcision on the fat man
Posted by: James Carville ||
04/21/2008 21:59 Comments ||
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Iraqi President Jalal Talabani says the main Sunni political bloc will rejoin the Shi'ite-led ruling coalition after quitting the government last year. Mr. Talabani said Sunday that the Sunni bloc has put forward a list of candidates for Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Cabinet. He made the comments after meeting with visiting U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
While on an unannounced visit to Baghdad, Rice praised Iraq's Sunni Arab, Shi'ite and Kurdish leaders for working together in politics. Rice is holding talks with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and other top Iraqi officials before heading to diplomatic meetings in Bahrain and Kuwait.
This article starring:
Jalal Talabani
Posted by: Fred ||
04/21/2008 00:00 ||
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[1 views]
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Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made an unannounced visit to Baghdad Sunday as Iraq continued its assault on Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia in Baghdad and in the southern city of Basra.
Mr. Sadr warned Saturday that continued attacks on his Shiite militiamen could spark an "all-out war." But Ms. Rice sees progress, saying a new political unity was emerging around Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's efforts to diminish the power and influence of the Mahdi Army. "You have seen a coalescing of a center in Iraqi politics in which the Sunni leadership, the Kurdish leadership, and elements of the Shiite leadership that are not associated with these special groups have been working together better than at any time before," Rice said, referring to "special groups" within the Mahdi Army that the US says are rogue elements trained and funded by Iran.
With Iraq's Sunni and Kurdish leaders backing Mr. Maliki, a Shiite, Rice said the combined effort against Sadr marked a turning point that was a "moment of opportunity."
But the ongoing offensive against the Shiite militia, which began last month, didn't start well for Iraq. The government has charged some 1,300 Iraqi soldiers with retreating from and abandoning the initial Basra battle. The fighting spread to Baghdad, and scores of civilians have been killed. Also, in Basra, the situation didn't begin to calm until the United States military sent air power in support of government forces and a cease-fire was brokered in Iran.
On Saturday, Iraqi forces announced they had taken over the last Mahdi Army stronghold in Basra in operations with US and British forces. The Americans have been pressing Maliki for more than a year to confront the Shiite militias that have gained a stronghold over much of southern Iraq.
The brunt of the government's action fell on the Mahdi Army and other supporters of Sadr, who wields considerable power both in his parliamentary bloc and as an extragovernmental influence.
And as if to respond to Rice's high-profile show of American support for Maliki's actions, the Green Zone in Baghdad was rocked by mortar fire during the visit – probably fired from Sadr's bastion of support north of the center in Sadr City. In recent days the US military has built a wall around the southernmost section of the 2 million mostly poor residents in an effort to keep out the teams of rocket and mortar launchers who have used the area to target the Green Zone.
Gunmen also attacked a US checkpoint with machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades, and mortar shells. That strike sparked a battle between the US and the militiamen that left at least seven militants dead. Iraqi forces reportedly killed three men who they said were planting roadside bombs. "There was an uptick in violence in comparison with the past couple of weeks," said Army spokesman Lt. Col. Steve Stover. He declined to link it to Sadr's warning, which was broadcast over mosque loudspeakers inside Sadr City late Saturday.
In his statement, Sadr said "[I am] giving my final warning to the Iraqi government Â… to abandon violence against the Iraqi people. If the government does not [stop its attacks] we will declare an all-out war until liberation."
This article starring:
Moqtada al-Sadr
Mahdi Army
Steve Stover
Posted by: Fred ||
04/21/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
If the government does not [stop its attacks] we will declare an all-out war until liberation."
Oh, please! I can think of nothing better than the total destruction of the "Mahdi Army" of thieves, cutthroats, child molesters, and rapists. Crush them so completely Mookie will have to spend the next 300 years hiding in a well in Qom, fed by pigeons.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/21/2008 14:36 Comments ||
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#2
Is it just me or does that poster of Tater make him look like an angry drooling idiot?
#3
The Americans have been pressing Maliki for more than a year to confront the Shiite militias that have gained a stronghold over much of southern Iraq.
While wasting our time, money, and blood. At least their in country on desert and not invisible like like the jungles of Laos. Now just arrest or kill Sadr.
The IDF announced on Sunday that it will investigate the death of a Reuters TV cameraman, who was killed along with five others by an IDF tank shell in the Gaza Strip last week. "The IDF is conducting a field investigation to look into the claims regarding the circumstances of the death of a Reuters cameraman," a statement issued by the army read. "The IDF similarly investigates every claim regarding uninvolved civilians hurt in fighting areas."
In accordance with IDF policy, the field investigation will be reviewed by the Military Advocate General.
On Saturday, the New York-based group Human Rights Watch said in a statement that its own investigation suggests that an IDF tank crew fired either recklessly or deliberately at cameraman Fadel Shana'a and three others standing near him.
On Thursday, the Israeli rights group B'Tselem released a report that Shana'a was killed by a Flechette shell, based upon the results of the slain photojournalist's autopsy. B'Tselem is demanding that the IDF's Judge Advocate General immediately prohibit the use of the Flechette-based weapons system.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/21/2008 00:00 ||
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#2
B'Tselem is demanding that the IDF's Judge Advocate General immediately prohibit the use of the Flechette-based weapons system.
Why? Because it's too effective?
Posted by: Rambler in California ||
04/21/2008 20:44 Comments ||
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#3
because it's eeeevil, unlike the ball-bearing and metal-screw-laced splodey-dope vests the boomers wear
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/21/2008 21:31 Comments ||
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Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter arrived in Jordan Sunday to meet with King Abdullah. Mr. Carter's visit follows meetings Friday and Saturday in Damascus, Syria, with exiled Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal. The former president has not commented on the talks.
A Hamas official, Mohammad Nazzal, told reporters Mr. Carter proposed a ceasefire between Israeli forces and Hamas fighters, a prisoner exchange, that would include kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit and the lifting of Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip. The official said Hamas would respond soon.
I thought they responded yesterday?
This article starring:
Gilad Shalit
Khaled Meshaal
Hamas
Mohammad Nazzal
Hamas
Posted by: Fred ||
04/21/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Carter put "human rights" over strategic interests, with predictable results: a Soviet winning streak, until President Reagan reversed the trend.
I am sick of hearing Western leaders speak of respecting the electoral wishes of savages. Exactly how much respect for Jap or Kraut public opinion did we have in the Summer of 1945? When jihad robots sanction Hamas/Hezbollah tyranny, that is hardly an exercise in freedom on conscience.
#2
May Jimmah Kahtah die a long, slow death of Alzheimers, AIDS, leprosy and laryngitis. The man is an embarrassment not only to the United States, but to the human race. I got out of the Air Force when he was elected, and didn't go back in until Reagan defeated him. The way he treated the United States was a disgrace then, and his "ideas" are a disgrace to the nation now. He cannot die soon enough.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/21/2008 14:40 Comments ||
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#3
Assholes live forever, he'll probably make a hundred or over.(Dammit)
Just look at Fidel, looks like shit, but still breathing. (Again Dammit)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/21/2008 23:51 Comments ||
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Former US president Jimmy Carter's talks with Hamas leaders constitute de facto recognition of the Islamic movement's legitimacy, a senior Hamas official in the Gaza Strip said on Sunday.
Carter met with Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal over the weekend in Damascus, where he also held discussions with Syrian President Bashar Assad. After meeting with Jordan's King Abdullah on Sunday, the former US president was scheduled for a return trip to Israel on Monday. "Carter's visit to the region and his meetings with Hamas leaders are seen as recognition of the fact that Hamas is a major player that can't be ignored," said Ismail al-Ashkar, a top representative of Hamas. "The meetings show that there is no denying the fact that Hamas won the [January 25, 2006,] parliamentary election and should be part of any process."
Noting that Carter had personally supervised that election, Ashkar said Hamas welcomed Carter's visit because he would be able to convey to the world the "real picture of the Palestinian suffering."
Hamas, Ashkar added, wanted its message to reach the entire world. "Carter is a widely-respected international figure whose voice is heard by many," he said. "In any case, we want the world to understand that the resistance is the only way to restore the rights of the Palestinians, and that's why we are launching attacks deep inside Israel."
Carter's talks with Mashaal and other Hamas leaders in Cairo and Damascus focused on kidnapped IDF soldier Cpl. Gilad Schalit and ways of reaching a truce with Israel, Ashkar said.
He said the Hamas leaders told Carter that they were eager to resolve the Schalit case and end the blockade on Gaza. "Our position remains that Israel must free Palestinian prisoners in return for Schalit," he said. "We also want an end to the unjust siege imposed on our people in the Gaza Strip."
On Sunday, Al-Jazeera reported that Hamas had rejected a new Egyptian cease-fire proposal between it and Israel. Meanwhile, Hamas leaders hailed Saturday morning's attack on the Kerem Shalom crossing between the southern Gaza Strip and Israel as a "heroic" operation. They said similar attacks would be carried out in the coming days until Israel was forced to lift the blockade. "This operation is a severe blow to Israel's security concept," Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said. "The Zionist enemy has been hit in the most sensitive area. This is the area used by the Zionists to send their attacks and troops into the Gaza Strip."
Barhoum said the attack followed threats by Hamas that it would not remain idle in the face of the continued blockade. "We have said that the Zionists would bear responsibility for the ongoing siege," he said. "Hamas has carried out its promise to end the siege."
Syrian president Assad, who met with Carter on Friday to discuss prospects for renewed peace negotiations with Israel, reportedly announced Sunday that he has exchanged messages with Israel through a third party to explore the possibility of resuming talks with Jerusalem, the country's official news agency SANA reported.
During a meeting with ruling Ba'ath Party officials, Assad commented on media reports about indirect contact between the two countries. "There are efforts exerted in this direction," he was quoted as saying.
Yediot Aharonot on Thursday quoted Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as saying Israel and Syria had been exchanging messages to clarify expectations for any future peace treaty. He didn't disclose the content of the messages or provide other details about the contacts.
The paper quoted Olmert as saying, "They know what we want from them, and I know full well what they want from us."
Assad echoed those comments on Sunday, saying Israel "knows well what is accepted and not accepted by Syria." "Syria rejects secret [direct] talks or contacts with Israel... Anything Syria does in this regard will be announced to the public," Assad was quoted as saying.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/21/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Former US president Jimmy Carter's talks with Hamas leaders constitute de facto recognition of the Islamic movement's legitimacy, a senior Hamas official in the Gaza Strip said on Sunday.
No. It doesn't.
But the very fact that these barbarians can make such a claim is reason enough to arrest Carter and put him on trial for treason.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
04/21/2008 15:36 Comments ||
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A verbal confrontation broke out Sunday between Hamas and an Egyptian government officials, after Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said his country would prefer a Palestinian government without Hamas in it, since the organization will hinder the Palestinian Authority's peace efforts. Hamas was reportedly infuriated by the remark, as Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said Gheit's comments were unacceptable and counterproductive to the efforts made to restore Palestinian unity.
The public altercation took place while Hamas officials Mahmoud al-Zahar and Said Siam were holding various meetings in Cairo, regarding – among other matters – the negotiations to free IDF captive Gilad Shalit, lull effort with Israel and the internal Palestinian conflict. Gheit said Saturday that the lull talks were ongoing, adding they included a gradual ceasefire, to the point that all violence – including rocket fire on Hamas' part and targeted assassinations on Israel's part – would come to a halt.
Hamas spokesman Zuhri rejected Egypt's idea to hold a referendum regarding a peace treaty with Israel: "We are against this idea. You cannot hold any referendum regarding the Palestinian people's basic rights. (We) cannot hold a referendum about the future of al-Quds (Jerusalem) if its results might affect our rights in the city." Hamas further said they will not stand for anyone interfering in the organization's decisions, explaining Hamas already has the majority of the seats in the Palestinian parliament.
A senior Hamas official told Ynet that the group assumed the comments were an attempt by Gheit to test Hamas' position in the matter, adding that he is known for being "the bad guy" in the Egyptian government's dealings with Hamas. "The majority of our dealings are with Egyptian Intelligence Minister Omar Suliman and we hope he is being kept up to date," added the source. Gheit's attitude was found to be puzzling, said the source, especially since the subject of forming a new Palestinian government has yet to come up.
This article starring:
Ahmed Aboul Gheit
Gilad Shalit
Mahmoud al-Zahar
Hamas
Omar Suliman
Said Siam
Hamas
Sami Abu Zuhri
Hamas
Posted by: Fred ||
04/21/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
well since egytian police are brutal maybe their army is worse and will teach these scum a l;esson
Several thousand Islamic hard-liners protested Sunday in Indonesia's capital, calling for the banning of a Muslim sect they consider heretical.
A crowd of white-clad woman, children and men chanted, "Disband Ahmadiyah!" at the downtown National Monument. Police estimated about 3,000 people participated in the noisy, but peaceful demonstration.
Ahmadiyah was founded at the end of the 19th century in Pakistan, where it is banned, and conservative Muslims claim it was devised by British colonialists to divide Muslims.
The protest came days after a team of prosecutors, religious scholars and government officials said the sect "had deviated from Islamic principles" and recommended Wednesday that it be outlawed.
Indonesia is a secular country, with a long history of religious tolerance. But in recent years, a hard-line fringe has grown louder and the government - which relies on the support of Islamic parties in Parliament - has been accused of caving to it.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/21/2008 00:00 ||
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Former US president Jimmy Carter's talks with Hamas leaders constitute de facto recognition of the Islamic movement's legitimacy, a senior Hamas official in the Gaza Strip said on Sunday. Carter met with Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal over the weekend in Damascus, where he also held discussions with Syrian President Bashar Assad. After meeting with Jordan's King Abdullah on Sunday, the former US president was scheduled for a return trip to Israel on Monday.
#1
Former US president Jimmy Carter's talks with Hamas leaders constitute de facto recognition of the Islamic movement's legitimacy fact that Carter is a total dillweed, a senior Hamas official in the Gaza Strip said on Sunday.
#2
That statement along should get Carter some prison time for violating the Logan act. It sure looks like he is surrendering negotiating for the US Government
#4
still hoping he can somehow redeem himself by getting Shalit released. Sorry Jimmy, even if you succeed - which I hope beyond hope that you do - it won't salvage the damage that you alone have caused.
I agree his passport should be revoked. I can think of nothing more fitting than to solidfy his true legacy.
#5
Carter wants another North Korea style arrangement, that has delayed NKs collapse by over a decade, as a done deal and present it to Bush like he did to Clinton. Except Bush is no Clinton and thinks longer term than the next office BJ.
Posted by: ed ||
04/21/2008 8:29 Comments ||
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#6
Former US president Jimmy Carter's talks with Hamas leaders constitute de facto recognition of the Islamic movement's legitimacy...
Congrats to Hamas, defactolly recognized by a senile Georgia peanut farmer. This should really help the cause...
#7
I caught part of his interview with NPR this morning. He's nuts. He claims to have gotten a written staement from Hamas recognizing Israels's right to exist. He also claims no one in the State Department or in the Bush Administration, or any other person in the government asked him not to go talk with Hamas. He's either outright lying or his memory is extremely short. He see's himself as the Great Peacemaker. He has no clue whatsoever he's being used by Hamas for their own purposes. Revoke his passport.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
04/21/2008 9:48 Comments ||
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#8
Also, I would have someone compare the written Arabic and English versions. Arafish was famous for saying one thing in English and another in Arabic.
Of course, even if Hamas did say they would recognize Israel's right to exist, doesn't mean that they would mean it.
Posted by: Rambler in California ||
04/21/2008 11:44 Comments ||
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#9
Together at last
Together forever
We're tying a knot
That no one can sever
I don't need sunshine now to turn gray skies to blue
I don't need anyone but you
#10
I know he has a lock on the title of Worst President Ever, but, on behalf of sane people everywhere, I would like to also nominate Jimmy for 2nd Worst President Ever. And if he ever comes back as an undead Zombie Worst President Ever, I just hope Chuck Norris is around to deal with it.
#13
From the beeb, the next "great" Carter strategy::
"Asked how progress could be made given Israeli views of Hamas, Mr Carter said in an interview with the BBC's Newsnight that the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) had been classified as a terrorist organisation before becoming a negotiator for peace. 'I think that there is always a chance to change the characterisation of dissident or rebel groups and my hope is that this brief encounter with them will lead to that conclusion,' he said."
Syrian President Bashar Assad said Sunday that he has exchanged messages with Israel through a third party to explore the possibility of resuming peace talks, the country's official news agency SANA reported.
During a meeting with ruling Baath Party officials, Assad commented on media reports about indirect contact between the two countries. "There are efforts exerted in this direction," he was quoted as saying.
An Israeli newspaper, Yediot Ahronot, on Thursday quoted Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as saying Israel and Syria have been exchanging messages to clarify expectations for any future peace treaty. He didn't disclose the content of the messages or provide other details about the contacts. The paper quoted Olmert as saying, "They know what we want from them, and I know full well what they want from us."
Assad echoed those comments on Sunday, saying Israel "knows well what is accepted and not accepted by Syria." "Syria rejects secret (direct) talks or contacts with Israel... Anything Syria does in this regard will be announced to the public," Assad was quoted as saying.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/21/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
ION, ISRAELNN/ARUTZ SHIVA > HIZBULLAH MAY DISPATCH ISRAEL ARABS TO ATTACK IN REAR [Terror]IN CASE OF WAR. Hizzies proclaim to be also training SUNNI fighters + claim that NEXT WAR WILL BE FOUGHT MOSTLY IN ISRAEL, NOT LEBANON.
Iran on Sunday rejected claims presented to the UN atomic watchdog that it may have been studying how to develop a nuclear weapon, a day ahead of a visit by a top International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) official. "These are nothing but baseless and unfounded allegations," Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini told reporters. "The peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear programme has already been proven."
IAEA deputy director general Olli Heinonen is due in Tehran on Monday for talks with officials on the alleged weaponisation studies, the Vienna-based atomic agency announced on Saturday.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/21/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Yeah, that's why Iran needs a heavy water reactor.
And uranium enriching facilities.
Saudi Arabia strongly refuted allegations made by some Iranian newspapers that Riyadh is behind the killing of top Hezbollah commander Imad Mughniyeh in Lebanon. Denying reports, Interior Minister Prince Naif Bin Abdul Aziz said: "It is ridiculous".
Prince Naif also clarified that his recent meeting with US Ambassador to Iraq was focused on the condition of Saudi detainees and their coming back home.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/21/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Of course we didn't kill Mughniyeh in Lebanon.
The bomb was in Damascus.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
04/21/2008 12:09 Comments ||
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#2
HMMMMM - wel-l-l, NET > Mugniyeh's body was reportedly detained or beld back by Hizb miniutes after the same blast that killed him, AND IS STILL HELD BY THEM = NOT RELEASED TO FAMILY???
Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah movement on Sunday dismissed as "baseless" recent remarks made by U.S. President George W. Bush accusing the group of using terror and violence against innocent civilians.
Hezbollah said in a statement that any resistance movement in the world would be proud of being criticized by perpetrators "of global terrorism" such as Bush and his allies. Washington has accused Lebanon's Hezbollah-led opposition and Syria of trying to block Lebanon's efforts to elect a head of state to replace pro-Syrian Emile Lahoud, whose term ended in November.
The statement said Hezbollah fighters considered Bush's remarks "as proof that the Lebanese resistance group is on the right track. The whole world knows that the U.S. poses the most serious threat to international peace and security."
"Since the Beirut attack, we and citizens of many countries have suffered more attacks at the hands of Hezbollah and other terrorists," Bush last week on 25th anniversary of the April 18, 1983 bombing of the US embassy in Beirut which killed 52.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/21/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah movement on Sunday dismissed as "baseless" recent remarks made by U.S. President George W. Bush accusing the group of using terror and violence against innocent civilians.
According to hesbollah, JEWISH civilians are an acceptable military target, so they can do anything they wish.
The entire southern half of Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley needs to glow for a few thousand years.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/21/2008 15:50 Comments ||
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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.
TOKYO - North Korea told the United States in December it has produced a total of around 30 kg (66 lbs) of plutonium, about 20 kg less than what the United States estimates, a Japanese newspaper reported on Monday. The daily Tokyo Shimbun reported that North Korea's chief envoy to the talks, Kim Kye-gwan, told his U.S. counterpart, Christopher Hill in North Korea last December the North had used about 18 kg of its plutonium stockpile for nuclear development and around 6 kg for its first and only underground nuclear test in October 2006.
Chronic food shortages are not new in North Korea. But United Nations officials warn the situation is likely to get worse. They say the country is facing dire food shortages due to last August's heavy floods, which destroyed much of the nation's crops. 
The origin of a significant amount of the terrorism the world faces links back to Pakistan, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said on Sunday. 
In a performance worthy of former Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Al-Sahhaf, also known as "Comical Ali," a spokesman for one of the remaining Sunni insurgency groups in Iraq told Al Jazeera last month that 44,000 U.S. troops had been killed in that country.
Iraqi President 
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made an unannounced visit to Baghdad Sunday as Iraq continued its assault on 
The IDF announced on Sunday that it will investigate the death of a Reuters TV cameraman, who was killed along with five others by an IDF tank shell in the Gaza Strip last week. "The IDF is conducting a field investigation to look into the claims regarding the circumstances of the death of a Reuters cameraman," a statement issued by the army read. "The IDF similarly investigates every claim regarding uninvolved civilians hurt in fighting areas." 
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter arrived in Jordan Sunday to meet with King Abdullah. Mr. Carter's visit follows meetings Friday and Saturday in Damascus, Syria, with exiled Hamas leader 
A verbal confrontation broke out Sunday between Hamas and an Egyptian government officials, after Egyptian Foreign Minister 
Syrian President Bashar Assad said Sunday that he has exchanged messages with Israel through a third party to explore the possibility of resuming peace talks, the country's official news agency SANA reported. 
Iran on Sunday rejected claims presented to the UN atomic watchdog that it may have been studying how to develop a nuclear weapon, a day ahead of a visit by a top International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) official. "These are nothing but baseless and unfounded allegations," Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini told reporters. "The peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear programme has already been proven." 
Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah movement on Sunday dismissed as "baseless" recent remarks made by U.S. President George W. Bush accusing the group of using terror and violence against innocent civilians. 
