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25 dead in Baghdad car boom
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Afghanistan
Wreckage Removed From Kabul Airport
Peacekeepers dragged away the wreckage of a Soviet-era plane on Saturday in an effort to cleanup Kabul’s battle-scarred airport and encourage more commercial air traffic. Two years after the fall of the Taliban, the view from the runway presents arriving passengers with a sobering summary of Afghanistan’s brutal history. The rusting hulks of planes destroyed by U.S. bombs in the assault that toppled the Islamic hardline regime in late 2001 are mixed with those from earlier wars. To help in the cleanup, German soldiers used a bulldozer and two cranes on Saturday to haul the crumpled carcass of an Antonov cargo plane from a patch of grass next to a main taxiway to an area known as "the graveyard" - already littered with dozens of destroyed planes and helicopters.
"Dieter! Get that bulldozer over there and move that wrecked Antonov off the taxiway!"
"But sir, that’s a brand new Russian plane!"
"Like I was saying, get that wreck outta there!"

"If we want to go into the future we need to remove the signs of 23 years of war," German Gen. Andris Freutel told reporters watching the removal work, as one of the Afghan national airline’s few jets roared off toward Dubai. Troops from the 5,500-strong NATO-led peacekeeping force have already removed dozens of wrecks, but the airport is still littered with rusting fuselages, burnt-out tanks and troop carriers. The area around the airport, which lies in the north of the city with a clear view of the snowy Hindu Kush mountains, also remains heavily mined. Red flags flutter around the sections where mine clearers are working painstakingly to remove them. The de-mining is due to be completed in about a year.
"Welcome to Kabul International Airport. For your safety, no smoking is allowed inside the terminal, and please watch where you step."
Posted by: Steve White || 01/18/2004 1:11:15 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  nice to see the Germans keeping themselves real busy with such dangerous and hostile work.do they ever leave kabul and go huntin for the bearded fuck wits in the hills?
Posted by: Jon Shep U.K || 01/18/2004 4:59 Comments || Top||

#2  Do they ever leave Kabul
I don't think the agreement under which they're deployed allows them to yet, although both the Germans and NATO are working to get them up into the north, near Mazar-e-sharif.

I remember reading somewhere that there are as many as 60,000 mines in and around the airfield. That's a lot of mines to get rid of! A year may not be enough time.

On another note, I think a scrap-iron concession in Afghanistan would be a fantastic investment...
Posted by: Old Patriot || 01/18/2004 12:18 Comments || Top||

#3  If the economic development guys are looking for ideas... build a smelter for war debris. Afghanistan could be the regions greatest producer of raw steel and aluminum ingots. Only problem is finding enough dung to fire the furnaces. But,if need be, natural gas could be brought in from the north.
Just kidding.
Posted by: Gasse Katze || 01/18/2004 12:26 Comments || Top||

#4  Actually, it's not a bad idea, but instead of gas, use electricity. There's enough potential for hydroelectric power (and a few existing dams) to not only meet the modest needs of the nation, but to also use to smelt down war debris into constituent parts. It wouldn't make anyone filthy rich (unless they got the Pak contract, as well), but it would be a rather substantial boost to the local economy.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 01/18/2004 12:28 Comments || Top||

#5  That thought passed through my mind this morning.With all the destroyed Soviet equipment lying around,heck think of all the brass,copper,and aluminum in the radiators.Probably do well in Iraq,too.
Hydro-electric would be the way to go,don't think there are big rivers in Afganistan.But the volume of H2O is not as important as the distance of fall(hieght of the water column).
Posted by: raptor || 01/18/2004 17:57 Comments || Top||


5 killed in Taliban attack near Kandahar
Five people were killed and 13 were wounded on Saturday when suspected Taliban fighters ambushed a convoy of Afghan government military vehicles in the restive southern province of Kandahar, an official said. "Three Taliban were killed and four of them were wounded in the clash that lasted for 50 minutes," said Khali Pashtuna, a spokesman for the provincial governor. He said two government fighters were killed and nine others were wounded. About 40 Taliban fighters had attacked the vehicles, which were carrying 13 soldiers near the district of Khakraiz, Mr. Pashtuna said. About 70 people have been killed or wounded by fighting in the past two weeks in the Kandahar region, once a stronghold of the country’s former Taliban rulers. Afghanistan has had a fresh wave of violence since August, in which more than 450 people have been killed and scores wounded, mostly in the southern and eastern areas. Militants, civilians, aid workers, Afghan troops and more than a dozen foreign soldiers have been among those killed.
I'm still having trouble with this concept of lumping dead bad guys in with their intended victims when corpse counting. Was it up to me, I'd say they don't count, or that they should go onto a separate list, which would be regarded as a cause for rejoicing. NYT's headline sez five were killed, but three of them were attackers. To me, that means two people were killed, at a cost to the enemy of three deaders.
Separately, state-run media reported Saturday that at least 16 children had died in an outbreak of whooping cough in a remote part of Afghanistan. The deaths over the past five days in the Khwahan District of northern Badakhshan Province came after snow and freezing weather.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 01/18/2004 12:06:30 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Dan, I think it is intentional to boost up their bodybag counts. After all this is the New York Times.
Also notice that, even when the 13 Afghans were ambushed and outnumbered (about 3.8 to 1 by guess) they still managed to kill more of the enemy - thats good shooting.
Being the NYT I'm suprised they did not include the 16 children who died of Whooping cough in the body bag count.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 01/18/2004 10:43 Comments || Top||

#2  How many people has the NYT has had to fire for either blatantly writing fiction or distorting and twisting what "facts" they do write in the last year? Seems to me they need to keep a "bodybag count" in their own offices. If they did, maybe they wouldn't be so quick to engage in such deceit.

Obviously, WHO hasn't "returned" to Afghanistan, and there are still scores of children not immunized against childhood diseases. When was the last time you even heard of an American child catching whooping cough? I don't think there's been thirteen deaths from the disease in the last 50 years in this country.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 01/18/2004 12:26 Comments || Top||


Arabia
A Confession to America
In a meeting with a Congressional delegation visiting Jeddah, I admitted to some of them that we owe the world some overdue explanations. I said that first, we do have problems with our educational system. Yes, some books, teachers, imams, and writers instill uncertainty and fan fears of those who are different from us. Our isolationists, just like yours, would like to keep us indoors, away from you and everyone else including our next-door neighbors.
Except that Arabia has more isolationists and xenophobes per capita than we do. Lots more, in fact...
This is a problem that has been with us for generations and has been growing worse for the last twenty years. Thank God, we are finally tackling it. One of the most important recommendations of our National Dialogue Forum is to rethink and redesign our curriculum on a more tolerant, worldly, scientific and practical basis. We need graduates who know how to do things rather than how to philosophize and advance theories about man’s relationship with God. Yes, we need to keep the hereafter in mind but we also urgently need to help ourselves in the here and now.
It's a lot easier to be a religious fanatic, though. You only have to read one book. And fatwahs aren't subject to peer review. If you use the scientific method, you're not allowed to kill people who disprove your theories. With fatwahs, you're not even subjected to disproof. The worst you'll get is a counter-fatwah, and you can always denounced the other guy as an heretic...
Second, we must open ourselves up to the world. Our visa process should be more hospitable to investors, tourists, students and visitors of all faiths, races and nationalities. How else can we convince the world of our goodness and progress if the only proof we present is paid TV commercials?
If you do that, then you're also subjecting yourself to external opinions on how well your system works. Many of us popping by as tourists wouldn't be real happy to have our wives slapped around by the religious cops, or referred to as "whores."
Third, we have to learn how to communicate. Unless we, the silent majority, find our voices and present our case to the world, certain self-appointed representatives, the extremists on our left and right, will have the stage all to themselves. Their captive audience in America and elsewhere will see us either as anti-western or more western than the west itself.
More the former than the latter, I'm afraid...
Fourth, our media must act more responsibly and be more sensitive to those who are different from the majority. It is obvious that our traditional rhetoric has failed us and it is high time we realized its failure. We need a better understanding of others, and to make better use of available communication to present our case. To get us right, we shouldn’t expect the world to go the extra mile to see through our shouts and cries.
Americans (at least those of us who pay attention) find the total lack of religious freedom to be repugnant, and I don't think that's a problem Soddy Arabia ever intends to address. Anybody you don't agree with internally can be denounced as an heretic or an apostate. It's not just the lack of freedom for Christians and Jews to build churches. It's not just the lack of freedom for Arabian Muslims to convert to religions they might find more congenial. You take it to the extreme of treating Shiites and Sufis and all non-Wahhabis as infidels. And God help anyone who decides he or she is agnostic or even atheist! That makes Saudi-occupied Arabia a state founded on fanaticism. That single lack of freedom makes all other freedoms unattainable.
In a couple of hours I became friends with Alan Makovsky and David Abramowitz of the US House of Representatives, and as we hugged goodbye, we realized that all we need is for our peoples to talk to each other. The rest, I assure you, will be New History.
I doubt it greatly. We can talk all we want, but one of the sides in the conversation is looking for something the other is incapable of providing. I saw an article the other day about a joint Paleostinian-Israeli team that was running off to Antarctica to scale a mountain in the expectation of that leading to "greater understanding." But to understand all isn't necessarily to forgive all. Sometimes understanding your adversary makes you more determined to defeat him. We had similar exchanges with the Soviets during the Cold War. And I'm sure there were similar exchanges with the Germans and Italians in the 1930s. Wrong remains wrong, regardless of whether you like an individual member of the other side on a personal level.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 01/18/2004 11:46 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Absolutely NO RESPECT for Islam. Any I had fell on 9-11-01. I've got more respect for Calender People, palm readers, Hale Boppers...
Posted by: Lucky || 01/18/2004 12:17 Comments || Top||

#2  I never really knew anything about Islam before 9/11 except some basics. Now I know more than I want.
Posted by: Charles || 01/18/2004 12:24 Comments || Top||

#3  Except that Arabia has more isolationists and xenophobes per capita than we do. Lots more, in fact...

Yup, got to be pretty close to 100 percent
Posted by: Cheddarhead || 01/18/2004 12:33 Comments || Top||

#4  A few minor matters: Jews don't build all that many churches (at least for ourselves); in fact, I believe Jews can't even BE in Soddy Arabia at all. Also, I don't think the lack of freedom on the part of Muslims to convert to other religions is limited to S.A. Isn't it a major offense worldwide? I'd love to see a poll of European (or American) Muslims on this topic, something like "Do you support the universal freedom to change one's religion?" Bet the results would be surprising. Also, the intolerance of other beiefs in S.A. is not restricted to other religions. Non-wasabi Muslim sects have a difficult time, too.
Posted by: Seymour Paine || 01/18/2004 17:02 Comments || Top||


Saudi Court Finds In Favor of an Author Sued for 'Secularism'
Hmmm... That's unusual.
An unprecedented lawsuit was initiated in August 2003 in Saudi Arabia by the author Ibrahim Shahbi against a man who accused him of "secularism and straying from the [Islamic religious] path." In December 2003, a Saudi judge sentenced the accuser to sixty lashes, but Shahbi forgave the man, saying that what was important was "to get the message across..." The following are reactions to the incident from Saudi reformists:
Accusations of Heresy are a Problem for Most Muslim Writers
The lawsuit attracted the attention of Saudi intellectuals. Saudi writer and journalist Hiyam Al-Muflih wrote in the Saudi daily Al-Riyadh that the suit "deserves the support of all intellectuals ... because it is a problem for most writers. We live in a time when a writer, after publishing something, is surprised by a deluge of accusations and name-calling, accusing him of heresy... The issue is no longer restricted to libel through the Internet, camouflaged by pseudonyms, but accusations have been boldly aimed at writers, publicly in forums and from the pulpits of mosques... The general lack of reaction of thinkers, writers, and authors about being targeted by insolent and ignorant individuals ... paved the way for anyone to hurtle accusations... Some [of the accusers] are not knowledgeable in Islamic jurisprudence and have no evidence to support their claims. [In the case of Shahbi, the accuser] is a fifty year-old man, who has [an] elementary school education... Who gave him an edict that allowed him to hurt other peoples' honor and faith?"

The Saudi Education System Promotes Hate
An especially harsh reaction to the case came from Saudi author Abdallah Thabit, who used the opportunity to express severe criticism of the Saudi educational system. In an article titled "The Scapegoat Has Something to Say and Has Two Questions," Thabit assumed the identity of the accuser, trying to explain his motives to the accused:

"Don't you know that I, like millions of others, have learned since childhood that anyone who is not with me is the enemy of Allah and His messenger...? After all, you are the product of [the same system of] education that advocates that whoever shaves his beard, changes the [style of] his clothes, and thins his moustache is a secular [person] who wants to control me, my family, my society, and my country with his Western ideas. And whoever disagrees with our predecessors in any way, and asks for something different, is a modernist who attacks the [Muslim] faith and plots day and night to destroy it.

"I was raised to hate anyone who is not Muslim, and even anyone who is not Sunni. Furthermore, I was [taught] to hate anyone who has a different point of view than mine, and consider him a misguided sinner... You know how many times we heard on Fridays [sermons], in lectures, at school, or at the university the supplication ... for the demise of others and for the murder of innocents, and for the love of the criminals who shed innocent blood and allowed the murder [of] anyone who does not say 'there is no God but Allah' [i.e. non-Muslims], and [allow the murder] of secular and modernist Muslims. After all, heresy according to them includes both [non-Muslims and secular Muslims]. Furthermore ... I was told that the [secular Muslims] are more dangerous because they recite [the Shahada] as a cover to attack Allah's religion.

"There were also those who told us that we were allowed to wed Jewish and Christian women among the 'People of the Book,' but - at the same time - hate them. She is my wife to fulfill my lust, but she is a heretic who provokes Allah, His Prophet, and the believers, even though she is the mother of my children... Don't you know how the propagators of the Islamic faith vilify the non-Muslims and the Muslims who disagree with them or their religious doctrine? Don't they repeat from the pulpits, on Fridays and other [days], that Allah will turn their wives into widows, crush their power, paralyze their extremities, and freeze the blood in their veins? Don't they shout these curses and vilifications... even during the most beautiful spiritual moments on Fridays, holidays, and the evenings of Ramadan?"

"I was affected by this culture ... so why do you blame only me for its consequences... You are unable to bring to justice those who are behind this culture ... and you excuse the authors of books and sermons [that engage] in accusations of heresy and in discrimination [among Muslims]... How do you want me to be different than my environment...? And how can I not accuse you of secularism when you watch satellite channels, listen to music...? How can I not accuse you when you [have the] urge to teach English, and to teach women to drive ... and when you maintain that the face and the hands of women [should not be covered] with a veil, that photography is permissible and that [growing] a beard is only a preferred custom [and not a religious duty]...? How can I not accuse you when you disregard these fundamental [values] upon which the religious practice is based ... and why shouldn't they sue all those who isolated us from the world and convinced us that pagans rule it and that we are the ones to be saved [on the Day of Judgment]...?"
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 01/18/2004 11:15 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Sometimes I hope this is going to be a self-correcting situation. Of course I'm still disappointed about the Easter Bunny last year.
Posted by: Shipman || 01/18/2004 11:45 Comments || Top||

#2  Oooh, conflicted muslims. A house of cards is still a house of cards. A few quotes though

"The lawsuit attracted the attention of Saudi intellectuals." Saudi what?

"I was affected by this culture..." That would be infected.

Sorry I have no respect.

Shipman, Linus is still waiting for the Great Pumpkim too.
Posted by: Lucky || 01/18/2004 12:39 Comments || Top||

#3  The Great Pumpkim? Perfect new name for our Nork friend. Another Rantburg-ism invented!
Posted by: PBMcL || 01/18/2004 21:26 Comments || Top||


Britain
WWII Aerial Photo Archive to Go Online
LONDON - A huge British archive of World War II aerial reconnaissance photos, including pictures of the D-Day landings in Normandy, is to go on the Internet on Monday.

Under the digitalization project announced Saturday, some 5 million Royal Air Force photos of Western Europe will be available to the public on the Web site www.evidenceincamera.co.uk
., archivists said. The site did not appear to be accessible on Saturday.

"These images allow us to see the real war at first hand - as if we are RAF pilots," said Allan Williams, head of the Aerial Reconnaissance Archives project at Keele University in north-central England.

The photos, a key source of intelligence for Allied commanders during the war, include American troops landing in Normandy on D-Day, the effects of the bombing of Cologne, Germany, and the German battleship Bismarck being hunted by the Royal Navy.

The pictures were transferred to Keele University in 1962 from the Allied Central Interpretation Unit, where wartime analysts studied the material collected by reconnaissance crews. The collection is the property of the national Public Records Office on permanent loan to the university.

Before the digitalization, using the photo archive had meant a manual search through thousands of boxes.

The Aerial Reconnaissance Archives, known as TARA, expects later to release of 2.5 million Luftwaffe German air force reconnaissance photographs of Eastern Europe seized by the Allies at the end of the war.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 01/18/2004 8:04:37 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Saw this yesterday on LGF. The United States has several million feet of imagery on sale, mostly KH-4 photography from the 1960's. There are literally TONS of stuff still classified, and that will probably remain classified for another 30 years or so before it's even considered for declassification.

The US Air Force had the largest contingent of military imagery analysts (my job) of the armed forces. We NEVER numbered more than about 2500, and for most of the years following the drawdown from Vietnam, the number stood at about 1600. With that crew, we looked at close to a half-million images every year. Not all of those were taken by the United States, but we supplied the majority of them.

My troops in England, average age of 23, average experience ~3 years, beat out two European teams with significantly more experience during competitions in 1987. Darned right I'm proud of them! Several are still in the military, and still doing the same job, at significantly higher rank.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 01/18/2004 22:12 Comments || Top||


IRA leader sez Zionists will hijack Holocaust Day
A former IRA bomber who is prominent in pro-Palestinian circles has denounced Belfast’s Holocaust memorial day, claiming that it was being used to justify Israel’s existence.
Well, having 6 million of your people killed is a rather strong incentive for wanting a state, especially given that there seem to be some folks in the very place where the Holocaust occurred who are ready to do it all over again ...
Fheilim O hAdhmaill, a member of the IRA’s England department during the early Nineties and a key figure in the Provos’ campaign which, among others, claimed the lives of two children in Warrington, claimed that the Holocaust commemoration would be used by local Zionists.
Sounds like he has more in common with Hamas than just his anti-Semitism ...
The college lecturer, who was sentenced to 17 years’ jail for terrorist activities in Britain, pointed to the involvement in Holocaust Day later this month of Ronnie Appleton QC, a retired lawyer and leading figure in Belfast’s Jewish community, as an example of a local ’Zionist’ allegedly using the memorial day to promote Israel.

In an email to members of the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign, which is dated 11 January, 2004, O hAdhmaill wrote: ’We should be particularly concerned that the current Holocaust commemoration ongoing in Belfast City Hall may be used by the organisers - and in particular by the chair, Ronnie Appleton - to justify the establishment of an apartheid state in the Middle East and the racist policies it adopts towards the local Palestinian population both within Israel and in the illegally occupied territories.’
Ah, he reads al-Guardian too ...
The former key figure in the Provos’ British bombing campaign expressed concern for the deaths of Palestinian children at the hands of the Israeli Defence Forces.
Yet said nothing about the kids that his own jackboots murdered in cold blood ...
In his communiqué to pro-Palestinian activists, he tried to make direct comparisons between Nazism and Israeli policies on the West Bank and Gaza.

’Whether we are dealing with the racism of Nazi Germany, or apartheid South Africa or Israel, or the racism being suffered by ethnic minorities in Ireland, North and South, all such racism must be confronted and actively opposed. We should urge the population to remember the Holocaust, but we should also urge them to learn the lesson of the Holocaust.’

When contacted by The Observer, O hAdhmaill admitted writing the email, but said he was being taken out of context. ’This was part of an ongoing discussion within the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign and was not intended for public debate. I wouldn’t attempt for a moment to minimise what happened in the Holocaust.

’I don’t think there is anyone in Ireland who wouldn’t give their wholehearted support to the Holocaust commemoration. But I don’t apologise for saying that one of the lessons of the Holocaust is that racist ideologies can lead to such atrocities.’
Not anti-Semitism, of course ...
O hAdhmaill enlarged on his remarks about barrister Ronnie Appleton. ’As far as I am concerned there has been no evidence of any attempt to use the Holocaust memorial to further a political objective. And that is to his credit.’

For his own part, Appleton was clear about exactly who was trying to gain from the Holocaust commemoration. ’He [O hAdhmaill] is trying to make capital out of the Holocaust,’ he said.

Appleton pointed out that he was one of 20 people on the local committee and not the chairperson.

Republicans and far-left activists involved in pro-Palestinian groupings in Ireland piously deny protest that they are not anti-Semitic but merely anti-Zionist.
Republicans is the British term for pro-IRA folks in Northern Ireland. No relation to the US political party of the same name.
Throughout the history of Irish republicanism in the twentiethth century there have been strong strains of anti-Semitism. Sean Russell, the IRA leader in the Forties, openly colluded with the Nazis and died on a German U-boat off the western coast of Ireland. Russell, despite his links with the Nazi regime, is still venerated by republicans today.
Looks like that isn’t the only thing they venerate ...
Posted by: Dan Darling || 01/18/2004 12:42:13 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  ’Whether we are dealing with the racism of Nazi Germany, or apartheid South Africa or Israel, or the racism being suffered by ethnic minorities in Ireland, North and South, all such racism must be confronted and actively opposed. We should urge the population to remember the Holocaust, but we should also urge them to learn the lesson of the Holocaust.’


Yes, and the lesson obviously is that you have to finish what you start

When contacted by The Observer, O hAdhmaill admitted writing the email, but said he was being taken out of context. ’This was part of an ongoing discussion within the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign and was not intended for public debate. I wouldn’t attempt for a moment to minimise what happened in the Holocaust.

Not subject to public debate?. Guess you can't have the public see you for what you really are. It may be a small blessing but thank God the Provos like their beer and whiskey. Other wise they'd probably start wearing coats made by DuPont. I just did a Google search on Synagogues in Northern Ireland. I came up with a total of one. With another 5 for the Republic. My God the place must be crawling with Zionists

As an aside when the demographics of the North make the unification of Ireland inevenible does any one really think the IRA will disappear?
Posted by: Cheddarhead || 01/18/2004 13:14 Comments || Top||

#2  I know plenty of Irish-Americans here in the good ol' US of A, and they're all fine people and upstanding Americans. But I will say that the Irish I've met from the U.K. seem to be just 2 degrees away from paleostinians: pathetic, incapable losers, who blame all the world's ills on the English and do nothing to improve their own lot. They get no sympathy from me.
Posted by: Scooter McGruder || 01/18/2004 13:50 Comments || Top||

#3  Someone should take that bastard to South Sudan or on one of those areas of Lebanon or Afgahnistan wheere the Muslim herrensvolsk killed and raped the inferior races.
Posted by: Anonymous || 01/18/2004 13:57 Comments || Top||

#4  said he was being taken out of context

Yeah, he was misquoted! The Sons of St. Patrick would NEVER try to make political hay on 6 million dead jews! As good socialists, they're only pointing out that the israelis and Americans are NAZIs.
Posted by: 4thInfVet || 01/18/2004 15:30 Comments || Top||

#5  Old irish joke -

'There is no anti-semitism in Ireland. We don't have time for that kind of nonsense!'

It sounds to me like this is more Loony Left thinking.
Posted by: phil_b || 01/18/2004 16:43 Comments || Top||


Brit ’whistleblower to stand trial soon
EFL.
She was an anonymous junior official toiling away with 4,500 other mathematicians, code-breakers and linguists at the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) in Cheltenham. But now Katharine Gun, an unassuming 29-year-old translator, is set to become a transatlantic cause célÚbre as the focus of a star-studded solidarity drive that brings together Hollywood actor-director Sean Penn and senior figures from the US media and civil rights movement, including the Reverend Jesse Jackson.
Jeepers! Sean Penn AND Jesse Jackson? What’d the poor lass do to deserve such a cruel fate!
Gun appears in court tomorrow accused of breaching the Official Secrets Act by allegedly leaking details of a secret US ’dirty tricks’ operation to spy on UN Security Council members in the run-up to war in Iraq last year. If found guilty, she faces two years in prison. The leak has been described as more boring and more inconsequental than the Pope’s sex life ’more timely and potentially more important than The Pentagon Papers by Daniel Ellsberg. She was arrested last March, days after The Observer first published evidence of an intelligence ’surge’ on UN delegations, ordered by the GCHQ’s partner organisation, the National Security Agency. Legal experts believe that her case is potentially more explosive for the Government than the Hutton inquiry because it could allow her defence team to raise questions about the legality of military intervention in Iraq. The Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, is likely to come under pressure to disclose the legal advice he gave on military intervention - something he has so far refused to do. At a hearing last November, Gun’s legal team indicated that she would use a defence of ’necessity’ to argue that she acted to save the lives of British soldiers and Iraqi civilians.
Sounds like the usual leftie lawyers are in charge of her defense.
At the time Gun, who was sacked after her arrest and whose case is funded by legal aid, said in a statement: ’Any disclosures that may have been made were justified on the following grounds: because they exposed serious illegality and wrongdoing on the part of the US government who attempted to subvert our own security services; and to prevent wide-scale death and casualties among ordinary Iraqi people and UK forces in the course of an illegal war.’ She added: ’I have only ever followed my conscience.’
Yeah, yeah, now on to the movie deal and the personal appearances, honey.
The leaked memorandum - dated 31 January 2003 - from Frank Koza, chief of staff of the NSA’s Regional Targets section, requested British intelligence help to discover the voting intentions of the key ’swing six’ nations at the UN. Angola, Cameroon, Guinea, Chile, Mexico and Pakistan were under intense pressure to vote for a second resolution authorising war in Iraq.
Ethel! There’s spying going on at the UN! Oh, the horrors!
The disclosure of the ’dirty tricks’ memo caused serious diplomatic difficulties for the countries involved and in particular the socialist government in Chile, which demanded an immediate explanation from Britain and America. In the days that followed the disclosure, the Chilean delegation in New York distanced itself from the draft second resolution, scuppering plans to go down the UN route.
Sometimes you get the bear, sometimes the bear gets you.
A summary of the legal advice published on 17 March last year showed that Goldsmith believed that UN Resolution 678, which authorised force against Iraq to eject it from Kuwait in 1990, could be used to justify the conflict. This position has been fiercely criticised by most leftist opponents experts in international law, who argue that 678 applied specifically to the threat posed to the region by Saddam in 1990.
And he continued to be a threat. Next question?
A key figure could prove to be 54-year-old Elizabeth Wilmshurst, deputy legal adviser to the Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, who stepped down on 21 March. Wilmshurst is said to have left her post because she would not agree to Goldmith’s legal advice. Since leaving her post she has not spoken about the crucial discussions in the Foreign Office last March. Many believe that a second whistleblower could prove fatal to the Government.
Tony’s being brought down by yapping poodles.
Posted by: Steve White || 01/18/2004 12:59:19 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Passed that one onto Bjorn.

Not necessarily - seems Panorama's going to do a hatchet job on Gilligan, via buzzmachine.
Posted by: Anonymous2U || 01/18/2004 1:02 Comments || Top||

#2  "Fatal" to the government, eh? So who takes over then, Gordon Brown? Or does Labour just collapse and the Tories take over?
Posted by: Dan Darling || 01/18/2004 1:02 Comments || Top||

#3  Oops, partial wrong posting. Krekar to Bjorn.

Wouldn't it be wonderful to have some Iraqis testify as to how her wanting to protect them made them feel?
Posted by: Anonymous2U || 01/18/2004 1:04 Comments || Top||

#4  Excellent idea, A2U, let's get some the relatives of the people in the mass graves in Iraq to fly into the trial. They could be, ah, "character" witnesses.
Posted by: Steve White || 01/18/2004 1:12 Comments || Top||

#5  Necessity plea? For breaking cryptographic clearances, including targes, soruces and methods?

Gimme a break.

Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom: it is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves. (William Pitt)

It most certainly is the creed of slaves in this case, typical leftist slaves.
Posted by: OldSpook || 01/18/2004 1:29 Comments || Top||

#6  DD, If Tony falls (remember, although he's been doing the right thing in Iraq, he's still an Internationalist, EU-loving Leftist who was in the CND during the 80's) then Gordon Brown is most likely to fill his shoes.

'New' Labour is pretty fragmented anyhow, but they love the smell of power, therefore expect them to rally together to defeat a motion of no confidence (which would trigger a general election). The tories are still too weak to take NuLabour on head-on at the moment, but are increasing in the polls. The real losers are the Liberal Democrats, who change policies accordingly with the previous opinion poll.

Tony has been watering down key legislation to the point of impotence to get it past his (sometimes rabidly leftist) backbenchers for some time now. Gordon Brown isn't as well known as Tony (obviously), but it is unlikely there would be more than a token effort from other NuLabourites to grab hold of the reins (but it would be very interesting if some upstart did appear). Look for several years of appeasing policies to the hard-left in the party.

A year ago a Tory government at the next election was thought to be impossible. It's getting more and more likely every day (and *then* the US will see what a true ally Britain is!).
Posted by: Tony (UK) || 01/18/2004 5:40 Comments || Top||

#7  I'd like to see the courts go against this twit, and end up sentencing her to hang by the neck for treason. I think it "would send a necessary message" to the loony left. I also think Jesse Jackass and Sean Penn should be jailed (or hanged beside her) for enciting, and for interfering in the internal workings of a foreign government. I wouldn't shed a single tear for any of the three.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 01/18/2004 13:58 Comments || Top||


Down Under
US plan to ’pre-position’ arms
News from Down Under
THE US is likely to use the joint military training facility it is seeking to establish in northern Australia to pre-position equipment and materiel, according to America’s highest-ranking soldier, visiting Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Richard Myers. In its global reassessment of its force deployment the US has developed a places, not bases, doctrine under which it stores large amounts of equipment from tanks to aircraft, and fuel and ammunition around the world to allow the rapid deployment of troops into theatres of war. In an interview with The Australian, General Myers said that there was no proposal to station US troops permanently in Australia.
I guess that's okay. Anon1 seems to have found a boyfriend...
However, General Myers said training was "an expensive proposition and if there are things that help you in training that would be better pre-positioned it might be something you’d look at. We do that in other places in the world, places where we train but we're not there routinely. We do want to hold down our costs to our taxpayers but at the same time be a ready force."
Lord knows, we practiced marrying the troops to their equipment enough times on REFORGERs...
General Myers welcomed Australia’s decision to participate in the US missile defence program and played down any diplomatic difficulties with other nations. "I was in China right before I came to Australia, we discussed a wide variety of issues from international terrorism to regional security issues like North Korea and China/Taiwan and one issue that did not come up was missile defence". General Myers said missile proliferation was a reality all over the world and nations would have to deal with it as they saw fit. "The US has spent years and lots of money in research and development on how to counter this threat. The most recent example of the success of the program was in Iraqi combat where the Patriot missile system, the PAC 3, successfully engaged every missile that came its way. Contrast that with just over 10 years ago when our largest single loss in Desert Storm was 26 individuals in a Scud missile attack in Saudi Arabia."
And ten years from now this technology is going to seem primitive...
General Myers paid tribute to the role of the Australian SAS in Iraq. "I think when the history of the major combat in Iraq is written the thing that will fascinate people is the way a third or more of Iraq, maybe two-fifths of the country, was dominated by relatively a very small force of US and Australian special forces. These were connected, in ways we’ve never connected before, with air power. There was air power over those forces 24 hours a day seven days a week. That western part of Iraq was controlled by very few soldiers. It was a remarkable feat. It’s something that doesn’t get written about very much and it’s something Australians can be very, very proud of." Of the Australia-US military and strategic relationship generally, General Myers said: "It’s as close as any relationship we have with anyone".
Common language, common heritage, common values... Different hats, though.
He believed the coalition was winning the war on terrorism and said the capture of Saddam Hussein provided the US with a wealth of detail on the insurgency in Iraq. "We did get a lot of intelligence from Saddam Hussein that showed us the structure of how the former regime elements were organised and who some of the key leadership were. We think that’s had a big impact. There’s still a big piece we don’t understand fully and that’s the role of the foreign fighters, the jihadists and al-Qaeda, who may have infiltrated into Iraq following the sound of the guns." General Myers said that, having seen all the intelligence, when the Iraq war began he was convinced that Hussein had stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction. He insisted there was no attempt by the US or Australian governments to mislead the public over the WMD issue and that eventually a full explanation would emerge of what the Hussein regime did with its WMD capabilities.
Posted by: tipper || 01/18/2004 10:47:36 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Common language, common heritage, common values...

Maybe so... but they cheat in sailboat racing. It chaps me that they cheat at this better than we do.

Posted by: Shipman || 01/18/2004 11:48 Comments || Top||

#2  So you haven't read W's National Sailboat Race Cheating Initiative?
Posted by: Matt || 01/18/2004 13:53 Comments || Top||

#3  It seems the english language bond matches the capability and desire to resist tyranny. I like Myer's speech and it never hurts to acknowledge dedicated and capable assistance from our reliable friends, the Aussies and Brits - not to denigrate any of the others: Italians, Spaniards, Poles et al
Posted by: Frank G || 01/18/2004 16:08 Comments || Top||

#4  It seems the english language bond matches the capability and desire to resist tyranny. I like Myer's speech and it never hurts to acknowledge dedicated and capable assistance from our reliable friends, the Aussies and Brits - not to denigrate any of the others: Italians, Spaniards, Poles et al
Posted by: Frank G || 01/18/2004 16:08 Comments || Top||

#5  common heritage - Its one of those little talked about things that Britain created the colony that became Australia as a direct result of losing the American colonies as it needed somewhere to send the criminals it previously shipped to America. These were for the most part poor and desperate people, who were faced with a choice of steal or starve. At the time you could be hung for stealing a shilling (a small silver coin), and transportation to the colonies was considered a humane alternative.

There were 2 'criminals' with the same family name as mine on the 'first fleet' of convicts to Australia. Both were transported for 7 years for stealing a hankerchief (which meant they were pickpockets).
Posted by: phil_b || 01/18/2004 17:16 Comments || Top||


Europe
German Security Wants Mzoudi Expelled If Acquitted in Trial
German security experts want Sept. 11 plot defendant Abdel-Ghani Mzoudi to be sent home to Morocco, if he is acquitted in court next week, the magazine Der Spiegel reported yesterday. The weekly said an acquittal was believed likely in the Mzoudi case, with the Hamburg court to deliver a verdict on Jan. 22, in a story released in advance of publication. If there is an acquittal, security officials still regard Mzoudi as having been involved in the terrorist scene in view of his links with the Hamburg cell of terror pilots and for attending an Al-Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan in 2000. “There is no room in Germany for terrorists like him,” Hamburg Interior Senator (minister) commented to Der Spiegel.
"We have enough nut cases running around that we can't seem to get rid of..."
Mzoudi, 31, is charged on 3,000 counts as an accessory to murder in the Sept. 11, 2001 plane attacks and for belonging to a terrorist grouping. The prosecution is seeking the maximum 15-year prison term. The defense demanded an acquittal, saying prosecutors failed to make a compelling case to prove that Mzoudi was actively involved in the Hamburg cell thought to have plotted and carried out the attacks. The magazine said that Mzoudi, if acquitted, hopes to avoid being sent back to Morocco for fear that he might be arrested there and possibly extradited to the United States. Mzoudi’s residence permit for Germany expired while he was in trial detention and he has applied for an extension to permit him to complete his university studies, Der Spiegel said. The magazine said his lawyers have apparently abandoned the idea of filing for political asylum, a move they reportedly were mulling after Mzoudi was released from trial custody last month.
Good idea. Though Norway would probably take him.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 01/18/2004 11:56 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Blast destroys car of Muslim named as French ’prefect’
The car belonging a man appointed as one of France’s first Muslim "prefects" -- or departmental governors -- was destroyed by an explosive device which went off early on Sunday, authorities in the western city of Nantes said. Aissa Dermouche, 57, Algerian-born director of the Audencia school of management, was named prefect of the eastern department of Jura on Wednesday in the midst of a heated debate over positive discrimination. "An explosive device was planted in his car overnight and the car exploded on Avenue Camus (outside his home) at around 4:40am," Jean-Christophe Paille of the prefect’s office in Nantes said. He said there were no clues as to who was responsible for the blast, and that police protection of Mr Dermouche and his family had been stepped up.
Posted by: TS || 01/18/2004 11:09:40 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


CIA says Mullah Krekar was ordering suicide bombings from Oslo
Internet messages sent by an exiled Islamic radical allegedly ordering suicide bomb attacks against coalition troops in Iraq have been intercepted by American intelligence officials. Mullah Krekar, founder of Ansar Al-Islam, the fanatical terror group linked to al-Qa’eda and blamed by America for a number of attacks on its troops, is being held in an Oslo prison while police investigate if he has any role in the Iraqi resistance. Last week, CIA officials passed the messages from Krekar, a Kurd who was granted political asylum from Saddam Hussein in Norway in 1991, to Norwegian prosecutors.

The investigation into Krekar - arrested earlier this month on charges of conspiracy to murder a Kurdish politician in 2002 - has widened to take in his alleged role in plotting recent attacks, in Europe as well as Iraq. The CIA material details Krekar’s alleged role in the terrorist campaign against coalition troops in Iraq. These allegedly include coded messages sent via the internet authorising suicide bomb attacks and exhorting holy war. Krekar’s lawyer, Byrnar Meling, confirmed the role played by the Americans in investigating his client. "The charges in Norway relate to orders on the internet to carry out suicide bomb attacks in the last months of 2003," he said. "They have been on the internet listening to his messages and the prosecutor has now confirmed that they are interested in starting an investigation into a lot of information that can be tracked to the Americans." Mr Meling admitted that his client had taken part in internet discussion groups used by Islamic groups while in Norway, but said that his postings were merely his thoughts about the justification of suicide in the context of holy war. "There is no encouragement in his comments," he said. "It is simply a theological, political analysis about Jihad."

The Kurdish radical leader has also been interviewed by Italian police investigating attempts to recruit suicide bombers and Islamic resistance fighters in Milan. No charges have been brought. Ansar Al-Islam has itself been accused by the German authorities of planning a suicide attack on a US military hospital in Hamburg in December. The plot was thwarted after the authorities closed the hospital after a CIA tip-off. "This is a case with massive and overlapping international interests," said a senior Western diplomat in Oslo. "The Norwegians have been bombarded with information from a variety of nations, all of which have gathered evidence about this man."

A Kurdish official in Baghdad claimed that the alleged evidence of attacks in Iraq included e-mails and two mobile telephone calls made weeks before the truck bombing of the Baghdad Hotel last October. "We have been told that Krekar found out on the internet that the CIA was using the hotel as a Baghdad base and had sent a mobilisation order to a cell here in Iraq to plan an attack," he said. In the bombing, six Iraqi guards were killed. Krekar, who has previously admitted meeting Osama bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawhiri, claims to have severed links with Ansar Al-Islam in May 2002. Last week, however, the judge who ordered him to be held in prison said that Krekar, "has had, and still has, a central position in Ansar Al-Islam."

Shortly before the war was launched in March, Krekar was in northern Iraq. The appeal court heard that according to prisoners interviewed by the Norwegian police, Krekar trained his followers in the techniques of suicide bombers. "Several witnesses leave the impression that suicide and bombing actions would not have been carried out without [Krekar’s] knowledge," the court said, explaining why Krekar was being held in detention while the investigation continues. "According to the suspect’s statement to police, no one could be punished without his approval."
Posted by: Dan Darling || 01/18/2004 12:57:00 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  he needs a really wet, cold cell - northern Norway is lovely this time of year
Posted by: Frank G || 01/18/2004 7:13 Comments || Top||

#2  Ahhh... Vadso in January!
Posted by: Fred || 01/18/2004 11:01 Comments || Top||

#3  Msg from Mullah Krekar:

Coded msg, repeat coded msg. The mailman is persistant. We need only a bird. A lemming, with wide eyes. Keep the street well swept and place the belt in a stooges hand. The eagle has wings and flies, but the hawk is not a dove. Have stooge detonate the candle.

Potatoes again. End coded msg, repeat coded msg ended.
Posted by: Lucky || 01/18/2004 13:28 Comments || Top||

#4  Actually, I think a windowless cell on Svalbaard would be even better - it's about 400 miles NORTH of North Cape, and surrounded by the Arctic Ocean. He'd love it there, I'm sure! Sunbathing is authorized (required) every seventh Monday.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 01/18/2004 14:09 Comments || Top||


Fifth Column
Ted sez...
A Dishonest War
By Edward M. Kennedy
Of the many issues competing for attention in this new and defining year, one is of a unique order of magnitude: President Bush’s decision to go to war in Iraq.
Agreed.
The facts demonstrate how dishonest that decision was. As former Treasury dimwit secretary Paul H. O’Neill recently mumbled confirmed, the debate over military action began as soon as President Bush took office.
It actually began before Bush’s father left office, but, please, continue, Ted:
Some felt Saddam Hussein could be contained indefinitely without war. A month after the inauguration, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said: "We have kept him contained, kept him in his box." The next day, he said tellingly that Hussein "has not developed any significant capability with respect to weapons of mass destruction."
He was actually best contained in that spider hole, but I digress.
The events of Sept. 11, 2001, gave advocates of war the opening they needed. Wesley Clark They tried immediately to tie Hussein to al Qaeda and the terrorist attacks. Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld created a an Office of Special Plans in the Pentagon to analyze the intelligence for war and bypass the traditional screening process. Vice President Cheney relied on intelligence from zionists Iraqi exiles and put pressure on intelligence agencies to produce the desired result. The war in Afghanistan began in October with overwhelming support in Congress and the country. But the focus on Iraq continued behind the scenes, and President Bush went along. In the Rose Garden on Nov. 26, he said: "Afghanistan is still just the beginning."
One of Dubya’s finer moments.....
Three days later, Cheney publicly began to send signals about attacking Iraq. On Nov. 29 he said: "I don’t think it takes a genius to figure out that this guy [Hussein] is clearly a man with a large mustache . . . a significant potential problem for the region, for the United States, for everybody with interests in the area." On Dec. 12 he stated the obvious raised the temperature: "If I were Saddam Hussein, I’d be thinking very carefully about spider holes the future, and I’d be looking very closely to see what happened to the Taliban in Afghanistan."
Guess Sammy shoulda taken him seriously...
Next, Karl Rove, in a rare public stumble, made his own role clear, telling the Republican National Committee on Jan. 19, 2002, that the war on terrorism could be used politically. Republicans could "go to the country on this issue," he said.
I thought Iraq had nothing to do with the war on terrorism, Ted...
Ten days later, in his State of the Union address, President Bush correctly invoked the "axis of evil" — Iraq, Iran and North Korea — and we lost our clear focus on al Qaeda. The address contained 12 paragraphs on Afghanistan and 29 on the war on terrorism, but only one fleeting mention of al Qaeda. It said nothing about the Taliban or Osama bin Ladento rest. In the following months, although bin Laden was still at large,
and we all know the US can’t walk and chew gum at the same time
the drumbeat on Iraq gradually drowned out those who felt Hussein was no imminent threat
."We can’t wait until the threat becomes imminent" GWB
On Sept. 12 the president told the United Nations: "Iraq likely maintains stockpiles of VX, mustard and other chemical agents and has made several attempts to buy high-strength aluminum tubes used to enrich uranium for a nuclear weapon." He said Iraq could build a nuclear weapon "within a year" if Hussein obtained such material. War on Iraq was clearly coming, but why make this statement in September? As White House Chief of Staff Andrew H. Card Jr. said, "From a marketing point of view, you don’t introduce new products in August."
Deliberate misstatement
Republicans voted almost unanimously for war and kept control of the House in the elections. Democrats were deeply upset divided and lost their majority in the Senate. The White House could use its control of Congress to get its way on key domestic priorities.
"Control" of Congress?? Oh, I forgot, Bush is a Nazi. Do go on, Ted..
The final step in the march to war was a feint to the United Nations. But
evil neocons
Cheney, Rumsfeld and Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz had convinced the president that war would be a cakewalk, with or without the United Thingy Nations, and that our forces would be welcomed as liberators. In March the war began. Hussein’s brutal regime was not an adequate justification for war but
Slobo’s was!
and the administration did not seriously try to make it one until long after the war began and all the false justifications began to fall apart. There was no imminent threat.
And no one ever said it was, Ted. Read the speeches. Or have someone read them to you. Have another cocktail while you’re at it..
Hussein had no nuclear weapons, no arsenals of chemical or biological weapons, no connection to Sept. 11 and no plausible link to al Qaeda.
Is Dan Darling reading this?
We never should have gone to war for ideological reasons driven by common sense politics and based on manipulated intelligence.
We should have just talked real mean & kept on banging our interns..
Vast resources have been spent on the war that should have been spent on priorities at Massachusetts home. Our forces are stretched thin.
Because of the Dems..
Precious lives have been lost.
God bless each one of them and their families.
The war has made America more feared hated in the world and made the war on terrorism more likely harder to win. As Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said in announcing the latest higher alert: "Al Qaeda’s continued desire to carry out attacks against our homeland is perhaps greater now than at any point since September 11th."
Yes because kicking their ass really pisses them off. But we’re not done yet, Ted...
The most fundamental decision a president ever makes is the decision to go to war. President Bush violated the trust that must exist between Democrats government and the people. If Congress and the American people had known the truth,
Exactly what is the truth, Ted?
America would never have gone to war in Iraq. No president who does that to our country deserves to be reelected.
Whatever you say, Ted. You don’t deserve to be reelected, either, but somehow it just keeps happening...
The writer is a drunken slob Democratic senator from Massachusetts
I hope I didn’t f**k this up, it’s my first time. It really IS fun!
Posted by: Chris McGrath || 01/18/2004 1:22:40 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Good 1st post. And yes it is fun poking fun at the drunks sometimes.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 01/18/2004 13:35 Comments || Top||

#2  "Hussein?s brutal regime was not an adequate justification for war"

Well, I don't know about Ted. but the mass grave of Kurdish children buried with their dolls kind of put me over the top on this one. But then again, I get kind of upset about the thought of someone drowning in a car.
Posted by: Matt || 01/18/2004 13:49 Comments || Top||

#3  Ya know, we went to war, we're winning, some lives were lost (it's war afterall, and God Bless every one of them), If you're going to bash Bush, bash his plans for the Future, not for the past that can't be changed.
Posted by: Xeros Tage || 01/18/2004 13:57 Comments || Top||

#4  Ted Kennedy has so few brain cells left that I never take anything he says as being even remotely plausible, much less truthful, but he does provide an insight into the talking points being sent out by the DNC to their operatives throughout the country. You can see it in the "Letters to the Editor" page of the online newspapers. I urge all Rantburgers to pay attention to your own local papers, and refute any and all bulls$$$ written by your local DNC agent. It really, really gets their panties in a twist - especially the guys.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 01/18/2004 14:14 Comments || Top||

#5  We should start a betting pool on what Ted will die from.
Posted by: Charles || 01/18/2004 14:52 Comments || Top||

#6  Woah, Charles! Don't give anybody ideas - it might cause YOU problems. Let the rabid anti-Kennedys in the world do it their way. I'd hate for someone to come in, place a bet, then do Kennedy in the way they'd bet. That would tenatively make Rantburg an "accessory before the fact", and might even get Fred in hot water. Let's just continue to make fun of the fat bas$$$$, and pray the plaque in his bloodstream all breaks loose at once.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 01/18/2004 15:03 Comments || Top||

#7  Like the old WB cartoon, Sir Osis of the Liver...
Posted by: Raj || 01/18/2004 15:09 Comments || Top||

#8  Liver failure. The only accomplice will be single malt scotch whiskey. OH, that's right, he's on the wagon, clean and sober. Right.
Posted by: 4thInfVet || 01/18/2004 15:21 Comments || Top||

#9  Up until last year, I was a Democrat. I had been a Democrat for 31 years, all of my adult voting life.

But over the years my Party changed. One of the changes that took place was that the Democrats no longer thought of Republicans as "the opposition"; Republicans became "the enemy". There's a big difference.

The other change was their complete abandonment of any respect for the truth. I blame this in part on Bill Clinton's wholesale substitution of what I call "lawyer truth" (i.e., any lie will do, just so long as people will swallow it) for the ordinary "people truth" that we all recognize. But even more than Clinton, I blame Ted Kennedy. The man has absolutely no honor, a complete scumbag.

I will never again vote for any Democrat, for any public office, ever.
Posted by: Dave D. || 01/18/2004 15:33 Comments || Top||

#10  4thInfVet - actually, he's been (pretty) sober since his marriage to Victoria Reggie, I think back in 1996.

But the damage was already done...
Posted by: Raj || 01/18/2004 16:16 Comments || Top||

#11  Bush worked closely with Ted to get the Education bill passed. A bill that had everything in it Ted wanted and didn't have the one thing Bush wanted (vouchers). So much for any kind of loyalty for working together.
Posted by: ruprecht || 01/18/2004 18:04 Comments || Top||

#12  ruprecht, I hope you dont expect anything like honor from the Democrats. Their so-called 'honor' (or lack of) is one of the main reasons I left the Democratic Fold. (One of the other reasons was having my eyes 'opened' by what I found on the net.)
Posted by: CrazyFool || 01/18/2004 18:50 Comments || Top||

#13  The Right side of the political world could do better than speculate on what disease Ted Kennedy will die of in old age. We need to coalesce as a political force with the objective of seeing him RESIGN from the Senate, or at least be defeated by finally waking up the voters of MA.

Kennedy has one huge chink in his political armor: the death of Mary Jo Kopechne, and the fact that a secret inquest was held and the results are sealed to this day. I was stationed with the USAF in MA when this homicide happened, and the speculation of the time centered around whether Mary Jo was pregnant with Kennedy's child. Most townspeople of my town, the heavily-Catholic Chicopee Falls, believed that the autopsy of Mary Jo would have showed this fact, had it been released. At the time, over 85% of MA voters were Catholic, and the Catholic church of the time was considerably less tolerant of fornication and resulting pregnancies than it is now. The likely result of that revelation then would have been Kennedy's defeat at the next election.

The other question of course would have been toward Kennedy's intent at the time of the "accident". Post-mortem evidence of hanky-panky would have added motive to the means and opportunity of any criminal death investigation, completing the three sides of the homicide investigative triangle.

Since that time, I have completed 30 years of police work, and I firmly believe that Ted Kennedy should have, and still could be investigated for Kopechne's homicide. Murder has no statute of limitations.

Kennedy has had 35 years to perfect his denial strategy, but that strategy would be no match for a loud and widespread demand for investigation and subsequent criminal redress of this crime.

The Right will never know how strong they are if they don't take on a singular project and see it through to completion. The Kennedy project would be the ideal test of political resolve, because when Kennedy goes down, all the other weasely immoral lefties would go with him.
Posted by: Rivrdog || 01/18/2004 19:26 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Senior Pakistani nuclear official jugged
It says AP, but the source is Khilafah ...
Intelligence agents have picked up a senior official of Pakistan’s premier nuclear weapons laboratory for questioning, his wife claimed today. The detention of Islam-ul Haq, a principal staff officer for the father of Pakistan’s nuclear program, Abdul Qadeer Khan, comes as Pakistan is investigating allegations its scientists passed on secrets and technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea. Haq’s wife, Nilofar Islam, said her husband was dining with Khan at his home yesterday when two uniformed men, believed to be intelligence agents, told him he was wanted for questioning. Khan informed her after they left with Haq in their custody.
"Dining with him," huh? So did Qadeer know he was going to be picked up, and he was briefing him? Or did Qadeer know he was going to be picked up and set him up for the intel guys to grab before he could run?
“We have had no contact with him,” Islam said. “We don’t know where he is and what he is being asked.” Haq is a director at Khan Research Laboratories, a nuclear weapons facility named after the man considered a national hero for giving Pakistan a nuclear deterrent against arch rival India. Pakistan has rounded up a handful of its nuclear scientists for questioning in recent weeks following allegations of distributing nuclear know-how and technology to countries labelled by the United States as rogue nations or sponsors of terror. Major General Shaukat Sultan, spokesman for Pakistan’s powerful military, said he could not confirm Haq had been picked up, but reiterated standing statements some scientists are being “debriefed.” Pakistan has denied that Iran, Libya and North Korea have gained secrets or technology from its nuclear program as a matter of government policy, but officials have confirmed that individual scientists acting on their own account may have transgressed that rule. In his first-ever speech to Parliament yesterday, Pakistan’s military ruler President Pervez Musharraf, noted the world suspected Pakistan of being a nuclear proliferator and that the country must show it was a responsible power.
Does that mean Islam ul-Haq is going down? (Voice with Important Hair: "Only Time Will Tell™!")
Posted by: Dan Darling || 01/18/2004 9:57:21 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Khhhhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaan!!!
Posted by: Raj || 01/18/2004 10:38 Comments || Top||

#2  Raj: LOL! Somebody had to do it, right?
Posted by: Charles || 01/18/2004 12:22 Comments || Top||


Pakistan arrests 7 al-Qaeda suspects
Pakistani agents arrested seven Al Qaeda suspects and confiscated weapons during an early Sunday raid in the southern city of Karachi, an intelligence officer said. As many as 60 armed officers carried out the raid at the Qasim Apartments complex in the Gulistan-e-Jauhar area of the city, surrounding the building before moving in. Officers arrested five men and two women in the 3 a.m. raid, the intelligence officer said on condition of anonymity. Two of the men were Egyptians, three were Afghans and the two women were Arabs, he said without giving details about their alleged ranks in the terror network. Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed (search) said, "Our information is that these are Al Qaeda people. One is a recognized man." He had no further details.
"I can say no more!"
Five hand grenades, four handguns, ammunition and maps of Afghanistan and Pakistan were seized. Sindh provincial police chief Syed Kamal Shah confirmed there were some arrests early Sunday but could not elaborate.
"I can say no more, either!"
Posted by: Dan Darling || 01/18/2004 9:54:06 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Secret Indo-Pak deal led to killing of Hizb commanders?
The operation in which two senior Hizbul Mujahideen commanders were killed in Held Kashmir soon after the Indo-Pakistan talks is being speculated in Srinagar as part of a “secret agreement” with Islamabad. Calling it a major success, Indian officials claim that they have almost wiped out the Hizbul Mujahideen’s entire top brass by killing its Deputy Supreme Commander Ghazi Nasiruddin besides Financial and Publicity Chief Fayyaz Ahmed and Deputy Commander Mohammad Abbas Malik within the past 48 hours.
That’s quite a big hit for the Hezb, which is the only important Jihadi outfit in Kashmir whose members are actually Kashmiris.
Many in Srinagar are trying to link the Indo-Pakistan peace process to the commanders’ killing. “The militancy in Indian Punjab was buried following former Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto’s sharing of intelligence with former Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. Perhaps history is repeating itself,” Kashmiri Sociologist Dr Khursheed told Daily Times. Pointing out to various recommendations forwarded by some US think tanks, he believed both countries had taken their (think tanks) advice and shared intelligence in this regard.
But there isn’t any proof for this, it could just be that the Indians got lucky by capturing one important fearless leader, and got him to spill his guts figurativly, before making him do it literally. It’s also interesting that it’s not the Lashkar or the Jaish’s leadership that is being killed off.
Calling the meeting between Indian Prime Minister Vajpayee’s security advisor, Brijesh Mishra, and Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief “very vital”, observers here said there was every likelihood that the Pakistan government had decided to share intelligence with its Indian counterpart regarding militants operating in Held Kashmir.
And then we hear that the ISI is holding a meeting of all sorts of anti-Indian terrorists and rebels in Bangladesh. Who knows what’s really going on?
Interestingly, ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) President Mehbooba Mufti had recently said India might also start negotiating with the Hizbul Mujahideen leadership. Kashmiri experts here had longed for talks with militants rather than their political leadership to enforce a ceasefire. They viewed talks with the moderate leadership futile, as they had no control over the militants.
But the most likely explanation for what happened is in the next paragraph...
An influential group here also believes that information about Ghazi’s whereabouts had come from within the Hizbul Mujahideen, as there was a feud within the organisation following the 2002 assassination of pro-dialogue commander Abdul Majid Dar.
Posted by: Paul Moloney || 01/18/2004 12:38:34 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I know it's cliche, but is it possible that all of that talk about there being a "rogue" ISI wasn't just plausible deniability and that agency pretty much operates on its own depending on the time of day and/or color of the moon? From what I gather from my Pakistani friend, they're basically accountable to no one, which is how they got the nickname "the Invisible Government" to begin with.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 01/18/2004 12:54 Comments || Top||

#2  It's possible, but the thing with the ISI is that they are simply a branch of the Pakistani army. ISI officers are actually army officers who generally do 3 year tours of duty in the ISI before being rotated back to the army. Similarily, their senior staff are all serving Army Generals.
So if there really is a problem with rogue ISI officers, which there probably is, why do they only go rogue for a few years, before going back to the Army where they prove most loyal to their senior officers?
Posted by: Paul Moloney || 01/18/2004 19:16 Comments || Top||


Kashmir Korpse Kount
Two hour-long shootouts left eight terrorists suspected militants and five paramilitary soldiers dead in Indian-held Kashmir on Saturday, officials said. Soldiers killed six gunnies suspected militants in a clash during a search operation in Mainar village, said Lt Col Mukhtar Singh, an army spokesman. In another gunbattle, two jihadis suspected militants and five paramilitary soldiers were killed in Rakhlajora village, said Tirath Acharya, a spokesman for the paramilitary Border Security Force
Posted by: Paul Moloney || 01/18/2004 12:28:31 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


In One Pakistan Province, Reality Tempers Ideology
EFL, registration req’d
Jobs here remain few, health care a mess, education in shambles, the government in debt. But the people of the North-West Frontier Province can rest easy: store mannequins have been officially deemed obscene. Just before the new year in this provincial capital, storekeepers were putting away mannequins and large advertising posters displaying women’s faces, complying with a Jan. 1 deadline. It was the latest initiative of the provincial government, which is controlled by a hard-line Islamist coalition, the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal.

It has been a year since the coalition took power, declaring that it would impose strict Islamic law. But it has moved more slowly than expected — and often has had to backpedal. It has also found governing to be difficult, its officials concede. "It’s very difficult to be at the helm of affairs," said Inayatullah, the provincial health minister and a member of Jamaat-e-Islami, a decades-old Islamic political movement and coalition member. "When you come to the government you become a bit realistic. When you are outside, you are hysterical emotional."

The government has had to retreat on a plan to put an ombudsman in every district to settle disputes and regulate public morality. A ban on Western trousers in schools has been little enforced, mostly because of resistance from schools. And although the government closed the town’s two bars, which had served foreigners, alcohol and hypocrisy continue to flow in great quantity. Two young bootleggers said business had never been better. Their customers included the military, the police, doctors, ministers and even members of the religious coalition, whose secretaries often made the purchases, they said.
Store owners scoffed at the antimannequin campaign. "We don’t worship those mannequins; they’re lifeless things," said Karam Elahi, who owns a dress shop. Breasts jutting out, eyes gazing glassily, his mannequins sat dismantled and undressed in a dim upstairs corner. Most shopkeepers complied because they feared not the police, but bands of fascisti vigilantes loyal to the coalition. Often, the fascisti vigilantes rampaged through town, tearing down and defacing billboards with women on them while the police stood by. For the past few years, stick-wielding bands of fascisti vigilantes have roamed the city, ensuring that no New Year’s parties took place. Two years ago, they ended up in a shootout at the Peshawar Press Club.

The transformation of this province into what Mr. Inayatullah called an Islamic welfare state, which would provide economic and social justice, has proved perhaps the greatest challenge. The province’s economy is in dire straits, with little industry and hardscrabble agriculture.
It's hard to redistribute the wealth when you don't have any wealth, isn't it? Y'might call that the weak point of socialism...
The chief minister and other government officials made so many promises to various constituencies last year that the annual development plan ended the year at three times its annual budget. Jamaat, a party of professionals — doctors, teachers, the military and engineers — structured much like the Communist Party, is especially smart, by many accounts. Many members already were in government jobs, and it has skillfully moved in more. That has caused some to worry, given the party’s long-term vision of institutionalizing theocracy. The other main coalition partner, the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, led by Maulana Fazlur Rehman, a prominent cleric, in contrast, has come mostly out of the Islamic schools, or madrassas, and most members are new to government. Before taking office, they had promised to use their mosques as offices to give people easier access to them and said they would not take official cars — at least not new ones. Instead, critics say, they have taken to the perks of power as readily as their predecessors. A senior Pakistani official in Islamabad said General Musharraf and his allies, who were surprised by the coalition’s electoral success, felt that the best way to undermine the Islamists was to "let them misgovern for another four years."
Toldja Perv wasn't stupid. But I hope he's keeping the short attention span of the populace firmly in mind...
Posted by: Paul Moloney || 01/18/2004 12:06:51 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  OK, no women mannequins, use male ones. Put them in dresses.
Posted by: Anonymous2U || 01/18/2004 1:07 Comments || Top||

#2  "Before taking office, they had promised to use their mosques as offices to give people easier access to them and said they would not take official cars — at least not new ones"

Apu, get me a 2003! But low miles!
Posted by: Frank G || 01/18/2004 7:17 Comments || Top||


Pakistan’s nuclear proliferation
The Austrian village of Seibersdorf is so anonymous that cab drivers from nearby Vienna have difficulty finding it. But it is home to a laboratory complex whose scientists have the power to start a war or keep the peace.
Hunched over electron microscopes and mass spectrometers, they are the world’s nuclear detectives, analysing minute fragments of radioactive matter collected by UN inspectors in places such as Iran and Libya. Testing particles as small as one-hundredth of the width of a human hair, they can spot the secret yet indelible signs of a nuclear programme. It was in Seibersdorf last summer that a scientist analysing dust taken from a cotton swipe used inside facilities in Iran discovered evidence of highly-enriched uranium - the key component of an atomic bomb. It was the first hint of a programme that had remained hidden for 18 years. Like DNA from a crime scene, analysis of these particles also provides vital clues to the source of any nuclear material. Each radioactive isotope has its own signature.

Scientists at Seibersdorf work for the UN’s nuclear watchdog - the International Atomic Energy Authority. They are just one part of a nuclear police force that is at the forefront of a war against a growing black market in nuclear material, equipment and atomic know-how. The battle involves rogue scientists selling their technical knowledge, nations desperate to join the nuclear weapon states and middlemen turning a quick buck by trading equipment and material. Dramatic evidence from Iran and now Libya reveals a clandestine and sophisticated network stretching from North Korea, Malaysia and China to Russia, Germany and Dubai. Yet one country more than any other stands accused of easing this proliferation. In the network of illegal radioactive trade, all roads point to Pakistan. More precisely, they lead to the Khan Research Laboratories in Kahuta in north Pakistan.

Uranium 235 is the holy grail in bomb-making. It is a specific radioactive isotope whose atoms can split in two, releasing the huge amount of fissile energy vital to an atomic weapon. One way of acquiring it is to obtain uranium ore from the ground - which has minute amounts of uranium-235 - then ’enrich’ it using thousands of centrifuges. This involves putting unrefined uranium into a tube and spinning it at twice the speed of sound to expel any impurities. By doing this, the amount of uranium-235 becomes more concentrated. While this process may not sound too complicated, it requires a feat of supreme technical engineering involving a number of complex components. In particular, the rotors of the centrifuge spin so fast they need to be made of extremely strong material and be perfectly balanced.

In the mid-Seventies, these engineering problems were faced by a Pakistani metallurgist, Abdul Qadeer Khan. An ardent nationalist, he had just seen India test its first nuclear bomb. At the time he was working in Holland for an Anglo-Dutch-German nuclear engineering consortium called Urenco. Through his work there, Khan became aware of secret blueprints for two types of uranium enrichment centrifuges: one based on rotors made of aluminium and another based on a highly-strengthened alloy of steel. Khan went on to steal the blueprints and a list of Urenco suppliers. With the blessing of the then Pakistani government, he established the Khan Research Laboratories near Islamabad and, with the help of the Chinese, went on to secretly develop the country’s atomic bomb. When, in 1998, Pakistan tested its first nuclear bomb in the desert of Baluchistan, Khan became a hero in his home country as the ’father of the Pakistani nuclear programme’. He once said: ’All Western countries are not only the enemies of Pakistan but in fact of Islam.’

His fundamentalist sympathies mean that it is perhaps no surprise that he is also known as the ’godfather of the Islamic bomb’. Evidence has now emerged from Iran and Libya that Khan’s programme in Pakistan may be the source of the greatest level of nuclear weapons proliferation since the Cold War. The Observer has learnt that UN inspectors who have recently visited a number of facilities in Libya discovered large amounts of aluminium centrifuge parts that had ’all the hallmarks of the Urenco designs’ stolen by Khan. Pakistan used these to enrich uranium before later turning to the more complex steel centrifuges. A Vienna-based diplomat familiar with the Libyan inspections said: ’The big surprise was that components found were almost off-the-shelf turnkey equipment. It was as if somebody had been shopping at Ikea and just needed to put the bits together.’ The diplomat said this was unlike Iraq’s secret nuclear programme, which required large teams of scientists to deal with research issues and solve mechanical problems. He said: ’The worry is that if a country like Libya - with little industrial infrastructure and a small population - could lay its hands on this equipment, then a large country might be able to set up a weapons programme at a very fast pace indeed.’

Libyan authorities have been helping the IAEA to piece together the ’cartel’ of middlemen feeding this clandestine network of nuclear know-how and equipment. They have been helped by the US seizure of a German-registered ship in the Suez Canal last October destined for Libya with thousands of parts - believed to be Malaysian-made but based on Pakistani designs - for aluminium centrifuges. The UN inspectors uncovered evidence that many of the same middlemen were responsible for arming Libya and Iran. Last November, Iran finally admitted to a vast, secret procurement network that acquired thousands of sensitive parts and tools from numerous countries over an 18-year period. It is believed that rogue scientists from Pakistan, motivated by million-dollar payouts, were helped by German middlemen and Sri Lankan businessmen based in Dubai. The middlemen are believed to have secured items for Iran from European, Asian and North American companies.

Until the end of last year the Pakistani government furiously denied that any of its nuclear technology had been ’exported’. However, it now accepts that ’certain individuals might have violated Pakistani laws for personal gain’. Last month Pakistan announced it was questioning four of its scientists over the sale of nuclear secrets, including Abdul Khan, but Western officials fear little will come of this inquiry. The political sensitivity of ’arresting’ a national hero such as Khan would inflame Islamic sentiment and backfire on both the US and President Pervez Musharraf, who is an important ally in the war on terrorism. Yet while the ’rogue scientist’ theory is helpful to all parties in explaining how Pakistani equipment has ended up in Libya and Iran, an added complication is the role played by North Korea. US intelligence claims that the Pakistani government, through the Khan laboratories, struck a deal which swapped Pakistani nuclear centrifuge technology for North Korean long-range missiles. South Korean intelligence agents were reported to have discovered the transactions in 2002 and that summer US spy satellites photographed Pakistani cargo planes loading missile parts in North Korea. Pakistan has denied such a deal, but pressure is mounting for Musharraf to clamp down. Reports have also emerged of Pakistani nuclear scientists visiting Burma. It is clear that the extent of the black market in nuclear weapons technology is only just beginning to emerge. As one of the scientists in Seibersdorf said: ’This year looks like being a busy one.’
Posted by: Dan Darling || 01/18/2004 12:02:41 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Some (if not all) of these 'rogue nuclear scientists' need to start developing Extra Holes In The Head Syndrome©. Or having heart attacks. Or falling out of their hotel room windows. Or stepping in front of buses.

And wouldn't it be a shame if some ISI cargo planes started having wings fall off in flight? After all, nobody knows who they belong to, so they're fair game, right?
Posted by: 4thInfVet || 01/18/2004 0:15 Comments || Top||

#2  As one of the scientists in Seibersdorf said: ’This year looks like being a busy one.’

So many documents to shred, so many deals to cover up.
Posted by: Robert Crawford || 01/18/2004 0:23 Comments || Top||

#3  the pakisatnies need to be punished for this,let india nuke em,that'll teach them.
Posted by: Jon Shep U.K || 01/18/2004 5:18 Comments || Top||

#4  Note to Robert Crawford,

Seibersdorf Analytical Laboratory (SAL) prepares the environmental samples for distribution into the Network of Analytical Laboratories (NWAL). NWAL labs are distributed across the world (mostly in the US, but also in the UK, Australia, France etc.). It is staffed by some very good people from the US, UK, Australia, Canada and others from around the world.

SAL produces results that are well nigh impossible to believe and if there is incriminating evidence to be found at a nuclear site the SAL and NWAL will find it. Particles can be be measured down to 10^-12 grams and down to a micron in size.

It won't be the SAL or the NWAL that will hide or obfuscate any evidence that is found and the fact that something is found is not something that can be kept a secret for very long.
Posted by: Russell || 01/18/2004 5:52 Comments || Top||

#5  Sorry; I trust those associated with the IAEA about as far as I can throw them. Somehow a multi-national nuclear weapons program developed right under their noses, even inside some countries they were supposedly watching closely, and they had no clue.

Freaking centrifuges built in freaking Malaysia, then shipped all over the world, and the IAEA was clueless? It stretches the imagination.
Posted by: Robert Crawford || 01/18/2004 9:19 Comments || Top||

#6  This is scary, very scary indeed. I may be pessemistic but it would not suprise me if in the next ten years one of these states does not use nuclear weapons somewhere. While it is true the United Sates is the only nation to use Nuclear Weapons in anger. The US used them to end a war that had already killed millions. These fools will use them to start a war that could kill over a billion
Posted by: Cheddarhead || 01/18/2004 12:59 Comments || Top||

#7  I've now read 2x in the past week we bombed Japan in anger, and I don't agree. After 4 years of war, maybe we were getting tired of it.

We weighed the alternatives. Millions more dead was not an option. And haven't some Japanese military historians started saying that we saved their culture by bombing them?
Posted by: Anonymous2U || 01/18/2004 19:05 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Iraq: Protecting the pipelines
Edited for brevity.
Until a few weeks ago, the only line of defense at a water-pumping station on an oil pipeline near the northern city of Kirkuk was a burly man named Mohammad, who kept his semiautomatic rifle in a metal safe near the cot where he slept. He had no telephone or radio, and when strangers came by he would shout in Arabic: "Shoo, shoo, go away. Go to Kirkuk." Dozens of guards now patrol those grounds, and the shack where Mohammad had been isolated is equipped with the latest communications gear. The security upgrade is part of the new Iraqi Force Protection Service, specifically charged with safeguarding the pipelines and refineries that are the circulatory system of the country’s financial body.

This northern pipeline and other oil facilities around the country have been the targets of repeated acts of sabotage during the U.S-led occupation, slowing the one key source of revenue for vthe country and resulting in fuel shortages that have deepened anger toward and suspicion of the interim government. "The vast pipeline network was a vulnerable target," said U.S. Army Col. Tom O’Donnell, who is in charge of setting up the oil police. Nearly 10,000 members of the new police force have been deputized since October, and an additional 4,500 are expected to be in place by the middle of next month. "Standing up its own oil guard force is a major step forward in the reconstruction effort in Iraq," O’Donnell said. "We are a lot better postured than three months ago to keep the oil flowing." Although attacks on the pipeline have continued, major incidents have fallen sharply, from 16 in October to four last month, he said.
Posted by: Dar || 01/18/2004 12:59:53 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I am anxiously waiting to see if CNN or the BBC sees fit to report on this good news.
Posted by: diana || 01/18/2004 18:17 Comments || Top||


Replacing the 101st: the marketing campaign
Edited for brevity.
Heading north on Highway 1 out of the refinery town of Bayji, a road sign emblazoned with a familiar screaming eagle welcomes travelers into 101st Airborne Division turf. In Mosul, the eagle is painted big on the water tower at the airport. It’s on a large placard that hangs over the entrance to the palace at what was once Saddam Hussein’s presidential compound, now the division’s headquarters. And it’s on the shoulder patches worn by the 25,000 or so 101st soldiers throughout northern Iraq.

But the eagle is leaving town soon, presenting a marketing puzzle for the 5,000-some Fort Lewis-based troops who will replace the 101st. How do they capitalize on whatever good feelings the region’s 4 million people might have for the 101st, but also send the message that they’re a different unit, with a different job to do? It’s also time for new symbols to take hold. The 101st eagle at the palace will be replaced by the logo of the Fort Lewis-based I Corps - a Roman numeral I superimposed over a stylized version of Mount Rainier, with its motto, "America’s Corps," scrolled underneath, said Maj. Bob Bennett. Bennett is the deputy operations officer of I Corps’ "Task Force Olympia," which will oversee the Stryker brigade and the Iraqi forces that make up the Multinational Division-North. He said the Stryker brigade’s Arrowhead symbol - a stylized head of an American Indian chief set on a star over a shield - will go up on the building that houses its tactical operations center.
More at link regarding the symbolism and advertising used to inform the civilians that new troops and new vehicles are coming in.
Posted by: Dar || 01/18/2004 12:54:10 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Iraq’s Governing Council Puts Family Law Under Islamic Law
The US-backed Iraqi Governing Council has outraged Iraqi women because of its recent vote to cancel current family laws and to place family law under the jurisdiction of Islamic (sharia) law. According to the Washington Post, Iraqi women denounced the decision at various protests and conferences. At one conference, entitled "The Importance of Women in Society," only three Iraqi male lawmakers met over 150 women concerned about the Governing Council’s recent decision to not back their legal rights.
I came across this while reading a German paper and googling brings up feminist.org as the only reference? Hello anglo-american press?
Moving these laws under Islamic law could create clashes between the various Islamic schools of thought regarding marriage, divorce, and other family issues. Zakia Ismael Hakki, a female judge, stated, "This new law will send Iraqi families back to the Middle Ages. It will allow men to have four or five or six wives. It will take away children from their mothers. It will allow anyone who calls himself a cleric to open an Islamic court in his house and decide who can marry and divorce and have rights," reports the Washington Post.
If the USA condones the re-introduction of sharia in Iraq it might as well leave and stop talking about Iraq as the shining beacon for the Arab world.
For the past forty years, Iraq’s civil code had legal protections for women such as prohibiting marriage below the age of 18, arbitrary divorce, and polygamy. According to Agence France Presse, Iraq’s civil code in 1959 [pre-Saddam] was at one point considered the most progressive in the Middle East.
The chief US administrator in Iraq, L. Paul Bremer, has to approve decisions made by the council. He has not yet responded to requests for comments.
You better don’t approve that Paul, or you make a joke out of the liberation of Iraq. If you think that "concessions" like these have to be made in order to appease the islamist factions in Iraq, sorry, I have no understanding for this. In that case, the new constitution and "free elections" can go right in the trash can.
Posted by: True German Ally || 01/18/2004 11:38:33 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Sickening. It's bad enough Afghanistan is restoring Taliban Lite™, but I fully expected Iraq to be more modern in outlook. While it is up to the Iraqis themselves and not we Americans to determine what their future will be, it must be a democratic decision--and excluding half the population in that decision ain't democracy.
Posted by: Dar || 01/18/2004 13:05 Comments || Top||

#2  I don't believe that the clerics speak for the Iraqi people on this matter.American readers,you may want to call your Congresspersons to express your views.
Posted by: El Id || 01/18/2004 13:12 Comments || Top||

#3  I just don't understand the administration's thinking on this one. It is ridiculous. If this is some effort to appease Sistani, it is foolish.
Posted by: Remote Man || 01/18/2004 13:23 Comments || Top||

#4  A couple of Iraqi bloggers registered their feelings regarding this step backwards . Zayed commented on this on Friday with satire and analysis. And Riverbend's outrage is expressed in her post last Thursday. If we're to convince the Iraqis that the future bodes better than the past, then we have to stop this misogynic crap.
Posted by: Gasse Katze || 01/18/2004 13:41 Comments || Top||

#5  We didn't go in there to liberate just 50% of the Iraqis. Besides, in dealing with the Islamists, Women's Rights really is the MOAB.
Posted by: Matt || 01/18/2004 13:58 Comments || Top||

#6  Dar

THis governing council is unelected. And that means that teh Americans should remind to the GC that it has not enough legitimacy to make long-term commitments for Iraq. And a law is a long term commitment. Its legitimacy is just enough for short term measures aimed at restoring normal life in country. Say, taking care of sewage. Long term commitments are for the future elected government.
Posted by: Anonymous || 01/18/2004 14:06 Comments || Top||


Saddam Nephew Killed in Blast
An explosive device being transported in a car exploded near a U.S. Army patrol, killing two Iraqis in the vehicle including a relative of Saddam Hussein, the military said today. There were no U.S. casualties.
Somebody opened their garage door just as Sammy's nephew was driving by and — KABOOM! — no more nephew.
The blast in a white Mercedes car happened late on Saturday on a street in the former dictator’s home town of Tikrit, said Lt. Col. Steve Russell, commander of the 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment of the 4th Infantry Division. Russell said the car exploded some 150 yards from his patrol, which had pulled to a halt at a shop in downtown Tikrit just minutes earlier to talk to its owner. “It was not a suicide bombing. It was a failed attempt to attack coalition forces and they (the car’s occupants) killed themselves,” Russell said. U.S. soldiers have been searching for the same vehicle, which is believed to have been involved in several other bombings, including a December 16 explosion in Tikrit that wounded three American soldiers.
Now they have it. Parts of it, anyway...
Russell said one of the two men killed was a nephew of one of Saddam’s brothers, and was carrying a homemade bomb comprised of artillery shells and plastic explosives in his lap that detonated prematurely, killing him instantly and fatally wounding the driver.
In his lap? Bet that hurt like a sonofabitch, though very briefly...
A third occupant of the car was taken to a Tikrit hospital in a serious condition and will be questioned by U.S. forces later, Russell said.
"We're gonna want to talk to him later, Doc."
"Which part of him are y'gonna want to talk to?"
Russell believed the men in the car had been tipped off to the presence of U.S. soldiers patrolling in Tikrit, and in their haste to attack them had detonated the radio-controlled bomb prematurely.
"Mahmoud! There they are! There they are!"
"Dammit, Ahmed! Don't push it yet!"
In another incident, an explosive device detonated on Saturday afternoon inside a Tikrit shop, blowing off the leg of the store’s owner and damaging his premises, Russell said. The injured man was apparently handling the device or preparing it for use when it exploded.
"Hey, y'all! Look what happens when I do this! [KABOOM!]... Ow."
Posted by: tipper || 01/18/2004 10:29:00 AM || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  nephew of one of Saddam’s brothers,

The above sentence is the problem.... way the hell too much attention is paid to who married who and who slew Rue.
Posted by: Shipman || 01/18/2004 12:04 Comments || Top||

#2  ....in their haste to attack them had detonated the radio-controlled bomb prematurely.
Then again maybe Lt/C Steve aint telling everything he knows.:)
Memo to boomers: Don't wire the damn trigger until you're ready to use it.

....bomb comprised of artillery shells and plastic explosives.... I'm trying to figure out why everyone in the Mercedes didn't get their 72 virgins. Inshalla?
Posted by: Gasse Katze || 01/18/2004 12:09 Comments || Top||

#3  I rather enjoy it when they survive the experience like that. It may be romantic to die and get your 72 virgins when you come shooting through the Pearly Gates, but it's not so hot when you're just horribly maimed, spending the rest of your life in pain, sufficiently disfigured that people are afraid to look at you. No matter how heroic you set out to be, people notice the colostomy bag.
Posted by: Fred || 01/18/2004 12:27 Comments || Top||

#4  Hmm... Could our boys be using transmitters to blow those IEDs a little earlier than planned? I sure hope so, and I sure hope they can keep it a secret as long as possible! We'll just keep viewing them as "work accidents" in the meantime.
Posted by: Dar || 01/18/2004 13:09 Comments || Top||

#5  We found out something was a foot... when LTC Russell's driver tripped over it.

The bomber had a leg up on us... on the roof of the 2 story house next door. (For real)
Posted by: gil || 01/30/2004 11:35 Comments || Top||


Car bomb at coalition HQ in Baghdad
A POWERFUL car bomb ripped the main gate to the headquarters of the US-led coalition in Iraq this morning. "We believe it was a car bomb in the vicinity of assassin’s gate," a spokesman said, using the name for the heavily-fortified entrance to the presidential palace, home to the US-run Coalition Provisional Authority. A policeman outside the arched gateway to the symbol of US power in Iraq said a car on line to enter the citadel had exploded, sending shrapnel flying and possibly killing or wounding those people waiting to enter the palace grounds. ``It was a car lining up to enter the palace that exploded,’’ a police officer said.
News is still coming in, no word yet as to the corpse count ...

18 dead, 60 wounded as of 9 a.m. (Eastern). Reports say it was a pickup truck packed with a ton of explosive.


Followup, from al-Jizzles...
Up to 25 people have been killed and 130 wounded in a powerful car bomb blast which ripped the main gate to the headquarters of the US occupation authorities in Baghdad. "At least 20 people have lost their lives and almost 60 were injured," Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, as quoted by AFP, told reporters. "We have confirmation some of those killed were US citizens, US contractors. We believe the current number is two. We are waiting for final confirmation." Another five people were reported dead and 71 wounded at Baghdad hospitals. The US military had previously identified the dead Americans as two US Defence Department employees. The military said its toll was not counting those people brought to local Iraqi hospitals. Three dead and 30 wounded were brought to Karrama hospital, while another two people were reported dead at Baghdad's Yarmuk hospital, Iraqi doctors said. There were no reported fatalities at other local hospitals, where the number of wounded was put at 41 from Karkh, Yarmuk, al-Kindi and the Neurological Surgical hospital.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 01/18/2004 12:55:10 AM || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  ABC News, 1:16 AM EST: "At least three separate fires were seen. One man was seen lying motionless on the side of the road as coalition soldiers and civilians helped the injured.

"The explosion occurred about 8 a.m. and could be heard along the banks of the Tigris River, which flows through the center of the city of 5 million. Dense morning fog blanketed the city and it was difficult to see far enough to determine where the blast occurred."
Posted by: Steve White || 01/18/2004 1:06 Comments || Top||

#2  6 dead, all Iraqi civs, apparently.

More popularity for the "resistance".
Posted by: mojo || 01/18/2004 2:37 Comments || Top||

#3  Last I heard was 16 Iraqi civilians and 2 US military dead. This was where people seeking employment queue up... and 8:00 AM is prime-time for such activity.

Anyone taking bets on whether / when the Iraqis might get a clue regards the fact that the jihadis ("foreign fighters" - yeah, right) don't give a shit about them?
Posted by: .com || 01/18/2004 3:46 Comments || Top||

#4  Fox's reporter Dana Lewis (wasn't he with NBC before?) sez the two Merkins were US civilian contractor employees. Still, a shame for all the dead...prayers with them
Posted by: Frank G || 01/18/2004 7:26 Comments || Top||

#5  If the transfer of authority goes forward as planned on June 30, July 1 could be an interesting day in Iraqi history. I'm predicting a shortage of lampposts and rope.
Posted by: Matt || 01/18/2004 11:24 Comments || Top||

#6  As tragic and dispicable as this act and others like it what is even more dispicable is that the "Caring" and Loving" and "Concerned" elements of the Left and Anti-War Movements much less Howard Dean will not say one Goddamn word about this except to say it's all Bush's fault. These are the same type of people that refused to say anything when the Embassies in Kenya, Tanzania and Beruit were bombed. The same people who didn't say anything when the Marine barracks at the Beruit airport was bombed. I guess the old saying is true. They truely DO NOT have any enemies on the Left.
Posted by: Cheddarhead || 01/18/2004 11:37 Comments || Top||

#7  How did the truck get so close to the gate anyway? I thought that we had military check-points several blocks away. Someone either screwed up big-time, which I somehow doubt, or they had inside help. Most likely from Iraqi Police.
Posted by: Charles || 01/18/2004 12:12 Comments || Top||


Amec loses out to US in Iraq deal
UK construction giant Amec has missed out on $2 billion worth of contracts to rebuild damaged oil infrastructure in Iraq. The news will be a blow for the company which, along with US partner Fluor, has lobbied hard to win one of the two contracts on offer from the US Army Corps of Engineers. The work has instead been split between KBR, a subsidiary of Houston-based Halliburton, which will operate in the south of Iraq, and a partnership between California-based Parsons and Worley Group of Australia, which will work in the north. Halliburton has scooped the more valuable deal - worth up to $1.2bn. The two new deals supersede the initial contract, from which Halliburton has already made more than $2.3bn.
Better luck next time.
Posted by: Steve White || 01/18/2004 12:49:30 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I'd bet some of the work could be subcontracted to Amec - reward those countries who stood with us!
Posted by: Frank G || 01/18/2004 7:24 Comments || Top||

#2  The two new deals supersede the initial contract, from which Halliburton has already made more than $2.3bn.

Typical Guardian. Awarded $2.3 billion, of which they actually made a reasonable profit.
Posted by: john || 01/18/2004 20:10 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Indonesian generals on watch list
A significant move to ratchet up the pressure on human rights abusers. EFL
The US State Department is to put several serving and former Indonesian military officers, including a leading presidential candidate, on a watch list of indicted war criminals, effectively barring them from entering the US. The list includes General Wiranto, former head of the armed forces and a leading presidential candidate in the elections this year, whom the Defence Department once considered a reform-minded professional. General Wiranto and others on the list were among eight Indonesian army officers indicted last year on war crimes charges in Dili District court by East Timor’s Prosecutor-General, using evidence gathered by the UN serious crimes unit. A member of General Wiranto’s presidential campaign team played down any damage the US move would cause to his presidential aims and said a ban on visiting the US would not apply if General Wiranto was elected president.
I wouldn’t bet on it!
The State Department move comes as the UN remains under pressure from human rights groups and some governments to take action against Indonesia for its perceived failure to seriously pursue those responsible for crimes in East Timor.
The UN is a failed organization. Forget about them.
Some senior officers, including General Wiranto, head of the armed forces at the time of East Timor’s independence vote, were not investigated or prosecuted. The refusal to prosecute has angered State Department officials, who believe the tribunal disregarded the evidence. The decision to deny those individuals visas to enter the US was an attempt to show the Administration’s disapproval, an official said. "Had there been a generalised perception that the prosecution was vigorous and a reasoned judgment was made," the visa process "would have been looked at in a different light," said a US Government official. The names will be added to a State Department watch list. Interesting spin from WaPo. State good! Defence Bad!
Posted by: || 01/18/2004 4:57:02 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Thailand in denial of danger
It has taken an audacious attack on an army base, including the murder of four soldiers - two of whom had their throats slit - the theft of more than 300 weapons and the torching of 21 schools as a diversionary tactic to finally expose the Thai prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, as a ruler with no clothes. Prior to the January 4 raid, on a base in the Muslim-dominated southern Narathiwat province, the populist telecoms tycoon turned politician had repeatedly told the world that his country did not have a problem with terrorism, separatism, militant Islamism or any of the other issues plaguing his neighbours. Protecting the nation’s image, and the revenue brought in by the 10 million tourists that visit every year, seemed more important than tackling thorny problems.

Mr Thaksin’s denial came despite the fact that the region’s most senior terrorist, Hambali, had been arrested in Thailand last August. At least one of the key Bali bombing planning meetings was held in Thailand, and many of the dozens of terrorist suspects arrested round the region since the Spetember 11 2001 attacks claimed to have used the country as a base. Moreover, and perhaps most importantly, there has been simmering Muslim separatist sentiment in the predominantly Muslim southern provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat for at least the last century, and arguably for almost 500 years. De facto martial law has been in effect in many districts of the south for a decade. More than 20,000 militants in these provinces, mostly grouped under the umbrella of the Pattani United Liberation Organisation, fought for secession in the 70s and 80s, dispersing after the government granted an amnesty in the early 80s.

It is unclear who was responsible for the recent raid. A court in Narathiwat this week issued arrest warrants for four alleged Muslim militants whom police believe orchestrated it. Awae Kaleh, Masae Useng, Karim Karubang and Waeli Copter Waji face charges of treason, murder, arson and robbery. They allegedly have ties to, or are members of, various fairly obscure groups such as the Malay-named Gerakan Mujahideen Islam Pattani (GMIP - the Pattani Islamic Mujahideen Movement), that could be linked to Jemaah Islamiyah, which is regarded as the south-east Asian arm of al-Qaida.

This obfuscation and ambiguity over the precise nature of the four’s involvement, and myriad other possible suspects, extends to the perpetrators’ motivation. That has been variously claimed to be religion, social and economic resentment, criminality and international terrorism, by both officials and people submitting opinions to internet chat rooms. Critics say that this further exposes the extent to which Bangkok has lost the pulse of the south where, in the four aforementioned states, 80% of the population, but only 10% of the officials, are Muslim. According to one recent survey, more than one third of six to 24-year-olds have not completed their primary education.

As a result, the government’s reaction has been rather haphazard. It initially responded very much with the stick, and is only just starting to think about the carrot. In addition to martial law being declared, thousands of troops and police have been mobilised, private Islamist schools - many of which serve the poorest in society - are being investigated for suspected training of Islamic militants, and joint border patrols with the Malaysian security forces have been initiated for the first time in 30 years. Southern community leaders are only getting the chance to discuss the issue with senior ministers this weekend. The deputy prime minister, General Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, will meet Muslim leaders from the three most tense provinces on Saturday, a day after Mr Thaksin has found the time to meet his Malaysian counterpart, Abdullah Badawi.

Many newspaper columnists believe that this failure to prioritise engagement at grassroots level could well prolong the disquiet-cum-unrest for decades, if not longer. Writing in the Nation this week, the former foreign minister, Surin Pitsuwan, said that, in addressing the issue of Islamist extremism in the south, "it is better to aim at long-term regional stability and prosperity rather than a daily dose of publicity for short-term political gain. We must realise that every one of our neighbours has its own domestic constraints and sensitivities. Failure to recognise that would lead to complicating the issue further for all of us."

With elections due within the next year, Mr Thaksin does not have an awful lot of time on his side if he wants to protect his domestic reputation and his country’s international one. He is beginning to get dressed at last, but the make-up of his final wardrobe remains uncertain.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 01/18/2004 12:20:42 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  This article is a cheap shot on Taksin. I live in Bangkok (four years now). Separatist violence in Southern Thailand has gone on for generations. My Aglionby fails to even mention that Taksin's Minister of the Interior - a very powerful post - is a Muslim - Wan Muhamad Nor Matha (aka Wan Nor). Given the topic of his article, the fact that the author "coneniently" leaves out this critical detail basically perjures any claim that this is a balanced article.

If anything, Thailand should be commended - as a majority Buddhist state - for not being even less hospitable to its Muslim population. Repeated polls by outsiders have shown that the vast majority of Thai Muslims in the south would MUCH rather remain a part of Thailand, than become part of Malaysia, or become part of a separate independent state. Aglionby also fails to mention this.

The Pattani United Liberation Organization is - IMHO - just a front for bandits, gangsters, and smugglers to try to give themselves a good name and "noble aim". Similar to Abu Sayyaf.

Better, more balanced article:
Posted by: Lone Ranger || 01/18/2004 2:11 Comments || Top||

#2  Link function not working.

Better article: http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/11/15/1037080912898.html
Posted by: Lone Ranger || 01/18/2004 2:21 Comments || Top||


Terror Networks
Hamas: Women who shame family can be bombers
Last week, Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin praised the woman who killed herself and four Israeli security men at the Erez checkpoint. But it turns out Yassin’s militant Islamist organization does not unequivocally support the use of women in terror attacks - it is especially hesitant about the deployment of married mothers.
Senior Hamas figures who have consulted about the subject recently are inclined to support only the use of women who have desecrated rules of "family honor."Hamas’ view on women and terror strikes has taken shape in past months, top Israeli intelligence officers explained to Haaretz on Sunday. In the past, Hamas leaders avoided taking a clear stand on the use of women in terror strikes. In some cases, Hamas leaders rejected requests of women to take part in such attacks; Hamas referred a few such women to other organizations, particularly Islamic Jihad and Tanzim.Hamas has now revised this position, and some of the organization’s leaders condone the use of women in terror strikes, particularly in situations where a woman can carry out the assignment more easily (since she is likely to cause less suspicion at crossing points), and when the woman has transgressed moral norms. In such cases, a woman’s "sacrifice" atones for the "stain" she has caused to her family for violating moral codes.
Reem Raiyshi, the woman who blew herself up last week at the Erez crossing, was the married mother of two. Yedioth Ahronoth reported Sunday that Raiyshi was compelled to perpetrate the terror strike to atone for having betrayed her husband. Relying on IDF sources, this report claimed that Raiyshi’s husband, a Hamas operative, knew about his wife’s plan in advance, and even encouraged her to carry it out.
Posted by: TS || 01/18/2004 11:00:10 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Ahhh, the Religion of Peace™. Hamas is obviously a progressive organization if they're willing to open up all these career paths to females. No wonder the commutards love them.
Posted by: 4thInfVet || 01/18/2004 23:26 Comments || Top||


Terror Warnings updated for Philippines, Djibouti
The State Department announcement renewed an announcement issued in July. The agency said terrorist activity in the Philippines remains high, including several bombings in Mindanao, the largest island in the southern Philippines. The department singled out two terror groups, the communist New People’s Army, which operates throughout the country, and the southern Abu Sayyaf Muslim extremist group, which the Philippine government says is loosely aligned with the al-Qaida network.The State Department also issued a new warning urging U.S. citizens to re-evaluate plans to travel to Djibouti in the Horn of Africa, where U.S. troops are based in connection with the fight against terror.The department said Americans should remain vigilant, especially in restaurants, hotels and other public places, and should avoid large crowds.
Posted by: TS || 01/18/2004 12:38:02 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Saif al-Adel launches online terrorist manual
Al-Qaeda has issued a chilling new call to arms to recruits who remain undetected by security agencies. In a terrorist manual published on the internet, Osama bin Laden says: ’After Iraq and Afghanistan will come the Crusader invasion of Saudi Arabia. All fighters all over the world must be ready.’
I think we're going to hit Syria or Iran first. But that wouldn't fire up the rubes like infidels occupying the Two Holy Mosques...
The manual has been masterminded by Saif al-Adel, the organisation’s third most senior man and the only terrorist other than bin Laden and his partner Ayman al-Zawahiri to have a $25 million reward on his head. It is directed at new volunteers who are ’below the radar’ of counter-terrorist authorities and who cannot break cover to undergo formal training in terrorist techniques. Like bin Laden, Zawahiri is quoted in the publication, called ’The Base of the Vanguard’. Other writers encourage the use of weapons of mass destruction. The manual is an internal al-Qaeda document and will be of enormous interest to security agencies. The fact that al-Adel, a former special forces colonel in the Egyptian army, has risked discovery to publish it is an indication of its importance. ’Though it shows that we have taken down a lot of the training infrastructure and made it hard for [al-Qaeda] to operate, it is very worrying in that it implies that there are a lot of recruits around who we have yet to pick up,’ one British senior police counter-terrorist officer said.
This also implies that a lot of them are untrained. It's a call for cannon fodder.
In the manual, bin Laden calls on the recruits to be cautious in their operations, given the counter-terrorist surveillance efforts against them. He says that all those Muslims living in the lands occupied by the unbelievers should study the manual and be prepared to act. The appearance of the manual - the January issue of what promises to be a monthly publication - is a major boost to al-Qaeda’s propaganda effort. Articles include the testimony of a ’martyred’ suicide bomber and pages of technical advice on physical training, security counter-measures for operational terrorist cells and the use of light weapons. ’All that is needed to open the ideas of the zealous youthful Muslims to the techniques of our fighters,’ a preface explains. Al-Adel, 39, even warns operatives not to believe official media. ’They will try and wear down your morale by publishing false reports about the arrest of other cells,’ he writes.
"Often even with false pictures..."
Another author is Abdul Aziz al-Mukran, who is also known as Abu Hajjer and is one of the most wanted al-Qaeda suspects in Saudi Arabia. In his contribution, entitled ’The war of nerves’, he lists the use of weapons of mass destruction, specifically biological and nuclear arms, as a potential tactic in the ’ongoing war’.
It's something they'd love to do, to what end I don't know. It would simply make the civilized world, even Europe, more determined to hunt them down and kill them like dogs.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 01/18/2004 12:01:37 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Any guess who is the publisher? Al-Jazzera?
Posted by: CrazyFool || 01/18/2004 11:32 Comments || Top||

#2  I wonder how hard it would be to spoof this document on the Internet, hijack the people going to the website to another site with a few of the facts "rewritten", such as how to wire explosives, how to mix chemicals to make explosives, and how to develop "homemade" chemical weapons. In a couple of months, there would be far fewer "cannon fodder", and some gaping holes that internal security forces will have a hard time explaining.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 01/18/2004 18:39 Comments || Top||

#3  "after reloading your AK, take a few moments to look down the barrel to ensure there are no obstructions. Keep your finger ready on the trigger just in case the kuffir are close by."

Happy virgin hunting!
Posted by: john || 01/18/2004 20:43 Comments || Top||

#4  "Carefully mix the ammonia and Clorox in an open pan. Don't worry about the fumes."
Posted by: PBMcL || 01/18/2004 21:50 Comments || Top||


Middle East
Bush is author of dark chapter for America
CONOOR, India—Up here in the tea estates of Nilgiri Hills, where teak-floored bungalows with vast verandas offer spectacular vistas, one feels grateful for the distance from the ubiquitous American media and for the time and tranquility to think and reflect. As the year of the war on Iraq draws to a close, the larger perspective that emerges is clear: George W. Bush, a small man in a big job, has dragged America into one of its darkest chapters. He commands unprecedented military power, but his word carries little or no weight in much of the world.
Assuming the truth of that statement, it says merely that the rest of the world is very slow on the uptake. We're heading into the fourth year of Bush's presidency, and he's done everything he set out to do. Yet still there are people like the author, standing around with their mouths open, disbelieving what they're seeing. The fact that his word doesn't carry much weight with people like Sheikh Yassin or Bashar al-Assad doesn't trouble me in the least. It's their mistake, not ours...
This odd equation remains unaltered by Saddam Hussein’s capture, hyped in America but seen elsewhere as inevitable, given that Iraq is not an Afghanistan of a million caves. If anything, the video of his captivity exposed the Bush administration’s desperate need to display a trophy catch.
The same people who are now regarding Sammy's capture as inevitable are the ones who were pointing the finger because we hadn't caught him before. I guess we can't win either way, can we?
Bush’s next declared mission, that of toppling Yasser Arafat, only reinforces the image of the president as a king who knows not the boundaries of his kingdom, nor the limits of his power. Or, as a captive of pro-Israeli hawks hell-bent on remaking the Middle East to Likud designs.
Yasser had his chance. Bush was treating with him, sending Zinni on trip after trip, to be rewarded with explosions each and every time. Yasser kept up his terrorist ways and the Karine-Awas the last straw. But still Bush worked with the Quartet, to come up with the roadkill roadmap, which was the Paleos last, best hope, leading to a state in 2005, something they hadn't gotten a commitment to before. They blew that chance, too...
While the president struts and smirks for the cameras in contrived situations — landing on an aircraft carrier to prematurely declare victory in Iraq or serving Thanksgiving turkey to soldiers in Baghdad — terrorism has increased under his watch. Not unlike the record rise in suicide bombings in Israel under Ariel Sharon.
The War on Terror started on his watch. Before that, it was just terrorists warring on us.
Bush’s use of fear as a key tool of governing has turned the world’s most powerful nation into its most paranoid, despite two invasions and an expenditure of nearly $200 billion (U.S.). The administration, invoking 9/11 and the murder of 2,900 innocents as its licence to wage unilateral wars, has so far killed about 10,000 innocents in Afghanistan and Iraq. That’s a guesstimate, since America does not count the Afghans and Iraqis it kills in the process of "liberating" them.
A pretty high estimate, too. And a fairly loose definition of "innocents," too, I'll betcha. Because of our 2,900 innocents, I can't get all worked up about their 10,000 innocents. It's sad, but true, that states hold each other's citizens hostage for good behavior. Had Bush incinerated Kabul and Kandahar on September 12th, 2001, most of us wouldn't have turned a hair. We might be Monday-morning quarterbacking it now, in 2004, but the justification was there. So's the declaration of war by the other side. If you declare war, you have to expect to be warred upon. If others ally themselves to you, they have to expect the same thing.
The gap between Bush’s words and deeds gets bigger by the day, as does the disparity between his illusions and reality. His war on Iraq was waged on a pack of lies, shoving aside the United Nations when it refused to play its part in the sham exercise of rubberstamping a predetermined course. Just as he manipulated intelligence to tie Iraq to terrorism and portray its non-existent nuclear, biological and chemical weapons as a threat to America, Bush ignored the State Department’s warnings of post-war troubles. He spoke instead of flowers greeting the U.S. liberators and oil revenues paying for the war and rebuilding of Iraq. He invoked democracy but ignored its expression abroad and suspended its principles at home. His war was universally opposed, even by the electorates of the governments that joined his "coalition of the willing" — Britain, Spain, Italy and Australia. His most enthusiastic allies were dictators and oppressors, the worst violators of human rights, who used the war on terrorism to stifle dissidents and kill secessionists.
Which dictators and oppressors? Mubarak was taking the gaspipe over the war. Assad was actively aiding Sammy. Yasser and his yes-men were howling. Which dictators were on our side?
He keeps delaying direct elections in Iraq for fear that the majority Shiites would win and won’t be the puppet he wants installed in his subject kingdom.
Or that they'd win and oppress the Sunnis and the Kurds and the Christian minority...
His administration’s violations of the Geneva Convention and the U.S. Constitution are not explained away by the need to cut corners to get at terrorists. Besides not catching any, his policies alienated the very groups whose help was crucial and also sapped the moral strength of his rhetoric and America’s $240 million public-relations campaign in Muslim nations. American courts are reasserting, as they always do, albeit slowly, the rule of law. But the human and political damage is already done.
Feeling demoralized, are you? It's okay to cry...
Bush promised to avoid a clash of civilizations, but that’s what he is widely perceived as presiding over. The anti-Arab, anti-Muslim and anti-Islamic discourse — often unapologetically racist — is supplied by Christian fundamentalists and pro-Israeli neo-conservatives, two key constituencies Bush dares not alienate.
Actually, there's very little of it coming out of the administration. There's lots of anti-Arab, anti-Muslim and anti-Islamist discourse in these pages, but that's because we watch what they're doing and try to understand it as it's happening. If our opinions weren't accurate, Rantburg wouldn't be predictive. But we usually call 'em pretty well. Likewise with the racist attacks. We've often commented, in fact, that the Bush team errs on the side of the PC. Arabs, by the way, regard themselves as a separate race, not (most of) the rest of us. Dump the turbans and they look like Italians or Greeks or Spaniards. It's the enemy that's pushing the racial angle and we don't buy it.
The mollycoddled Sharon is thus set to blithely ignore Bush’s road map and steamroll over Palestinian lands and Palestinians’ human rights in hopes of imposing his version of Israeli withdrawal from the occupied territories.
Yep. Ignored it just as soon as Hamas blew that bus.
But this will no more bring peace than his previous policies did.
Of course it won't. The other side doesn't want peace, never has...
So long as the Israeli-Palestinian issue festers, anti-Americanism and, presumably, terrorism will keep growing. The link has been unmistakable.
So has the propaganda war, in which this article is a single shot...
Surveying these geopolitical ruins, it is politically incorrect to blame the American public. But its gullibility is alarming. Even now, a majority believes that Saddam had a hand in 9/11. The Bush crowd knows only too well the usefulness of Saddam, a former ally now a demon.
If a majority of Americans believes Sammy had a hand in 9-11, they're probably wrong. It wasn't an Iraqi operation, though it might have had Iraqi collusion. And the Toronto Star crowd knows only too well that Iraq has never — at least not since the forgotten days of CENTO — been an ally of the United States.
All of the above is self-evident, except to a majority of Americans and their apologists, including, sadly, some Canadians.
The ones who pay attention...
The latter are still whining over Canada’s decision to sit out the Iraq war, which history will record as Jean Chrétien’s finest hour — something Paul Marin would do well to always remember.
Remember or don't remember. It's your country. You're free to screw it up any way you like. But alliances, even true, sincere friendships, are always based on a 50-50 relationship. If you don't give your 50 percent, the other side won't, either...
What of the future?
I dunno. What do you think?
Saddam’s trial should be conducted, not as Bush wants, by the Iraqis he controls, but by the International Criminal Court.
Most of us think he should be tried by the people he oppressed.
Saddam should be charged with crimes against humanity as well as war crimes — hundreds of thousands of Iraqis tortured, raped, mutilated, murdered; groups brutalized in Stalinesque campaigns: Kurds, Marsh Arabs and Shiites; neighbours Iran and Kuwait invaded, their civilians and properties destroyed.
He brutalized them. Why can't they try him? Afraid they might stretch his neck?
Iraq should be turned over to the United Nations.
We're rather counting on turning it over to the Iraqis, probably sooner than we should...
But since that’s not likely, the United States should let the world body play as great a role as possible while keeping military control in American hands.
Like setting up a new "oil for food" program? Lotsa money to be made there...
That would help improve security for Iraqis and American soldiers alike. It would attract international help, especially from those, like France, Germany, Turkey, Pakistan and India, who do not want to be caught dead cavorting with Bush. Iraqi sovereignty belongs to Iraqis. They need to write their own constitution, elect their own leaders and make their own mistakes. They could not possibly do any worse than their occupiers, who have been lurching from crisis to crisis for the last eight months in a haze of incompetence and ignorance.
It's called dealing with problems as they arise. There have been a lot more quagmires in the pages of the Toronto Star then there have been in Iraq. When you're determined enough, you can find fault, if only by setting perfection as a standard for measurement. Compared to the job the UN does, our performance is close to stellar.
Posted by: Truth Teller || 01/18/2004 9:32:41 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Methinks "troll" is spelled "truth teller" in your alternate universe.

BTW, this "link" doesn't work, either:

"The page cannot be found
The page you are looking for might have been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable.

Please try the following:

If you typed the page address in the Address bar, make sure that it is spelled correctly.

Open the rantburg.com home page, and then look for links to the information you want.
Click the Back button to try another link.
HTTP 404 - File not found
Internet Information Services"

[emphasis added]
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 01/18/2004 21:40 Comments || Top||

#2  Since when is idiotarian blabbering news?
Posted by: JP || 01/18/2004 22:02 Comments || Top||

#3  Typical Tranzi nonsense from what it looks like is an unreconstructed Marxist of which unfortunately India has more than its fair share. Not worth the bother of arguing with.
Posted by: phil_b || 01/18/2004 22:18 Comments || Top||

#4  God please let Bush topple that disgusting thug Arafat, like this article says he wants to do.
*fingers crossed*
Posted by: TS || 01/18/2004 22:19 Comments || Top||

#5  Plenty of links to the usual suspects.
Posted by: tipper || 01/18/2004 22:23 Comments || Top||

#6  Please dont feed the troll. It only encourages it.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 01/18/2004 22:24 Comments || Top||

#7  They could not possibly do any worse than their occupiers, who have been lurching from crisis to crisis for the last eight months in a haze of incompetence and ignorance.

I guess it would take an Indian to understand to true meaning of incompetence and ignorance. India has been fighting guerrillas who are funded on a shoestring for 50 years without subduing them. As I write this, Kashmiris are fleeing the state for safer areas in India. (Understandably so, killings of entire families of Hindus and Muslims who support the Indian government occur on a daily basis). Kashmiri terrorists routinely assassinate Indian government officials in other parts of the country.

And an Indian is criticizing the US over its 8-month occupation of Iraq? Would this be the Iraq that is encountering illegal immigration by Arabs from neighboring countries who want a taste of the good life? Would this be the Iraq where Iraqis are not only not moving out, Iraqis in exile are moving back? Would this be the Iraq where the terrorists are funded with billions of dollars of Saddam's money, and yet US forces are keeping the peace better than the Indians in Kashmir, where Kashmiris are fleeing the state in droves?
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 01/18/2004 22:38 Comments || Top||

#8  Obviously posted by someone who does not let facts interfere with their deeply-held belief that all evil in this world is the fault of the Joooos. This bozo wouldn't know truth if it bit him in the ass.
Posted by: Scooter McGruder || 01/18/2004 22:52 Comments || Top||

#9  How do I help pay for one of them bulldozers?
Posted by: 4thInfVet || 01/18/2004 23:11 Comments || Top||

#10  Outstanding, Fred -- you demonstrated a hell of a lot more patience, calm and civility than I could have mustered, and you nail each and every point.

Could you please put this one in the Classics section as an example of a proper fisking?
Posted by: Steve White || 01/19/2004 0:04 Comments || Top||


A classic tale updated: Cleric vs. President
HAROON SIDDIQUI
As he prepares for his election-year State of the Union address Tuesday, George W. Bush is getting into some serious trouble, and not just because of mounting evidence that he invaded Iraq under false pretences.
Depends on your definition of "mounting," as well as your definition of "evidence."
The Carnegie Foundation, the U.S. Army War College and his own former treasury secretary, Paul O’Neill, have accused him, variously, of concocting the threat of weapons of mass destruction to launch a war he had planned well before 9/11.
Funny you should bring those up. O'Neill recanted less than a day later, said that wasn't what he meant, he was taken out of context, blah blah blah. The Army War College paper was by a professor there, published by the War College, but not representative of the views of the War College itself. We discussed it here, and William Safire beat it up better than I could do. The Carnegie piece we don't seem to have picked up, but I imagine it's in line with their previous output. If there's anything new, I'm sure someone will post it and discuss it.
Not only have weapons not been found, but Bush is giving up hope of finding any. He has quietly started withdrawing the 1,400 inspectors who’ve spent months and hundreds of millions of dollars scouring Iraq.
That doesn't say they're not there or that they weren't there. And if there were no WMDs, it means Sammy was spectacularly stoopid in not proving they weren't there. If he had, he'd still be in power, merrily killing his fellow countrymen.
Colin Powell has admitted there was no link between Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein. In fact, a document found in the fallen dictator’s bunker has him warning fellow-secularist Iraqis to be wary of Islamic jihadists.
I must have missed Powell's statement. As we've explored here, sometimes to the point of gross redundancy, Ansar al-Islam is a subsidiary of al-Qaeda. Ansar had relations with Sammy's regime. And Sammy's exhortation to his underlings to be wary of the Islamists doesn't mean they don't have relations; indeed, it means they do have relations, and he didn't want them getting out of hand.
Credible American voices are forcing a critical re-examination of the recent past. Just as American democracy is reasserting itself in the lingering fog of fear and false patriotism, Bush has got himself enmeshed in a new crisis.The commander of the biggest military power in history is on the ropes against an aging cleric living in a modest home in a dusty alley in a town in Iraq. And Paul Bremer, the American ruler of conquered Iraq, cannot get an audience with Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani, who refuses to confer on him the legitimacy of a holy handshake.
I've mentioned before that Sistani is an important figure in Iraq. I've predicted that we'll reach an accomodation with him. That's what diplomacy does. We aren't going to cave into him, and we know he'll try and get as much out of us as he can. If we can't reach a deal, though, somehow we'll have to get along without him. And he'll miss the train himself and get nothing.
This is a rare replay of the classic standoff of Islamic history: the ruler vs. the saint, with the former seeking the blessing of the latter and not getting it. In the early Islamic era, it was the orthodox alim (scholar) who refused the entreaties of the king for favourable fatwas. In a later era, it was the unworldly Sufi saint who resisted the blandishments of kingly riches. In the waning days of Islamic rule, the religious class was co-opted. It has mostly remained so in contemporary Muslim states — until the ayatollahs of Iran used liberation theology to usher in a revolution. But Sistani, unlike Ayatollah Khomeini, was not a political activist. Bush turned him into one and, true to form, turned a friend into a foe.
I think there's been a modicum of respect between the two sides from the first. I don't think he's a foe, though I could be wrong, even if he and Bremer don't get together every Wednesday night to go bowling...
In April, Sistani quietly helped ease the entry of Anglo-American forces to free Iraq from Saddam. But he has been getting angrier at what has been unfolding under the occupation. Last summer, he demanded that elected representatives, not U.S. appointees, write the new constitution. America responded by postponing the constitution until after the installation of a U.S.-picked government in Baghdad. The American-appointed Governing Council in Baghdad and similar ones in Iraq’s 18 provinces would choose 250 delegates to an interim assembly that would elect an interim executive to which the U.S. would transfer sovereignty by July 1. A constitution and an elected government would have to wait until Dec. 2005 — a full 32 months after a war waged ostensibly to establish democracy.
I think Germany took close to ten years to regain full sovreignty. Under three years for Iraq is probably pushing it. The Iraqis had Sammy longer than the Germans had Hitler...
Last Sunday, Sistani said the assembly should be elected. Also — and this was the real zinger — that only an elected government should approve the U.S. plan to keep 100,000 troops in Iraq for the foreseeable future. So, we have the irony of an ayatollah calling for real democracy and an American president dodging it. Or, at the very least, wanting an Iowa-like caucus to serve as a substitute for a national vote. Americans say there isn’t enough time to organize a voters’ list by June. True. But Sistani is not so much insisting on a timetable as a process free of American rigging and the dictates of Bush’s re-election campaign. The ayatollah is calling the president’s bluff. Democracy for Iraq? Sure. But make it real, not a phony one whose chief aim would be to plunk down a puppet regime to advance American geopolitical and corporate interests.
It's not going to be an American puppet regime. Neither will it be the kind of Arab kleptocracy that's the norm in the Middle East. My preference, indeed, would have been for a military governor and an occupation force for five or ten years, a thorough de-Baathification, and the imposition of a bill of rights modeled on our own. We already have an Egypt in the region...
The counter-argument is that a quick election would allow the majority Shiites, who are well organized, to "steal the election," as it is phrased. But is good organization a crime? Don’t our own democracies belong to the most organized groups? Tomorrow, Bremer meets Kofi Annan to bring the United Nations into the process. If this represents a change of heart by the Bush administration, it is welcome. But it may only be an attempt to get Annan to win Sistani’s approval. If so, that would fit the Bush administration’s pattern of leaning on the allies and the United Nations for help without conceding control.
That's because relying on the United Nations would have resulted in something unacceptable to us. The UN, the NGOs, and the local governments all love slinging that word "unacceptable" around. We can use it, too...
While Annan is keen to get the U.N. re-engaged, he won’t rubber-stamp American actions. The best compromise is for the U.S. to hand the entire election process over to the U.N., which alone has the credibility to organize a fair process and even to postpone the vote, if need be.
The UN lacks the credibility with one of the parties involved to organize a fair process. That's us. If we felt the UN was both competent and an honest broker, there'd be no problem. But we don't feel either.
The sage of Najaf has helped us understand that the underlying reality of occupied Iraq is not whether Iraqis are ready to govern themselves but whether Americans will let them.
Posted by: Truth Teller || 01/18/2004 9:29:52 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The link doesn't work, "truth" teller. Make up this crap yourself?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 01/18/2004 21:36 Comments || Top||

#2  Here's the link. It by one Haroon Siddiqui and appears in today's Toronto Star. I did a little research on Haroon. He's the "editorial page editor emeritus" at the Toronto Star. He parrots the jihadi party line from behind the cloak of western liberalism. Bottom line is that he's a bush league Edward Said. If you enjoy reading anti-American, pro-Islamist and Baath tripe wrapped in reasonable sounding language and psuedo-objective reasoning, here is his archive.
Posted by: 11A5S || 01/18/2004 22:20 Comments || Top||

#3  Wasn't O'Neill CLINTON'S Secretary of the Treasury, not Bush's?

Like most of the rest of the fecal matter in the two articles posted by "truth teller", it's either inaccurate, false, or so twisted a pretzel would be envious. Go home, troll, this isn't the minor leagues. The people here will eat you for breakfast and still be hungry.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 01/18/2004 22:23 Comments || Top||

#4  You see 'Truth Teller' we here are Rantburg indulge in a curious thing called 'Thinking' and 'Considering'. We welcome all comers Right and Left and Middle - it is an open dialogue - but be prepared to discuss and defend your arguments. You must be prepared to do more then quote - verbatim - articles.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 01/18/2004 22:52 Comments || Top||

#5  If TT had half a brain he wouldn't post this stuff a mere 2 hours before the site resets for the next day's posts. Ha ha ha ha!
Posted by: Scooter McGruder || 01/18/2004 22:54 Comments || Top||


Africa: East
German defence minister rejects military contribution to secure peace in Sudan
German Defence Minister Peter Struck (Social Democratic Party of Germany, SPD) wants Germany’s security policy "to pay special attention" to Africa. "It has to be pointed out" that Africa is the Europeans’ responsibility, let alone the fact that terrorists are coming from there to us, he told Neue Osnabruecker Zeitung.
However, Struck rejected a military contribution of Germany to securing the peace agreement in Sudan. "A military mission will not be examined," he stated. The focus of Germany’s commitment in this African country is "clearly humanitarian aid."
Commenting on the German Government’s criteria for becoming militarily active abroad, the SPD official said: "No German Government, especially a red-green one can inactively accept massacres." The proximity and the dangers from terrorist regimes for Germany also play an important role, he said.
Posted by: TS || 01/18/2004 6:01:50 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Africa: North
Egypt asserts stake in Sudan peace talks
Egypt staked a claim to a role in Sudanese peace talks on Sunday and said its aim was to see the north and south of Sudan stay together in "voluntary union". Egypt has played a relatively minor role in the peace talks, which have taken place in Kenya under the auspices of an African regional organisation and with help from the United States. But Sherif said: "Egypt has never been isolated from the peace process in Sudan. Anyone who imagines that is wrong. Egypt’s efforts have been intense... Egypt’s aim has been to achieve peace and stability and stop the bloodshed while preserving a goal which is loftier, broader and more far-reaching -- that the agreement should lead to a voluntary union between all the parties," he added. The two presidents also instructed their subordinates to prepare agreements for integration between Egypt and Sudan. Some of the agreements would give Egyptians and Sudanese the right to visit, live, work and own property in the other country, the minister said. Bashir and Mubarak want the officials to have the documents ready for review by February 15, he added.
Posted by: TS || 01/18/2004 5:16:12 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The only thing Egypt is interested in is that Sudan make no more demands for Nile waters. If Sudan were to split, creating a North and South, both regions would immediately demand more water. This is one reason that Egypt has not played a role in peace talks; it enjoys the Sudan in a state of constant civil war.
Posted by: Tancred || 01/18/2004 19:22 Comments || Top||

#2  It's not just water that Egypt is interested in, it's also Islamic domination.



Posted by: TS || 01/18/2004 22:10 Comments || Top||


Home Front
Michael Moore Calls Bush a Deserter at NH Clark Rally
Severely EFL...most of the rest is just the usual "who did what today on the campaign trail" stuff...
Michael Moore, a Weasley Clark supporter, introduced the Democratic presidential nominee at a campaign rally here Saturday by saying he looked forward to debates between Clark, if he wins the Democratic nomination,
Heaven help us all if that happens
and Bush. "I want to see that debate: the general versus the deserter," Moore said to enthusiastic applause at a packed rally in a high-school gymnasium,
probably more like a cafeteria....can’t imagine him ever going in a gym
reiterating a line he uses frequently. Clark, asked later by reporters if he agreed with Moore’s characterization of Bush as a "deserter," said: "I’ve heard those charges. I don’t know whether they’re established or not. He was never prosecuted for it. The question in this election is can we bring a higher standard of leadership to America." Bush served as a pilot in the Texas Air National Guard from May 1968 to October 1973, mostly flying F-102 fighter interceptors. He did not go to Vietnam.
That’s still more than Mikey ever did....
Bush spent most of his time in the Guard based near Houston, but in May 1972 he received a three-month assignment in Alabama with the 187th Tactical Recon Unit in Montgomery while he worked on a political campaign in the state. Retired Gen. William Turnipseed, a commander at the Alabama base, said during the 2000 presidential campaign that he never saw Bush appear for duty for that unit’s drills. Bush maintains he was there, but records have never been produced to document that Bush was there.
or to document that he wasn’t there, either, but I digress....
At a news conference after the rally, Clark insisted, "I’m not going to get into the issues of what George W. Bush did or didn’t do in the past."
"I’ll just have this bloated sack of unhygienic goo do it for me....do you like my new sweater?"
But he also declined to criticize Moore’s "deserter" remarks.
What’s that old saying? Silence implies consent.
"I’m delighted with Michael Moore, I really appreciate his support, he’s a fantastic eater leader. I thank him tremendously for being here."
Posted by: Desert Blondie || 01/18/2004 1:58:17 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "I’m delighted with Michael Moore
That much bs is enough to disqualify the piece of unspent fecal matter from holding any political office. I'm also wondering why the United States spent 30 years supporting this moron. He should have been purged after achieving captain's rank.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 01/18/2004 14:29 Comments || Top||

#2  You may be right OP. But 30 years ago we were still in the Cold War. And 10 years ago we were gripped by the Clintonian Era. As long as someone keeps his personal views from interfering with his job, they're usually not fired. It was only when he jumped the Politcal Gun in trying to keep the Soviets from occupying that airport that he was dismissed.

He's still being a soldier and General. Except now he's fighting in a Political War, where his views are the weapons. Most likely his former colleagues are hanging their heads in shame.
Posted by: Charles || 01/18/2004 14:50 Comments || Top||

#3  Sleep with dogs,wake up with fleas.
Posted by: Stephen || 01/18/2004 15:35 Comments || Top||

#4  Remind me again when fat slob was on active duty?

I really hate to see Weasel suck up to that piece of sh*t moore. A long time ago, he was a pretty good colonel.
Posted by: 4thInfVet || 01/18/2004 15:52 Comments || Top||

#5  I know where you're coming from but saying you can't comment on someones military record unless you were actually in the military just doesn't sound right to me. Even a windbag like Mikey Moore. There's enought to bag on him about without treading into neo-Chickenhawk type attacks.
Posted by: ruprecht || 01/18/2004 18:01 Comments || Top||

#6  That's michael moore, that rhymes with whore.

MM is a desserter. Pillsbury doughboy poster child.
Posted by: ScottAK || 01/18/2004 20:41 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon
Twin booms in Ein el-Hellhole festivities
Lebanon's largest refugee camp was rocked by two blasts on Sunday, amid rising tensions after Lebanon executed a man whose arrest was brokered by Palestinian factions in the camp. No one was injured, but the grenade explosions shattered several months of relative calm in the Ein el-Hilweh camp near Sidon. One bomb targeted an office of Palestinian President Yasir Arafat's Fatah faction, while the other hit a residential area. Lebanon executed three men in Beirut's Roumieh prison on Saturday, despite objections by human rights groups and the European Union. These were the first executions in the country in five years. Badia Hamadah, who was killed by firing squad, was convicted of killing three security officers in a raid in 2002 and was believed to have links to Usbat al-Ansar group, which Washington deems "terrorist" and is based in the camp. Hamadah later fled to Ein el-Hilweh, which is beyond the reach of Lebanese authorities.
Even though it's in their country...
Following a four-day manhunt, Palestinian factions controlling the refugee camp brokered his arrest. His handover fuelled tensions in the camp, sparking clashes between Hamadah's supporters and Palestinian factions including Fatah, which played a key role in the arrest. Palestinian sources said they now expected more explosions in the camp.
It's now time for Dire Revenge™, of course...
Hamadah was buried in a cemetery in Sidon on Saturday, but authorities refused to allow a public funeral procession out of security concerns. Lebanese politicians are generally hostile to Lebanon's roughly 390,000 Palestinian refugees for fear of tipping the state's delicate sectarian balance. They also point to Ein el-Hilweh as a haven for trouble-makers and organised criminals.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 01/18/2004 12:16 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  At least they can't blame this one on us
Posted by: Cheddarhead || 01/18/2004 12:35 Comments || Top||

#2  Sure they can blame us.If we didn't support Israel,Israel wouldn't exist,and there would be peace and harmony all thru the Mid-East.Petty things like facts won't ever intrude on their fantasy world.
Posted by: Stephen || 01/18/2004 15:42 Comments || Top||


Africa: Southern
Zim: MDC trial to resume
Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, accused of plotting to "eliminate" President Robert Mugabe, is due to return to court on Monday for the continuation of his treason trial. "The matter is proceeding tomorrow (Monday)," his spokesman, William Bango told AFP. The court sat for one day last month, after a four-month break in the high-profile trial of the leader of the official opposition, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). The 2 December hearing was brief because state lawyers had lodged an application with the court to tighten the charges against Tsvangirai. Bango said the MDC expected Judge Paddington Garwe to deliver his ruling on Monday before the trial proceeds. "We are expecting a ruling on whether they (the state) can alter the charges or not," Bango said. Tsvangirai is on trial for allegedly plotting to assassinate Mugabe and arrange a military coup before the March 2002 presidential election, which he lost to Mugabe. He denies the charges for which he could be hanged. The state accuse Tsvangirai, who attended a meeting in Montreal, Canada in December 2001 with political consultant Ari Ben Menashe, of allegedly requesting help to eliminate Mugabe ahead of 2002 presidential elections.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 01/18/2004 12:11 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Want to get rid of opposition, put them on trial for treason. This is one of the oldest ways of eliminating a political rival. This trial will end in disaster for Zimbabwe.
Posted by: Charles || 01/18/2004 12:18 Comments || Top||

#2  This trial will end in disaster for Zimbabwe.
I don't think anyone with two brain cells firing in sequence can doubt the outcome of this trial. As for disaster, I'm not sure Zimbabwe could go much lower on the "crap" scale, short of a major earthquake, a fire covering half the nation, or a strike by a large meteorite. At the same time, any of those three disasters would also spell the end of Mugabe and the ruling Zanu PF party, so it may not be a total loss.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 01/18/2004 12:34 Comments || Top||


Middle East
Israelis Mull Change in Fence’s Path
JERUSALEM - Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and key Cabinet ministers on Sunday considered proposals to move sections of a contentious West Bank security barrier closer to Israel, apparently hoping to deflect growing international criticism.
You dont think they intended to do this all along do you?
The Cabinet debate was part of preparations for a hearing next month before the International Circus Court of Justice at The Hague, Netherlands, on the legality of the barrier.

The Palestinians say the barrier, which disrupts the lives of thousands of people,stop them from their time honored tradition of murdering innocent Jooos, is an Israeli bid to give them a grab more land. They demand construction be stopped and sections already built be demolished. Israel says it needs the divider to keep out Palestinian terrorists militants who have killed hundreds of Israelis in 39 months of fighting.

Also Sunday, Sharon signed orders for the dismantling of three unauthorized settlement outposts in the West Bank. As part of the stalled U.S.-backed "road map" peace plan, Israel is to dismantle dozens of outposts set up by settlers in recent years. Both sides have failed to comply with the first requirements of the peace plan it did however provide some excellent butt-wipe for theHamas leadership.

Israel has until the end of the month to present its arguments to the world court ahead of the Feb. 23 hearing on the legality of the security barrier.

Israel’s acting Attorney General Edna Arbel told Sharon and other officials last week that the current route would be difficult to defend before the world court, a senior government official said on condition of anonymity.

The Cabinet ministers, headed by Sharon, were not expected to make any decisions Sunday, the official said, adding that Israel’s assessment is that the court will rule against the barrier no matter what its route.
True. True.
The ministers are more concerned about an appeal to Israel’s Supreme Court made by an Israeli civil rights group regarding the barrier’s legality, the official said. A three-judge panel will hear the appeal next month.

The Israeli leaders will also discuss alternate routes for the barrier in problematic areas, the official said.

Arbel was particularly concerned about an area around the Jewish settlement of Ariel and another portion around Jerusalem, which cuts tens of thousands of Palestinians off from the city that has been the mainstay of their existence for decades, officials said.
Cause, meet Effect.
However, Sharon and other top officials have made it clear that the barrier will not be built along the internationally recognized 1967 border because the Palestinians will think "it is an achievement, that they pushed Israel to the Green Line with terrorism," a senior military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.

In the 1967 Mideast war, Israel captured the West Bank and Gaza Strip from Jordan and Egypt respectively and has since occupied and settled them. Palestinians want the land for a future state and demand Israel withdraw to the line that existed before the war erupted.

Justice Minister Yosef Lapid has called for the barrier’s route to be changed, saying otherwise it would spell disaster in the Hague.

Interior Minister Avraham Poraz, a member of Lapid’s centrist Shinui Party, agreed, saying it "causes us a great deal of damage internationally, costs us a great deal of money ... and hurts our claim that this is a security fence."

"We have to bring this fence back to sanity. This is a fence that has to move more or less along the Green Line, it can cut inside (the West Bank) a few kilometers here and there," Poraz told Israel Radio.

Meanwhile in the Gaza Strip, just a few hundred Palestinians - of the 4,000 who have permits to work in Israel - made it to work Sunday because of delays from stringent checks, Palestinian security officials said. The inspections followed last week’s suicide bombing that killed four people at the main crossing point into Israel at Erez.
Effect, this is Cause...
Posted by: CrazyFool || 01/18/2004 12:03:19 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  A moveable wall. I like it. Eventually we just have walls just around Nablus, Jenin, Jericho, Ramallah. Jericho had a wall once upon a time, but somebody blew a horn and it fell down.
Posted by: john || 01/18/2004 20:25 Comments || Top||

#2  Israel’s acting Attorney General Edna Arbel told Sharon and other officials last week that the current route would be difficult to defend before the world court, a senior government official said on condition of anonymity.

To mis-quote Napoleon:
"The World Court? How many divisions do they have?..."
Posted by: Anonymous || 01/18/2004 21:25 Comments || Top||


Home Front
SNL skit mocks Howard Dean
Yesterday evening, the cold start skit on Saturday Night Live featured an irate Howard Dean
(I think Darral Hammond played Dean but I’m not sure)
calling county Dem chairmen in Iowa and getting verbally tough with them if they didn’t support him. Then the press secretary came in to advise Dean to be more diplomatic and content part of the skit ended with Dean telling the press secretary to " bleep....".
Quite mocking. This seems to culminate a two week period in which the country has taken the measure of Governor Dean and found it, well, icky.

no URL found.. this is my recollection.
Posted by: mhw || 01/18/2004 11:56:21 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Damn. Wish I'd watched SNL last night now. The funniest part is it probably wasn't to far off.
Posted by: Charles || 01/18/2004 12:20 Comments || Top||


Middle East
Hamas Warns Israel of ‘Sea of Blood’ If Yassin Is Targeted
Hamas warned yesterday that Israel would “drown in a sea of blood” if it tries to kill Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the spiritual leader of the largest radical Palestinian movement.
"Sea of blood," "sea of fire," same idea...
“Israel will pay a high price for any attempt to hurt Sheikh Yassin or any other Hamas leader,” the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, said in a statement sent to AFP in Gaza. “We will make the Israeli Zionists drown in a sea of blood.”
"BLOOD! Blood! Seas of blood! Rivers of blood! Puddles of blood! We like blood! Blood is what we do!"
The warning was in response to a veiled threat by Israel’s Deputy Defense Minister Zeev Boim to resume the policy of assassinating Palestinian leaders after he said the elderly sheikh was a marked man. “Sheikh Yassin is marked for death, and he should hide himself deep underground where he will not know the difference between day and night. And we will find him in the tunnels, and we will eliminate him,” Boim said Thursday.
What's veiled about that?
The military believes Yassin, who escaped an Israeli attempt on his life last year, personally ordered a suicide bombing at the Gaza-Israel crossing point Wednesday by a young Palestinian mother that killed four Israelis.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 01/18/2004 11:24 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Of course if they dont kill Yassin they will drown in a 'Sea of Blood' anyway...

The only way Israel can avoid the imfamous 'Sea of Blood' is to kill Yassin and the rest of the leadership.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 01/18/2004 11:35 Comments || Top||

#2  Hamas used to say 'they have opened the gates of hell'. It seems to me that a 'sea of blood' isn't as bad, especially if it is Hamas blood.
Posted by: mhw || 01/18/2004 11:46 Comments || Top||

#3  Dire Consequences©! Although, 'seas of blood' doesn't quite have the panache of "stomachs roasting in hell". Did he at least call the IDF retarded?
Posted by: 4thInfVet || 01/18/2004 12:03 Comments || Top||

#4  Didn't these guys hear? Yassin doesn't care if he dies! He'd welcome becoming a martyr!
Posted by: Charles || 01/18/2004 12:16 Comments || Top||

#5  When they do get him, can you imagine the wild scene, as paleos swarm his cratered remains to wipe his blood on their faces, running to and fro from one ambulance to another, slaming doors, pushing gurnies back and forth, thrusting arms, wild shreiks, children shooting AKs into the air. What a carnivel.
Posted by: Lucky || 01/18/2004 12:27 Comments || Top||

#6  These clowns need to spend a few weeks with the KCNA folks, 'cuz this rant's about a 4.0 on the stock cliche scale.
Posted by: Raj || 01/18/2004 13:26 Comments || Top||

#7  Lucky - 3 words: Pay-Per-View

(Or Little Green Footballs)
Posted by: Frank G || 01/18/2004 13:46 Comments || Top||

#8  be well amusing when the sting this old fool,i too love the carnivel atmosphere of a good old fashioned Hamas knees (and guns) up.cluster bomb the weeping mourners for added enjoyment.
Posted by: Jon Shep U.K || 01/18/2004 14:30 Comments || Top||

#9  I am gonna buy a nice bottle of wine for day when the IDF dispatches Yassin.
Posted by: badanov || 01/18/2004 15:06 Comments || Top||

#10  Terrorists like Yassin need to drown in a Sea of S--t™. That is all they deserve for dumping all this misery on BOTH the Israelis and the Paleos.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 01/18/2004 19:27 Comments || Top||

#11  AP. Better yet a sea of pig LARD :).

In a way I kind of feel sorry for the Paleos that this lying, murdering, sack of pus is the 'leader' they are stuck with. On the other hand -- they are getting what they deserve.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 01/18/2004 19:59 Comments || Top||

#12  "A Sea of Blood"

"But Mamoud, it's cold in Sweden this time of year!"
Posted by: john || 01/18/2004 20:30 Comments || Top||

#13 
“drown in a sea of blood”
Fine by me, as long as it's Hamas' blood.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 01/18/2004 21:15 Comments || Top||

#14  Bad boys Bad boys what you gonna do, what you gonna do when Hamas comes after you. My only complaint is Hamas isn't doing a good enough job of getting rid of the IDF.
Posted by: Anonymous || 01/18/2004 21:24 Comments || Top||

#15  Hamas are freedom fighters fighting the terrorist government of Israel. When they take your land, your pride, and everything your own, only one thing left to do....Kick Ass. Shouts out to all the freedom fighters of Palestine.
Posted by: Israeli Terrorist || 01/18/2004 21:27 Comments || Top||

#16  What is it, is there a troll convention in town?

I think it's time for Israel to quit playing games, and drive all the Arabs back where they came from. Anyone trying to stop them gets blasted. Tell Zeurope to go piss up a rope, and announce to the world Israel has a SUBSTANTIAL nuclear arsenal, and the means to deliver it. I would LOVE to see Isreal launch a rocket to the moon - there would be so much a$$-puckering in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Africa, you could make a fortune selling rectal suppositories.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 01/18/2004 22:29 Comments || Top||

#17  YAWN..... Is it a full troll moon tonight or something?
Posted by: whitecollar redneck || 01/18/2004 22:31 Comments || Top||


Home Front
McGovern endorses Weasley...
FoxNews has live coverage of George McGovern endorsing the candidacy of General Weasley Clark.
Also live, but a little later (12.30 Eastern), Howard went to church with Jimmy Carter, but Jimmy wouldn't quite endorse him.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 01/18/2004 11:05 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Run, Weasley - you're doomed now!
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 01/18/2004 11:07 Comments || Top||

#2  Of course he has to endorse someone. Even if you didn't like McGovern at least he was consistent. But how would it look if he endorsed Dean and had his record for getting his clock cleaned beaten
Posted by: Cheddarhead || 01/18/2004 11:41 Comments || Top||

#3  whoa... just wrote an almost funny about Jimmuah and George.... This is actually news. George McGovern is moving to the right! Nothing like a business failure to make you an angry white Southon Dakota male.

Actually I've alway liked George McGovern... but it's always amazed me that he had the wits to fly a B-24.
Posted by: Shipman || 01/18/2004 11:55 Comments || Top||

#4  Kinda like tying a second cinder block to a mob informant before you chuck him off the Brooklyn bridge, just to make sure...
Posted by: Raj || 01/18/2004 13:22 Comments || Top||

#5  I'll never mock George McGovern the man -- he did indeed fly a B-24 in the war, and was considered a good and courageous pilot. I salute him for that, even as I stand against most of his political beliefs.
Posted by: Steve White || 01/18/2004 14:34 Comments || Top||


Africa: West
France Seeks U.N. Forces in Ivory Coast
France introduced a resolution calling for a 6,240-strong U.N. peacekeeping force in war-divided Ivory Coast, but the United States on Friday expressed reservations about the size and said it wants to examine the justification for the deployment.
"Marvin! Front and center! What the hell are the French doing now?!
"Well sir, they’re getting all unilateral again."
"Would it pay for us to remind the world of French hypocrisy?"
"Coals to Newscastle, sir."

Ivory Coast’s nine-month civil war officially ended in July, but the nation remains divided between rebel-held north and government-held south. A 2003 peace process brokered in France has never fully taken hold and more than 4,000 French and 1,000 West African troops are trying to avoid casualties helping to keep the peace. The French draft, circulated late Thursday, follows Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s recommendation for a peacekeeping mission with 6,240 troops, including 200 military observers and 120 staff officers. It would also authorize an international civilian police contingent, though no number was specified.
Plus a couple of doctors to keep the French cathouses clean.
"We have some reservations about the numbers," U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte said Friday. "We had heard much lower numbers earlier on, so we really want to take a hard look at that."
Tell me, Marvin, who’s paying for this august little venture?"
"Guess, sir."
"Seems to me the French can cut this sucker in half."

The United States also wants to study Annan’s report to the Security Council earlier this month justifying the deployment of U.N. troops, Negroponte said. Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo and West African leaders have urged the United Nations to take over the West African peacekeeping mission.
"It’s easier to smack the Uruguayans around!"
In the report, the secretary-general said West African peacekeepers are overstretched and requests for more money from donor nations haven’t been answered.
"Marvin, turn off the spigot on this one."
"Already done, sir."

But Annan said his recommendation for a U.N. force was contingent on the rebels and government showing progress in getting the peace process back on track by Feb. 4.
Oh. What’s all the fuss about then? They won’t be talking until 2006 2010.
The draft resolution would authorize the U.N. force to monitor the cease-fire and assist the transitional power-sharing government in disarming and repatriating the former combatants. It would also help the government extend its authority throughout the country and prepare for elections in 2005.
The government’s authority was doing pretty well until the French undermined it.
And elections is how they ended up with Gbagbo in charge. The rebels didn't like the results. What happens when they don't like the results of the next elections?
France has been pressing for approval of the draft resolution by Feb. 4, exactly a year after the Security Council authorized the French force to help enforce the shaky truce. The United Nations now has a small mission in Cyprus Ivory Coast - 71 military liaison officers who are working with the rebels and the government, as well as with the French and West African peacekeepers. French Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie, who discused the Ivory Coast with Annan, said she stressed "the need for this deployment to be done rapidly," particularly since elections will take place in 18 months. But Negroponte said "I don’t think we can reach a decision by Feb. 4."
"I don’t think we need to rush into this one, Mr. Secretary."
"Reading my mind as usual, Marvin."
Posted by: Steve White || 01/18/2004 1:25:06 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  So France went in to Cote d'Ivoire (unilaterally and without a UNSC resolution, IIRC) and got themselves into a quagmire, and now they're looking for an international force to replace them and bail them out.

Isn't that exactly what they claimed we'd do in Iraq? (And then got all huffy when we refused to let the UN take over?)
Posted by: Steven Den Beste || 01/18/2004 2:27 Comments || Top||

#2  Correct SDB, except I think there was a vote allowing the French to go in. Nobody cared to join in, we were busy evacuating dependents in Liberia around that time IIRC. Let the French solve this on their own
Posted by: Frank G || 01/18/2004 7:07 Comments || Top||

#3  "We have some reservations about the numbers," U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte said Friday. "We had heard much lower numbers earlier on, so we really want to take a hard look at that."

I translate this statement as a call for the French or for Kofi to be more ammenable to UN involvment in Iraq.
Posted by: Super Hose || 01/18/2004 10:43 Comments || Top||

#4  #2 Frank G:
except I think there was a vote allowing the French to go in
Wasn't that vote taken after the Frogs were already there?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 01/18/2004 11:06 Comments || Top||

#5  I don't get it either. Are 6000 troops going to be enough to keep the peace there if the government or rebels decide not to keep the peace, and besides, where are the 6,000 troops supposed to come from, anyway?
Posted by: Phil Fraering || 01/18/2004 11:43 Comments || Top||

#6  where are the 6,000 troops supposed to come from, anyway?

Where do you THINK they're supposed to come from? Belguim?
Posted by: Charles || 01/18/2004 12:30 Comments || Top||

#7  Barbara - I found this through Googling
"UNSC and Cote D' Ivoire":

On 4 February, through resolution 1464 (2003), the Council welcomed the deployment of ECOWAS and French troops, which aimed at supporting a peaceful solution of the crisis in Côte d'Ivoire and implementation of the Linas-Marcoussis Agreement. That Agreement, signed on 24 January, called for the formation of a government of national reconciliation and the establishment of a monitoring committee to supervise compliance, leading to elections in 2005

so, it sounds like they got the vote first - but have handled it verrrrry poorly since, non?
Posted by: Frank G || 01/18/2004 13:04 Comments || Top||

#8  Charles: I don't know where they're supposed to come from. If the US is supposed to provide them, well, we're already busy with other things. Part of the reason I asked the question is that all the usual suspects say that if only we'd genuflected more at the altar of the UN and France, suddenly we'd have a lot more troops available to help out in Iraq. But I suspect the truth is, the troop strength just isn't there, if you're talking about actual well-trained troops instead of the usual sorts the UN often rents from third-world kleptocracies.
Posted by: Phil Fraering || 01/18/2004 13:41 Comments || Top||

#9  If the French want 6000 additional troops, let their "friends" in Europe supply them, or get them from Latin America or Asia. It is not in the best interest of the United States to help the French rebuild their African empire.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 01/18/2004 13:43 Comments || Top||

#10  Cote d'Ivoire had quagmire written all over it from the git go. Nobody with a rational mind wanted to touch this one. The French jumped in and now they they are in deep, wanting to put the UN into it to cover their failure. If we go into the Cote d'Ivoire, it becomes our tar baby. If we do not, the French will say our refusal caused the failure. Let France and her buddies get themselves out of the Cote d'Ivoire Quagmire™ themselves. I am sick of their whining and undermining of the WoT.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 01/18/2004 14:17 Comments || Top||

#11  4000 French troops would be a large chunk of their "rapid deployment" force.The 6000+ troops would be mostly African,with a battalion or two from Fiji,Thailand,etc.Money would come from UN,with US paying 1/2 as usual.And 5 years from now nothing will have changed.
Posted by: Stephen || 01/18/2004 16:02 Comments || Top||

#12  Frank G.:

Or not.

"December 30, 2002

Abidjan

The situation in western Cote d'Ivoire remains volatile despite the presence of French and loyalist troops, according to reports from news organisations and humanitarian sources, which also say that essential services are not functioning in parts of the area."
(snip)
In another development, rebels of the Mouvement Populaire Ivoirien du Grand Ouest (MPIGO) who met on Monday with French troops deployed in the western town of Duekoue on Monday said an exchange of fire between the two sides on
Sunday was a mistake, AFP reported. "This meeting enabled them to clarify their position and to inform us of their mistake. They didn't intend to attack us," the French military spokesman, Lt-Col Ange-Antoine Leccia, told
AFP.

Sunday's clash was the fourth in the past eight days between the rebels and the French forces, news organisations reported.

Originally some 1200 French troops had been deployed to protect foreigners and monitor a ceasefire signed by MPCI in October and accepted by the government. France has since increased its troops to 2,500 and mandated them to enforce the truce." (emphasis added)

http://two.pairlist.net/pipermail/contactafrica/2002-December/000308.html (sorry - don't know how to make a link)
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 01/18/2004 17:11 Comments || Top||

#13  Reply to #11 Stephen: Most of the troops would be from Africa? Are there any semi-decent troops available from the region that have any sort of neutrality in the conflict to start with?
Posted by: Phil Fraering || 01/18/2004 17:15 Comments || Top||

#14  Reply to #13 Phil:No,but it doesn't matter.For "peacekeeping" in Africa,African troops are preferred to avoid perception that Africa can't handle its own problems.Second choice is other third world countries-all of whom make money for their governments,because UN payment for peacekeepers far exceeds what African/Third World pays their troops.
Posted by: Stephen || 01/18/2004 17:58 Comments || Top||

#15  Replying to Stephen again in #14: OK... just so I know who's going to get to live in peace and who's going to die a bloody death in the peace, can you tell me which of Cote d'Ivoire's neighbors support which sides in the conflict, so when they send "peacekeepers" I'll be able to figure out which side will win the resulting "peace"?
Posted by: Phil Fraering || 01/18/2004 21:06 Comments || Top||

#16  ARGH, I meant to edit the message better than that, but accidentally hit the wrong key twice. What I meant was: Replying to Stephen again in #14: Can you tell me which of Cote d'Ivoire's neighbors support which sides in the conflict, so when they send "peacekeepers" I'll be able to figure out which side will win the resulting "peace"?
Posted by: Phil Fraering || 01/18/2004 21:08 Comments || Top||


Africa: Central
20 LRA iced in northern Uganda
Government soldiers have killed at least 20 rebels during clashes in northern Uganda during the past week, an army spokesperson said on Saturday. The army killed the rebels of the Lord’s Resistance Army during gun battles while pursuing the insurgents in three northern districts - Pader, Kitgum and Lira, said 2nd Lt. Chris Magezi. One government soldier was killed, he said. Magezi said government forces were continuing to pursue insurgents in the region, but he did not give further details. Magezi said 97 people - mainly children - abducted by the rebels were rescued during the past week’s fighting. "There’s relative calm in the area and the army is continuing to pursue these rebels," he said by telephone from Lira, about 270 kilometres north of Kampala. It was not possible to contact the rebels, who rarely make contact with the outside world.

Led by Joseph Kony, who claims to have spiritual powers, the Lord’s Resistance Army is a shadowy organisation that has been fighting President Yoweri Museveni, a southerner, since he came to power in 1986 after a five-year bush war. The rebels have wreaked havoc across northern and northeastern Uganda, forcing an estimated 1 million people to flee their homes. The group replenishes its ranks with children it abducts to use as fighters, porters or concubines.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 01/18/2004 12:59:57 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I think it was Fred who noted the rainy season allows the rebels to regroup/rearm, and re-insert. Answer? Kill as many as you can now. Apparently Uganda is on the right path
Posted by: Frank G || 01/18/2004 7:02 Comments || Top||


Korea
U.S. Agrees to Pull Troops Out of Seoul
The United States agreed Saturday to pull its troops out of the South Korean capital as Seoul’s new top diplomat said he sees a chance for a breakthrough in the North Korean nuclear weapons crisis. Under a historic plan to end the U.S. presence in the capital dating from the 1950-53 Korean War, about 7,000 U.S. forces and their families will be moved to an expanded facility about 45 miles south of Seoul. The move is to be completed by 2006.
Might be time to consider relocating them about, oh, 8,000 miles to the east.
The decision, announced at a meeting of U.S. and South Korean officials in Honolulu, is part of U.S. efforts to streamline and modernize its forces on the divided peninsula and ease tensions caused by having a large U.S. military base in the middle of South Korea’s main city. Residents have long complained that the base occupies prime real estate and contributes to the city’s chronic traffic congestion. Younger generations also see the foreign military presence in their capital as a slight to national pride.
If you have sufficient pride, boys, you can defend yourselves.
Taking U.S. forces out of the capital also removes them from the front lines of a potential North Korean attack. The U.S. military has said the move out of Seoul will not diminish its strength in South Korea. Officials note they plan to spend $11 billion over the next four years to modernize forces. The United States keeps 37,000 troops in South Korea.
Still think bringing it down to a reinforced brigade and some air assets is the right thing to do.
Posted by: Steve White || 01/18/2004 12:45:31 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Help me with my geography. 8,000 miles to the east is... uh, California - right?
Posted by: Scooter McGruder || 01/18/2004 1:11 Comments || Top||

#2  wise move this,pull them back clear of kimmie's arty.I've been thinking that 8o 500pound jdam capibility the B-2 tested the other month needs to be rushed into production,imagine say 6 B-2's striking the HART sites along the NK border,each one dropping 80 jdams,say even 90% hit thats still about 400 odd targets hit in one 6 jet swoop.
Posted by: Jon Shep U.K || 01/18/2004 5:04 Comments || Top||

#3  let SK defend itself - this wise move is the first step in response to the anti-US protests and a new strategery (that was intentional).
Posted by: Frank G || 01/18/2004 7:20 Comments || Top||

#4 
The United States agreed Saturday to pull its troops out of the South Korean capital
Agreed, hell. More like demanded. And about time, too.

I hear Guam's nice this time of year....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 01/18/2004 15:03 Comments || Top||

#5  A truthful headline would read - South Korea Agrees to Pull US Troops Out of Seoul.
Posted by: phil_b || 01/18/2004 17:25 Comments || Top||


International
US sugar barons ’block global war on obesity’
Leading biased, Zeropean advocates scientists accused the Bush administration last night of putting the interests of powerful American sugar barons ahead of the global fight against obesity. Professor Kaare Norum, leader of the World Health Organisation’s fight to prevent millions developing diet-related diseases, has sparked an international war of words with a highly critical letter to US Health Secretary Tommy Thompson. In it he tells of his grave concern over American opposition to the WHO’s blueprint to combat obesity. He accuses the US of making the health of millions of young Americans ’a hostage to fortune’ because it has failed to take action over the fat epidemic as a result of its business interests, particularly the sugar lobby.
Wonder if the WHO will have any time to deal with the health problems of hunger, starvation, and tribal war?
Since 1990, successive US governments have blocked WHO calls for action, claims Norum, professor of medicine at Oslo University. Norum is the most senior scientist involved in an attempt to formulate a worldwide policy to fight heart disease and diabetes resulting from a junk food diet.
Common sense would say, allright, don’t eat as much junk food. But I have a feeling that Norum and WHO have a different approach, one devoid of common sense.
The letter from Norum will put Bush under laughably little intense pressure at home to show that he is serious about tackling the epidemic. More than half of all Americans are overweight, and in some states, including Bush’s Texas, nearly one-third of the population is classified obese.
And this is a problem for the WHO, how?
The President insists fighting fat is a matter for the individual, not the state. But today The Observer reveals how he and fellow senators have received hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding from ’Big Sugar’. One of his main fundraisers is sugar baron Jose ’Pepe’ Fanjul, head of Florida Crystals, who has raised at least $100,000 for November’s presidential re-election campaign.
By the same [cough] logic, Howard Dean is in big trouble with the musically intelligent since he took a donation from Barbra Striesand.
Norum’s letter is an angry response to the Americans’ decision to submit a 30-page report, criticising the WHO strategy for its lack of sound scientific evidence. It will be discussed at a key meeting of its executive board in Geneva on Tuesday. The Bush administration, which receives millions in funding from the sugar industry, argues there is little robust evidence to show that drinking sugary drinks or eating too much sugar is a direct cause of obesity. It particularly opposes a recommendation that just 10 per cent of people’s energy intake should come from added sugar. The US has a 25 per cent guideline.
I’d say that how much sugar we consume is not the WHO’s business, but what do I know?
Another leading obesity thinktank biased advocate expert supported Norum, describing America’s position as a scandal. Professor Philip James, head of the International Obesity Task Force, a thinktank for experts worldwide said: ’People are far more tuned into what is now a much bigger obesity crisis and are more aware of some of the dangers such as diabetes. When they begin to see children developing these severe health problems, it brings home to people that this is not some vague risk in the future - it is happening here and now.’
But what does it have to do with the government? I know — eventually these guys want a tax on junk food to be used to support them educate the public.
In an Observer interview today, Britain’s Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell urges people who take little or no exercise to start hobbies like DIY and gardening to get active, saying that she wants people to take responsibility for their fitness.
But that would put Norum out of business!
Posted by: Steve White || 01/18/2004 12:38:59 AM || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  What a giant steaming crock of conspiracist junk-science. It is well-documented that dietary fat is a significantly more important factor in obesity than is refined sugar. The same is true to a lesser degree for carbohydrates other than refined sugar. The latter of course is the main product is the main product of "big sugar."
If sugar is such a big risk factor, why aren't the people of Britain, the world's largest consumers of sweets, all as fat as the Hindenburg?

Yet again, we have a conspiracy theory based on clairvoyant and therefore unverifiable claims about intent and motivation.
Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy || 01/18/2004 1:01 Comments || Top||

#2  The sugar lobby must go. Chicago was the candy capital, we've lost a hell of a lot of jobs because we pay 15 cents more a pound domestically.

It was 15c when I read the article about 2 years ago which made the point the American candy Life Savers moved to Canada. And I have no doubt in my mind that if Hershey's was able to spin off, they'd be outta Hershey, PA.

Just like steel tariffs, losing more good paying jobs than gaining.
Posted by: Anonymous2U || 01/18/2004 1:11 Comments || Top||

#3  And now Fannie May's gone, too!!!!!!!!!!!

Do you have any idea how many jobs? We've lost Brach's, Frangos, FM, and other specialty companies.
Posted by: Anonymous2U || 01/18/2004 1:12 Comments || Top||

#4  AC, carb's are actually as big a problem as fat. Refined, simple carbs like glucose and fructose (e.g., candy, etc) generally cause spikes in your insulin levels. That's appropriate to handle the sugar, but in the long run it promotes fat formation. That surge also causes blood sugar levels to dive, and then you get hungry as hell, and eat some more.

A2U: sugar lobby really does have to go. Chicago (my home town) has no candy industry to speak of anymore. The sugar tariffs are just as bad as the steel tariffs.
Posted by: Steve White || 01/18/2004 1:15 Comments || Top||

#5  Steve:
"Refined, simple carbs like glucose and fructose (e.g., candy, etc) generally cause spikes in your insulin levels. That's appropriate to handle the sugar, but in the long run it promotes fat formation."

That contention is the basis of various low-carb high-protein diets.
The Canadian Sugar Institute naturally disagrees and has a number of scientifically authoritative and well-referenced rebuttals on its website.

Most notable is Carbohydrate Intake and Obesity – An Epidemiological Perspective By Alison Stephen Ph.D CANTOX Health Sciences International, ON

"In an era of enthusiasm for low carbohydrate diets as the answer for weight control, it is worthwhile to note that most observational studies do not support such a conclusion. Large dietary surveys conducted on different age groups in numerous countries show inverse relationships between obesity and carbohydrate intake, both in grams per day and as percentage of energy, in contrast to positive relationships with dietary fat (1,2). Research with adult American males, using skin fold to assess body fat, found the fattest subjects ate more fat and less carbohydrate than lean subjects (3). Similarly, a recent survey in Spain showed lower carbohydrate intakes were found in overweight adolescents compared to those of normal weight (4).[Excerpted]


We can infer from the fate of the US candy industry that any influence the sugar lobby does buy is directed much more at maintaining high prices than at undermining any kind of anti-obesity campaign.
Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy || 01/18/2004 2:21 Comments || Top||

#6  "You! Yes, you! Smith7162543! You're not trying, brother! I want to see you touch those toes!"
-- 1984
Posted by: mojo || 01/18/2004 2:35 Comments || Top||

#7  DIY?

Wonder what WHO has to say about France having wine at every meal,And Germany having beer with every meal?
Posted by: raptor || 01/18/2004 6:23 Comments || Top||

#8  sounds like the first drumbeat for a int'l sugar/obesity tax
Posted by: Frank G || 01/18/2004 7:41 Comments || Top||

#9  The sugar subsidy is all about the Cuban-American anti-Castro movement. Any donations Bush gets in that light is political and not about shoving sugar down our throats. I agree the subsidy should go but this is a foolish distortion.
Posted by: ruprecht || 01/18/2004 7:52 Comments || Top||

#10  Latest dispatch from the front lines of the "global war on obesity:"

The 342nd Mechanized Liposuction Brigade launched a major offensive near the city of Bellybutton today. "We see a lot of big, fat targets," said a spokesman. . . .
Posted by: Mike || 01/18/2004 8:27 Comments || Top||

#11  "The President insists fighting fat is a matter for the individual, not the state."

The President doesn't have to "insist" any such thing: to most Americans, it is a matter for the individual, and the government should mind its own damned business and stay the hell out of our lives.

I don't fault Bush for opposing the UN and its multitude of meddlesome nanny-state busybody agencies- I fault him for not telling the UN to go to hell, outright.
Posted by: Dave D. || 01/18/2004 8:38 Comments || Top||

#12  The President insists fighting fat is a matter for the individual, not the state.

How dare he believe in individual liberty!

God, I wish we could vote to exile people from civilization. Busybodies like Norum deserve to be cast into the wilderness.
Posted by: Robert Crawford || 01/18/2004 9:24 Comments || Top||

#13  I'm sorry, guys, but I just don't feel confident or competent making decisions for myself. It's a big scary world and I think the government should protect me from it. I would feel much better paying in 80% or more of my income to support a bureaucracy that did all that for me.

This is a mantra I use to alleviate stress when faced with personal decisions or personal responsibility. Repeat after me: "It takes a village... It takes a village..."
Posted by: Dar || 01/18/2004 10:12 Comments || Top||

#14  Gardening? GARDENING??!?? Is she freakin' serious?

Get on your bike and ride!
Posted by: Raj || 01/18/2004 10:53 Comments || Top||

#15  I remember when this was a science fiction story by F. Paul Wilson (if you didn't know, "Lipidleggin'").
Posted by: Phil Fraering || 01/18/2004 11:55 Comments || Top||

#16  Paul Wilson? Sure he was Golden Spike award winner at FSU. He's a writer now?
Posted by: Shipman || 01/18/2004 11:59 Comments || Top||

#17  Without Sugar There Can Be No BBQ.
Without BBQ There Can Be No Peace.

Free Lunch!
Free Lunch!
Free Lunch!
Posted by: Shipman || 01/18/2004 12:41 Comments || Top||

#18  Raj - well, heavy duty stuff like tree planting, you betcha. Putting in a couple petunias, well, no.....but either way, at least you would be doing something other than parking your butt on the sofa and eating junk food.
I just wish they would make up their minds at the UN.....first we're starving Iraqis with sanctions, next, we're plotting to make the world incredibly fat. What is it, guys?
Posted by: Desert Blondie || 01/18/2004 13:10 Comments || Top||

#19  Free the Fatty 5 Million!
Posted by: anon radical || 01/18/2004 13:54 Comments || Top||

#20  Once more, the rabid idiotarians of the world target the United States. Their agenda has nothing to do with what they say it is, it's all about forcing the United States to kowtow to the United Nations. I think it's time we declare these people "enemies of the people of the United States", and offer a bounty on their heads - say, $500 a pop. Since there's so many idiotarians, we need to set aside a couple of $billion for payouts.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 01/18/2004 14:59 Comments || Top||

#21  Ya gotta love the Internet, guys. AMAZING facts and figures available at the click of a mouse...like the world's top ten sugar produxers at the end of 2002 (the last year for which full figures are available):

COUNTRY PRODUCTION (IN MILLIONS OF TONS)
Brazil 22,703
India 19,457
EU 18,341
China 9,783
USA 7,425
Thailand 6,895
Australia 5,569
SADC 5,467
Mexico 5,062
Cuba 2,400


I kinda think all those Brazilian, Indian, EU, and Chinese sugar barons got a LOT more to lose than we do.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 01/18/2004 22:44 Comments || Top||

#22  OP (#20)
"...offer a bounty on their heads"

No, no, no! Sell hunting licenses.
You get rid of them and make money.
Might even pay for a trip to Mars.
Posted by: lk || 01/19/2004 0:16 Comments || Top||


Africa: East
Sudan truce hits roadblock
I think we all saw this coming ...
South Sudanese rebels negotiating with the government on how to end more than 20 years of civil war said yesterday there could be no final peace agreement until the status of three disputed areas was resolved. Sudanese President Omar Hassan Al Bashir said on Tuesday the Kenya-hosted peace talks were not mandated to discuss the three disputed areas - Nuba Mountains, Southern Blue Nile and Abyei, potentially raising a major obstacle to a peace deal. But Yasir Arman, a spokesman for the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), said talks on the disputed areas were continuing in Kenya and a resolution was essential. "There will be no (final) agreement unless there is a full agreement on the three areas," Arman said by telephone. "The three areas are an important component to the peace in Sudan. It is the reason we have been fighting for 20 years."

He said the two top negotiators, First Vice President Ali Osman Mohammed Taha and rebel leader John Garang, were discussing the three disputed areas yesterday, aiming to clear the matter before they move to the next outstanding issue of power sharing. "The principals (Garang and Taha) are not here on a political picnic. They are doing a real job to resolve the three areas and power sharing," Arman said, adding that the SPLA believed the dispute over the three areas was surmountable. "It is not any more difficult than the wealth sharing or the security issues. The same determination will see us through," he said, referring to important accords signed by the two parties. Several senior members of the SPLA come from the disputed areas, which are part of the north.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 01/18/2004 12:15:26 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Iran
Iran to boost EU ties
Iran will expand ties with member states of the European Union (EU) including France, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Hassan Rowhani said here Friday night.
We just have a National Security Council. They've got a Supreme National Security Council...
Talking to reporters upon his arrival from a three-day visit to France, Rowhani assessed Iranian government’s evaluation of bilateral issues and promotion of Iran-EU ties as positive. Iran and France discussed avenues to settle problems Iran, EU and France face in political, social, cultural and economic fields, Rowhani said, adding relations between the sides would receive a boost in the future. Asked about Iran-US ties, he said the American government has adopted no positive measure and the situation is just like as before.
"Yeah, we tell 'em to piss off, give 'em the finger, that sort of thing. We expect the Euros to stop them from actually thumping us..."
Pointing to regional issues, the SNSC secretary noted that the sides discussed future developments in Iraq, the Middle East and Palestine as well as security in the Persian Gulf. Iran and the European Union have reached agreements on Iran’s nuclear case. Iran has fulfilled its commitments and it is necessary for the EU to implement its promises, he added. "Iran has an appropriate cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and presented all required documents to the agency. We should wait for the IAEA’s report on Iran’s nuclear case (in February)," he said.
"We filled out our paperwork, so that should put the problem on the back burner for the next few years. Hopefully, before it pops up again we'll have the bomb, so all we'll have to do is make faces and the Merkins will back off."
Referring to arrest of some al-Qaeda members in Iran, the official said, "Iran has returned these figures, whose names are available at the United Nations, to their own countries."
"What countries?"
"Diff'rent countries."
He pointed to his meeting with French President Jacques Chirac and the latter’s demand for a free and democratic election in Iran and said one of Iran’s glories after the victory of the Islamic Revolution is that people are on the top of all affairs and the Iranian nation are free to elect their representatives with full satisfaction.
"As long as the Fascists ayatollahs say it's okay, of course..."
Rowhani further stated the French side called for adopting the model of signing the additional protocol to the NPT for other issues between Iran and the European Union.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 01/18/2004 12:08:12 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Iran and France discussed avenues to settle problems Iran, EU and France face in political, social, cultural and economic fields

Sounds like France is looking for a coalition partner to further their aim of containing us.
Posted by: Steve White || 01/18/2004 0:30 Comments || Top||

#2  Oh, please, please let them sign a mutual defense pact.
Posted by: Anonymous2U || 01/18/2004 1:13 Comments || Top||

#3  Well, it does make perfect diplo-sense as they are on the same side on most issues...

"Asked about Iran-US ties, he said the American government has adopted no positive measure and the situation is just like as before."
And, of course, it is the US that must compromise in the current impasse, for it is obviously the Persians' Allah-given right to wield nuclear weapons. It's right there in one of the suras from 1400 yrs ago. I'm pretty sure I saw it. Allah had such remarkable future-sight to cover wymyn driving automobiles, the right to import NorK missile tech, and those innocent little nuke warheads. Wotta Guy, eh?!!?!! If he'd only known he was speaking Aramaic instead of Arabic just think what other wonders he could've predicted!
Posted by: .com || 01/18/2004 3:41 Comments || Top||

#4  Weren't they just chanting "death to France" couple of days ago about the headscarf thing...
Posted by: Rafael || 01/18/2004 3:51 Comments || Top||

#5  wipe iran out before the french and germans can climb into bed with them,if not wipe them out then at least incite an uprising against the nutters that run the place (iran not france :).Is there gonna be some sort of attempted uprising on the 18th of this month?
Posted by: Jon Shep U.K || 01/18/2004 5:15 Comments || Top||

#6  Initiatives like this are why I can't take the EU seriously when it says it wants to impose trade sanctions on the US - Iran is such a nit, and yet the EU can't keep its grubby little hands off.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 01/18/2004 11:53 Comments || Top||

#7  Anyone noticed how the EU seems to ever been on the side of the most despicable tyrant?
Posted by: Anonymous || 01/18/2004 12:15 Comments || Top||


Caucasus
US military to stay in Georgia
US officials have said that their military presence in Georgia will now become permanent. The American military has been training and equipping the Georgian army since the spring of 2002. Having trained three battalions of Georgian soldiers, US military instructors were due to leave in March. On Saturday the US ambassador to Georgia said they had decided to continue training the Georgian army in a full-time programme.

During the Soviet era, Krtsanisi military base outside Tbilisi was home to the Red Army. Now it is US soldiers who are in charge and, according to the US Ambassador in Tbilisi Richard Miles, they are in Georgia to stay. In 2002 the Bush administration set up an 18-month, $65m programme aimed at training and equipping Georgia’s impoverished army. The programme was part of America’s war on terror and it started after the US confirmed Russian allegations about the presence of Chechen and al-Qaeda fighters in Georgia’s Pankisi Gorge, on the border with Chechnya. Details are still to be announced of the new permanent programme, but analysts say that any sort of US military presence is good news for the Georgian Government, which sees the US engagement as a security guarantee against Georgia’s northern neighbour - Russia.

For Moscow, the Caucasus is a geopolitical backyard, rich in energy resources and crucial to the conflict in Chechnya. Moscow’s refusal to remove its military bases from Georgia has long fuelled tensions between the two countries. Georgia’s President-elect, Mikhail Saakashvili, says the removal of the Russian troops will be high on his government’s priority list. The US, whose own stakes in the Caucasus include a multi-billion dollar Caspian oil pipeline, backs this demand. Last week, the Bush administration also called for Russia to remove its military and said it was even prepared to take up some of the costs needed for the relocation of Russian troops.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 01/18/2004 12:04:44 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Hm, I thought Reconstruction ended awhile ago.
Posted by: Theantipoop || 01/18/2004 13:57 Comments || Top||

#2  Sounds a whole lot nicer than Quitman County.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey || 01/18/2004 18:06 Comments || Top||

#3  I never thoght the Army would ever leave Ft Benning and Ft Stewart anyways.

;-)
Posted by: OldSpook || 01/18/2004 18:43 Comments || Top||

#4  I suppose "Fort Sherman, Georgia" is too much to ask for?
Posted by: Dan (not Darling) || 01/18/2004 21:56 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Sun 2004-01-18
  25 dead in Baghdad car boom
Sat 2004-01-17
  Iran Earthquake Death Toll Exceeds 41,000
Fri 2004-01-16
  Castro croak rumors
Thu 2004-01-15
  Pak car boom injures 12
Wed 2004-01-14
  Libya Ratifies Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
Tue 2004-01-13
  Cleveland imam indicted
Mon 2004-01-12
  Premature boom near Nablus
Sun 2004-01-11
  Premature boom near Qalqilya
Sat 2004-01-10
  Possible Iraqi blister gas weapons found
Fri 2004-01-09
  Paleos Ready to Push for One State
Thu 2004-01-08
  Pak army launches S. Waziristan operation
Wed 2004-01-07
  Russers just missed Maskhadov
Tue 2004-01-06
  Toe tag for Gelaev?
Mon 2004-01-05
  Unknown group claims "attack" on Egyptian charter plane
Sun 2004-01-04
  Navy nabs another $11m hash boat

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