Bill Quick maintains a collection of letters to the editor from the thought-impaired. Today's prize winner is an "Iranian-Canadian-American" lady "born and raised in the Bay Area" â which would seem to make her a Merkin â who complains about not being forced to wear a chador, like she had to do when she visited Iran. She felt so much freer there, y'know... I think I'll contact my local Lions Club and see if they kick in for thinking head dogs.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/31/2002 04:28 pm ||
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Given that she'd be replaced by another Democrat, I don't agree with those who want Patty Murray to resign. I want her to remain a continuing, festering wound on the face of the idiotarian branch of the Democratic Party--an ongoing reminder that a significant segment of that party (including her fellow Washingtonian "Baghdad Jim" McDermott) supports and trusts our enemies more than their own government.
Truly, there is merit to this argument. But I still lean toward tar and feathers, m'self...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/31/2002 04:45 pm ||
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Happy new year!
Posted by: Anna ||
12/31/2002 20:14 Comments ||
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Happy New Year to us all! May we have many more...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/31/2002 09:58 pm ||
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And the same to you and your loved one's as well as those who've posted here - I've enjoyed all the comments, even those which I may (ahem) differ with - lol - may 2003 be a great year for all!
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/31/2002 22:48 Comments ||
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Happy New Year. I've really enjoyed reading your site. Thanks!
An American soldier wounded in Afghanistan at the weekend was shot in an exchange of gunfire with a Pakistani border patrol, prompting the U.S. to drop a bomb on the border area, the U.S. army said on Tuesday. A Pakistani intelligence official said two U.S. bombs had fallen "accidentally" inside Pakistani territory in the same area Sunday. The American was part of a unit conducting a routine mission with Pakistani forces along the Afghan border when a disagreement appeared to break out, according to a statement released by the U.S. military at their Afghan headquarters at Bagram air base. "A Pakistani border scout opened fire with a G3 rifle after the U.S. patrol asked him to return to the Pakistan side of the border," the statement said. "That individual and several others retreated to a nearby structure," it added. "Close air support was requested and one 500-lb bomb was dropped on the target area." Presumably on the structure...
The U.S. military said the incident happened near the Afghan village of Shkin, which lies on the border with Pakistan. A Pakistani intelligence official said two U.S. bombs had fallen inside Pakistani territory Sunday after a firing incident in Afghanistan. He said the bombs fell in the South Waziristan tribal agency, which lies across the border from Shkin, but it was impossible to confirm if he was referring to the same incident. That would imply that such incidents are pretty common, wouldn't it?
The official said no one was hurt as the area was deserted. They missed the building? Or the bad guys beat feet out the back door, headed for the nearest horizon, before the aircraft got there?
The U.S. statement did not give details of the joint U.S. and Pakistani mission or say whether it was taking place inside Pakistan or Afghanistan. So it was probably in Pakland...
U.S. forces patrolling eastern Afghanistan for al Qaeda fugitives say they cooperate with Pakistani forces on the other side of the border, but do not cross into Pakistani territory to pursue fugitives. The U.S. statement also did not say what the Pakistani border guard was doing inside Afghanistan. Taking a leak?
FOLLOWUP:
Seems the two bad guys didn't make it to the nearest horizon...
Hayatullah Khan for Daily Times (Pakistan)
Two Pakistani border guards were killed when American and allied forces opened fire at a Pakistani check-post at the Pak-Afghan border near Paktika province of Afghanistan. On Sunday, unidentified (persons) opened fire at an America checkpost at Birmal near the Pak-Afghan border inside Afghanistan, killing two American troops. In retaliation, they targeted a Pakistani checkpost killing two scouts. Later, the American troops chased the assailants, killing one of them inside Afghan territory. A little logical disconnect here... Two scouts killed in retaliation, (two) bad guys chased and bumped off in Afghanistan â but not the same people...
Residents in Birmal said Monday that bombs apparently dropped by US planes fell near an abandoned religious school and a police checkpoint in Pakistani territory, but no injuries were reported. One bomb hit a perimeter wall at an abandoned madrassa in the village of Birmal, local resident Allah Noor Khan said, AP reported. Don'tcha hate it when that happens? The police checkpoint wasn't the madrassah, and nobody was killed when it was hit, but the two scouts were iced... Does anybody else get the impression of clouds of denial and obfuscation? A little something somebody doesn't want to admit?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/31/2002 10:12 am ||
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Don'tcha hate it when that happens?
Uh....no...not really
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/31/2002 10:08 Comments ||
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"...an America checkpost..."
Sounds like a tourist attraction. Is there a Planet Hollywood nearby?
Middle East Online
Top Saudi singers have decided to boycott the third Doha music festival concert in Qatar next month in a new sign of strained ties between the two Gulf Arab states. The Saudi Al-Riyadh daily said Saudi pop singers Abdulmajeed Abdullah, Rabeh Sager, Rashed al-Majed, Mohammad Abdo and Khaled Abdulrahman, whose names where listed as participants, have given different reasons for not going. Most of them said they were not attending because of "private reasons," Al-Riyadh said. They mean that either some prince told them not to, or that some thugs came around and chatted about exploding cars...
Relations between Saudi Arabia and neighbour Qatar, both members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), have been strained recently over the Doha-based Al-Jazeera satellite channel's airing a programme last June deemed offensive to the founder of Saudi Arabia, king Abdul Aziz. How could he be offended? He's dead.
Riyadh downgraded its representation at the GCC summit in Doha last week, sending Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal in place of Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, the kingdom's de facto ruler. If it'd been the Doha Arms and Ammunition Exposition, I'll be they'd have gone...
Reports said that Saudi Arabia has demanded a formal apology from Qatar over the programme, but Foreign Minister Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani denied on Sunday that such a request was received. Prince Saud told reporters on Tuesday that Qatar knows what it ought to do to repair bilateral ties. But al-Thani doesn't want to toss the Americans...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/31/2002 09:36 am ||
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The third Doha music festival will thus be denyed stirring renditions of such Saudi favorites as:
"Blowing in the Sand"
"Ghost Camels in the Sky"
"He's Got the whole Dune in His Hands"
"Let There Be Jihad on Earth"
"Dying on a Jet Plane"
"Money Makes the Jihad Go Round"
Yemeni interrogators suspect the man accused of killing three American missionaries at a Baptist hospital may have ties to al-Qaida, officials said Tuesday, as U.S. investigators joined the search for those behind the murders. Two of the slain Americans were buried Tuesday in the southern Yemeni town of Jibla, where each had worked for more than two decades and where the attack took place. The third was to be flown back to the United States. The U.S. Embassy said it was too early to tell if terrorism was behind Monday's shootings at a Southern Baptist hospital. But Yemeni Prime Minister Abdul-Kader Bajammal included the slayings in a list of terrorist acts he presented to parliament later in the day. Officials close to the investigation said Yemeni interrogators have strong suspicions the accused gunman has connections to Osama bin Laden's terror network. Yemen is bin Laden's ancestral homeland and has been a fertile recruiting ground for him. President Ali Abdullah Saleh condemned the shootings as ``criminal and disgraceful'' in a message to President Bush and said they would ``strengthen our determination to eradicate terrorism,'' the official news agency Saba reported. In addition to interrogating the suspect, investigators were questioning prisoners picked up in earlier sweeps of suspected Muslim militants to see what they knew about Kamel. The suspects included some believed linked to al-Qaida and some to a small Yemeni group known as al-Jihad.
Al-Jihad, which attracted many Yemenis who had fought the Soviets in Afghanistan, had chiefly targeted secular figures from once-socialist southern Yemen. It had not been active for several years. Earlier, officials had said Kamel claimed to have ties to a cell plotting attacks on foreigners and secular-minded politicians. And we can't have any of those in a muslim country
Kamel told interrogators that he plotted the attack in collaboration with Ali al-Jarallah, who was arrested for shooting dead a senior Yemeni leftist politician on Saturday, Saba reported. Another rhodes scholar.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/31/2002 09:47 am ||
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Update from Utusan Malaysia Online: "Kamel was believed to be a student at Yemen's Al-Iman university, which is run by controversial Al-Islah Party thinker Sheikh Abdul Majid al-Zindani and was closed briefly last year as a hotbed of Islamic fundamentalism. Ali al-Jarallah, a fundamentalist who shot dead the deputy leader of the Yemen Socialist Party (YSP) at an Al-Islah conference in Sanaa on Saturday, went to the same university. Sources close to the investigation said Kamel confessed to being one of five Islamist activists charged with carrying out five operations, including the assassination of the YSP's Jarallah Omar. They did not specify who was behind the orders."
Sounds to me like this isn't the "lone gunman" that was first reported.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/31/2002 14:09 Comments ||
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Distraught and incredulous Yemenis mourned Tuesday the death of a U.S. doctor and her two American colleagues who were shot dead by a lone gunman at their Baptist mission hospital in this impoverish southern town. A somber mood pervaded Jibla, some 105 miles south of the capital Sanaa, a day after the attack that killed physician Martha Myers and two hospital officials.
"This is treachery of the highest form," said student Ghaleb al-Maqaleh outside the clinic in Ebb province that treats almost 40,000 patients a year and provides free healthcare to the needy. "Dr. Martha was like a mother to all us and to all the residents of Ebb. Whoever committed this crime killed us all."
An American pharmacist was also wounded in the attack, which the Yemeni Interior Ministry described as the work of an "Islamist extremist." The gunman has been identified as 30-year-old Abed Abdel Razzak Kamel from Sanaa.
Abdel Karim Ali, a storeowner in Jibla, blasted Kamel as an "inhumane murderer." "This has been such a shock, a dreadful shock because the whole team were so good to us," Ali declared. "No one from here would even consider doing this." Jibla housewife Afaf called on the government to provide more protection for foreigners in Yemen. There are 30,000 Americans living in Yemen, most of them naturalized Yemenis.
"These people are guests in our country. They must feel safe and they must understand that no true Muslim or Yemeni would do something so heinous," she said. A little backlash going on here in Yemen. It's one thing to read about the "brave mujahadeen" fighting for islam in a far away place. But when good people who you have known your whole live are killed just because they are of a different faith, it kind of opens your eyes.
Local security sources said Kamel was a comrade of Ali Jarallah, an Islah Party member who shot dead a prominent opposition official earlier this week. Both men were trained in Afghanistan, the sources said. Like we couldn't have guessed
Posted by: Steve ||
12/31/2002 10:09 am ||
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"This is treachery of the highest form,"
"These people are guests in our country. They must feel safe and they must understand that no true Muslim or Yemeni would do something so heinous,"
And THESE are the sort of statement we'd really like to be hearing from the other 99.999% of the muslims...
A New Year's Eve bomb blast at a market in the southern Philippines killed at least four people and injured 26 others. The explosion was triggered either by a 60 mm mortar shell equipped with timer or a grenade place next to a stall selling fireworks in the town of Tacurong in Sultan Kudarat province on southern Mindanao island, chief police inspector Jaime Guiballa said. It went off shortly before 8 p.m. and most of the casualties were New Year's revelers, he said. To an Islamist, that's a legitimate military target...
No one has claimed responsibility, but authorities have blamed the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front for a series of bomb attacks and an ambush that killed 30 people and injured dozens in the last two weeks in the southern Philippines. The rebels have denied the charge. But since they lie whenever it suits their purposes, and sometimes even when it doesn't, that's kind of a null op, isn't it?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/31/2002 11:48 am ||
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Iraq warned Monday that U.N. inspectorsâ interviewing of Iraqi scientists abroad poses legal problems, as the Security Council extended the list of goods banned for export to Iraq, to include about five dozen chemicals, drugs, electronic items and vehicles. "We must not rush things because this issue poses real problems, legal ones linked to human rights," General Amer al-Saadi, one of President Saddam Husseinâs top advisors, said during a meeting with a Spanish delegation in Baghdad, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP). No, no. Certainly don't rush things. I mean, this could take months, even years, right?
"One cannot force an Iraqi citizen to leave his country if he does not wish to," Saadi said, also describing Hans Blix and Mohammed El-Baradei, the chief weapons inspectors, as "lawyers who know human rights well." Why not? Sammy can prevent him from leaving if he does wish to...
Saadi accused the United States of insisting that interviews be undertaken abroad to obtain "false information" and "emptying Iraq of its scientists." He added that the Iraqi scientists who defected in the past "had said what the United States wanted to hear" by providing "false information". Sounds worried to me. And like he's got something to hide. If they were happy and content and really had voted 100 percent for Sammy, then what would be the worry?
Another senior official later said Iraq was seeking guarantees that the interviews would not be "modified" to provide Washington with an excuse to attack. "The guarantees are linked to what the scientists will say, since it could happen they attribute things to them which they did not say... which could be used as a pretext to strike Iraq," General Hossam Mohammad Amin, head of the National Monitoring Directorate, the agency that liaises with the inspectors, said in an interview with Qatar-based Al-Jazeera television channel Monday. Simple enough. Have al-Jazeera videotape the inerviews.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/31/2002 09:36 am ||
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"Have al-Jazeera videotape the inerviews" heh-heh. I like it: they'd probably do an honest job and get into trouble with the Qatar government [again], but they are used to that.
Posted by: John Anderson ||
12/31/2002 9:53 Comments ||
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More details on yesterdays strike
American and British warplanes flying multiple missions attacked Iraq air defense facilities after an Iraqi fighter jet penetrated the southern no-fly zone, the U.S. military said Tuesday. The warplanes used precision bombs and a damage assessment was under way, said a statement from the command.
The coalition aircraft targeted the sites after Iraqi forces flew a MIG-25 some 110 nautical miles into the southern zone. Well, Sammy's got at least one MiG-25 that works.
At 2:30 p.m. EDT Monday, coalition aircraft struck cable repeaters that are part of Iraq's air defense communications system running between Al Kut and Al Basrah and between Al Kut and An Nasiriyah; and at 3:40 p.m. they targeted a mobile radar unit that Iraqis also had moved into the zone, near Al Kut, Mitchell said. An Nasiriyah is some 300 miles south of Baghdad and Al Basrah some 200 miles south. Al Kut is about 160 miles southeast of the capital. Mitchell declined to say how many planes participated in the missions or how many bombs were dropped. A Pentagon official said Navy aircraft flew from the USS Constellation and British and U.S. Air Force planes flew from land bases. He declined to name them, but planes monitoring the northern zone that protects Iraq's Kurdish minority fly out of Incirlik air base in Turkey and those in the south have routinely flown from Kuwait, though officials said recently that Saudi Arabian officials have been allowing U.S. warplanes to fly strike missions from there as well. The question is, do the Saudis know about this?
Penetrations by Iraqi jets into the zone are less frequent but not uncommon. A week ago, an Iraqi MIG-25 shot down a U.S. Predator drone conducting reconnaissance near Al Kut, U.S. military officials said. Might be the same plane
However, Iraqi state-run television appeared to say that ground-based air defenses shot it down. I'd tend to believe our intel over their media
Posted by: Steve ||
12/31/2002 09:56 am ||
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Al Kut again, only this time it sounds like a major C3 cable nexus. Target lock, weapons free...
An entire Iranian province was left without electricity Tuesday after thieves made off with key parts from several main power outlets, state television reported. "Six electrical supply towers collapsed after parts were stolen, and this has led to a total power cut," the report said, adding that engineers were working to restore power to Sistan-Baluchestan province. The desert province, one of Iran's poorest regions, is home to about 1.8 million people. Sounds like they stole the struts off the towers. The coppers gave chase, but they stole the wheels off the policemobiles before they had the chance to get up to 30 miles an hour...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/31/2002 10:22 am ||
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Stole the struts for scrap metal, or sabotage? If I was the Iranian government, I would try to cover up any attacks by calling the perps thieves. You don't want to admit to having a rebel problem. Shows weakness.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/31/2002 10:58 Comments ||
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Scrap metal. The Baluchis are troublesome to Iran quite often.
#4
"The desert province, one of Iran's poorest regions, is home to about 1.8 million people. "
poor third-world people dont use electricity. I had this demonstrated to me once in Baja, when the locals informed me that the reason why there was no phone service in this little coastal fishing village was the "local gentry" had cut down the copper phone cables to make lobster traps. When I asked "Hey, what about the phones?" they said, " Who are we going to call? everyone we know lives here!"
Posted by: Frank Martin ||
12/31/2002 13:38 Comments ||
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I've heard of this kind of thing before - desperately poor folks making off with quantities of valuable metal seemingly sitting around being used for no good purpose. Then again, it could have been something like, "Willya lookit dem flatlanders, lettin' all that valuable iron rust away in them stupid towers? C'mon, boys, let's get us some free scrap iron to build our new stills!" Well, Baluchis probably don't indulge in moonshine, but the general principle applies...
Posted by: Joe ||
12/31/2002 19:56 Comments ||
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I work on software systems that are supported in India and I can tell you that our number one problem in supporting our business over there is the complete lack of infrastructure, just getting buildings where the power is on 24x7 is a major accomplishment. I dont even want to begin to discuss what its like to get phones and the internet to these sites. From what the onsite guys tell me, india is one of the bright spots. Places like Karachi and Ho Chi Mihn City are supposed to be like a trip into mr. peabodys way-back machine.
Posted by: Frank Martin ||
12/31/2002 21:04 Comments ||
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FoxNews reports that 3rd Infantry Division has received deployment orders to the Persian Gulf. Fox says that's the entire division, to include support units.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/31/2002 12:23 pm ||
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The division's 2nd Brigade -- 3,000 to 4,000 troops -- is already in Kuwait. They just finished a "previously scheduled" live fire exercise. Lock and load, boys and girls.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/31/2002 14:02 Comments ||
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Office pool starts today: Person closest to the date and time of first US Military unit to cross the border into Iraq wins the prize.
Extra prize for naming the unit.
Air Units are excluded, since they are clearly and obviously already there, were talking groundpounders here, airdropped or the walking kind
Posted by: Frank Martin ||
12/31/2002 15:23 Comments ||
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The Turkish daily Hurriyet said yesterday that the Turkish military build up has continued its flow into north Iraq through al-Khabour border Gate and that 100 military armored vehicles crossed the Gate on Saturday in addition to various types of weapons and military units in preparations for a military operation against Iraq. The paper indicated that the Turkish armed forces completed the redeployment of its armored tanks and the number of planes loaded with various military equipment has increased in recent days between the two airports of Deyar Baker and Batman in addition to drilling and construction works in the military air base of Incerlik. On Sunday, the Turkish dailies said that Turkish armed forces continue building up of its forces and civilian preparations along the borders with Iraq and Syria. The Turks seem to be getting ready. I have seen reports on DEBKA that say that the Turks are going to grab the whole of Northern Iraq that is predominently Turkoman with the aim of keeping it. Rumor has it they made a deal with the Kurds to stay out of the way. Interesting if true.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/31/2002 02:42 pm ||
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Does that Turkoman region inclue Mosul and the oil? Seems like a lot of pieces are falling in place for the Turks. And that the place is falling to pieces for Saddam.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/31/2002 16:18 Comments ||
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These are some of the major headlines and their brief stories in Turkey's press on December 31, 2002. The Anadolu Agency does not verify these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. However, they are very interesting
Prime Minister Abdullah Gul said, ''if a new formation other than we want in Mosul and Kirkuk happens, of course, we have our own dreams and scenarios.'' ''We have to think of every probability of future use of Mosul and Kirkuk oil resources. Everybody can have scenarios and dreams about the region. I don't have any sympathy towards Saddam Hussein. He is an autocrat person who oppresses his people for years. He pushed his country into a war with Iran and 1 million people died.'' ''I cannot tell how many soldiers we have in Northern Iraq. But, I can say that we have a 'de facto' position there. We will solve this issue without offending the United States.'' ''Turkey is not an emirate or kingdom. There is a parliament and the effect of the parliament is gradually increasing. We will hold a secret session in coming days and we will try to convince the parliament.''
Prime Minister Abdullah Gul is uneasy about the atmosphere that ''we are entering into a war.'' The frame that is drawn from Gul's words is this: We will meet at ''a common point'' with the United States. Turkey will never be a spectator of war if a war erupts. If Iraq's unitary structure is not protected, Turkey will have the right to comment on how oil will be used.
Iraqi Kurdistan Democratic Party (IKDP) leader Massoud Barzani, who is reluctant to come to Turkey for two years, will come to Ankara at the beginning of January. Barzani will be received by Prime Minister Abdullah Gul and Foreign Minister Yasar Yakis. A high-ranking diplomat said, ''we did not like the stance he assumed in London Conference. We will clearly warn him.''
The United States continues to hold consultations with Turkey for a possible operation on Iraq. U.S. Chief of General Staff Richard Myers will come to Turkey at the beginning of January. When Myers will pay a visit to Turkey is not definite yet. Myers will meet with officials of the General Staff.
Prime Minister Abdullah Gul, who met with editor in chiefs of national newspapers, requested them to be more sensitive about news related with a possible war. Noting that unfounded news are harmful for economy, Gul said that even the United States has not decided yet. Secret meetings of congress, scenarios and dreams of the future use of the oil fields, stern warnings to the Kurds not to get any ideas, meeting with Gen Meyers, and telling the Turkish press to be "sensitive". Ottoman Empire, anyone?
Posted by: Steve ||
12/31/2002 02:56 pm ||
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Does the word "protectorate" or even "occupation zone" sound familar? How about the way that the French paid for their occupation forces by selling the Saarland's coal up until 1956?
Posted by: Tom Roberts ||
12/31/2002 16:18 Comments ||
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Go forth, young Turks. We have the Poles buying our fighters, we're buying Russian oil and a strong Turkey creates a nice Iron-triangle which royally screws the Brusselsocracy.
Happy New Year, everyone.
Posted by: Brian ||
12/31/2002 19:39 Comments ||
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Couldn't agree more Brian. This is going to piss off the EU no end. Good. I'm English and sick of it. The Turks have been wound up by the EUrocrats for too long - they ought to look for real allies (some have even thought of incusion into NAFTA!).
I can't find the quote at the moment, but a German economist reckons the euro will be dead in 5 years. Can't wait. Here's another one by Milton Freidman http://www.no-euro.com/mediacentre/archive.asp?ID=155
Glad the Poles have their head on straight.
Posted by: Tony ||
01/01/2003 7:38 Comments ||
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Iraq is hiding at least two weapons scientists in Saddam Hussein's presidential palaces, U.S. intelligence officials have told The Washington Times. The intelligence officials also said there are signs that Iraq's military forces recently moved chemical and biological weapons materials to underground storage areas unknown to arms inspectors from the United Nations. Intelligence reports about the scientists support the Bush administration's conclusion that Iraq is violating the terms of the latest U.N. resolution requiring Baghdad to cooperate fully with weapons inspections. The Iraqis are hiding the scientists apparently to prevent the arms inspectors from questioning them, the officials said. The two scientists were not identified by name. The officials said one is believed to be involved in Iraq's covert nuclear arms program and that the second is a specialist in chemical and biological weapons. Prove it, and that's the casus belli. Just start the festivities and get it over with.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/31/2002 04:10 pm ||
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The leader of a group of pro-Chechen gunmen who seized a luxury hotel in Istanbul last year has been jailed for nearly 12 years. Muhammed Emin Tokcan led the hostage-takers who seized 120 tourists and staff in the five-star Swissotel in April. That would be April, 2001... 12 years in a Turkish prison should cool his revolutionary ardor, if anything does.
Twelve other members of the armed gang were freed by the court, despite being sentenced to at least three years' jail. The judges ordered their release because of the time they had spent in jail awaiting trial. "They've suffered enough..."
Tokcan, a Turkish citizen of Chechen origin, is believed to have organised the hostage-taking to protest against Russia's military action in Chechnya. He had previously hijacked a Turkish ferry on the Black Sea in 1996, and escaped from prison while serving an eight-year sentence for the offence. The Chechen thugs have a deep and abiding love of holding large numbers of civilians hostage, don't they? But they're not terrorists, they're "freedumb fighters." Just ask Vanessa...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/31/2002 11:09 am ||
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Idris Khatuyev, a notorious rebel leader, has been killed in Chechnya, Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said.
"Khatuyev had a number of dirty deeds on his hands, including the explosion in a mosque in the village of Alkhan-Yurt, the execution of four Chechen policemen and car bombings on the Kavkaz highway," Ivanov said at a meeting with servicemen recovering in the Burdenko hospital on Tuesday. Happy New Year!
Posted by: Steve ||
12/31/2002 02:35 pm ||
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Liberia has rejected allegations that it helped members of Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda movement operate an illegal diamond trade in the country. "Lies! All lies!"
Liberia has long denied accusations that it has been profiting from the smuggling of "blood diamonds" from neighbouring Sierra Leone, and sanctions were imposed on the country in 2001. But a statement in Tuesday's edition of the government-owned New Liberia newspaper said the Washington Post reporter was "an enemy" of the Liberian Government and was seeking to smear Liberia's image. "Liberia is above the stage of collaborating with terrorists," the statement said, adding that its war against Lurd rebels meant it was fighting terrorism itself. Oh, of course. Of course...
The government said diamond-smuggling and gun-running allegations against Liberia were not new. "These blatant acts of demonisation constitute a continuation of an international conspiracy against Liberia," the statement said. Prob'ly run by Rhodesians. You know what they'e like!
According to the Post, the investigators, who came from several countries, concluded that President Charles Taylor had arranged to harbour the operatives for at least two months after the 11 September attacks on New York and Washington in 2001. If you can't believe Charles Taylor, who can you believe?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/31/2002 10:47 am ||
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Liberia...everthing's a deal, all deals accepted, no deal too small.
#2
Charles Taylor won election because the electorate took this attitude: "He killed my ma, he killed my pa, I'll vote for him and hope he leaves us alone."
Posted by: mrs B ||
12/31/2002 11:11 Comments ||
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The marriage of a 50-year-old man to a nine-year-old girl in Niger has caused widespread shock. But she's got the body of a 12-year-old...
Residents, human rights activists and imams in Niamey, the capital of Niger, have all expressed their anger. "Cheeze! I was gonna grab her for myself when she was ten! Why'd I wait so long?"
Early marriage is forbidden under criminal law so when neighbours of the young girl alerted the authorities to her marriage, the Minister of Social Development called for arrests. Bridegroom Moustapha Hima and the father-in-law were then questioned at police headquarters in Niamey. In response to the police's questions about the motivations for such a marriage, the bridegroom said only that it had been God's order. "Hello, Mahmoud?... Hey, this is God. Look, I want you to marry that 9-year-old down the street... Yeah. The one with the precocious titties... 'Why?' Don't even ask... Look, I'm ordering you to marry her. You know what happens to people who don't obey God's orders, don't you?"
However, the President of Niger's Islamic Organisation, Elhaj Ismael Ibrahim, has called on the population of the country, 98% of whom are Muslims, to shun early marriages. "At least wait 'til they're weaned, dammit!"
Another minister has promised to sanction the two men involved in this case in order to deter others from committing in future what she termed a lewd act. Hmmm... Yasss... Y'might call doinking a 9-year-old a lewd act. Unless you're really devout, of course: "Hey! The Prophet did it, why can't I?"
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/31/2002 10:56 am ||
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I've got odds that Roman Polanski will be filming this story
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/31/2002 11:42 Comments ||
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The BBC, useful idiots as usual, failed to discern if the girl came with a dowry or not. Arranged marriages like this one usually have something other than sex as a motive, but in their dive for the tabloids' market, the BBC touts the girl's sexual immaturity in the story line.
Posted by: Tom Roberts ||
12/31/2002 16:23 Comments ||
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Mohammed seized Aisha from his sahaba, Abu Bakr, when she was "6 years old." The founder of Islam was 55 at the time. The story wouldn't make a good movie.
#4
But he didn't consumate the relationship until she was 9 years old, didn't he? At least he showed more restraint that others with that kind of predilictions.
Posted by: Paul ||
12/31/2002 20:59 Comments ||
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A former soldier who alerted police to a bomb and weapons cache at Paris' biggest international airport has himself been taken into custody. The man raised the alarm when he said he saw a weapon in the car of an airport baggage handler at Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport. That's interesting... My sordid meter twitched...
The baggage handler, Abderazak Besseghir, was arrested when he returned to the car. Police found plastic explosives, detonators, a fuse, a machine gun and an automatic pistol in the boot. Mr Besseghir, a 27-year-old Frenchman of Algerian origin, is not known to have any links to extremist groups, although correspondents say the possibility of a terrorist connection with Islamic militants will be closely examined. He has told police that someone else must have put the arms cache in the vehicle, to frame him, as he had never seen the guns and explosives before. "I been framed, coppers! Framed! I dint do it, I swear! Tell 'em, Muggsy!"
One report said radical Islamic and pro-Palestinian material was also found in the car, along with information about pilots' uniforms. Police say the bomb components found in the car were ready to use, but have been puzzled as to exactly what they might have been used for. "He certainly wasn't going elk hunting mushroom picking," one investigator has said. Whoever the stuff belongs to wasn't...
French media reports say his wife's family blame him for her death in a fire, and he believes he has been the victim of a plot to frame him. Inspector Camembert, call your office...
Paris police have made several arrests in the past two weeks of suspected Islamic militants. The authorities say some were planning an attack on the Russian embassy in the city. Police said before Christmas that they had found bomb-making equipment during raids in the Paris suburbs. In total, nine arrests have been made since 16 December. All those arrested are said to be of Algerian or Moroccan origin. The arrests stem from an investigation into possible connections between Islamic militants in Europe and Chechnya. "Lookee here, Mahmoud. As long as they're rounding up them bad guys, we should set up Abderazak."
"He ain't no bad guy, Abdul."
"Yeah, well, he still deserves to go down for the way he treated poor Fatimah."
"Yeah, damn him! Y'got any explosives?"
"Ummm... Yeah. I think they're here... In my underwear drawer... No, that's where I keep my passports..."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/31/2002 10:39 am ||
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A former soldier who alerted police to a bomb and weapons cache at Paris' biggest international airport has himself been taken into custody. The man raised the alarm when he said he saw a weapon in the car of an airport baggage handler at Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport. Police confirmed on Tuesday that the ex-soldier had himself been detained for questioning on his account of what happened. Humm, something about his story doesn't sound right? Or maybe just being careful?
The baggage handler, Abderazak Besseghir, was arrested when he returned to the car. Police found plastic explosives, detonators, a fuse, a machine gun and an automatic pistol in the boot. That's a awful lot of stuff to be a setup.
He has refused to answer nearly all questions put to him, except to claim that he is the victim of a set-up, possibly by a member of his family seeking revenge against him. "I was framed!"
French media reports say his wife's family blame him for her death in a fire, and he believes he has been the victim of a plot to frame him. Paranoid as well
The former soldier is believed to have told police he saw Mr Besseghir moving items in the car boot, and heard strange noises. "Investigators are trying to check the credibility and the veracity of his statements, in addition to establishing his personality profile," said a police official. Sounds like maybe the witness might have a few screws loose, which doesn't mean he didn't really report a real crime. Cops have this problem all the time when your witness is a drug user, hooker, or a mentally ill person. You have to be real careful to make sure the evidence is good.
Mr Besseghir, a 27-year-old Frenchman of Algerian origin, is not known to have any links to extremist groups, although correspondents say the possibility of a terrorist connection with Islamic militants will be closely examined. I think the algerian origin part is a clue, but that's just me
He has told police that someone else must have put the arms cache in the vehicle, to frame him, as he had never seen the guns and explosives before. "No, no, I told you, that AK-47 isn't mine. This one has a maple butt stock. Mine is walnut....wait, let me rephrase that"
One report said radical Islamic and pro-Palestinian material was also found in the car, along with information about pilots' uniforms. Police say the bomb components found in the car were ready to use, but have been puzzled as to exactly what they might have been used for.
"He certainly wasn't going mushroom picking," one investigator has said. Ah, those witty French cops
Posted by: Steve ||
12/31/2002 10:26 am ||
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A very curious story. Oh, not the part about the French police being puzzled. That I took for granted.
#2
I thought all Allahmobiles came standard with machine guns, plastic explosives, and detonators?
Who knows when you'll be stuck in traffic and have to slug it out with the infidels or usurper Jews.
The original of this article was from SFGate. This is lifted from Taliban-On-Line, where they love such stories...
If a major war breaks out in Iraq, the first thing Rev. Stuart Fitch plans to do is pray, sending love to everyone from Saddam Hussein to President Bush. Then he'll call his congregation to church for a service. "Oh, President Sammy! I lo-o-o-o-ve yew!"
And then, perhaps, the 78-year-old dotard Episcopalian clergyman will get himself committed arrested. "There will be plenty of people going to jail that day," said Fitch, who wears his stiff pastoral collar beneath a powder-blue shirt. "I'm thinking about joining them." There are plenty more people who will be thinking seriously of tossing rotten fruit and the occasional beer bottle at jugheads like Rev. Fitch. I'm thinking about joining them...
While the Pentagon has spent the past year training troops, building facilities and stockpiling weapons to launch a war against Iraq, the peace movement has been using the buildup time to coordinate "emergency response plans" to disrupt domestic military activity, tie up commerce and get out their unchanging anti-war message. Rally meeting places are posted, march routes set, protest signs painted, acts of nonviolent civil disobedience choreographed. Activists in more than a dozen cities have announced where and when to meet on the first day of war — what they call "The Day Of." In Dallas, they plan speeches at City Hall; in San Francisco, they plan to block traffic in the business district; in St. Louis they will hold a candlelight vigil downtown; in Seattle they plan to march at the federal building. In New York City, organizers hope to crowd Times Square with protesters. I think it's absolutely ducky that this article is carried on Taliban-On-Line. The very fact shines a searchlight on the pretense of these lackwits. In SFGateland, this is par for the curse; if the did such things where the Talibs were in control, they'd end up dangling from ropes. If they tried such things in Iraq they'd be in jug for years, with daily sessions with pliers and meathooks scheduled.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/31/2002 09:59 am ||
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There ought to be a virtual museum of idiotarian speech, columns and posts organized by category: University types, Socialists, pundits, clergy, etc. for future visitors to the WTC memorial and future visitors to the preserved Iraq torture cells will get to hear the apologists in their own words.
#2
If I had the time, by golly, I'd do that. I'd call it The Preserved in Amber project...
Posted by: Fred ||
12/31/2002 10:15 Comments ||
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Even better: "Pickled in Vitriol"...
Posted by: Fred ||
12/31/2002 10:17 Comments ||
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Well, excuse me Rev, but "coreographed acts of civil disobedience" sounds a lot like conspiracy to obstruct. Can you say "five to ten in the stripey hole"?
#5
These anti-war types are hilarious. They're going to "disrupt domestic military activity?" And how are they going to do it? Why, they're going to block traffic San Francisco's financial district! The Marines must be scared shitless. This is all a broken record. These guys love wars because it's the only thing that gives them something interesting to do with their boring lives. And what they do is completely counterproductive.
#6
You know what it'll be "The Day Of"... every self-important whack job with a cause from Free Mumia and Fur is Murder to Global Warming and Reparations and everything in between. The anti war stuff MIGHT get fit in there somewhere. Get it all outta your systems folks. The Sixties might be back, but they won't be back for long. Enjoy the jug, Rev. It could be your last shot at the big time.
On December 19, when U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell announced that Iraq was in "material breach" of its weapons disclosure requirements, he officially put the U.S. on the path to war. International observers predict President Bush could launch his war with Iraq on or soon after January 27, the date U.N. weapons inspectors file their progress report on weapons in Iraq.
In Seattle, antiwar activists are getting ready for the day the war starts. Several antiwar coalitions have put together a joint "Emergency Response" plan aimed at drawing attention to antiwar sentiment in Seattle. The plan kicks in as soon as Bush declares war, begins bombing, or deploys troops. On the day any one of these three things happens (or all three), activists plan to gather at the Federal Building at Second Avenue and Marion Street at 5:00 p.m., and then march to Westlake Center for a rally at 7:00 p.m. A weeklong vigil in front of the Federal Building will also commence that night. The following day, students from high schools and colleges are planning to walk out of their classes at noon and join other protesters downtown for another rally at Westlake Center.
Activists predict that tens of thousands of people will take to Seattle's streets, bringing the center of the city to a standstill. They predict that the number of people in the streets will easily eclipse the thousands that turned out for an antiwar march on October 6, a time when war seemed less imminent than it does today. Another reason antiwar activists expect huge numbers of people to take to the streets is that a majority of Seattle residents are against a war. According to a Seattle Post-Intelligencer survey published on December 24, 52 percent of Seattle residents oppose using military force against Iraq.
"I think there's going to be a huge, spontaneous anger that erupts," says Greg Deiter, a member of the Seattle Central Community College Student Anti-War Coalition on Capitol Hill. That's what happened in January 1991, when over 10,000 people marched in Seattle against the first Gulf War. (It's worth noting that despite the huge demonstrations in Seattle--and in other cities--in 1991, we still made war on Iraq. We may have left Saddam in power, but there was a war, and we won easily.)
Seattle residents are more opposed to war than most other Americans--especially compared to other residents of Washington State. Over in Eastern Washington, 61 percent are in favor of war. Nationally, 59 percent of Americans, according to an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, think the U.S. should take military action to remove Saddam Hussein. (The pro-war poll numbers are strongest when the United States is backed by the U.N., and the numbers get weaker when Americans are asked about sending ground troops into Iraq.)
For locals who want to get involved in the antiwar effort, Seattle does not lack for groups to join. The numerous umbrella organizations that have been taking the lead--planning everything from marches to sit-ins at the Federal Building, from neighborhood vigils to citywide potluck dinners--are actively recruiting volunteers. But while it's easy to find groups to link up with, no single leader has emerged as a spokesperson for the antiwar movement in Seattle. Most of the groups in Seattle meet regularly, and agree on things by consensus, making them essentially leaderless. It's reminiscent of the anti-WTO movement, where groups met for weeks before the November 30, 1999, ministerial meeting in order to plan direct actions. In fact, many of the WTO activists--along with other people with activism experience, either from the Vietnam era or the first Gulf War--lend their advice and are loosely leading the antiwar activists. But overall, the movement has truly been carried by the masses of people who show up.
Sound Nonviolent Opponents of War, or SNOW, is the largest of Seattle's antiwar coalitions. Born at the North Seattle headquarters of Western Washington Fellowship of Reconciliation, SNOW came together in September when its first 60 members met to agree on a mission of nonviolence. The group now counts several hundred individual members and 43 member organizations, with more joining every week. Everything from religious organizations like the Church Council of Greater Seattle to social-justice groups like Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility have signed up.
SNOW's first newsworthy demonstration was the group's September 25 sit-ins at the offices of Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell in the Federal Building downtown. Timed with the Senate vote on a resolution authorizing the use of force against Iraq, over a dozen activists occupied the senators' offices, demanding that Murray and Cantwell vote against the resolution. (Murray eventually voted against the resolution, Cantwell voted for it.) Twelve SNOW protesters were ultimately arrested and charged with misdemeanors for not leaving the building when it closed that night.
SNOW went on to host a December 8 rally at the Central District's Garfield High School with the goal of organizing smaller neighborhood groups. After the rally, antiwar activists in neighborhoods from Lake City in the northern tip of Seattle to West Seattle on the other end began staging ongoing small-scale, street-level protests to make local antiwar sentiment more visible. Every Saturday since December 14, residents from North Seattle to Bellingham have posted themselves on I-5 overpasses to wave antiwar signs at drivers below. In mid-December in West Seattle, 35 neighborhood activists gathered at the busy intersection of California Avenue SW and Alaska Street. Toting signs decrying a war in Iraq (like the red, white, and blue, locally designed "No Iraq War" sign that's hanging in windows all over town), the group marched around the intersection whenever the light changed, prompting many drivers to honk and wave.
Vic Opperman created the Ballard Activists group with Tere Carranza before SNOW launched its neighborhood effort, but they quickly hooked up with SNOW to take advantage of its organizing resources. "We wanted to see the faces of our neighbors who were equally concerned," Opperman says. "There are many passionate, interesting, and articulate people who have joined us." Every Wednesday night, the group meets in front of the Tully's on Market Street at 5:00 p.m. for an hour-long vigil.
Can you imagine the shame these people will feel when people in Iraq are celebrating the arrival of the 101st, liberating them from the horrors of tyranny. All while these wet-bottomed pooly educated malcontents ruin a once fine city.
Posted by: Frank Martin ||
12/31/2002 09:04 pm ||
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Fred, Does SNOW represent an organization that qualifies as an entry in "thugburg"?
Seeing as how 15 Iraqi agents and one Syrian have been arrested in the seattle area since 9/11?
Posted by: Frank martin ||
12/31/2002 21:15 Comments ||
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The best they'll get out of me is an entry in Leftists and Loons. They seem to meet the qualifications for both...
Posted by: Fred ||
12/31/2002 22:03 Comments ||
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If SNOW is the largest anti-war coalition that they have, it's a pretty pathetic showing. After all that organization and recruiting, they count only "several hundred members" (ie: around 300 who agreed to join), got only "over a dozen" (ie: 13) to show up at the Fed Building and...WooHoo!...35 to show up at an overpass. Jeesh - with that much effort, even I could get 1000X that turn out to support the war. And I'm no organizer.
NEW YORK -- Government sources tell NewsChannel 4 (NYC NBC Affiliate)that state officials in New York have ordered an increase in security in New York Harbor, based on what they call "an unspecified threat."
The New York Police Department, the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. military were all out on the harbor Tuesday in force.
The threat spelled out coordinated attacks on eight New York cities followed by a noon "event" in New York Harbor.
Because the source of the threat was new to intelligence officials -- it was taken more seriously than it might otherwise have been.
"There was an uncorroborated report about a threat in the harbor, no more specific information than that," said Ray Kelly, NYPD commissioner. "In an abundance of caution the Coast Guard has restricted pleasure craft from coming into the harbor from 3:30 this afternoon until tomorrow (Wednesday)."
Another reason authorities say they were more cautious: those five men of Arab descent who illegally drove into the U.S. from Canada on Christmas Eve also have authorities acting more cautious. Although not suspected of being terrorists themselves, intelligence officials say their names have come up on lists connected to other terror suspects.
President Bush said Tuesday he personally ordered the FBI to begin a nationwide hunt for five men, saying U.S. authorities need to know what the men are doing in the United States.
"We don't have any idea of what their intentions might be, but we are mindful that there are still some out there who would try to harm America and harm Americans and so therefore we take every threat seriously, every piece of evidence seriously," Bush said.
Add in the Washington Post story Tuesday that reported the U.S. believes al Qaeda has a fleet of 15 freighters it controls that could be used for terrorist purposes. And, it's easy to see why even unsubstantiated threats could draw this kind of reaction.
"As best, we know there is no relationship, at least that has been ascertained, between the five men who crossed the border and this threat today, but we're living in a post-9/11 world," said New York Sen. Charles Schumer. "We're living in a world where there are all kinds of new dangers and they're coming in all directions at us and we have to be as prepared as possible."
The city remains at orange alert, as outlined by the Office of Homeland Security while the rest of the state remains on yellow alert.
Posted by: Frank Martin ||
12/31/2002 06:23 pm ||
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Daily Times (Pakistan)
The leader of a terrorist an Islamist resistance group on Monday spent his first morning of freedom in more than a year meeting Islamist politicians and members of other Islamist groups. House arrest restrictions were lifted on Sunday on Maulana Masood Azhar, the leader of the group Jaish-e-Mohammad that New Delhi implicated in last Decemberâs deadly attack on the Indian parliament, which triggered a military standoff. They're also so deeply involved with Pakland's most extreme crazed killers that their children are all gonna have buck teeth, hemophilia, and possibly gill slits...
Much to the infuriation of India, Azhar was officially released on December 17 by Pakistani authorities, who rejected a government request to extend his detention. Azharâs father Maulana Allah Bakhsh Sabir, said hundreds of Islamic activists, local politicians and gunnies extremists thronged Azharâs home in Bahawalpur. âA number of the guiding lights of terrorism religious scholars and officials of MMA (Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal) parties visited his home to see him and plot new atrocities exchange views on the prevailing political situation,â Sabir told AFP. Azharâs father said several militant jihadi groups were represented, as well as MMA parties Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam and Jamiat Ahle-Hadith. I notice that Qazi and the JI weren't mentioned on that list. Being discreet, I wonder?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/31/2002 09:36 am ||
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Qazi's curry-Arabs are too busy sneaking jihadis into Afghanistan.
QAZI: may 2003 be the year that your leisure class kidneys finally give up. Inshallah!!!
Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf did not threaten India with nuclear attack during the two countries' border stand-off earlier this year, his spokesman has said. What's changed since yesterday?
The president had been misinterpreted when he spoke of using non-conventional warfare if Indian forces attacked, Major-General Rashid Qureshi told the BBC. General Qureshi said President Musharraf had neither threatened India with the use of nuclear weapons, nor had he made any such remarks during his address at a military ceremony in Karachi. He said the president was predicting that the people of Pakistan would join the troops in repulsing any Indian invasion. By nuking them...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/31/2002 11:16 am ||
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Hisham Abdallah for Middle East Online
Palestinian officials are increasingly worried that Israel will use the opportunity of a US war on Iraq to launch wide scale operations against the Palestinian Authority, sweeping it and its leader Yasser Arafat into exile. "We fear Israel will force president Arafat and the members of the Palestinian administration into exile and displace the population in an internal transfer operation," said Mamduh Nawfal, an adviser to the Palestinian leader. He added that "these operations depend on the American administration's approval... These operations will not be easy and will create an atmosphere of anarchy which will further complicate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict." Lemme see here: They're doing something that'll end up getting them tossed — to whit, killing people indiscriminately. But they don't want to stop, because it feels so good. Maybe the Paleos need therapy...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/31/2002 09:36 am ||
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The last time I looked the IDF was providing nearly adequate therapy
#3
If that happened, I would be quite distressed. I might have to drown my sorrows in cheap champagne for several days...
Posted by: Fred ||
12/31/2002 15:52 Comments ||
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Tell you what, Fred. If that happens I'll Paypal you a bottle or two of the good stuff and we can hoist together? I'm sure Steve, Bashir, Chuck, et al would join in a toast or thirty
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/31/2002 17:23 Comments ||
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I would end up on CNN, wailing in a drunken stupor, similar to the women Palestinians circa 9-11.
Palestine Chronicle
Two Israeli soldiers were moderately and lightly wounded when an anti-tank missile hit their unit. The attack, credited to the Palestinian resistance, is seen as the first of its kind since the Palestinian uprising, or Intifada started over two years ago. The Islamic Movement Hamas declared responsibility for the attack, which reportedly took place near the Egyptian border. I'm assuming that's an RPG. I'm also assuming it wasn't produced in one of the Gaza "metal shops." I'd be interested in knowing where it came from...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/31/2002 09:37 am ||
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Yasser Arafat said he welcomes a U.S.-backed call for an immediate cease-fire with Israel, but stopped short of committing to steps the Palestinians would be required to take ahead of such a truce. "Yes, thank you. We'd love a ceasefire, as long as we don't have to do anything..."
In Gaza City, tens of thousands of lemmings Palestinians gathered in the main square to mark the anniversary of the 1965 founding of his Fatah group, with participants chanting "Arafat, Arafat" as his speech was played over loudspeakers. It was one of the largest gatherings since Arafat returned from exile in 1994 as part of interim peace agreements. This being Paleostine, they were screaming: "Yasser, we love you, you rat bastard!"
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/31/2002 11:43 am ||
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This ain't anything new.
Arafat "welcomes" a call for a cease fire, but when the inevitable attack by Palestinian terrorists against Jews occurs, he then says that he can't rein in all the terrorists operating on his turf.
Sailors and Marines aboard USS Constellation aircraft carrier bring in early New Year
Tue Dec 31, 9:27 AM ET
By ADNAN MALIK, Associated Press Writer
ABOARD THE USS CONSTELLATION - The fighter jets were chained down below, their bombs stowed away, and some 5,000 sailors turned the flight deck into giant picnic to celebrate the New Year a day early on Tuesday.
No clouds of war looming over Iraq could spoil the taste of grilled chicken and steak, hot-dogs, corn-dogs, baked beans, potato chips, cookies and sodas â a feast prepared by 200 crew members.
Some sailors tossed footballs to each other. Others got their toy radio-controlled cars to whizz across the steel deck.
The holiday had been brought forward on the captain's orders because this 80,000 ton aircraft carrier has to conduct regular operations on Jan. 1, 2003. The ship has been taking part in flying patrols over southern Iraq since it arrived in the Gulf on Dec. 17.
"It's nice to have a break from flying and recharge your batteries," said Lt. Cmdr. Chud of Malverne, New York. Chud, 36, who wanted to be identified only by his call sign, is a pilot for the S-3B Viking all-weather surveillance aircraft.
Some sailors took time off from the "steel beach picnic" to go down below and exchange e-mail greetings with their families.
"My wife and my son sent their love," said Petty Officer 2nd Class Ricky Carreon, 35, of San Diego, California.
"They say, 'we love you so much,' and have asked me to be careful and take good care of myself," said Carreon who is involved in the hangar deck supervision.
The crew includes about 40 women.
"It's hard to be without your family, but I am trying not to think about it," said Ensign Elizabeth Shamanow, 39, of San Diego, California.
On Wednesday, the carrier resumes full duties as it sails in the Gulf, launching aircraft to fly over southern Iraq.
"Whether or not we are flying, or we are a steel beach picnic, we are ready," said Capt. John W. Miller, the carrier's commanding officer.
As Miller took part in serving steaks to the crew, bombs ranging from 500 pounds to 2,000 pounds were stacked neatly in the ship's belly, ready to be loaded on to attack aircraft in the event of hostilities.
"We bring a credible combat power to this area of responsibility," said Rear Adm. Barry Costello, the commander of the Constellation battle group.
Few doubt that if war does break out, the Constellation's F-14D Super Tomcats and F/A-18C Hornets will lead the attack on Iraq.
Mullah Omar and his "cave-mate" Osama bin laden havent been reached for their comments on their "new years" celebration plans, but sources close to the "movin mullah" have reported that it surely doesnt involve frisbee,steaks or 40 women, but more likely lice, rats and the not-so-pleasant company of the most constipated man in islam, his majesty Osama.
Posted by: Frank Martin ||
12/31/2002 06:42 pm ||
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I say, bring back the old English rum ration. A little grog is good for the hair trigger response.
Members of a regional security force patrolled the capital of the Central African Republic Tuesday, after Libyan soldiers ended a yearlong deployment to protect the government against a string of coup attempts. The last Libyan forces boarded a plane for home Saturday, state radio reported over the weekend. "G'bye, folks! We're going back to Libya for the shootouts after Muammar dies!"
Journalists were not invited to witness the troops' departure. But by Saturday, Libyan soldiers were no longer visible in the capital, Bangui. Probably because they weren't there, since they left... Where do they get these people?
Some 230 soldiers from nearby Gabon â the first members of a regional security force expected to number 350 â guarded President Ange-Felix Patasse's residence and circulated in the streets. Troops from Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon and Mali are also expected to join the force. Crack troops, every one...
The Libyan troops sent by Moammar Gadhafi in May 2001 helped Patasse's government put down three coup attempts. In Tripoli, Maj. Abdel Baset al-Lafi said Saturday that none of the 81 Libyan soldiers deployed in Central African Republic were killed. But military officials in Bangui said the Libyan force numbered about 300, and at least two members were killed in the last power grab in October â which saw rebels battle their way to within blocks of Patasse's residence.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/31/2002 11:39 am ||
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Police in Indonesia say they have found half a ton of ammonium nitrate, a material used in the Bali bombings. It is the second such find in recent days. The chemical, which is used mainly as a fertilizer, was found in a house in Palu, on Sulawesi island.
A week ago, police seized 250 kilograms of ammonium nitrate in a car in Palu. Five people were arrested after that discovery, although they are still looking for the owner of the fertilizer. Ammonium nitrate can be used as a powerful explosive when mixed with fuel oil, although it is often used by local fishermen. The owner of the house where the latest cache of the fertilizer has been found is being questioned. He better have his "fishing" license up to date
Posted by: Steve ||
12/31/2002 10:04 am ||
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A Malaysian fugitive allegedly linked to the Oct. 12 Bali bombings possibly is still in Indonesia. National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said on Monday it was possible the suspect, identified as Azahari, remained in the country because immigration had no record of his departure. "He may be staying here with fake documents," the officer said. Or he may have departed with fake documents, which makes this story non-news...
Azahari is one of two Malaysians, besides four Indonesians, the police have declared fugitive suspects in the Bali bombings, which claimed at least 190 lives.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/31/2002 12:01 pm ||
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RI - I thought you meant Rhode Island for a minute there, Fred!
Police investigating the deadly bombing of a McDonald's restaurant in South Sulawesi have arrested another suspect. Anton, a farmer who investigators have said had been involved in assembling the bombs used in the December 4 blasts in Makassar, was arrested in the Asera subdistrict which borders Southeast Sulawesi Probably just another low-level cog...
Three people, including a bomber, died in the explosion at a McDonald's restaurant. "The suspect, Anton, was brought here by boat across the Bone Bay and has, on the order of the South Sulawesi police, been immediately taken by land route to Makassar under heavy guard," said Sgt. Suhardi. But if they're guarding him that heavily, they probably think he knows something...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/31/2002 12:04 pm ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
