LIBYAN leader Muammar Gaddafi has overnight criticised London's reaction to Iran's seizure of British sailors and marines in the northern Gulf.
Tehran says it seized the naval personnel on March 23 because they strayed into Iranian waters but Britain insists they were well inside Iraqi territory.
"This British reaction means that Iraq has become a British colony and Iraq's territorial waters have become British waters," said Mr Gaddafi, addressing Tuareg and other tribal leaders in the central Niger town of Agadez.
Mr Gaddafi did not make clear whether he backed Iran's position but said foreign colonisation was against Islam. "Colonisation is the enemy of Islam, enemy of Arabs and enemy of Persians," he said.
On Friday, Mr Gaddafi flew to Agadez to lead mass prayers to mark the birthday of prophet Mohammed. He chaired similar prayers last year in Mali as part of his drive to expand Libya's influence in Africa.
Libya grants financial aid to Islamic communities in the continent and elsewhere to build mosques, Islamic schools and other cultural facilities.
With the funerals of executed Istamist militant linchpins, many secrets and mysteries about the rise of the particular kind of militancy, its masterminds and patrons were also buried yesterday. Although the investigators since the August 17, 2005 orchestrated bomb blasts across the country had been saying that the mysteries behind the rise of Islamist militant outfit Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) and about its masterminds and patrons would be detected after the arrests of some sura members, the secrets were never disclosed even after JMB chief Abdur Rahman and his second-in-command Siddiqul Islam alias Bangla Bhai had been arrested.
Although the names of some immediate past ruling party political leaders, ministers and lawmakers have surfaced since the JMB leaders started operating in the northern districts in 2004, the investigators have made no visible move to detect and expose them. The alleged patrons still remain untouched and no charge has yet been brought against them. Even they were not officially pointed out.
In June 2004, Bangla Bhai told a journalist over the phone that four influential leaders of the immediate past ruling party, BNP, were patronising his operations.
JMB killed at least 64 people including Rajshahi University teacher Prof Mohammad Yunus and two Jhalakathi judges, and carried out more than a thousand bomb attacks across the country between 2000 and 2005. The militant Islamic fundamentalist group killed at least 22 people in Rajshahai division alone, according to Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) and intelligence agencies. The identities of the people killed by JMB, ranges from common people to progressive teachers, intellectuals, judges, militant outlaws, religious persons and others, whomever it considered a barrier to establishing its Islamic state. The group killed its victims with bomb attacks, by slitting of throats and by indiscriminate beatings. There are several hundred victims of JMB's brutality, many of whom have become crippled due to physical torture.
JMB also had a plan to kill Nobel Laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus. It made an attempt on the life of venerated academician, poet, novelist and essayist Prof Humayun Azad, injuring him severely. It carried out a countrywide series of near simultaneous bomb blasts on August 17, 2005. It also carried out bomb attacks on different courts in Chittagong, Lakshmipur, Gazipur and Chandpur, blasted bombs at cinema halls in Mymensingh and Satkhira, and at religious shrines in Joypurhat and Tangail.
It tried to thwart the people's secular cultural expressions by carrying out bomb attacks on Jatra (a form of traditional Bangla theatre) stages in Gaibandha, Bogra, Sherpur, Tangail and Rajshahi. JMB operatives looted offices of different NGOs including Brac and Grameen Bank.
This article starring:
Prof Humayun Azad
Prof Mohammad Yunus
Rapid Action Battalion
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2007 00:00 ||
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WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush apologized Friday for the shoddy conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and promised during a visit to the facility for war veterans that "we're going to fix the problem." Short, to the point, and solution-oriented. Check.
Critics questioned the timing of Bush's visit six weeks after poor conditions and neglect of veterans were exposed there. OK, geniuses, what would have been a better time for the man trying to run a country while all you guys know how to do is run interference?
Bush toured the main hospital and Abrams Hall, where soldiers were transferred after they were vacated from the facility's Building 18, where moldy walls, rodent infestation and other problems went unchecked until reported by the media. He said his conversations with those who had been in Building 18 left him "disturbed by their accounts."
"The problems at Walter Reed were caused by bureaucratic and administrative failures," the president said at the end of a more than two-hour visit. "The system failed you and it failed our troops and we're going to fix it."
Bush first toured a typical -- but empty -- patient room in Abrams Hall. The room Bush saw featured a wide-screen television and a Macintosh computer on a desk.
"I appreciate that soldiers have got a Mac" to communicate with their families, the president said.
Also during the more than three-hour visit, Bush was touring the main hospital, and awarding 10 Purple Hearts to soldiers recovering from serious wounds suffered in Afghanistan and Iraq. Before leaving, the president spoke to about 100 medical workers to explain what his administration is doing to improve care for veterans at facilities nationwide.
Retired Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton, among retired military officers who took part in a conference call about Bush's visit, praised the president for seeing wounded soldiers. But, he added: "I'm convinced he would honor them more if he would refrain from using soldiers as props in political theater."
"I would be very happy to see him do the Walter Reed visit more like the commander and secondarily as an inspector general, rather than as a politician," he said.
Bobby Muller, president of Veterans for America, said Bush isn't going to see areas of the hospital most in need of change. He cited Ward 54, where soldiers are suffering from acute mental health conditions, and outpatient holding facilities where soldiers see long waits to get processed out of the Army.
"Walter Reed is not a photo-op," Muller said. "Walter Reed is still broken. The DoD health care system is still broken. ... Our troops need their commander in chief to start working harder for them."
White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said "I would disagree with the characterization" that Bush is using Walter Reed as merely a picture-taking opportunity. She said it took some time to clear enough room on the president's schedule to spend over three hours with patients and staff at Walter Reed, and that Bush intends to find out from them what more needs to be done.
"He is going to spend ample time there to hear from them," Perino said. "He will talk about ... bureaucratic and administrative failures that need to be addressed."
Walter Reed is considered one of the Army's premier facilities for treating the wounded. The revelations in mid-February of poor treatment and neglect of those wounded in war was an embarrassment to Bush, who routinely speaks of the need to support the troops and praises the care they receive back home.
Troops and veterans say many of the issues have been well-known for a while, and have long been in need of greater attention.
Resignations forced
Bush declared the situation at Walter Reed unacceptable and ordered a full-scale review of care for veterans. He appointed a presidential commission to study the problems. The Pentagon, Veterans Affairs Department and Congress are conducting a slew of reviews.
In the wake of reports of problems at Walter Reed, three high-level Pentagon officials were forced to step down and lawmakers on Capitol Hill were outraged. This week, the House voted to create a coterie of case managers, advocates and counselors for injured troops. The bill also establishes a hotline for medical patients to report problems in their treatment.
#1
At least W had the courage to apologize. Anybody from the House ever show up? Nancy? Any Senator make the six-mile trip to look at conditions, themselves? Harry? Teddy? Any of the critics been there? And just who are these anonymous "critics" anyway?
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/31/2007 8:39 Comments ||
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#2
Critics questioned the timing of Bush's visit six weeks after poor conditions and neglect of veterans were exposed there
Critics failed to note how many of the 535 wannabe commander in chiefs from Capital Hill have visited the full facilities, other than the usual grin and grip photo ops, in the six weeks after the poor conditions were exposed.
Faced with his second rebuke in a week from congressional Democrats on Iraq policy, President Bush yesterday summoned Republican allies to his side in an effort to shift momentum in the escalating battle over the course of the war. Bush, who has alienated many Republicans on Capitol Hill, invited the entire House GOP caucus to the White House for the first time in his presidency.
That dirty partisan rat.
The meeting came on the same day that the Senate gave final approval to a $122 billion war spending bill that calls for the withdrawal of most U.S. forces from Iraq by March 31, 2008.
The White House gathering was designed to emphasize Bush's promise to veto any bill limiting his ability to prosecute the war and to reassure Republicans, many of whom have expressed weariness with defending his war policies. As long as Republican lawmakers stick with the president, Democrats will be unable to muster the two-thirds majorities they would need to override his veto. more at link...
Posted by: Dave D. ||
03/31/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Basically party-line votes of 218-212 and 51-48 do NOT suggest nor support the spin word "rebuke", WaPo asswipes. Shine my knob.
US President George W. Bush has said overnight that Iran's seizure of 15 British sailors and marines was "inexcusable behavior" and he supported British efforts to get them back.
"It's a serious issue because the Iranians took these people out of Iraqi waters," Mr Bush said.
"And it's inexcusable behavior and I strongly support the (British Prime Minister Tony) Blair government's attempts to resolve this peacefully," Mr Bush said after talks with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula de Silva.
The US leader rejected suggestions that Washington could help in the eight-day-old standoff by freeing five Iranians captured by US forces in northern Iraq in January.
"I support the (British) prime minister when he made it clear there were no quid pro quos," Mr Bush said. "The Iranians must give back the hostages."
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Six Muslim men removed from a plane last fall after being accused of suspicious behavior are suing not only the airline but the passengers who complained—a move some fear could discourage travelers from speaking up when they see something unusual.
The civil rights lawsuit, filed earlier this month, has so alarmed some lawyers that they are offering to defend the unnamed "John Doe" passengers free of charge. They say it is vital that the flying public be able to report suspicious behavior without fear of being dragged into court.
"When you drive up the road towards the airport, there's a big road sign that says, 'Report suspicious behavior,'" said Gerry Nolting, a Minneapolis lawyer. "There's no disclaimer that adds, 'But beware if you do that, you might get sued.'"
The six imams were taken off a Phoenix-bound US Airways flight on Nov. 20 while returning home from a conference of Islamic clerics in Minneapolis. Shoulda been kicked out at 40,000 feet.
Other passengers had gotten nervous when the men were seen praying and chanting in Arabic as they waited to board. Some passengers also said that the men spoke of Saddam Hussein and cursed the United States; that they requested seat belt extenders with heavy buckles and stowed them under their seats; that they were moving about and conferring with each other during boarding; and that they sat separately in seats scattered through the cabin. Personally I think they were going to use them as impediments to a passenger charge. You could extend the buckle from one seat to a mating buckle on the opposite side of the aisle and slow down a charge down that aisle, giving terrorists in a defensive position outside the cockpit a better chance of dealing with a passenger charge.
The plane was cleared for a security sweep, nothing was found, and the jet took off without the imams.
The Muslim clerics say they were humiliated, and are seeking unspecified damages from the airline, the Minneapolis airport and, potentially, the John Does.
Omar Mohammedi, the New York City attorney for the imams, said the intent is not to go after passengers who raise valid concerns about security. But he suggested some passengers may have acted in bad faith out of prejudice. Either of which would accomplish the same desired end effect.
"As an attorney, I have seen a lot of abuse by the general public when it comes to members of the community creating stories that do not exist," Mohammedi said. Of course Muslims wouldn't make up any stories of their own.
He denied the imams were talking about Saddam, and said that their seats were assigned and that they requested extenders because their seat belts didn't fit. It's rare they don't fit. It's even rarer that several people, all of the same persuasion, magically need these extenders. I'll bet all the imams knew each other. I'll bet they all attended the same anti-American conference together. I'd like to see pictures of the imams taken about the time this happened. I understand none of them were over about 200 or so. I heard an interview with some muslim bigwig saying he didn't know why they would want the extenders but he suggested that it could have been as "innocent" as wanting a "clean surface" to put their feet on. I say investigate the bigwig, too. Anybody else hear that? Was he from CAIR by chance?
Some fear such lawsuits could weaken what has become the first line of defense against terrorism since Sept. 11—an alert public. At airports and train and subway stations around the country, travelers are routinely warned to watch for unattended bags and suspicious activity and to notify authorities.
Ellen Howe, spokeswoman for the Transportation Security Administration, which oversees security at all U.S. airports, would not comment specifically on the imams' lawsuit. But she said the TSA counts on passengers to help the agency do its job.
"'See something, say something' is certainly a common mantra in this day and age," Howe said. "We would always remind passengers to be both vigilant and thoughtful."
In reaction to the imams' lawsuit, Congress has taken steps to legally protect passengers who report suspicious activity. Earlier this week, the House approved an amendment to a rail transportation security bill that would make passengers immune from such lawsuits, unless they say something they know is false. Mohamhead ate pork when nobody was looking. He liked to tie his dingus in a knot and shove it up his a$$, too (Hey, it might be true for all I know).
Mohammedi said he has not yet identified any of the complaining passengers. An airport police report listed a passenger and two US Airways employees as complaining about the imams. All three had their names blacked out before the lawsuit was filed by invoking a Minnesota law that allows it, airport spokesman Pat Hogan said.
Nolting said he has been contacted by several potential John Does.
Passenger Pat Snelson, who lives in a Twin Cities suburb, said he and his wife were not among those who reported suspicious behavior. But he said his wife noticed the men praying, and he saw them moving around the cabin while others were boarding.
"These guys were up to no good," Snelson said. "We think the airport people did a real good job in taking care of it."
Bomb-sniffing dogs examined the men and their baggage. FBI agents and other federal law enforcement officers questioned the men for several hours before releasing them. Next time do a body cavity search using a football.
Billie Vincent, a former director of security for the Federal Aviation Administration, said he is troubled by the mere attempt to identify the passengers who raised concerns.
Airline passengers "are your eyes and your ears," said Vincent, who now owns an aviation security company. "If attorneys can get those names and sue them, you put a chilling effect on the whole system." I know how you could warm things up, and since I don't think this lawsuit stands a snowball's chance in hades even in today's self-hating over-liberal climate, I'll bet that's exactly what will happen.
#1
He denied the imams were talking about Saddam, and said that their seats were assigned and that they requested extenders because their seat belts didn't fit.
You gotta be a major porker for the normal seatbelts not to fit.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
03/31/2007 9:44 Comments ||
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#2
Discovery should be interesting...Hey Keith
Ellison, didn't you speak at their convention shortly before this incident? Star-Trib won't be able to cover your ass on this one. Asshole
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/31/2007 11:05 Comments ||
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#3
This has "Frivolous lawsuit" written all over it in huge letters
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
03/31/2007 12:11 Comments ||
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Posted by: Bobby ||
03/31/2007 13:03 Comments ||
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#6
An airport police report listed a passenger and two US Airways employees as complaining about the imams.
It’s an open secret that MSP International Airport continues to have one of highest alert status in the country. Furthermore, the organizers for the “summit” in the T-Cities have a known history of manufactured dramas intended to draw attention in the form of lawsuits. More to the point, they knew American Airlines would react exactly in the manner they did. It’s not about racial profiling or even winning a lawsuit. It’s simply another artificial event to draw attention to a non-issue. In short – Contrived Propaganda.
Spot on, DepotGuy. Most astonishing of all is that our own government assists with Islam's cloaking of its vile intentions by spewing the usual Religion of Peace [spit] bullshit.
With the media facilities available to them, our leaders should be creating awareness and security information packages to warn us about this exact sort of crapulence. Instead they appease and fawn over America's worst enemies.
#10
Punky Crolutch3978 there was a great article the other day about how it is a myth that the ACLU was ever anything but a communist front, intent on destroying America from within. They named names. Sorry, can't remember where I read it. Maybe frontpage. Maybe rantburg!
#12
me too. What I really hope is that someone sues their ass for all they are worth and they wind up in a trailer park working for $5 per hour for some guy named Miguel.
#14
heheh... on second thought I think I was far too kind. What I'd really like to see is them stripped of their American citizenship and forced to enjoy the rights of living as an infidel in an Islamic country.
#16
bottom line - pay the extra and don't fly through Minneapolis.
No, make all muslims walk or take the bus. There is nothing that says we HAVE to let them fly. If they want to cause trouble, gather up a couple of dozen "good ol' boys" and let them discuss it with them - with axehandles. Living in this country requires one to accept the will of the majority, not demand special status as a minority.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/31/2007 19:11 Comments ||
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#17
have you been through Minneapolis lately? Most of them are probably not fanatics. but the problem is that there are so dang many of them you don't know where to start.
Personally - I'd feel much better if I had to fly through there if YOU were on my flight. But as a believer in stats and numbers - those are odds I'm not willing to play.
Money talks. If the majority of flyers refuse to fly through Minneapolis - increased security would be the result!
#19
Living in this country requires one to accept the will of the majority, not demand special status as a minority.
Actually, the US system of government was framed in such a way as to protect the minority from the majority. That's my understanding of it anyway.
On the other hand, I'm not sure how many have noticed, but the SCOTUS derives its power from the majority. It's the majority that makes SCOTUS what it is.
The Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) said on Friday that the government should take stern action against religious organisations challenging the writ of the government and disrupting law and order in the country. “The CII made this recommendation to the government after students of the Jamia Hafsa madrassa challenged the writ of the government by starting an unofficial ‘anti-vice’ campaign in the federal capital,” sources privy to the CII meeting told Daily Times.
The sources said that the CII members discussed the law and order situation with particular focus on the recent developments involving madrassa students and recommended that the government take a firm stand on the issue. The sources said that the meeting chaired by CII Chairman Dr Khalid Masud and attended by Javed Ghamadi, Dr Manzoor Mughal, Rashid Ahmad Jullandhry, Justice (r) Munir Mughal, Daman Ali Shah, Abdullah Khilji and Said Bibi expressed concern over the growing lawlessness and religious extremism in the country.
A press statement issued after the meeting said that the council appealed to clerics and religious scholars to condemn sectarianism, religious extremism and violation of law and order in the Seerat conferences to be held in connection with Eid Miladun Nabi. The sources told Daily Times that the CII would continue its meetings on Saturday and Monday, adding that the council members would attend a Seerat conference on Sunday. Meanwhile, State Minister for Information Tariq Azeem said the government was considering moving the madrassas out of Islamabad.
Azeem told reporters that madrassas in Islamabad would be relocated for the convenience of residents, adding that the government would provide land and financial support for the construction of new madrassas.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Man, my ole buddy Hatfield is hate Leah Extremism too.
Maulana Abdul Aziz, the prayer leader at Lal Masjid and principal of Jamia Hafsa, on Friday gave the government a week’s deadline to “enforce Sharia” in the country, otherwise “clerics will Islamise society themselves”. “If the government does not impose Sharia within a week, we will do it,” Aziz told a gathering after Friday prayers.
"We find your lack of submission...Humiliating™."
Similarly, he gave the Islamabad administration a week to shut down “brothels”, otherwise “seminary students will take action themselves”. “If we find a woman with loose morals, we will prosecute her in Lal Masjid,” he said. Sources told Daily Times that the Jamia Hafsa administration would compile a record of brothels and gambling dens over the week, and then launch a drive. They said the seminary believed these places were being run in collaboration with civil society organisations. “Jamia Hafsa will hold a conference on April 5-6 at Lal Masjid, where ulema will finalise a strategy against brothels and gambling dens,” said Aziz, adding that the drive would not be limited to Islamabad.
This article starring:
MAULANA ABDUL AZIZ
Jamia Hafsa
Jamia Hafsa
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
My interpretation is that the governemnt has a week left to off this turd.
Defunct religious outfit Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) has asked President General Pervez Musharraf to help resolve the ‘‘decades-old conflict’’ between Pakistani Shias and Sunnis. “We are ready to accept General Musharraf as mediator in this conflict,” Dr Khadim Hussain Dhilon, secretary general of SSP, told a religious conference here late on Thursday. He said the president should listen to both sides for an amicable solution to the sectarian problem. “We will accept president’s decision,” he added.
This article starring:
DR KHADIM HUSEIN DHILON
Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan
Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2007 00:00 ||
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Former Prime Minister and Pakistan PeopleÂ’s Party Chairwoman Benazir Bhutto on Friday condemned the girl students of Jamia Hafsa for taking law into their hands, and police for turning a blind eye to it.
Benazir Bhutto, in a statement issued here, said the images of burqa-clad and stick-wielding women holding policemen hostage, forcing shopkeepers to shut their businesses and kidnapping a family of three women accusing them of loose morals had tarnished country’s image a lot. She said that Wednesday’s incident had given rise to suspicions that the Musharraf-led government was pushing the country towards Talibanisation to seek international community’s support for it. “This is dangerous brinkmanship which will gravely undermine national security and integrity,” she said.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2007 00:00 ||
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While the Prime Minister's Office had no formal reaction to the Arab League's land-and-refugees-for-peace initiative relaunched in Riyadh on Thursday, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told The Jerusalem Post there is absolutely no wiggle room on the refugee issue. Olmert reiterated that Israel would not accept the return to Israel of any refugees.
It is "out of the question," he said. "I'll never accept a solution that is based on their return to Israel, any number."
It is "out of the question," he said. "I'll never accept a solution that is based on their return to Israel, any number."
The initiative adopted Thursday was the same one passed by the Arab League summit in Beirut in March 2002, commonly known as the Arab Peace Initiative. It is not, however, identical with the so-called Saudi initiative from a month earlier that did not mention the refugee issue. Asked if the Arab initiative could be the basis for talks, Olmert said, "The Saudis don't speak at all about [General Assembly] Resolution 194 [on the refugees]. The Saudi initiative looks better in this respect than the Arab initiative."
Olmert said that not only would Israel refuse to accept any refugees, it would also not recognize a "right of return."
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Is there any way that Olmert can encourage most Palestinians to leave Israel short of ethnic cleansing? That is a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian issue that deserves a try. That way there will be a pro-Western, productive Israel free from most internal terrorist threats and the Palestinians will be forced to accept responsibility for their own corrupt, brutal, self destructive condition.
#3
NEWSMAX > ISRAELI POLITICIAN: WE'RE ON THE PATH TO WAR article. Nutshell : Israel needs to re-attack the Hezzies-Hizzies. War agz IRAN may occur eventually.
#4
How can people who weren't born in Israel have a "right of return"? I wasn't born in the USA, so can I also have a "right of return" to go and live in, say, San Diego?
#5
It's tricky Sonar, you sound like an off-lander or Natural American, far has I'm concerned you do have the right of return to San Diego. Same with folks of the Jewish persuasion, they have the right of return to Israel. The pali-people are being denied their right of return to Egypt, Jordan and Syria which is where they were hatched.
IRANIAN authorities have begun legal proceedings against Britain's seized naval personnel and they will be punished if found guilty, Iran's ambassador to Moscow said.
“No kind of apology has been received from the British side and as a result the case has taken on a juridical form,” Ambassador Gholamreza Ansari said.
“If their guilt is really demonstrated, naturally it will result in punishment. I want to underline that legal proceedings have already begun,” said Ansari.
Tehran has so far refused to bow to mounting world pressure to release the 15 Britons it says illegally entered Iran's territorial waters. London insists they were on a routine anti-smuggling patrol in Iraqi waters.
Asked to respond to Ansari's comments, a British Foreign Office spokeswoman said, “It doesn't change our position. We want them released immediately. We have made clear they were seized in Iraqi waters and have demanded consular access. We have not had it,”
The crisis escalated after Iran aired new television footage on Friday of a British sailor “confessing” to trespassing in its waters and apologising. The spiralling has begun.
#1
Hello?! Where are the "human rights" groups screaming about this?! They were in uniform, openly carrying arms; even if they WERE inside Iranian territory, they cannot be tried inside a normal court.
Pack of bastards. Do they realize how they're shredding the very Geneva Convention they claim to be defending?!
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
03/31/2007 9:38 Comments ||
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#2
p: The spiralling has begun.
Yup. The British Foreign Secretary is about to say "We're very sorry." This would mark, not the beginning of the end, but the beginning of the beginning - as in, she has only just begun to grovel.
#3
"Do they realize how they're shredding the very Geneva Convention they claim to be defending?"
Of course they realize it. And they don't give a shit. The GC's are not there to protect human rights; they're only there to serve as a tool for yanking us around by our decency.
As far as I can tell, NONE of the so-called "human rights" organizations actually gives a flying fuck about human rights.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
03/31/2007 11:12 Comments ||
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#4
[Personal note to our UK readers and posters]
Both sets of my parents' ancestors emigrated from European countries other than England, so I can't claim any direct ties, but the United Kingdom has always been my intellectual forebear.
You're all in my thoughts today. I am appalled and outraged at the ridiculous behavior by Iran and I am keeping your sailors and Royal Marines in my prayers.
The UK has been our great friend and ally and it's time to return the favor. I stand with you proudly and I will urge my Yank politicians to get off their preening bums and Do Something.
#5
I'm with Sea on this - although I have some English mutt blood. The US needs to help out EXCEPT for releasing the captured Iranians. I suggest a blockade to start
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/31/2007 11:59 Comments ||
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#6
I echo Sea, and I even have French and Irish ancestors.
This will not stand. Wake up the ghosts of Lord Churchill.
#10
My plan is:
1. Grovel, apologise, say Allan is the greatest, etc, so what we
2. Get the troops back, and then
3. Destroy their oil terminal and blockade them.
#11
Sonar, your plan fails because there is no step 1 sufficient to achieve step 2. It is clearly war Iran wants, and I have no idea what they will end up having to do to get it. But they shall.
#14
This is so reminiscent of the WWII movie "The Purple Heart":
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0037197/
"Based on the eight men captured by the Japanese after the Doolittle raid: Lt. Robert Hite, Lt. William G. Farrow, Lt. George Barr, Sgt. Harold A. Spatz, Cpl. Jacob De Shazer, Dean Hallmark, Robert Meder, and Chase Nielsen. The trial, as depicted in the film, was held at Police Headquarters in Shanghai, China on 14 October 1942. The eight men were condemned to death. Hallmark, Farrow, and Spatz were executed by a firing squad of the Imperial Japanese Army at sunset the next day. The remainder were given an Imperial commutation to life in prison. In 1943, Meder died of mistreatment and various diseases. The remaining four survived until they were freed upon Japan's surrender in August, 1945."
#15
The solution is obvious. They have grabbed 15 of ours, we grab 150 or 1500 or whatever it takes of theirs. Ordinary citizens or Iranian soldiers will not do for this, however. The mullahs and their media supporters do not give a damn what happens to them. Mullahs, their families, influential Iranian business agents and, most importantly, their agents of influence in the media, would be the most lucrative targets. Iranian capital assets and other property in other countries are also vulnerable. Naturally, government cannot do this openly but there are many other possibilities.
A high-level group of US lawmakers plans to visit Israel, Syria and other Middle Eastern countries on a trip to promote regional peace, aides said Friday. The White House criticised the group's planned stop in Syria, a country the US government accuses of sponsoring terrorism. 'That's a really bad idea,' White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said.
Leading the group is Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat who is the first female speaker of the US House of Representatives. She plans to address the Knesset, Israel's parliament, on Sunday, her office said. The California congresswoman will discuss the US commitment to Israel and the challenges facing the two nations in the Middle East, her office said.
Also in the delegation is House member Keith Ellison, the first Muslim in Congress, elected in November when the Democrats won majorities in both chambers. He was already in Israel on Friday. The group is also expected to visit Syria, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia during its nine-day tour, Ellison's office said. Details were being kept secret for security reasons, it said. Another delegate is Tom Lantos, head of the House International Relations Committee and the only Holocaust survivor in Congress.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
WND.com > Communist Party USA gives Dems "high Marks" for Iraq War politicking; + WND > Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin > USA UNPREPARED FOR "LIKELY" NUCLEAR [TERROR?] ATTACK. The odds of a nuke terror attack on US Cities IS INCREASING.
#4
Agreed, Zenster. The President has everything he needs to arrest these guys. And if they do go overseas and spout their shit, they should be taken directly to detention in GTMO.
#5
Better yet, when they return divert the flight to NAS Oceana and arrest them upon landing. Have the trial at the federal district court in Norfolk. If they want a change of Venue, they can have Newport News.
#6
Nah, itza no big deal...No self-respecting muzzie is gonna listen to a female.
Unless Ellison is gonna represent a younger brother....
Posted by: Flusing Speaking for Bobby ||
03/31/2007 8:35 Comments ||
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#7
So, you do your best to screw up Iraq, then think you can appoint yourself as state department and hop on over and negotiate with any tyrant you want?
Ohh, I will let you do it. I am letting you measure your noose pelosi.
Pass a bill that undermines the troops, refuse to support a resolution denouncing the Iranian kidnapping of British troops, and then head to Syria meet with Baby Doc who has been killing and supplying Hez. with weapons and supporting and sending insurgents/terrorists to Iraq.
That's a page out of the Jim Wright playbook. Folks on our side of a certain age will certainly remember his visit to Nicaragua at a critical time to undermine the Reagan foreign policy.
#10
There are laws against what Nancy Pelosi and her "friends" are doing. I hope they are enforced. One of the reasons this sh$$ continues is because no one is held accountable for their behavior. Slam her in Gitmo for a couple of years, let Caliwhackyland elect someone else to fill her position, and crank up the "torture" machine. We need to re-grow the kind of cojones we had under Teddy Roosevelt, George Washington, and Abraham Lincoln. As a side, let's declare the ACLU an "enemy facilitator" and take THAT bunch of jacka$$es on as well. I'll step forward and grab a rifle, if George needs help.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/31/2007 19:29 Comments ||
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#12
The moment she says 'we made a deal with Syria' throw her ass in jail for Treason and violation of the Logan Act. She took an oath to uphold the constitution of the United States. She does not have the authority to treat with foreign governments.
If nothing else watching the left have a fit might be worth it.
#14
Old Patriot - Too late to turn back the clock, I'd say. Somewhere around the time that "The X Files" came out I think the moonbats finally had sufficient numbers to make such corrections politically unfeasable.
Uncle "We Can't Win" Walt put the stamp of media approval on our demise. The ride since has been mainly downhill. Clearly, we're headed for that little dustup called CW-II I've read about here. I only question whether it will come in time to allow us to save ourselves or not.
The signs are showing up that indicate that the Hate America Crowd presumes they've already won. Just as the Muslims jump the gun and presume too much (attacking friendly countries, etc), we see the Stalinists and Socialists in ideological battle, already.
The protests up in Seattle where effigies of regular soldiers were burned... The Red-on-Pink and Pink-on-Donk and Nutroots-on-everyone scuffles... The rapidly expanding list of Donk circus events since winning in November...
Yeah, I think the signs are (oddly enough) encouraging since the sooner they freak out the middle-ground folks (those lame-assed fools who split their votes just enough to let them back into power) and make it clear we're in seriously deep shit, the sooner we get this show underway. I'd say the whole mess is accelerating, too.
May your resolve be unwavering, your aim be steady, and your ammo supply be sufficient brother. I'll hold up my end, I promise.
#16
I've already done lots of stuff I'm supposed to feel bad about - at least according to the wanky crap I've seen coming out of the mouths of halfwits who happened to be vets. Most likely, 95% of it is pure bullshit - they're either fantasizing about wearing the shoes of others or they're just lying assholes who want attention of any sort they can get.
As for feeling bad - I appreciate the kind words, but I don't and I won't.
Ban Ki-moon told a Hezbollah ally that the United Nations expects full implementation of the Security Council resolution that ended last summer's war with Israel. "I raised the importance of the full implementation of that resolution," Ban said Friday after meeting in Beirut with Nabih Beri, speaker of the Lebanese Parliament and an ally of the terrorist group that launched last summer's war.
Ban was referring to Security Council Resolution 1701, which calls for Hezbollah to disarm and to return two Israeli soldiers captured in the July 12 crossborder raid that sparked the war. Ban also has criticized Israel for violating the resolution through its overflights of Lebanese territory.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
The Hezb's terror must be palpable. Ban should be added to some list or something.
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said Iran is not a nuclear danger to the world. Speaking to the Arabic-language television Al-Arabiya late on Thursday, Mohamed ElBaradei added, "The problem with Iran's nuclear case is that the country did not report its nuclear activities to the IAEA since it began its program 20 years ago. But, of course, Iran had reasons for not doing so and that was the sanctions imposed on the country. So at that time Iran could not reveal its nuclear program."
Considering as logical Iran's decision to hide its programs during those 20 years, ElBaradei however explained the difficulty the IAEA faced in proving that Iran's activities in all those years were not aimed at the development of nuclear weaponry. "But during the inspections in recent years, we could not find any technical clue or specific evidence that shows Iran's program is of military nature," said the IAEA chief. "This is a significant achievement."
ElBaradei once again underlined that the only way to resolve the misunderstanding in the West over Iran's nuclear program was all-round negotiations, which in turn could lead to finding solutions to the regional security issues as well. "War is not the solution; it is a disaster for the region. If another war breaks out, everything gets messed up," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
August 1st,2005 Mohammed Javad Larijani told his audience that "It is our right to have nuclear defense and we will not be ready to give up this right..."
Is this enough proof that ElBaradei needs to go or does a nuke to go off in NY before people fear for their futures and/or the US more than that which might appear politically incorrect?
#5
A bull with tits would be of greater use than this waste of skin. ElBaradei needs to catch a slug. He is nothing more or less than a terrorist facilitator.
#6
There's something about the name "Mohamed". Now if his name was Roger or Kenneth or Derek ElBaradei, it might inspire a bit more confidence in the veracity of his statement.
The EU called on Iran to release the 15 British sailors and marines it is holding in its custody "immediately" and sent a warning it would "decide on appropriate measures" if Tehran did not comply. The statement could did not elaborate on what such measures would be.
The EU told Tehran to tell the British government where the prisoners are being held to allow British diplomats access to them. In a statement released after EU foreign ministers met in Bremen, Germany, on Friday, they said "all evidence clearly indicates that at the time of the seizure, the British naval personnel were on a routine patrolling mission in Iraqi waters in accordance with United Nations Security Council resolution 1723."
"The seizure," the statement went on to say, "represents a clear breach of international law."
The EU statement is stronger than that of the UN Security Council which on Thursday expressed "grave concern" at the naval personnel's detention but declined to back Britain with a call for their immediate release.
Britain froze official contacts on Wednesday with Iran as the dispute over the detained sailors intensified, with Prime Minister Tony Blair vowing to "ratchet up" pressure on Tehran.EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana called the Iranian action "a big mistake" and called for the release of the sailors, who were captured on March 23. "I don't understand. It's a big mistake. They should release the soldiers immediately," he said as he entered the meeting. "I have total confidence that the British boat was in Iraqi waters," he added, alluding to Iran's claims that the boat had entered its waters. However, there was opposition in the EU to freezing business with Tehran, which diplomats said Britain had initially sought. Guess who?
French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said Friday that all steps must be taken to avoid an escalation between Britain and Iran. Yup.
"We must avert a course towards confrontation, any escalation," said Douste-Blazy in an interview to RTL radio. "The Iranian authorities must simply return to dialog." (burp) "Try the squab!"
#1
French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said Friday that all steps must be taken to avoid an escalation between Britain and Iran.
Pathetic.
Besides the layers of bureaucratic regulations and ossified socialism that goes along with EU membership, here we see another huge drawback.
Maybe Britain has not formally surrendered its sovereignty, but now they have to allow duplicitous and cowardly nations like France a major voice in the diplomacy and negotiations for the return of their military personnel.
It is obvious that France does not give a sh*t about the British sailors or whether Iran is rewarded for this act of war.
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.
With the funerals of executed Istamist militant linchpins, many secrets and mysteries about the rise of the particular kind of militancy, its masterminds and patrons were also buried yesterday. Although the investigators since the August 17, 2005 orchestrated bomb blasts across the country had been saying that the mysteries behind the rise of Islamist militant outfit 
JMB killed at least 64 people including Rajshahi University teacher 
Faced with his second rebuke in a week from congressional Democrats on Iraq policy, President Bush yesterday summoned Republican allies to his side in an effort to shift momentum in the escalating battle over the course of the war. Bush, who has alienated many Republicans on Capitol Hill, invited the entire House GOP caucus to the White House for the first time in his presidency. 
In reaction to the imams' lawsuit, Congress has taken steps to legally protect passengers who report suspicious activity. Earlier this week, the House approved an amendment to a rail transportation security bill that would make passengers immune from such lawsuits, unless they say something they know is false. 
The Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) said on Friday that the government should take stern action against religious organisations challenging the writ of the government and disrupting law and order in the country. “The CII made this recommendation to the government after students of the Jamia Hafsa madrassa challenged the writ of the government by starting an unofficial ‘anti-vice’ campaign in the federal capital,” sources privy to the CII meeting told Daily Times. 
Former Prime Minister and Pakistan PeopleÂ’s Party Chairwoman Benazir Bhutto on Friday condemned the girl students of Jamia Hafsa for taking law into their hands, and police for turning a blind eye to it. 
While the Prime Minister's Office had no formal reaction to the Arab League's land-and-refugees-for-peace initiative relaunched in Riyadh on Thursday, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told The Jerusalem Post there is absolutely no wiggle room on the refugee issue. Olmert reiterated that Israel would not accept the return to Israel of any refugees. 
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said Iran is not a nuclear danger to the world. Speaking to the Arabic-language television Al-Arabiya late on Thursday, Mohamed ElBaradei added, "The problem with Iran's nuclear case is that the country did not report its nuclear activities to the IAEA since it began its program 20 years ago. But, of course, Iran had reasons for not doing so and that was the sanctions imposed on the country. So at that time Iran could not reveal its nuclear program." 
The EU called on Iran to release the 15 British sailors and marines it is holding in its custody "immediately" and sent a warning it would "decide on appropriate measures" if Tehran did not comply. The statement 
