A "Sea Skua" guided missile misfired Thursday, in the first test conducted in Southeast Asia, in the waters off Kuala Beruas near Pantai Remis in Perak, Chief of Navy Admiral Datuk Ilyas Din said. Matra BAE Dynamics of the United Kingdom, which conducted the test for the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN), identified a technical problem as the cause of the failure, he added.
The missile, fired at 11 am from a Super Lynx 300 attack helicopter at a wreckage of a ship eight nautical miles away, failed to hit its target and fell into the sea without exploding.
The company would carry out an investigation to determine the cause of the problem in two or three days, well before the second test that is scheduled a week from now, Ilyas told reporters on board the RMN vessel, KD Mahawangsa, here.
Thursday's Sea Skua missile test was the first conducted in Southeast Asia because Malaysia is the only country in the region to purchase the missiles, the complete package of which cost 16 million pounds sterling (about RM103 million). The agreement to purchase was made in 2001 and the supply of the missiles to the RMN began last year.
QUETTA, Pakistan - Pakistan on Thursday banned two Afghan TV channels and stopped cable operators from airing their content because they had blamed Pakistani security forces for trying to kill an Afghan politician, an official said.
Got caught, did they?
The ban was the latest blow in a war of words between Pakistan and Afghanistan amid an increase of Islamic extremist and tribal violence on both sides of these troubled neighbors borders. The Tolo TV and Ariana TV stations were barred from operating in Pakistan because they were involved in negative propaganda against Pakistan, said Abdul Jalal Khan, an official with the state-run Pakistan Media Regulatory Authority that supervises cable and television channels.
They used poisonous, undiplomatic language against Pakistan in their programs, Khan said from Quetta, capital of the southwestern Baluchistan province where many Afghan refugees live.
Afghans told the truth, and the Paks thought it was hell.
The stations stopped airing in Quetta on Thursday, said Khan, who accused both stations of blaming Pakistans spy network for a March 12 suicide attack against a senior Afghan political figure in the Afghan capital Kabul. The official lived, but four people were killed. Islamabad has rejected claims of involvement.
Privately run Tolo issued a statement condemning the banning, saying it always attempted to present balanced stories on national, regional and international issues. We are alarmed at news that TOLO has been banned in Baluchistan province as our station is very popular in the province, the statement said, adding the Pakistani Embassy in the Afghan capital, Kabul, rejected overtures to discuss the ban.
"We like to think of ourselves as Radio Free Wazoo," he added.
Mohammed Shahid, a spokesman for the regulatory authority in the capital, Islamabad, declined to confirm the ban, but said the Afghan stations had not applied for permission to broadcast their programs in Pakistan.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/16/2006
22:23 ||
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South Korean minister emphasized Thursday the necessary of the U.S. forces stationed in Korean peninsula even after the unification of the two Koreans.
'We must see the U.S. Forces Korea as a constant,' Minister of Unification Lee Jong-seok said, indicating that the South hopes the U.S. forces would further stay in Korea even after the reunification, the Korea Times reported Thursday.
At a breakfast forum of Seoul National University`s political science alumna at a Seoul hotel, Lee said that it is one of the two key conditions under which South and North Korea could work toward establishing a peace regime after resolving the North`s nuclear issue at the six-party talks.
North Korean officials have often criticized the presence of the U.S. forces in the South but North Korean leader Kim Jong-il once said that he has changed his way of thinking since the end of the Cold War, expressing hope that U.S. forces would serve to maintain stability in the Northeast Asian region, according to some South Koreans who met Kim during the inter-Korean summit in June 2000 in Pyongyang.
Lee, who is in charge of the North Korean issues, added that the other condition for discussion of the peace treaty entails the matter of bilateral joint control of the inter-Korean border.
Posted by: Captain America ||
03/16/2006
20:21 ||
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#3
tell him the hourly rate including O/H and profit
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/16/2006 21:16
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"South Korean minister emphasized Thursday the necessary of the U.S. forces stationed in Korean peninsula even after the unification of the two Koreans."
Go fuck yourself, Kimchee-breath. If you're stupid enough to unite with that madman up North, you sure as Hell don't need us there.
Buh-bye...
Posted by: Dave D. ||
03/16/2006 21:46
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#5
What, they don't trust their neighbors, the Chinese?
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/16/2006
20:15 ||
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#1
Great post, OP.
"...in 1972, she interviewed the Palestinian terrorist George Habash, who told her (while a bodyguard aimed a submachine gun at her head) that the Palestinian problem was about far more than Israel. The Arab goal, Habash declared, was to wage war against Europe and America and to ensure that henceforth there would be no peace for the West. The Arabs, he informed her, would advance step by step. Millimeter by millimeter. Year after year. Decade after decade. Determined, stubborn, patient. This is our strategy. A strategy that we shall expand throughout the whole planet.
Fallaci thought he was referring simply to terrorism. Only later did she realize that he also meant the cultural war, the demographic war, the religious war waged by stealing a country from its citizens In short, the war waged through immigration, fertility, presumed pluriculturalism. It is a low-level but deadly war that extends across the planet, as any newspaper reader can see."
#2
"And, Fallaci being Fallaci, it is occasionally over the top and will no doubt be deeply offensive to many, particularly when, in a postscript the book might have been better off without, she claims that there is no such thing as moderate Islam."
And the El Lay Times being the El Lay Times can't help itself either.
She's onto something - and nails it - they're still paddling upstream.
#5
"...in 1972, she interviewed the Palestinian terrorist George Habash, who told her (while a bodyguard aimed a submachine gun at her head) that the Palestinian problem was about far more than Israel... we shall expand throughout the whole planet.
Fallaci thought he was referring simply to terrorism. Only later did she realize that he also meant the cultural war, the demographic war, the religious war..."
Iran on Thursday offered more access to U.N. inspectors if their watchdog agency, not the U.N. Security Council, dealt with its nuclear dispute with the West.
But top negotiator Ali Larijani gave no ground on Western demands that Iran stop trying to produce fuel that can be used in nuclear power stations or, if highly enriched, in bombs.
Russia and China called for a peaceful solution to the standoff with Iran, while the United States said diplomacy must succeed to avert a confrontation with the Islamic Republic.
Britain, one of three European Union powers whose talks with Iran proved fruitless, again ruled out military action.
The International Atomic Energy Agency has referred Iran to the Security Council, which can impose sanctions, for failing to demonstrate that its nuclear programme was purely peaceful.
In response, Iran has carried out a threat to suspend snap IAEA inspections of its nuclear facilities.
"The most logical way was to have the case with the agency and to have the agency's supervision," Larijani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, told reporters.
"We think it is not too late to accept this. It is to their benefit, which means that the agency's inspectors can become active. But if they (Western countries) want to use another path, their supervision will be reduced and other problems will come up," he said. He did not elaborate.
Britain, France and the United States want the Security Council to issue a statement that would express "serious concern" about Iran's nuclear programme and would ask the IAEA to report quickly on Iranian compliance with its demands.
Russia and China have been uneasy about involving the Security Council and want the IAEA to retain control.
Moscow has offered to enrich uranium for Iran to guard against any diversion of fuel for bombs, but talks have stumbled on Tehran's insistence on doing some enrichment at home.
STRESS ON DIPLOMACY
The Russian compromise is seen by many as the best hope for defusing the dispute, but Western officials suspect Iran is discussing it only to gain time and stave off sanctions.
Russia and China, which have big commercial interests in Iran, vehemently oppose subjecting Tehran to any U.N. embargo, which both could veto as permanent Security Council members.
"We both believe we need to seek political solutions to the issues through diplomatic channels," Russia's ambassador to China, Sergei Razov, told reporters in Beijing.
He said Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Hu Jintao would discuss the Iranian and North Korean nuclear disputes when Putin visits China next week.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said there was still space for diplomacy over Iran.
"All the parties concerned should show more patience and flexibility and seize every moment to resolve the issue peacefully," he told a separate news conference.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said sanctions, but not military force, might be used to get Iran to change its mind.
"Let me make one thing clear from the outset: military actions are not on the agenda," Austrian newspaper Die Presse quoted him as saying. "We don't want a confrontation with Iran."
The White House, in a new national security strategy, named Iran as America's greatest challenge from a single country.
President George W. Bush has insisted on a diplomatic outcome, but has never taken the military option off the table, despite the U.S. entanglement in neighbouring Iraq.
"This diplomatic effort must succeed if confrontation is to be avoided," said the White House document.
It said Iran also sponsors terrorism, threatens Israel, seeks to thwart Middle East peace, disrupts democracy in Iraq and denies freedom to Iranians. It said these concerns could only be resolved if Iran completely changed course.
"Our strategy is to block the threats posed by the regime while expanding our engagement and outreach to the people the regime is oppressing," the document said.
Posted by: Captain America ||
03/16/2006
20:12 ||
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Edited for brevity.
Even the most hysterical Keanu-phobes would agree that what happened to Kevin Nicolle is just a teensy and we mean teensy bit more horrifying than being forced to watch Speed again. Nicolle was driving along the highway in his BMW when the accelerator stuck and he went careening for 60 miles through the English countryside at speeds exceeding 130 mph with no way to stop, the BBC reports. "I was in tears most of the time on the phone to the police I really could see myself dying," he told the BBC.
Authorities advised the unwitting speed demon to turn on his hazards and lay on the horn while the cops and a helicopter struggled to catch him. But Nicolle had other plans. "There was a load of cars parked waiting to go onto the roundabout, so I went on the inside on the hard shoulder to try to get around it. But doing that sort of speed there was no chance, Nicolle said. He crashed the car into the roundabout and miraculously walked from the fiery wreck unscathed. Rrrrriiiiiiight... Couldn't down-shift, or put 'er in neutral, or turn the key off. Really, officer!
Posted by: Dar ||
03/16/2006
19:57 ||
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#1
Yeah, like turn off the key, moron. My kids wanted to use our family snow machine when we lived up north when they were 12 or so. So I did training, showing them all the usual stuff, AND the kill button, AND the dead man lanyard switch, AND the key. So we came down to check ride. My son and I were going across a frozen lake, heading for the trees. I pulled the throttle on full, then we were heading for the trees at 60 mph. My son said, "Dad, what do we do?" I said, "Better think of something, or we will be killed." He hit the kill switch and we came to a stop. He was shaking, but he never forgot it, and he is still around at age 26.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/16/2006 22:32
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"so as I'm going 130, I figure, I might as well drink this here whiskey since I'm gonna die anyway...honestly"
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/16/2006 22:42
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Demonstrators overturned cars and threw petrol bombs at police who repelled them with tear gas and water cannon as a show of force by French students against the government over job reforms turned increasingly violent.
Demonstrators clashed with police at 7:00 pm (1800 GMT) when hundreds gathered on the city's Place de la Sorbonne square in the Latin quarter following a protest march.
Protestors also vandalized cafes amid scenes that left the area veiled in tear gas fumes and a bookshop in flames on the square, located near departments of the Sorbonne University. At least one car was set alight nearby.
Police said 35 officers were injured, including nine hospitalized, in clashes in the capital and incidents elsewhere in France towns also left several other officers hurt. The interior ministry reported 212 arrests across the country, including 147 in Paris.
The protests were organized in anger at the proposed First Employment Contract (CPE), a contested youth jobs measure. Unions, student groups and the political left say the CPE, which can be broken off without explanation in the first two years, is a licence to hire and fire at will, and are demanding its withdrawal.
Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, who championed the scheme as a key tool in fighting youth unemployment, faces the most serious test of his premiership as the wave of protests paralyses dozens of French universities. The CPE is aimed at encouraging companies to recruit young people.
The interior ministry said 257,000 people took to the streets in up to 80 towns and cities across France, while some organizers set the figure as high as half a million. Student leaders said that 120,000 people joined the march through Paris's Left Bank university quarter, although police said there were 30,000.
Outside Paris, two officers and a student were slightly injured in scuffles pitting police against some 250 high-school students, heading to the Paris march from the northern suburb of Raincy.
Six youths were arrested and two officers slightly injured after a rowdy protest by high-school students forced the closure of a main road in Vitry-sur-Seine, southeast of Paris.
Large rallies were also held in Marseille, Lyon and Grenoble in the south and southeast, Bordeaux in the southwest, Rennes and Lille in the northwest and north, Clermont-Ferrand, Limoges and Angers in the centre and Strasbourg in the east.
Four people were arrested in the southern city of Toulouse after police dispersed a peaceful 9,000-strong protest.
Violence erupted on the sidelines of the protest in Rennes, where police fired tear gas at youths who set garbage cans on fire and vandalised cars, some chanting: "Withdraw the CPE, or watch out!"
In Nancy in the east, a police officer was injured with a paving stone, while two head teachers were hurt in Nantes in the west. A demonstrator was injured in clashes with police in southern Montpellier.
Similar scenes of violence erupted last week when riot police were called in to evacuate demonstrators from Paris' historic Sorbonne University.
Student leaders described the protest movement -- which is backed by 68 percent of the public, according to a new poll -- as a "tidal wave".
Unions have called for a further day of protest on Saturday, when the head of the powerful CGT union, Bernard Thibault, has vowed to "step up a gear" in the stand-off with the government.
Strikes and sit-ins have spread to two-thirds of France's 84 universities with 21 closed and 37 others badly disrupted, according to the education ministry, with protests also reported in dozens of high schools.
Not all students back the protest movement, however, and clashes broke out in Toulouse as dozens of youths angry at the disruption to their studies tried to dislodge protestors from the building.
France has one of the highest youth unemployment rates in Europe, with 23 percent of all young people out of work and the figure topping 50 percent in some of the high-immigration city suburbs hit by rioting late last year.
Villepin has said he was open to talks with labour leaders but insists the measure -- passed by parliament as part of a broader law on equal opportunities drawn up after the riots in October and November -- will be implemented.
The escalating protests have revived memories of the May 1968 student uprising, and have been seen as the sign of a deeper malaise among young French people worried about their future.
#2
The escalating protests...have been seen as the sign of a deeper malaise among young French people worried about their future.
It appears to me that they are more concerned that they might actually have to work, since this scheme is intended to increase the number of openings for first-time job seekers.
via Balckfive
CHICAGO -- Police and federal investigators are looking into an incident about three weeks ago at the Sears Tower in which three men caught the attention of security guards when they got out of their car and appeared to be studying the 110-story building and taking photographs.
The men were questioned by building security guards but were allowed to leave, authorities said. The guards recorded the car's license plate and it was traced to a rental agency. The car was returned to the agency about an hour after that, the source said, and investigators from the Joint Terrorism Task Force learned that it had been rented with a fictitious name.
Chicago Police spokeswoman Monique Bond confirmed that the department is working with the task force to investigate but added that she could not discuss the specifics of the incidents. "We cannot comment at this time because it's part of the ongoing investigation," Bond said.
#1
Saw two Muslim couples taking digital photos from the Stratosphere and a large group of about 10-12 ME young men with backpacks scoping out and photographing the Bellagio that struck me as odd, also. NCAA tourney in LV has been suggested as a possible target, so maybe the cities are under surveillance.
Posted by: Blackjack Joe ||
03/16/2006 20:03
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#2
Don't worry. I got the thing covered. I just demanded that the FEDs set up a no-fly zone in downtown Chicago, and... baddabing baddaboom, no terrorist pilots flyin' inta none of our landmarks.
Posted by: Mayor Richard Daley ||
03/16/2006 23:01
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A top Iranian official said Thursday that Tehran was ready to open direct talks with the U.S. over Iraq, marking a major shift in Iranian foreign policy. "To resolve Iraqi issues and help the establishment of an independent and free government in Iraq, we agree to [talks with the U.S.]," Ali Larijani, Iran's top nuclear negotiator and secretary of the country's Supreme National Security Council, told reporters after a closed meeting of the parliament Thursday.
The White House said the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, is authorized to talk with Iran about Iraq, much as the U.S. has talked with Iran about issues relating to Afghanistan. "But this is a very narrow mandate dealing specifically with issues relating to Iraq," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said, adding that it didn't include U.S. concerns about Iran's nuclear program.
Previous discussions between Washington and Tehran in recent years have focused on logistics involved with the war in Afghanistan and earthquake relief efforts in Bam, Iran -- but all were on lower levels. The U.S. has repeatedly accused Iran of meddling in Iraqi affairs and of sending weapons and men to help insurgents in Iraq.
Mr. Larijani's statement marked the first time since the 1979 Islamic Revolution that Iran had officially called for dialogue with the U.S., which it has repeatedly condemned as "the Great Satan."
Thursday's proposal came in response to a request from senior Iraqi Shiite leader Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, who on Wednesday called for Iran-U.S. talks on Iraq. Mr. Hakim has close ties to Iran, and heads one of the main Shiite parties in Iraq, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq. "I demand the leadership in Iran to open a clear dialogue with America about Iraq," he said. "It is in the interests of the Iraqi people that such dialogue is opened and to find an understanding on various issues."
Ashraf Qazi, the top United Nations envoy in Iraq, said "without knowing about this in any detail, right now I would say this is a welcome development provided it's acceptable to both sides."
Mr. Larijani said Iran will officially name negotiators for direct talks with the U.S. "These talks will merely be about resolving Iraqi issues," he told the parliament.
The U.S. broke diplomatic relations with Iran in 1979 after the U.S. Embassy in Tehran was seized by students to protest Washington's refusal to hand over Iran's former monarch for trial at home. Militant students held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days. The U.S. accuses Iran of using its civilian nuclear program as a cover to build an atomic bomb. Tehran denies this, saying its nuclear program is geared merely toward generating electricity, not a bomb.
Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said the administration had concluded "the best way" to deal with the nuclear program is at the U.N. Security Council. While Mr. Burns didn't flatly reject Mr. Larijani's overture, he said "we have made the calculation it is better to try to isolate the Iranian government" and that effort has caught Tehran's attention.
Posted by: Captain America ||
03/16/2006
19:20 ||
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#1
Why would we want to follow the example of the Eurodinks into pointless talks on any subject with a regime that will be toast before the shape of the table is agreed upon?
#3
As far as Iraq goes, it is not any of Iran's business. We do have the issue of Iranian meddling in Iraq, like supporting terrorists, supplying new and more deadly IEDs, etc. However, we have nothing to talk about on that subject except cease and desist. End of discussion. Have a nice day.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/16/2006 20:08
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I wonder if Bolton will wear his cape and helmet.
All Death Compensation cases (except industrial accidents) in Saudi Arabia are settled through concerned Shariat Courts in accordance with the Shariat Law.
The maximum amount of Death Compensation (Diyya) generally admissible in Saudi Arabia, in respect of road/traffic/fire accident, murder, etc. is as under:
Death Compensation in respect of a male person:
i. Muslim - SR. 100,000/-
ii. Christian/Jew - SR.50,000/-
iii. Other religions : such as Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, etc. - SR 6666.66
In the case of death of a female, death compensation allowed is equal to half the amount as admissible to males professing the same religion. Further the amount of compensation admissible, is based on the percentage of responsibility fixed on the causer e.g. if the causer is held 50% responsible for the accident resulting in the death of a Muslim, the amount of Death Compensation admissible will be SR 50,000 only.
The Blood-Money tradition has found its way into legislation in several Islamic countries, including Saudi Arabia, Iran and Pakistan. Some of these countries also define, by lawful legislation, a hierarchy of rates for the lives of people; religious affiliation and gender are usually the main modulating factors for these Blood Money rates. Two examples are presented below.
[edit]
Saudi Arabia
In Saudi Arabia, when a person has been killed or caused to die by another, the prescribed blood money rates are as follows:
* 100,000 riyals if the victim is a Muslim man
* 50,000 riyals if a Muslim woman
* 50,000 riyals if a Christian man
* 25,000 riyals if a Christian woman
* 6,666 riyals if a Hindu man
* 3,333 riyals if a Hindu woman.
Blood money is to be paid not only for murder, but also in case of unnatural death, interpreted to mean death in a fire, industrial or road accident, for instance.
[edit]
Iran
In Iran, a further refinement on the hierarchy of rates has been devised: variations are also based on the month of the Islamic calendar that the crime is committed in. The Iraninan Judiciary system announces a table of the prescribed amounts each year. During the four haraam months, when wars and killings were traditionally discouraged in the Arabian peninsula and later in the larger Islamic world, the blood money rates stand doubled. The rates for female victims is half that for male victims.
As in Saudi Arabia, the rates for bloody crimes committed against Iranian non-muslims used to be half the rate prescribed for muslim victims, but this was changed by "equitable", progressive-minded legislation in early 2004. This legislation was initially rejected by the Guardian Council but was later approved by the Expediency Discernment Council.
#3
Doesn't matter. If there was a foreigner involved, it's his fault. Because after all, were he not in the country, the accident would not have happened.
And what's this about Jews on the list? How can that be, when it is illegal for a Jew even to enter Saudi Arabia?
Posted by: john ||
03/16/2006 19:52
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I had a good friend of mine working in Saudi who had a local guy step in front of his pickup truck. My friend hit the guy, who was hoping to be injured and collect a bit of money. Instead, he got killed. They threw my friend in jail. He was in there a week. The folks from the office brought food, bedding, etc. and my friend was comfy for about a week while negotiations continued until my friend's company settled on a $10,000 figure. The guy that died had collected money before on injuries, but this time, he went too far. My friend said that if his office did not support him in the jail, he would be a hurting unit waiting to get out.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/16/2006 22:17
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#6
I know, john, but to the best of my knowledge it's illegal for Jews to enter the Magic Kingdom, which is how Mr. Wife explained turning down the opportunity to transfer there (instead of just flying in for long business trips) three times. I would not have handled the life there very well -- I'm not good at keeping my mouth shut, I'm afraid.
The former reformist president of Iran, Mohammed Khatami, believes the option of a military strike by Washington is being seriously considered by the Pentagon.
The daily Rooz on Line, close to the reformists, on Thursday reported that in a recent meeting in Tehran, Khatami revealed to a selected group some details of a message from the White House.
According to the online daily, in the message relayed by an emissary of the White House to Khatami on a recent visit to Berlin, the American warned him of their intention to bomb Iran's nuclear installations if the government continued enriching uranium.
Rooz on Line goes on to quote Khatami, as saying that in the American message there was reference to an approximate date of an attack. "One month after the first meeting of the UN Security Council on the Iranian dossier," which is scheduled for Friday.
The Internet daily adds that on his return from Germany, Khatami immediately informed the authorities of the contents of the message.
Actually, due to the 15th being on a Saturday, tax day will officially fall on the 17th. Mebbe he's onto something. After all, America will be at peak rage just then.
#8
Thanks for the notice, Khat! That gives me plenty of time to stock up on chips and beer.
Posted by: Dar ||
03/16/2006 19:24
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#9
Is he sure it's not April 1st? ;-p
Yawn.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/16/2006 20:02
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#10
April 1 will work for me. That's on a Saturday, and the only thing on the docket is my son's piano lesson at 1130AM. I say, go for it. April Fools Day is so appropos. I vote for April 1, 2006.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/16/2006 20:05
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#18
Curious to hear if you've got something interesting to say.
Why? You got some inside info perhaps? If yes, spill it.
Posted by: MO ||
03/16/2006 21:26
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#19
Whether the USA = US-Allies does or doesn't, the Mullahs and the IRGC know they can't stop it, and that the Army and USDOD will have contingency for any Nuke/WMD use.
Link discussed today at windsofchange.
Davids Medienkritik and Stern's Gussgen going at it on Americia Derangement Syndrome (anti-us near racism in EU press) and BDS.
#1
...the death penalty contradicts what he calls the "European canon of values" and therefore represents an "ethical rift" between Europe and the USA. Here again, Guessgen presumes to speak for all Europeans, not imagining that anyone within a thousand miles might disagree with his interpretation of "European values." He also maintains, rather unconvincingly, that he was not in the midst of a tirade of moral indignation directed at the Bush administration in his first piece, but instead simply attempting to define what he sees as an increasing divide between the US and Europe.
Enough for me. Ethical rift, indeed!
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/16/2006 22:30
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If there were poetic justice, if Hollywood or the publishing industry had true courage, the story of Rachel Corrie would be coming to a big screen or bookstore near you. Rachel was in the Middle East, trying to protect the home of a Palestinian from immoral demolition, when an Israeli soldier driving a Caterpillar bulldozer killed her. He ran her over.
Maybe the young student from The Evergreen State College was a tad naive, a puppet of left-leaning loonies with the International Solidarity Movement. Some people think this. Maybe she was prescient beyond her 23 years, recognizing that her white skin and U.S. passport could bring vital attention to ignored people in subhuman and desperate conditions. Some think that. Whichever the case, too many people are reflexively afraid of Rachel's message, of what her short life and brutal death means.
The issue has gotten to the point that what passes for dialogue is either polemical shouting -- or, worse, a campaign to silence the legacy of the young woman who addressed human suffering with fiery grace. Rachel cared about ordinary people outside of her comfort zone -- enough to get off the couch and do something.
The New York Theater Workshop recently canceled a scheduled production of a play about Rachel amid rumors that gurus in the theater world and pro-Israel audiences would not like a script challenging their view of the world.
In Seattle, the Bread and Puppet Theater production of "Daughter Courage," a different play about Rachel, met with warm embrace. Still, my colleague, Regina Hackett, who wrote about it, received a rash of rebuke. On the Seattle P-I's online blog, "Dr. Evil" wrote: "Only in this wonderful, liberal city would a pathetic naïve girl who tried to protect terrorists be celebrated."
If fear of offending Israel -- a country in blind lockstep with the United States on foreign policy -- drives this second silencing of Rachel, then her story is needed now more than ever.
Friends of Israel and Jews tend to react fast when they feel they're getting a raw deal. Seattle official Cindi Laws learned this the hard way. She made remarks that were considered anti-Semitic during a re-election bid for the monorail board, and people howled. Laws lost.
And remember what happened in 2004? The local Middle Eastern community tried to get pro-Palestinian language in the plank of the King County Democratic Party platform. Again, people howled. The language got nixed. In both instances, the message was clear: Don't mess with us.
The unease surrounding Rachel makes me wonder if she hits too close to home. Her life follows the Aristotelian prescription of a good story. It features a protagonist with a desire for peace that takes her on a vision quest far away. She's smart, young, idealistic -- a female character that would draw A-list actresses.
The story overflows with potential villains, starting with the Israeli government, which illegally uses bulldozers as weapons of terror; Palestinians who resort to suicide bombs as an insane tool of revenge; and, even, U.S.-based Caterpillar, which counts the money as its bulldozers are used to spill blood.
There's room for cameos by the State Department, which could ramp up pressure to get answers, and by concerned Israeli citizens who also want to know if the bulldozer operator, as he claims, didn't see Rachel in her bright orange vest. There's the bigger question of why no "Palestinian evil" was unearthed at the home Rachel died trying to protect.
The story presents another surprise -- the unlikely transformation of Rachel's parents, who have gone from being middle-class suburbanites to advocates for Palestinian justice. When I spoke with Craig and Cindy Corrie a few weeks ago, they'd just come back home to the Seattle area after a rattling episode. In the Middle East, Palestinian activists had tried to kidnap them. The activists had a change of heart when they were told the couple's last name. If that is not a powerful testament to Rachel's legacy, I don't know what is.
Rachel's story has the incendiary aspects of "Crash," the political and corporate machinations of "Syriana," the death-on-foreign-soil intrigue of "The Constant Gardener," and the socially conscious punch of "Brokeback Mountain." People would get to see the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in all of its convoluted craziness -- and see courage in action. To paraphrase the Oscar speech of George Clooney, they'd get to talk more loudly about an issue that remains, relatively speaking, a whisper.
#2
How about you tell the true story. You know, the one leftist lunatics such as yourself are trying to hide. The story of an anti-American, Jew-hating moron who got herself killed trying to protect a smuggling tunnel used by savages who blow up buses and shoot little girls.
That's the story here. Why are you trying to hide it?
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
03/16/2006 16:34
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Seattle Pseudo Intelligence. Rachel's message. Right. The dementia runs deep in that neck of the woods. Let them run their little play and make-believe they're deep and relevant. Humor them - and call the Vet to dump meds into the water supply.
"Mammas, don't let yer babies grow up to be CAT track grease...., Don't let 'em pick guitars and drive them old trucks. Make 'em be doctors and lawyers and such. Mama don't let your babies grow up to be CAT track grease. They'll never stay home and they're always alone Even with someone they love."
#6
When I spoke with Craig and Cindy Corrie a few weeks ago, they'd just come back home to the Seattle area after a rattling episode. In the Middle East, Palestinian activists had tried to kidnap them. The activists had a change of heart when they were told the couple's last name. If that is not a powerful testament to Rachel's legacy, I don't know what is.
What a legacy; she has made PA controlled areas almost safe for people named Corrie. Brilliant. Anyone else would have been toast, but with their little angel next to them, her parents were barely kidnapped at all. Who says she stood for nothing larger than herself?
Posted by: Baba Tutu ||
03/16/2006 17:34
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Seattle official Cindi Laws learned this the hard way. She made remarks that were considered anti-Semitic during a re-election bid for the monorail board, and people howled. Laws lost.
And remember what happened in 2004? The local Middle Eastern community tried to get pro-Palestinian language in the plank of the King County Democratic Party platform. Again, people howled. The language got nixed.
In both instances, the message was clear: Don't mess with us.
The unease surrounding Rachel makes me wonder if she hits too close to home.
huh? is this a-hole basically saying that Jews exert too much control? Isn't this just a SLIGHT case of conspiracy mongering?
Isn't it possible that the woman's comments WERE antisemitic? And wtf is pro palestinian language doing on a domestic party platform?!?!!?
#8
I liked her better when she was serving the coffee at Central Perk. The skirts were pretty hot, ya know. And the hair was almost as seminal as Farrah's from back in the day, ya know?
#17
Well if Rachel Coorie would have cared about suffering people instead being a rich girl poseur he would have cared for the victims of islamism in Aghanistan or Soudan. There was real suffering but she didn't care. She was quite simply despicable.
#19
If you are going to picket outside of theaters showing the St. Pancake play, THAT PICTURE of Rachel Corrie needs to be on the picket sign. It tells the whole story: women filled with hate, burning flags, setting an example in front of little kids. What a maroon. Useless dead idiot.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/16/2006 20:14
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The last chapter in Witch Rachel's story is being written. As I write, Pale terrorists are hunting down the same useful idiots who protect them. Her Stupidness would have been picked up in the roundup.
by Arnaud De Borchgrave
UPI Editor at Large
Washington (UPI) Mar 16, 2006
So you know what the people who filter the news for you are thinking. Found at "Spacewar" and apparently sent over the UPI's wires.
As President Bush's closest advisers enter their fifth year of 16- to 20-hour days, physical and mental exhaustion appears to have produced a dearth of geopolitical thinking. Bush still sees translucent light at the end of the Iraqi tunnel he led the coalition into three years ago.
Others are afraid this maybe the search party looking for survivors -- or Iran's Aladdin lamp showing Shiite Iraq how to rub it for a wish back to the dark ages of religious obscurantism.
To sort it all out, Congress has asked veteran bipartisan geopolitical thinkers James A. Baker III, the former Secretary of State, and Lee H. Hamilton, former chairman of the House International Relations Committee, and co-chairman of the 9/11 Commission, to lead an "Iraq Study Group" of 10 prominent Republicans and Democrats.
With the president's "war on terror" ratings down to 36 percent, the Iraqi "rethink" group came not a moment too soon. Much bigger threats than civil war in Iraq already loom on horizon 2007. Israel is marking its new frontier with a 420-mile, $2.2 billion barrier that leaves Hamas free to cobble together a state from the patchwork of land left, sans East Jerusalem, which can be neither viable nor contiguous, as pledged by Bush. Intifada III is now only a matter of time -- with rockets and missiles over the wall.
It's amazing the rate at which the low poll rating has become the news itself. It may not have been viable to begin with, but there's a feedback loop they're trying to keep up here.
If Pakistan's next elections were held now instead of 2007, Osama Bin Laden's Urdu-speaking fan club could easily win a majority -- and inherit control of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal. Today, they already govern two of Pakistan's four provinces. This time round the South Asia track, Bush inadvertently humiliated his friend Musharraf, a "major non-NATO ally" since 2004, by extending to rival India, that is not a major non-NATO ally, a sweetheart nuclear deal denied to Pakistan. This was a major boost for Musharraf's extremist opponents.
So basically we're supposed to back Musharraf no matter what he does, even though his "extremist opponents" are a product of his own ISI, which he continues to fund?
The deal, which faces heavy weather in Congress, allows India, which did not sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, to separate its military and civilian nuclear programs and buy U.S. nuclear fuel and technology. The Economist magazine's cover put a cowboy-clad Bush riding a nuclear bomb down to earthly destruction, headlined, "George W. Bush in Dr. STRANGEDEAL -- or How I learned to stop worrying and love my friend's bomb."
Read by almost half a million movers and shakers the world over, The Economist called it a "dangerous gamble" because "in his rush to accommodate India, Mr. Bush is missing a chance to win wider nuclear restraint in one of the world's tougher neighborhoods."
The diplomatic approach with Iran has been going nowhere, but suddenly you've decided this agreement with India is suddenly retroactively responsible for this?
Hard to see the faintest inkling of restraint in Iran. Its nuclear horse is out of the barn. And it is becoming increasingly clear neither the International Atomic Energy Commission nor the U.N. Security Council can persuade Iran's Israel-hating President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to give up his new role as the fifth horseman of the apocalypse. He's the one called Hades that shows no pity or mercy. The late author Larry Collins' "5th Horseman" was a nuclear bomb plot in Manhattan circa 1980. What can the U.S. do to thwart fiction becoming reality?
Draconian sanctions voted by the U.N. Security Council are a non-starter. China, Russia and the European Union have far too much trade at stake. Even if sanctions were possible, Iran has correctly stated, it can dish out as good as it gets.
As long as Iraq is the albatross that sharply restricts military options in Iran, secret high-level diplomacy might be worth exploring. What could the U.S. get in return for a non-aggression treaty with Iran? This could only be plumbed at the level of a secret meeting that stays secret with Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Hosseini Khamenei in the holy city of Qum.
The last time I checked, the only country besides Iraq that has both a border with Iran and a seaport capable of handling heavy military sealift was Pakistan. I don't see a way of managing military ground operations in Iran without being present in Iraq. And I think if we tried to do it through Pakistan it would give the author yet another chance to talk about how we're Undermining Musharraf.
Khamenei says Iran will never retreat from its nuclear ambitions. However, recent emissaries who claim to know his thinking say he wants the wherewithal for the rapid production of a nuclear weapon if such a need should arise, but would stop short of acquiring one. Could the U.S. live with that? The quid pro quo needs triangulating. Would he be willing to grease the skids under his firebrand president? If so, in return for what? A freehand in post-U.S. Iraq? What does he seek in Iraq? The breakup of the country or a unitary state? If the latter, on what terms?
So you're suggesting that we surrender Iraq to Khamenei?
The U.S. isn't too good at secret diplomacy in Iran. Last time round, it was a 1986 scheme to fund the Nicaraguan contra rebels from profits gained by selling arms to Iran in return for the release of U.S. hostages held by Hezbollah in Beirut. The architect of the intricate plot was bridge champion Michael Ledeen whose Iranian go-between was Monte Carlo-based arms dealer Manucher Ghorbanifar (whose normal 10 percent commission suddenly escalated to a 370 percent markup on 1,000 anti-tank TOW missiles).
I think I'll leave this paragraph for Dan or one of the other editors to comment on. I'm ambivalent about posting this, it cries out for so much more commentary than I have time for.
NSC Adviser Robert McFarlane and his aide Col. Oliver North traveled to Tehran as Irish flight crewmembers. They brought a Bible signed by President Reagan and a cake in the shape of a key, a symbolic opening of U.S.-Iran relations.
The scheme unraveled rapidly after a Lebanese magazine exposed the entire arrangement. McFarlane, his successor as NSC Adviser Adm. John Poindexter, and Ollie North, who ran the undercover operation, were all indicted and convicted of lying to Congress and later cleared on appeal.
Something subtler, with inbuilt plausible deniability, is now needed to negotiate a geopolitical bargain that would derail a nascent axis of Islamist extremists from Hamas to Baghdad to Tehran to Islamabad (post-Musharraf) to a resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan. The geopolitical stakes are so much larger than the vain pursuit of the ideal in Iraq. Besides, Israel is not prepared to sit this one out indefinitely. If diplomacy as usual goes nowhere, Jerusalem will strike the country whose president says he wants to wipe Israel off the map -- and the rest of the world will face the mother of all Mideastern crises. Oil at $200 no longer strains credulity,
So the author is saying we have to negotiate a solution before the Israelis attack?
Posted by: Phil ||
03/16/2006
14:25 ||
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#1
De Borchgrave - why do we need to do any of these things? To suit your agendas?
#2
Sigh. De Bourchgrave seems to come out with one of these deranged Chicken Little bombs each year or so. I once cared what he thought, though I can't remember why. You nailed him in several sensitive spots, Phil, LOL. Attempting to connect utterly unrelated events seems to be his forte.
I guess these glimpses into his bizarro worldview are his annual A-List creds renewal efforts.
#4
O'REILLY this morning reported on his show that the Federation of Atomic Scientists (FAS) has stated that nukes will be JUST AS SAFE IN IRAN'S HANDS AS IT WOULD BE IN AMERICA'S, and that America cannot proclaim that it can have nukes or nuke energy but not Iran. Ahhh, the FAS, like many others before the MSM doing their all to help the Dems-Left by inducing new 9-11's against Dubya and America. FAS > Gotta keep reaching for that special reserved seat in the future Amerikan CPUS Politburo and Presidium, which Russia-China never promised to any of the US Left but deep down the US Left just knows Stalin and Mao will save them a seat(s). Everyone else in future OWG Amerika gets to sing WE ARE THE WORLD as they happily report to their local extermination camp.
This article is available in French Pour Ilan, un hommage, which appeared in Media-Ratings on March 16th.
Pour Ilan -- this is what the sign says, held by demonstrators in a quiet march, in Paris, in your memory.
Pour Ilan, Ilan Halimi, my newly fallen son.
When I weep for you, I weep for my son Daniel too -- your brother in pain -- two treasures crushed in the claws of history.
When I weep for you, I weep with my burned face, with my hands tied behind my back , with my screaming mind -- my sanity that was shattered when the doors of heavens slammed your life.
They rush to your memorial, the politicians, the dignitaries, Jewish leaders too.
They talk about joblessness, crime, jealousy and greed.
They believe, and I quote, that 'Jews have money' said Interior Minister Sarkozy.
They always talk about them -- the criminals, the Barbarians -- rarely about THEMSELVES.
About the silence and tacit encouragement that have created this climate in France where a gang of youngsters would choose to target Jews over other preys.
A climate in which torturing a Jew is considered a lower form of cruelty than the unimaginable.
We tortured him because he was a Jew said one of the abductors last week.
How did this climate of inhumanity infiltrate a country that gave the world liberty, equality and brotherhood?
Ilan did not ask his captors this question -- he knew the answer.
He understood that empathy emanates from the dignity and respect that society extends to its members.
And he knew first hand that, while some members of the French Jewish community have risen to prominence, Jews, as a collective, have not enjoyed standard dignity and respect -- they have been villainized and dehumanized in all strata of French society as no other group has.
Of course, only Israelis are dehumanized today in the French media, not all Jews -- France is a modern country, and it knows the rules of post-WW-II discourse.
Likewise, French Jews are no longer accused of killing God's son or Christian boys; they are now villainized for one and only one crime: loving and caring for that shitty little country, as French Ambassador Bernard called Israel, a country that according to a 2005 survey, the majority of Europeans consider the greatest threat to world's peace.
Ilan's misfortune was that the gangsters of Bagneux were quick to discover what every child in Europe knew all along -- who causes the troubles in the world and who can be bashed with impunity.
It is safe for us to talk about the gangsters of Bagneux, not so safe to talk about the French media.
But, if the death of Ilan Halimi is to have a meaningful and permanent mark on our consciousness, it is vital that we examine all sacred pillars of society.
By licensing unrestrained assaults against Israel and Zionism -- two cherished symbols of French Jewry -- and denying the Jewish community a fair opportunity to make the case for Israel, the media has effectively turned French Jewry into a social outcast.
This, coupled with classical anti-Semitic broadcasts pouring over from middle east channels, offers some explanation for the barbaric and inexplicable inhumanity of Ilan's abductors.
Indeed, how can the residents of Bagneux respect the life of Ilan, if he cherishes the Magen David (Shield of David) -- the most despised symbol in all of Europe, barring the Swastika.
A symbol that, for over a decade, French media has refused to associate with any praise-worthy quality.
What empathy could Ilan expect from his abductors when the symbol of his identity evoked nothing but revulsion in their Pavlovian brains.
How could they remain deaf, for 20 long days, to his infinite screams, blended with his mother's pleas over the phone?
Unless they convinced themselves that this young man deserved subhuman treatment, either by virtue of belonging to the despised, or as a cousin to those monstrous Israeli soldiers they repeatedly saw on TV, intentionally killing Palestinian children.
Or, perhaps they were reminded of that video (now suspect of forgery) of the dying Palestinian child Muhammad Al Dura that France 2 was so eager to air on September 2000. Not one time, but day after day, night after night, with stubbornness and perseverance that only bigotry can sustain. So eager in fact that it found its way to the hands of Daniel Pearl's murderers in Pakistan, and was used in their gruesome video to justify the murder -- a grim reminder of the consequences of irresponsible journalism.
But let us dig a bit deeper. How can the good citizens of Bagneux muster the courage to tell their gangster-neighbors: Stop! when they see around them a culture of capitulation, deceit and herd pressure?
A culture where frightened teachers yield to students refusing Holocaust classes, where police does not see what government does not want to admit, where politicians vie with each other to proclaim what most Frenchmen know to be false, that is, that the Paris riots were void of religious or cultural undercurrents, and where the one writer who suggests otherwise is harshly rebuked by his peers as racist.
A culture where the darling of European philosophers, Tariq Ramadan, defines sympathy for a beleaguered Israel as betrayal of universal values, and where that same philosopher proclaims the West morally bankrupt to the mesmerized admiration of his Western colleagues.
Oh, Ilan and Daniel, two beautiful sons of the West, intellectuals and barbarians have gathered again to challenge the vitality of your moral heritage.
Remind them who you are. You, two principled disciples of Abraham, Socrates and Jeremaya, two proud emissaries of Aquinas, Rashi and Galileo; two burning torches of Rousseau and Jefferson, Hertzl and Einstein; Tell them what they refuse to see on your charred bodies: That Western civilization ain't ready to surrender, that youngsters like you attest its strength and vitality that "bankruptcy" is not in your vocabulary. And, finally, that your legacy will witness the downfall of your murderers. It will!
Danny and Ilan, my two fallen sons, it was not the barbarians alone who killed you; twisted intellectuals were there all along, spreading the fuel while watching the barbarians light the fuse.
They killed you because you are the soul of Western civilization, a soul they chose to disown.
Let there be no silence on your grave, Ilan, no rest, nor learned discussion, till the racist climate of your murder stands trial in the court of history. Until another Zola raises with a lauder "J'accuse", and this culture of deceit goes down in infamy, as did the Dreyfus Affair and the Munich Treaty.
Judea Pearl is president of the Daniel Pearl Foundation, named after his son, the Wall Street Journal reporter who was murdered by terrorists in Pakistan, in February, 2002.
This article is translated from Meurtre dIlan Halimi : Youssouf Fofana serait-il le responsable idéal ?, which appeared in Media-Ratings on March 9th.
In the aftermath of the murder of Ilan Halimi, the French media have changed their version of the facts several times, obediently following the interpretations dictated by their government.
Yet media coverage has still not shed light on the scope of this crime or placed blame the real culprits.
Youssouf Fofana and his gangsters are still as guilty as ever: they abducted Ilan Halimi, tortured him and abandoned him to his death along the railroad tracks.
People are not born racist, anti-Semitic or anti-French.
These perverted feelings are kindled and encouraged.
Those who have fuelled such hatred owe an explanation to French citizens who are now suffering the consequences an explanation.
Today, there is growing awareness that anyone anywhere can be the victim of extreme violence. In October 2005, Jean-Claude Irvoas was lynched, was lynched in October 2005 in a working-class suburb on the outskirts of Paris right before the eyes of his wife and daughter because he was taking pictures of street lamps.
An anti-Semitic crime
The media have been doing a lot of beating around the bush to avoid addressing the anti-Semitic nature of this crime
As soon as we found out that the victim of this crime was Jewish, that the gangs other kidnapping attempts mainly targeted Jews, plus some additional facts Ilan Halimis family had revealed, there could be no doubt about its anti-Semitic motive. Yet the press held out until, first, the Israeli daily Haaretz published an interview of Mrs Halimi on February 20 2006, to the dismay of the French Foreign Office and, second, the Public Prosecutor stated that the charge of anti-Semitism as an aggravating circumstance would be retained.
We could also mention our own modest contribution to this acknowledgement in our newsletter (February 17 2006).
At this phase in our analysis, the first question we should ask is : why did the press only disclose the truth under external pressure?
Most of the time, despite corroborating data, the press chose to play down the racist nature of this crime. For example, the television program Arrêt sur images on March 11 2006 presented a biased panel. The programs host, Daniel Schneidermann who had minimized the anti-Semitic nature of this crime in the daily newspaper Libération, invited like-minded Piotr Smolar, a journalist from Le Monde, and Esther Benbassa, who had already written about the crime in the Communist daily newspaper LHumanité on February 22 2006 A call for caution « and referred to Ilan Halimi on TV channel France 5 as « this guy ».
The host of Arrêt sur images invited Michel Zerbib from the Jewish radio station Radio J to counter this threesome.
One of the main arguments put forth by the advocates of the kidnap-for-ransom theory is that since some of the people threatened by the Barbarians were not Jewish, the murder of Ilan Halimi could not be considered an anti-Semitic crime.
Well, if we follow this logic, Hitler was not anti-Semitic either because most of the people he killed were not Jews
In the meantime, in view of the evidence, international coverage did not suffer from such qualms: the BBC website ran the headline « Leader of anti-Jewish gang arrested » and El Pais reported « Anti-Semitic barbarism in Paris ».
Why did some people want to deny that this crime was anti-Semitic?
It is important for French diplomacy, whose positions are somewhat weakened abroad at the moment, to deny the existence of anti-Semitism in France.
And French diplomats and leading politicians imagine there is an international Jewish lobby, which they believe is based in the United States and strongly influences world politics. Thats why French leaders are deferential toward the leaders of the Jewish American community whom they actually scorn.
Moreover, contrary to what everyone keeps repeating, this murder is not the first of its kind in France. In November 2003, Sébastien Sellam, a young Jew, was also murdered. His Muslim neighbor, Adel, slit his throat, gouged out his eyes, and then said: Ive killed my Jew, I will go to paradise. The murderer was placed in a psychiatric ward and will probably be discharged soon.
Then, too, the press played down the anti-Semitic motive of this crime.
The murder of Ilan Halimi is also an anti-French and anti-Western crime.
This crime is anti-Semitic, but it is also anti-French and anti-Western.
Ilan Halimis abductors deliberately tortured him and used him to stage scenes previously seen on the French news about Iraq. This suggests an absurd revenge motive.
Why do French journalists keep using the term « torture » when referring to treatment of Abou Ghraib prisoners while in fact they are humiliations, admittedly despicable, but still humiliations? Didnt these semantic slips and false interpretations give Ilan Halimis torturers the idea of revenge?
Nurtured on a twisted version of events in Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel, and even in France, some have come to the conclusion that it was acceptable for Ilan Halimi to be tortured and murdered.
A portrayal of Muslims as victims, sustained by biased news in the media, has sparked spreading anti-French and anti-Western hatred, which is most likely just at its beginnings.
Jacques Chiracs capitulation in the face of Muslim extremist threats in the Danish cartoon affair, as well as Frances endless mea culpa with regard to its former colonies, have also contributed to an anti-French climate.
How can anyone justify the French media campaigns that likened Napoleon to Hitler and led our « brave » President and Prime Minister to ignore the 200-year anniversary of the Battle of Austerlitz, only to celebrate our defeat in Waterloo with the British instead?
Falsifications of the interview of Youssouf Fofana on i-TELE
On February 27 2006, i-TELE, which is Canal +s news channel broadcast on cable TV, aired an interview of Youssouf Fofana in which he freely expressed himself. We will not to dwell on the channels explanations as to why they broadcast the interview. Their statements have been contradictory on several occasions. However, one of our readers noticed that i-TELE falsified this interview.
Although Youssouf Fofana was answering in French and was perfectly audible, false subtitles were added.
The i-TELE reporter : «What have you got to say to Ilans family? »
Youssouf Fofana : « That their child fought back. »
But i-TELE subtitled : « That I didnt kill their child. »
Why did i-TELE alter Fofanas message?
Whats most surprising is that none of the journalists who commented on this interview mention the falsified subtitle.
Canal + (group including i-TELE) similarly falsified subtitles of insults thrown at Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy during the French riots in November 2005.
While Nicolas Sarkozy was in fact called a « dirty Jew », which was perfectly audible for television viewers, Canal +s newscast Le Vrai Journal preferred to subtitle the chants with: « Sarkozy fascist ».
Click here to view video
The February 26 2006 demonstration
Following the murder of Ilan Halimi, a demonstration was held in Paris on February 26 2006.
This march was undermined by political hijacking.
Several politicians who should never have been there turned up at the march.
For instance, how can we accept to demonstrate alongside Minister of Culture Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres who has been manoeuvring for over one year to hide the truth about the Enderlin France 2 Al Dura affair (video scoop of a dying Palestinian child now thought to be a fake), and who lied to the French National Assembly to cover the forgery?
It is noteworthy to recall that this forged film triggered a worldwide anti-Semitic campaign, in particular in the French banlieues.
Why did the Socialist Party and its satellite organizations, including SOS Racisme and the Union des Etudiants Juifs de France, disrupt the demonstration by ostracizing right wing party leader Philippe de Villiers who has never said anything anti-Semitic or racist?
Why does Ilan Halimis family have the same lawyer as President Jacques Chirac ?
Mr. Francis Szpiner is the Halimi familys lawyer.
If the information we have about the Halimi family is correct, they can not afford the services of Mr Szpiner, who is a famous Parisian lawyer.
It is of interest to note that Mr Szpiner is one of Jacques Chiracs personal lawyers.
Has Jacques Chirac put his personal lawyer at the Halimi familys disposal?
And if so, what for ?
What does the French President fear might happen with a lawyer he can not control?
Why didnt the media question the police operations?
Police operations were deficient in this case. They did not manage to trace or track down the kidnappers throughout the three weeks of Ilan Halimis abduction.
Why didnt the media question the police operations?
When the police were accused of chasing two teenage boys who were later found dead in the relay station of a high-voltage transformer in Clichy sous Bois on the outskirts of Paris the incident that triggered the French riots in November 2005 -- media coverage actively investigated to determine the role of the police in their death.
Why did the French police force conceal Ilan Halimis abduction throughout the three weeks ?
Was their discretion motivated by political pressure?
The culprits
With regard to Ilan Halimis dramatic death, we need to ask who is behind this upsurge of hatred.
Who gave Youssouf Fofana and his gangsters the idea that a Jew was a better prey for ransom?
Who gave this gang of barbarians the idea that it was acceptable for people, whether Jewish or not, to be tortured and murdered because they are French?
The answer is simple: biased news coverage from certain media outlets, subservient to the French Foreign Office and/or infiltrated by the Far Left allied with Muslim fundamentalists, has bred a climate of anti-Semitic and anti-Western hatred in France.
Is the growing impact in France of the most dangerous Muslim fundamentalist groups really a surprise when we know that Nicolas Sarkozy, the current Interior Minister, nominated a member of the UOIF (French Union of Muslim Organizations, closely linked to the Muslim Brotherhood) vice-president of the French Muslim Council ?
Why did former Prime Minister Mr. Raffarins government, and in particular Dominique Perben who was then Minister of Justice, refuse to put into practice the recommendations in the Rufin Report, including a law to penalize anti-Zionism?
What would we say if the media in a foreign country regularly allowed advocates of the destruction of France to voice their opinions?
Didnt biased news in LHumanité or on France 2 concerning conflicts in Iraq and the Middle East contribute to forging the mentalities of Ilan Halimis torturers?
Why dont reporters investigate the everyday brutality that prevails in French working-class suburbs ? Did this kind of terrorism scare neighbors in Bagneux into keeping quiet about what they had most likely seen or heard during Ilan Halimis detention?
Some journalists have gone so far as to call the neighbors behavior a kind of omerta.
And what about these same media outlets that still havent disclosed the truth about the faked video aired on France 2 on September 30 2000, which has been fueling anti-Semitic and anti-Western hatred throughout the Islamic world ever since?
Biased news/Disinformation is a crime, and those who cover it are its accomplices.
Erbil, 16 March (AKI) - A Kurdish source in Baghdad has told a Kurdish national daily that the Mahdi Army, the militia of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, " has set up a shadow government in Sadr City in the centre of Baghdad". The source told the Aso daily: "this group was tasked with carrying out the affairs of the city in the place of the Iraqi government and institutions." The source explained that the Mahdi Army, accused of kidnappings and sectarian killings, has transformed the rundown Sadr city into an independent district with its security forces and its own courts which do not only judge local residents but also Shiites from other areas of the capital.
The source alleged that "the health and transport ministers, which both are headed by minsiters from the Sadr faction, have been completely monopolised by followers of this movement" adding that "in Sadr City the police forces, for example the local police, take their orders from Moqtada al-Sadr and not from the interior ministry."
The Cultural Network of Iraq, an internet site which publishes news on the Shiite community, has said that "the peoples courts in Sadr City have condemned to death terrorists who carried out massacres in the city." The former government of Iyad Allawi and the movement of al-Sadr,. who has headed two lengthly revolts against the US-led coalition forces, clashed over these courts, which have special police forces and prisons. When the authorities in Baghdad tried to close them down and disband the militias they failed.
The power of Sadr's militia and his huge constituency of loyal Shiite voters have made him a growing force in Iraq. Gunmen wearing the old Mahdi Army uniform of black pants and black shirts - abandoned for civilian gear in recent days - are blamed for some of the worst retaliatory raids and killings in Baghdad following the bombing of a Shiite shrine in Samarra on 22 February.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/16/2006
13:40 ||
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#1
and Sadr city is also a handy target for Zarqawi's gang - hence the coordinated suicide bomb attacks there last week
Posted by: kelly ||
03/16/2006 19:28
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#15
"Ivonova is always right. I will listen to Ivonova. I will not ignore Ivonova's recommendations. Ivonova is God. And, if this ever happens again, Ivonova will personally rip your lungs out!"
-- Commander Susan Ivonova; Babylon 5, 'A Voice in the Wilderness'
#17
Nah! I NEVER woulda guessed anyone else here woulda been a B5 frea ... uh ... person.
Everything I ever need to learn, I learned from Babylon 5.
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/16/2006 22:17
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#18
Now that is a darn good idea - watch the entire B5 5-year arch in sequence...... I dont think I've watched it in sequence before. I had a hard time catching it when it was originally shown...
Israeli troops surrounded two houses in a West Bank town Thursday, setting off a fierce gunbattle with Palestinian militants that left one soldier dead and forced the surrender of five wanted men. It was Israel's second strike against Palestinian militants this week. Opinion polls showed the first incursion - a dramatic prison raid that captured six militants Tuesday - boosted voter support for acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert before the March 28 elections.
Thursday's shootout in Jenin erupted as soldiers demanded the surrender of five fugitives from Islamic Jihad and the Fatah-linked Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades. The army said one wanted man ran out of a building early during the raid, and the other four surrendered later. An Israeli soldier was shot to death. Students threw stones at the Israeli soldiers, and an army bulldozer tried to disperse the crowd. Troops took over homes in the area, fighting with gunmen.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/16/2006
13:37 ||
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#1
"students" throwing stones? How about "unemployed seething street rat militia wannabes". Live fire, I hope
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/16/2006 14:34
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#2
Why does Israel bother capturing these turds? Had they just whacked them and been done with it, that soldier might not have been killed.
#3
Aren't there reporters crawling all over the Paleo shitholes - and thus present in force when the Israelis conduct these operations?
If so, and it's the impression I get from the numerous stories posted on these encounters, then that would explain why the Israelis don't just whack em. Personally, of course, I agree with you, Moose - they should. I wouldn't trade the life of one IDF soldier for the whole of the West Bank's Paleos.
TORONTO (Reuters) - The Ontario Superior Court agreed on Thursday to hold an extradition hearing for a Canadian man who is wanted in the United States on charges of buying weapons for al Qaeda and conspiring to kill Americans abroad.
The court will set a date for the hearing on March 30. "The Attorney General of Canada commenced the extradition process of Abdullah Khadr," federal prosecutor Howard Piafsky told reporters outside the courtroom. "We will be seeking his extradition."
Abdullah Khadr, 24, faces charges in the United States of conspiracy to murder Americans abroad and of buying weapons for groups linked to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network. He could face a life sentence and a $1 million fine if convicted.
Khadr, who was arrested in Toronto in December two weeks after returning to Canada from Pakistan, is the eldest son of the late Ahmed Said Khadr, an alleged al Qaeda financier and close friend of bin Laden. His brother Omar Ahmed Khadr is the only Canadian held at the U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The United States formally requested Khadr's extradition in February.
Khadr has said he was tortured in a Pakistani prison where he was detained without charges from October 2004. His teenage brother Omar has been a prisoner at Guantanamo since 2002 and will face a trial by a U.S. military tribunal for murder. Another brother, Abdurahman Khadr, was also a prisoner at Guantanamo, but was freed.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/16/2006
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Summary: A special, double-length article from the upcoming May/June issue of Foreign Affairs, presenting key excerpts from the recently declassified book-length report of the USJFCOM Iraqi Perspectives Project.
As late as the end of March 2003, Saddam apparently still believed that the war was going the way he had expected. If Iraq was not actually winning it, neither was it losing -- or at least so it seemed to the dictator. Americans may have listened with amusement to the seemingly obvious fabrications of Muhammad Said al-Sahaf, Iraq's information minister (nicknamed "Baghdad Bob" by the media). But the evidence now clearly shows that Saddam and those around him believed virtually every word issued by their own propaganda machine.
For example, during the first ten days of the war, Iraq asked Russia, France, and China not to support cease-fire initiatives because Saddam believed such moves would legitimize the coalition's presence in Iraq. As late as March 30, Saddam thought that his strategy was working and that the coalition offensive was grinding to a halt. On that day, Lieutenant General Abed Hamid Mahmoud, Saddam's principal secretary, directed the Iraqi foreign minister to tell the French and Russian governments that Baghdad would accept only an "unconditional withdrawal" of U.S. forces because "Iraq is now winning and . . . the United States has sunk in the mud of defeat." At that moment, U.S. tanks were a hundred miles south of Baghdad, refueling and rearming for the final push.
[...]
A 1982 incident vividly illustrated the danger of telling Saddam what he did not want to hear. At one low point during the Iran-Iraq War, Saddam asked his ministers for candid advice. With some temerity, the minister of health, Riyadh Ibrahim, suggested that Saddam temporarily step down and resume the presidency after peace was established. Saddam had him carted away immediately. The next day, pieces of the minister's chopped-up body were delivered to his wife. According to Abd al-Tawab Mullah Huwaysh, the head of the Military Industrial Commission and a relative of the murdered minister, "This powerfully concentrated the attention of the other ministers, who were unanimous in their insistence that Saddam remain in power."
Within the Iraqi military and the Iraqi regime more generally, rumors circulated that summary execution awaited anyone who dared contradict the dictator. Officers remembered the story of the brigadier general who once spent over a year in prison for daring to suggest that U.S. tanks might be superior to those of the Iraqi army. One senior minister noted, "Directly disagreeing with Saddam Hussein's ideas was unforgivable. It would be suicide." Nor was Saddam alone in his distaste for bad news. According to Major General Hamid Ismail Dawish al-Rubai, the director general of the Republican Guard's general staff, "Any commander who spoke the truth to [Saddam's son] Qusay would lose his head."
[...]
The Republican Guard chief of staff briefed us in front of a large wall map that covered just the central portion of Iraq. The map showed Baghdad in the center with four rings. Every ring had a color. The center ring was red. Approximately ten kilometers out from the red ring was a blue ring. Then approximately seven kilometers out from that one was a black ring. Finally, the last circle was marked in yellow, which was designated for reconnaissance forces only. The Republican Guard chief of staff explained the plan in a very crude and ugly way. Things like "the Republican Guard Hammurabi Division defends in the north of the city, the Republican Guard Medina Division in the south, the Republican Guard al Nida Division in the east, and special forces and the Special Republican Guard in the west."
When the Americans arrived at the first ring, on the order from Saddam, the forces would conduct a simultaneous withdrawal. The units would then repeat this "procedure" until reaching the red circle. Once in the red circle, the remaining units would fight to the death.
With this incredible simplicity and stupidity, the assembled Republican Guard officers were told that this was the plan for the defense of our country. Qusay said that the plan was already approved by Saddam and "it was you who would now make it work." I disagreed and told Qusay that a proud army with an 82-year history cannot fight like this. We were not using our experience. I was told by Qusay that there would be no changes because Saddam had signed the plan already.
Compared to previous defense arrangements drawn up by professional military staffs, this new plan was amateurish. It paid no attention to basic military factors, such as geography, nor did it explain how all the units would be able to retreat simultaneously from one ring to the next while being engaged on the ground and assaulted from the air. Even after Qusay and the Republican Guard's chief of staff briefed their officers on the concept, the senior military leadership did little to arrange for it to be implemented. For Saddam, issuing a decree was considered enough to make the plan work.
[...]
Yet Saddam began giving orders to deploy and maneuver formations that had ceased to exist. His attention focused on plans to have the Republican Guard enter Baghdad and join with the Saddam Fedayeen in "preparing" for urban warfare. Late the next day, Saddam met again with his closest advisers and, according to a participant, accepted that "the army divisions were no longer capable of defending Baghdad, and that he would have a meeting with the Baath Regional Commanders to enlist them in the final defense of the regime." A subsequent meeting on the same day produced an unexecuted plan to divide Baghdad into four quadrants. Saddam placed loyal Baath Party stalwarts in command of each sector and charged them with defending the city to their last drops of blood.
By the time Saddam spoke to his military staff, however, a U.S. armored brigade had already captured Baghdad's airport. As he discussed the plan for the final defense of the city, another brigade of U.S. armor was busily chewing up the manicured lawn in front of his central palace.
#3
Stories that you will soon here the MSM reporting:
"Valerie Plames identity was no state secret. It could easily have been discovered by anyone who did some modest amount of digging in publicly available records."
No, wait - there was just an article in the Chicago Tribune about that, right?
The real hypocrisy of the MSM is revealed in their
belief that some thing is true only because it will hurt Bush. If it hurts the MSM, then it must not be true anymore.
Posted by: Who was Valerie Plame? ||
03/16/2006 22:58
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#4
I saw that posted here waay back as the Bush & Handgrenades Law, I think:
Good news is to be distanced from Bush as much as possible.
Bad news is to be placed as close to Bush as possible.
#5
Must not make T-shirts up depicting a pig with the writing "Eat Pork or Die" in Arabic to bring as civilian attire when preparing to deploy to a primarily Muslim country.
I love it!
Posted by: BA ||
03/16/2006 14:29
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#6
Oh this is the best list EVER.
Posted by: Charles ||
03/16/2006 17:35
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#7
112. When saluting a leg officer, an appropriate greeting is not "Airborne leads the wa- oh...sorry sir". lol
Doing good deeds, volunteering on building sites and obtaining Chairman Mao's autograph are some of the objectives of "Learn from Lei Feng," a new online game starring the Chinese Communist Party's legendary hero.
The plot revolves around Lei Feng, a humble selfless People's Liberation Army soldier who, the myth goes, spent all his spare time and money helping the needy and serving the Party until tragically dying in an accident in 1962.
"For beginners, sewing and mending socks is the only way to increase experience and upgrade," said Jiao Jian, a young pupil and online game fan from the southern city of Guangzhou.
Party propagandists went into overdrive in 1963 after Mao called on the nation to "Learn from Comrade Lei Feng." As an unconditional Mao loyalist, Lei's name would be endlessly invoked during the chaotic Cultural Revolution which erupted in 1966 and only ended with the chairman's death 10 years later.
While the new online game includes a treasure hunt, the prize is not a special weapon or pile of gold but a copy of Mao's collected works.
Enemies in the game are "secret agents," Xinhua said. Players can replenish their strength after battling such evil forces by talking with the Party secretary, en route to a final meeting with Mao himself.
Online gaming has exploded in China in recent years, with an estimated 14.3 million people playing regularly and spending some $240 million on their hobby last year. Annual revenues are expected to hit $1.5 billion by 2008 for a habit that domestic media warn is taking a toll on children's studies.
But the developer of "Learn from Lei Feng" said the game was aimed at providing students with the tools to learn the pleasures of helping others, Xinhua said.
"As long as my experience, reputation, skill and loyalty satisfy the game's criteria, I will win and meet Chairman Mao," Jiao said. Why is my hoax-a-meter spinning?
#4
You can actually read the original story in The People's Comic Book; Red Women's Detachment, Hot on the Trail and Other Chinese Comics, by Endymion Wilkinson (Translator) & Gino Nebiolo Anchor Press (1973)
Posted by: Ernest Brown ||
03/16/2006 13:01
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#5
Let's bootleg it.
And maybe add some mods, like protest at Tienamen Square, get smooshed by tanks?
With a little editing, the web game "Curious George Commits an Attrocity" could easily become "Chairman Mao's Long March".
#1
Have somebody take a picture and post it on your blog (hi mom!).
Posted by: Jonathan ||
03/16/2006 13:21
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#2
Seems Mullah Omar didn't follow the advice given in the article.
Posted by: MO ||
03/16/2006 15:14
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#3
I knew a biker who hated fighting, but had the "Dr David Banner" syndrome, in which anybody with two beers in them wanted to punch him.
So he learned to quickly and easily pop somebody's eye out of its socket. He was good enough at it so the other guy wouldn't even have his eye damaged; but it instantly ended what could have been a deadly fight.
He had also picked up some trivia about it, and advised that it is not uncommon for people to have an eyeball accidently pop out when they sneeze, so it is always advisable to shut your eyes when you sneeze, which is the natural reaction.
Strange behavior by insomniacs taking prescription drugs, ranging from binge eating to having sex while asleep, have raised safety questions about anti-insomnia medications like Sanofi-Aventis' Ambien.
Researchers in Minnesota are studying cases where insomniacs taking Ambien got up in the middle of the night, binged uncontrollably, then remembered nothing of their actions. The researchers expect to publish data shortly.
Such sleep-induced side effects while on the medications have been around for years, but the incidence is rising because of an explosion in the drugs' use, specialists said.
About 30 million people in the United States take sleep medications, according to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. By some counts that is a 50 percent jump since the beginning of the decade.
Some of the most serious side effects are short-term memory loss, and accidents involving patients who drive the next day while still feeling drugged.
"Patients who may have engaged in this unusual behavior at night -- it's relatively rare and bizarre," said Donna Arand, president of the American Insomnia Association.
"The daytime sleepiness -- that drugged feeling that people may have -- is probably the most worrisome because of the (vehicular) accidents that can occur."
Other insomnia medications are Lunesta from Sepracor Inc. and Sonata made by King Pharmaceuticals Inc.. In the $2 billion U.S. market for the drugs, market leader Ambien boasts 12 billion nights of patient use.
Increased use of the drugs is spurred in part by heavy advertising and patients may be using the drugs for longer periods than they are intended, experts said.
Consumer group Public Citizen warned that Ambien should only be used on a limited basis because it causes temporary amnesia, according to pharmacist Larry Sasich.
Because the Food and Drug Administration's reporting system is voluntary and anecdotal, "we don't know how big a problem it is ... we have no way to accurately to assess the prevalence," said Sasich a consultant for Public Citizen.
Sanofi-Aventis said sleepwalking is a rare side effect listed on Ambien's label and that it reports all events to the FDA. Still, it had no statistics about the prevalence of sleepwalking.
Ken Sassower, a staff neurologist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston said a colleague who had taken one of the sleep drugs could not recall advising residents on rounds the next morning.
"The memory issue may be an infrequent side effect, but when it occurs it can be pretty significant ... certainly that needs to be looked at in a more rigorous way," he said.
Doctors recommended against abruptly stopping the drugs, which can cause withdrawal symptoms including seizures.
"The risk was always there; we are seeing it more now because so many more people are using the drugs," said Merrill Mitler, program director at the sleep disorder unit at the National Institutes of Health.
#1
Herad this on NPR a couple of days ago. Seems most of the incidents happened because people didn't follow directions, i.e., taking with alchol and taking and then driving or otherwise ignoring the directions.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
03/16/2006 13:30
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#4
That faint whirling sort of scraping noise you hear in the background are umpteen thousand personal injury and malpractice lawyers sharpening their pencils.
From an indian daily.
The Pakistan foreign office had paid tens of thousands of dollars to lobbyists in the US to get anti-Pakistan references dropped from the 9/11 inquiry commission report, The Friday Times has claimed.
The Pakistani weekly said its story is based on disclosures made by foreign service officials to the Public Accounts Committee at a secret meeting in Islamabad on Tuesday.
It claimed that some of the commission members were also bribed to prevent them from including damaging information about Pakistan.
The magazine said the PAC grilled officials in the presence of foreign secretary Riaz Mohammad Khan and special secretary Sher Afghan on the money paid to lobbyists.
The disclosure sheds doubt on the integrity and honesty of the members of the 9/11 inquiry commission and, above all, the authenticity of the information in their final report, it said.
The report quoted an officer as saying that dramatic changes were made in the final draft of the inquiry commission after the lobbyists got to work. The panel was formed to probe the September 11 terror attack and make suggestions to fight terrorism.
After the commission tipped the lobbyists about the damaging revelations on Pakistans role in 9/11, they contacted the panel members and asked them to go soft on the country. The Friday Times claimed that a lot of money was used to silence these members.
According to the report, the lobbyists also helped Pakistan win the sympathy of 75 US Congressmen as part of its strategy to guard Islamabads interests in Washington. US softened towards Pakistan only because of the efforts of the foreign office, an official was quoted as saying in the report.
The Pakistan foreign office defended the decision to hire the lobbyists, saying it was an established practice in the US.
An observer at the Islamabad meeting said money could play an important role in buying powerful people. The remark came in response to comments made by some US officials after 9/11 that Pakistanis will sell their mothers for a dollar.
Pakistan had emerged as front-runner in the fight against terrorism unleashed by the US after the terror strikes. Washington pumped in billions of dollars to win President Pervez Musharrafs support in launching a crackdown on al Qaida network thriving on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
#2
Pakistan had emerged as front-runner in the fight against terrorism unleashed by the US after the terror strikes.
Bullpuckey. The terrorism has been going on since well before 1972. The behavior of the US has little to do with the desire by some islamofruitcakes to blow things up. The people who push this piece of tripe must be countered every time they open their mouths. It's time we took the war being waged against us seriously, and start whacking those who have raised arms against us, even if it's only verbally.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/16/2006 19:27
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#3
hmmmm....we must be related,,,,
Posted by: kelly ||
03/16/2006 19:31
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The Pentagon is trying to develop "insect cyborgs" able to sniff out explosives, or "bug" conversations by lurking unseen in enemy hideouts with micro-transmitters strapped to their bodies.
The cyborgs half insect, half robot would be created by inserting tiny devices into the bodies of flying, hopping or crawling insects while in their larva or pupa stage, so that the mechanisms become part of their bodies and ultimately allow them to be moved by remote control. Their most immediate task could be spotting and identifying the location of roadside bombs in Iraq.
(U.S. President) George Bush announced on Monday that the administration was spending more than $3 billion this year to combat the threat of ``improvised explosive devices.'' Some of that money, he said, would be used to bring together the best minds to think up new ideas.
The "insect cyborg" is clearly one of those ideas. Last week the Pentagon's Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) called for bids on the project.
"Through each metamorphic stage, the insect body goes through a renewal process that can heal wounds and reposition internal organs around foreign objects," a DARPA statement says.
Such techniques will provide a much better link between the microsystem and the insect than simply sticking a microchip to the abdomen of a bee, wasp or cockroach, it believes.
Someone has to fund the half-wacky blue-sky R&D. Hewlett Packard and Bell Labs are not doing it anymore. Shall I note the irony that this msg is traveling over what was originally a DARPA project - the Internet?
#7
heh heh - fire-breathing crab lice...think of the potential
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/16/2006 23:09
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#8
Leslie Crusher from STAR TREK:NG and his escaped nanomachines/nanytes are on a ship-wide rampage again??? I could say "trained cockroaches" and "geckos" but USDOD-DARPA prob means fake/robo-snakes, 'pedes, and other fav robo creepy crawlers.
Body count rises in Baghdad Notice the sub-headline.
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- U.S. and Iraqi forces on Thursday launched the largest air assault operation since the invasion of Iraq nearly three years ago, the U.S. military said. More than 50 aircraft are involved in Operation Swarmer, supporting more than 1,500 Iraqi and U.S. troops near Samarra, about 75 miles (121 kilometers) north of Baghdad. The aircraft also delivered troops from the Iraq and U.S. Army to "multiple objectives." The offensive began Thursday morning in southern Salaheddin province "to clear a suspected insurgent operating area northeast of Samarra," the site of the bombing of the Shiite shrine that escalated sectarian tensions and pushed Iraq to the brink of civil war. Just had to get the "Civil War" in there, didn't they.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
03/16/2006
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#1
hey the "multiples", kick some ass for me!! YES!
"A few days ago I read a short report on the al-Bayina al-Jadida newspaper that mentioned that Zarqawi had moved to the outskirts of Salahiddin and sought hide in the Himreen Mountains (these are technically hills lying Northeast of Salahiddin, southeast of Kirkuk and extend to the Iranian borders where they merge with Zagrus Mountains) for about a month before fleeing to Afghanistan through Iran.
And from the same bit.. "Sheikh Usama said . .. 'We have rid about 90% of the province of Zaraqwi's criminal thugs and we are coordinating our work with the ministries of defense and interior and we had several meetings with Iraqi officials as well as General Casey. Now we believe Zarqawi had escaped to Salahiddin province and we are cooperating with the tribes of Salahiddin to find out where this criminal is hiding.'"
#6
man on sky squeals excitedly that is 'civel war' and my favourite is 'things are cleary getting worse!' absolute tripe - if things getting worse just because we launch a large operation, that makes no sense to me and what i know of military ops. How is it getting worse if we are the ones with the initiative in setting up the damn raid, how is it worse because we are taking the fight to the eneamys home? Worse would be 1000's more dead, whole armoured divisions destroyed, utter civil disorder throughout the whole of Iraq, planes being shot down every hour, chemical munitions going bang, but to say an air assault means the wars gone pear shaped is truly immensly thick! I hope we launch more ops like this if its a success and fck them and there calls of 'quagmire' the know nothing media big mouths.
#7
A quick and dirty Google search for Iraq + "brink of civil war" gets 231,000 hits going back to 2003. I think they're trying to tell us something.
Posted by: Matt ||
03/16/2006 12:10
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#8
From Sherry's link above: The operation, residents said, appeared to be concentrated near four villages - Jillam, Mamlaha, Banat Hassan and Bukaddou - about 20 miles north of Samarra. The villages are near the highway leading from Samarra to the city of Adwar.
#11
man on sky squeals excitedly that is 'civel war' and my favourite is 'things are cleary getting worse!' absolute tripe - if things getting worse just because we launch a large operation, that makes no sense to me and what i know of military ops.
Actually, I'd think a big operation is a signal of good things -- that either we've located someone big, or the terrs have concentrated enough that hitting them could cripple their campaign.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
03/16/2006 12:28
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#12
From the beginning, the terrs have been really stupid about ops. They keep gathering in one spot, as if they need the reassurance of fellow terrs. Insecurity?
The name come from an airborne exercise long, long ago that resulted in MacArthur getting the 187th in Korea.
Ret. U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Bob Scales said Samarra is a symbol for the insurgency in Iraq.
"This is a fight not just for the control of a population but for the insurgents to sort of reinstate themselves by owning geography and Samarra is the one city where they think they can do that," Scales said.
He said coalition forces are getting better intelligence each month because an increasing number of Iraqis are confident that their country will be better off once the terror elements within are wiped out.
"It's the type of thing that in an insurgency, is really the key to the crown," Scales said of actionable intelligence that allows operations such as Operation Swarmer to be carried out.
Ret. Army Lt. Col David Hunt, agreed that this kind of military operation would not have been launched without some very specific intelligence regarding the location and plans of Al Qaeda.
"We would not commit this kind of manpower and the amount of equipment it takes planning to do an air assault without very specific, very good intelligence," said Hunt.
The difference between Thursday's operation and the "shock and awe" campaign launched by U.S. forces when they first invaded Iraq is that the strikes launched three years ago were primarily by air. Thursday's airborne assault, on the other hand, allowed the largest insertion of coalition forces into enemy strongholds on the ground.
"This is really an air-ground op but it allows you to insert a lag number of troops with tactical surprise," explained Ret. U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Tom McInerney. "That's why this is effective, they know that there are people that are watching them very closely so what they're trying to do is get that tactical surprise. They know Al Qaeda's in that area so they're trying to disrupt Al Qaeda."
McInerney said Al Qaeda has been trying to stir up trouble by launching attacks that may lead some to believe that sectarian violence in plaguing Iraq. Hundreds of people have been killed since the Feb. 22 bombing of a Shiite mosque in Samarra, creating concern that the country may be tipping toward civil war.
A U.S. defense official told FOX News that the recent decision the send some 700 U.S. soldiers back into Iraq from their standby position in neighboring Kuwait freed up forces to launch this air assault and allowed U.S., coalition and Iraqi forces to take on a more offensive role.
Amid ongoing sectarian violence, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. George Casey, ordered those forces back into Iraq over the past week because of the upcoming holiday and insecurity surrounding efforts to form a new government.
The 101st Airborne Division has been in and out of Iraq since the start of the war; this is the largest air assault operation because this division hasn't done anything on this scale thus far.
Operation Swarmer comes on the heels of a combined Iraqi-coalition operation west of Samarra in early March that resulted in the capture of substantial enemy weapons and equipment caches, according to coalition forces.
The name "Swarmer" comes from the name given to the largest peacetime airborne maneuvers ever conducted, in spring 1950 in North Carolina, according to CPIC. Soon after this exercise, the 187th Infantry was selected to deploy to Korea as an Airborne Regimental Combat Team to provide General MacArthur with an airborne capability.
#14
From the beginning, the terrs have been really stupid about ops. They keep gathering in one spot, as if they need the reassurance of fellow terrs. Insecurity?
No, they know they can't really win without a geographic base. Sure, they can cause damage, and they can keep it up forever from secure bases in Syria and Iran -- but they can't rule. And ruling is everything to them.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
03/16/2006 13:06
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#15
CS: From the beginning, the terrs have been really stupid about ops. They keep gathering in one spot, as if they need the reassurance of fellow terrs. Insecurity?
They do it for the same reasons we do. It's easier to keep track of everyone and everything, training is easier, discipline is easier, logistics is easier, etc, etc. It's what the opposition does or tries to do in every guerrilla war. The Afghan mujahideen guerrillas had bases that the Soviets could overrun but not hold for any appreciable period of time, even with multi-divisional attacks.
When their bases are strong enough that we can't overrun them successfully is when we know things aren't peachy for our guys, since we were able to take out enemy bases at will even in South Vietnam. These weren't push button jobs - our guys usually took weeks, but they got the job done. (The problem in Vietnam was the cost - on average, we lost 20 guys KIA every single day for six to seven years).
#16
What is truly encouraging about this news is that GWB is clearly not interfering with military operations for fear of casualties. (And friendly casualties do tick up when you launch offensives - enemy casualties also rise - but the media doesn't really report that or care about it). In spite of his crappy poll numbers and all the mud being slung his way by the media, GWB is pushing on. That kind of will to win is exactly what's necessary to get the job done in Iraq.
----The operation, residents said, appeared to be concentrated near four villages Jillam, Mamlaha, Banat Hassan and Bukaddou about 20 miles north of Samarra. The villages are near the highway leading from Samarra to the city of Adwar.----
#24
The terrain does not look too rugged from the image. Maybe a little more rugged on the west side out of the riparian area. Judging from the drainage patterns. The east side may be flat to rolling, judging from the many trails running directly, and the fields. The main road running N/S does not have appreciable sized cuts. The towns are typical densly constructed hellholes, kinda like Fallujah.
I wonder if the bad guyz are holed up in buildings in town.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/16/2006 16:48
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#25
Thanks for finding the image, Chuck.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/16/2006 16:49
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#26
I tried to post the link for the location from multimap.com but it kicked me into roadside America ??
March 16, 2006: The U.S. Air Force has created the ultimate version of the Stryker wheeled armored vehicle. The TACP (Tactical Air Control Party) Stryker has extra equipment for managing what's in the air, as well as on the ground. This includes permanent mounts for extra radios, antennae, a tactical computer and the Rover system to view video taken by UAVs. Each TACP has a crew of seven (an army driver, an army vehicle commander; an air force NCO, an army fire support officer or NCO, an air force air controller; a radio operator; and a maintenance specialist). All are trained to fight on the ground, but their main job it to bring in smart bombs, artillery and rockets to where the troops around them need it.
After working with the six TACPs built so far, the army realized that this was the future of mechanized warfare. If all armored vehicles, and unarmored command vehicles, were equipped like this, you could bring enormous firepower down on the enemy with unprecedented speed and accuracy. Moreover, the Rover link with UAVs (and eventually warplane sensors) enables a single vehicle to see much farther, day or night and in all weather. Actually, this type of capability has been an army goal for some time. But the need for more capabilities because of a war going on in Iraq, and the subsequent development of stuff like TACP, has speeded up the process. Each TACP Stryker costs $3 million (vehicle and special equipment).
TACPs are going to Iraq, where they will serve their designed purpose, to make a new air force/army concept work. This involves formally linking air force fighter squadrons with army combat brigades. The air force and army units would regularly train together in peace time. This means that the commanders and staffs from the two services would frequently meet to plan these exercises. That would give everyone an opportunity to bring each other up to date on new equipment, weapons and ideas in each service. The first units will consist of several F-16 squadrons and a Stryker brigade. One reason for using the Stryker brigade is that these units have the latest communications and computer gear, which is designed to easily communicate with similarly equipped warplanes overhead. The new combinations will be called a Joint Mission Capability Package (Joint MCAP). If this experiment works, reserve and active duty warplane squadrons would be linked, via a Joint MCAP arrangement, with army brigades, with the idea that, if the army unit had to ship out to a combat zone overseas, its MCAP air force squadrons would go with it.
The air force doesn't like the idea of every armored vehicle having TACP capabilities, or using many more army personnel as air controllers. But that's where it's going, mainly because smart bombs have gotten so smart they no longer require a hot shot pilot to hit the target accurately every time. The primary responsibility is now on the ground, and most of it is embedded in machines. It's mainly point (the laser rangefinder) and click (to capture the location of the target, and transmit it to the aircraft overhead.) The army can even uses its own UAVs for the airborne videos. The army is rushing ahead with all this battlefield automation, and the air force is trying to keep up.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/16/2006
08:30 ||
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Wow, it's like the Army and the Air Force should be considered the same service...
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
03/16/2006 9:04
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The AF pilots union doesn't like the idea of outsourcing the close support mission to the Army, even less so to Army UASs. All things considered, the Army would rather have support from B-52s and A-10s than Jim Wright's keep Ft Worth green F-16s.
#4
Since the AF embeds Air Controllers with Army units this is a logical step. I have met two of these ?Romos? in my career and both were looney as a bat and very very professional when the rubber met the road. I bet the ROMOs are happy that they no longer have to lug their radios and gear around with them. One guy assigned to the 25th Light explained that he had to carry a standard Infantry load plus his ATC gear. He brought all his gear in for a "show and Tell" at NCO leadership school and he said he "Loved his job more than sex." He got to kill the enemy before anyone else and order officers to destroy things of his choosing. Like I said he was whacked, but I would want him on my side in a fight.
#9
Why not put tons of antennas on every vehicle then. Strip the autojunkyards for antennas, they don't have to work
We have! IIRC from my tour, there were quite a few M1114's I rode in that had antennas, but no radios inside. For the procuremnt monkeys at DOD, it's easier and cheaper to install a mount kit at the factory, than waste man hours installing at the destination unit.
Posted by: N guard ||
03/16/2006 19:44
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I think you mean ROMADS, Cyber Sarge. I did some intel work for the 601st Tac Control Wing for a couple of years, and dealt with the ROMADS on an almost-daily basis. "Whacked" is one description, "Crazy as a stadium full of bedbugs" is another. Either way, they were purely professional once they deployed. At one time, teams used jeeps and a trailer full of radios. Glad to see they're getting better equipment.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/16/2006 19:48
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March 16, 2006: There's a link between the Sunni Arab terrorists of Iraq, and the Taliban of Afghanistan, and there are CDs to prove it. The Sunni Arab terrorists have long been known to be well organized. That's because most of their leadership worked for Saddam. These guys were long time terrorism experts, as it was with fear that Saddam ruled Iraq for over three decades. Iraqi Sunni Arabs are also very well educated. Lots of lawyers, doctors and engineers. Even Saddam was studying to be a lawyer, before he realized he had better career prospects as a tyrant. So the Sunni Arab terrorists created a CD containing step-by-step instructions on how to run a successful terrorism campaign. Actually, the Iraqi terrorism campaign wasn't successful, but that's another story. However, following the instructions on the CD will definitely make your terrorism more effective. So if you are satisfied with just killing more people, you need this CD. The Taliban have received many copies of the CD.
The principal advice concerns some pretty ancient (we're talking biblical here) advice. First, have good intelligence about the enemy. Then, get spies inside the enemy security forces. Know as much as possible about any target you are going to attack. Have the right weapons for successfully carrying out the attack. And it's important to have dedicated fighters. Now, back to that biblical reference. And so it came to pass that the Israeli warrior Joshua did conquer Jericho, 3,000 years ago, using these principles. The wisdom of the ancients.
The Taliban are trying to use the CD to regain power in Afghanistan. In addition, there are supposed to be several hundred Afghans, who fought in Iraq, assisting in the process. This is hard to prove, as very few Afghans, dead or alive, have been encountered in Iraq. But the CD has led to the increased use of roadside bombs and, well, not much else, in Afghanistan. The Iraqi CD also emphasizes the usefulness of terror in demoralizing the enemy, and maintaining the loyalty of people you need. This has not worked in Iraq, or Afghanistan, but how to deal with that is not covered in the CD. The biblical scriptures contain useful advice on that subject, but it's unlikely that the Taliban will look there.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/16/2006
08:27 ||
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The best tactic they could have is to lie low, bury their weapons, and wait for the western nationals to move out of Afghanistan and Iraq before coming back.
That and play the Western Mediaj's fear and natural anti-western attitudes as they've been doing rather than killing them as the knucklead Taliban did.
Should you be worried about bird flu? Yes. No. And maybe; it depends. Like the creatures who might bring the plague, it's all up in the air. What matters is how you respond today. Should you:
-- Study the scenarios, lay in supplies, then get on with your life. If we panic, the birds have won!
-- Content yourself with the comforting certainty that FEMA is on the case! Men in hazmat suits will jump out of helicopters and impose order while dramatic music swells in the background, just like in the movies. (Note: For this scenario to work, Harrison Ford must be president.)
Option No. 1 may be your best choice.
Of course, the bird flu will not cause a breakdown in civil order; we will not someday speak of the DayQuil Riots of '06, when the National Guard mowed down desperate, congested looters. But if millions of Americans suddenly sit in the corner all huffed and snuffling like sick parakeets, and hospitals are overwhelmed by desperately ill people just looking for a bright clean place to die, everything's going to change for a while.
You're going to want face masks, for example, for those times when you have to leave the house. You won't find any. They'll have been bought up by the people who cleaned out the store the day Patient Zero kicked the cuttlebone. By the time you realize you'd better get ready, it might be too late.
So stock up on tuna and powdered milk; that's the advice of Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael Leavitt. This suggestion will mutate into a form transmissible from official to comedian, and in the days to come we'll hear hardy-har remarks about buying "Duck tape" and other forms of inefficacious protection.
The foodies will remark that a life sustained by Chicken of the Sea and reconstituted cow lactations is not worth living. Democrats will insist that Iraq was a distraction from the real search for WMDs in the guts of wild fowl, and conservatives will want to build a wall extending to the troposphere.
Actually, this last reaction was anticipated by the Bush administration: "There's no way you can protect the United States by building a big cage around it and preventing wild birds from flying in and out," said U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Michael Johanns. To the relief of many, he did not propose a "Guest Infector" program under which alien birds can migrate for a specified period, as long as they register with the local zoo.
Then again, we might not need a cage. Or a secret tuna cache. All the disaster scenarios are predicated on something that has not happened. (See also Katrina, levees, breaching of.)
ABC News noted, "The bird flu virus, to date, is still not easily transmitted to humans. There have been lots of dead birds on three continents, but so far fewer than 100 reported human deaths. But should that change, the spread could be rapid."
Well, yes. And if oxygen suddenly became toxic to human beings, the mortality rate would be horrifying.
But the virus is mutating; it can attack cats now. Surely theater majors are next. The fatal mutation of some sort of flu is like the acquisition of nukes by Iran: a matter of when, not if.
And then what? Don't count on the Israelis to knock down the infected flocks. They're good, but not that good. No, there's nothing wrong with setting aside some canned goods and cling peaches and a bushel of cereal. (Note to men: This may be the crisis that forces science to invent powdered beer.)
Of course, some will insist this is just more fearmongering from an administration that requires a population to vibrate 24-7 in a state of tremulous dread, so they can cover up the REAL issues, such as whether a White House official had an evil twin who was a discount-store kleptomaniac.
Perhaps. But when the government implies it won't be driving the Free Tuna Van down your street, you might want to take heed.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/16/2006
08:22 ||
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I suspect either Walmart [with numerous local outlets] or someother establishment which can exploit both internet ordering and local delivery of produce will make a 'killing' in the market by promoting the ability to avoid crowds and deliver the goods to your door. Like all 'plagues and disasters' the poor will be hammered the most. The Left will play the guilt card. However, it is a grand opportunity to point out that if you, your parents, your grandparents etc had applied themselves and risen above their economic state by avoiding substance abuse, single parent head of household, or blowing of one's education, and had actively applied themselves to take advantage of multiple opportunites and programs offered for forty years, it wouldn't be a problem. Its grasshopper time. History is about to bite.
#2
But when the government implies it won't be driving the Free Tuna Van down your street, you might want to take heed.
I hate the Free Tuna Van. Damn things air conditioning never works, and I'm a day and a half's drive from the ocean.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
03/16/2006 9:00
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As far as what will really, truly matter if avian flu is a bad one, a few simple things matter most of all.
#1 is hand sanitizer. It comes in 8oz and 2oz bottles. When the disease hits, carry the 2oz in your pocket when you go out in public. Use generous amounts on shopping cart handles and be aware when you touch things with your hands to sterilize your hands before touching your face. Buy a case full of the 8oz bottles now. It is cheap and the single most important thing you can do.
#2 Avoid dead birds, sick people including family members, and dumbasses. If it is a choice between embarassment and infection, choose embarassment. Stop eating in restaurants and don't use public toilets. Cooked food is better than raw food, especially fruits and vegetables.
#3 If you want to wear a mask and glasses, most any mask and glasses will do. You don't have to keep out virus sized objects, just the large droplets of moisture that contain them.
#4 Avoid anyone with a gun. Do not try to run a roadblock. Set aside any desire to help your fellow man, either.
Get your concealed permit NOW if you do not already have one, and practice regulary with your chosen pistol.
This goes for normal every day life. If you're one of the sheepdogs and not one of the sheep, that is.
Yes its a lot of responsibility, initiative, expense and work from your end, but it reduces a large amount of the risk for not only you and yours, but for society in general.
If the wolves know the sheepdogs are waiting for them, fang and claw, then they are likely to just move on., and if they do not, you are not at thier mercy (of which they have none, they are wolves after all).
#11
Don't forget to stock up on asthma inhalers, to help speed recovery when you get that Murphy's Law case of bronchitis instead of pneumonia. And remember that pine twig tips and needles are edible if treated right. Not to mention full of certain vitamins, although which ones I cannot just now remember. (I did get my shots like a good girl, which is why I got bronchitis with my flu, which is clearly affecting my thinking this week -- witness the feedback on my comments the last few days.) ;-)
The H5N1 virus can attack not just the airways, like regular flu, but multiple organs and systems, including the kidney, liver, spleen and brain. Infection has been fatal in more than half the reported cases, and most cases occur in previously healthy children and young adults.
Bird flu viruses carry a gene that can latch onto many crucial proteins inside human cells, presumably disrupting their function and causing far more severe disease than ordinary human strains.
The lungs of avian flu victims are racked by infections, clogged with pus and surrounded by fluid, and the severity of the symptoms can predict whether the patients will survive. Even when the disease subsides, permanent scar tissue forms in their lungs with possibly lifelong debilitating effects.
Additional abnormalities discovered in avian flu patients -- include enlarged lymph nodes and cavities forming in the lung tissue.
#14
Anonymoose, that sure sounds like the 1918 epidemic to me, especially the part about healthy young adults. Hopefully it can't make the jump and get more virulent.
#15
Anonymoose, you know I take this thing seriously -- I have some of your earliest advice on my PalmPilot, so you go with me everywhere. But now that my pantry is stocked, I have dustmasks, rubber gloves, Coldeze zinc lozenges, vitamin C with rosehip extract, Purell alcohol gel, a dozen jugs of distilled water plus a stash of purifying tablets if needed, I cannot allow myself to quiver every time there is a new item about Bird Flu, else I'd be in an eternal panic. I haven't the strength for that, even when I'm healthy.
#16
TW: The proper response is not fear, it is wit. That is, keeping your wits about you. Everything about the AF is relative. When it hits in your area, who you associate with, how you take precautions, what you are willing to do, etc., etc.
Storing food beyond a few days is silly, the disease could be floating around for two years. Any disruptions in supply will be marginal at best.
Put your emphasis on not catching the disease in the first place, that is, avoidance. Stay away from sick people, and where sick people congregate. If you have to go there, like a grocery store, *that* is when you should be at maximum paranoia. For a short period of time at a precise location. Any more fear is wasted. Your biggest concern while you are there is simply to not touch your face, and to decontaminate your hands when you leave. Big deal.
Since most of us don't live alone, you also have to police your families' hygiene, and train them to be active participants in keeping your shared environment reasonably clean. Encourage them to be somewhat standoffish. And knowledge is power, they need to know what you know.
A lot of people will get sick and die because they are lazy, too lazy--creatures of routine--to use even basic precautions during an epidemic.
Others because they are either ignorant, or just didn't *think* about something they did that contaminated them. Somebody has to pick the lettuce we eat, and all.
Still others because even though they know better, they just can't resist doing things like kissing and hugging a dead family member, or involving themselves with sick people instead of calling 911. In this class are the religious, who go to church and try and pray the disease away, en masse.
Finally, and as deadly as the disease, are our fellow man. Armed, scared, maybe a little sick themselves, full of hairbrained panic. They are damn dangerous. They may decide to rob stores or banks for no reason, stick a shotgun through the mail slot at their next door neighbor, just any kind of amazingly stupid behavior.
They have lost their wits. And there will always be more of them than you.
America as a whole will do pretty good. But there will be one hell of a lot of scared, paranoid people for a while.
#17
George Noory on COASTTOCOASTAM Radio had a guest named Katharine ALbrecht on last night - among other things, she inferred that the US government are using the Media-correct diseases of Bird Flu and MAD COW, etc. as justification to install RFID chips on all farm animals, with the ultimate intent/agenda being that ordinary individuals will no longer be allowed to privately farm without some form of collusion with Big Govt. + Big Corporation and other anti-private/individual commercialization, that private farming and lessor corporate farms will be forced into regulatory obsolescence IN THE NAME OF [PUBLIC]SAFETY. Noory himself expressed the belief that, sometine between now and the next 10-15 years, AMERICA WILL BE GOVERNED AND CONTROLLED BY TOTALITARIAN NATIONAL GOVT. + some kind/form of "ONE WORLD ORDER" and "SOCIALISM". Albrecht also expressed her belief that, during roughly/approx the same timeline, iff nothing changes up to 100Milyuhn Americans may die from the Bird Flu and other pandemics. * Iff diseases and pandemics don't kill Americans, the Commies will.
If the h-for-hype "V for Vendetta" connects with a wide American audience, then something truly has shifted in the homeland-in-security pop landscape of the early 21st Century. It means we're ready for a cultured, sophisticated, man-about-town terrorist who espouses the belief that "blowing up a building can change the world." Finally, a film to unite movie-mad members of Al Qaeda with your neighbor's kid, the one with the crush on Natalie Portman. Here's hoping for a dull-thud landing
Various film enthusiasts, particularly suckers for anything based on a graphic novel, are hot for this picture. They argue that the story line is pro-revolution rather than pro-terrorism, set in the near future, imagining England under the thumb of a regime than makes Mussolini look like Musso & Frank. Call me a neocon -- that'd be a first -- but this film is in fact about a glam-terrorist who believes in better government through the demolition of landmark buildings. It's only a movie. But would "V for Vendetta" stand a box office chance today if it were set in America, not England, and the U.S. Capitol were blowing up instead of Parliament? Unlikely. We all enjoyed seeing the White House get it in "Independence Day," but there's nothing political about space aliens. Terrorists are terrorists. F*ck 'em all.
#1
But would "V for Vendetta" stand a box office chance today if it were set in America, not England, and the U.S. Capitol were blowing up instead of Parliament? Unlikely.
Actually, I think that would be extremely likely. It was just that they couldn't put "V for Vendetta" in the US without mangling to story too much.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
03/16/2006 8:28
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The concept of the movie is dated. That is, it still has the "1984" perspective that government surveillance in the future is everywhere, and isn't that horrible and oppressive?
That trouble is, that today, government surveillance *is* everywhere, and most people just abide it, sheep that they are.
So you need a new approach. One that in its bare bones was alluded to in the movie "Brazil". The focus needs to be changed to the utter futility, waste, and uselessness of such surveillance. Of a government so obsessed with the minutiae of its citizens lives that it is just inert as society collapses around it.
It was remarked that East Germany was like this, before it collapsed, that its government so cared about what time "everybody ate lunch" that it ignored the possibility of World War III, or even its own collapse. Governmental insanity in the form of masturbational voyeurism.
Huge dossiers on all of its citizens, filled with such utterly useless information as how many paper products they personally consumed in a year and what route they took to go to work in the morning, along with their complete phone records.
How different is that from modern Britain wanting to track all vehicle movements in the country?
Government todays excuse is technology: "We have the technology to do it!", overrides "Why the hell should we do it?", or what they should be saying, "Gee, that is an obnoxious, offensive, intrusive and unconstitutional thing to do." The statement they almost never make.
Such governmental voyeurism is really an excuse for them not doing their job. In a way, it is like a police officer staying home and watching porn movies, "looking for criminal acts", rather than walking his beat and arresting real criminals.
So the REAL revolutionary doesn't try to blow up all the cameras, he points his finger at the porn watching policeman and laughs, and calls the cop what he really is, a pervert. He refutes what the cop says, that he is trying to stop "illegal porn", and tells him to get his ass back to work.
#3
The concept is dated -- so instead of a post-nuclear war gov't (the concept being intended to criticize Margaret Thatcher's gov't in 1982), we have an "ultra right-wing" government following the UK joining "America's war."
Hilariously, on a liberal-leaning (?) BBS there were complaints that the movie had in fact not only changed things (as adaptations do) but gotten the core message wrong, relying excessively on Wachowski flashy 'fights' and leather outfits. Can't say that the complaints were wrong. The ending apparently is inadvertently HILARIOUS for completely missing V's point...
Posted by: Edward Yee ||
03/16/2006 9:20
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Much ado about nothing. If they make any effort to show the government of the future is evil, and the terrorist isn't targeting civilians, I don't think people will care. Especially when I understand the hero is already shown to be semi-nuts.
If this guy is blowing up busses and cafes to make his political point, and the government of the future looks a lot like the current government I think people will wonder WTF and stay away in droves.
#8
I always find myself wondering where all these future movie facists come from. I mean the goose stepping troops would be our kids, right? And the NCOs and officers would be the folks on this board or our younger versions. And how likely is that?
I don't know if facism is even possible in the post-modern, post-christian West. After all, facism is a _reactionary_ movement. It's about preserving society's ties to blood and soil -- the old ways. Who even cares about those things anymore?
I can't remember which of Stalin's biographers wrote this, but it's one of the more profound things that I've read on totalitarianism. He maintained that totalitarianism was a not a phenomena of illiterate cultures nor of literate ones. Instead it was a consequence of semi-literacy. Autodidacts like Stalin and Hitler hung out in penny libraries and read all sort of claptrap: Darwinism "proved" that God doesn't exist. Eugenics improved the gene pool. There was a science of history that made accurate and unassailable predictions about the economic and political future of the human race.
Stalin and Hitler were representative of a cohort of first and second generation literates. They credulously swallowed anything written for the semi-literate masses and dressed up with chop-logic. That era is over in the West, but it is just beginning in the Muslim world.
#9
Interesting comment, 11A5S. Extreme or nuanced ideas, advanced in the sense that they are the terminus of a long chain of ideas - good and bad, without the context - without any understanding of how they evolved and under what circumstances, could lead to some bizarre notions... Leaving an imagination full of disconnected bits to fill in the blanks seems to be begging for constructs that make sense only to the owner of that imagination - the autodidact you mentioned - and would be either gibberish or insane to the educated.
I think we see this all around us now, in fact. The conspiracists seem to be hell on wheels when it comes to these "factual" (fantastical is closer, lol) tidbits, but mute when it comes to explaining how they came to be or what the underpinning logic might be. They weave their own understanding, inventing wholesale where they lack a working knowledge of history, ending up with these butt nuggets they think are shining jewels of brilliance - that most rational people dismiss out of hand as farce.
And we end up with this rather huge disconnect - unable to even hold a rational discussion because there isn't enough common ground to begin. Like an ideas tower of babble, instead of language.
(CNSNews.com) - A Second Amendment group calls it a "stunning reversal." After denying it for months, the City of New Orleans on Wednesday admitted that it does have a stockpile of firearms seized from private citizens in the days following Hurricane Katrina. The city even took lawyers to the place where some 1,000 firearms are being stored. "This is a very significant event," said attorney Dan Holliday, who represents National Rifle Association and the Second Amendment Foundation in an on-going lawsuit seeking to stop the city from seizing privately-owned firearms.
The city's disclosure came as attorneys for both sides prepared for a court hearing on a motion to hold the city in contempt. (On March 1, The Second Amendment Foundation and the National Rifle Association filed a motion to have New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and Police Superintendent Warren Riley held in contempt of court for refusing to comply with an injunction to stop illegal gun confiscations and return all seized firearms to their rightful owners.)
"We're almost in disbelief," said Second Amendment Foundation Founder Alan Gottlieb on Wednesday. "For months, the city has maintained it did not have any guns in its possession that had been taken from people following the hurricane. Now our attorneys have seen the proof that New Orleans was less than honest with the court." Under an agreement with the court, the hearing on the contempt motion has been delayed for two weeks, and during that time, the city reportedly will set up a process to return the guns to their lawful owners.
"While we are stunned at this complete reversal on the city's part, the important immediate issue is making sure gun owners get their property back," Gottlieb said. "What happened in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina was an outrage," he added. "Equally disturbing is the fact that it apparently took a motion for contempt to force the city to admit what it had been denying for the past five months."
As Cybercast News Service reported in February, the National Rifle Association used images of law enforcement officers confiscating legally possessed firearms from New Orleans residents to rally conservatives at a recent conference in Washington. National Rifle Association Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre urged people attending the Conservative Political Action Conference to "Remember New Orleans!"
Posted by: Steve ||
03/16/2006
08:02 ||
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They're surprised that Police don't pay attention to the law?
Naive fools.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
03/16/2006 8:44
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I don't think this will get anywhere for several reasons. First of all, in a state of martial law, government can do damn near anything it wants; and typically, the public approves of that. Second, unlawful confiscations will be dealt with on a "case by case" basis, which will muddy the waters beyond recognition.
Finally, the police will say that "most" of the guns were just "picked up" from abandoned buildings to "keep them out of the hands of looters". Lies, of course. But prove otherwise.
In other words, nobody will get squat out of this deal.
For future reference, it is almost never better to "brandish" a weapon than to conceal it. The lesson should be that in future disasters, do not let lawmen see your weapons.
#4
I don't think this will get anywhere for several reasons
'Moose, you are correct that charges of illegal gun confiscations will be challenged and for the reasons you state possibly dismissed. However, dont underestimate the substantial accomplishments this lawsuit has brought. Contrary to previous testimony, the city has admitted that they do in fact posses a stockpile of confiscated weapons. First, what was previously dismissed as accusations is now reality allowing the legal owners to get their property back. Also, the contempt charges have only been delayed, not dismissed. Without reading the transcripts its hard to say but in light of this admission the accusers contempt case has become dramatically stronger. If the courts award a victory to The Second Amendment Foundation and the NRA look for them to ride the wave and challenge the legality of the confiscation itself. And given the shenanigans surrounding the defense thus far its unlikely a judge would throw out the lawsuit based on lack of merit.
#5
The government (as a whole) has learned that it can abuse the hell out of civil liberties during the event and pay the price later, unless they can weasel out of it.
It started with a lot of G8 and WTO protests, when the police did clearly illegal things that protected the conferences, because they knew that it would only come out later at trial, and long after the conference was over. If it cost them a few million, no problem, it was taxpayer money anyway.
It peaked at Miami, when they imported police to abuse people. It was close to a police rampage against anyone on the street, the constitution be damned. Journalists were attacked, even a State judge was pulled off of his bicycle and beaten.
They didn't even wait for the protest to begin, sort of pre-emptive beat down against ordinary citizens. And they mostly got away with it. Maybe paid out a few hundred thousand dollars in fines to themselves.
You're referring to the professional legions of anarchists, funded by the socialist - our mortal enemies - who fly around the world to these conferences and meetings with nothing but havoc in mind as ordinary citizens?
LOL. Try re-tuning that a bit - assuming you wish to remain within reality.
#10
Wonder how Nagin's reelection campaign is coming along. It takes a certain special talent to get so wrong on so many issues including a Constitutional ammendment.
#12
pretty typical US city behaviour, I live in Tacoma and we're far from transparency in Gov.
Posted by: bk ||
03/16/2006 13:29
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#13
Typical "we're the government, we're here to protect you" bull shit.
Posted by: Captain America ||
03/16/2006 14:30
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#14
Of course, the legal owners would have to prove their claim to ownership. Any bet that many of the owners aren't legally possessing a weapon to begin with? Proof is no problem if you were a home or business owner protecting your property. This sounds much like the Lancaster County police sting, betting on the human tendency toward greed and selfishness to catch stupid criminals.
#15
Danielle: are you asking for receipts or for a de-facto registration system?
Posted by: Phil ||
03/16/2006 19:02
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#16
Miami: FTAA Police Rampage
http://tinyurl.com/r3qu2
Hundreds of abused and injured FTAA protesters were partially vindicated this week as the Miami-Dade Independent Review Panel released drafts of its scathing report on police misconduct at the FTAA. According to the report, Miami lived under "martial law," civil rights "were trampled," and protesters were met with "unrestrained and disproportionate use of force."
(Link has pdf files of the reports of the Review Panel.)
My point was that, in future, US cities that play host to G8, WTO, FTAA, etc. meetings are being encouraged to "abuse now and pay later", since there is no great penalty for them to do so.
Iran can create nuclear bomb
Novosti, Moscow
10/ 03/ 2006
Academician Viktor Mikhailov, director of the Strategic Stability Institute of Russia's Ministry of Atomic Energy, academic supervisor of Russia's Federal Nuclear Center (Research Institute of Experimental Physics), holder of the Lenin and State prizes, and minister of nuclear energy from 1992 to 1998, in an interview with RIA Novosti military commentator Viktor Litovkin.
Question: Experts say you were one of the fathers of the Iranian nuclear industry. Can you describe its current situation?
Answer: It is true that I was among the initiators and participated in drafting a contract for the construction of the Bushehr nuclear power plant. The United States did not want to cooperate with us in the nuclear sphere and advanced unacceptable conditions. Therefore, we had to go east - to Iran, China and India. The Russian nuclear industry was dying; we had to save it and create jobs for unique specialists so as to prevent them from emigrating to countries that want to create their own nuclear bombs.
I have not been to Iran since I had left the post of the nuclear minister. But during my visits there I saw that Iran had very high nuclear research standards, which is not surprising. Nearly all Iranian scientists, researchers and nuclear engineers graduated from U.S. and West European universities with high standards of education. Iran continues to train its specialists there. As far as I know, about 10,000 Iranians are studying in Europe and the U.S. Iranian laboratories had highly efficient computer equipment, which the U.S. prohibited to sell to Russia, as well as other equipment made by the leading Western companies, such as Siemens. I think that the nuclear sector of the Iranian economy is maintained at a very high research and technical level.
Q: Can Iran create nuclear weapons soon?
A: This is a frequently asked question. I am sometimes asked if Iran wants to create such weapons or is thinking about the possibility, and I always reply that it does and is. It is impossible to retain national independence and sovereignty now without nuclear weapons. The U.S. wants to use military methods to spread its form of democracy to countries that have their own rich history and have contributed much to humankind. But Washington disregards these nations, their customs and traditions, trying to change them to the American way of life, which is impossible.
Q: And still, can Iran create its own nuclear weapons or not?
A: Of course it can. Any developed country can do this now, even through the Internet, but this takes much time and money. How much? Iran will create - can create - its nuclear bomb in five to ten years. It will not be as sophisticated as the nuclear weapons of Russia or the U.S., but it will do. The Americans are afraid of this, whatever BMD systems they create, because nuclear death can come not from the air but in many other ways. They fear a single nuclear explosion in their territory... "Fear"? Good idea.
(More)
Posted by: Listen To Dogs ||
03/16/2006
07:56 ||
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#1
We do indeed have the fear of a nuclear detonation here in the US.
However, we do not have any concern whatsoever that the strategic nuclear triad, which we built to prevail in an exchange with Mr. Mikhailov's former nation, is capable of erasing forever all evidence of Iran's "rich history" and "contributions to mankind."
That we have not already employed this capability and are taking great pains to avoid having to do so is evidence of moral values totally foreign to to Mr. Mikhailov.
They fear a single nuclear explosion in their territory...
Iran, North Korea, Pakistan and all other rogue or Islamic nations with atomic weapon ambitions need to be put on notice that a single terrorist nuclear attack on American soil will result in the end of all life as they know it in the aforementioned countries. The list needs to be concise and made public immediately.
It is they who should fear a single nuclear explosion in our territory...
#4
Yes, Mrs. Davis, a long time participant here at Rantburg. I firmly believe in credit where credit is due, and she was the very first to suggest that every rogue nation or Islamic nuclear power be put on notice that all of them get glassed and Windexed if so much as a single terrorist nuclear attack goes down on American soil.
Personally, I cannot think of a better way of ensuring that all our enemies suddenly are confronted with a unanimous fate. It is a perfect reward for all their troubles and brings into stark relief the perils of proliferation for all of them to consider.
#6
Once again America bites itself in the ass. We tried to force "democracy", er well, not really democracy, but the free market system per globalization on the Russkies. They were bankrupt. But they did respond in the capitalistic fashion. They tried to sell their technology. America blocked their nuclear sales to the "West", because we didn't want or need the competition. So they sold to whomever was buying. Ah hah ! The oil enriched Arabs. They bought all they could get. And, #2, as he so rightly points out, their scientists and technologists were all trained either in Europe or the US. Couldn't wait to get those rich Iranian grad students in to pay the freight. They had the cash and they paid. They learned what they wanted and needed. Now they are back there applying it. Certainly, they will produce a bomb. The yield may not be high, but the destruction will still be enormous. Even today, look at the grad student population in American universities. Is this some of our critical infrastructure ? And, finally, the most troubling aspect is that the former logic of assured destruction holds no meaning for Muslims. They look forward to death in the death culture. They don't mind a few million lost as long as they can create something horrific that will not ever be forgotten.
#7
Having scientists is all very well, but most of their work will of necessity remain theoretical so long as the technological infrastructure to produce the necessary tools is lacking. Leonardo DaVinci invented a great many fascinating things, which his world lacked the tools to construct, and the materials out of which to construct them. It must be horribly frustrating for Iran's Western-trained nuclear physicists and nuclear engineers to know that if only they had a solid machine-tool industry and a large number of Western-trained technicians and US-trained mechanical engineers, that whole pesky nuclear weapon thingy would have been solved (and missile-mounted) years ago. As it is, they are severely limited (not limited enough, unfortunately) by having to sneak in equipment purchases from Germany, Russia, etc. One almost feels for the poor darlings...
#8
As for darling Mrs. D.: once upon a time there was an equally darling Mr. Davis, who occasionally became impatient with me for arguing with trolls, trying to help them to understand the real world, although he was ever gentlemanly even in his impatience. Mr. D. was one of the originals here, back when they were still fancy Rantburgundians, not the simpler Rantburgers of today. In those halcyon days a young lady student from the UAE or environs used to come by, who called herself "Gentle", trying to pursuade us that Islam is a religion of peace and love and nurturing happiness, ignoring the existence of the too many fascist and jihad-bound Islamists that work so hard make themselves loathed around the world today. Young Miss Gentle was not very good about doing the readings we assigned to her (ok, I was the only one who provided reading lists, but still), or even in following the logic of those who countered her arguments.
Anyway, and as it happens, a troll (as we then assumed) stole Mr. D's nym (or is it nic? The terminology here does confuse me), and spewed endless hateful nonsense over Fred's threads. And thus Mrs. D appeared, so that we should not think that Mr. D had a monumental mid-life crisis. The story later appeared that actually Mr. D and Gentle were having an affair and had run off together, and Mrs. D ever charged me that should Mr. Wife come across him in his travels, to either send him home to his loving and anxious wife or shoot the sonufabitch -- depending on her mood.
But it has been a very long time since Mrs. D appeared, quietly amused by those who, not knowing the back story, treated her as an elderly version of someone like me.
Submitted this day by
Rantburg's amateur historianess
#13
Trailing Wife (dba RB historian) Could you like furnish a road map? You know, a diagram of the RB Genesis and evolution.
Was there ever a Rantburg "big bang" or anything?
Posted by: Captain America ||
03/16/2006 21:14
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#14
That's before my time, Captain A. But check the archives -- Fred's first post was on 9/11/01. Also, see here and here. I didn't find this place until just before PD morphed into .com, which thoroughly confused me. Sorry I can't be more helpful.
BEIRUT - The Lebanese army banned Lebanese and Palestinians on Thursday from staging a protest outside the US embassy against the raid of a prison in Jericho and the arrest of the Palestinian leader Ahmed Saadat. Lebanese army tanks and armoured personnel carriers banned the demonstrators from approaching the vicinity of the US embassy in Awkar, 20 kilometres north of Beirut.
Thank you
The organizers of the demonstrations did not obtain permission from the interior ministry to carry out such a protest. That is why the demonstration was banned, Lebanese Interior Minister Ahmed Fatfat said. This is a measure to prevent any chaos near the embassy, a Lebanese police source at the scene told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.
Palestinian sources said Lebanese army troops also prevented people, especially men, from leaving Palestinian camps in southern and northern Lebanon. The Palestinian people were banned today to take part in the demonstration to denounce the Israeli attack on our free people, Anwar Raja, a spokesman for the pro-Syrian Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC). Around 367,000 Palestinian refugees live in 12 camps across Lebanon.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/16/2006
07:54 ||
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#1
The Palestinian people were banned today to take part in the demonstration to denounce the Israeli attack on our free people,
People trapped in a "camp" are not free. Stop accepting UN jizya, move out and get jobs somewhere, and make yourselves free.
Police in Indian-administered Kashmir say suspected militants have shot dead a 52-year-old man and his wife in Bajja village in Jammu's Doda district.
Armed men forcibly entered Abdul Gani Mallik's house late on Wednesday night and killed the couple, PR Manhas, the district police chief told the BBC.
He said the militant group Hizbul Mujahideen was probably responsible. The couple's son-in-law was a member of the group before surrendering last month, Mr Manhas said.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/16/2006
07:43 ||
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At least five people have been killed in southern Thailand after suspected Islamic militants attacked a government building, police said. The attackers riddled the office with bullets in the village of Pado in the Pattani province, they said.
Thailand's south, where most of its minority Muslim population lives, has been hit by a two-year insurgency that has left more than 1,100 people dead. Recent attacks have been overshadowed by anti-government rallies in Bangkok.
The gunmen attacked the office during a council meeting in the village in the largely Buddhist district of the province, police said. The victims' identities were not immediately known. At least one person was reportedly injured during the attack. "Police cannot reach the site because the militants left spikes (on the road) and possibly a bomb," police officer Choke Srinualchan told the AFP news agency.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/16/2006
07:38 ||
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#1
"Police cannot reach the site because the militants left spikes (on the road) and possibly a bomb,"
And besides that they were saying menacing things and giving dirty looks.
"Recent attacks have been overshadowed by anti-government rallies in Bangkok"
Just a guess, but maybe it has something to do with the fact that the Islamic attacks have been primarily against the anti-president Buhdists.
Peshawar, 16 March (AKI) - The fugitive leader of the hardline Taliban movement, Mullah Mohammed Omar, has vowed a fierce offensive against the US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan warning of "unimaginable attacks" to come in the summer months. The statement by the Taliban leader was read by Taliban spokesman, Mohammad Hanif over the telephone from an undisclosed location and was qouted in the Pakistani based Afghan Islamic Press news agency.
In the statement, Mullah Omar, for whose capture Washington has issued a 10 million-dollar-reward, said that young Afghans are volunteering for suicide missions against the US-led forces.
"Afghans [are] thronging centres of mujahadeen in groups to enlist their name for suicide attacks and other operations of Taliban resistance," the statement said. The Taliban leader also called on those who had not joined the "Taliban resistance....to consider this resistance against the crusader enemy as a part of their faith."
The statement also referred to the US president George W. Bush being "worried that the so-called elections and parliaments in Afghanistan and Iraq" did not trick Muslims around who are still aware that "Bush has been deceiving Muslims on hollow slogans of democracy, while on the other hand the US has been conspiring against the elected leadership of Hamas in Palestine." The statement also said: "The US and its allies attitude towards Iran is also against the claims of US of respecting democracy."
There are currently about 18,000 US troops in Afghanistan hunting down al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters but the Americans are hoping to reduce the number of troops by several thousand as NATO forces take on more responsibilities, particularly in the south of the country, and the Afghan army becomes stronger.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/16/2006
07:34 ||
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#1
No, no, Omar. The word you wanted is "unimaginative".
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
03/16/2006 7:44
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#2
How about "unimpressive", "uninspired", "unforthcoming", and certainly "undistinguished".
#8
Bush is using hollow slogans.
Like 72 virgins to all martyrs of Allah ?
I think Afghanistan is the perfect place to develope our after dark drone hit squads. We know they are out there, now to seek and plink and establish an attrician rate one can be proud of.
#15
"unimaginable" = translation, "Hell, I'm still working on the plan, m'kay? But when I finally DO think of what to do....believe you me, it's going to be soooo freakin' cool, man! There will be, like, explosions and death and all that bitchin' crap! Hey, do you think that Keanu will play me in the movie? That would be excellent!"
#24
Probably the worst thing you can say to an Arab Muslim (or maybe any Muslim) is that his beard or mustache looks like a woman's pubic hair. Preferably one of his female relatives.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
03/16/2006 16:21
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Hmm... it might look just like his mama's muff. Yo, Omar, could you stand on your head?
March 16 (Reuters) - Approaching the third anniversary of the U.S. invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, Reuters reporters asked Iraqis: "Is your life better or worse than under Saddam?"
This is what some of them said:
*"Every day I feel like I am waiting in a queue for death," said one Baghdad lawyer, too frightened to be named in print.
*"In terms of security, life before was much better," said businessman Adel Hussein, 45, in the Gulf city of Basra, heart of the oil industry. "But economically, now it's much better."
*In the violent northern oil city of Kirkuk, labourer Ali Salman, said: "Before the war ... torture and killing took place in secret. Now it's all in public. The meaning of freedom is different: Nowadays you're free to live. And free to kill."
*"Where is the new democracy? Why is this happening to us?" asked Hamad Farhan Abdulla, 57, a farmer from south of Baghdad who came to the city morgue looking for the body of his nephew, who he feared had fallen victim to death squad killers.
*"The ghost of death chases us everywhere," said Thanaa Ismail, a 45-year-old teacher from the mainly Shi'ite southern city of Diwaniya. "I have cancer and need treatment in Baghdad but security has got worse and I've had to skip some sessions."
*"Life has no meaning at the moment and our fate is unknown," said Na'im Kadum, a 33-year-old unemployed man from Diwaniya. "I don't see any improvement and I am pessimistic."
*"If the percentage of the good life was one percent before, it is zero percent now," Salim Mahmood, 46, said gloomily as he sold tea and coffee near a Baghdad restaurant.
*"It was better under Saddam. Now we have chaos and we have lost our security. Our country is in a big mess now," said Baghdad housewife Kareema Hussein, 46.
*"Security, and life in general, was better under Saddam's regime," said housewife Hameeda Hussein as she went shopping in Najaf, a southern city where Saddam's military used tanks and helicopters to crush a poorly armed Shi'ite uprising in 1991.
*"The situation was better under Saddam, at least I could walk at night and go to other provinces. Now, we can't move about freely," said Talib Moosa, 30, as he sold chocolate on a Baghdad street.
*"After the war we were introduced to new concepts like human rights and democracy. But on the ground we haven't seen them yet. We need security," said Abdul Kareem Ahmed, a 50-year-old driver in the southern Iraqi city of Basra.
*"Before, people feared prison. Now people fear everything. Even in your own house you can't feel safe or trust your neighbour," said Basra housewife Um Ahmed, 35.
*"Generally everything was better before. Now there is chaos. Every month there are delays in delivering food rations, fuel shortages, a huge rise in prices and deteriorating security," said Khawla Hachim, 35, a housewife in Kirkuk.
*"The situation in Iraq is miserable. No one can guarantee their security when they go out. This didn't happen when Saddam was there," said Najat Hameed, a 32-year-old woman in Kerbala, a Shi'ite city where Saddam is generally reviled
*"Life after Saddam is better," said Imad Ahmed, 45, a technician from Arbil, capital of largely autonomous Kurdistan, which has escaped much of the violence in the rest of Iraq. "Job opportunities have increased for me and for many others."
*"Before the war, life was better because all Iraqis, including Kurds, shared the same enemy," television anchorwoman Sara Abdul Wahid, 36, from the Kurdish city of Dohuk, said of Saddam. "Now there is more than one and we can't differentiate between friend and foe."
*"Before, we didn't earn enough to meet the cost of living, but now we have more than enough. Despite the deterioration in security, I think we are better off today," said Ali al-Sharifi, 29, a government employee in Najaf.
*"I used to leave for work without worrying. Nowadays if I get back home with no harm I just thank God for that," said Ali Jassim, a 55-year-old salesman in the Sunni town of Ramadi.
*"What has the current government done for Iraqis? While they have been protecting themselves behind concrete walls, people are bleeding. Saddam was better than these selfish people," said Ahmed Abdul Hussein, 39, a labourer in Kerbala.
#5
"War is an ugly thing but not the ugliest of things; the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feelings which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."
--John Stuart Mill
#8
Take your pick folks, people being fed feet first into wood chippers, brides being raped on their wedding night, Olympic athletes being tortured for losing and all this amidst intense corruption, economic stagnation and autocratic minority rule.
Or, finding out that part of your own population who are of similar faith are willing to slaughter you endlessly because they are now free to do so.
One you have no control over and never will, the other can be changed if you have the stones to do it. What is it, stones or no stones?
#9
This is b.s., maybe technically true for the moment... But Democracy and freedom are going to give Iraqis much better lives for the next 100 years. I mean if they really want, maybe we could just give Saddam back control... 'what?? whats that you say? Ohhhhh yeahh he was a tyranical dictator, responsible for the deaths of some 300,000 innocent people....
#10
The US was almost certainly better off under King George than the first ~10 years after the Revolution. Since then things have taken a turn for the better.
#13
UB: How about being even slightly more scientific, like percentages by areas, by sect, tribe, etc.
Since the point of the news media is to change the world (i.e. disseminate anti-American points of view), they're not going to let us know this information. Especially since it might show up their anti-American propaganda offensive for what it is.
#14
I understand there are still folks in Russia who pine away for Stalin.
Posted by: kelly ||
03/16/2006 14:46
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"Well, yeah, my neighbors were dragged away in the middle of the night, but dammit, when Saddam was in power I didn't have trouble with my cable reception."
#19
I understand there are still folks in Russia who pine away for Stalin.
Pinin' for the gulags? What kind of talk is that?, look, why did the economy fall flat as piss on a plate the moment we abandoned communism?
The Ukranian Red prefers kippin during work hours! Remarkable worker, idnit comrade? Lovely uniform.
Look, I took the liberty of examining that worker when it got off shift, and I discovered the only reason that it had been sitting on its chair was that it had been NAILED there.
(pause)
Well ocourse it was nailed there! If I hadnt nailed that worked down, it would have nuzzled up to that old Iron Curtain, dug under with its spoon, and VOOM! Émigré, Émigré!
VOOM?!? Mate, this worker wouldnt voom if you poured four million cups of coffee down his neck. Es bleedin comatose!
No, no! Es pining!
Es not pinin! Es pissed off! This worker is no more! He has ceased to drink. Es nekulturny and gone to meet is quota!
Es a psikhushka. Bereft of wealth, e drinks like a newt! If you hadnt nailed im to his chair ed be pushed round in a wheelbarrow!
Is liver is now istory! Es on a bender!
Es fallen off of the wagon, es shuffled out of the ration line, run down a side street and joined the bleedin perestroika agitprop!
#21
Yep, those whom Saddam put in mass graves - their anti Saddam opinions are known only by accident after their bodies are found. the validity of their beliefs or actions known only to their families and Allah.
In retrospect, America went collectively insane over the possibility that a company owned by Dubai's government would operate several of our ports.
Rarely has reason been so routed by pure emotion. Dubai is a Westernizing state that long ago left the 8th century and accepts the modern world of globalized commerce and finance. This member of the United Arab Emirates has -- especially after Sept. 11 -- passed on intelligence, hosted our fleet and provided a foothold in the Gulf near Iraq and Iran.
No doubt some members of its extended government, as is true of many of the monarchies of the Gulf, have triangulated against the United States. But then so have China, Russia and most of Europe.
Yet if we are going to win this war against radical Islam, it will be through drawing the Arab world into the global system of Western jurisprudence, politics and business. The perceived defamation of a proven Arab consortium only hurts our cause.
To understand the fiasco, we must allot blame to almost everyone involved. A Republican administration -- almost daily accused of talking down to "the people" -- somehow feels no need to reveal how its own familiar world of transnational corporations works. Much less does anyone up on Olympus explain to us mere mortals below why our long-term strategic interests would remain safe with ports owned by Dubai's government.
The result of still more of this Harriet-Meyers "trust me" approach is that the ports deal is pilloried as near traitorous by prairie-fire conservative talk radio, blogs and cable news. The administration apparently never thought that the hyped caricature of Arabs guiding cranes on our docks was going to provide good fodder.
Meanwhile, the Democrats, who have lectured us ad nauseam about ethnic stereotyping, couldn't resist the political opening. So they jettisoned this old sensitivity to score jingoist points by suggesting that an Arab fifth column could, in theory, gain control of our ports.
It was surreal to hear Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., the multicultural guru, lecture us about the dangers of these Gulf middlemen -- even as her huckstering husband advised the United Arab Emirates how to finesse the American Congress.
The American public was supposedly outraged that an Arab country would oversee the operation of its major ports. Yet did we have a clue that a Chinese company took over operation of Panama Canal ports during the Clinton administration? Do most realize that the People's Republic has amassed such a pile of U.S. dollars that it soon will control the very financial solvency of the United States?
If we are truly worried about autonomy, consider that our entire southern border with Mexico is nearly wide open. Or that former politicians like Vin Weber and Bob Dole (who also has a wife in the Senate) get richer thanks to their connections to Gulf State sheikdoms.
For a country that is addicted to imported petroleum, hooked on cheap imported goods, and eager for illegal alien labor, and which has hundreds of military bases abroad, it is a little late to worry about dangerous foreign ganglia.
The port deal reveals deeper pathologies than the hypocrisy of our politicians and ignorance of the public. A now hyper-media is fueled by a 24-hour news cycle -- regardless of whether there is enough earth-shattering news to justify thousands of salaried telejournalists. And 2006 is an election year, in which Democrats see advantage and Republicans fear losses.
But more importantly, the Dubai port deal shows how at odds are American perceptions and reality. For the last half-century, we have been living in a complex interconnected world of mutual reliance. Soon we will import more food than we grow. We already burn more oil than we pump. For years we have bought more than we export, and we borrow far more than we lend. To justify these precarious dependencies, America assures foreign business leaders, investors and lenders that our markets remain open and immune to the distortions of xenophobia and provincialism.
Americans may not like that devil's bargain, but it was made long ago and, for better or worse, we are long past being an agrarian republic. The resulting singular affluence of the American consumer derives from just these tradeoffs in our autonomy -- and the trust we receive from those who loan and sell us things we cannot immediately pay for. So rejecting the Dubai port deal is not only hypocritical, but in the end dumb.
UNITED NATIONS - The United States stood nearly alone Wednesday as it voted against the creation of a new U.N. Human Rights Council, saying the reform did not go far enough.
However, U.S. officials did not carry through on a threat to block the new body's funding, and they pledged to work with other nations to make the council "as strong as it can be."
Jan Eliasson, president of the General Assembly, called the vote "a historic moment for human rights" as 170 member-states backed the new council. Israel, the Marshall Islands and Palau joined the U.S. in voting against, while Iran, Venezuela and Belarus abstained.
U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said the diplomats had missed a historic opportunity to help those most in need.
"We must not let the victims of human rights abuses throughout the world think that U.N. member states were willing to settle for 'good enough,' " Bolton said. "We must not let history remember us as the architects of a council that was a 'compromise.' "
Bolton said later that Washington had not yet decided whether to seek a seat on the new council.
The new council is meant to replace the 53-member Commission on Human Rights founded in 1946 to censure countries that abuse their own citizens.
Membership on the commission was allocated by region, allowing countries with poor human rights records to gain seats and use them to head off criticism of their actions.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan proposed the new council last year, saying that the commission's nonexistent declining credibility "casts a shadow on the reputation of the United Nations system as a whole." I'd say that the UN casts a shadow on the reputation of diplomacy.
But months of negotiations culminated in the watered-down compromise presented Wednesday to the General Assembly.
The new council will be slightly smaller, with 47 members. In an effort to keep violators off the panel, its rules say that to join a candidate has to win a majority, or 96 votes, in a direct election in the General Assembly.
Also Wednesday, Bolton compared the threat from Iran's nuclear programs to the 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States.
"Just like Sept. 11, only with nuclear weapons this time, that's the threat. I think that is the threat," Bolton told ABC News' Nightline program.
Bolton ratcheted up the rhetoric as the five veto-holding members of the U.N. Security Council failed again to reach agreement on how to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions after a fifth round of negotiations.
Jordan's King Abdullah yesterday sharply criticized Tuesday's raid in Jericho, calling it "an unfortunate escalation" that posed a threat to the future of the peace process and to security in the region.
"It would have been better for the parties concerned to find another formula to deal with this issue," the king said, adding, "[The Israelis] created tension and lessened the chances for an adequate climate to forge ahead with the peace process."
He also urged Hamas "to deal with regional and international realities," referring to the group's refusal to disarm, recognize international treaties signed by the Palestinian Authority or recognize Israel.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit also denounced the raid.
"Using violence to settle pending issues between the two sides contradicts all previously signed agreements," Aboul Gheit was quoted as saying. He added that Egypt was in continuous contact with all parties concerned in order to contain the situation.
The minister warned Israel against "adopting unilateral measures, using force and obstructing Palestinian security men carrying out their duties," but he also called on all Palestinian groups to exercise self-restraint.
Prime Minister Tony Blair said yesterday that suggestions from top Hamas lawmakers that they would free the men suspected in the 2001 assassination of Minister Rehavam Ze'evi had partly motivated Britain's decision to withdraw its monitors from the prison.
Blair said the Palestinian Authority had been warned for three months about problems at the Jericho prison. The PA became responsible for conditions there under a 2002 agreement made to get men out of the besieged compound of then-Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
"We have kept to that agreement every inch of the way," Blair said. "The breach has been because the proper detention procedures were not being observed on the Palestinian side."
The presidency of the European Union said yesterday it was "gravely concerned" by recent events in the PA and urged both Israelis and Palestinians to exercise restraint.
"The presidency stresses the need to take the appropriate measures to restore calm and order," the EU said in a statement released in Austria, which currently holds the presidency of the 25-nation bloc.
Israel and the PA should exercise restraint and carefully weigh the impact of their actions to prevent a further escalation, the EU said.
The EU also condemned the taking of hostages, called on the PA to ensure the protection of foreign nationals and their property and said it remained committed to supporting the Palestinian people.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan yesterday told Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that he feared Israel's prison raid would lead to an escalation of violence, Olmert's office said.
Annan, who was in South Africa, spoke with Olmert by telephone about the operations. "The secretary general said that after the operation was finished he is more calm because he feared an escalation in the region," read a statement from Olmert's office.
The United States is working to prevent a second attempt by UN Security Council member Qatar to discuss the IDF raid in the Security Council. On Tuesday Qatar called for a convention of the body to discuss the military operation, but the U.S. blocked the meeting. Yesterday Qatar submitted a new draft of a presidential statement it sought to publish on the issue.
The U.S. Ambassador to the UN, John Bolton, said he would do everything in his power to prevent a Security Council deliberation and statement on the issue.
A BOMB has exploded outside a branch of British-based HSBC bank in Diyarbakir, south east Turkey, injuring one person, security officials said. The bomb was planted in an automated teller machine and caused serious damage, the officials said today. Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels have set off a series of bombs in the mainly Kurdish south east in recent months.
Last week three people, including the bomber, were killed in an explosion claimed by the PKK as a suicide attack.
No one at HSBC was available to comment today.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/16/2006
01:14 ||
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#1
Some of these incidents are caused by turkish provocatuers.
The children climb down into the crater left by an explosion and start picking up scraps of twisted metal. "Allah is great!" they shout before the camera hones in to show what one boy is holding: torn fabric, the colour of the camouflage fatigues worn by US troops. The next scene shows the same children holding aloft a human leg, shreds of the same camouflage fabric hang from it and the foot is clad in a military-style boot. The children trample the leg and kick it around in the dust.
"Today the Americans came to these parts and the buried bomb blew up their Hummer vehicle," says a teenage boy, adding, "if Allah wants it, the mujahadeen will win."
This grisly footage, purportedly shot in the Iraqi city of Ramadi, has appeared in the form of a three-minute video on the Internet. It marks the latest attempt by Jihadist militants to exploit children for propaganda purposes.
Last week Adnkronos International (AKI) obtained a copy of another video shot in Ramadi. On that occasion the action shown took place in the apparently placid setting of a school classroom.
Still, sinister references to the carnage that blights Iraq on a daily basis soon became evident. The pupils were being taught to sing Jihad songs by hooded militants who rewarded their efforts with pens, rulers and erasers. The video concluded with images of two small boys, clad in black tunics and wearing black ski masks and one holding a pistol in his tiny hand.
Unlike the professionally shot video of the schoolchildren posted on the Internet by the Ansar al-Sunna group, part of the terror galaxy of al-Qaeda linked Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the latest crudely filmed footage bears no indication on who its authors might be.
But the sudden appearance of children protagonists in the videos, indicates that the Jihadist militant groups have no intention of sparing the young from the horrors of the fighting. It also shows the extent of the militants' control in the restive al-Anbar province, were Ramadi is located.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/16/2006
01:13 ||
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#4
All the more reason to direct counter-batery fire towards all locations of enemy attacks with no known survivors. Car swarms, kiddie swarms, it matters not. Those kids waving that soldier's leg are the bomb vest wearers of tomorrow. Effing disgusting.
Posted by: Captain America ||
03/16/2006 14:27
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#6
All cultures, all civilizations, all religions are equal, have the same intrinsic values... but somehow I cannot imagine WWI or WWII children (and theses were wars on a scale unknown to any arab past or present) playing gleefully with the gory remains of a man, ennemy or not... but perhaps I'm naive, or bigoted?
#8
All cultures, all civilizations, all religions are equal, have the same intrinsic values
Ummmm ... no. Moral relativism is no longer applicable in an age of death-cult political ideology masquerading as a religion which is seeking nuclear weapons to achieve world domination.
#10
Thank you for clarifying. Far too many people still take moral relativism seriously, and in a final irony, some liberals (e.g., Germaine Greer) are actually embracing it once again.
#11
"All the more reason to direct counter-batery fire towards all locations of enemy attacks with no known survivors. Car swarms, kiddie swarms, it matters not."
"Those kids waving that soldier's leg are the bomb vest wearers of tomorrow. Effing disgusting."
If you are advocating killing children because you are feeling angry then it is you, sir, that is disgusting. Such views are more sickening than the video itself.
Killing children? Are you seriously advocating that, Zenster?
#14
Oh pleeease, you guys have huge double standards.
In other posts you rant how the extremists are animals for indoctrinating their kids or worse.
Then you say even if there is a street full of kids and one bad guy lets drop a bomb anyway. Forget about the kids.
'Discretion' is part what the west uses as it's moral high ground to distinguish us from them. If we ignore that then you are no better than they are.
Personally, I think it is sick that they allow (encourage) their kids to do these things. Hamas, et al, are particularly good at indoctrinating their toddlers. But from extremists what do you expect?
You cant claim moral high ground then deliberately call for the killing of innocent children. That is just sick.
#15
What a load of bullshit - and obvious hypocrisy.
In one breath you shake your tiny fists and squeak about double standards. In the very next breath you stamp your imprimatur on an obvious double standard by saying "But from extremists what do you expect?"
Hypocritical dimwit. You can't even be internally consistent in one comment and we're supposed to cower before your staged moral blitzkrieg?
You're developing a bad habit of blustering in and throwing an infantile hissy fit when you think you see an angle. Yawn. Manufactured outrage characterizes your drivel posts.
#17
Wow, it sure shook your tutu, GT. Personal insults no less. I am honoured.
"In one breath you shake your tiny fists and squeak about double standards. In the very next breath you stamp your imprimatur on an obvious double standard by saying "But from extremists what do you expect?"
What are you pointing to here? If there is any doubt, I am a middle aged white boy originally from Scotland and I am definately with you guys.
I dont however agree with the notion of killing innocent kids regardless,'kiddieswarms' as Zenster put it. Or the fact that grown men would do the same or even suggest it.
Are you saying you think it's OK to call for the killing of innocent kids GT?
#18
What am I pointing to? Are you daft? You claim we used double standards then did so yourself. Read. Think.
I'm saying you're a drama queen who has decided to make a couple of recent appearances full of bluster and bother, throwing 3 yr old hissy fits, and you're a hypocrit who can't construct a valid comment.
Many posts are angry and vindictive because of the acts of barbaric societies. He's not General Zenster so he won't be ordering up any air raids. Apply that perspective and your tirade is fucking manufactured outrage.
If you want to be constructive, then be constructive.
If you want to throw an infantile fit and parade some imaginary moral superiority, you'd better expect it to be critiqued and, if found wanting, lambasted for the charade it is.
I've been in combat and seen shit I'll never speak of. You can't teach me diddley-squat about horror or depravity or true morality. I take it personally when someone plays your game.
Goddamnit. I was trying to be nice today. Hell, I was nice when you showed up the other day with that RFID hissy. I spent time seeking out info to make heads or tails of the issue. You weren't constructive then and again not today. I don't want you with me. You're a childish poseur.
#19
So you wanna be nice. OK. I'll be nice and not rise to your insults. I get angry too you know but I dont run out calling for innocent kids to be bombed indiscriminantly.
I am being constructive. I am trying to determine where you guys draw the line and, knowing where that line is, whether it makes you different that THEY are or just the same....
"Apply that perspective and your tirade is fucking manufactured outrage."
How so? I do not remember ever hearing anyone from a civilised country calling for the indiscriminate killing of children. THIS IS MY QUESTION HERE.
You wrote a lot but you never managed to answer the question. Can you do that now GT?
#20
now, now, now children, put those things down before somebody gets hurt. it's all fund and games til someone get's an eye Or an opinion) poked out.
Personally, I think it is sick that they allow (encourage) their kids to do these things. Hamas, et al, are particularly good at indoctrinating their toddlers. But from extremists what do you expect?
Yes it is sick that they train their children this way. And what we expect is to eliminate the extremists and ensure this legacy of violence, hatred and intolerance comes to an end before we are all dead. Dead at the hands, perhaps of these very children. Children are the next wave of attackers - or haven't you been reading?
No one is advocating the killing of innocent children. but you will need to prepare yourself for the casualties among children that are likely to occur. They are used as shields and soon as weapons.
Just as we are told that not all muslims are extremists, we must understand that not all children are non-violent in make-up or given indoctrination such as these recent generations.
Harden yourself. Save those who can be, but up ahead, children are going to die. But, as the video shows, by the hand of muslims.
I think not. I think it was far more show than anything else. And the main realization for me, what hit the button for me, was your amazing sputtering rage, what?, 48 hours ago over the RFID story. It was absurd and over nothing. Today's post confirmed your pattern - your MO: manufactured outrage.
And if I see it again, I'll be happy to shit on you again. No need to thank me, I hate fuckers like you. Just part of the service.
Now if you want to engage Zenster, please be my guest. Drop the fax posturing and go for it.
If you again post drivel to the effect that all of the 'Burg is responsible for one post, then I'll fuck you every time I encounter you.
#23
Killing children? Are you seriously advocating that, Zenster?
One word, yes. When kids are already programmed to disfigure the remains of our soldiers, they are equally liable to assist in the planting (or lookout watch) of an IED. They want to play combatant, they can catch a slug.
Remember how Arafat used to surround himself with children wherever he went so the IDF wouldn't grease him like a squeaky undercarriage? The IDF should have whacked Arafat and his midget shields and let the Palestinian parents finally figure out that maybe their leaders' strategy wasn't so good. We've coddled these maggots for way too long.
It's time for the terrorists to understand that there is a horrific price if they involve their young in the battle. Once these rugrats are on the battlefield, all bets are off. The parents of these children need to learn that their lack of concern about where their children play and who they play with can have fatal consequences. Just like they need to learn that where their children pray and who they pray with can be just as fatal.
Like .com says, these radical Muslims have to come from somewhere. How many imams are sending their sons and daughters to a glorious death. Answer? ZEER-EFFING-OH. The moderate Muslims just do not care enough about what happens to their children. Maybe when they get home for supper in a pine box, they'll wise up.
If you hadn't noticed, we're fighting an enemy that, save for lack of access to advanced technology, makes the Nazis look like a bunch of schoolboys. If we do not begin to make life supremely miserable for all involved with terrorism, nobody in this massive death-cult will ever catch on.
Save your overinflated hypocritical moral indignation for someone who cares.
NOTE: To all who rose to my defense, especially GT and NS, you have my thanks. We may not all always agree on all things here, but the simply incredible level of demonic evil that terrorism represents requires a no-holds-barred attitude if we ever expect to come out of this alive.
But from extremists what do you expect?
I expect them to die and nothing else. The children of extremists need the same dose of salts. The pathological meme known as Islamist terrorism must be exterminated. When you clean out a rat's nest you don't set the pups free because they're so cute. Get a clue.
#24
GT I gotta laugh. Outrage?! This is what happens when I treat you nice?
WHen people make posts devoid of argument or intellectual capital with the sole purpose of backslapping each other in some misguided testosterone driven, patriarchal cameraderie then I take issue.
It seems you cant take it when I call folks on their shit.
All you can do is spout off, firing insults and personal name calling. AND you still have not answereed the question. WHY DIDN'T YOU ANSWER MY ORIGINAL QUESTION?
My argument is that, in our fine country, IT IS NOT OK to call for the mass killing of children. Whether you are "angry and vindictive" or not.
I look forward to jousting with you further GT. Just lay off the insults and I promise I will do the same.
"And if I see it again, I'll be happy to shit on you again. No need to thank me, I hate fuckers like you."
I'd like to say the same but I usually save my insults for someone I know. ;-)
#25
Dotcom used to say that someday we'd find ourselves shedding the Order of the Garter (which I had to google to make sense of, lol) nonsense which has us constantly fighting with one or both hands behind our backs. That we'd drop it when it cost us too dearly - and marvel at how naive we were in retrospect. *shudder*
I don't want to go there, but my gut says we will - dragged kicking and screaming by those who insist upon it - another dotcom phrase.
Sucks, but I lost my doubts while watching the Iranian situation build.
#28
I do hope you're right, FOTSGreg. However, like so many urban legends, it does fit nicely with what we know about the Islamofascists and the Baathists, and the way they rear their children. Look at the car swarming behaviour of the Palestinians, and how those kids take away bits of their heroes' bits after a missile hit.
#29
Killing children? Are you seriously advocating that, Zenster?
One word, yes
Wow. Just fucking wow. I'm not sure who I want to win anymore, if that's the case. And no regulars stepped in. Just wow.
Posted by: MO ||
03/16/2006 23:13
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#30
Hey, Rantburg has got its Kos moment now ;-)
Posted by: MO ||
03/16/2006 23:16
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#31
MO, you did notice that Zenster is advocating treating children who dance around with enemy body parts the same way he advocates treating adults who do the same. I don't agree with his Kill 'em all! approach overall, but that isn't what he's suggesting here. How would you suggest we handle this kind of situation, if indeed the video wasn't staged, or very old news?
THE late head of the Saudi branch of Al-Qaeda, killed in February, has warned the Americans to leave the Arab peninsula and threatened Saudi officials, in a video aired online.
"I say to Americans; leave the peninsula of Mohammed... Get out of all the Muslim territories. Stop supporting the Jews in Palestine. Otherwise you will only know death, destruction and explosions," Fahd bin Faraj al-Joweir said in a posthumous message posted today by the "Organisation of al-Qaeda in the Arab peninsula".
He's dead and we're not. That really should tell them something, but it won't, of course...
Turning his attentions to the "apostate" Saudi Government, Joweir said in his reported comments: "If you realise that the Mujahadeen is after you, you will concentrate only on your preparations to flee", who also called on members of the Saudi security forces to "cease working for the tyrants and to join the Mujahadeen."
"And I have one more statement for my mujahadeen brothers:
'Rosebud, dammit.'"
Joweir was among five militants killed in a shootout in Riyadh in late February. He was suspected of participating in a foiled attack on the world's largest oil processing plant at Abqaiq, in the kingdom's eastern oil fields, the previous week. Two suicide bombers and two security guards died in that action. An al-Qaeda statement posted on the internet claimed responsibility for the attack. The failed attempt to blow up the world's largest oil processing plant sent shock waves through financial markets, but Riyadh was swift to calm jittery markets with reassurances about the security of its petrol supplies.
#8
Jack Burton: ...and go off and rule the universe from beyond the grave. Lo Pan: Indeed! Jack Burton: or check into a psycho ward, which ever comes first, huh?
President Bush plans to issue a new national security strategy today reaffirming his doctrine of preemptive war against terrorists and hostile states with chemical, biological or nuclear weapons, despite the troubled experience in Iraq.
The long-overdue document, an articulation of U.S. strategic priorities that is required by law, lays out a robust view of America's power and an assertive view of its responsibility to bring change around the world. On topics including genocide, human trafficking and AIDS, the strategy describes itself as "idealistic about goals and realistic about means."
The strategy expands on the original security framework developed by the Bush administration in September 2002, before the invasion of Iraq. That strategy shifted U.S. foreign policy away from decades of deterrence and containment toward a more aggressive stance of attacking enemies before they attack the United States.
The preemption doctrine generated fierce debate at the time, and many critics believe the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq fatally undermined an essential assumption of the strategy -- that intelligence about an enemy's capabilities and intentions can be sufficient to justify preventive war.
In his revised version, Bush offers no second thoughts about the preemption policy, saying it "remains the same" and defending it as necessary for a country in the "early years of a long struggle" akin to the Cold War. In a nod to critics in Europe, the document places a greater emphasis on working with allies and declares diplomacy to be "our strong preference" in tackling the threat of weapons of mass destruction.
"If necessary, however, under long-standing principles of self defense, we do not rule out use of force before attacks occur, even if uncertainty remains as to the time and place of the enemy's attack," the document continues. "When the consequences of an attack with WMD are potentially so devastating, we cannot afford to stand idly by as grave dangers materialize."
Such language could be seen as provocative at a time when the United States and its European allies have brought Iran before the U.N. Security Council to answer allegations that it is secretly developing nuclear weapons. At a news conference in January, Bush described an Iran with nuclear arms as a "grave threat to the security of the world."
Some security specialists criticized the continued commitment to preemption. "Preemption is and always will be a potentially useful tool, but it's not something you want to trot out and throw in everybody's face," said Harlan Ullman, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "To have a strategy on preemption and make it central is a huge error."
A military attack against Iran, for instance, could be "foolish," Ullman said, and it would be better to seek other ways to influence its behavior. "I think most states are deterrable."
Thomas Donnelly, a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute who has written on the 2002 strategy, said the 2003 invasion of Iraq in the strict sense is not an example of preemptive war, because it was preceded by 12 years of low-grade conflict and was essentially the completion of the 1991 Persian Gulf War. Still, he said, recent problems there contain lessons for those who would advocate preemptive war elsewhere. A military strike is not enough, he said; building a sustainable, responsible state in place of a rogue nation is the real challenge.
"We have to understand preemption -- it's not going to be simply a preemptive strike," he said. "That's not the end of the exercise but the beginning of the exercise."
The White House plans to release the 49-page National Security Strategy today, starting with a speech by national security adviser Stephen J. Hadley to the U.S. Institute of Peace. The White House gave advance copies to The Washington Post and three other newspapers.
The strategy has no legal force of its own but serves as a guidepost for agencies and officials drawing up policies in a range of military, diplomatic and other arenas. Although a 1986 law requires that the strategy be revised annually, this is the first new version since 2002. "I don't think it's a change in strategy," Hadley said in an interview. "It's an updating of where we are with the strategy, given the time that's passed and the events that have occurred."
But the new version of the strategy underscores in a more thematic way Bush's desire to make the spread of democracy the fundamental underpinning of U.S. foreign policy, as he expressed in his second inaugural address last year. The opening words of the strategy, in fact, are lifted from that speech: "It is the policy of the United States to seek and support democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world."
The strategy commits the administration to speaking out against human rights abuses, holding high-level meetings at the White House with reformers from repressive nations, using foreign aid to support elections and civil society, and applying sanctions against oppressive governments. It makes special mention of religious intolerance, subjugation of women and human trafficking.
At the same time, it acknowledges that "elections alone are not enough" and sometimes lead to undesirable results. "These principles are tested by the victory of Hamas candidates in the recent elections in the Palestinian territories," the strategy says, referring to the radical group designated as a terrorist organization by the United States.
Without saying what action would be taken against them, the strategy singles out seven nations as prime examples of "despotic systems" -- North Korea, Iran, Syria, Cuba, Belarus, Burma and Zimbabwe. Iran and North Korea receive particular attention because of their nuclear programs, and the strategy vows in both cases "to take all necessary measures" to protect the United States against them.
"We may face no greater challenge from a single country than from Iran," the document says, echoing a statement made by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice last week. It recommits to efforts with European allies to pressure Tehran to give up any aspirations of nuclear weapons, then adds ominously: "This diplomatic effort must succeed if confrontation is to be avoided."
The language about confrontation is not repeated with North Korea, which says it already has nuclear bombs, an assertion believed by U.S. intelligence. But Pyongyang is accused of a "bleak record of duplicity and bad-faith negotiations," as well as of counterfeiting U.S. currency, trafficking in drugs and starving its own people.
The strategy offers a much more skeptical view of Russia than in 2002, when the glow of Bush's friendship with President Vladimir Putin was still bright.
"Recent trends regrettably point toward a diminishing commitment to democratic freedoms and institutions," it says. "We will work to try to persuade the Russian Government to move forward, not backward, along freedom's path."
It also warns China that "it must act as a responsible stakeholder that fulfills its obligations" and guarantee political freedom as well as economic freedom. "Our strategy," the document says, "seeks to encourage China to make the right strategic choices for its people, while we hedge against other possibilities."
To assuage allies antagonized by Bush's go-it-alone style in his first term, the White House stresses alliance and the use of what it calls "transformational diplomacy" to achieve change. At the same time, it asserts that formal structures such as the United Nations or NATO may at times be less effective than "coalitions of the willing," or groups responding to particular situations, such as the Asian tsunami of 2004.
Beyond the military response to terrorism, the document emphasizes the need to fight the war of ideas against Islamic radicals whose anti-American rhetoric has won wide sympathy in parts of the world.
The strategy also addresses topics largely left out of the 2002 version, including a section on genocide and a new chapter on global threats such as avian influenza, AIDS, environmental destruction and natural disasters. Critics have accused the administration of not doing enough to stop genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan, responding too slowly to the Asian tsunami and disregarding global environmental threats such as climate change.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/16/2006
01:10 ||
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#1
"idealistic about goals and realistic about means." Support for Iraq federalism rather than centralism is an example of realism. Could happen if the al-Sadr shakedown is squelched.
#5
"Whatever you do, you need courage. Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising that tempt you to believe your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires some of the same courage that a soldier needs. Peace has its victories, but it takes brave men and women to win them."
-- -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
#6
That is why you hit them BEFORE they get the functional nuclear weapons, along with the tested delivery systems. MAD or Mutually Assured Destruction is a deterrent when you faced essential rational individuals, not when you face psychopaths looking to a reward in an afterlife. That is why you remove their ability to assure your destruction before it comes completely online.
#8
Bystander is Just Curious/Left Angle/Cassini, etc.
Multiple personality disorder, so sad..
Posted by: Steve ||
03/16/2006 13:25
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#9
Like I said, pre-emptive war works only on countries that cant defend themselves. With the results of U.S. Pre-War Intelligence on Iraq's WMD'S, I would be very hestitant to start a pre-emptive war based on it. It would be utterly foolish to do so. A maybe they do, maybe they dont intelligence report could reap disasterous results, particulary dealing with a nation developing Nuclear capabilities.
#10
What is utterly foolish is to pontificate while a clear and present danger emerges.
Why, such a clear dereliction of duty would be grounds for impeachment.
Everything changes, evolves, demands reassessment, demands those entrusted with the security of the nation fulfill their duty to preserve, protect, and defend the nation. Strategies to accomplish that end must evolve in synch. Pre-emption is an example which has emerged in response to the changing reality and is, apparently, beyond your capacity to fathom.
What I can't figure out why you're still allowed on this site.
#11
Where are the Iraqi WMD's Bush KNEW they had?
Iraq is a f**king mess and you on the right give Bush a free pass on his blunder. The strategy of pre-emptive war is not how the U.S. has dealt with security issues in the past and if Iraq is an example, it damn sure shoudnt be how we deal with it the future.
One more thing. President Bush is a cowardly, fake-macho bully. He only picks on nations he KNOWS that cant defend themselves like Iraq.
I dare him to do a pre-emptive strike on the likes of Iran or N. Korea. Lets see how his "cowboy" bs works then..lmao
No, sir I see reality just fine. I call em just like I see em. I'm not among the "brainwashed true believers" (Bushwackers) such as yourself.
Preemptive strikes work only partially against nations that cant defend themselves.
Apparently, the majority of the American people
are starting to understand this too. Looked at Bush's poll numbers on Iraq lately?
How much you want to bet that President Bush does or doesnt launch an pre-emptive strike against Iran or N. Korea? He wont do it because he knows these nations can defend themselves and wont back down to his threats. In essense he is as most Republicans are: cowards/bullies. lmao
#15
I look forward to Bystander's thinking (under whatever name it favours at the time to evade Fred's security measures) once it's had time to digest the Saddam papers being released by Negroponte's people. This does presume that it starts to think at that point, of course. Perhpas Bystander should consider a course of Arabic studies, so it can do its own translating, instead of relying on those employed by the government... which would also give it something productive to do for a couple of years.
#16
LOL, TW. Too much tinfoil, Icke, Jones, Chomsky, and Kool Aid - I doubt it can become a useful idiot, not to mention a rational or productive citizen. The desire to glow in the dark is strong with this one, LOL.
And if they need to block all IP's coming out of BC (isn't that where this particular moron's mossy rock is located?), well, them's the breaks.
you are a genius, clearly you are..I've been reading your posting in here and clearly, clearly
you are an advanced species. I stand in awe of your brilliant analysis of political issues..
you are an exemplary example of the "intellectual firepower" in this site as Zenster says...rotflmao
#21
Bypolarstander, it's not Bush who screwed up the Iraqi democracy, it's the bitter Iraqis and jealous Arabs who refuse to accept such a major gift. One would think that such a brainiak as you would already know that. It's like you're blaming the bad behavior of the junk yard dogs on Ford.
Ford may make junks, but they don't make dogs, silly bystander.
#23
So, tell us Bystander/Just Curious/Left Angle/Cassini,or whoever you are today.
You work at National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, or are you a patient there? That's where your IP sez you're posting from, specificly the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/16/2006 16:23
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#24
Shlemp Thatch:
pointless: exactly how I regard your comments about my comments. I have heard this same bs
you post so many times from bushwackers that it has become redundant. I could have told you what you were going to say before you even said it. waste a thought on me? You keep responding to what I'm saying because you know I'm correct.
I will say this one more time in the most basic terms because there is no need to overintellectualize it as you "geniuses" in here are wont to do.
Bush's policies of spreading democracy to the middle east and pre-emptive war strikes to ward off future domestic attacks against the U.S.
simply will not work and are doomed to failure.
The war on Iraq is a incredible blunder that is a waste of time, money and american military lives and will do absolutely nothing to prevent a future terrorist attack against the domestic U.S..
finally once again:
President Bush is a incompetent fake-macho bully, who makes incredibly bad decisions that cause far more problems than they solve. example#1 The Iraqi War.
I'm not the first person to say these things and there are millions of us that believe them to be true: we are called democrats. yeah dude, everyone on the left that believes these things is a moron. the real "morons" are the bushwakers like yourself that blindly buy into his bs propaganda and faked out version of reality...
go ahead and follow him off that cliff every thing is going just great for bush right dude?...lmao
#25
What? I thought for sure it was some devious Karl Rove/Halliburton plot.
Damn.
I guess I need new tinfoil. My beanie's not working.
Good thing he's posting on my taxpayer dime to keep me aware of all the dastardly, nefarious Republican plots. Maybe we should contact Bethesda to let them know how much we 'preciate his taking all these breaks from work to let us know the truth?
#26
Your BDS was never in doubt. And, BTW, where I go, you go, fool - the Pubs are in control, little one. You're a born loser and obviously too limited to change. Thus a loser you'll remain, powerless, irrelevant, always flailing away ineffectually, tilting at windmills, spewing your cute little temper tantrums, wasting your life on half-assed lunacy and half-baked conspiracies. A sucker for the idiot industry. When you're old and gray, assuming you aren't run over by a bus while throwing a fit on the centerline mewlin and sputtering in your powerless rage, you will die knowing you've been an utter fool, a tool of those who hate you and everything you cherish. You'll die as you were born - a fool, a loser. No one will notice. No one will care. No one.
So you think the republican hold on power is permanent? rotflmao
if you were half the political genius you think you are you would know that is nonsense.
Any basic novice knows that american politics happens in cycles...and eventually at some point in the near future democrats WILL regain power,
just as they did for most of the 20th century.
I dont care if what names you call me because deep in that empty rnc brainwashed skull of yours you KNOW I'm correct. you have been checkmated by a moron..who's the loser now?
GOOD NIGHT.
#29
Whatever Bush has for a stratgery, it has got to be better than anything the Dems come up with. The only thing the Dems can think of is voting on a censure resolution on Bush in hopes it will lead to the ultimate prize of Impeachment. This, of course, has the LLL Fever Swamp masturbating uncontrollably until the grasp onto the concept of President Cheney, Frist, Rice, or Gonzales. I want to thank them for once again rallying the Republican base for what will shape up to be one hoot of an ass whooping come this November. After which of course we will hear endless stories of Republicans looking cross-eyed at potential Dem voters causing them to flee the polling place, stories of waiting in line for hours (ever hear of absentee voting?), and those damn Diebold machines operated by KBR contractors! Thank you Russ Finegold!
#30
Poor, dear "Bystander" thinks we haven't been clear on his talking points since his first post under whatever name it was that he used in the long ago mists of time when he first discover Rantburg. How sad. How very unperceptive of him... not that it's fair to expect otherwise, poor darling.
I mean, political cycles, fergoodnessake! Little children know about taking turns even in pre-school -- but it takes a bit more intelligence or experience to realize that the turns may last minutes.... or generations. And in this country it appears that "generations" is the normal length of that sine curve. Perhaps darling whoever it is today hasn't lived long enough, or is just nearsighted.
#35
From Gorby to Putin, RUSSIA reserves its unilateral unconditional national right to use any and means, including military force, to protect the lives of Russian citizens and emigres' abroad, against any country. CHINA also has said the same thing, only more subtledly. Both Russia and China's [SSSHHHHHH, PRE-9-11]precepts strongly imply/infer the use of unilater[MOTHERLY]PREEMPTIVE STRIKE, so why not Clintonian Fascist = Semi-Commie/Half-A-Commie Male Brute Amerikkka!?
A NEW US national security strategy document reaffirms the White House stance on pre-emptive war against threatening foreign states and terrorists, despite the country's mounting troubles in Iraq. In a quadrennial review of national security strategy to be released today, the White House also singles out Iran as possibly the greatest threat to the US, the Washington Post reported.
"We may face no greater challenge from a single country than from Iran," it says, according to the Post, noting Tehran's alleged pursuit of nuclear weapons.
But it also cites challenging situations in North Korea, Russia and China, according to the newspaper. It calls on Beijing to "act as a responsible stakeholder", adding that "Our strategy ... seeks to encourage China to make the right strategic choices for its people, while we hedge against other possibilities".
The 49-page document reiterates the stance laid out in the 2002 document moving away from deterrence and containment to a more aggressive stance toward US enemies, the Post said. "If necessary, however, under long-standing principles of self defence, we do not rule out use of force before attacks occur, even if uncertainty remains as to the time and place of the enemy's attack," it says. "When the consequences of an attack with WMD (weapons of mass destruction) are potentially so devastating, we cannot afford to stand idly by as grave dangers materialise," it says.
The strategy, to be made public with a speech by White House national security adviser Stephen Hadley later today, "serves as a guidepost for agencies and officials drawing up policies in a range of military, diplomatic and other arenas", the Post said. "I don't think it's a change in strategy," Hadley told the Post. "It's an updating of where we are with the strategy, given the time that's passed and the events that have occurred."
#1
A NEW US national security strategy document reaffirms the White House stance on pre-emptive war against threatening foreign states and terrorists, despite the country's mounting troubles in Iraq
Trouble in Iraq is not due to war. It's due to assuming that Arabs are capable of enlightened self-interest.
#2
It calls on Beijing to "act as a responsible stakeholder", adding that "Our strategy ... seeks to encourage China to make the right strategic choices for its people, while we hedge against other possibilities".
Yeah, sure. And every Saturday night monkeys fly outta my butt.
#3
Neither the Spetzlamists nor SpetzNorks, Russia andor China, will have tp worry about US-specific Preemptive Strike iff George Norry's belief about AMerica being controlled by a Totalitarian, likely Socialist-Communist Government and One World Order, in 10-15 years, holds true. *Getting the Fed to PC/PDeniably take over everything so that POTUS Hillary can take it away from us, in the name of good, proper Socialism, anti-Morals Morality and human decency, and of course permanent Deficit Budgeting/Accounting and Deficit-happy/based Universal Ultra-Conservatism, i.e. Totalitarianism, where the Gummermint has no choice fiscally except to make the decisions for everyone.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) has created a website where it will post documents captured in postwar Afghanistan and Iraq. The website is hosted by the Foreign Military Studies Office Joint Reserve Intelligence Center at Fort Leavenworth and will be updated continuously with new documents.
The first batch of materials, released late Wednesday, includes nine documents captured in connection with Operation Iraqi Freedom and 28 documents previously released on February 14, 2006, in conjunction with a study of those documents conducted by analysts at West Point. Sources on Capitol Hill and within the intelligence community tell The Weekly Standard that hundreds of new documents will be made available in the coming days, including 50-60 hours of audiotapes from the Iraqi regime.
ODNI officials will concentrate their early efforts on making available audiotapes and videotapes that have come from the former Iraqi regime. Twenty-five Arabic language translators will be hired to review these recordings for potentially sensitive information before they are posted. According to officials familiar with the DOCEX program, the U.S. government has in its possession more than 3,000 hours of recordings from the Iraqi regime. Among the collection: recordings of meetings between Saddam Hussein and other regime leaders; videotapes of speeches that Saddam thought would be important; audio and video of Saddam's meetings with foreign leaders; videotapes from conferences sponsored by the regime; and even videotapes of regime-sponsored brutality.
Materials made public in the first wave of the release will be those least likely to raise objections from the intelligence community and U.S. allies. Negroponte plans to include many of the documents labeled "NIV"--for No Intelligence Value--in this first group of materials.
But Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, insists that documents relevant to the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 will be released in short order. "There may be many documents that relate to their WMD programs. Those should be released," says Hoekstra. "Same thing with links to terrorism."
Among that next batch may be the approximately 700 documents that served as the foundation for a fascinating study by the Joint Forces Command in Norfolk, Virginia. Analysts from the Institute for Defense Analysis reviewed thousands of documents for that two-year study of the Iraq War from the perspective of Iraqis. Declassified excerpts of their final report were published in a highly illuminating article in the forthcoming issue of Foreign Affairs. And the full report will be published as a book in the coming months.
It is hard to say what, exactly, to expect with the coming release of documents. There will be documents that lend support to those who opposed the war in Iraq and, to be sure, documents that bolster the case for those who supported the war.
Importantly, after years of questions about the threat from the Iraqi regime, we will now be able to get some answers. How close were the French and the Russians to the former Iraqi regime? What kind of information was being passed to the Iraqis on the eve of war in early 2003? What is the real story of Iraq's WMD programs? Why did Saddam's military leaders and scientists fabricate their reports on the progress of those programs? Which terrorist groups had an active presence in Baghdad? How many Palestinian Liberation Front jihadists did the Iraqi regime train each year? How effective was Saddam Hussein in deceiving UN inspectors throughout the 1990s? What did Saddam Hussein privately tell Yasser Arafat when the Palestinian leader came to Baghdad? And what were the Western targets of the "Blessed July" martyrdom operation that was being planned as U.S. troops crossed into Iraq in March 2003?
There are still outstanding process questions that must be answered, too. Who determines which documents will be released and which ones will be kept secret? And what are the criteria for blocking the release of material thought to be sensitive?
Another critical issue is authenticity. A caveat on the website reads: "The US Government has made no determination regarding the authenticity of the documents, validity or factual accuracy of the information contained therein, or the quality of any translations, when available." Determining which documents are authentic and which are not will be an incredibly important task. This will be difficult task too, since many of the documents have no known chain of custody. There was a bustling black market for forged documents in Baghdad after the war. How will we determine which documents are real and which documents are not? Some documents listed in the HARMONY database have warnings: "DIA suspects inauthentic." Will those documents be included in the release? Will the warnings? Will we learn why the DIA suspected that the document might not be authentic? Has forensic document authentication been done on any of the documents? Which ones?
In the end, the Iraqis themselves will provide answers to many of those questions. And Iraqis will probably be central to our understanding of these documents and the history they represent. This is true not only because they understand the language of the documents, but also because they understand better than anyone the culture that produced them.
In that spirit, we will be eager to hear from the "Army of Analysts"--particularly those who read Arabic--that former intelligence officer Michael Tanji wrote about here two days ago. If John Negroponte makes good on his promise of a comprehensive document release, then millions of papers, audiotapes, and other media will be posted in the coming months. As we've seen, that's an overwhelming amount for the U.S. government, to say nothing of a magazine.
Let's get started.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/16/2006
01:02 ||
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The recent release from prison of dozens of terrorists in Indonesia, has sparked concern that this may be a prelude to a new wave of attacks. "They served their time according to the law and there is not much that can be done about it," Ken Conboy, a seasoned expert on terrorism in the region told Adnkronos International (AKI). "It is right that they are released but the danger of them falling back into terrorism is real," he said.
Dozens of terrorists arrested in Indonesia in the past few years were released in the past few months after they had served their short sentences in the prisons of Jakarta.
Among them was Abu Rusdan, who experts believe is the one who took control of the regional terrorist group, Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) after the arrest of their spiritual leader Abu Bakar Bashir in 2002. According to the Indonesian police, Rusdan himself was succeeded by Abu Dujana as the leader of the group.
"Dujana has been known for a while but I am not too sure whether he is the new operative head of the group," said Conboy who is also the author of a book entitled The Second Front: Inside Jemaah Islamiyah, a book that traces the recent history of the Asian terrorist organisation, which has links to the al-Qaeda network.
Like Abu Rusdan, who was released on good behaviour in January after serving three and a half years in jail for having hidden one of the fugitives of the 2002 Bali Bombings, tens of other convicted terrorists are now at large.
"There are lots of them who are being released. The Indonesian intelligence does not have the resources to follow them all," said Conboy, stressing yet againt that the "danger is high".
In an attempt to ease public concern, the Indonesian police said that all those released are still being closely monitored.
Conboy is however not particularly concerned about the imminent release of Abu Bakar Bashir, the radical cleric and spiritual leader of JI and was condemned to 30 months in prison for having "instigated" that attacks in Bali in 2002 which killed more than 200 people. After a series of remissions of his jai sentence, Bashir will be freed later this year in June.
"Bashir has never been directly involved in running the organization. If anything, he is the ideologist and whether in prison or out it does not make much difference," said Conboy.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/16/2006
01:00 ||
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Inside the courtroom Wednesday, deposed despot Saddam Hussein called for Iraqis to rise up against U.S. occupying forces.
In the courtroom, Saddam got the chance Wednesday to present his defense. He and seven other Baath Party officials are charged with 148 deaths in the village of Dujail after a 1982 assassination attempt against him.
Instead of defending himself, Saddam tried to turn the appearance into a political rally, giving a long, sometimes eloquent and frequently censored speech. The speech reminded Iraqis of hundreds he'd delivered during 35 years as a dominant force, and then dictator.
"I call on you Iraqi people to go back and resist," he said. "I call upon you Iraqi people to stop wounding each other."
Later, he added: "It's only a short time before the sun will rise where there has been dark."
Saddam called the court "a comedy," referred to occupation forces as "Satan" and insisted that he's still the president of Iraq. But, standing in the dock, an ill-fitting white collar exposing his scraggy neck, it became clear that he no longer was feared by the government he'd ruled until the U.S.-led coalition forced him from office in 2003.
Chief Tribunal Judge Raouf Abdel Rahman shouted down Saddam on several occasions - berating him for talking about politics when he faced very serious criminal charges - and effectively silenced him.
Throughout the trial, Rahman occasionally has turned on a red light, a sign to technicians to turn off a defendant's microphone.
Wednesday, Rahman hit the mute button at least nine times during Saddam's half-hour of testimony before ejecting reporters from the courtroom and cutting the taped television feed for good.
What could be heard was combative, and left Rahman and Saddam alternately shouting and smirking.
Saddam: "I am still the president."
Rahman: "You were the president. Now you are a suspect."
Later, after Rahman again reminded Saddam to stick to his defense and avoid politics, the former dictator responded: "It's only because of politics that I am here, and you are there."
After Saddam exchanged angry words with prosecutor Ja'afar al-Moosawi, Rahman said: "This is a tribunal, not chaos."
Saddam rolled his eyes and answered: "Yeah, it's a tribunal."
Saddam saved his harshest words for U.S. forces. He quoted the Quran: "God give us patience and make our feet steady and make us victorious over the infidels." He referred to "this so-called court under the despicable occupation ... which is being represented by this farce."
And he talked about Iraqis, saying: "I was their loyal son and leader, their pure fountain from which they drank ... and they were my shield and sword, within the great Iraq."
In addition to claiming to still be president, he claimed to still head Iraq's armed forces. He also, on several occasions, predicted that the occupation would fail.
"How the occupation's belly spills out of its guts and its nakedness becomes obvious. So the invaders and their supporters realize that they are on their certain way to being swept out, to becoming garbage."
After the courtroom was closed to the public, the trial was adjourned to April 5. Saddam didn't publicly address the crimes with which he's charged, which could result in capital punishment.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/16/2006
00:53 ||
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#1
Do they have "Not guilty, by reason of insanity" as an available verdict in Iraq?
#3
An Insanity plea would not help, he's been crazy for years.
I recall some years ago when one of the Princelings (Forget exactly which country) assassinated his ruler and claimed insanity.
The judge effectively said "Yep he's ceazy, execution is Wednesday."
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
03/16/2006 8:22
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#4
I further recall that they had to get a ceremonial sword out of a museum to behead the perp the way the law required.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
03/16/2006 14:07
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#5
Next week Sammy does the Howard Dean scream YEAHEHHHH from the witness stand.
Publications promoting jihad and a Pakistani militant group were found in the home of a father and son who are charged with lying about the younger man attending an al-Qaida training camp, a prosecutor said Wednesday.
FBI agents found the items while searching the family home in the Central Valley town of Lodi two days after the men were arrested last June, Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Tice-Raskin said during the men's trial in U.S. District Court.
"This is the book entitled 'Book of Jihad,'" he said. "It teaches the virtues of violent jihad," the Arabic term for holy war.
A magazine found with the book was published in Urdu by "a well-known militant group in Pakistan," Tice-Raskin told U.S. District Judge Garland Burrell Jr.
FBI agent Bridget Cox testified that the magazine had "pictures of violence, dead persons and military items like machine guns." She said financial and insurance documents were seized with the publications.
Hamid Hayat, 23, and his father, 48-year-old Umer Hayat, are being tried in front of separate juries, which were together in the courtroom for the second time Wednesday during the fifth week of their trial.
Hamid Hayat is being tried on three counts of lying to the FBI and separate charges of providing material support to terrorists by attending the camp. His father is charged with two counts of making false statements to the FBI.
Both men have pleaded not guilty. Their attorneys contend that the younger man never actually attended a camp despite repeated promises, and government witnesses say they have little proof other than the men's statements, which were videotaped by the FBI.
Agents searching their home also found a scrapbook kept by Hamid Hayat that was filled with anti-American Pakistani newspaper articles that defend al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden and Afghanistan's Taliban, and indict the United States as "the world's biggest terrorist." The articles date from 1999 to just after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
FBI translator Phamas Batti testified earlier this week that agents also seized two books from a laundry room, including one with the word "jihad" written on it.
The separate juries previously have viewed hours of incriminating statements given by the men during lengthy videotaped interviews with the FBI. They also have been read transcripts of hundreds of hours of secretly taped conversations with an FBI informant who infiltrated Lodi's Pakistani community in the months after the 2001 terrorist attacks.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/16/2006
00:51 ||
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Named detainees: 186, citizens of two dozen countries including Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Accusations: Recruiting for the Taliban, helping Osama bin Laden escape U.S. troops, harboring gunmen who attacked American special forces.
These details, and many more, emerge from more than 5,000 pages of newly released transcripts of detainee hearings at the U.S. military base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. But as much as they reveal about the U.S. war against terrorism, much more remains unknown the answers tantalizingly beyond reach.
Where, for example, is Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, who was captured in Pakistan three years ago by CIA officers and Pakistani authorities?
He may be among the more than 600 detainees who have been held at Guantanamo Bay whose names don't appear in the transcripts, obtained through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by The Associated Press. Or he might be at the U.S. military base on the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia, or in one of the secret detention centers allegedly used by the CIA to interrogate al-Qaeda suspects.
Where is Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, allegedly involved in al-Qaeda's 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania? He was captured after a gunbattle in Pakistan in July 2004 and handed over to the United States.
The transcripts, of hearings held to determine whether a detainee is an enemy combatant, don't say.
None of the terrorist masterminds captured by America and its allies appear in the transcripts. It's possible that high-value detainees with considerable evidence against them wouldn't have tried to challenge their status as enemies of the United States.
The only exception is Abu Zubaydah, an al-Qaeda commander. A detainee mentioned to the tribunal that Zubaydah, who was wounded and captured in March 2002 in a gunbattle in Pakistan, was being held at Guantanamo Bay.
Many of those whose names do appear are accused of relatively minor or vague offenses, such as working as a driver or cook for the Taliban or receiving military training. Others were accused of fighting U.S. troops or coordinating ambushes. The detainees often denied the accusations, saying they were farmers, merchants or charity workers who in some cases were simply caught up in the Afghan war.
Nor do the transcripts fully illuminate the quality of evidence that has kept detainees behind bars at Guantanamo Bay, some for more than four years. The transcripts describe only unclassified evidence, much of it ambiguous. If a man owned a rifle, that's considered evidence, even though many men in Afghanistan keep weapons for protection.
The transcripts mark the first time that large numbers of detainees have been officially identified, but the Pentagon hasn't said whether these men are still in Guantanamo or were among the 267 prisoners released or transferred to date.
What is clear from the transcripts is the frustration of detainees trying to defend themselves against often hazy accusations.
Mohammed Sharif, an Afghan, was accused of guarding a Taliban camp. He denied it and urged the military tribunal to produce the classified evidence against him. An unidentified tribunal member seemed as mystified as Sharif.
"Q: You mentioned that if we had facts or proof against you, you would understand why you were a prisoner, is that correct?
"A: Yes.
"Q: What could you have possibly done, that we might discover some of those facts?
"A: That's my point. There are no facts ... This is ridiculous. I know for a fact there is no proof."
The lack of concrete evidence cited in the transcripts against detainees many of whom were captured in Afghanistan in the months following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks might create the impression they're being held unjustly, said John Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org, a military policy think tank.
"I think it is going to strengthen the perception that we've rounded up a bunch of bystanders that we just rounded up a bunch of Muslims to torment them," Pike said. He pointed out that pursuing shadowy enemy combatants is completely different from nailing common criminals.
"The sort of evidence you're going to be able to gather is not going to be courtroom quality evidence," Pike in a telephone interview from Alexandria, Va.
But attorney Gaillard Hunt, who represents a Guantanamo Bay detainee, said he has seen heavily censored classified evidence against his client, and described it as thin.
"It was underwhelming," Hunt said, adding that he is barred from discussing the evidence, even with his client, Pakistani millionaire Saifullah Paracha. Paracha is accused of laundering money for al-Qaeda and plotting to smuggle explosives into the United States.
Bill Goodman, of the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights, said the transcripts contain no hint of significant classified evidence.
"You would think that if they had something more substantial, that you would see shadows of it in the transcripts," Goodman said. "But you don't see it."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/16/2006
00:47 ||
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#1
Is it too much to ask lawyers not to take to treason as their first choice?
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
03/16/2006 7:10
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On the eve of the first session of Iraq's new parliament and within days of the third anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion, vehicles were banned from Baghdad's streets to prevent car bombings, the country lay under the shadow of a feared civil war and politicians reported a stalemate over the next government.
Continuing divisions among lawmakers suggested Thursday's opening session of the legislature may do little more than swear in members elected in landmark elections three months earlier.
There was little sign of progress after a second full day of meetings among leaders of the major political blocs. U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad brokered the sessions, designed to speed agreement on the next government's shape.
I expect that there still will be difficulties over choosing the prime minister, said Mahmoud Othman, a Kurdish politician who was in Wednesday's session.
Khalilzad has be pressing political leaders to reach agreement on a national unity government, under which the country's majority Shiite Muslims would share Cabinet posts equitably with minority Sunnis and Kurds.
The Americans see that as the best opportunity for blunting the insurgency that has ravaged the country since 2003. If a strong central government were in place, Washington had hoped to start removing some troops by summer.
Under the constitution, the largest parliamentary bloc, controlled by Shiites, has the right to nominate the prime minister. The Shiites named the current prime minister, Ibrahim al-Jaafari.
Politicians involved in the negotiations have said part of the Shiite bloc, those aligned with Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, would like to see al-Jaafari ousted but fear the consequences, given his backing from radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and al-Sadr's thousands-strong Mahdi Army.
Meanwhile, the U.S. military dispatched a battalion of soldiers from the 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division about 700 troops to Iraq from its base in Kuwait to provide extra security for Shiite holy cities as tens of thousands of pilgrims converged for a major religious commemoration that came under attack in the two previous years.
Monday marks the end of the 40-day mourning period after the death of Imam Hussein in 680 A.D. He was the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad and was killed in Karbala in present-day Iraq, now the site of massive Shiite pilgrimages to mark the date.
The day also marks the third anniversary since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq on March 20, 2003.
Authorities in one of the Shiite holy cities, Karbala, imposed a six-day driving ban starting Thursday in a bid to protect pilgrims this year.
In violence Wednesday, a U.S. air strike north of the capital killed 11 people most of them women and children, said police and relatives of the victims. The U.S. military said it captured the target of the raid, a man suspected of supporting foreign fighters of the al-Qaeda in Iraq terror network.
But the military said only four people were killed a man, two women and a child.
Troops were engaged by enemy fire as they approached the building, said Tech. Sgt. Stacy Simon, a military spokeswoman. Coalition forces returned fire utilizing both air and ground assets.
Police Capt. Laith Mohammed said the attack near Balad, 50 miles north of Baghdad, involved U.S. warplanes and armor that flattened a house in the village of Isahaqi. An Associated Press reporter at the scene said the roof of the house had collapsed, three cars were destroyed and two cows were killed.
Relatives said the 11 victims were wrapped in blankets and driven in three pickup trucks to the Tikrit General Hospital, about 45 miles to the north.
AP photographs showed the bodies of two men, five children and four other covered figures arriving at the hospital accompanied by grief-stricken relatives. The victims were covered in dust with bits of rubble tangled in their hair.
Riyadh Majid, who identified himself as the nephew of Faez Khalaf, the head of the household who was killed, told AP at the hospital that U.S. forces landed in helicopters and raided the home early Wednesday.
Khalaf's brother, Ahmed, said nine of the victims were family members who lived at the house and two were visitors.
The dead family was not part of the resistance, they were women and children, he said. The Americans have promised us a better life, but we get only death.
In other violence, the military said a U.S. soldier was killed by mortar fire southwest of Baghdad about 6:30 p.m.
At least 2,311 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.
Bomb blasts also killed at least five more people and injured dozens Wednesday in Baghdad and north of the capital. The worst attacks were in Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, where there were at least three explosions.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/16/2006
00:42 ||
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The Bush administration Wednesday night released the first declassified documents collected by U.S. intelligence during the Iraq war, showing among other things that Saddam Hussein's regime was monitoring reports that Iraqis and Saudis were heading to Afghanistan after the Sept. 11 attacks to fight U.S. troops.
The documents, the first of thousands expected to be declassified over the next several months, were released via a Pentagon Web site at the direction of National Intelligence Director John Negroponte.
Many were in Arabic with no English translation including one the administration said showed that Iraqi intelligence officials suspected al-Qaida members were inside Iraq in 2002.
The Pentagon Web site described that document this way: "2002 Iraqi Intelligence Correspondence concerning the presence of al-Qaida Members in Iraq. Correspondence between IRS members on a suspicion, later confirmed, of the presence of an Al-Qaeda terrorist group. Moreover, it includes photos and names."
The release of the documents, expected to continue for months, is designed to allow lawmakers and the public to investigate what documents from Saddam's regime claimed about such controversial issues as weapons of mass destruction and al-Qaida in the period before the United States invaded Iraq in March 2003.
The Web site cautioned that the U.S. government "has made no determination regarding the authenticity of the documents, validity or factual accuracy of the information contained therein, or the quality of any translations, when available."
A handful of prewar Iraq government documents released Wednesday had been translated into English.
They included one Iraqi intelligence document indicating Saddam's feared Fedayeen paramilitary forces were investigating rumors in the fall of 2001 that as many as 3,000 Iraqis and Saudis were going to fight in Afghanistan after the U.S. invasion.
"In the report on the status of rumors for November of 2001 regarding Fedayeen Saddam in al-Anbar, there is an entry that indicates that there is a group of Iraqi and Saudi Arabians numbering around 3,000 who have gone in an unofficial capacity to Afghanistan and have joined the mujahidin (mujahedeen, or holy warriors) to fight with and aid them in defeating the American Zionist Imperialist attack," the translated document stated.
"After presenting the matter to the Supervisor of Fedayeen Saddam, he ordered that the matter should be looked into for verification of the truth of the rumor," the translation said.
House Intelligence Chairman Peter Hoekstra, R-Mich., requested the release of millions pages of documents and audio recordings captured during current and previous U.S. military operations in Iraq. Most have sat untranslated for years.
Last weekend, Negroponte agreed to set aside money and establish a system to make the documents available to the media, academics and other researchers.
In a statement, Hoekstra welcomed the chance to answer questions about prewar Iraq. "Whether Saddam Hussein destroyed Iraq's weapons of mass destruction or hid or transferred them, the most important thing is we discover the truth of what was happening in the country prior to the war," he said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/16/2006
00:41 ||
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#1
Just in time to help get those poll numbers up.
Can't wait to find out that Saddam ordered the hit on JFK.
Dan - Are you using any of the software which has been developed recently to build a model of interconnecting relationships? Some sexy neural-net stuff is floating around, now, that would be perfect for the intel gleaned. :)
#10
Last weekend, Negroponte agreed to set aside money and establish a system to make the documents available to the media, academics and other researchers.
At last! At last! No more CLASSIFIED falling thru my crack. Thanks Ponte.
#11
Those Zionists have had their eye on Afghanistan for a while now. The age-old dream of a Jewish homeland with its capitol in Kandahar is about to be realized!
Hoo-boy.
Posted by: Baba Tutu ||
03/16/2006 17:22
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Testifying on Capitol Hill today, General John Abizaid said claims by Iraq's Interior Ministry that Al Qaeda terrorists tried to storm the highly secured Green Zone in Baghdad where the U.S. and British embassies are located were true.
Abizaid was asked about the reported plot that allegedly involved more than 400 Al Qaeda operatives infiltrating Iraqi Security Forces and taking over guard posts around the Green Zone which is also the seat of the Iraqi government.
"I think you can look at it that it's a good thing we found out about it before it moved forward and with a good deal of concern that people are trying to infiltrate the national security forces and various branches of the government," he said.
"As sectarian tensions increase, it becomes harder to hold things together. I am confident we can move in a positive direction and the security forces will stay loyal," he added.
Tuesday the interior minister of Iraq had said authorities had foiled the plot that would have put hundreds of its men at critical guard posts around the Green Zone.
A senior Defense Ministry official said the 421 Al Qaeda fighters were actually recruited to storm the U.S. and British embassies and take hostages. Several ranking Defense Ministry officials were jailed in the plot, the official said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information.
Interior Minister Bayan Jabr, in an interview with The Associated Press, said the 421 Al Qaeda recruits were one bureaucrat's signature away from acceptance into an Iraqi army battalion whose job is to control the gates and main squares in the Green Zone. The plot was discovered three weeks ago.
"You can imagine what could happen to a minister or an ambassador while passing through these gates when those terrorists are there," Jabr said in the interview conducted at his office inside the Green Zone a 2-square-mile hunk of prime real estate on the west bank of the Tigris River. The area is a maze of concrete blast walls, concertina wire and checkpoints.
The Defense Ministry official said the plot was uncovered by the military intelligence and the General Intelligence department that works under the government.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/16/2006
00:39 ||
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#2
This may turn out to be the great untold good news turning point of the whole adventure, particularly if the answer to Rightwing's question is "they're being used". Used by the government to roll up and mop up.
Gen. Abizaid's comments are noteworthy in both their understatement, and the simple acknowledgement of this event. Finally the Interior Minister's comment about "one bureaucrat's signature away" betrays that the govt. may be getting the bureacracy under control, a huge accomplishment even if it's only begun by the security branch rather than purer civilian offices.
It's from the point of that one signature that the govt. can reverse engineer their way back into the Al Qaeda/insurgent/evildoers order of battle at a strategic level, rather than the accumulated tactical gains we've been rolling up for some time.
Hopefully, this could turn out to be a high watermark of significance.
#3
"I think you can look at it that it's a good thing ..."
One could assume the three-week delay in disclosure of this good information is SOP for not compromising sources or methods. But there seems to be an absent component to this first report. Some have already argued that it's damage control for a shoddy screening process but RWs question has highlighted the missing information from this report that (IMO) is more likely the answer.
#4
OK - but let's hope "421" is a random number chosen from the list of signees which intelligence compiled while they waited to the last moment to upset this operation. Let Al Qaeda continue to wonder who's where and why, and who's flipped. If we see scattered reports of specific activity (like the report of "11 killed" or "4 killed" in US raid) maybe that will show after effects from this.
#7
One would hope there is a correlation between the 421 and some of the bodies that are showing up around Baghdad.None of the bodies seem to have grieving relatives.
Posted by: john ||
03/16/2006 14:46
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The tobasco sauce enema isn't very pleasant, however ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/16/2006
00:22 ||
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#1
The amount may be a bit much. If they got it right, for a 200 lb. adult male, the dosage was 400 milligrams of capsaicin, 3 times a week.
Capsaicinoid content is measured in parts per million. These parts per million are converted into Scoville heat units, the industry standard for measuring a pepper's punch. One part per million is equivalent to 15 Scoville units. Bell peppers have a value of zero Scoville units, whereas habaneros -- the hottest peppers--register a blistering 200,000 to 300,000. Pure capsaicin has a Scoville heat unit score of 16 million.
That means eating the equivalent of between 54 and 80 habernero peppers three times a week.
Sounds like a bit much. What do you think the odds are that the reporter got that one wrong?
#4
I would be very interested in knowing the rate of prostate cancer in Mexico, where they eat hot peppers all the time.
If different than the non-pepper folks, then they've got something here.
If not?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
03/16/2006 8:37
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#5
I can see it now. A new Dr. Pepper, the Pecker Picker Upper.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
03/16/2006 9:19
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#6
Habaneros are positively incendiary. So are "firecracker" peppers. I picked a few at a farm. #1 daughter, who likes her peppers hot, tried one and broke into a sweat that lasted three hours. She asked me, " Mom, when did you start storing nuclear weapons in the refrigerator?"
James's observations from Liberia included a number of people whose taste buds had been so fried by peppers that they couldn't taste anything else. I would be concerned about the damage done to the digestive tract as well.
#7
My father, who lived in Texas, used to buy some variety of peppers (which I thought were too damned hot for nachos, lol) in 5 gallon buckets - and would sit munching those things every night while watching TV. Lol, it was downright scary...
#8
When I get to work, Ima gonna look up the UN number of those Habaneros peppers in our DOT hazmat book.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/16/2006 10:44
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#9
It has been proved that eating hot peppers does not damage the digestive system but, in fact, people who eat chiles and other hot peppers have fewer ulcers than people who don't. They can, however, cause damage to skin and eyes. Usually the problems people have when eating spicey foods are caused by other factors, i.e., tomato acid in salsa with tomatos.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
03/16/2006 10:52
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#10
Word of advice, be forewarned, if you ever have the opportunity to dine on some of Deacons chili. He's an excellent cook but his definition of 'slightly hot' is different from most.
#12
They can, however, cause damage to skin and eyes.
Tell me about it. I once tried putting my contacts lenses in after chopping up a bunch of chilies. Felt like someone had inserted a soldering iron into my eyeball.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/16/2006 13:30
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#13
They can, however, cause damage to skin and eyes.
All the mucous membranes are particularly sensitive. Long ago advice from a friend who worked at my college health clinic, "Wash hands with soap before going to the bathroom after eating jalapenos!" ;-)
#14
Anyone know where jalapenos rate on this scale? If so, I used to work with a guy from Texas who would bring a jar-full every week to work and pop 'em like candy. I later learned to stomach them and have become very used to hot/spicy foods. However, habaneros are a whole 'nother ball game, lol! Learned that one the hard way.
Posted by: BA ||
03/16/2006 13:51
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#15
I meant to add...that guy has since died of cancer. Got to his brain and somewhat in his lungs. Of course, he smoked pretty much every day of his life (at least, until he found he had cancer), and had also witnessed nuclear tests aboard a boat in the Navy offshore of the Bikini islands/atolls about the time of the Korean War. VERY interesting guy. Had my eyes opened when he sent me the link to his diaries back in those days (aboard ship witnessing nuclear tests). They had just been de-classified (his personal journal notes) after 40 or so years. Had them linked to the national website for nuclear veterans (forget the exact name of the organization). Some very eye-opening experiences he had doing clean-up on those atolls after the bombs went off.
Posted by: BA ||
03/16/2006 13:55
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#16
Finally, to add, the cancer didn't get his digestive tract, so maybe those daily jalapeno desserts worked, eh?
Posted by: BA ||
03/16/2006 13:56
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#17
Jalapenos only rank in the 300 to 1000 range.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
03/16/2006 14:51
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#18
Once upon a time south of the border, a bus tour of Mayan ruins stopped at a roadside restaurant for lunch. This appeared to be a regular thing as the house salsa provided to the table was very mild to the taste. The bus driver and tour guide were provided with a plate of habineros that they could add to their menu. John the Tourist proceeded to swallow the pepper whole.
The next three cervesa followed like cream soda.
Lucky for Tourist, he returned to home before his red cell count dropped below 65.
the next three blood transfusions....
Posted by: john ||
03/16/2006 15:19
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#19
I've always enjoyed McIlhenny's tongue tonic, love jalapenos, and eat my chili "4-alarm" or better. I even learned to eat Thai food, which most people don't know is hotter, on average, than Mexican. My parents used to pickle Cayenne peppers, and eat the juice and peppers on all manners of food. I don't have stomach cancer, and I hardly have taste buds, but some things just go better with a bit of bite to it.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/16/2006 21:19
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#20
john: the next three blood transfusions....
yeow..
did i ever tell ya about the plazma peppers from..
HBO Realsport's Frank Deford profiles Manute Bol and his tragic life after basketball. Bol tells Deford that during his career he wanted to go back to Sudan and fight alongside his Dinka tribesman in Southern Sudan. Considered the tallest people in the world, Christian and black, according to the show lived peacefully in Southern Sudan - until Arab Muslims from the North invaded with an intention to take over and Islamize them.
Bol and his best friend went to over 39 Congressmen personally and met with the Pentagon in the 90's telling them that their people were being decimated by the Arab Muslims from the North and would disappear if the US did not help. He said they got nothing. His friend said he told the US the greatest threat they would face in the future would be from Islamist Fundamentalism, at which most laughed.
So Manute reached into his own pockets in the millions to help support the starving refugees who had witnessed their homes and families destroyed. Eventually the Northern Sudanese government found out he was in a town supplying money and food and moral support to his people so they bombed the Refugee Camp. 13 people were killed that day but he lived. Frank DeFord asks him if he thinks they were aiming for him and he says 'probably'.
Eventually Khartoum in the North invited him to come for 'peace talks' which he did. He now says that was a big mistake and naiveté on his part. ""I should have known who I was dealing with""
After a month he realized that the whole thing was a sham and then the regime asked him to fight alongside them against his own people, which he refused. Eventually he was put into prison. His best friend was eventually able to buy and sneak him out of the country into Cairo. Bol used whatever money he had left to bribe one of his friends out of slavery. His friend was sold by the Islamists into slavery in Sudan after being captured. Eventually Bol escaped to the US as a penniless refugee.
Bol mentions that the only time the US did respond to the Khartoum Islamist regime (which was sheltering Ben Laden) was after the US was attacked in the Middle East in the late 90's. The attacks emanted from Sudan. That was the infamous bombing of the Pharmaceutical plant. Bol said he was only blocks from it when it happened.
The postscript is that Bol is broke and that some former NBA friends held a benefit to raise $$ for his huge Health bills after a drunk Cab Driver flipped a car Bol was in. He has a 50k/yr NBA pension that kicks in next year when he turns 45. He has had 'domestic disturbances' with his wife and they are going to counseling.
However, more importantly here is a famous face, and someone Deford says is truly a 'good guy who gave up his entire fortune and good life in the US to try and save his people in Sudan.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/16/2006
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WASHINGTON, March 14 (Reuters) - The Bush administration has told lawmakers it opposes legislation to impose sanctions on foreign firms and countries working in Iran, but the lawmakers said on Tuesday they intended to advance the bill anyway. Florida Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a key sponsor of the measure, said she would not bow to the administration's demand for more flexibility in enforcing the sanctions.
The House of Representatives International Relations Committee is to consider the bill on Wednesday, despite the White House's opposition. Backers of the sanctions legislation said it would squeeze Iran's economy, strengthening the response to Tehran's pursuit of nuclear technology which the United States says could be used to make nuclear weapons.
The legislation would require U.S. sanctions on any company or nation investing more than $20 million in Iran's energy sector, and require U.S.-based pension funds to disclose Iran-related investment. The United States has long-standing sanctions barring American companies and individuals from doing business with Iran.
"Despite the fact that the bill affords the necessary flexibility to the president and despite my best efforts and those of Mr. Lantos to make changes to the legislation toward achieving a mutually acceptable agreement, the administration will not support (it)," said Ros-Lehtinen, who crafted the bill with Rep. Tom Lantos of California, top Democrat on the committee.
Because previous sanctions on Iran were waived under the Clinton administration "and due to the gravity of the Iran threat, we do not believe it would be beneficial to U.S. national security and foreign policy interests to weaken the legislation," Ros-Lehtinen said. Rep. Henry Hyde, the Illinois Republican who chairs the committee, will decide whether to support the bill based on "how the amending process develops," his spokesman said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/16/2006
00:11 ||
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#1
Some creative ideas are starting to emerge, it appears. This one certainly presents some risks-especially economic ones-but I'm glad to see that we're not in the mindset that we must immediately choose between pushing UN sanctions and attacking Iran militarily (with no allied backing except Israel). I'd like to hear this bill fleshed out and hope even more ideas emerge.
Now I have to come back to reality, though-we all must. Even if this bill passed, how long before its effects were felt; and would those effects in any way prevent Iran from realizing its nuclear dream? And what of Iran's statements about Israel? Do we have that much faith that Iran won't act on its declaration to wipe Israel off the map? Do we have that much faith that even an Iran without Ahmedinejad would desire anything different?
#2
My opinion:
$5 will get you $50 that the only people who will be hurt by economic actions of any type would be Joe Persian. The Mullahs have cash running out their ears, total control when and where they want it, and 50+ countries who'd kill their mother to sell them anything they think they can get away with - for cash on the barrel-head.
In fact, only one thing will stop the Mullahs - regime change - and that's the ugly truth. You have to play with the hand actually dealt, not the one you wish you had.
#3
Sanctions are a waste of time, paper, and ink. All these regimes are liars and cheats, it's the culture. And, it seems, the culture of some major European powers that are willing to enable regimes like Iran for 30 pieces of silver.
Glert is right on the mark. Nothing will stop the march of the M²s to nuclear holocaust except regime change. This whole thing is going to get a lot uglier before it gets better. the M²s don't give a rat's behind for their people---they will use them to achieve their ends. Look at the many thousands that they threw away against their war with Sammy.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/16/2006 10:39
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#6
The Congress likes to think they are taking action. Duh, wouldn't it be smart to work with the administration and the state department and furnish what they need to deal with Iran ?
This is a clue to what's wrong with our CIA and border patrol and port security and state department and tax system and property rights and energy plans and health care and social security and on and on.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - A former CIA contractor charged with beating a suspected terrorist in Afghanistan who later died must be released from jail so he can better help prepare his defense, a federal judge ruled. David Passaro, 39, will be released Friday from Wake County jail. The judge, in a ruling signed Tuesday, ordered Passaro to post a property as bond and wear an electronic monitor. He was forbidden to have contact with his ex-girlfriend, ex-wife and child.
That will certainly help him focus ...
While in Afghanistan, the former Army special operations soldier helped the U.S. military hunt terrorists, gather intelligence and train the country's armed forces. Authorities said Passaro kicked and beat an Afghan suspect named Abdul Wali with his fists and a flashlight for two days before the prisoner died. Wali was being questioned about a series of rocket attacks on a remote firebase housing U.S. and Afghan troops in Afghanistan's mountains.
Passaro has denied any role in the prisoner's 2003 death. He claims the military made him a scapegoat in the wake of the Abu Ghraib scandal. He is the first U.S. civilian to face prisoner abuse charges stemming from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. He is charged with assault and could get 40 years in prison if convicted. No trial date has been set.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/16/2006
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EFL
Drones will soon rise in southern Arizona skies after a tag team of Gov. Janet Napolitano, Sen. John McCain and congressman Jim Kolbe got unmanned aerial vehicles stationed at two of the region's military installations.
Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson 60 miles from Mexico and Fort Huachuca in Sierra Vista 20 miles from Mexico will share the fifth RQ-1 Predator squadron active in the U.S. military. The Arizona Air National Guard squadron joins three Air Force squadrons operating in Nevada and a fourth run by the California Air National Guard.
Once fully operational, about 350 personnel will come to the area as part of the new squadron, said Maj. Paul Aguirre, Arizona National Guard spokesman. The new unit will be deployed on missions worldwide. "This is a real feather in the cap for the Arizona Air National Guard."
The MQ-1 Predator is a system, not just an aircraft. A fully operational system consists of four aircraft (with sensors), a ground control station, a Predator Primary Satellite Link, and approximately 55 personnel for deployed 24-hour operations, according to a military fact sheet.
In a Jan. 12 letter to National Guard chief Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum, Napolitano said putting the aircraft close to the border in the hands of the Arizona Air National Guard, which has had no problem recruiting the personnel to run the program, would be in the military's best interest.
Will they be used along the border to try to stop illegal immigration? Officials aren't saying. Napolitano has assigned certain Guard units to the border to help federal officials head off illegal immigrants, but it is too early to tell if Predators will assist that effort. If she continues to lead handily in her reelection bid, it's doubtful, but if she falters...
#2
"Napolitano has assigned certain Guard units to the border to help federal officials head off illegal immigrants"
I call bullshit. When this "news" broke, I read a story where the AZ Nat'l Guard Commander was interviewed and he said nothing was changed by the Gov's "order". Nothing. Not one thing. No troops would move an inch and none would be doing anything different tomorrow than they were doing today. Pure PR and grandstanding. She's a posturing partisan moron.
A top Kashmiri militant commander said an Islamic insurgency in the disputed Himalayan region wouldn't end until India and Pakistan include the militants in peace talks, a news agency reported on Wednesday. The comments by Misbah-ud-Din Ghazi of the Hizb-ul-Mujahedeen are the first by a militant leader suggesting the insurgents - who have been fighting to wrest Kashmir from India since 1989 — would consider playing a role in the peace process that was launched in January 2004 to end decades of enmity over the region between India and Pakistan. "India and Pakistan are engaged in talks to promote bilateral trade and ties," Ghazi was quoted as saying by Kashmir's Current News Service. "The talks to resolve Kashmir cannot begin without (Hizb-ul-Mujahedeen) being at the forefront," Ghazi said, adding that until the militants are brought into the negotiations "the armed militant lion is the only way to take the Kashmir struggle to a logical conclusion".
Kashmiri groups have been excluded from peace talks involving India and Pakistan, although Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has held preliminary talks with nonviolent Kashmiri separatists, and Hizb-ul-Mujahedeen briefly opened negotiations with New Delhi in 2000.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/16/2006
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The trial of eight Jordanian men charged with plotting subversive acts against Americans, Israelis and Iraqi police training centres in Jordan opened Wednesday at the State Security Court. The tribunal immediately adjourned the session until next Wednesday because one of the defendants was not brought into the courtroom by the prison administration.
The eight men, including three who are being tried in absentia, were also charged with plotting activity aimed at undermining Jordan's relations with another country and belonging to an illegal organisation. The five men in custody were identified by the prosecution as Ahmad T., 37, Hassan A., 41, Abdul Hakim M., 29, Sami M., 33, and Sakher M. The remaining three defendants were identified as Haitham H., Ahmad Y., and Nasri A.
The defendants decided to launch attacks against Americans, Israelis and Iraqi police training centres in the Kingdom following the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, the charge sheet said. The men decided to form 10 cells for this purpose and called themselves the "Mansourah Sect," according to the prosecution. "Some of the suspects used the Internet to lecture on jihad and the need to fight Israelis and Christians in any part of the world," the charge sheet said.
They distributed CDs in the Kingdom, which contained material on military operations against American forces in Iraq and speeches by Jordanian fugitive Abu Mussab Zarqawi, it added. The suspects also distributed a magazine published by Al Qaeda network in Iraq, in mosques in Eastern Amman, according to the charge sheet.
The prosecution also charged that some of the suspects recruited several people and sent them to fight in Iraq, which "harmed the relationship between the Iraqi and Jordanian governments." The authorities arrested five of the eight defendants in August 2005 before they carried out any of their alleged plans.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/16/2006
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Thaksin Shinawatra has said he would consider temporarily stepping down as Thailand's prime minister, amid mounting protests in the capital to demand his resignation over corruption allegations. Thaksin did not elaborate on when, and for how long he might step down.
He made his comments on Tuesday in northeastern Thailand while campaigning for snap elections he has called for 2 April in hopes of refreshing his mandate and deflating the country's growing anti-government movement. When asked by a reporter whether he would be taking a break from the prime minister's position, he said: "It is a good proposal and I am considering this. "This does not mean that I would bow to mob rule. I have to take some time to consider and decide what to do, because I have a duty to complete my mission," he told reporters during a campaign tour in the province of Buriram.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/16/2006
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Bugti tribe chief Nawab Akbar Bugti has fled to Iran, Aaj television channel reported on Wednesday. Bugti, who is also chief of the Jamhoori Watan Party, left for Zahidan in Iran one week ago through Kharan, the channel quoted sources close to Bugti as saying. Official sources did not confirm the report, but a secret investigation is underway to ascertain how Bugti managed to flee to Iran, the channel reported. Officially, authorities denied that the government had anything to do with Bugtis departure, but privately sources told Aaj that the government had indeed allowed Bugti to leave. The sources close to Bugti could not say if the tribal chief would remain in Iran or move on to another country.
Staff report adds: Senator Shahid Bugti, the secretary general of the Jamhoori Watan Party, denied the report. This one is hundred and one percent disinformation, he said. He said Nawab Bugti is in Dera Bugti among his people. He said Bugti would have got massive media coverage had he left his country for the Iranian Balochistan. A government spokesman also denied the report. The tribal chief is still in Dera Bugti, said Raziq Bugti, adviser to the Balochistan chief minister.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/16/2006
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Pat Robertson, the dingbat evangelist favoured by the Republican and Christian evangelist establishment as one of America's leading idiotarians, has once again offended American Muslims by denigrating Islam as a religion of violence.
Oh, dear. What terrible thing did he say this time?
He told '700 Club', a television show, on Monday that the goal of Islam is world domination and, further, that it is not a religion of peace.
Ummm... Both of those are true statements.
Most Muslims would even agree with the first statement ...
Referring to the blasphemous Danish cartoons, he said, "The fact that this elicited this incredible outpouring of rage, just shows the kind of people we're dealing with. These people are crazed fanatics, and I want to say it now."
Usually I disagree with Pat Robertson, if only on principle. In this case, he's merely stating the obvious ...
Makes me darned uncomfortable to be agreeing with him, it does ...
Roberts said the goal of Islam is world domination and "why we don't wake up to the fact we're dealing with," he could not understand. He added, "And by the way, Islam is not a religion of peace." In 2002, the controversial evangelist said that Islam "is not a peaceful religion" and it wants to "control, dominate and then destroy."
Posted by: Fred ||
03/16/2006
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#5
Say what you will of Pat Robertson, but he hasn't put out a $1m bounty on anyone for desecrating Christian symbols. And his 9/11 remarks were straight out of the Bible.
Just as the remarks of a number of mullahs are straight out of the Koran. The problem isn't that they're quoting their respective holy texts - it's that Moose Limb clerics are urging their followers to go forth and tear the infidel limb from limb.
you said, "Just as the remarks of a number of mullahs are straight out of the Koran... clerics are urging their followers to go forth and tear the infidel limb from limb."
No clerics have called for dismemberment for the cartoonists. In Islam apostasy=blasphemy and the punishment is death. Various schools of Islamic law prescribe stoning or throat slicing or other ways of carrying out the death penalty but no schools prescribe dismemberment (although dismemberment could arguably be a tactic in jihad if it causes fear in the kafr)
#7
I don't, mmw, but beheading sounds pretty much like dismemberment to me.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
03/16/2006 10:53
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#8
Then words did rise and honest doubt
And four grave ministers sat about
Whether the blow that left him dead
Cut off his body, or his head.
Posted by: Phil ||
03/16/2006 10:57
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#9
I'm a Christian evangelical, albeit not one of the establishment, and I've long wished Pat would become a Trappist. He's got a bit of a handle on the facts this time, and I hear that behind the scenes he's done some quiet good work, but when he opens his mouth I cringe.
Posted by: James ||
03/16/2006 10:58
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#12
We need Pat at this time. No politician is going to make such statements, no matter how true. And, we need the public to become aware of the religion of blood. Welcome Pat and anyone else who stands before a microphone and slams Islam for it's continued lunacy. Wake up America. Wake up Europe. If we wait for them to come after us, they will and they will overwehelm us. We must act now. We must take the offensive. We must put a stop to Islam, NOW.
#13
Pat isnt very good with his words these days... but I fail to remember the last time that Jewish or Catholic hijackers flew planes in U.S. buildings in the last 10 years...
#14
I've always thought ol' Pat a dingbat. But... now I'm beginning to wonder. When surfing channels I used to wind up on the 700 clubs world news and it often had the best news reporting I have ever seen. Great heartwarming stories about Christian works and other good works being done world wide re: orphanages, medial help being provided and Christian persecution. Had one of the best documentaries I've ever seen about Jewish doctors helping Palestinian children for free. It covered the dilemma of the mommies allowing Jewish doctors to help their children and the goodwill created between the two.
#15
Makes me darned uncomfortable to be agreeing with him, it does ...
I second the emotion. Too many of his messages have been totally screwloose well off the beaten track. How sad that he is one of the few wingnuts individuals with sufficient intestinal fortitude to call a spade a spade. I guess he sees his meal-ticket being threatened. No tele-evangelism buckaroos once mullahs are running the tent.
#16
"I guess he sees his meal-ticket being threatened."
Or he's smarter, more honest, and free to tell the truth - and happens to reach tens of millions of people when he speaks - than you give him credit for. I think you're jealous, lol.
Cut him, and the others who come from different points of view but have the threat correctly nailed, the slack that honesty deserves. Diatribes, whether his or yours, sound eerily alike to the neutral observer. Don't turn off the audience you (obviously) seek by doing precisely what you ridicule him for.
#17
Or he's smarter, more honest, and free to tell the truth - and happens to reach tens of millions of people when he speaks - than you give him credit for. I think you're jealous, lol.
Ummm ... no. I just see his spewing (retracted or not) about how 9-11 (or the shuttle catastrophe) was America's just punishment for our straying from the path as abetting the enemy's morale. Yes, he's on the right track now (ergo, the strikethroughs in my previous comments), but who knows what or where this loose cannon will blunder into next?
#18
You've got a spew problem too - such as your endlessly repetitive:
Collect the GPS coordinates of every imam and mosque issuing these death fatwas and the instant a single one of the cartoonists (including their loved ones) are harmed or killed, bomb every single stinking one of the cesspits back to the stone age.
We get it. Always did. We're on the same side, sort of. When someone joins us and spreads the message to millions, be happy. Be gracious. Be generous. It doesn't cost you anything. As I said at O'dark-thirty this AM in #4, yeah - finding yourself in agreement with PR is "discombobulating". And I left it at that because it serves no useful purpose to dilute the message. That's free advice, lol. Don't want it or whatever? Fine. You come across obsessed. Sad, that.
#21
Oooh, triple win. Out in the open for discussion in the west, fatwa on Pat and riots of offended muslims across islamania. Three birds - one stone!
#22
I'm with most of you all too here. Being one of those hated, dispised groupies of the "religious right" (I always note the MSM doesn't paint a group as the secular left, do they?), I even cringe now when Pat gets the mic. However, we must praise him when he gets it right. I truly believe he sees Islam for what it truly is, and will "speak truth" to that fact. After his last snafu, though, it hurt (about Sharon getting just desserts for trying to give away God's land). While many Christians may even think that way, we'd never say it...Pat does, lol!
Posted by: BA ||
03/16/2006 23:05
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A leading Muslim academic suing the US government over its refusal to give him a travel visa has asked a federal court to allow him to enter the country temporarily while the case is awaiting trial. Tariq Ramadan, a Swiss citizen who now teaches at Oxford University in the UK, had his US visa revoked in 2004, shortly before he was scheduled to move to the US to accept a position at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which is representing Ramadan, said the State Department excluded the professor under a provision of the Patriot Act that allows the government to bar entry to any prominent foreigner who has used his status to endorse or espouse terrorism. Ramadan is a critic of the US invasion of Iraq and has said he sympathises with nonviolent Palestinian resistance against Israel, but says he is a moderate who opposes terrorism and does not support Islamic extremism.
It's our country. If we don't want to let him in we don't have to.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/16/2006
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#1
They'll shop for an accommodating judge and probably get approval. ACLU is, in fact, the greater evil and enemy.
The European Union peacekeeping force, EUFOR, and NATO on Monday carried a joint operation with local security personnel in northern Bosnia-Herzegovina to hunt for individuals accused of forming a network to shield the country's fugitive wartime leader and top war crime indictee, Radovan Karadic, EUFOR announced. The home of a former Socialist Party of Serbia party member, Nemanja Vasic, was searched in Prnjavor, in the Bosnian Serb entity, EUFOR said.
Searches were also carried out of a company and a bar owned by Vasic. The purpose of the swoop was to obtain further information on Karadic's hiding-place. He and fellow top war crimes indictee, Bosnian Serb wartime military commander Ratko Mladic have been indicted for genocide by the Hague war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in connection with the massacre of 8,000 Muslim men and boys at Srebrenica in 1995, and the 43-month siege of Sarajevo, in which more than 10,000 people were killed.
Both Karadic and Mladic have been on the run for a decade. ICTY chief Carla del Ponte said last month she believes Mladic is hiding in Serbia. The European Union has said Balkan nations such as Serbia and Bosnia, which aspire to join the 25-member bloc must cooperate fully with the ICTY and ensure indictees are arrested and handed over to the court to stand trial.
Someday we'll be hunting down Islamist ringleaders. I'm afraid it might be our children who're doing it, but the thought gives me comfort.
Posted by: Fred ||
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The future of Europe: anti-Muslim resistance fighters hunted down by EUropean collobarators.
#2
"anti-Muslim resistance fighters "
Try genocidal killers who started four wars for a nationalist agenda and set up the camps in Europe again.
We had to blow them off the the face of the earth, are you saying you would of supported these heroes against US troops during wartime?
#3
pihkalbadger.
The Serbs haven't done anything, except defend themselves from Muslim aggression. The atrocity stories that you've read/watched has the same reality as the atrocity stories MSM reports from Iraq or "Palestine".
#5
There are still 2000 odd bodies unidentified from ten years ago in the Tuzla morgue.
There are reports from the State department, FBI, HRW, UN and many others but dont take my word for it try some research, please.
Denial, the fifth horsman of the apocalypse.
#6
The Balkans are not worth the bones of a single Pomeranian grenadier.
Still true.
Posted by: Otto Bismarck ||
03/16/2006 9:58
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Milosevic was a mass murderer. The Serbs weren't defending themselves against anything; the Bosnian Muslims and Catholic Croats of 1990 were reasonably peaceful and willing to get along with their neighbors. Yugoslavia after Tito wasn't viable, but the constituent parts could have devolved peacefully.
Instead Milosevic and his pals very cunninigly whipped up Serbian nationalism, and Serbian bloodthirst, and went on a killing spree. The Bosnian and Croat wars resulted, and tens of thousands of innocents were killed.
I'm glad the old bastard is dead, and I only wish he'd swung from a rope. Oh well, guess the rest of them will have to swing in his place.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/16/2006 10:08
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Everyone in the Balkans seesm to have a top-notch indoctrination system to teach their version of the Great Lie to each generation.
#9
My cousin went over during the fighting with Doctors Without Borders to help. Only stayed 3 months and came back saying "A pox on the lot of them."
He told me that the muslims had Iranian Revolutionary Guards rampaging the countryside raping and killing everybody (they all looked the same you know, so play it safe.)
Said the Cathloic Croats would tattoo swastikas one their own foreheads and go into battle with a vengence.
Said the Serb in a methodical viscous way went about consolidating territory and power.
BUT! All of them would shoot at the rescue folks and doctors as Serb, Muslim and Croat patients would explain they were the best targets any side would see in weeks so were to tasty not to shoot.
#10
3dc - Sounds like the Paleos - without the myopic Jooo focus. Sick bastards are everywhere, including the deluded BDS-driven stark raving moonbats infesting the West, no monopolies for any one society... they just differ in degree, social skills, and affinity for acting out their particular insanity.
Sudan will reject the proposed deployment of UN forces to Darfur after the African Union's peacekeeping mandate expires in September, according to Ali Osman Mohammed Taha, the vice-president. Taha's comment on Tuesday conflicts with the agreement announced in Addis Ababa on Friday, when Sudan and the African Union agreed to extend the mandate of the AU peacekeepers in Darfur to September, and then allow them to be merged into a larger United Nations force. Referring to the UN force, Taha said "Sudan's stand is to reject those forces even when the period of six months has elapsed". He did not explain how the government reconciled that position with its acceptance of the Addis Ababa accord.
Separately, Omar al-Bashir, the Sudanese president, criticised the African Union decision to extend its peacekeeping mission in Darfur up to next September. "Invisible hands" have added items to the AU decision that were not part of the original agenda for discussion, he said.
The Khartoum government has long opposed a UN force replacing the AU mission in Darfur, western Sudan, where a three-year conflict has led to the deaths of at least 180,000 people and the displacement of another two million in what the US calls "genocide."
Posted by: Fred ||
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James Wolfensohn, special envoy of the international diplomatic "Quartet," complained Wednesday of being "disenfranchised" in his efforts to advance the Mideast peace process, and threatened to quit the high-profile post. "I think the Quartet itself must continue ... but the role of a disenfranchised leader of that Quartet doesn't seem to me to be a particularly attractive thing to spend your life doing," the former World Bank head said Wednesday at a hearing of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
He suggested that he still hopes to make a constructive contribution to helping achieve Middle East peace, but not necessarily in his current post. "I am considering, but have not decided... whether the best place for me to do it is leaving the Quartet, or in other ways," Wolfensohn said at the Senate hearing examining challenges in the Middle East following January's Palestinian Authority elections. "If you were in a job where it's unclear what the purpose of that job was, and what the backing that you have was... and you're as old as I am, you would probably wonder whether for the few remaining years that you've got, [if] that's the thing you want to do," the 72-year old Wolfensohn told the panel.
Wolfensohn, who retired as president of the World Bank last year, was appointed in April 2005 by the Middle East Quartet to be its special envoy for Israel's disengagement project in the occupied Palestinian territory of Gaza. But his job has been complicated by Washington's insistence on withholding aid from a Palestinian government expected to be formed by Hamas, which the Americans brand a terrorist organisation.
Deputy State Department spokesman Adam Ereli tried Wednesday to play down any differences between the quartet and Wolfensohn and said Washington hoped the envoy would stay on the job at least through April. "We certainly retain full confidence in special envoy Wolfensohn. We think he's doing a great job," Ereli told reporters.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Agreed, gromgoru. The Quartet's purpose is to force unacceptable concessions on Israel, while protecting the Palestinians from any consequences for their destructive choices.
#3
But his job has been complicated by Washington's insistence on withholding aid from a Palestinian government expected to be formed by Hamas, which the Americans brand a terrorist organisation.
It was complicated by the palestinians electing a terrorist government.
Law enforcers in their hunt especially for the two absconding Majlish-e-Shura members of Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) ran massive raids in Brahmanbaria and Sherpur yesterday and arrested six JMB operatives, including the outfit's Sherpur commander. On information that JMB Shura member Salahuddin was hiding in Brahmanbaria, the joint forces of police and Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) conducted the five-hour raid at different points of the district as of 9:00 last night. Three JMB activists arrested in Brahmanbaria admitted that they had carried out bomb blasts at five places in the town on August 17 last year as part of the outfit's countrywide bomb attacks.
The Rab, which earlier arrested JMB chief Abdur Rahman, his closest aide Siddiqul Islam alias Bangla Bhai, JMB's military unit chief Ataur Rahman Sunny and Shura member Hafiz Mahmud, said they intensified intelligence and operational work to arrest the fugitive Shura members--Salahuddin and Khaled Saifullah. "We have spread our intelligence network all over the country besides strengthening our operation to arrest Salahuddin and Saifullah and other JMB leaders," Commander Mashuq Hassan Ahmed, Rab Legal and Media Wing director, told The Daily Star yesterday.
The investigators, meantime, said from now on they will feed the media with information related to operations only as they have instructions from the government top level not to disclose the findings of interrogation of the top JMB leaders. The law enforcers also prevented photojournalists from taking photographs of the arrested JMB men during and after the operation in Brahmanbaria. The law enforcers are yet to begin interrogation of Bangla Bhai who is undergoing treatment for burn and splinter injuries he had received during his capture on March 6 in Mymensingh. Before starting the interrogation, the investigators will have to produce the militant before the court and obtain remand order.
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Thailand's election has been thrown into doubt after hundreds of candidates were banned from participating. Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra called next month's poll early in hopes of ending weeks of political turmoil, which have seen mass protests in the streets calling for his resignation. But after a boycott left nearly one-third of the candidates for Parliament running unopposed, an election commission official says about the same number have been barred from standing. The official says around 300 of the 900 candidates have been disqualified because they have not belonged to their parties for at least 90 days before election day, as required by Thai law.
Posted by: Fred ||
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The deputy president of the Iranian parliament's culture commission, has described Britain's embassy in Tehran as "a nest of spies." Saiid Abu Taleb, in an interview with the Iranian newsagency ILNA, also branded British diplomats as "spies sent to our country to inform their government" on conditions in the Islamic Republic. "Every day that we delay shutting down the embassy, which is in reality a nest of spies, we are causing ourselves great harm," said Abu Taleb, adding that the British diplomats should also be expelled from Iran.
Sounds like they're working themselves up for another embassy takeover. I wonder what Jimmy Carter's reaction will be when it happens?
In recent months stone-pelting crowds have on several occasions targeted the British embassy and the residence of Britain's ambassador to Iran. In one incident a petrol bomb was also hurled at the embassy. Tension between London and Tehran came to a head in October when British prime minister Tony Blair accused Iran of a hand in the killing of British soldiers in southern Iraq by Shiite extremists. Anti-British sentiment has been fuelled in recent weeks by Interior Ministry statements alleging that London has supported revolts by ethnic Arabs in southern Iran. Before being hanged in the southern city of Ahwaz, two ethnic Arab men accused of carrying out anti-government attacks, in a televised confession said they had acted on behalf of a "foreign power". The statement was widely believed to refer to Britain.
"Har har! The foolish turbans will never suspect that it was really us, the Evil Overlords of Vanuatu!"
Many observers have highlighted the similiarities between the current campaign against Britain's diplomatic mission in Iran and the wave of anti-American sentiment preceeding the 1979 occupation of the US embassy in Tehran.
Reeeeeally? But the similarities are so subtle!
On that occasion, radical students held US embassy staff hostage for 444 days before releasing them.
They were not students.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Glad I don't have the British ambassador's job. Although those green hand bands look trendy.
About that Nazi gesture though.
Posted by: Captain America ||
03/16/2006 1:01
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Spying has been the job of ambassadors since the very start of the profession. The sun is bright too. So their point is?
Syrian and Lebanese officials have welcomed the latest report by a UN commission investigating the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri, calling it fair and cooperative. "The report was realistic and has a lot of professionalism," Fayssal Mekdad, the Syrian deputy foreign minister and a former ambassador to the United Nations, was quoted as saying in the government newspaper Thawra Wednesday. In Beirut, Lebanese Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh also said the report was well-done, telling reporters that "we welcome the atmosphere of close cooperation reflected in the report between the commission and Lebanese authorities."
The report, released Tuesday by the investigating commission's new chief Serge Brammertz, said there are encouraging signals from Syria, which earlier reports accused of not fully cooperating in the UN probe. The report noted that, after two high-level meetings, Syria agreed to a deal that will give the commission access to "individuals, sites and information." "This understanding will be tested in the upcoming months," Brammertz wrote.
In a major sign of Syrian cooperation, the UN team was to meet with President Bashar Assad and Vice President Farouq Sharaa in the coming month as part of its investigation, according to Brammertz. The commission has asked to interview Assad, who is alleged to have threatened Hariri in a private meeting several months before his assassination. Assad, who has denied the claims, had earlier resisted interviews, implying in comments to newspapers that he rejected the team's requests on the grounds that he has international immunity. Earlier commission reports implicated several Syrian and allied Lebanese officials in the February 2005 bombing that killed Hariri and 20 others in Beirut. Those reports, Mekdad said, encouraged the news media to make premature judgements. "But the new one did not," he said.
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Saddam Hussein's half brother, Barzan al-Tikriti, on Wednesday denied involvement in mass reprisals ordered against a village after a failed 1982 assassination attempt there against the ousted Iraqi leader. "I arrested no one, it was the security services that were in charge" of operations in Dujail, Barzan said as the trial of Saddam and seven co-accused resumed before the Iraqi High Tribunal. "I can assure you I have no responsibility in this matter. It was handled by the former head of security who has since died. Just show me one document proving that I ordered an arrest or the destruction of someone's farm," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
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AMMAN King Abdullah warned that a strike on Iran would cause the region "to explode" and deplored Israel's raid on a Palestinian prison, in an interview Wednesday with AFP. "A strike against Iran would cause the whole region to explode," the Monarch said in comments on the crisis between the West and Tehran over its nuclear activities. "The threat to regional security and stability will be grave if force is utilised to resolve this problem. Dialogue, patience and diplomacy are the only solution."
"Why, the Arab Street would explode!"
He likewise deplored Israel's raid Tuesday on a Jericho prison to seize Palestinians wanted over the 2001 murder of Israeli tourism minister Rehavam Zeevi. "What happened... is a threat to the future of the peace process and to security in the region. It is an unfortunate escalation," he said. "It would have been better for the parties concerned to find another formula to deal with this issue. They created tension and lessened the chances for an adequate climate to forge ahead with the peace process."
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Nothing but rhetoric. All the Sunni majority countries would like to see revolutionary Iran taken down. But, if they didn't make the usual noise about the Middle East drowning in blood, then the Mullahs would rain missiles in their direction when the games begin. They Ayatollahs have to go.
#5
Don't forget, this poor guy is half American, and only half lunatic.
How will we know when the Arab street explodes ?
Those jerkoffs have already used every form of violence known to man in their streets.
Security forces on Wednesday used explosives to destroy a building here that militants used as a hideout, a government official said. The official identified the building as the Khalifa Madrassa near Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan, but Inter Services Public Relations denied that the building destroyed was a madrassa, saying it would be more accurate to call it a house since there had been no classes there since October. Most of the students there were Afghans.
The official said it was the third seminary to be destroyed in the last fortnight after intelligence reports indicated that militants were hiding out in madrassas in the area and using them as launching-pads for attacks on government forces. The seminary was destroyed as part of a campaign to deprive militants of any hideout, he said. No one was in the building at the time it was destroyed, he added.
The action has followed fierce clashes between paramilitary soldiers and pro-Taliban tribesmen that have left around 170 militants and five troops dead. The madrassa was set up by Khalifa, an Afghan cleric who died several years ago but who was an associate of former Taliban commander Jalaluddin Haqqani, the official said. An Associated Press reporter saw paramilitary troops remove books from the building before placing dynamite inside and blowing it up.
Wouldn't want to desecrate any Korans, of course...
Last week troops and helicopter gunships destroyed seminaries run by local clerics Maulana Sadiq Noor and Maulana Abdul Khaleq, who are wanted for inciting violence against security forces in the tribal region. A man claiming to be a spokesman for pro-Taliban militants in North Waziristan said they would continue to fight security forces until the government abandons military operations against Taliban and Al Qaeda.
The present uprising against the government is not only from local Taliban but tribesmen as well. There will be no end to attacks on the military until the lives of the people of Waziristan are safe, said the man who identified himself as Tariq Jamil. He claimed the military operation in Saidgai on March 1 was conducted while peace talks between the government and militants were in progress. Forty five foreign militants were killed in that operation.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Is it just me or is that guy's head frickin' huge?
#2
Could be a dwark, big head, big ego, crazed look. Usually the turban hides a 3 ft. cowlick. It's the mountains, they severely reduce certain choices.
I've heard them called Wazibillies around the'Burg.
#3
His head appears fairly normal to me, but it's clear he uses more fabric to wind his turban than his wife has in her entire wardrobe. I don't even want to think how heavy that thing becomes during the monsoon season.
A Spanish ship has picked up the bodies of 18 would-be immigrants south of the Canary Islands. The hospital ship Esperanza del Mar retrieved the bodies, at least some of whom were wearing life jackets, 720km from the Spanish archipelago on Wednesday, a regional government source said.
At least 67 Africans are now known to have drowned since the end of February with thousands setting sail for the Canaries in barely seaworthy boats on a perilous voyage from Mauritania. Regional prefect Jose Segura said the local authorities "are concerned from a humanitarian point of view, even if they (the bodies) were found on the open sea" some 70 nautical miles off Ras Nouadhibou in northern Mauritania.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Police said on Wednesday they had arrested five men over their alleged role in a London protest against European newspaper cartoons caricaturing the Prophet Muhammad [PTUI PBUH]. A police spokeswoman told AFP that all five are suspected of trying "to stir up racial hatred", while four of them are suspected of incitement to murder. Police said the five were arrested for alleged offences committed during a February 3 protest outside the Danish embassy in London where placards were brandished with messages calling for the "massacre of those who insult Islam".
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Take a good gander at the photo. Since Britain seems to be keen on enacting new laws, perhaps they might put one in place for "indoctrinating minors in racial hatred and incitement to murder".
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has condemned Israel's raid on a West Bank prison and seizure of a militant leader as a crime that would not be forgiven. Across the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, Palestinians went on strike over an Israeli operation that has boosted interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert ahead of March 28 general elections.
Israeli security forces were on high alert after Ahmed Saadat's Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the Islamist militant group Hamas promised retaliation. Israeli forces used tanks and bulldozers to tear apart the Jericho jail on Tuesday to grab Saadat, accused by Israel of overseeing the 2001 assassination of Israeli cabinet minister Rehavam Zeevi claimed by the PFLP. Speaking at the destroyed jail, Mr Abbas accused British and US monitors supervising the incarceration of Saadat and five other militants who were detained of complicity with Israel. "What happened is an ugly crime which cannot be forgiven and a humiliation for the Palestinian people and a violation of all the agreements - their arrest by Israel is illegal," Mr Abbas said. The United States and Britain, citing security concerns, withdrew the monitors on Tuesday and Israeli forces moved in minutes later.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#4
Wasn't the reason for this the fact that the PA was going to spring him and others?
How do you say "Don't do the crime if you can't do the time." in Paleo?
Posted by: SPoD ||
03/16/2006 6:25
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You cannot, SPoD. It is an alien concept and causes the onset of terminal cognitive dissonance among Arab populations. Besides, nothing a "freedom fighter" does against a Jew counts as a crime, in the Arab world.
#7
So with their economy in shards, they decide to go on strike because a pack of murderers who were going to be released from prison are in the custody of the people they attacked?
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
03/16/2006 7:52
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Hey, any excuse for rioting, terrorism, martyrdom, and mayhem. Oh, and seething, did I mention seething?
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/16/2006 10:30
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Oh, shut up Abbas, you sap. Nobody (and I mean NOBODY) gives a crap what you have to say. If you weren't such an asshole, you'd just kill yourself now and save Israel the trouble.
Lebanon has asked Brazil to extradite a former top executive at a bank that could be linked to the killing of Rafiq al-Hariri, the former Lebanese prime minister. Rana Koleilat is wanted in Lebanon on fraud, embezzlement and forgery charges related to the collapse of Bank al-Madina in 2003 and was arrested in Brazil on Sunday.
In a Sao Paulo jail on Wednesday, the fugitive banker cut her left wrist with a blade from a contraband eyeliner sharpener, but police denied she tried to commit suicide, saying it was only an attempt to draw attention to her plight. UN investigators have told police they want to question Koleilat in connection with the February 2005 assassination.
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Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin was arrested in Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistan occupied Kashmir, along with seven other top Kashmiri militant leaders during a demonstration, reports reaching Srinagar said. Salahuddin, who is also the chairman of the United Jehad Council (an amalgam of 13 militant outfits), was arrested while he was demonstrating against the Kashmir policy of Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, the reports said.
Others arrested by the authorities in PoK were Ghulam Rasool Shah alias General Abdullah of Jamait-ul-Mujahideen, Mufti Rauf of Jaish-e-Mohammed, Zaki-ur-Rehman of Lashker-e-Tayiba, Jamil-ul-Rehman of Tehreek-ul-Mujahideen and Mushtaq Zargar alias Latram, the reports said. Zargar was one of the three militants released by India in exchange for passengers of an Indian Airlines plane, which was hijacked and taken to Kandahar in Southern Afghanistan in 1999.
The militants had been accusing Musharraf of making a complete U-turn on Kashmir and also charged him with succumbing to the US pressure. Reports suggested that the militants were protesting over the reported decision of the Pakistani government to choke off all the funds to these organisations.
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In his office in Peshawar's historic Mohabat Khan mosque, prayer leader Maulana Yousaf Qureshi smoothes his beard from the white roots to the henna-orange tips. "There's no time limit. If someone kills the cartoonist in 50 years he will still get the million dollars," he says. In a blazing sermon on February 17, Qureshi promised the money and a new car to whoever assassinates any of the 12 Danes whose drawings of the Prophet Mohammed ignited a firestorm of protest across the Muslim world.d.
On the same day, anti-cartoon protests in the conservative northwestern city turned into full-fledged anti-western riots that left foreign fast-food joints and businesses in flames. The unrest has abated since then, but not the anger. "We want them to spend the rest of their days like prisoners, under police protection," nods the imam, between two sips of sweetened green tea.
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#1
Wow! A Jihadi Savings Plan(TM). Collect $1m (and a new car) and spend not a penny of it while you're cooling your heels in prison for the rest of your life.
Interestingly enough, this guy is publicly issuing a murder contract, but has not been arrested by the Pakistani government. This says a little something about the character of that government.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/16/2006 13:21
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Collect the GPS coordinates of every imam and mosque issuing these death fatwas and the instant a single one of the cartoonists (including their loved ones) are harmed or killed, bomb every single stinking one of the cesspits back to the stone age.
The US State Department has sought confirmation from Pakistan of the arrest of an Al Qaeda leader believed to be the mastermind of the Madrid bombings in March 2004. CNN and NBC News reported in November last year that Mustafa Setmariam Nasar was captured after a gun battle in a remote area of Kohat. CNN also reported that one of Nasars aides was killed in the battle.
Checking to see if he's still arrested, are they?
Sources in the Interior Ministry told Daily Times on Wednesday that the State Department recently sent a letter to Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Director General Tariq Pervez through the US Embassy in Islamabad, seeking information about Nasars arrest. The letter, referring to various reports in the American and Spanish media about the arrest, asks the Pakistan government to confirm whether the Syrian fugitive was being held in Pakistan and inquires about his latest status.
The Syrian-born Nasar is considered the mastermind of the Madrid bombings, a series of coordinated attacks on the Spanish capitals system on the morning of March 11, 2004, which killed 192 people and wounded 2,050. He is also accused of organising the July 7 London suicide bombings. The US State Department announced a $5 million reward for Nasars capture in July 2005, saying that he was believed to have fled either to Iraq or Pakistans tribal areas bordering Afganistan.
Khaleej Times: ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Pakistan is holding a Syrian-born man with suspected terrorism links, a Pakistani official said on Thursday.
The official, who declined to be identified further due to the sensitive nature of the matter, gave no further details, including when or where he was detained.
Pakistani authorities confirmed in November that the were trying to determine whether a man detained during a police raid in the southern city of Quetta was Mustafa Setmarian Nasar, 47, an Al Qaeda-linked Syrian native who holds Spanish citizenship.
I'd classify this as a "Maybe".
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ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) - Prosecutors asked a judge Wednesday to reconsider her decision to toss out half of the government's case against confessed terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui. They acknowledged that altering the judge's ruling is their only hope of salvaging the death-penalty case.
Ain't gonna happen. Mookie is going to end up with life in prison.
In a motion filed with U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema, prosecutors said the aviation security evidence she barred because a government lawyer coached the witnesses ``goes to the very core of our theory of the case.''
At the very least, the prosecutors argued they should be allowed to present a newly designated aviation security witness who had no contact with the offending lawyer, Carla J. Martin of the Transportation Security Administration. They said this would ``allow us to present our complete theory of the case, albeit in imperfect form.'' ``The public has a strong interest in seeing and hearing it (aviation security evidence), and the court should not eliminate it from the case, particularly not ... where other remedies are available,'' they wrote Brinkema.
Perhaps they should have taken care not to violate the judge's rules and the federal code of procedure. Just a thought when you're getting ready to argue a really important case.
There was no immediate response from the judge, but she had indicated late Tuesday that she had time available Thursday to consider such a motion if it were made.
The sentencing trial that began last week will determine whether he is executed or spends life in prison without possibility of release. Brinkema has delayed the trial until Monday while prosecutors appeal.
Prosecutors argued the sanctions imposed Tuesday were unnecessarily severe. The judge barred several key witnesses from testifying as punishment for the government's misconduct. Brinkema's sanctions make it ``impossible for us to present our theory of the case to the jury,'' the prosecutors said, adding that the barred testimony ``is one of the two essential and interconnected components of our case.''
They also emphasized that six witnesses improperly coached by Martin testified at an evidentiary hearing Tuesday that their testimony would not be influenced by her actions.
Horseshit. Of course they'll be influenced, and if their testimony is allowed the defense a near sure-fire winner on appeal. Then we get to do this all over again.
The aviation security evidence was one of two parts of the prosecution's case: offensive and defensive measures they argue the government would have taken if Moussaoui had not lied to FBI agents about his terrorist connections when arrested in Minnesota three weeks before al-Qaida's attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
They say these measures combined would have prevented at least one death that day on which nearly 3,000 were killed as three hijacked jetliners were flown into the buildings and a fourth crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. This is crucial to the government case because to get a death penalty prosecutors must show an action of Moussaoui's - his lies, in this case - led directly to at least one death on 9/11.
This presumes that the government would have acted sprightly upon hearing the pearls of wisdom from Mookie's lips. We all know better. He could have given them dates, names and locations and nothing would have happened. And to presume that the FAA would have done anything at all is to stand up in court and sound stooopid.
Prosecutors remain free to enter the offensive steps they believe the FBI would have taken in those three weeks to locate 9/11 hijackers in this country. But Brinkema barred them from presenting witnesses or exhibits about what defensive steps federal aviation officials might have taken to enhance airport security during that period. She said Martin's misconduct while acting as liaison between prosecutors and seven prosecution and defense aviation witnesses had left that segment of the case ``irremediably contaminated.''
In their compromise proposal, prosecutors suggested they would drop efforts to argue the Federal Aviation Administration would have barred small knives, like those used by the hijackers, from planes and would have altered its terrorist screening profiles to catch the terrorists. Instead, they would call one witness, whom they did not identify, who worked at the FAA in August 2001 and could discuss the government's use of ``no-fly'' lists to bar specific, named terrorists from planes and how those lists evolved over the years.
Prosecutors have acknowledged they may have no viable case if Brinkema's ruling stands. ``We don't know whether it is worth us proceeding at all, candidly, under the ruling you made today,'' Assistant U.S. Attorney Rob Spencer said in an unusually blunt assessment during a conference call Tuesday. Spencer went on to say that resuming the trial under these conditions would ``waste the jury's time and the court's time, and we're all mindful of the expense of this proceeding.''
Yup. Put Mookie in jail for life and then fire Martin for her idiocy.
If Brinkema refuses to revise her ruling, it's not clear what appeal avenues remain open. Defense attorney Edward MacMahon said the government can't appeal Brinkema's ruling to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond now that the trial is under way. ``We don't think the government has any appellate rights under'' federal law, MacMahon said during Tuesday's conference call.
Martin coached witnesses on their testimony, sent them trial transcripts that she urged them to read and warned them to be prepared for certain topics on cross-examination. That violated trial rules preventing witnesses from being exposed to trial proceedings so that they do not alter their testimony based on what they learn. She also misrepresented to defense lawyers that witnesses they wanted to call weren't willing to talk with them before trial.
She should be disbarred for this, but my bet is she won't be punished at all.
Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond, said prosecutors might ask the appeals court for a rarely used common law relief order called a writ of mandamus, but Tobias said such orders are granted only in extraordinary circumstances.
Eric Holder, a former deputy attorney general, said in an interview Wednesday he expected prosecutors to exhaust all options pursuing the case. ``Agree or disagree with the decision to seek death, once you have committed to that course of action, you have to do all that you can to obtain that ultimate punishment.''
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/16/2006
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Martin coached witnesses on their testimony, sent them trial transcripts that she urged them to read and warned them to be prepared for certain topics on cross-examination. That violated trial rules preventing witnesses from being exposed to trial proceedings so that they do not alter their testimony based on what they learn. She also misrepresented to defense lawyers that witnesses they wanted to call weren't willing to talk with them before trial.
Isn't that a direct violation of elementary discovery rules? Why hasn't Martin's license to practice law been suspended pending permanent revocation? Honestly, what more does it take? There should have been immediate censure and institution of proceedings to disbar. I can hear Johnny Cochran smirking from his grave. What is it about cases of noteriety that summon forth the utmost in incompetence from participating individuals? I'm sure that, in a break from doggedly pursuing his wife's killer 24/7, somewhere out on a golf course, OJ is applauding.
#2
What is it about cases of noteriety that summon forth the utmost in incompetence from participating individuals?
What makes you think it is only in cases of noteriety that such practices occur? Far more likely is that this is the way the government attorneys behave all the time and it is only in cases of noteriety that there is a sufficiently high profile for anybody to care.
#6
What makes you think it is only in cases of noteriety that such practices occur? Far more likely is that this is the way the government attorneys behave all the time and it is only in cases of noteriety that there is a sufficiently high profile for anybody to care.
Fear not, NS, such a cynical surmise occured to me as well. Somehow, I managed to retain an iota of optimism that hoped the Feds would carefully screen participants in this incredibly high profile case, Silly me, I'll get over it.
Posted by: bk ||
03/16/2006 13:11
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#9
There seem to be some pros and cons of life vs. execution. Of course with execution, it is over, the message is sent, etc, and believe me I will not shed a tear (I'll have to try not to celebrate too long or loudly). Spending the rest of his miserable life in jail, hopefully with 23 1/2 hours per day in solitary would be a good punishment also. I fear he may do well in jail, convert many rudderless people to his way of thinking. OK, I convinced myself, hang the bastard.
#13
Hah! An attorney friend called me up and asked if I recalled Carla. She represented the FAA in a relatives wrongful death case; and yes she cooked the wintesses then. An ATC present at the crash suddenly developed amnesia after a stairwell coaching session from dear Carla. That was 1998!
A bomb has exploded outside a branch of British-based HSBC bank in Diyarbakir, south-east Turkey, and one person has been injured, security officials said. The bomb was planted in an automated teller machine and caused serious damage, the officials said. Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels have set off a series of bombs in the mainly Kurdish south-east in recent months. HSBC's Istanbul branch was among targets hit by a series of suicide attacks in 2003 which killed more than 60 people; responsibility was claimed by a group linked to al Qaeda.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Hamas and the other parliamentary blocs in the Palestinian Legislative Council have failed at the end of a meeting in Gaza to agree on a common programme for a Palestinian government, Aljazeera reports.
Couldn't figure how to split the boodle, huh?
Couldn't even get past the traditional Cursing of the Moustaches.
Fatah representative in the dialogue, Rudwan al-Akhras, said on Wednesday - the fourth day of inconclusive coalition talks in Gaza - that the gap with Hamas' position was still big.
"Dey want way too big a cut! Dey got da numbers, dey got da dockyards. Dey want da hookers and da booze, too? I don't t'ink so!"
Aljazeera reported quoting him that all the presentations and amendments in the revised Hamas offer did not meet the minimum demands of Fatah for joining a Hamas-led government. "I do not see any encouraging signals that we will be able to reach an agreement over the programme to form a joint government between the factions," Reuters quoted al-Akhras as saying.
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The United Nations General Assembly has created a new UN human rights body by an overwhelming majority, ignoring objections from the United States. Ambassadors broke out in sustained applause when the vote was announced: 170-4 with three abstentions. Joining the United States in a "no" vote were Israel, Marshall Islands, and Palau - but not American allies in Europe or Canada. Belarus, Iran and Venezuela abstained.
As the pre-eminent international rights watchdog, the 47-seat UN Human Rights Council is to expose human rights abusers and help nations draw up rights legislation. It would replace the 53-country Geneva-based UN Human Rights Commission, which in recent years has included some of the world's most notorious rights violators.
US Ambassador John Bolton told the assembly the rules for the new council were not strong enough to prevent rights violators from getting a seat. But he said the United States would cooperate with the body. "We did not have sufficient confidence in this text to be able to say that the Human Rights Council will be better than its predecessor," Mr Bolton said. "That said, the United States will work cooperatively with other member states to make the council as strong and effective as it can be."
Cuba, which had distributed four amendments, voted in favour, although it stated many objections and called the council a creation of the West, which would be used to "unjustly condemn Third World countries".
Since that's where most of the human rights violations are.
Its mouthpiece ambassador, Rodrigo Malierca, said, "We were never deceived by the loudmouthed objections of the Washington representatives. "The text, he said, was "conceived and negotiated behind the scenes to accommodate its demands, sacrificing vital interests of the countries of the south."
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan first proposed the new council last year as part of sweeping reforms of the world body. But his blueprint was watered down in the resolution. The seats would be distributed among regional groups: 13 for Africa, 13 for Asia, six for Eastern Europe, eight for Latin America and the Caribbean and seven for a block of mainly Western countries, including the United States and Canada.
Tells you everything you need to know to look at the distribution of members: where are they going to find 13 countries in Africa that don't abuse human rights? Ditto for Asia, where Iran, Burma and Bangladesh will inevitably find their ways onto the new 'Council'. And the better countries of the world make do with 7 seats: odds are the U.S. won't be on the 'Council' very often. We should be dancing the minuet to this farce.
Posted by: Fred ||
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You should put "Pull the plug:" back into the title.
Everything that includes the word "watchdog" coming out of the UN is a farce to substitute the opposite - lapdog.
This may be a godsend - it just might tip the scales in the US Congress to go after US funding of this zoo. Kill this hideous aberration.
#3
13 for Africa, 13 for Asia, six for Eastern Europe, eight for Latin America and the Caribbean and seven for a block of mainly Western countries, including the United States and Canada.
In the first wave of members will be Venezuela, North Korea, Zimbabwe, Saudi Arabia, and France.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
03/16/2006 8:01
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#4
Second verse
Same as the first
A little bit longer
And a little bit worse
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/16/2006 10:24
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The UN Security Council strove Wednesday to present a united front on the Iran nuclear crisis the thorniest issue to confront the world body since Iraq three years ago. The council's five veto-wielding permanent members, Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States, held talks in the morning their fifth round of discussions since the issue was referred to the UN by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) a week ago.
The talks in the US mission focused on the wording of a text proposed by Britain and France as a first step in securing a unified Security Council response to the Iran question. "Discussions among the [permanent five] continue and in the light of those we'll see how soon we can bring a text forward formally in the council and get it agreed," said the British ambassador to the UN, Emyr Jones Parry. The so-called "P5" circulated the Franco-British text to the council's 10 non-permanent members for the first time on Tuesday.
The proposed document calls on Iran to accede to all IAEA demands and immediately halt any activities linked to nuclear enrichment. It also urges Iran to reconsider the construction of a heavy water research reactor and to resume implementation of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty's Additional Protocol that allows for wider inspections of a country's nuclear facilities. And it requests IAEA head Mohammad Al Baradei to report on Iranian compliance with the demands within 14 days.
The figure "14" is between brackets, signifying that the precise deadline is still under debate. Jones Parry said the P5 was pushing for the document to be presented as a presidential statement, which is nonbinding but requires the approval of all 15 Security Council members.
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The Indian government has asked Pakistan to hand over 130 of the 250 criminals wanted in India believed to be residing Pakistan, Indian Home Minister Shivraj Patel informed the Indian parliament on Tuesday. He said arrest notices were issued for these criminals and distributed in different countries through the Interpol. Pakistan rejected Indian claims. India has repeatedly alleged that Mafia don Dawood Ibrahim was living in Karachi. Pakistan has rejected the claim. The minister said lookout circulars have also been issued against criminals. He added that nine fugitives had been brought to India from nine different countries.
Posted by: Fred ||
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India wants 130 criminals
They can have all of ours....
New Delhi, March 12: The Pakistan foreign office had paid tens of thousands of dollars to lobbyists in the US to get anti-Pakistan references dropped from the 9/11 inquiry commission report, The Friday Times has claimed. The Pakistani weekly said its story is based on disclosures made by foreign service officials to the Public Accounts Committee at a secret meeting in Islamabad on Tuesday.
It claimed that some of the commission members were also bribed to prevent them from including damaging information about Pakistan.
The magazine said the PAC grilled officials in the presence of foreign secretary Riaz Mohammad Khan and special secretary Sher Afghan on the money paid to lobbyists.
The disclosure sheds doubt on the integrity and honesty of the members of the 9/11 inquiry commission and, above all, the authenticity of the information in their final report, it said. The report quoted an officer as saying that dramatic changes were made in the final draft of the inquiry commission after the lobbyists got to work. The panel was formed to probe the September 11 terror attack and make suggestions to fight terrorism.
After the commission tipped the lobbyists about the damaging revelations on Pakistans role in 9/11, they contacted the panel members and asked them to go soft on the country. The Friday Times claimed that a lot of money was used to silence these members.
According to the report, the lobbyists also helped Pakistan win the sympathy of 75 US Congressmen as part of its strategy to guard Islamabads interests in Washington. US softened towards Pakistan only because of the efforts of the foreign office, an official was quoted as saying in the report.
The Pakistan foreign office defended the decision to hire the lobbyists, saying it was an established practice in the US.
An observer at the Islamabad meeting said money could play an important role in buying powerful people. The remark came in response to comments made by some US officials after 9/11 that Pakistanis will sell their mothers for a dollar.
Pakistan had emerged as front-runner in the fight against terrorism unleashed by the US after the terror strikes. Washington pumped in billions of dollars to win President Pervez Musharrafs support in launching a crackdown on al Qaida network thriving on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
Afghanistans foreign minister urged Pakistan on Wednesday to demonstrate consistency and sincerity in its policy of helping to defeat Taliban and Al Qaeda militants. Abdullah Abdullah, who is visiting Malaysia to attract investment to help rebuild his war-shattered countrys economy, said that relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan in the area of security had to move forward in a more robust manner. But what is needed is a policy of consistency and continuity and sincerity that will help us overcome this challenge, said Abdullah.
The comments come days after a suicide car bomb attack aimed at a former Afghan president who blamed Pakistans Inter Services Intelligence agency for the attack. Sibghatullah Mujadadi, who leads a panel to encourage Taliban defections, escaped with slight wounds, but two suicide bombers and two civilians were killed in the attack, for which the Taliban have claimed responsibility. Pakistan has denied the accusation that its nationals were involved.
Cooperation rather than finding fault with other countries was the swiftest way to resolve the problem, Abdullah said. Cooperation is something that we need to continue and we need to continue to work together, he said, adding that the elimination of Taliban and Al Qaeda militants was a challenge for the international community and Afghanistans neighbours. So its important that we get to the business of dealing with this issue, rather than getting diverted in blaming Pakistan, for example, for what is happening here. Asked if he knew where Taliban leader Mulla Mohammad Omar was, Abdullah said, Mulla Omar is not in Afghanistan, thats as much as I can say with a degree of certainty.
Posted by: Fred ||
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If the Paks would just acknowledge that they have >0< control over the territories and let others solve their problem for them, this would not be a problem. However, its everyone's problem because the Paks wouldn't give up their fiction and no one is willing to call them on it.
Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists. From this day forward, any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile regime. GWB, Sept 2001
MULTAN: Shopping centres and markets remained closed in Jatoi and Permit towns of Muzaffargarh district on Wednesday following a case of blasphemy there. The police arrested the alleged blasphemer and sent him to Muzaffargarh prison. We have saved lives and property by registering two cases against toll tax contactor Sattari Gopang under blasphemy law for making objectionable remarks about Prophet Muhammad (may his drip clear up peace be upon him) and Allah and for manhandling a truck driver, Muzaffargarh DPO Rai Muhammad Tahir said.
SDPO Rafiullah Niazi said that a truck driver had failed to pay the toll-tax at Jatoi on Monday. The staff took the driver to Gopang who asked him to pay Rs 5000 as fine. The driver then asked him to forgive him for the sake of Allah and Prophet Muhammad (PTUI PBUH).
Gopang then allegedly used abusive language about Allah, the Prophet and Islam. Hearing of this, hundreds gathered at the scene and beat up the contractor. Local religious leaders made an announcement on mosque loudspeakers. SDPO Niazi said an unofficial inquiry was held in the presence of local clerics and the district nazim which established that Gopang had indeed blasphemed. Local clerics threatened to take matters into their own hands if any lawyer dared represent the accused. A violent mob set four shops, a plaza and toll tax offices on fire. They also burnt tyres and blocked the National Highway. However, the police did not allow them to march on Gopangs house. More than 5000 people demonstrated in Jatoi and there was a complete strike ni Jhuggiwala, Meerwala, Sabaiwala, Jehanpur, Phullan Sharif, Hamzay wali, Alipur, Noorwah and Jhlareen on Tuesday.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/16/2006
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So the way to get out of paying your fine is to accuse the collector/judge/whatever of blasphemy?
How very convenient.
Posted by: SLO Jim ||
03/16/2006 14:06
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No wonder they're so damn poor. Every little upset and the shops, cars, offices get set on fire. Everybody stops work and destroys their surroundings. Everybody riots looking for someone to kill.
Bent on destruction aren't they? Keep imploding. More of this on MSM.
Pakistan on Wednesday rejected India's claim that Gilgit-Baltistan area in the Northern Areas is an integral part of India. Pakistan's Foreign Office spokeswoman responding to a question drew India's attention to UN Security Council and the UN Commission for India and Pakistan's resolutions regarding the status of Jammu and Kashmir. She said the valley is a disputed territory whose final status is yet to be determined. The Indian Ministry of External Affairs spokesman on March 10 claimed that Gilgit-Baltistan "is an integral part of India".
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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.
A "Sea Skua" guided missile misfired Thursday, in the first test conducted in Southeast Asia, in the waters off Kuala Beruas near Pantai Remis in Perak, Chief of Navy Admiral Datuk Ilyas Din said. Matra BAE Dynamics of the United Kingdom, which conducted the test for the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN), identified a technical problem as the cause of the failure, he added.
QUETTA, Pakistan - Pakistan on Thursday banned two Afghan TV channels and stopped cable operators from airing their content because they had blamed Pakistani security forces for trying to kill an Afghan politician, an official said.
Iran on Thursday offered more access to U.N. inspectors if their watchdog agency, not the U.N. Security Council, dealt with its nuclear dispute with the West.
Demonstrators overturned cars and threw petrol bombs at police who repelled them with tear gas and water cannon as a show of force by French students against the government over job reforms turned increasingly violent. 
Peshawar, 16 March (AKI) - The fugitive leader of the hardline Taliban movement, Mullah Mohammed Omar, has vowed a fierce offensive against the US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan warning of "unimaginable attacks" to come in the summer months. The statement by the Taliban leader was read by Taliban spokesman, Mohammad Hanif over the telephone from an undisclosed location and was qouted in the Pakistani based Afghan Islamic Press news agency. 
A BOMB has exploded outside a branch of British-based HSBC bank in Diyarbakir, south east Turkey, injuring one person, security officials said. The bomb was planted in an automated teller machine and caused serious damage, the officials said today. Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels have set off a series of bombs in the mainly Kurdish south east in recent months.
THE late head of the Saudi branch of Al-Qaeda, killed in February, has warned the Americans to leave the Arab peninsula and threatened Saudi officials, in a video aired online. 
A NEW US national security strategy document reaffirms the White House stance on pre-emptive war against threatening foreign states and terrorists, despite the country's mounting troubles in Iraq. In a quadrennial review of national security strategy to be released today, the White House also singles out Iran as possibly the greatest threat to the US, the Washington Post reported.
WASHINGTON, March 14 (Reuters) - The Bush administration has told lawmakers it opposes legislation to impose sanctions on foreign firms and countries working in Iran, but the lawmakers said on Tuesday they intended to advance the bill anyway. Florida Republican Rep. 
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - A former CIA contractor charged with beating a suspected terrorist in Afghanistan who later died must be released from jail so he can better help prepare his defense, a federal judge ruled. 
A top Kashmiri militant commander said an Islamic insurgency in the disputed Himalayan region wouldn't end until India and Pakistan include the militants in peace talks, a news agency reported on Wednesday. The comments by 
The trial of eight Jordanian men charged with plotting subversive acts against Americans, Israelis and Iraqi police training centres in Jordan opened Wednesday at the State Security Court. The tribunal immediately adjourned the session until next Wednesday because one of the defendants was not brought into the courtroom by the prison administration. 
Bugti tribe chief 
A leading Muslim academic suing the US government over its refusal to give him a travel visa has asked a federal court to allow him to enter the country temporarily while the case is awaiting trial. 
The European Union peacekeeping force, EUFOR, and NATO on Monday carried a joint operation with local security personnel in northern Bosnia-Herzegovina to hunt for individuals accused of forming a network to shield the country's fugitive wartime leader and top war crime indictee, Radovan Karadic, EUFOR announced. The home of a former Socialist Party of Serbia party member, Nemanja Vasic, was searched in Prnjavor, in the Bosnian Serb entity, EUFOR said. 
Sudan will reject the proposed deployment of UN forces to Darfur after the African Union's peacekeeping mandate expires in September, according to 
James Wolfensohn, special envoy of the international diplomatic "Quartet," complained Wednesday of being "disenfranchised" in his efforts to advance the Mideast peace process, and threatened to quit the high-profile post. "I think the Quartet itself must continue ... but the role of a disenfranchised leader of that Quartet doesn't seem to me to be a particularly attractive thing to spend your life doing," the former World Bank head said Wednesday at a hearing of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee. 
Law enforcers in their hunt especially for the two absconding Majlish-e-Shura members of 
The deputy president of the Iranian parliament's culture commission, has described Britain's embassy in Tehran as "a nest of spies." Saiid Abu Taleb, in an interview with the Iranian newsagency ILNA, also branded British diplomats as "spies sent to our country to inform their government" on conditions in the Islamic Republic. "Every day that we delay shutting down the embassy, which is in reality a nest of spies, we are causing ourselves great harm," said Abu Taleb, adding that the British diplomats should also be expelled from Iran.
Syrian and Lebanese officials have welcomed the latest report by a UN commission investigating the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri, calling it fair and cooperative. "The report was realistic and has a lot of professionalism," Fayssal Mekdad, the Syrian deputy foreign minister and a former ambassador to the United Nations, was quoted as saying in the government newspaper Thawra Wednesday. In Beirut, Lebanese Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh also said the report was well-done, telling reporters that "we welcome the atmosphere of close cooperation reflected in the report between the commission and Lebanese authorities." 
Saddam Hussein's half brother, Barzan al-Tikriti, on Wednesday denied involvement in mass reprisals ordered against a village after a failed 1982 assassination attempt there against the ousted Iraqi leader. "I arrested no one, it was the security services that were in charge" of operations in Dujail, Barzan said as the trial of Saddam and seven co-accused resumed before the Iraqi High Tribunal. "I can assure you I have no responsibility in this matter. It was handled by the former head of security who has since died. Just show me one document proving that I ordered an arrest or the destruction of someone's farm," he said.
AMMAN King Abdullah warned that a strike on Iran would cause the region "to explode" and deplored Israel's raid on a Palestinian prison, in an interview Wednesday with AFP. "A strike against Iran would cause the whole region to explode," the Monarch said in comments on the crisis between the West and Tehran over its nuclear activities. "The threat to regional security and stability will be grave if force is utilised to resolve this problem. Dialogue, patience and diplomacy are the only solution." 
Security forces on Wednesday used explosives to destroy a building here that militants used as a hideout, a government official said. The official identified the building as the Khalifa Madrassa near 
Police said on Wednesday they had arrested five men over their alleged role in a London protest against European newspaper cartoons caricaturing the Prophet Muhammad [
Mahmoud Abbas has condemned Israel's raid on a West Bank prison and seizure of a militant leader as a crime that would not be forgiven. Across the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, Palestinians went on strike over an Israeli operation that has boosted interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert ahead of March 28 general elections. 
Lebanon has asked Brazil to extradite a former top executive at a bank that could be linked to the killing of Rafiq al-Hariri, the former Lebanese prime minister. Rana Koleilat is wanted in Lebanon on fraud, embezzlement and forgery charges related to the collapse of Bank al-Madina in 2003 and was arrested in Brazil on Sunday.
In his office in Peshawar's historic Mohabat Khan mosque, prayer leader Maulana Yousaf Qureshi smoothes his beard from the white roots to the henna-orange tips. "There's no time limit. If someone kills the cartoonist in 50 years he will still get the million dollars," he says. In a blazing sermon on February 17, Qureshi promised the money and a new car to whoever assassinates any of the 12 Danes whose drawings of the Prophet Mohammed ignited a firestorm of protest across the Muslim world.d.
The US State Department has sought confirmation from Pakistan of the arrest of an Al Qaeda leader believed to be the mastermind of the Madrid bombings in March 2004. CNN and NBC News reported in November last year that 
A bomb has exploded outside a branch of British-based HSBC bank in Diyarbakir, south-east Turkey, and one person has been injured, security officials said. The bomb was planted in an automated teller machine and caused serious damage, the officials said. Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels have set off a series of bombs in the mainly Kurdish south-east in recent months. HSBC's Istanbul branch was among targets hit by a series of suicide attacks in 2003 which killed more than 60 people; responsibility was claimed by a group linked to al Qaeda. 
US Ambassador John Bolton told the assembly the rules for the new council were not strong enough to prevent rights violators from getting a seat. But he said the United States would cooperate with the body. "We did not have sufficient confidence in this text to be able to say that the Human Rights Council will be better than its predecessor," Mr Bolton said. "That said, the United States will work cooperatively with other member states to make the council as strong and effective as it can be." 
The UN Security Council strove Wednesday to present a united front on the Iran nuclear crisis the thorniest issue to confront the world body since Iraq three years ago. The council's five veto-wielding permanent members, Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States, held talks in the morning their fifth round of discussions since the issue was referred to the UN by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) a week ago. 
The Indian government has asked Pakistan to hand over 130 of the 250 criminals wanted in India believed to be residing Pakistan, Indian Home Minister Shivraj Patel informed the Indian parliament on Tuesday. He said arrest notices were issued for these criminals and distributed in different countries through the Interpol. Pakistan rejected Indian claims. India has repeatedly alleged that Mafia don Dawood Ibrahim was living in Karachi. Pakistan has rejected the claim. The minister said lookout circulars have also been issued against criminals. He added that nine fugitives had been brought to India from nine different countries.
New Delhi, March 12: The Pakistan foreign office had paid tens of thousands of dollars to lobbyists in the US to get anti-Pakistan references dropped from the 9/11 inquiry commission report, The Friday Times has claimed. The Pakistani weekly said its story is based on disclosures made by foreign service officials to the Public Accounts Committee at a secret meeting in Islamabad on Tuesday.
Afghanistans foreign minister urged Pakistan on Wednesday to demonstrate consistency and sincerity in its policy of helping to defeat Taliban and Al Qaeda militants. 
MULTAN: Shopping centres and markets remained closed in Jatoi and Permit towns of 
