BAGHDAD, Iraq Iraqi Army and Coalition Forces, approximately 1,400 personnel, kicked off Operation Northern Lights March 22 to disrupt anti-Iraqi forces and to find and destroy terrorist caches in the Abu Ghraib area west of Baghdad.
The joint and combined operation began with 3rd Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division, and 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, moving to blocking positions by ground before Soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, air assaulted onto the objective to conduct a cordon and search.
By late afternoon, approximately 400 Soldiers from the 3rd Bde., 6th Iraqi Army Div., discovered five weapons caches, containing a machinegun, a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, three AK-47 assault rifles, 2,200 PKC machine gun rounds, two boxes of gunpowder, a RPG rocket, an Iraqi police jacket, 18 106 mm tank rounds, 400 blasting caps, 40 artillery rounds, 17 pressure plate initiators, 20 Motorola radio initiators, and thousands of .50 caliber machine gun rounds. They also detained a suspected terrorist near one of the caches.
At another cache site, terrorists attacked Iraqi soldiers with small-arms fire, wounding one Iraqi policeman and an Iraqi child caught in the crossfire.
Iraqi soldiers returned fire, wounding and capturing a terrorist. All of the wounded were treated by Coalition Forces personnel.
Another cache found consisted of seven RPG launchers, 12 RPG rounds, 14 82 mm mortar rounds, two 120 mm mortar rounds, ten 155 mm rounds, a mortar bipod and 2,000 small-arms rounds, some of which were armor-piercing rounds. A suspected terrorist was detained at the site.
The combined forces continue to search for terrorists and bomb-making materials. So far through the operations, Iraqi and Coalition Forces have detained two persons of high-value interest and 16 suspected terrorists.
The operation is based on intelligence, including tips from local Iraqis, that terrorists are operating in the area and are stockpiling roadside bomb and truck bomb- making materials to prepare for future attacks in Baghdad.
#2
Another air-assault training exercise. Air assault units are best for conventional light cavalry uses, and also as a rapid deployment force.
As rapid deployment, they would put down any serious threat of civil war quickly, something like the Mehdi Army revolt in Najaf.
In light cavalry mode, they would cut to ribbons any ground advance into Iraq by a foreign army. Not just flank attacks, but cutting their logistics and communications lines and attacking their rear elements. A small light cav unit can inflict severe hurt on a unit many times its size.
It is the epee vs the broadsword, inflicting a dozen cuts and stabs before dodging the ineffectual and slow slash.
TIKRIT, Iraq The combined operation involving Iraqi Army, Iraqi Police commandos and Coalition Forces wrapped up March 22 without any casualties and all of the tactical objectives met.
The mission began with the helicopter transport of approximately 1,500 Iraqi and Coalition Soldiers and Iraqi police commandos into a 10-by-10 square mile area northeast of Samarra March 16. The initial insertion aircraft and subsequent air security provided by the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade moved the force comprised of units from the 1st Commando Brigade, the 1st Brigade, 4th Iraqi Army Division and the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division.
The combined force moved through the area using intelligence and planning provided primarily by the Iraqi Security Forces. The operation resulted in 104 suspected insurgents currently being detained and questioned, and 24 caches discovered.
The caches included:
- Six shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles
- Over 350 mortar rounds and three mortar systems
- 26 artillery rounds
- A variety of IED-making materials and other military items
- Over 120 rockets
- Over 3200 rounds of small-arms ammunition
- 86 rocket-propelled grenades and 28 launchers
- Six landmines
- 12 hand grenades and 40 rifle grenades
- 34 rifles and machineguns of various types
All of the detainees are currently held in secured locations undergoing questioning.
All units have safely returned to their garrison locations and forward operating bases preparing for future operations.
#1
Rolling up these caches is truly good news. Good job. I hope the Iraqi forces are gaining some field confidence - and some sense of pride that derives from the nation, instead of tribe or sect.
KABUL, Afghanistan Mar 23, 2006 (AP) Senior Muslim clerics demanded Thursday that an Afghan man on trial for converting from Islam to Christianity be executed, warning that if the government caves in to Western pressure and frees him, they will incite people to "pull him into pieces."
...
"Rejecting Islam is insulting God. We will not allow God to be humiliated. This man must die," said cleric Abdul Raoulf, who is considered a moderate and was jailed three times for opposing the Taliban before the hard-line regime was ousted in 2001.
Yep. Moderate.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
03/23/2006
21:08 ||
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Hey sanna hosanna, sana sana hey
Sanna hey sanna ho sanna....
An example is to be made. It's supposed to be the ultimate point that makes us leave, give up defeated and rally the west to leave en masse. Letting Iran and Al Q continue on their path to takeover.
There is a horde in Sudan, newly trained and heading for the encircling of Israel. The next target when we run from Iraq and Afghanistan at the demands of our media and voters.
This martrydom may have quite the opposite effect than the islamists believe. But it will provoke the big clash Al Q and Iran seek so strongly. The civilization clash is being provoked on all islamic fronts - they have gathered in decision. And the decision is all out for global khalifate...
Winner to be determined, it doesn't really matter to them. It's the fight that's all.
#4
I suspect that the US has long been prepared with how to deal with a circumstance like this, knowing the pull these eaters of pork have in Afghanistan.
We can parry their attack, block their attack, counterpunch them, or even get nasty with them. That is where finesse and tact come in.
#6
Article: Senior Muslim clerics demanded Thursday that an Afghan man on trial for converting from Islam to Christianity be executed, warning that if the government caves in to Western pressure and frees him, they will incite people to "pull him into pieces."
The guy knew this was coming. You gotta hand it to him. He's got guts. If the mullahs have their way, they're going to be spread out all over the tarmac.
#1
That's alright, the Chinese will make up the gap with their administrative access to American financial services firms trading systems.
As a measure to shed themselves of those lousy $75K domestic IT infrastructure wages, certain American firms, the ones that process your 401k, are handing over the processing system keys to enthusiastic Chinese nationals, not merely here on visa, but inside China itself.
But I'm sure nothing bad will happen.
Posted by: IT Insider ||
03/23/2006 21:22
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Japan does not have to help the very government that is trying to destabilize the neighborhood around Japan. It does not make sense. The Chicoms have a huge mountain of shakey debt. No use taking a chance of being burned.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/23/2006 21:41
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A vocal Republican critic of the Bush administration's eavesdropping program will preside over Senate efforts to write the program into law, but he was pessimistic Wednesday that the White House wanted to listen.
"They want to do just as they please, for as long as they can get away with it," Senate Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said in an interview with The Associated Press. "I think what is going on now without congressional intervention or judicial intervention is just plain wrong."
Specter was one of the first Republicans to publicly question the National Security Agency's authority to monitor international calls - when one party is inside the United States - without first getting court approval. Under the program first disclosed last year, the NSA has been conducting the surveillance when calls and e-mails are thought to involve al-Qaida.
Earlier this month, Senate Intelligence Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan., expressed interest in handling NSA legislation.
But Specter will stay in the spotlight.
The Senate Parliamentarian last week gave Specter jurisdiction over two different bills that would provide more checks on the Bush administration's warrantless surveillance program.
One bill, written by Specter, would require a secretive federal intelligence court to conduct regular reviews of the program's constitutionality. A rival approach - drafted by Ohio Sen. Mike DeWine and three other Republicans - would allow the government to conduct warrantless surveillance for up to 45 days before seeking court or congressional approval.
Specter said the House and Senate intelligence committees could have had authority over the program under the 1947 National Security Act, which lays out when the spy agencies must tell Congress about intelligence activities.
But, Specter said, the committees haven't gotten full briefings on the program, instead choosing to create small subcommittees for the work.
"The intelligence committees ought to exercise their statutory authority on oversight, but they aren't," Specter said. "The Judiciary Committee has acted. We brought in the attorney general. We had a second hearing with a series of experts, and we are deeply involved in it."
Specter added that his words should not be seen as critical of Roberts, but rather the administration for not briefing the full committees.
Roberts was known to be unhappy that his committee was bypassed.
An aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the issue's political sensitivity, said all members of the Intelligence Committee have been briefed on the program's general outline, and seven members of an intelligence subcommittee have been fully briefed on the details.
The aide said Roberts plans to hold more sessions, and he will likely demand that Specter refer any legislation passed by Judiciary Committee to the intelligence panel for review.
Specter's bill would require the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to provide a broad constitutional review of the surveillance activities every 45 days and evaluate whether the government has followed previous authorizations that are issued.
DeWine, however, wants to give the administration as much as 45 days to operate without a court warrant. If at any point the attorney general has enough information to go to the intelligence court, he must.
Under that approach, Specter said the administration can still "roam and roam and roam, and not find anything, and keep roaming. ... I think that's wrong."
Specter plans to hold a hearing on Tuesday about the bills. He said his plan is to pass both out of the Judiciary Committee and allow the full Senate to consider them as soon as May.
"I think my position will prevail," Specter said, noting that he will have Democratic support.
Posted by: Captain America ||
03/23/2006
18:50 ||
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#1
As somebody who has written software to more invasive stuff for engineering reasons... Specter has something seriously twisted in his little brain!
Filed under 'Terror Networks' because you don't have a category 'Islam', and this seems like the closest fit.
Unlike some of my fellow believers I dont think that the recent glut of Westerners calling for the reformation of Islam is due solely to an imperial Western ambition. I believe that much of non-Muslim engagement with Islam is premised upon a well-intentioned impulse. I believe that some Western antipathy towards Islam is due to decency. It is quite plausible that a generation that faced off against two totalitarianisms might be right about a third. It is also plausible that for every Westerner who calls for the destruction of Islam in order to defend the Western status-quo, there is another Westerner who agitates for change in Islam because has a Muslim friend who has been hurt by what passes for Islam, or has a glimpse (in Hafiz, perhaps in Ibn Rushd), of what Islam could be; and as such, is upset by what Islam today is not. I believe that there are many in the West capable of recognizing beauty and they have recognized the beauty that Islam was in the hands of Rumi, and also have recognized the potential of that beauty in Islam today, in Muslims today. This is another way of saying that I believe there are many in the West who are driven by the humanity of the Muslim, who faces daily in Iraq, in Punjab, in subversive mosques in Europe, the inhumanity of a utilitarian death theology.
Yes, I know that there was a time when the West went to civilize and ended up conquering; when it went to keep the dominoes upright and ended up slaughtering; when it went to trade and ended up colonizing; when it went to liberate and left civil war behind. Yet, in spite of this I believe that there are Westerners who are impelled solely by the humanity of the Muslim, because when the West conquered there were Westerners who spoke against it; when the West went to Vietnam there were Westerners who spoke against it; when the West colonized there were Westerners who were anti-colonial. Even still, all Westerners cannot be held accountable for the sins of their leaders. Muslims can, and do, ask that others forgive what Muslim leaders do in the name of God. Why cannot the West be forgiven for how its leaders have manipulated humanism? I forgive.
If, then, there are those in the West who challenge what passes for Islam today, on the basis of their humanity with the Muslim, then we Muslims must embrace them as our brothers. It is conceiveable, yes, that there are those in the West with as much sadomasochim (or courage, if you will), as the reformists of Islam; with as great a penchant for human rights as the reformists of Islam; with as great a willingness to face off against the edifice of a corrupt theology as the reformists of Islam. We must embrace them as our brothers, be they Latino, Black, or dare I say, white; be they Hindu, Jew, Christian, or dare I say, secular-humanist. We this is the we that refers to all those who fight injustice did not exclude such helpers when the evil was Soviet Union. We this is the we that refers to all those who fight injustice did not exclude the helpers when the evil was Jim Crow. Nor when the evil was the patriarchy which denied female equality. In fact, if reformist Islam is to stand a chance, it has to be open to those who want to help. There has never been a case in history where change has occurred without participation by some members of the dominant discourse joining in the efforts of those who agitate for change.
There is a concern that some of those who wish to join are dissimulators. That they want only to use our reformist critique to demonize Islam. That there are hypocrites in the lot of the so called helpers. That they are drawn only to the exoticism of the Muslim woman, or the virility of the Muslim sperm, and so on. My reply is to not be frightened by this possibility. At this time the fight between our philosophy of the future and yesterdays death theory, has not even begun. When it begins, those who joined for illegitimate reasons will reveal themselves. But that remains to be seen. In fact, who is to say, given the magnitude of the confrontation and given what is at stake enlightened living for our children that there will not be individuals amongst us who turn tail in the face of the gravitas? Who is to say, given that our activism will pit us against our elders, our ancestral homes, our history as it has been so far written, that there will not be individuals amongst us who simply turn traitorous and expose us to the frothing fundamentalism we face off against? When we see those who appropriate our efforts, well, well call a spade a spade, but that is no reason to not start gardening.
Man has always come to the assistance of man. The Helpers of Medina to the migrants of Mecca; Indians to the Pilgrims; Ottomans to the Sephardigm; Albanian Muslims to the Jews of Europe. There are men and women in the West who wish to be of assistance to us. So what if they sometimes say things that you find offensive or incorrect. To correct them by way of friendship is much better than to sneer at them (or behead them). We must judge them, not by their ancestors history, but by their love of the oppressed. We are clear, are we not, that there has been one too many Mukhtaran Mai? We are clear, are we not, that there has been one too many tyranny? We are clear, are we not, that there has been one too many Bin Laden? One too many 9/11, 3/11, 7/7, and Aksari Shrine and Shia massacre and Bahai jailing and Jew-baiting. One too many Bamiyan Buddhas. One too many novelists accused. One too many suicides. The task ahead will be difficult enough. If, then, there are those who will link their arms with us, we must not hesitate. When the moment of reckoning comes and there is no reason to believe that time is not now we will be in need of every able mind, profligate pen, and nervous smile. Do it out of pragmatism, or do it out of love, but do it you must.
All those then, theists, secularists, atheists, deists, refuseniks, peaceniks, Jews, Gentiles, Unitarians, Episcopalians, Baptists, Methodists, Philosophers, who wish to walk for humanity: speak up and do not stop speaking. Walk with the believers. There are believers who will walk with you.
A top producer at ABC NEWS declared "Bush makes me sick" in an email obtained by the DRUDGE REPORT.
John Green, currently executive producer of the weekend edition of GOOD MORNING AMERICA, unloaded on the president in an ABC company email obtained by the DRUDGE REPORT.
"If he uses the 'mixed messages' line one more time, I'm going to puke," Green complained.
The blunt comments by Green, along with other emails obtained by the DRUDGE REPORT, further reveal the inner workings of the nation's news outlets.
A friend of Green's at ABC says Green is mortified by the email. "John feels so badly about this email. He is a straight shooter and great producer who is always fair. That said, he deeply regrets the sentiment expressed in the email and the embarrassment it causes ABC News."
Developing...
Interesting contrast with my earlier ABC post! LOL
#1
I call BS! He regrets getting caught...nothing else.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
03/23/2006 19:35
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notice John Green never admits his remorse.... I call BS as well - you got punked. NEVER cc: "all employees"
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/23/2006 20:30
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Appears distribution of the ABC executive party line got a little outside the building....whhahahahaha. Well Mr. Green, maybe you are not as well thought of among the rank and file as you once believed.
#4
I say he's entitled to his opinion and to puke if he wants too. The question for ABC News is whether an executive producer with such opinions can and will present fair news coverage. I doubt it.
#6
The question for ABC News is whether an executive producer with such opinions can and will hurt ratings and advertising revenue.
Considering that ratings and revenue have been falling consistently amongst the entire rank and file of MSM companies, which are staffed almost entirely by people sharing the opinion of the gentleman whose email escaped custody... yes I'd say this is a problem. But not enough for the gentleman in question to get the boot just for being indiscrete, I would think.
#7
Will ABC News be unbiased and report it, on GOOD MORNING AMERICA? I doubt it.
Posted by: ed ||
03/23/2006 23:10
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#8
As wid NOLA, when o' when will the Fed, and only the Fed, intervene and oversee anything and everything, to regulate, subsidize, welfarize, and bureaucratize in the name of national = universal safety, securoity, and protection - FEDERALISM = SOCIALISM/CAPITALISM and vice versa, don't ya know!? THE SIMPSONS > "Will someone pul-eeeeessee think of the children". Yep, Yessirree, there are future Motherly OWG Death Camp, Gulag, Reeduc Camp and Brothel Guards out there starving and penniless becuz of Americans' selfish decadent malicious desire to stay alive and hold on to their illegal, non-Govt. provided private wealth and properties. POOR POTUS KERRY ONLY HAS FIVE MANSIONS, D*** YOU; POOR FIDEL ONLY HAS SEVERAL EXPENSIVE HOMES/RETREATS + PRIVATE BODYGUARDS + LOTS OF EXPENSIVE SPANISH HAMS IN CASH-STRAPPED CUBA!
An underwater craft that can seek out and destroy mines has been unveiled. The sub, dubbed Talisman, relies on computer software that allows it to complete its mission without being guided by an operator.
Most mine-disposal missions rely on either human divers or small explosives dropped from a ship. Remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) that are tethered to a boat on the surface by an umbilical cord are also used, but their cables restrict how far the craft can roam. Most of these options require the people involved to be within a few hundred metres of the mined area, which can put lives at risk.
In contrast, Talisman can travel for kilometres on its own to reach a minefield. Whenever the craft is underwater, it relies on its autonomy software to navigate a course and avoid obstructions. Once it finds a target, the craft rises to the surface, communicates with an operator and waits for further instructions. It can then descend again and take out the mine with a miniature torpedo.
Posted by: Captain America ||
03/23/2006
17:20 ||
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#1
of course, mining an international waterway is an act of war IIRC
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/23/2006 19:16
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I note they used "mine" in the singular. Instead of using a torpedo to take out the mines, having no real need for speed, they might instead carry and deploy a whole s-load of something like the guided toy submarines you would use in a backyard pool. Except packed with high explosive.
The main craft would detect the mines, then send out these probes, perhaps guided by wire to their targets. There wouldn't be any "misses" with wire guidance. And if the mines didn't detonate on contact, a large corridor could be blown through the minefield at the same time--perhaps causing sympathetic detonations.
It would also reduce the time the enemy knew their minefield had been tampered with, and try to replace the blown mines.
#3
Wonder if it has an alter-ego to ask, "How is itself today?". And to remind it, "Your not going to let them get away with that!"
The trouble with A.E. Van Vogt verison was they were too paranoid to return to the surface.
Posted by: bruce ||
03/23/2006 20:31
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Incoming Palestinian interior minister Saeed Seyam, chosen by Hamas to oversee three security services, said on Thursday he will not order the arrest of militants carrying out attacks against Israel.
"The day will never come when any Palestinian would be arrested because of his political affiliation or because of resisting the occupation," Seyam told Reuters in an interview. "The file of political detention must be closed." enormously clarifying, and it means two things: 1. Hamas isn't and won't be a partner, despite Jimmy Carter's protestations to the contrary (no doubt this statement by hamas won't sway him, either) and 2. if Hamas won't go after the bad guys, Israel can. And as they continue the process of disengagement, terrorism will seem more and more to be state-sponsored. War. Israel can attack without having to avoid "innocent" civilians. Turnabout is fair play.
Hamas, whose charter officially calls for Israel's destruction, swept to victory in a Jan. 25 election and plans to present its cabinet line-up to a Hamas-dominated parliament for a vote next week.
The militant group has selected Hamas loyalists like Seyam to fill almost all of the 24-member cabinet after Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction and other moderate parties refused to join a coalition with Hamas.
Hamas's failure to convince rival factions to join the government could make it harder for it to rule and could cement U.S. and Israeli efforts to isolate the group.
As well as vowing not to arrest militants for carrying out attacks against Israel, Seyam said Hamas would try to coordinate militants' operations. an act of war? a de facto army, since it's government supported?
"Talks with the factions in the future will focus on the mechanisms, the shape and the timing (of any attacks)," he said. the first act of the new government
"But the right to defend our people and to confront the aggression is granted and is legitimate." with the inevitable retaliation for any attacks, paleos are gonna be mighty angry they brought hamas to power.
Seyam said he had begun talks with Palestinian security chiefs in the hope of averting fighting within the security services. A majority of the 20,000-plus security personnel, who will answer to Seyam, are Fatah members. no they won't.
Seyam said maintaining law and order would be a top priority. There were several hundred murders in Gaza and the West Bank last year, according to human rights groups. he's gonna have to maintain law and order amongst the security force, before he can extend it to the civilian population.
Seyam said his ministry would continue to coordinate day-to-day security issues, like the number of permits given to Palestinian workers, with Israeli authorities. But Seyam said he did not plan to meet Israelis himself.
"Regarding daily issues, they will not be changed, except in the way that serves the interest of our people," he said.
Israel and the United States have said they will not have any contact with Hamas members and have urged donors to cut off direct funding to the government unless it renounces violence, abides by interim peace deals and recognises the Jewish state.
"Saeed Seyam did not come to the government to revive any security cooperation or to protect the occupation and their settlers. I came to protect our people and their fighters, to protect their trees, their properties and their capabilities," Seyam said. and to kill joooooooos
#2
You want to make war on Israel? Better stock up on potable water, generators, petrol and diesel, and batteries. Your munitions supply should be adequate. Oh, and yes. You will need to stockpile flour. Best o'luck t'ye. Yer gonna need it.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/23/2006 20:06
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#3
They must be sure to paint a nice big bull's eye on the back of each one of their politicians as well. Idjits.
#4
Hamas leaders have such large lifespans once Israel knows they exist ... you would think that Pavlov's conditioning would be having an evolutionary effect on them.
#6
Not just HAMAS but WND.com and other sources are reporting that FATAH's Motherly Al-Aqsa Martyr Brigades and others are part of it, and that Iran has ordered Palestinian terror groups to begin acts of bombings in time for the upcoming elex.
The News just gets Better and Better...
Demographics 101:
Abortion - Check.
Too Stoned To Vote - Check.
To Busy Waxing Cat To Vote - Check. Smog Bad For Sperm EPA: NY, CA Air Is Dirtiest Heh, heh.
Paris, 23 March (AKI) - The French parliament has passed a law that increases from 15 to 18 the age at which females may marry - the same age limit already in place for men. The law, which aims to prevent forced marriages, also extends harsher penalties for marital rape and assault to partners and ex-partners.
Gee, I wonder who this law is aimed at?
Centre-right politicians have hailed the legislation as an important step forward for women's rights, while the opposition regretted that it did not go far enough, French daily Le Monde reported.
MPs also backed measures to counter sex tourism, child pornography and female circumcision. It will also become an offence to confiscate travel or identity documents to prevent a partner leaving.
Seething in 5..4..3..
Posted by: Steve ||
03/23/2006
15:10 ||
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This won't work unless they raise the age for statuatory rape to 18. They'll just do like the Iranians do and have short duration marriages, followed by rape and an automatic divorce.
#2
NB: This is only who they'll issue marriage licenses for, it does nothing to stop "marriages" that exist only after religious ceremonies.
Read Viking Observer earlier, and apparently one of the welfare scams being pulled is to marry someone, get a civil divorce (but not one in the eyes of Islam) and then "remarry" the second, third, etc. wife. All but the last wife are considered single parents by the welfare state, so...
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
03/23/2006 15:59
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SO even in France Socialism is about money, the Few controlling the Money, the Many, and the Money of the Many, NOT Utopianism let alone Universal Utopianism. Does explain, AGAIN, as per DRUDGEREPORT why Cuba's Fidel, his physicians and family members enjoy themselves at lavish on-island retreats while the Cuban people and even Fidel's own Army all starve. CUBA = NORTH KOREA = we'll see how the Pols, Generals, Admirals, lower ranks and Burrcrats react when their own families begin the starvation cycle, which BTW has already begun in NK and is starting to happen in CUBA.
#2
''So that if Castro has a heart attack or he dies, the only people who will know about it will be his family, the guards working at the time, and Raúl,'' Fernández said. ``Fidel never cedes control, and will never cede power.''
Looks like "Weekend at El Jefe's" might be in our future. Hopefully, the not too distant one...
Damascus, 23 March (AKI) - Despite the denial by the Syrian authorities of the presence of Lebanese political prisoners in the country's jails, a Beirut daily Thursday published a list of 'desaparecidos' whose presence in Syrian prisons has been documented. The 25 Lebanese were reportedly arrested by the Syrian secret services. The daily backs up its allegations with declarations from Syrian embassies in various countries which apparently confirm the detention of the 25 citizens, as well as with documentation given to the men's families by prison authorities. The newspaper also published a photo of one of the 'missing', saying it had been taken by a Syrian prison guard in return for a bribe.
The Lebanese government has handed the authorities in Damascus a list of 600 Lebanese who have 'disappeared' in the Syrian prison system. Damascus denies the existence of these inmates, except for some 80 people arrested on criminal not political offences.
According to Ghazi Ad, president of the Lebanese prisoners' support committee, who follows the Syrian question, Damascus' reply was "superficial", given that half the prisoners cited by the government had been out of prison for some time.
Ad went on to accuse Syria of "avoiding the issue", urging that the question be brought before the UN Security Council.
The families of the missing Lebanese men have appealed to the Egyptian and Iranian presidents and to the secretary general of the Arab League to pressure Damascus for the men's release and called for an international inquiry into the prisoners' fate.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/23/2006
15:08 ||
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I intended only to ask snarkily whether Amnesty International was up to anything USEFUL for a change.
Well, I decided to search for "Lebanese" over on their site. I found a vaguely worded reference to "at least two commissions" (neither named) looking into this sort of thing. They asked that appeals be sent to a Minister of Justice in Lebanon and to (and I am not making this up) President Bashar al-Assad "welcoming the creation of this new committee and urging them to ensure that: it is as independent and credible as possible..."
I'm not sure if that counts as useful, since the lastest entry was dated August 24 of last year. Maybe they are crafting a follow up. Maybe they're applying for visas to visit Damascus.
2008 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is blasting a GOP-backed immigration bill, claiming bizarrely that the legislation would "literally criminalize . . . . probably even Jesus himself." Clinton invoked the biblical theme on Wednesday while restating her opposition to a bill sponsored by Rep. James Sensenbrenner that would make illegally entering the U.S. a felony.
Be careful, Hillary. Separation of church and state and all that.
Surrounded by what the Associated Press described as "a multicultural coalition of New York immigration advocates," the former first lady ripped the GOP bill as "mean-spirited" - insisting that it flew in the face of Republicans' stated support for faith and values. "It is certainly not in keeping with my understanding of the Scriptures," she declared, before adding: "This bill would literally criminalize the Good Samaritan and probably even Jesus himself."
Well, Jesus was a legal resident of The Kingdom of Israel last time I looked. And unless Hillary has been in direct contact with our Lord, there's no way of knowing if the Good Samaritian had his green card or a tourist visa.
After being passed by the House, the Senate is set to take up Sensenbrenner's bill, H.R. 4437. The legislation would instruct law enforcement to seek out illegal aliens and cut federal funding for cities, such as San Francisco, that have sanctuary laws. Other provisions include the creation of a border fence, the elimination of the diversity visa lottery system and the indefinite detention of some immigrants.
In 2003 Mrs. Clinton blurted out during a radio interview that she was "adamantly opposed to illegal immigrants." But her actions never lived up to the tough talk.
Well, her position depends on who she's talking to.
Two weeks ago Clinton announced her support for a defacto amnesty program that she said would grant illegal aliens "a path to earned citizenship for those who are here, working hard, paying taxes [and] respecting the law."
Posted by: Steve ||
03/23/2006
14:55 ||
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Yeah, it criminalizes "Jesus" (pronounced "Hey-soos") - not to mention Juan and Jaime and anyone else who commits a CRIME by sneaking across the border illegally.
Tell ya' what, Hill - somebody commits a crime by bonking you on the head and stealing all your money, you're quite welcome not to be "mean-spirited" enough to prosecute him. But I'm not holding my breath.
These fools are pathetic. And transparent as hell.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/23/2006 15:17
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I thought the left was in favor of criminalizing Jesus?
#15
Hillary is wigging out on this bill because she needs the illegals for her voting base. We need to keep this bill in the news, as Hillary will show the country what her real agenda is. Keep up the heat.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/23/2006 20:37
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"mean-spirited"
Well, if there was ever anything the hilderbeast would be qualified to comment on it would most certainly be a "mean spirit."
#17
hmmmm Hillary's up for re-election, numbers, while low, aren't shakey yet. Anybody remember the Orthodox Jews or Puerto Rican pardons by Bill on the way out the door? consider this a clumsy phase 2
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/23/2006 22:19
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The Easter Bunny has been sent packing at St. Paul City Hall. A toy rabbit, pastel-colored eggs and a sign with the words "Happy Easter" were removed from the lobby of the City Council offices, because of concerns they might offend non-Christians.
Stuffed rabits being one of the holiest christian symbols
A council secretary had put up the decorations. They were not bought with city money.
St. Paul's human rights director, Tyrone Terrill, asked that the decorations be removed, saying they could be offensive to non-Christians.
And heaven knows we wouldn't want to offend
But City Council member Dave Thune says removing the decorations went too far, and he wonders why they can't celebrate spring with "bunnies and fake grass."
Guess we should just rename it the "Spring Festival"
Posted by: Steve ||
03/23/2006
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#1
Let's be honest. It wasn't the bunny, plastic grass, and eggs that might give offense. It was the word "Easter".
As far as I can tell, our elites have decided that celebrating the dominant faith in our society causes offense and criticizing minority faiths causes offense, so both have to be banned. What left, of course, is celebrating the minority faiths and criticizing the dominant one.
Nothing wrong with doing any of the above, so long as they're all allowed. But the present situation is hardly one that is fair, honest, or moral.
Thus "Happy Holidays" alongside "Happy Kwanza"; it's "offensive" to mention one of the two holiest days of 3/4ths of the population, but you gotta push, push, push a thirty-year-old "holiday" created by a Marxist, racist, violent crackpot.
I'll bet good money that the St. Paul City Hall puts up signs marking Earth Day.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
03/23/2006 15:08
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What farce. This absurd PC shit will never end - until PCism, in all its social engineering forms, is totally eradicated for the mental illness cowardice it is.
#7
It's an embarrassment, being from the frozen tundra state and all.
But the idiotic state senate leader, a donk, is entertaining. The fool is on tape telling folks not to get all excited about passing DOMA because he spoke to all the justices and there are already enought laws on the books to safeguard marriage (1F+1M). Only problem is the chief justice polled his justices and none of them ever spoke to this fool about DOMA.
The Reps are all over this.
Posted by: Captain America ||
03/23/2006 16:50
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#8
think Tyrone would have a problem with Kwanza?
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/23/2006 17:05
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When policemen, soldiers and officials in Kirkuk who were injured in insurgent attacks arrived in the emergency room of the hospital, they hoped their chances of surviving had gone up as doctors tended their wounds.
In fact, many of the wounded were almost certain to die because one of the doctors at the Republic Hospital was a member of an insurgent cell. Pretending to treat the injured men, he killed 43 of them by secretly administering lethal injections, a police inquiry has revealed.
"He was called Dr Louay and when the terrorists had failed to kill a policeman or a soldier he would finish them off," Colonel Yadgar Shukir Abdullah Jaff, a senior Kirkuk police chief, told The Independent. "He gave them a high dosage of a medicine which increased their bleeding so they died from loss of blood."
Dr Louay carried out his murder campaign over an eight to nine-month period, say police. He appeared to be a hard working assistant doctor who selflessly made himself available for work in any part of the hospital, which is the largest in Kirkuk.
He was particularly willing to assist in the emergency room. With 272 soldiers, policemen and civilians killed and 1,220 injured in insurgent attacks in Kirkuk in 2005, the doctors were rushed off their feet and glad of any help they could get. Nobody noticed how many patients were dying soon after being tended by their enthusiastic young colleague.
Dr Louay was finally arrested only after the leader of the cell to which he belonged, named Malla Yassin, was captured and confessed. "I was really shocked that a doctor and an educated men should do such a thing," said Col Jaff.
The murderous work of Dr Louay is symbolic of the ferocity of the struggle for the oil province of Kirkuk. The dispute over its fate is the most important reason why the political parties in Baghdad have failed to create a new government three months after the election on 15 December. The Kurds, expelled from Kirkuk and replaced with Arab settlers by Saddam Hussein, captured the city on 10 April 2003. They have no intention of giving it up. "We will never leave Kirkuk," said Rizgar Ali Hamajan, the former Kurdish peshmerga (soldier) who heads the provincial council. "It is part of Kurdistan."
He recalls that when he was 18 months old, his parents fled with him from his village north of Kirkuk moments before the Iraqi army destroyed it.
But Ibrahim al-Jaafari, the Prime Minister, has frustrated Kurdish demands, enshrined in the new constitution, for Kurds to be allowed to return to Kirkuk and Arabs settlers to be removed to their original homes. The Kurds expect a referendum in Kirkuk that would lead to the province joining the highly autonomous Kurdish region ruled by the Kurdistan regional government in northern Iraq.
For the 1.9 million Kurds, Turkomens and Arabs of Kirkuk province, oil has brought few benefits. They live on top of at least 10 billion barrels of oil which was first exploited in 1927. Despite that, people wanting to buy petrol in Kirkuk wait all day in queues of battered vehicles. "It is the most devastated city in all Iraq," said Mohammed Othman, deputy head of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, the most powerful Kurdish party in Kirkuk.
All Iraqi provinces were seriously damaged under Saddam Hussein but few on the scale of Kirkuk. Sinister mounds in the fields mark where Kurdish villages once stood before they were destroyed. Often the Iraqi army poured concrete into the village wells to prevent people returning. Saddam Hussein also bulldozed four districts in Kirkuk after the failed Kurdish uprising in 1991. Between then and 2003 at least 120,000 Kurds and Turkomens were expelled, in addition to those forced out in the previous 40 years.
Some Kurds have returned, but not to a land of plenty. In the old sports stadium in Kirkuk, hundreds of families are squatting amid the garbage and sewage. The guerrilla war continues at a low but persistent level and the Arabs are not going to leave or be marginalised without a fight.
Smoke was rising over Kirkuk this week as children set ablaze tyres to celebrate the Nowruz, the Kurdish spring festival.
Kirkuk is not a place where many people would like to live - but the battle to control it may yet destroy Iraq. May the good doctor pray for death before he is dangled from the gibbet.
#7
"Dr Louay was finally arrested only after the leader of the cell to which he belonged, named Malla Yassin, was captured and confessed. "I was really shocked that a doctor and an educated men should do such a thing," said Col Jaff."
He knows he's talking about a Muslim right? Put bombs in cadavors to blow up parents, blow themselves up around kids. And justify it to boot.
Three years ago, in the weeks before the invasion of Iraq, it fell to the then prime minister of Canada to make the most witless public statement on the subject by any G7 leader.
"Your president has won," Jean Chretien told ABC News in early March 2003. So there was no need to have a big ol' war because, with 250,000 American and British troops on his borders, Saddam was "in a box." "He won," said Mr. Chretien of Bush. "He has created a situation where Saddam cannot do anything anymore. He has troops at the door and inspectors on the ground... You're winning it big."
That's easy for him to say, and committing other countries' armies to "contain" Iraq is easy for him to do. A quarter million soldiers cannot sit in the sands of Araby twiddling their thumbs indefinitely. "Containment" is not a strategy but the absence of strategy - and thug states understand it as such. In Saddam's case, he'd supposedly been "contained" since the first Gulf War in 1991, when Bush Sr. balked at finishing what he'd started. "Mr. President," Joe Biden, the Democrat Senator and beloved comic figure, condescendingly explained to Bush Jr. in 2002, "there is a reason your father stopped and did not go to Baghdad. The reason he stopped is he didn't want to be there for five years."
By my math, that means the Americans would have been out in spring of 1996. Instead, 12 years on, in the spring of 2003 the USAF and RAF were still policing the no-fly zone, ineffectually bombing Iraq every other week. And, in place of congratulations for their brilliant "containment" of Saddam, Washington was blamed for UN sanctions and systematically starving to death a million Iraqi kids - or two million, according to which "humanitarian" agency you believe. The few Iraqi moppets who weren't deceased suffered, according to the Nobel-winning playwright and thinker Harold Pinter, from missing genitals and/or rectums that leaked blood contaminated by depleted uranium from Anglo-American ordnance. Touring Iraq a few weeks after the war, I made a point of stopping in every hospital and enquiring about this pandemic of genital-less Iraqis: not a single doctor or nurse had heard about it. Whether or not BUSH LIED!! PEOPLE DIED!!!, it seems that THE ANTI-WAR CROWDS SQUEAK!!! BUT NO RECTUMS LEAK!!!!
A NEW study by the American Enterprise Institute suggests that, aside from the terrific press, continuing this policy would not have come cheap for America: if you object (as John Kerry did) to the $400-600 billion price tag since the war, another three years of "containment" would have cost around $300 billion - and with no end in sight, and the alleged death toll of Iraqi infants no doubt up around six million. It would also have cost more real lives of real Iraqis: Despite the mosque bombings, there's a net gain of more than 100,000 civilians alive today who would have been shoveled into unmarked graves had Ba'athist rule continued. Meanwhile, the dictator would have continued gaming the international system through the Oil-for-Food program, subverting Jordan, and supporting terrorism as far afield as the Philippines.
So three years on, unlike Francis Fukuyama and the other moulting hawks, my only regret is that America didn't invade earlier. Yeah yeah, you sneer, what about the only WMD? Sorry. Don't care. Never did. My argument for whacking Saddam was always that the price of leaving him unwhacked was too high. He was the preeminent symbol of the September 10th world; his continuation in office testified to America's lack of will, and was seen as such by, among others, Osama bin Laden: In Donald Rumsfeld's words, weakness is a provocation. So the immediate objective was to show neighboring thugs that the price of catching America's eye was too high. The long term strategic goal was to begin the difficult but necessary transformation of the region that the British funked when they cobbled together the modern Middle East in 1922.
THE JURY will be out on that for a decade or three yet. But in Iraq today the glass is seven-ninths full. That's to say, in 14 out of 18 provinces life is better than it's been in living memory. In December, 70% of Iraqis said that "life is good" and 69% were optimistic it would get even better in the next year. (Comparable figures in a similar poll of French and Germans: 29% and 15%.)
I see the western press has pretty much given up on calling the Ba'athist dead-enders and foreign terrorists "insurgents" presumably because they were insurging so ineffectually. So now it's a "civil war." Remember what a civil war looks like? Generally, they have certain features: large-scale population movements, mutinous units in the armed forces, rival governments springing up, rebels seizing the radio station. None of these are present in Iraq. The slavering western media keep declaring a civil war every 48 hours but those layabout Iraqis persist in not showing up for it.
True, there's a political stalemate in Baghdad at the moment, but that's not a catastrophe: if you read the very federal Iraqi constitution carefully, the ingenious thing about it is that it's not just a constitution but also a pre-nup. If the Sunni hold-outs are determined to wreck the deal, 85% of the Iraqi population will go their respective ways creating a northern Kurdistan that would be free and pro-western and a southern Shiastan that would still be the most democratic state in the Arab world. That outcome would also be in America's long-term interest.
Indeed, almost any outcome would. In 2002, Amr Moussa, Secretary-General of the Arab League, warned that a US invasion of Iraq would "threaten the whole stability of the Middle East." Of course. Otherwise, why do it?
Diplomats use "stability" as a fancy term to dignify inertia and complacency as geopolitical sophistication, but the lesson of 9/11 is that "stability" is profoundly unstable. The unreal realpolitik of the previous 40 years had given the region a stability unique in the non-democratic world, and in return they exported their toxins, both as manpower (on 9/11) and as ideology. Instability was as good a strategic objective as any. As Sam Goldwyn used to tell his screenwriters, I'm sick of the old clich s, bring me some new clich s. When the old clich s are Ba'athism, Islamism and Arafatism, the new ones can hardly be worse, and one or two of them might even buck the region's dismal history. The biggest buck for the bang was obvious: prick the Middle East bubble at its most puffed up point - Saddam's Iraq.
YES, IT'S come at a price. In the last three years, 2,316 brave Americans have given their lives in Iraq, which is as high as US fatalities in Vietnam - in one month, May 1968. And, if the survival of Saddam embodied the west's lack of will, the European-Democratic Party-media hysteria over the last three years keeps that question open. But that doesn't change the facts on the ground. Instead of relying on the usual ineffectual proxies, Bush made the most direct western intervention in the region since General Allenby took Jerusalem in the Great War. Now on to the next stage.
"News" release from Clear The Air website:
Washington, DC. "Clear the Air, a national public education campaign to combat global warming, today released a survey of scientific literature on global warming's impacts on seasonal cycles. More and more studies show that global warming is throwing off the seasonal rhythms of familiar species such as northern cardinals, tree swallows, lilacs and honeysuckles. Quick, Ethel - my pills! (Oh, wait - I don't have an Ethel. Oh, well.)
The data highlight the urgency of the global warming problem and the need for swift congressional action. HAHAHAHAHAHA. Isn't "swift congressional action" an oxymoron? (With the emphasis on the moron.)
"The science is clear: Like hell it is; lying is the same as breathing to these clowns.
global warming isn't off in the distant future or happening somewhere else, it's happening across the nation and it's causing our seasons to creep out of balance," Angela Ledford Anderson, director of Clear the Air "Global warming is already forcing changes to the signs of spring we are all familiar with like the Cherry Blossoms along the tidal basin."
The survey, Season Creep: How Global Warming is Already Affecting the World Around Us, finds that scientists who study changes in natural phenomena (when trees bud and when birds lay their eggs), are increasingly pointing their fingers at global warming as the reason for disturbing changes in wildlife, plants and the natural environment. Disturbing? How disturbing, you may ask. And they may answer:
"This survey should reinforce the need for us to treat global warming as an emerging and significant problem," said Professor Mark D. Schwartz from the Department of Geography at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. "We know that global warming is already changing the complex relationships of the natural environment and it threatens to bring even greater changes in the future. As scientists, we need to better understand the connection between climate and periodic biological phenomena. This is one of the reasons why I am working with my colleagues to implement a National Phenology Network."
Some of the species scientists have found to be already affected by global warming and changes they are experiencing are:
Lilacs and honeysuckle are blooming six days early; 6 days early? (Earlier than what, precisely?) We're all doomed, I tell ya'!
Canadian geese, robins and whip-poor-wills are arriving earlier; Hell, around central Virginia, the robins don't leave. And a lot of the Canada geese have decided to stay around, too, since they know people will feed them here. (Golf courses hate them.)
Spring snow-melt in the Western U.S. is happening 4 weeks earlier than in the mid 20th century; Ummm, care to tell us how today compares to, say, the early 20th century? Or the 1800's? And why is a longer growing season a problem, exactly?
Lakes and rivers are freezing six days later and thawing six days earlier; Hmmmm. 12 days less of winter. And (except for ski resorts) this is a problem because....?
and,
"These changes are so striking because they are taking place in so many places around the country," said Bruce Stutz, author of the new book Chasing Spring. "Gardeners, birders, and people who just generally enjoy the outdoors are seeing these changes. As I traveled around the country following the changes of the spring season, I found researchers and scientists who are studying the problem and concluding that the gradual warming is the main culprit. We stand to lose a lot, Yeah - a lot more winter. So who in the normal world objects to this?
and the biggest loss may be to the familiar and reassuring rituals we know as springtime." Like your familiar ritual of tossing out new "studies" to scare people into doing something economically disastrous to our country?
Global warming is throwing out of sync everything from plants and animals to springtime itself, but Congress still refuses to give in to loons deal with the problem," said Angela Ledford Anderson. "We urge the President and Members of Congress to listen to the science and deal with global warming before the sun's normal cycle turns it into global cooling again it's too late. We need a national policy on global warming that guarantees destruction of America's evil capitalist economy pollution reductions quickly enough to screw up everything before someone figures out we're full of it avert the most dire consequences of global warming." The "report" is available at the like - if you care.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/23/2006
13:10 ||
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And why is a longer growing season a problem, exactly?
Man, you don't get it! It's like, you know, a longer growing season means, you know, a shorter non-growing season, and that means the polar icecap is, totally, you know, melting and my English professor says that, you know, we're all doomed because Bush didn't sign Kyoto. Dude, more ice, less food.
Is this article a "lost" chapter of "State of Fear"?
Posted by: no mo uro ||
03/23/2006 14:04
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#3
The last three falls I've planted bulbs in the 20 square feet alloted to my condo. The first year, they came up, didn't do much, and died. The second year, nothing came up. This year they came up, got a few inches high, and we got five inches of snow.
Global warming? Yeah. Right.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
03/23/2006 14:18
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#4
It's my understanding that American Robins do migrate: from Canada to Ohio and New York State, from New York to Pennsylvania, Penn to Virginia, etc. Northern Cardinals stay put though, like Blue Jays. And is the honeysuckle they are referring to one of the many native species, or Chinese bush honeysuckle and Japanese honeysuckle vine? 'Cause the Asian species leaf out much earlier than the natives, and hold onto their leaves longer -- that's one reason why they're so horribly invasive. Lots of ignorance revealed in the article; these people fall under the Passover heading of "those too ignorant even to know what questions to ask."
#5
Oh, and clearly this press release was drawn up before the current snowstorms across the Eastern US, which chilled all those overheated blooms and bird couples.
#9
We're all gonna drown, D *** you, as the BBC, etal. has a study arguing that global warming will raise sea levels by 3 feet; while Reuters quotes a SCIENCE arty whose author-scientist says 20 feet. Ergo the Enviro-nuts and Libbies want us all to go back to ancient/archaic times so that all mankind can achieve Utopian Equalism by being properly and equally roasted when the Sun goes, SSSSSSSHHHHHH, NOVA, or PLanet X = Earth/Sun's Dead Twin flys by after 2009??? All mankind - including post-Holocaust Amerikkk's surviving 100Milyuhn or less, prob less, Male Brutes - can and will be saved iff only mankind will put its hopes in OWG and the Motherly rockets of Russia-China - you know, the ones that keep blowing up.
#10
Joe reduces the difficult science of scamming government grants and pushing irrational fear mongering to the simple bottom line of logical reasoning and dope slaps. :) Thanks for the clarification JM
"Call me insane but did it sort of look like those buildings came down in a controlled demolition?"
Yes, but you're still insane
Thats what Hollywood bad boy and actor Charlie Sheen asked his brother after watching the news coverage of 9/11 back in 2001.
In an interview with Alex Jones this week, a liberal radio talk show host for GCN Radio Network, Sheen relived his thoughts and shared his theories on what happened that historic day four-and-a-half years ago. According to Sheen, not only were President Bush and his administration involved in what he calls a "conspiracy theory," but the press was too.
Cuz the NYT and the MSM are in Bush's corner, don't ya know
"It seems to me like 19 amateurs with box cutters taking over four commercial airliners and hitting 75% of their targets: that feels like a conspiracy theory," Sheen said.
Read the transcription of Sheen's interview below (at the link). Click here to listen to audio of the interview. From reading the interview, it looks more like Alex is leading Charlie to the Koolaid and pouring it directly into his brain
Posted by: Steve ||
03/23/2006
10:19 ||
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yawn. Shut up and act. Jeesh, it's getting hard to rent movies anymore I dislike so many of these wacked-out spoiled brats. Hollywierd, like MSM, is going to self-destruct itself proudly.
What I really want to see is more movies like Team America, but more realistic, where instead of bad guys like Nazis, Russians or Arabs, we get to see bloggers get an opportunity to expose and waste Alex Baldwin and Susan Sarandon, etc. And I'll watch Sequels I II III IV and V too. Would never get tired of that theme.
#2
How could you make an interesting movie out of blogging? Think of this as a challenge...
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
03/23/2006 11:50
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Well, he does run with the baldwin crowd. Loopy all of 'em. If they believed it so much, why would they just sit idle and try a march on the dictatorship that is in Washington? Pure crybaby politics. Nothing more.
#4
That's quite a challenge, RC. The morons have almost ruined any possibility of it without borrowing from (goofy or trite) "thrillers".
I'm thinking and what comes to mind is All The President's Men, The Formula, The Borne Blahs, Paycheck, Enemy of The State, Hackers, The Net, and all of the others of that type where computers, technology, the Internet, getting out the truth against the odds are the operative bits. I don't know... Hollywood has pounded home the Evil Government and Rogue Agent or Agency ideas so often they're trite. And I guess the thriller style would have to be the one if you wanted it to be a success. Set it in 2010 with Hillary as President? LOL. Interesting challenge.
#7
Yes. Whenever I'm trying to form an opinion on current events, Reformed Cokehead SitCom Star's are who I turn to for my inside info...
How about you stick to telling us which porn stars gave the best head, okay, Charlie? Thanks in advance...
#11
How about a movie where a demon crawls her way from the depths of hell and takes human form, marries a politician, becomes a 1st lady and then... [partly a ref to the next to last episode of the tv show "Angel"]
#15
"No way. The legal liability for slander is WAY too high."
Heh! Truth is an absolute defense....
Posted by: Mark E. ||
03/23/2006 14:51
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#16
OK who took the tin foil from young Charles hat?
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
03/23/2006 14:57
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#17
Sheen should move to any of the various non-capitalistic utopias (like Yemen or Nigeria) so he can unshackle himself from the cares and worries his paranoid-psychotic microenchephalic brain stem keeps cooking up. Moron!
#18
here's another movie for Charlie Sheen to shoot
So there's this two bit gangster wannabee and the big gansters don't respect him but he marries his boss, then gets a few followers and moves to a different part of town and then his wife dies and he marries a 6 year old and then he marries 4 other women to gain allies in his new part of town and then he robs and steals his way to big money while massacreing neighborhoods and making sex slaves out of the surviving women and then he makes his way back to the old hood and takes over and convinces people he is some kind of holy man
#21
I believe, that there are aspects of the 9/11 plot that have not been revealed to the public. Among these concealed items is the manner in which the WTC towers went down. Unfortunately, the people advancing these arguments are generally not equipped to understand what that means.
When a terrorist attack occurs, the first response of the US government is to manage public perception. If the attack can be denied outright, and explained as a mechanical failure, the attack was a mechanical failure. If it is undeniably terrorism, it's a small group of radical extremeists. If there are multiple attacks at the same time, a stateless terrorist organization is responsible. But terrorism is never, ever, ever state sponsored.
But, quietly, at the highest levels, the US government does not treat terrorist attacks as a law enforcement operation. These things are handled at the diplomatic and military level. So the FBI's primary job in the 9/11 investigation was to find out who among the hijackers went where and said what to whom, and then seal it off. The FBI did not treat the crash zones as crime scenes; there was no real investigation of the 9/11 hijackings any more than there was a real investigation of the anthrax letters.
The 9/11 plot in particular had backing from the governments of Iraq, Iran, possibly Bosnia, and significant insubordinate elements of the Saudi and Pakistani governments. The prime mover was Iraq, while Iran provided technical assistance for the hijackings.
I think some of the mysteries of the WTC collapses might be explained by a look at the first WTC bombing, in 1993, which had Iraqi sponsorship. There, the primary attack was a truck bomb, and multiple truck bombs may have been used on 9/11. That evening, authorities nationwide put out an alert to hospitals and other locations to be aware of ambulances and fire trucks sporting bomb loads. After the spectacular and distracting and not all that destrcutive plane crashes into the towers, truck bombs disguised as emergency vehicles drove in, providing the main impetus for collapse.
That's my idea, anyway. This complexity necessarily implies state sponsorship, due to the numbers involved. Wretchard had a good piece about state sponsorship and private conspiracies many months ago. The upper limit for private conspiracies is about 150 people.
#22
Uh oh. There are some rather large holes in there. I presume you've made yourself aware of the many and varied sources who've studied this, who aren't conspiracy believers, and know about the construction of the towers?
Never ever state sponsored terror? The surviving Taleban will be both surprised and, I presume, rather indignant, then.
I'm sorry, but I've been to the sites where the "alternative theories" are peddled and it does not wash.
The architect who designed the WTC Twin Towers, with their new and innovative exoskeleton structure, was a featured documentary subject - and it was updated to include a postscript in which he explained what happened in terms simple enough for anyone to comprehend. Nothing but planes laden with fuel were necessary. No super complex uber doober conspiracy was required.
I'll have what he's having. Sounds like some pretty good stuff.
The WTC's skyscraper skeletons were made to take a relatively large aviation impact, just not the prolonged thermal stress resulting from a multi-ton deluge of burning aviation fuel.
Considering that the buildings gracefully collapsed instead of catastrophically keeling over speaks volumes about how well designed they were. Guess which scenario the terrorists were rooting for.
Students from PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, drew an angry crowd on Sproul after displaying images that compared animal treatment to the lynching and enslavement of black Americans. About a dozen Berkeley students furiously engaged the PETA members, accusing the animal rights group of racism. The situation intensified when one member of the crowd threw ketchup and mustard on the PETA display and another tore down part of the exhibit. If your message doesn't play in Berkely, perhaps you should rethink it
One image presented by PETA featured a chained elephant foot juxtaposed with the chained foot of a slave. Another showed black individuals hanging from a tree by their necks contrasted with the image of a cow being hung by its hind legs. Several black students shouted down the PETA students and called for the display to be taken down. One student who was upset by PETAs comparison of slavery to animal mistreatment shouted amid tears, Im not trying to say that people should eat meat. I understand you, but the way youre depicting our history, the way you are depicting the things that happened to us, the thing that happened to our ancestors, its not ok, its not ok!
Another student, identified as Autumn by her peers, tore down one of the images in a fit of rage. Dominique Nisperos, a third year Cal student, was also upset by PETAs display and argued with one of the groups members. When asked if tearing down the display was appropriate on a campus that touts its free speech history, Nisperos responded, I can see why they did it. She added that bringing up the free speech issue isnt getting to the root of the problem. The means at expressing [PETAs] message was racist. Veronica Nisperos, a Berkeley student also incensed by the exhibit, stated that the group did have a point, but the way in which they made it, created opposition among people who should be allies.
Sengeeta Kumar, who led the PETA group, was surprised to have encountered such a reaction at UC Berkeley. I was really hoping that people would think critically it became very emotional and almost dangerous in the sense that people were threatening and pulling things down and it just became unsafe, she said. Kumar noted that her group has taken the exhibit to 13 different schools and never faced a hostile reaction.
PETA eventually gave into the pressure and dismantled their display. Kumar expressed disappointment in her organizations inability to get their message across. When emotions are risen, people can be closed to dialogue. She added, We are all part of oppression, of beings who cant speak for themselves. Animals are enslaved in our hands. This exhibit isnt about demeaning any people, it about uplifting humanity. PETA members spent the rest of the afternoon wiping off the ketchup and mustard that was sprayed on their display.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/23/2006
10:10 ||
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Free speech for us.... (well some of us...) but not for thee....
#2
This exhibit isnt about demeaning any people, it about uplifting humanity.
Bullcrap. It is about demeaning people that don't agree with you and trying to shame them into your way of thinking. Good for the people that tore down this abomination. PETA needs killed.
My victimhood is more important than your victimhood. Nah, nah, nah.
Must be getting desperate when the 'victim' game starts to lose its value to sell guilt and the players have to fight among themselves for the few remaining angsts available to con people with.
#5
Veronica Nisperos, a Berkeley student also incensed by the exhibit, stated that the group did have a point, but the way in which they made it, created opposition among people who should be allies.
Why exactly should those people be allied with a far-Left wacko group? Because they are black?
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
03/23/2006 12:51
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#6
If you stuck with that Holocaust motif PETA was pushing a few months back, Sengetta, I'll bet you nobody at Berkeley would've bothered you at all...
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
03/23/2006 16:25
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#8
Now, now, don't insult innocent "M1 Tanks mean Nothing To Us" fruitcakes - its bad enough we Male Brutes can't enjoy waffles or hoagies anymore until after America comes under OWG. Califerney is going after chocolate.
It's been nearly a month since Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakahan blamed "Zionists and neo-cons" for "manipulating" President Bush into invading Iraq - before blasting "wicked Jews" in Hollywood for promoting "lesbianism [and] homosexuality."
Yet, outside of a few newspapers in Chicago, the same press that showers positive coverage on Farrakhan's Million Man marches has yet to get around to covering his Feb. 26 Saviours Day speech.
"These neo-cons and Zionists have manipulated Bush and the American government and our boys and girls are dying in Iraq and in Afghanistan for the cause of Israel, not for the cause of America!" the honorable minister claimed. "Israel is the tail waggin' the dog, which is America."
"I'm warning you America," Farrakhan continued. "You better get rid of them neo-cons. That's the synagogue of Satan. They have made America weak. You're a weak nation now, and your country has been taken from you by the synagogue of Satan. They own Congress. That's why the Congress ain't right."
After critiquing the Washington political scene, Farrakhan turned his attention to Hollywood:
"These false Jews promote the filth of Hollywood that is seeding the American people and the people of the world and bringing you down in moral strength ... It's the wicked Jews the false Jews that are promoting lesbianism, homosexuality. It's wicked Jews, false Jews that make it a crime for you to preach the word of God, then they call you homophobic!"
The honorable minister went so far as to predict that "wicked state of Israel" would be "cleansed with blood."
"And the Christian right, with your blindness to that wicked state of Israel ... can that be the holy land, and you have gay parades, and want to permit to have a gay parade in Jerusalem when no prophet ever sanctioned that behavior. How can that be the Israel, how can that be Jerusalem with secular people running the holy land when it should be the holy people running the holy land. That land is gonna be cleansed with blood."
One wonders how much coverage Rev. Pat Robertson would have gotten if he'd uttered similar comments.
Sometime after 9 p.m. this Friday (March 24) the five-year-old "healthy penis" will hop into a van perhaps even a limousine and wave goodbye to San Francisco, his birthplace and home since the summer of 2002. With the city's syphilis rate among gay men plummeting by 23 percent last year, the nameless healthy penis is needed elsewhere.
"My job here is done"
Santa Clara County health officials have invited the healthy penis to San Jose for the next six months to alert gay men about the need to get tested and treated for syphilis, a sexually transmitted disease known to increase one's chances of contracting HIV.
"It's kind of sad it is coming to an end," said the healthy penis' father, Scott Metzger, a straight man who created the comical phallus character. "I am prepared for it, though it is going to be a bummer."
I think being known as the "father of healthy penis" would be enough of a bummer
Metzger, who insisted his progeny is not modeled after anyone, not only drew the cartoon advertisements featuring the healthy penis and his nemesis, Phil the red-faced syphilis sore, but wrote the dialogue in the strips. Les Pappas, owner of Better World Advertising who came up with the concept for the social marketing campaign, hired Metzger to bring his idea to life.
"Les wanted it to be like the Ritchie Cunningham of penises. He was not to be that square but a happy-go-lucky character," said Metzger. "He is just a silly little character I wanted to be goofy and likeable."
Posted by: Steve ||
03/23/2006
09:45 ||
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They never mention his cousin, though. Glans the Scrofulous, the family's black sheep.
LAHORE, PAKISTAN - Like many students at Punjab University, Mohammed Abid Faran worries about living costs almost as much as his studies. To save rupees, he counts on an Islamist student organization, Islami Jamiat Talaba (IJT), which keeps prices at the university hostel artificially low. "Here a cup of tea costs three rupees," Mr. Faran, an engineering student, says. "Outside it costs six."
Three-rupee tea or your soul, Mo. Choose carefully.
But Faran worries that IJT dictates not only the price of tea but the proper comportment of Muslim students in this cosmopolitan city as well. "We are studying, and they are saying we should protest, without regard if we are busy and want to go or not," he says, referring to a recent demonstration on campus over the controversial cartoons of the prophet Muhammad. "Why should they put pressure on us?"
Such conflicted feelings underscore a heated debate on Pakistani campuses over the influence of groups like IJT. Islamist student unions are battling for the hearts and minds of young Muslims - receiving a boost from a growing student conservatism as well as IJT's ability to fill in gaps left by the poor funding of education here. Some 23,000 students attend Punjab University, a place that the government hopes will foster the values of "enlightened moderation." The leafy grounds echo campuses around the world: young men and women stroll together down shaded lanes; a young woman poses giddily for a picture. But some faculty members say that their tolerant and liberal viewpoints are facing an increasingly tough challenge. And students say they've seen IJT activists beat others whose public behavior they deem unacceptable. In one example highlighted by the local press, IJT activists allegedly beat a newly married couple whom they mistakenly thought were flirting in public.
IJT activists deny such charges. "This is false propaganda. There is not one incident in which IJT workers beat students," says Nasurallah Khan Goraya, president of IJT, which is linked to the Jamaat Islami, a popular Islamist party with seats in the National Assembly.
Let's be honest here, shall we? IJT is the muttawa and dawa wing of JI, whose members are perfectly happy to pick up a crowbar and bash some heads.
Members of IJT, who number some 3,000 nationally, say they promote Islamic values not only by policing student behavior but by helping needy students. Pakistan spends less than $600 per student per year on higher education, proportionally less than comparable South Asian countries, according to comparative studies. Its spending on overall public education, the lowest in the region, declined to 1.8 percent of GDP in 2002-03 from 2.6 percent of GDP in 1990. The US has proposed $87 million in aid for higher education in Pakistan between 2002 and 2007.
Just between you and me, I don't want one US penny being spent on education in WakiPakiLand.
IJT leaders say they do not receive any money directly from Jamaat Islami. The bulk of their funding, they say, comes from private donations from former members both in Pakistan and abroad and supports campaignssuch as aiding schools in earthquake-affected areas and holding book fairs. "We have only an ideological link with Jamaat Islami," Mr. Goraya says. "We do not depend on them."
Sure. Yah. Yew betcha.
Mohammad Farooque Ahmed, a law student at Punjab Law College, says he was drawn to IJT's methods of instilling discipline and knowledge, and that peace and democracy are cornerstone values. "We motivate our workers to pay attention to their studies," he says, displaying a book where IJT students record daily activities, noting how often they've prayed and read the Koran. It is presented to a supervisor at week's end.
Are those gold stars or bloodstains in the margins?
As Muslims, IJT members say they believe that Pakistan should be governed by Islamic sharia law, but say they do not support the use of force. "We want to make a democratic system," says Shabir Ahmed, an IJT leader. "If people don't like Islam, we will not compel them."
"After the bruises heal, the kufrs join quite willingly."
Critics, however, say that IJT's strong-arm tactics at Punjab expose their ideological agenda. Four years ago, IJT spearheaded a movement for a walled-off cafeteria for women, points out professor Mujahid Ali Mansoori. "They would not allow a single boy and girl to sit alone," he says, adding, "When I was a student 30 years ago, it was a lot more liberal." Professor Mansoori and other faculty say the incident is but one example of IJT's growing power, despite the fact that IJT is technically banned from campuses, the result of a 1992 Supreme Court ruling aimed at ending decades of political violence at universities. And, they say, its influence reaches into the ranks of senior administration. Officials say they maintain the ban on IJT, but that the group benefits from influence gained in the 1970s and '80s. Still, they say, that influence is petering out. Muhammed Naeem Khan, the university registrar, says he is doing what he can to support that trend. "Whenever I have to exert force, I do," he says, adding, "I don't want to be fanatical in my approach. I don't chase every poster."
Dr. Khan says that the school recently expelled several IJT activists for engaging in political activities, including setting up booths to attract students. But IJT posters are virtually the only wall adornments in one dorm - and virtually everywhere else on campus.
"Don't be stupid, be a smarty. Come and join the JI party!"
Afzaal Ahmed, though not a member, says students are compelled by religion to use force if they see improper behavior in public. "If you see some evil taking place, you must use power to stop it," he says, noting that he's seen IJT students attack others. Mr. Ahmed says, though, that IJT should not function as an unauthorized religious police force. IJT's overall impact has been "pernicious," says Shaista Sirajuddin, chairwoman of the English department. "It's really destroyed the academic environment. It's erosive," she says. She cites incidents where IJT and supporters have tried - unsuccessfully - to remove books from the syllabus. "A small number of us are fighting a rear-guard battle against the closing of one's mind." But she says that students still graduate with a sense of tolerance, and that she and others place their hope in students like Sarah Ahmed. "People at this age are mature enough to know what's right and what is wrong," Ms. Ahmed says. "You can't impose your subjective viewpoint on them."
Two killed in 'crossfire'
A cadre of an outlawed party and a top criminal were killed in incidents of "crossfire" during shootouts between their accomplices and the law enforcers in Kushtia and Comilla early yesterday.
Our Kushtia Correspondent reported that detectives arrested Abdul Momin of Gono Mukti Fouj (GMF) at Nawapara village under Sadar upazila of Meherpur Tuesday morning. On his confession,
"Aaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!"
DB police along with Momin set out for Lahinipara in Kushtia Sadar upazila at about 3:30am
The magic hour
to arrest his accomplices and seize hidden firearms.
When they reached near Lahinipara old graveyard,
Good choice, dead men tell no tales
Momin's accomplices opened fire,
"Open reckless wildly inaccurate fire!"
forcing the law enforcers to retaliate.
Just as planned
Police said Momin was caught in the "crossfire" while trying to escape and died on the spot.
"Feet don't...KAPOW!...urp..rosebud..."
A light gun and four bullets were recovered from the scene.
Son of Khabir Uddin of Kalishangkarpur area of Kushtia town, Momin was an accused in 15 cases including seven for murder, police said.
In Comilla, a top criminal of the district was killed during a "shootout" between his cohorts and police at Salmanpur under Comilla Sadar (South) upazila, according to our correspondent. Police arrested Alamgir Hossain alias 'Dakat' Alamgir, 35, at Barapara village under the upazila Tuesday noon.
On his confessional statement, a police team along with Alamgir reached Salmanpur hill at about 2:20am yesterday to arrest his cohorts and recover firearms.
Same old story, same old results
Sensing the presence of the policemen, Alamgir's men opened fire, prompting the law enforcers to retaliate.
Only the names have been changed to protect the death squad
Alamgir was shot during the shootout. He was taken to Comilla Sadar Hospital where the doctors declared him dead.
"He's dead, Jim"
Six policemen, including three sub-inspectors, were also injured. They are SI Shahjahan Kabir, SI Abul Kashem and SI Mostafizur Rahman, and constables Abdur Rashid, Shahbuddin and Sher Ali. The injured cops are undergoing treatment at the hospital.
Police seized one single barrel gun, four bullets and one dagger from the scene. Alamgir was wanted in six criminal cases filed with different police stations of the district, police said.
One killed in bomb attack in Chuadanga
A man was killed and his associate sustained serious injuries in bomb attack at Munshiganj bazar in Alamdanga upazila Tuesday night. The deceased was identified as Asaduzzaman Asad, 50, inhabitant of Jehala village in the same upazila.
Miscreants hurled two powerful bombs at Asad and his co-villager Qutubuddin when they were taking tea at a shop at Madan Babu crossing at about 9:30pm. Asad died on the spot. Qutub whose left leg and left hand blown off in the blast was taken to the Sadar Hospital in critical condition.
Meanwhile, one Rahul Raj, on behalf of Purba Banglar Communist Party (Janajuddah faction), in a call over telephone to a local newspaper claimed that the faction was responsible for the bomb attack. He said the attack was carried out to punish the two men as they used to extort toll money in the name of Janajuddah and work as police informers.
"Yeah, we bombed them dirty stoolies! And proud of it, we are.""
The police recovered the body and sent it to morgue for autopsy. The police super, Mohammad Sarwar, visited the spot.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/23/2006
09:13 ||
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Many youngish bloggers banging about these days were mere tadpoles in the '90s, so perhaps they need a short overview of how the Democrats once regarded the Butcher of Baghdad.
When Bill Clinton was bombing him in response to aggressive defiance of the interntional community, Saddam Hussein was a brutal dictator who had weapons of mass destruction and ties to al-Qaida. After President Chimpy McHitler had removed him from power in an illegal war, Saddam was a comic thug without weapons of mass destruction who served as a bulwark against Islamists. Everything clear?
Obviously, both cannot be right. American bombs are accurate, but it is doubtful they can go back in time and blow up Clinton's rationales. To the left, however, the clock of history was reset the day the Supreme Court overturned Al Gore's 50-state electoral sweep, and Iraq inexplicably became a large sandy Monaco the U.S. invaded on orders from Petro-Zionist puppetmasters.
What, then, will they make of the newly released documents that reinforce the alleged connections between Saddam and terrorists, and suggest Clinton was right all along?
Obviously, they're a plant. An attempt to deflect Censure Fever, now sweeping the nation. More lies from the people who said Saddam had WMD, when we all know the Kurds died from bad catered shellfish. More crafty Rovian disinformation, brilliantly leaked three years too late with as much fanfare as a straight-to-video "Deuce Bigalow" movie.
So far, decrypting the documents has been up to Stephen Hayes in the Weekly Standard, the occasional ABC story and intrepid wingnut bloggers. Among other tasty tidbits, the documents suggest Saddam was shoveling money to a Philippine Islamist al-Qaida franchise -- Abu Sayyaf, Al-Angry, Al-Roker, something or other.
Nonsense, some Bush critics insist. Saddam was relentlessly secular! He hated the Islamists!
True; one can no more imagine Saddam bowing to Mecca than kneeling at the rail of St. Peter's for Communion. In his mind, there was one reason to kneel, and that's because you were about to be tumbled into a pit.
But that's quite different from saying he opposed al-Qaida out of high-minded principle. This is a fellow who specialized in transparent manipulation of religion, just to hedge his bets and build a PR rep in the region. He built enormous mosques that made American megachurches look like a Waffle House; he put a Quranic verse on the state flag, showed up on TV praying like a good Muslim, and commissioned a copy of the Quran that used his blood as ink. Wait until that thing hits eBay.
Suggesting that Saddam made common cause with bearded nutlogs to weaken mutual enemies is not exactly some ether-induced neocon delusion. In fact, to anyone who paid attention in the '90s, it's remarkable we're still arguing the point: When Osama bin Laden came out in '98 defending Iraq against the evil sanctions of the West, what was his motivation? A separate peace struck for reasons of "strategery," or a sneaky little crush on the brash lad from Tikrit?
Here the argument usually shifts to the post-9/11 rhetoric. According to the left, Bush spent 2002 insisting that God demanded we erect a 900-foot cross in Baghdad, preferably one doubling as an oil well, because Saddam was involved in the attack on New York and the Pentagon.
Of course, he said no such thing. The administration aimed its rhetoric at terror-supporting nations, foolishly expecting Democrats to remember when their guy got all hot and bothered about the megalomaniac gas-happy whackjob and his gangster-state government. No such luck. Once it became apparent that Bush was serious about draining the swamp, it suddenly became a protected wetland.
The more documents trickle out, the more we'll know.
But don't expect opinions to change; the hard left simply wants to glue horns on Bush, and if that means Saddam gets a bent rusty halo, well, it's collateral damage.
Besides, who cared if Saddam gave money to Philippine terrorists? Sure, they're all threads in the black tapestry of the anti-liberal modernity-hating stone-the-gays-and-hide-the-women death cult. Sure, planning for 9/11 took place in Manila. But the Philippines didn't attack us on 9/11!
Like they used to say about the military: always fighting the last war.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/23/2006
09:08 ||
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"Many youngish bloggers banging about these days were mere tadpoles in the '90s "
See here sonnyboy I was in Baghdad in uniform while you were still in your dads bag in liquid form!
Sorry, couldnt resist.
#2
"According to the left, Bush spent 2002 insisting that God demanded we erect a 900-foot cross in Baghdad, preferably one doubling as an oil well, because Saddam was involved in the attack on New York and the Pentagon."
LOL.
"Once it became apparent that Bush was serious about draining the swamp, it suddenly became a protected wetland."
s Iran Crucible - Part I
22 March 2006,FOCUS News Agency
Beyond Yapping Dogs and Superpowers Made of Straw
By Alex Alexiev* This material will get on Rummy's desk. So why is it in a low currency Bulgarian news source?
President Ahmadinejads recent calls for the annihilation of Israel have provided much needed clarity to a reality the West, rhetoric apart, has often refused to acknowledge let alone do something about. While his genocidal threats against a fellow-member of the United Nations should serve as a wake up call to people of good will anywhere, other less well-known tirades may tell us more about why the fanatics in Tehran feel they can spew hatred with impunity and why the terrorist regime in Iran has become a clear and present danger that could no longer be ignored by civilized nations. "clear and present danger" is Pentagon code for: Let's roll!
"Europeans are like yapping dogs, kick them once and they run away," Ahmadinejad recently opined, while simultaneously dismissing the United States as a "superpower made of straw." Such rants are seldom paid much attention in the Western media, which tends to treat them as unfortunate noise that is best ignored. The "yapping dogs" remark, for instance, was not made public in Europe until four months after it was actually made.
This is unfortunate, because such ravings can tell us more than the reams of sober Western punditry generated on the subject of late. They should also make us think through the implications of such views both in terms of the threat this regime poses and what policies could best counter it. It may be useful to begin with the simple proposition that, looked at from the vantage point of Irans Islamist regime, Ahmadinejads outbursts may in fact be a rational assessment of actual European and U.S. policies as opposed to their rhetoric vis-à-vis Tehran.
To start with neither Irans quest for nuclear weapons, nor Ahmadinejads threat to wipe out Israel are either new or unprecedented. Iran has been pursuing nuclear capabilities for many years and extremely bellicose tirades against Jews and the West have been a regular staple of the mullahs rhetoric since Khomeini. Just a few months after 9/11, for instance, Ayatollah Rafsanjani, the number two in the Iranian regime then and now, and a man often approvingly characterized as "pragmatic" in the Western media, urged the Muslim world to annihilate Israel with nuclear weapons, assuring them that they will only suffer "some damages" as a result of a nuclear
exchange.
Despite such vitriol, Europe has, by and large, chosen to ignore the fact that Iran is a designated terrorist state and a key sponsor of terrorism. To this day, the Tehran
controlled Lebanese Hezbollah, for instance, is not to be found on the EU list of terrorist organizations, ostensibly because it also provides "social services." Instead, the Europeans have focused on business better than usual and today
hundreds of EU companies do some $15 billion of export business with Iran that is growing at 25% per annum. Germany alone exported $5 billion worth of goods to Iran in 2005, a 30% increase from 2004. And these EU exports, which represent 44% of Irans total, are mostly in the strategic oil and gas, petrochemical and telecommunications sectors and cannot be easily replaced by Russian or Chinese goods. Fully 75% of the machinery and technology that keeps Irans economy - and
oil and gas exports - going is of EU provenance. This has made business with Europe an absolutely indispensable economic prop for the regime. Moreover, much of it is done with the direct support and encouragement of European governments in the form of export credit guarantees and bilateral agreements in direct
contravention of U.S. declared policy on dealing with terrorist states. It would not be an exaggeration to say that, wittingly or not, European governments are helping keep the mullah regime in power. Which brings us to the "superpower made of straw." Unlike the Europeans, the United States has taken the Iranian terrorist regime seriously and President Bush declared the country one of the axis of evil. Even
before that, in 1996, the U.S. Congress unanimously passed tough legislation known as the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act (ILSA) authorizing sanctions against companies and individuals doing business with the Iranian regime, especially in the oil and gas sector. Yet, despite the fact that ILSA was extended for another five years in 2001 and the countless violations of its provisions in the meantime, Washington has never imposed sanctions on any company doing business in Iran, except a few
Chinese arms dealers.
Thus, at least in the regimes view, U.S. implicit threats to Iran have to date proven to be little more than empty rhetoric. There is no reason to expect that theyll be taken
any more seriously in the future than they have been in the past unless Washington finally decides to up the ante. And unless it does, the United States will soon face an
unpredictable terrorist regime armed with nuclear weapons and a Middle East profoundly destabilized and on the verge of nuclear war.
Perhaps, as many hope, with the referral of Iran to the UN Security Council, the Europeans will finally prove Ahmadinejad wrong and show some bite along with the "yapping." Unfortunately, given past experience and the large European economic interests involved, the odds of that happening are not very good. Nor is it likely that Russia and China will suddenly decide to abandon their long-standing efforts to
obstruct American policy and strike their own lucrative deals with Tehran. Indeed, just days after Russias voted to refer Iran to the UN Security Council, foreign minister Sergei Lavrov stated publicly Moscows strong opposition to "any possible sanctions" against Iran.
Washingtons current hopes to prevent Iran from going nuclear with the help of the UN will yet again prove illusory. This does not mean that America must face this daunting task alone, for in facing the warmongers in Tehran we have the most
powerful of potential allies - the Iranian people. The first and most important step though is to realize that the status quo is simply no longer acceptable and it will not really get better until there is a regime change in Tehran. Before getting into a discussion of how regime change could best be accomplished, however, it is important to briefly discuss the evolution of the regime in Iran into a ticking time bomb and an imminent threat to world peace.
From Totalitarian Theocracy to Messianic Islamofascism
From its very beginning, Khomeinis revolution was based on the essentially totalitarian concept of vilayat-e faqih (rule of the jurisprudent), which simply meant absolute political power for a "supreme leader" and a small clique of top clerics. Though claiming to derive its legitimacy from Islam and having a version of Islamic fanaticism as its ideological banner, this system had much more in common with the Nazi Fuehrer principle and the Bolshevik "vanguard party" concept than with anything found in the Quran or the Twelver Shia doctrine. Indeed, it followed the organizational and operational modus operandi of its totalitarian confreres to the letter, complete with a "cult of personality" of the leader and brutal suppression of the rule of law, dissent, freedom of speech and basic human rights by means of a typical totalitarian security services network and extrajudicial violence. It also followed closely the totalitarian economic model in its socialist version, with 70% of the economy controlled by the state, central planning, five-year plans etc.
Overtime, the system became progressively ossified and corrupt and failed to perform economically. Timid half-baked reform experiments under President Khatami predictably came to nothing, yet, despite being tightly controlled, threatened the absolute power and economic privilege of the clerics. The ruling oligarchy responded by putting an end to even the pretence of reform and toleration of reformists and opted out for a new wave of wholesale repression, euphemistically dubbed the "Second Islamic Revolution." All the while, the regime
continued to blame the Great Satan and evil Zionists for its own failures with the time-tested "externalization of evil" propaganda tactic of totalitarians.
The result has been the near complete stifling of dissent in Iran. Reformists have been prevented from contesting elections, most reformists publications have been banned and many hundreds of journalists, bloggers and non-conformists have been jailed on trumped up charges and often tortured. Since the arrival of Ahmadinejad on the scene, this process has been accelerated and led to the thorough purge of suspected reformists from all levels of government and their
replacement with hard-line zealots.
The growing tendency of the regime to seek greater ideological conformity and use repression as a first resort in its efforts to deal with the palpable discontent of Iranian society, has dramatically enhanced the political clout of the most
reactionary parts of the regimes support structures in the security, intelligence and paramilitary vigilante baseej forces and their hardline Islamist mentors. It is these circles that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad emerged from and represents.
While this group of extremists is a zealous defender of the Islamist regime, their views are even more radical than those of most regime clerics in virtually all aspects and they see themselves as the true representatives and guardians of
Ayatollah Khomeinis legacy. In this respect, they implicitly and sometimes quite explicitly, criticize the clerical establishment for not being radical enough in pursuing the goals of the Islamic revolution as they see them.
Two areas of particular relevance for our discussion here are their attitudes toward the West and the messianic nature of their beliefs. Guided by the teachings of their ideological godfather - the ultra-hardline Ayatollah Mesbah-e Yazdi and the "Westoxication" conspiracy theories of Ahmad Fardid,
a third-rate Persian follower of Nazi sympathizer Martin Heidegger, these zealots exhibit a pathological hatred of the West and its civilization and a firm belief in the inevitability of an apocalyptic struggle between Islam and the West that will usher in the final triumph of Islam worldwide.
By itself, this fervent fantasy is hardly new, but its current interpretation by Ahmadinejad and the extremists now in power in Tehran is novel and highly disturbing. For they have combined it with the messianic Shiite belief in the
reappearance of the Hidden Imam and appear to believe that the final violent confrontation with the enemies of Islam is not only close at hand, but that it could be speeded up and that it is the religious obligation of the Iranian people
to do that through the art of martyrdom. And martyrdom in
Ahmadinejads fantasy world is no longer just about individuals but about the whole nation. "A nation with martyrdom knows no captivity," he exalts and warns that those who undermine this "principle undermine the foundation of our eternity." The way to avoid this great misfortune is simple in his view and he urges the Iranians to follow those who are "doing their best to pave the way for the urgent reappearance of the Hidden Imam." How long that will take is also no secret and Ahmadinejad is on record saying that he expects the Imam to appear in two short years. What exactly "paving the way" for the Messiahs appearance
involves is not clear from the ravings of these lunatics, but for the civilized world to assume that these fantasies are totally unrelated to Tehrans quest for nuclear weapons would be folly. Recently, a religious scholar and disciple of
Ahmadinejads mentor Ayatollah Mesbah-e Yazdi, better known to Iranians as "Professor Crocodile," publicly justified the use of nuclear weapons against the enemies of Islam in what regime opponents saw as a new effort by the hardliners to "prepare the religious grounds for the use of these weapons."
There are many in the West that are already dismissing these ominous threats as empty bluster and yet again urging dialog and calling for more tolerance of the intolerant. For them, it may be instructive to see how some prominent Iranians
who are far from being friends of the West or enemies of the Islamic republic perceive these trends. Abdul-Karim Soroush, the most prominent Iranian philosopher still living in the country, for instance, sees a "hidden fascism" on the march and believes that the current Tehran rulers are going "even further than the Taliban," while, in the words of former president Khatami, they aspire "to imitate Bin Laden" and "compete with the Taliban in calling for violence and
in carrying out extremist crimes."
* Alex Alexiev is a vice president of the Center for Security Policy on Washington, D.C. and is a manager of the program "Islamic Radicalism and International
Terrorism."
Posted by: Listen to Dogs ||
03/23/2006
08:54 ||
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"Abdul-Karim Soroush, the most prominent Iranian philosopher still living in the country, for instance, sees a "hidden fascism" on the march... ." Pardon me, what's hidden about Ahmadinejad's agenda? Truth be told, I find his frankness and honesty refreshing, albeit in a 1930s Germany kinda way.
#2
"Europeans are like yapping dogs, kick them once and they run away," Ahmadinejad recently opined, while simultaneously dismissing the United States as a "superpower made of straw."
Hmph. Got half that paragraph right, Ahmadinejad did...
(CNSNews.com) - The scientist touted by CBS News' "60 Minutes" as arguably the "world's leading researcher on global warming" and spotlighted as a victim of the Bush administration's censorship on the issue, publicly endorsed Democrat John Kerry for president and received a $250,000 grant from the charitable foundation headed by Kerry's wife. Scientist James Hansen has also admitted that he contributed to two recent Democratic presidential campaigns. Furthermore, he acted as a consultant in February to former Vice President Al Gore's slide show presentations on "global warming," which Gore presented around the country.
But Scott Pelley, the "60 Minutes" reporter who profiled Hansen and detailed his accusations of censorship on the March 19, edition of the newsmagazine, made no mention of Hansen's links to Kerry and Gore and none to the fact that Kerry's wife -- Teresa Heinz Kerry -- had been one of Hansen's benefactors.
Pelley's "Rewriting the Science" segment focused on Hansen's allegations that the Bush administration was preventing his views from becoming publicized because it did not like his conclusions. Hansen's complaints were first publicized in January. "In my more than three decades in the government, I've never witnessed such restrictions on the ability of scientists to communicate with the public," Hansen told Pelley. But Hansen had made similar claims of another Republican White House allegedly censoring his views. In 1989, Hansen claimed that President Bush's father - then-President George H. W. Bush - was censoring his climate research. Kerry and about a dozen other senators eventually co-signed a letter written by Gore, who was also a senator at the time, demanding an explanation for the alleged censorship.
Hansen has previously acknowledged that he supported the "emphasis on extreme scenarios" regarding climate change models in order to drive the public's attention to the issue, but Pelley's "60 Minutes" report made no mention of that admission.
"Not only are [Hansen's] apocalyptic predictions not coming true, but more and more countries are beginning to realize that they will destroy their economies just under Kyoto 1, to prevent about 0.1 degrees of warming," Paul Driessen, the author of Eco-Imperialism: Green Power - Black Death, told Cybercast News Service.
"Hansen's rants might still garner headlines in the Washington Post and New York Times, and raves from CBS - especially if you believe every beetle infestation, forest fire, cold snap, hot flash, dry spell, flood, frog death and malaria outbreak is due to global warming - but they're complete hogwash," Driessen said.
In endorsing Kerry's presidential bid late in the 2004 campaign, Hansen conceded that it could harm his reputation. "Dr. Hansen, 63, acknowledged that he imperiled his credibility and perhaps his job by criticizing Mr. Bush's policies in the final days of a tight presidential campaign." according to the Oct. 26, 2004, edition of the New York Times. In a speech delivered on that same day, Hansen praised the Massachusetts senator, declaring that "John Kerry has a far better grasp than President Bush on the important issues that we face."
Three years earlier, Hansen had accepted the $250,000 Heinz Award granted by the foundation run by Kerry's wife Teresa. But the same day Hansen publicly endorsed Sen. John Kerry's presidential candidacy in 2004, the New York Times quoted Hansen as saying that the grant from the Heinz Foundation had had "no impact on my evaluation of the climate problem or on my political leanings."
But George C. Deutsch, who served as a spokesman for NASA until resigning in February, said he quickly learned that "Dr. Hansen and his supporters have a very partisan agenda and ties reaching to the top of the Democratic Party." Deutsch resigned his post earlier this year following a controversy surrounding a false resume claim that he graduated from Texas A&M University.
Deutsch also denied that the Bush administration was clamping down on scientific views that did not support its preferred conclusions. "There is no pressure or mandate from the Bush administration or elsewhere, to alter or water down scientific data at NASA, period," Deutsch said, according to a Feb. 11, article in the Washington Post. Instead, he said, there existed a "culture war" at the federal agency. "Anyone perceived to be a Republican, a Bush supporter or a Christian is singled out and labeled a threat to their views. I encourage anyone interested in this story to consider the other side, to consider Dr. Hansen' s true motivations and to consider the dangerous implications of only hearing out one side of the global warming debate," Deutsch added.
Hansen fired back at Deutsch's assertions in an online statement published in February, calling Deutsch's claims "nonsense." "I can be accurately described as moderately conservative," Hansen wrote, while acknowledging that he had endorsed Kerry for president in 2004 "because he recognized global warming problem." Hansen stated that he had great respect for former Vice President Al Gore, noting that he met with Gore in January 2006 and ended up consulting Gore on his climate change slide show presentations. "I have great respect for Vice President Gore and his dedication to communicating the importance of global warming. He has a better understanding of the science of global warming than any politician I have met, and I urge citizens to pay attention to his presentation, which I understand will come out in the form of a movie," Hansen wrote.
Hansen wrote that his only two political contributions were to Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign and to either the 2000 Al Gore presidential run or the Kerry 2004 campaign. "I don't remember which," Hansen stated. Hansen, described by Pelley in the "60 Minutes" report as an "independent," also reportedly refused to go along the Clinton administration on the issue of "global warming." The Clinton administration "wanted to hear that warming was worse than it was," Pelley reported.
In the March 2004 issue of Scientific American, Hansen appeared to be justifying the past use of climate models to scare the public into believing the "global warming" problem was urgent. "Emphasis on extreme scenarios may have been appropriate at one time, when the public and decision-makers were relatively unaware of the global warming issue," Hansen wrote in 2004. "Now, however, the need is for demonstrably objective climate-forcing scenarios consistent with what is realistic under current conditions."
Patrick J. Michaels, the author of several books on climate change, including the recently published "Shattered Consensus: The True State of Global Warming," declared that Hansen has "advocated the use of exaggeration and propaganda as political tools in the debate over global warming." Michaels, who leveled his charges in a Feb. 21 commentary entitled "Hansen's Hot Hype," wrote that "Hansen thought the public should be subjected to nightmare scenarios regardless of the scientific likelihood of catastrophe, simply in order to gain people's attention." Michaels, who believes claims of catastrophic, human-caused "global warming" are scientifically unfounded, is a climatologist at the University of Virginia and a senior fellow at the Cato Institute.
Michaels has previously credited Hansen with taking a more moderate stance toward climate change. "The irony is that, in recent years, Hansen's positions on global warming have come increasingly in line with those of the administration he claims is censoring him," Michaels said. Several attempts to contact Hansen for comment were not returned. Telephone calls to Bill Owens and Catherine Herrick, the two CBS News employees who produced Pelley's "60 Minutes" segment, were referred to the network media affairs office.
"60 Minutes" spokesman Kevin Tedesco defended the segment, telling Cybercast News Service that "it was a fair and accurate report." A call to reporter Scott Pelley was not returned by press time.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/23/2006
08:54 ||
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#1
I haven't watched 60 Minutes since I stopped reading Mad Magazine.
#3
"Pelley's "Rewriting the Science" segment ...". Rewriting science, indeed. And likely history as well, given half a chance. Oh, wait; "Hansen has previously acknowledged that he supported the "emphasis on extreme scenarios" regarding climate change models in order to drive the public's attention to the issue, but Pelley's "60 Minutes" report made no mention of that admission." Since those 'extreme scenarios' tend to ignore certain historical trends and periods, I guess he's pretty much already done that as well.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
03/23/2006 13:15
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#4
I once thought this was the scam that would never die. I sure hope it becomes the ultimate object lesson for sniffing out bogus science and political scams before a single dollar is spent. Everyone who has pushed it or used it to further their political aims is destined to become an unemployed laughing stock. More truth, more exposure, please.
#8
Another scientists wants Milyuhns and Zilyuhns of $$$, + another 10-20 years, to tell the world Global Warming is about the Sun thats not about the Sun, and why we're all doomed, doomed Doomed DOOMED D-O-O-M-E-D DDDUUUUUMMMEEEDD they tell ya, unless we go back to wearing togas and getting around in hosses and Conestoga Wagons, and why all mankind can't do anything to get off the perm SAFE =DOOMED planet Terra until after the scientist(s) himself is dead, and spendt or hid all the monies. THE SUN'S SOLAR OUTPUT IS "NORMAL" BUT MAY GO HAYWIRE UNLESS WE BUY THOSE TOGAS AND SUBMIT TO OWG WID OUT EXPLANATION!?
ZAGREB - One out of every two working Croats has had sex with a colleague, according to a study released on Thursday by the employment web portal MojPosao.net. Conducted on 1,807 women and men of all age and education groups, the study indicated some self-restraint only in the patriarchal Dalmatia, where 36 per cent of the polled said they had sex at work. The ratio of 50 per cent of those sexually active on the job was almost uniform in other Croatian regions.
The other 50 per cent were really depressed
The practice was equally spread across the labour market - in business and administration, among blue and white collars, junior and senior employees, apprentices and top executives.
While it did not provide separate figures for women and men, the study said that 25 per cent of the men and 48 per cent of the women saw their adventures as a comprehensive love affair. To most men and very few women, it was just sex or, at most, sporadic fun and sex without much emotion.
Nevertheless, there was wide consensus among those practising sex at work that it was not socially acceptable - 83 per cent of those who had it tried to hide it, with more or less success.
"Dammit, move. I need to use that copier!"
Posted by: Steve ||
03/23/2006
08:35 ||
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"Half of Croatias workforce had sex-on-the-job"
And the other half tried. :-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/23/2006 13:06
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Clearly they haven't yet been hit by the corporate efficiency drive. (And if they have, I really, really don't want to know!)
South Park has exacted revenge on its former star Isaac Hayes by turning his character Chef into a paedophile and seemingly killing him off. The opening episode of the 10th series, screened in the US on Wednesday, appeared to be a satire on Scientology. Hayes, a Scientologist, quit the animated comedy after a different episode ridiculed the religion.
In the new show, Chef is brainwashed by the "Super Adventure Club" - thought to be a veiled reference to Scientology. The other characters are angry at "that fruity little club for scrambling his brains". Hayes did not participate in the episode but his lines were apparently patched together from previous recordings.
Chef arrives after travelling the world with the Super Adventure Club and repeatedly tells the children he wants to "make sweet love" to them. The children take him to a psychiatrist and then a strip club, where he remembers his love for women and is cured. But he is brainwashed by the Super Adventure Club again - before falling off a bridge and being burned, stabbed and mauled by a lion and a grizzly bear.
At his funeral, one of the children says: "A lot of us don't agree with the choices the Chef has made in the last few days. "Some of us feel hurt and confused that he seemed to turn his back on us. "But we can't let the events of the past few weeks take away the memories of how Chef made us smile."
Soul singer Hayes recently announced he had left the show because of its "intolerance and bigotry toward religious beliefs". But co-creator Matt Stone said: "In 10 years and over 150 episodes of South Park, Isaac never had a problem with the show making fun of Christians, Muslim, Mormons or Jews. "He got a sudden case of religious sensitivity when it was his religion featured on the show."
US TV network Comedy Central then pulled a different episode, which mocked Tom Cruise and more explicitly lampooned Scientology. That prompted rumours that Cruise had demanded that the episode be dropped, which were denied by his representatives. Hayes, 63, was admitted to hospital with exhaustion in January.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/23/2006
08:29 ||
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#1
I think the episode last night still featured the voice of Isaac Hayes.
Also the episode ended with the dead Chef being revived enough to be put into a Darth Vader life support armor type suit and using Darth type speech patterns.
#5
Hmmmm... "Woodland Creatures Christmas" is a favorite, as is the one where Jimmy and Timmy join a gang and the sea-people/sea-men episode.
Hard to really nail down an absolute favorite. There are a few I won't watch again, though, like the one where Mr. Garrison gets a sex change.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
03/23/2006 11:41
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#6
Last night's episode featured Hayes' voice, but they spliced old dialogue together to do it. There was no attempt for it to be a believable edit - the intonation was unmistakably mismatched from word to word.
And yes, the original "get Tom Cruise out of the closet" episode is one of the funniest things I've ever seen sober. If you're self important, you don't want to be on these guys bad side.
#7
Last night's episode featured Hayes' voice, but they spliced old dialogue together to do it. There was no attempt for it to be a believable edit - the intonation was unmistakably mismatched from word to word.
Wonder if this was an intentional slam on the clams claiming to speak for Hayes?
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
03/23/2006 12:53
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Wana, South Waziristan, 23 March (AKI/DAWN) - In ongoing violence in the tribal area of South Waziristan, bordering Afghanistan, a pro-government cleric has been killed by gunmen and a telephone exchange blown up. Witnesses told the Pakistan daily Dawn that the car of Maulana Sibghatullah was ambushed at Laddah on Wednesday by masked men who killed the cleric and abducted the three people travelling with him. Maulana Sibghatullah had in the past been associated with the Taliban but had since dissociated himself from Taliban militants, who are seeking to rebuild their power base in the mountainous Waziristan region.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/23/2006
08:26 ||
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Surprise meter reading zero. Muslims killing muslims who disagree with them in spite of the prohibition in the Qoran(aka, "Mohammend's Little Book of Death").
Islamabad, 23 March (AKI) - Pakistan has protested against the killings of at least 15 people by Afghan army soldiers, saying that the men who the Afghan army said were Taliban fighters, were actually Pakistanis on holiday. The spokesperson for the Pakistan foreign ministry, Tasnim Aslam has said that Pakistan has lodged a "strong protest" with Afghanistan and the Afghan ambassador to Pakistan had been summoned. The ministry has also "demanded an independent investigation into the incident and punishment for those responsible'' for the killings.
On Wednesday, an Afghan army commander said a two-hour-long gun battle occured near the southern border town of Spin Boldak in the Kandahar province late on Tuesday and among the dead was a mid-level Taliban commander Mullah Shien, who allegedly led several raids across the border from secret bases in Pakistan.
Pakistan's information minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed called the report "just another allegation" and other reports said that the dead were Pakistanis traveling to a religious festival in northern Afghanistan.
Innocent, heavily armed pilgrams
Is it elk-hunting season again?
Grouse, I think.
Ties between Afghanistan and Pakistan have been tense over who is responsible for Islamic militants operating in the volatile border region between the two countries. Kabul has long called on Islamabad to do more to to deal with militants in Pakistan while Pakistan says that it has been doing all it can with some 80,000 troops deployed in the border area.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/23/2006
08:19 ||
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They were traveling to a religious festival. Considering the religion of blood, death, and decapitation, a festival could be a raid for hostages, or blowing up a mosque.
#2
I call Bullshit on Pakland. Quitcher whining, defend against these assholes coming across to afghanistan or STFU and let the afghans continue to thin yer herd
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/23/2006 9:00
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What else does a self-respecting Pakiwaki do on holiday?
#5
What else does a self-respecting Pakiwaki do on holiday?
Gun sex. Lots and lots of gun sex.
Speaking of which, I've finally gotten round to working on some miniatures that make me chuckle everytime I see them. They're supposed to be near-future science-fiction Islamic troops, and one of them, well:
That's right, the little bastard's firing into the air.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
03/23/2006 11:57
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Innocent, heavily armed pilgrams
No! Damnit, get it right.
Innocent, albeit heavily armed, and oddly well versed in light infantry tactics, shepherds pilgrams.
Majority of Viewers Feel Iraq Coverage Is Flawed Elitists Astonished, Vow to Redouble Anti-American Propaganda Campaign
March 23, 2006 Over the last 24 hours, ABC News has been reading hundreds of messages sent in by viewers in response to President Bush's claim that the media are undermining support for war in Iraq. Viewer opinions ran the gamut, but the vast majority believed the media were biased in their Iraq coverage.
"I ask you this from the bottom of my heart, for a solution to this, because it seems that our major media networks don't want to portray the good," a woman from West Virginia asked President Bush at a recent town hall.
Teena from Wisconsin agreed. "If we have the capabilities of the media and we can see the blood, bombs, killing and horror, shouldn't we also see the teaching, cleanup, building, training of soldiers and the many other great things I know our soldiers are doing for us?" she wrote.
Many of the postings expressed a desire to get a better sense of the reconstruction effort, and the improvements in daily life for Iraqis. "I think you should cover how many women are now allowed to work, how many kids are now enrolled in school and excelling," wrote Renee from Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, N.M.
Mary Mutschler's son is in the Navy. She wrote from Oregon: "We need to hear about deaths, and what's going on as far as that's concerned. But we need to hear what's going good also."
The latest national poll reveals that 31 percent of Americans believe the media make things in Iraq sound worse than they are. But some of our viewers, like Deborah from Texas, said delivering the bad news served an important purpose. "It is the job of the media," she wrote, "to report what's happening on the war front, and that means insurgent attacks and sectarian violence."
#1
I am forced to watch Fox every morning for about 20 minutes. It's always the same dose of medicine. Under the guise of being pro-American, they show a burned out car and say something like, "in spite of all of the violence, and the nearing of a sectarian civil war, there was one tiny upbeat note this morning when the peace activists were freed." Yeah, one upbeat note.
Never but a positive aside about the poltical process. Never a picture of soldiers being waved at or swarmed by children, never a single picture of a school built or an interview from an Iraqi saying the power is back up, or that something...anything .... good happened. I guess all of that Saudi investment into Fox has paid off.
I wonder to myself - would this war already be over if they didn't only post the same message of "you've already lost the war, go home!" And instead posted the positive news of the fact that Saddam is gone, they have a chance at democracy and the genocide, people shredders and rape rooms have been abolished.
And Fox is the best we've got. CNN etc are blatantly promoting propaganda for the other side. It's really pathetic that our own press puts Tokyo Rose to shame in their ability to shill for the other side.
#2
Agreed. Fox has lost it. Fair & Balanced now means posing two paid (and usually at least one is completely insane) ideologues against each other, which is a pointless waste of air time.
#5
It takes a lot of people to put together a news cast, not to mention to gather the news. Most of them aren't paid a lot of money. The people at Fox, like the people in most industries, work for the industry as much as for any specific company. When they lose their job, they'll be looking for a job at another company in the same industry. It is not a smart career move to alienate yourself from every other company in the industry. So the Fox news tends to be the same as the news everywhere else, just not so much.
It is only in the commentators, who are not employees dependent on Fox for bread on the table, who are balanced.
That is why network news will not change until the entire current generation in management is replaced by a new generation that sees things differently. More likely is that alternative media, talk radio, blogs, reporters of David, will expand at the expense of the MSM. These media are less labor intensive and less eadily influenced by the MSM industrythink.
#6
The 31% figure given is absurdly low - I've seen polls where the MSM's negatives are double that for their incredibly biased "reporting".
Is this supposed to be Step 1 in the rehabilitation of the media?
If so, they flunked miserably. They couldn't resist (after drawing readers in with something approaching reality) pushing their agenda as a closer. ABC. *PTUI*
#7
The majority (60%) of Fox employees political campaign contributions went to Democrats. It just wasn't nearly as skewed as the other networks.
Posted by: ed ||
03/23/2006 12:08
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Just watch the first five or seven minutes of any local newscast. Murder, rape, assaults, vehicular homicide, on and on and on. Why would anyone want to live in any metro area? Its just the form of 'entertainment' that once was dubbed 'news'. Jerry Springer but with blood.
The hack job about unbias news is a joke. Every administration or DoD action is subject to endless hours of anaylsis and criticism. Every bit of good news is handled with 10 shots of the same image of a car bombing or something dragged up again from Abu Ghrab. Where's the criticism and analysis of the failure of the enemy? Where's the loop images of heads being cut off? Wonder how long ESPN would be a viable network if they had Lawn and Garden 'experts' covering the play offs, let alone season play in sports. Yet that what passes as experts on military history, organizations, culture, and operations in MSM.
The internet and its blogs are making hamburger of the what once the image of 'professional' news.
#10
ABCs We want to report the news how you want gimmick is the biggest bunch of crapola since the first huckster said We just givum what they want. Does anyone believe that CNN would improve the quality of their product if Debbie from Ohio complained that Wolf Blitzer repeatedly referred to the Cheney hunting non-story as a crisis? Pshaww As if! But you can bet your bottom dollar what stories are covered the next day will depend on how many people respond to their Question of the Day.
Get me the pliers son this un is a hooked purdy deep.
#12
These people actually believe ABC News gives a candy-coated crap about being unbiased or being accurate or fair? How touching.
ABC and their ilk don't WANT to be unbiased, fair or accurate; they want to convince their viewers to vote Democrat at the next election. That's the business they're in: producing pablum to influence the masses in favor of the Party.
The only interest ABC could possibly have in viewer responses is to figure out how to better conceal their manipulation of peoples' perceptions and become better propagandists.
This should have gone under Fifth Column...
Posted by: Dave D. ||
03/23/2006 17:07
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WINCHESTER - Winchester police are investigating whether an unidentified man found hanging from a flagpole outside a Veterans of Foreign Wars post early yesterday is connected to the burning of the hall's American flag a couple of hours earlier. Police are "leaning to believe" that the dead man "is responsible for the flag burning," said Winchester police Detective James Hall. Police say the death is a suicide because "there is no foul play that we can determine," Hall said. Nothin here folks, let's go inside for some shots of Jack!
Post 2728 Commander Ray Christy told The Associated Press that he suspected the man burned the flag because he had burn marks on his hands.
"Legume! I believe I have found our culprit. Bring me my saxophone!"
The strange circumstances left other members of VFW Post 2728 flabbergasted. "It's all a mystery to me," said VFW member Ray Jones, 73, a Korean War veteran. "Why would he burn a flag and then hang himself?"
I'll bet he said that with a straight face, too
Further clouding the issue was the discovery of a second body yesterday afternoon at an efficiency apartment next door to the post. But police said they think the cases are unrelated.
The hanged man was found a couple of hours after Winchester firefighters responded to Evelyn Kincaid's report after 11 p.m. Tuesday about a flag burning outside the VFW post. Kincaid lives in a mobile home next door to the post. "I was sitting here and I could see something orange glowing," Kincaid said. "So I peeked out and it was a fire." Firefighters extinguished the fire, and police took the burned remains of the flag as evidence. Then he just hung himself, I swear it's true, just ask Earl!
"Then around 1 o'clock we get this call of somebody finding an individual hanging from the flagpole," Hall said. Welcome to Winchester Kentucky, burn flags at your own risk!
More at link...
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
03/23/2006
08:06 ||
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Works for me. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/23/2006 11:19
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I wonder. The full story says there were footprints on the old mailbox near the flagpole, where people leave old flags for the VFW to dispose of respectfully.
I wonder if this guy was suicidal, burned the flag and then killed himself. Somehow it seems symbolic, but we'll probably never know what symnbolism was really intended.
#14
Weird - I was watching Channel 12 KGTF [aka PBS] last night, and caught snippets of some show about Britain during WW2. In these snippets, a man with a gunshot wound/bullet in his head was found by Brit soldiers hanging from a truck/vehicle hook. *Theme from DRAGNET follows.
Two Australian fighter jets bombed and sank an impounded North Korean cargo ship on Thursday in what Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said was a strong message to Pyongyang about its involvement in drug running. The 4,000-tonne ship the Pong Su had been impounded since 2003, when it led the Australian navy on a 1,100 km (680 mile) chase off the southeastern coast after being spotted unloading part of a 150 kg (330 lb) shipment of heroin at a secluded beach.
The ship came to a spectacular end on Thursday when two Royal Australian Air Force frontline F-111 jet bombers fired missiles into the vessel during target practice at a secret location offshore. "It is appropriate that we publicly demonstrate our outrage at what has happened by sinking this ship," Downer said
Posted by: ed ||
03/23/2006
07:55 ||
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Maybe we can get the Aussies to take care of the Pueblo.
#5
It would have been more appropriate to demonstrate our outrage by convicting the officers in charge. The Pong Su case was an atrocious bungle. I still can't believe it.
SAN ANTONIO, Texas - Texas has begun sending undercover agents into bars to arrest drinkers for being drunk, a spokeswoman for the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission said on Wednesday. I guess they figured that was the best place to find drunks.
The first sting operation was conducted recently in a Dallas suburb where agents infiltrated 36 bars and arrested 30 people for public intoxication, said the commissions Carolyn Beck. I'm surprised they only found 30 people in 36 bars.
Being in a bar does not exempt one from the state laws against public drunkenness, Beck said. The goal, she said, was to make a lot of money on fines and stick our noses further in to other people's business detain drunks before they leave a bar and go do something dangerous like drive a car.
We feel that the only way were going to get at the drunk driving problem and the problem of people hurting each other while drunk is by crackdowns like this, she said.
There are a lot of dangerous and stupid things people do when theyre intoxicated, other than get behind the wheel of a car, Beck said. People walk out into traffic and get run over, people jump off of balconies trying to reach a swimming pool and miss. I know people who have done that sober. the bottom line here, again, is the Nanny State says it has to protect you from yourself. They know whats best for you
She said the sting operations would continue throughout the state.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
03/23/2006
07:15 ||
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There are a lot of dangerous and stupid things people do when theyre intoxicated, other than get behind the wheel of a car, Beck said. People walk out into traffic and get run over, people jump off of balconies trying to reach a swimming pool and miss.
#6
Herodes learned that a newborn woul be one day king of Isreal and he had all newborns put to death. Texas Democrats learned that an ex-drunk became a Republican President of the United States so they try to avoid this happenning again.
Disclaimer: I don't care about what W did or did not when he was young as long as he now does a good job. And I believening he is doing a very good one.
#7
Kinky Friedman is looking better and better for governor of Texas.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/23/2006 14:43
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#8
Friedman's just another word for nuthin left to lose.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
03/23/2006 16:14
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#9
The clincher on this story is they arrested people that were staying at hotels where the bar was....people go to the bar, have a few drinks..the cops come in a bust them so they cant drive....they werent driving...they were staying at the hotel.
I'll take Kinky anyday over this pinhead we have now...talk about doing nothing and taking full credit for it....Perry is one of the worst ever in Texas history...and we all suffer because of it...thats why I vote for anyone else...anyone, doesnt matter...if you are in office, from now on people are going to be voting you out...anyone else...the NEW Texas battle cry.
Posted by: Live to Ride ||
03/23/2006 17:42
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TEHAS/TEXAS, unlike NOLA, either has enough $$$ in the coffers so as to afford sending law enforcement out to arrest people for simple public drunkenness; or more likely as #5 premises its about revenue enhancement, Dat time of year.
Ask administration hard-liners about Iran's sudden acceptance of the U.S. offer to talk about stability in Iraq and you hear this reaction: It's a booby trap. These hawks are right.
Put the same question to moderates on the Bush team and this is the response: It's an opening in the confrontation and a necessary step toward an exit strategy for Iraq. The remarkable thing is that these doves are right, too.
President Bush must treat the Iranian decision to open discussions in Baghdad as trap and opportunity. It is both. The administration should pursue this small opening in the Iranian wall with discipline and attention to maintaining a united front with its European and Asian partners. They are Iran's immediate targets.
The Iranians will certainly suggest to Europe, Japan and India that the United States is dealing behind its allies' backs to protect its interests in Iraq. The Iranians are masters at playing on others' divisions, often by inviting them to exploit simulated divisions on the Iranian side. Thus the endless arguments over Iran's "moderates."
The Bush team must make the Baghdad talks one insulated part of a coordinated three-pronged approach to Iran. Contacts with Iran must be managed as hard-nosed diplomacy that will go to the brink -- but not be carried over it by bluster and inflexibility.
The White House rightly insists that the Baghdad talks be limited to practical steps for defusing the crisis in Iraq. Discussion in Baghdad of Iran's nuclear ambitions, now under scrutiny in the U.N. Security Council, or other broad topics would undermine the allied unity that has brought the complaint against Iran this far.
The State Department hopes to get a declaration from the Security Council in about two weeks that ostensibly gives the Iranians a final chance to suspend their nuclear enrichment program and return to negotiations with the European Union and Russia.
The statement is in fact a necessary step toward new U.N. negotiations over a resolution imposing sanctions on Iran. "The Europeans need to show their publics that they have jumped through all the hoops" before threatening sanctions, a U.S. official says. Washington is cooperating in this approach.
To reduce the danger that Iran will use the Baghdad talks as a divisive ploy, the United States should now join -- and lead -- the negotiating effort over enrichment. After the move to talk to Iran in Baghdad, the Bush administration cannot remain a silent, outside partner at the top rung of the negotiating ladder. And U.S. direct involvement provides the only hope of getting the Iranians back to the table.
The threat of sanctions has already triggered a counterthreat from Iran to use oil as a weapon. Washington must lead in establishing a credible international emergency energy-sharing program to confront that bad-case scenario. "We have to say to the Iranians together that we will endure a cold winter or two but they will be harmed even more by an oil boycott," says a senior European politician who has studied Iranian negotiating behavior extensively.
U.S. officials recognize that U.N. action might not be sufficient or even forthcoming. They now speak of a "diplomatic coalition of the willing" to pursue sanctions and other measures against Iran if the U.N. effort falters. But that coalition must be forged through diplomatic leadership and the sharing of the negotiating burden.
Such sharing can be reinforced in a third layer of contacts in this policy of engaging Iran, with intense skepticism. The United States should support efforts by the U.N. special representative to Iraq, Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, to establish a contact group of regional states that would meet regularly -- in Baghdad.
Regional "meetings outside Baghdad don't work at this stage," Qazi told U.S. officials he visited this week in Washington in a refreshing burst of candor. Having senior diplomats from Egypt, Syria, Jordan and other Persian Gulf countries -- including Iran -- wrestle concretely with Iraq's daily problems could usefully supplement the U.S.-Iranian talks.
The experts say that Iran is six to nine months away from mastering the centrifuge process of enrichment, the key step in a 5- to 10-year process of building a nuclear bomb. Talking to the Iranians at three interlocking levels is the best way to determine whether there is any realistic hope of deflecting them from enrichment or deterring them if they get the bomb -- and what happens if the answer to both is no.
Bush must reshape Ronald Reagan's attitude toward Mikhail Gorbachev: Don't trust, do verify at every step of the way. First, there must be something to verify.
"The Europeans need to show their publics that they have jumped through all the hoops"
Jumping through all the hoops - the keystone to current European policy, both foreign and domestic.
WASHINGTON -- While officials privately debate whether communitarian violence in Iraq constitutes a low-grade civil war, there is no disagreement about the oil crisis there, which has little to do with the insurgency. Gasoline and home heating fuel are scarce and expensive, thanks to runaway corruption. This problem's difficulty and importance will test the new Iraqi government once it is organized.
Industry sources privately cite corruption as the reason for recent decisions by Turkey and Saudi Arabia to halt gasoline exports to Iraq for non-payment of bills. That exacerbates a worsening situation where Iraq, one of the world's great petroleum producers, has to truck in gasoline from Kuwait.
While the formal line in Washington and Baghdad blames insurgents for the oil crisis, U.S. officials who are close to the situation gave me a totally different explanation. They blame corruption at every level, from the oil ministry on down, that is common to Iraq. It cannot be controlled by the Americans but is the responsibility of the long-delayed Iraqi government. Thus, oil is a microcosm of the overall conundrum in Iraq, where there are no good options for the Bush administration in dealing with a culture where honesty and efficiency historically have been rare.
The exhilaration in the Bush administration that the Anglo-American attack in 2003 had preserved the oil producing capacity is as illusory as claims of victory three years ago. The fuel shortages in oil-rich Iraq are profound and growing worse, with endless lines at gasoline stations. That drives up prices to the equivalent of $15 for a cylinder of home fuel -- too expensive for the average Iraqi.
The best explanation for this was given me by a non-political U.S. civil servant, an "Arabist" with vast experience in the region. He has been ordered definitively to say nothing and write nothing about oil in Iraq or anything else to do with the country. He spoke to me only if I would not identify him, by name or organization.
My source blamed corruption on an unimaginable level. "There is no system for turning on the oil in Iraq," he told me. "Everyone there is taking their cut. Everybody takes a little." It is corruption from top to bottom. At a time of an acute shortage in Iraq, oil is being surreptitiously sent across the border for gain.
Such corruption is familiar there. The situation is endemic in the brief, tragic history of Iraq. Since the discovery of the country's liquid wealth, government officials have been dipping into the proceeds. This was true during the monarchy and the successor governments, including Saddam Hussein's. The addiction to corruption also contributed to the United Nations oil-for-food scandal.
The immediate crying need of Iraq's oil industry three years after the invasion is for substantial investment in improvements for infrastructure and technology. It was assumed that once the dictatorial regime was displaced, money from all over the world would pour into Iraq. But there is no inclination by risk capital to put any money in enterprises that are bleeding money to corrupt officials throughout the government.
Everybody with any familiarity with this situation believes the only answer is that the new Iraqi government, still unformed three months after the election, must gain control over corruption. One former U.S. official with experience in Iraq says: "We really have no levers left to pull, except hope that the government we're backing becomes powerful enough to take on the crooks."
Sen. Chuck Hagel, a frequent visitor to Iraq, is well aware of this dilemma. "The future of Iraq is in the hands of the Iraqis," he told me. Hagel is not yet ready to call for a unilateral military withdrawal from Iraq, realizing that the dreary conditions there -- including the oil crisis -- would get worse if the U.S. disconnected today. The pocketing of oil revenues by corrupt bureaucrats will hardly be improved by a quick American exit.
#1
how can you expect a dying culture with 6th century morals and ideas to come full steam into the civilized 21st century? Aint gonna happen, The Iraqi overlords (us) need to get off the naive horse and SEE what these animals are really all about...
Posted by: bk ||
03/23/2006 10:32
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#2
Only 15% of Iraq has been fully surveyed for oil. The deepest wells in the world are in the Kurdish areas. Major development is on hold pending resolution of the Syrian and Iran problems. The Two-Rivers' patch is riddled with belligerent Sunnis and Shiites. Persian Gulf routes are in peril and an Iraq-Mediterranian pipeline is politically impossible. US troops aren't going anywhere until Syria and Iran are crushed like the territorial bugs that they are.
They consume 370,000 barrels in "motor spirits" (gas/diesel) per day, and have to import almost 170,000 barrels. Unemployment approaches 20%. Knock out a couple of refineries and they can wage jihad on donkeys.
#3
The immediate answer is to start charging market rates for fuel inside Iraq. This is only a problem because we have continued Saddam's policy of government subsidies -- socialism doesn't work in Iraq any better than it does in other countries.
A coyote's romp in Central Park ended yesterday with a tranquilizer dart and a nap, but only after a messy breakfast (hold the feathers), a dip in a chilly pond and a sprint past a skating rink-turned-movie set.
There was also a final chase that had all the elements of a Road Runner cartoon, with the added spectacle of television news helicopters hovering overhead, trailing the coyote and the out-of-breath posse of police officers, park officials and reporters trailing it.
The coyote's pursuers joked that it even tried to turn itself in. It was hunting for a place to sleep it off after being hit by a single tranquilizer dart, and that place was a Fire Department dispatching station next to the Central Park station house overlooking the 79th Street transverse.
The coyote named Hal by his captors, who said he was about a year old woke up in a cage on the bed of a pickup truck carrying him out of the park. The city's parks commissioner, Adrian Benepe, wasted no time in declaring that Central Park's 843 acres were once again a coyote-free zone.
This was a couple of hours after Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg had delivered some one-liners at Hal's expense. "Are New Yorkers in danger?" the mayor asked at a breakfast at the New York Public Library. "This is New York, and I would suggest that the coyote may have more problems than the rest of us."
Where Hal came from remained a mystery. Mr. Benepe said that he had probably been driven out of Westchester County. Older coyotes do that to young males at this time of the year, wildlife specialists said.
He speculated that Hal had made it down to the Bronx and trotted into Manhattan across a railroad bridge at Spuyten Duyvil"the narrowest, safest crossing," he said.
But Mr. Benepe said it was also possible that Hal had dog paddled his way through the water beneath the railroad bridge. From there, he said, Hal probably meandered down the West Side to 72nd Street, where Riverside Park ends. And then, Mr. Benepe said, he turned left.
That was news to people in the neighborhood. "I see a lot of things pass this way," said Ralph Mascolo, a doorman at an apartment building on 72nd Street between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue, "but never a coyote."
Maybe he took the crosstown bus. Laura Simon, the field director for the urban wildlife program of the Humane Society of the United States, suggested that he might have hitched a ride, though she was thinking of a garbage truck. "Sometimes animals appear in the strangest places," she said, adding that the mashed-up contents of a garbage truck would have been a tasty dinner for a hungry Hal, and obviously Hal had managed not to get mashed up himself.
However he got to the park, Hal apparently hung out there for several days. Sara Hobel, the director of the city's Urban Park Rangers, said he was first described as a hyena by someone who called from a taxi on the 66th Street transverse. That was over the weekend.
Ms. Hobel's boss, Mr. Benepe, mentioned a later report from a late-night dog walker who saw "something," maybe a wolf or a coyote.
By Tuesday, Ms. Hobel was thinking it was 1999 all over again, the last time a coyote was known to have been on the loose in Central Park Otis, who now resides in the Queens Zoo. Someone from the Central Park Conservancy, the nonprofit group that runs the park, spotted Hal in the Hallett Nature Sanctuary, four acres of boulders and grass within sprinting distance of the Wollman Rink, the carousel and, if you are Mr. Benepe, your office.
Mr. Benepe went right over, as did Ms. Hobel. Soon the police joined the hunt for Hal, who by then had been named for the nature sanctuary.
Hal had "established a route" around the sanctuary, Ms. Hobel said. But around dinnertime on Tuesday dinnertime for people if not for Hal he made a daring escape, scrambling over an eight-foot-high fence and blasting by Ms. Hobel.
The search was called off Tuesday night. When it resumed early yesterday, a crew working on a movie called "August Rush" was busy at the Wollman Rink, just across a path from the Hallett sanctuary. Suzanne Kelly, from the film's wardrobe crew, saw Hal "going after this lady's dog." A small dog, a Westie, she said.
Hal "looked hungry, I thought," she said. "That's what I was worried about."
The posse chasing Hal cornered him by the Heckscher Ballfields, but he got away again. Hal retreated to the sanctuary, where a pile of feathers suggested that he had made a meal of a bird, probably a pigeon, Mr. Benepe said. After a quick swim across the sanctuary's duck pond, he sprinted past the rink, where an actress in a wig was doing figure eights.
The officers with the tranquilizer guns could not keep up with Hal. Ms. Hobel was confident he would resurface in the Ramble, and he did. And they got their coyote.
Mr. Benepe, said that the next event in Hal's young life was an examination by Dr. Mary Martin, the interim executive director of Animal Care and Control of New York City, a nonprofit group that runs the city's animal shelters, and Dr. Njeri Cruse, its medical director.
The examination confirmed that Hal was a he. It also showed that Hal had "nice clean teeth," Mr. Benepe said. And that Hal was coming to.
Mr. Benepe said the plan was for a wildlife rehabilitator to take Hal out of the city and, after some rest and relaxation, release him in a more coyote-friendly habitat.
#1
Bloody nonsense. Coyotes are as at home in American cities and suburbs as red foxes are in similar British territory. They mostly hunt small mammels (mice and rats) and birds (lots of pigeons in NYC, even after the falcons take as much as their fledgelings can handle).
They're very fond of stray cats, at least they were in New Mexico.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/23/2006 16:13
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#3
And yes, they are fond of cats in the California hill country... my parents in Valley Center and any number of their friends have lost cats to coyotes... some of them in broad daylight, close to the house.
Britain says multinational troops in Iraq have freed three Western peace activists held hostage since November.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw announced in London that the hostages - Briton Norman Kember and Canadians James Loney and Harmeet Singh Sooden - were freed during a military operation Thursday.
A fourth man seized at the same time, an American, was found shot to death in Baghdad earlier this month.
Straw said today's rescue operation followed "weeks and weeks" of planning, but he released few details. He said the British hostage is now in Baghdad in "reasonable condition," but that the two Canadians are hospitalized.
The three men, members of the Christian Peacemaker Teams, were abducted in Baghdad on November fourth, along with their American colleague, Tom Fox. A little known group, the Swords of Righteousness Brigades, claimed responsibility for the kidnapping.
Separately, a suicide bombing at a security checkpoint in central Baghdad today killed at least 15 people and wounded more than 30 others. Most of the victims were policemen.
Officials say the bomber rammed his explosives-laden vehicle into a checkpoint outside headquarters of the main criminal unit of the Iraqi police.
In a statement, the Christian Peacemaker Teams said the activists went to Iraq "motivated by a passion for justice and peace." The group called for coalition forces to remove their troops from the country.
"We believe that the illegal occupation of Iraq by Multinational Forces is the root cause of the insecurity which led to this kidnapping and so much pain and suffering in Iraq," the statement said.
#6
Charge them with complicity in their own kidnapping.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
03/23/2006 7:25
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#7
I wonder if they were really freed during a military operation, or if they their freedom was bought (I guess buying their release could qualify as a military operation if the funds came out of the military budget, right?). Italy and Germany seemed to have no problem negotiating with terrorists and there are certainly similarly-minded folks in the Canadian and British governments as well. I'm skeptical until I hear that SAS killed ___ terrorists in an assault on the hostage site, or something along those lines.
#8
From AP: The Iraqi Interior Ministry said the captives were rescued in a joint U.S.-British operation in rural area northwest of Baghdad... Speaking in Toronto, Doug Pritchard, co-director of the group (Christian Peacemaker Teams), said no shots were fired during the operation and that the kidnappers were not present when the U.S.-British force freed the hostages. U.S. and British military officials did not provide details of the operation.
Sounds like a ransom was paid and the drop off location was given.
Posted by: ed ||
03/23/2006 7:39
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#9
Then why did the military rescue them? If they've got enough money to bribe the terrs they should hire Blackwater to pick up the trash. These assholes should be charged, just like the idiots who have to be rescued at the Grand Canyon. I'd say a billion a head.
#12
Could be the swords of righteousness/insanity were already in a cage singing like canarys...or complaining that the bagman stole their hard earned Euros?
#14
Looks like a real rescue. I must be getting cynical and the "hostages" must have quite cooperative not to have guards. Three Christian Activists Rescued in Iraq Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, the U.S. military spokesman, said the hostages were being held by a "kidnapping cell" in a house in western Baghdad, and the operation to free the captives was based on information from a man captured by U.S. forces only three hours earlier.
"They were bound, they were together, there were no kidnappers in the areas," Lynch told a news briefing. He also said military operations concerning other hostages were ongoing, "probably as a result of what we're finding at this time."
I'm with Darth.
Posted by: ed ||
03/23/2006 10:16
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#15
Separately, a suicide bombing at a security checkpoint in central Baghdad today killed at least 15 people and wounded more than 30 others."
It always seems like eveytime thereis a suicide bombing with iraq police, they lose in the ten's. Can we tell them to stand further apart.
#16
"Can we tell them to stand further apart."
Its because whenever a car gets stopped at a roadblock the iraqi police all rush to the car with their palms outstreched
#18
The first thing that hits me about the CPT is the overarching sanctimony, the tremendous conceit of "we love our enemies." Clearly, they do not. Their true enemies, as betrayed by their words and actions, are the US Military and it is plain that there is no love there. The second thing is how pitiful and ineffectual they as a group are. All their pandering and fawning over their friends the terrorists, under the false guise of "we love our enemies" did not stop the terrorists from killing one of them. Conversely, all their animosity toward our Military did not stop the rescue operation that saved the rest of them. They are worthless dilettantes; nothing but empty egos.
#26
Shudda left 'em ta get their heads chopped off
Posted by: kelly ||
03/23/2006 15:18
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#27
I heard this news in the am on fox 's daily buzz, and they clearly said the hostages were released no mention of rescue, and certainly no mention of coalition forces.
Glad to see that the military met these turds face to face. The look in those 'three' eyes must have been intresting.
Posters showing an American soldier with blood spurting out of his head are being used by Iraqi insurgents to raise money in Europe. The campaign is called "10 Euros for Resistance." That's about $12, and people in Italy and the Netherlands seem to be chipping in, according to Rep. Sue Kelly, R-N.Y.
"Ten euros for resistance, and people who are giving the money don't care if it buys weapons. It's all for the resistance," Kelly said.
Kelly says that the European countries where the campaign has been launched, as well as some in the Mideast, have done little to stop the fundraising. "It makes me very angry that our supposed allies would be helping and not stop something like this Web site, '10 Euros for the Resistance.' It's wrong," she said.
The cash is moved to Iraq through Syria, helping the insurgents stay on the move, resupply and prepare new attacks on American soldiers, Kelly said.
After nearly two weeks of haggling, a deadlocked Security Council put off full consideration of Iran's nuclear program on Tuesday, amid indications that Iran was close to taking a major step in its efforts to enrich uranium.
Britain and France had promoted a statement calling on Iran to abandon its uranium activities, which the West believes is part of a nuclear weapons program. With American support, Britain and France want a two-week deadline with threats of possible punishment, but have met resistance from China and Russia.
The Europeans said Tuesday that they would consult on possible revisions that could draw the unanimous support needed for the statement from all 15 Security Council members. The postponement followed a four-hour meeting on Monday of senior Foreign Ministry officials of Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States.
"The impact on the negotiations which we are trying to do here was not as positive as we would have wished," said Emyr Jones Parry, the British ambassador. "So we're having to maintain the momentum. That is the basis problem."
The impasse generated frustration among European and American negotiators, who said within the last week that the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna had briefed officials on Iran's uranium activities at its Natanz complex.
Diplomats from different countries, who declined to be identified because they were discussing sensitive classified information, said Iran appeared on the verge of assembling 164 centrifuges, the number needed to form a "cascade" mechanism that could enrich uranium for nuclear energy or, eventually, bombs.
In effect, they said the 164 centrifuges would significantly increase Iran's ability to make weapons, in defiance of demands by the United States, Britain, France, Germany and the United States that it cease its uranium activities immediately.
"What this means is that time is not on our side," a European diplomat said. "It means that while we are negotiating, Iran is not wasting its time."
Various diplomats also expressed a sense of urgency.
France's ambassador, Jean-Marc de la Sablière, said: "It seems to me we will need some time, a few days, I suppose. But we don't have much time. I guess that we will have to come to the end of discussion very soon. But I cannot tell you exactly when."
A long delay in progress could persuade the Western nations to abandon the plan for a statement and push instead toward a resolution, a much stronger action, but one that would require a vote. Resolutions need nine votes to pass but can be defeated by a veto, which China and Russia, as permanent members, each have the power to cast.
R. Nicholas Burns, under secretary of state for political affairs, turned aside such speculation, saying in a telephone interview from Washington that he had heard strong sentiment for a statement at the Monday meeting, at which he represented the United States.
"We believe that the members of the Security Council all have an interest in issuing this presidential statement, because the most important step we can now take is to send a common, united, clear message to Iran that is, suspend your nuclear program and return to negotiations," he said. "It may take some time to achieve the final wording, but we believe that goal is attainable."
The step that the Council is trying to agree on is a relatively mild one, a nonbinding statement that would list Tehran's failures to comply with demands from the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations nuclear watchdog, and urge Iran to resume the suspension of its uranium enrichment.
China, while backing Russia, has proven more conciliatory in the talks, introducing a revised draft asking the director general of the nuclear agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, to report on Iran's program to his agency and the Council.
The original text, first circulated two weeks ago, called for sending the progress report to just the Council. China and Russia feared that such a move would diminish the role of the agency and put the matter in the hands of the Council, which has the power to sanction Tehran. Beijing and Moscow oppose sanctions.
China and Russia are also against a provision asking Dr. ElBaradei to submit his report in two weeks. China's ambassador, Wang Guangya, has recommended a four- to six-week time frame. Andrei Denisov, the Russian ambassador, has suggested a June deadline.
Mr. Wang said Tuesday that senior officials at the nuclear agency had told Chinese diplomats that two weeks afforded too little time. "To give them 14 days is to ask them not to do it," he said. He said the Russians were troubled by the references to Iran's activities being a threat to international peace and stability, words that he said could become a pretext for imposing sanctions. Asked whether Beijing shared this concern, he said, "I believe that the Russian concern has its logic."
The Russians also object to listing the demands on Tehran, arguing that they are included in the International Atomic Energy Agency resolution. Among the demands are that Iran suspend all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities and put into effect the "additional protocol" to the country's nuclear agreement, which gives inspectors the right to ask for exceptional access to plants.
Mr. Wang said China favored a "brief political statement" that would reinforce the authority of the nuclear agency, call on the Iranians to cooperate and put "some pressure" on them to do so.
Mr. de la Sablière, the French ambassador, voiced doubt that much of the specific language could be dropped. "We are not in favor of a too general statement," he said. "We want a precise and strong message."
Mr. Jones Parry, the British ambassador, also expressed misgivings at the idea of wholesale changes. "What France and Britain both feel is that if this text is to be amended further, it should be amended in order to come to an agreed conclusion," he said. "And if there is no prospect of an agreed conclusion, we won't be amending the text."
#1
Since Russia and China, and probably France, are so willing to put their own interests above anything else, the US is forced to take the initiative across the board.
If Israel wants to attack, we will not stand in its way, nor will we allow others to either stand in their way or retaliate against them. Depending on circumstances, we will either let them, assist them, or let them assist us.
If we can prod Iran into making a foolish and ill-conceived attack against our interests, we may also be inclined to do that.
Ironically, we have to protect the other nuclear powers from attack by Iran likewise, as their response would most certainly be singularly nuclear, and far more than we prefer.
So they are rewarded for their duplicity with us protecting them, less they destroy much of the region.
#7
Even the Russkies and Chicoms are being forced to accept the need for SOME resolution, but they want one that doesnt yet threaten sanctions. and they want more time. Theyre playing for time at this point.
And the French and the Germans, not just the US and UK, are getting pissed with the Russians.
Just a couple of years ago we saw a budding French-German-Russian alliance. Thats dead.
From the POV of global US strategy, thats probably bigger news than anything happening in Iran.
#12
I agree with LH to the extent that if we act without UN sanction, having the Germans and French on our side will be huge in terms of us being able to ride out (from a PR standpoint) the setbacks that will come when we have to act militarily.
Also, I think it will matter within Iran. I suspect that the Iranian public, which does not want to be estranged from the world due to the Mullahs' foreign policy, cares a lot more about the France and Germany than they do about Russia and China.
Of course, the Frogs may be playing the same double game they did before we went into Iraq or they may be waiting for Iran to buy their support. But I wonder if maybe we have the goods on them and they know we can embarrass them if they defect to the Iranian side. For instance, the captured Iraqi documents that are only now being posted daily on the Web may contain some inconvenient information.
#13
What's their motivation to play this straight? They've already demonstrated that money is all they truly care about. Look at Shroeder. Whatever happens down the road will be on somebody else's watch - or so they hope. Secretly, they are probably colluding with the Russkies and ChiComs - encouraging them to block any meaningful action. Lavrov has already made it clear that Russia won't support ANY sanctions of ANY kind, much less action. They haven't the sense or self-restraint to reinvest in their own oil industry. Putzes.
This UN game is so flawed and pointless it amazes me. Window dressing for the inevtiable.
The Gambian government has thwarted a coup attempt, a presidential communique said on Wednesday, but it is business as usual in the capital Banjul.
"Security forces yesterday discovered that a group of army officers led by Colonel Ndure Cham, former chief of defence staff, were at an advanced stage in their plot to overthrow the constitutional government of The Gambia," said the statement from the office of the president.
"All those involved are presently in custody and helping the security forces in their investigation, except the leader who is still at large," it added. An un-named military source told IRIN at least 12 people had been arrested.
On news of the trouble, President Yahya Jammeh cut short a trip to nearby Mauritania, returning to Banjul under cover of darkness some time Tuesday night or Wednesday morning with an escort of Mauritanian military commandoes, another military source said.
The government meanwhile called for calm. "The general public is hereby assured that there is no cause for alarm and the situation is firmly under control," the statement said.
But most residents of Banjul were unaware of the overnight trouble and shops, schools and businesses were open as usual on Wednesday.
President Jammeh seized power of Gambia, a tiny sliver of land on Africa's western coast surrounded entirely on its land borders by Senegal, in a bloodless coup in 1994 when he was just 29 years old. Since then, he has won two elections and the most recent in 2001 earned a thumbs-up from international monitors.
Presidential elections are due to take place this year with parliamentary elections to follow in 2007. Jammeh has already said that he will be running for a third consecutive term in office.
Some observers doubt Wednesday's coup claims and suspect that Jammeh is trying to purge his government of foes ahead of the upcoming poll. Splits are appearing in his ruling party, the Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC), and last month the APRC mayor of The Gambia's largest municipality, Abdoulie Conteh, was unceremoniously sacked.
In November 2005 three members of a newly formed opposition coalition were arrested for what authorities called "subversive activities", without providing further detail. The arrests followed by-elections in which the opposition bloc took three out of the four seats up for grabs.
In its communique on Wednesday the government also named a new head of the armed forces, Lieutenant Colonel Lang Tombong Tamba, previously the military's number two. Tamba, 39, and Jammeh were in the military together and come from the same ethnic group, as do many of the president's closest aides.
A new head of the national intelligence agency was also named, though the incumbent intelligence chief had been accompanying Jammeh in Mauritania.
Afghan government forces killed 16 Taliban insurgents after surrounding them in mountains near the border with Pakistan, an Afghan army officer said on Wednesday.
Out for a walk, were they? Taking the night air?
Another four Taliban fighters were killed on Wednesday after they fired rocket-propelled grenades and rifles at a convoy of Afghan troops and foreign troops in the central province of Uruzgan, a Defence Ministry spokesman said. None of the government or foreign troops was hurt.
All four Talibs were...
Afghan forces attacked the Taliban near the southern border town of Spin Boldak late on Tuesday after getting intelligence reports the insurgents were preparing attacks, said an army commander, General Abdul Raziq. "We started an operation against them last night by surrounding them. The fighting went on for several hours. When we checked the place this morning we found 16 bodies," Raziq said. Only one Afghan soldier was wounded in the battle, 8 km (5 miles) east of Spin Boldak, he said.
"Mahmoud! Duck!... Ooooh! That hadda hurt!"
"My butt! They shot me in the butt!"
Raziq said among the dead were two Taliban commanders -- Mullah Atta Jan and Shish Noorzai -- who he said had been organising ambushes and suicide bomb attacks.
May they rest in pieces...
Separately, the governor of the north-western province of Faryab
Faryab? Something happened in Faryab? That's unique...
said he survived an assassination attempt when gunmen opened fire on his convoy on Tuesday. The governor, Abdul Latif, said he did not believe Taliban or other militants were behind the attack in which two by-standers were wounded.
My guess would be robbers or indignant neighbors that far from Pakland...
The ambush was result of a long-standing feud in the province, Latif said but he declined to elaborate.
"Family business. I can say no more"
Told you it was the neighbors. It's them dawgs he keeps...
The recent surge in violence has come as Afghanistan's NATO allies, including Britain, Canada and the Netherlands, are sending thousands more troops to the south, where the insurgency is most intense.
... and the Talibs, assuming they're all just like Spaniards, are trying to scare them off.
Commanders of the U.S. military, which is hoping to cut its troops strength in Afghanistan by several thousand to about 16,000, have said they expect an increase in violence in coming weeks.
It's spring, and a young Talib's fancy turns to rapine...
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/23/2006
02:08 ||
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#1
killed 16 Taliban insurgents after surrounding them
Hope someone made a Surrounding Folks & Killin 'em For Dummies video for the Saudi Police.
#2
This from Reuters??? Isn't this the same incident that was reported yesterday, with notes of 'claims' that the victims were just families of baby duck herders, or smugglers or something, rather than Taliban? And Reuters doesn't even mention the possibility? This is two article in three days from them that weren't flagrantly biased - what's going on?
The spiritual leader of an Albany mosque repeatedly called a phone number in Syria that an FBI report indicates had been used to gather terrorist intelligence for Osama bin Laden, according to classified documents unsealed late Tuesday in U.S. District Court.
The FBI report, which was based on information from a confidential informant, was among several once-secret documents that federal authorities say raise questions about Yassin Aref's connections to terrorist organizations across the Middle East.
Aref, 35, a Kurdish refugee who moved to Albany with his family in 1999, is in jail without bond while awaiting trial on charges related to an FBI counterterrorism sting. He has denied any connections to terrorism.
But federal authorities paint him as an intelligent religious scholar with strong ties to some of the world's most notorious terrorists, including Mullah Krekar, the founder of a violent Iraqi terrorist organization with ties to al-Qaida.
The FBI report on bin Laden is undated and heavily redacted. It states that an informant told the FBI that during October 2001 he was approached by someone soliciting intelligence about "flight training schools, access to airports in (redacted)" and information about "how close the individual could get to an aircraft."
The informant said he was instructed that any information could be distributed to "brothers" through two phone numbers in Damascus, Syria. One of the numbers was called repeatedly by Aref from his Albany home, according to federal authorities.
Aref's attorney, Terence L. Kindlon, said the information is "meaningless" because the number appears to have been the headquarters for Islamic Movement for Kurdistan (IMK), which had an office in Damascus where Aref once worked after fleeing Iraq.
"He called IMK all the time," Kindlon said. "He had friends there, guys he went to college with."
Still, federal authorities are using the information to bolster their allegations that Aref lied on his visa application about whether he had any ties to political groups. The immigration violation -- for allegedly lying on his residency application -- was added to the counterterrorism charges for federal authorities to be able to introduce Aref's overseas' ties into the case.
"Aref kept his IMK affiliation hidden and secret, specifically omitting any reference to the IMK in his 1999 refugee application," according to a memorandum filed by the Justice Department. "Aref has had contacts with terrorists and discussions about terrorist acts."
In addition to the alleged connection to Osama bin Laden's terror network, documents released Tuesday indicate that Aref's name, Albany address and telephone number were found in several suspected terrorist strongholds during the war in Iraq.
One of the facilities was raided in March 2003 and had been occupied by Krekar's group, Ansar al-Islam. U.S. forces discovered evidence that terror groups had tried to produce deadly toxins there, according to a government report.
More information was also released by the government Tuesday about a suspected terrorist camp in that was bombed by coalition forces in June 2003. The unclassified records indicate the camp had been occupied by heavily-armed Ansar al-Islam members carrying various military manuals.
A notebook found in the camp contained Aref's name and Albany address, along with Krekar's contact information in Europe, according to the report.
Kindlon again downplayed the significance.
"Just because you find somebody's name someplace, it doesn't mean anything at all," Kindlon said. "It's where he's from. This is a guy who used to speak to thousands of people at the same time. ... He was a (religious) prodigy. The fact that his name exists in different places throughout the country of his birth means nothing."
It's routine for government prosecutors to release criminal history reports of people they intend to call as witnesses at trial.
Other records unsealed by the government included criminal history reports for two men, one on a terrorist watch list, who had attended the Masjid As Salam mosque on Central Avenue where Aref is the spiritual leader.
One of the men, a 26-year-old ex-convict named John Earl Johnson, was arrested by Albany police in December 2001 as he exited the mosque carrying a rifle. A year later, Johnson was arrested again while driving on the New York State Thruway in Herkimer in a van that authorities say was loaded with weapons and computer discs containing terrorism-related manuals.
The manuals included information on how to make fertilizer bombs, nitroglycerine, cyanide, chorine gas and letter bombs.
Johnson, who has served at least two prison terms, was also arrested in Afghanistan in March 2000 carrying similar computer discs, according to the FBI report and law enforcement sources.
The other individual whose criminal history was released by the FBI Tuesday is Ali Mounnes Yaghi, a former pizza shop worker who helped establish the Central Avenue mosque and took part in hiring Aref there. Yaghi is now on a terrorism watch list, according to the records.
Yaghi, who was deported to his native Jordan in July 2002, was jailed as a federal detainee for almost a year after the Sept. 11 attacks as the FBI investigated whether he or any of his acquaintances had connections to terrorist cells or attacks on the World Trade Center.
FBI agents said Yaghi failed a polygraph examination during an interrogation in which he was shown photographs of the 19 hijackers and asked whether he knew any of them. But Yaghi was never connected to any terrorist plot before being deported.
However, according to a source close to Aref's case, Yaghi contacted the FBI after Aref's arrest and pledged to cooperate in the current investigation.
The new information provides more details about why the FBI launched a sting three years ago targeting Aref.
Aref and Mohammed Hossain, an Albany pizza shop owner and co-founder of the mosque, were ensnared in an FBI sting and accused of taking part in a plot to make money from the sale of missile launchers to terrorists. The plot was not real and was created by the FBI, which used an informant to allegedly lure the men into the deal.
Officials have not accused Hossain of being connected to any terrorist groups. He is free on bond, as both men await trial.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/23/2006
02:06 ||
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The United States charged 50 leaders of Colombia's largest guerrilla group with sending more than $25 billion worth of cocaine around the world to finance their fight at home, a federal indictment that depicts the rebels as major narco-terrorists.
The indictment made public Wednesday in U.S. District Court said the leaders of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, ordered the killings of Colombian farmers who did not cooperate with the group, the kidnapping and killing of U.S. citizens and the downing of U.S. planes seeking to fumigate coca crops.
U.S. officials said the indictment strikes a blow against the group because it lays out the FARC's hierarchy and details of its operations. "Members of the FARC do not want to face American justice," Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said.
He acknowledged that 47 of those charged remain at large, probably in well-defended jungle strongholds that have so far proved beyond the reach of Colombian authorities.
The FARC supplies more than half the world's cocaine and 60 percent of the drug that enters the United States, the indictment said. "The FARC's fingerprint is on most of the cocaine sold in America's neighborhoods," said the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Karen Tandy.
Washington-based experts on Colombia said the actual numbers probably are lower, but are significant. Right-wing paramilitary groups also are heavily involved in the cocaine trade, the experts and the indictment said.
The FARC uses proceeds from the cocaine trade to purchase weapons in its four-decade fight to overthrow the Colombian government, the indictment said. A grand jury returned the indictment on March 1; it remained under seal until Wednesday.
The U.S. and the European Union have designated the FARC a terrorist organization.
Colombia President Alvaro Uribe, Washington's closest ally in South America, has waged an aggressive fight against the FARC and stepped up efforts to eradicate his country's coca crop. Uribe faces re-election in May and has been leading in the polls.
The U.S. has spent more than $3 billion since 2000 to reduce Colombia's coca crop and the flow of cocaine to this country. The results have been lackluster, said John Walsh, senior analyst at the Washington Office on Latin America, a think tank.
The indictment is intended to show that U.S.-Colombian cooperation is "successfully getting at the drug-trafficking industry and attacking drug financing," Walsh said.
Phillip McLean, a former American diplomat who now is at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said he expects the charges will influence the debate in Colombia between those who view the FARC as a traditional guerrilla group with a political agenda and those who see it as a criminal organization.
"This indictment clearly puts the weight on the side of those who say these guys are bandits," said McLean, who served in Colombia in the 1980s and recently returned from a trip there.
The State Department said it would pay up to $75 million in rewards for information leading to the arrest of 24 FARC leaders named in the indictment.
Three others charged in the drug conspiracy are in custody in Colombia and U.S. officials said they would seek to have them extradited. They are: Jorge Enrique Rodriguez Mendieta, Erminso Cuevas Cabrera and Juan Jose Martinez Vega, authorities said.
More than 400 Colombians have been extradited to the United States to face criminal charges, officials said. Two accused FARC leaders already are awaiting trial in Washington on narcotics charges.
The FARC is holding more than 60 hostages, including three U.S. defense contractors kidnapped in February 2003, when their small plane crashed in the jungles of southern Colombia during an anti-narcotics mission.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/23/2006
02:05 ||
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The U.S., doing its part to ensure that lucrative profits in the drug industry are maintained during Afghanistan's time of need, not to mention the numerous opportunities afforded American youth who aspire to rise to the top of today's gangs.
There is no place in Chechnya where the militants ringleader Shamil Basayev and his henchmen can feel secure, Chechen Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov has said.
The law enforcers, secret services and military now exercise far better control than in the past. The militants cannot feel safe anywhere, he said.
Basayevs hands are in the blood of so many innocent victims, so many people want him to be found, that there is no way back for him, Kadyrov told the Rossiiskaya Gazeta daily in an interview.
Basayev is responsible for shedding the blood of my father and for insulting faith.
How could he send his men to the school (in Beslan) and take children hostage? Kadyrov asked. These are not the methods for gaining freedom and independence. It is such types as Maskhadov and Basayev, who make the people think that Islam is a bloodthirsty religion. In reality Islam and the sharia laws are the most beautiful and pure thing there can be in a religion, Kadyrov said.
He is certain that Maskahdov and Basayev were the ones who ordered the May 9, 2004 bomb attack at the stadium in Grozny. The man who caused the bomb to explode is dead. Law enforcers tracked him down in Grozny and exterminated, while the organizer of the attack, Hairulla, still goes unpunished.
Kadyrov named the man who killed Chechnyas first president Yunadi Turchayev, the chief of a group of militants in Grozny. When repairs were still in progress at the stadium, he arranged for planting a bomb under the VIP stand.
He had known that my father would be there some day. On May 9, 2004 such an opportunity offered itself. In any case, I suspect that there was treason on our side (in the law enforcement), Kadyrov said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/23/2006
02:02 ||
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An associate of Shamil Basayev has been detained in the Chechen capital Grozny, the press service of the Interior Ministry's main department for the southern federal district told Itar-Tass on Wednesday.
"A 24-year-old local resident took an active part in fighting against federal forces in Grozny, Bamut, and Alkhan-Kale under direct leadership of Basayev," a police official said, noting that the militant was apprehended on Tuesday.
Another participant in illegal armed groups was detained in the republic's Nozhai-Yurt district.
"It was ascertained that he had been drilled in sabotage and terrorism in a training camp under the guidance of Arab mercenary Abu Jafar, and went by the nickname Usman," the police official said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/23/2006
02:01 ||
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Lula, the supposedly reformed communist, has rolled out the red carpet for his counterparts in China. The problem is that China is sucking manufacturing jobs out of Brazil - and Brazil's rigidly protectionistic policies and union-dictated labor laws are discouraging new domestic and foreign investment. Lula's also hoping to counteract Uncle Sam's political might. Too bad China's not interested in having Brazil set one barbarian (China) against another (the US):
For 51 of its 52 years in business, brush and comb maker Escovas Fidalga was solidly profitable. Then last year, it plunged into the red. Ask boss Manolo Miguez why, and he fingers a culprit that would be familiar to many hard-pressed American manufacturers. "Our biggest competition is Chinese imports. ... They started slowly, but today they take up 70% of the Brazilian market," says Miguez, the company director.
As Escovas Fidalga's plight demonstrates, American businesses aren't the only ones feeling the heat from the roaring Chinese economy. Brazilian manufacturers of toys, eyeglasses, footwear and textiles all howl that surging Chinese imports are submerging them.
#3
They did it to themselves, it's a good lesson for the USA though... dont import too much crap
Posted by: bk ||
03/23/2006 10:17
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A couple years ago, Lula was parading the new strategic partnership with China when Hu was visiting. As soon as Hu got back to China, they slapped tariffs on certain Brazilian imports, making Lula look like a fool. He didnt say anything about it. Now he and Brazil are learning the hard way. The Chinese have never been known to honor any trade agreements or alliances.
I used to visit Sao Paulo a lot the last couple of years. What I noticed was that there was an increasing number of Chinese there, especially in the traditionally Japanese neighborhood of Liberdade. That surprised me. Looks like theyre taking over all over the world now.
#8
RC: OK, honesty time: would you rather go to a Brazilian beach, or a Chinese beach?
The Brazilian version has good-looking (and top-heavy) topless women, but you'd better bring a pistol along. The Chinese version has good looking (but slim) women in one-piece swimsuits, but you're perfectly safe. I think the Chinese version is more relaxing, in every sense of the word.
Two Nablus residents suspected of heading an Al-Qaida terror cell yesterday became the first West Bank Palestinians to be indicted on charges of belonging to Osama bin Laden's worldwide terror network.
The case, in which the suspects are also accused of planning a double bombing in the French Hill neighborhood of Jerusalem, is the most recent sign that Al-Qaida has been attempting to establish a Palestinian terror cell in the territories, security officials said.
The officials said that there have been several incidents over the past year that raised suspicions of ties between Palestinian factions and Al-Qaida, but the alleged Nablus cell is the most serious such case. In addition to the two main suspects - Azzam Abu Aladas and Balal Hafnawi, both 20-year-old residents of the Balata refugee camp - four additional people suspected of belonging to the Nablus cell have also been indicted.
In a separate incident, police and the Shin Bet security service foiled a suicide bombing yesterday that was planned for the Tel Aviv region. After a dramatic chase, police stopped a commercial vehicle carrying the suspected suicide bomber and eight other Palestinians near Kibbutz Sha'alvim, on Route 1, from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv. Police said that the suspect, an Islamic Jihad activist from the Jenin area, was carrying a bag containing between five and seven kilograms of explosives.
The Islamic Jihad network in the northern West Bank claimed responsibility for the planned attack. That network has been responsible for the last seven suicide bombings, which killed 26 Israelis.
In the Nablus case, the Islamic activists who allegedly recruited the defendants are also suspected of responsibility for sending Al-Qaida suicide bombers to attack three Amman hotels on November 9. Those attacks killed more than 60 people.
One of these men is being held in a Jordanian prison on suspicion of carrying out a major role in the hotel attacks. But while Israeli and Jordanian authorities are both investigating the possibility that the alleged recruiters of the Nablus cell were involved in the Jordanian hotel bombings, Amman has apparently refused an Israeli request that it be allowed to participate in the Jordanian inquiry. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Al-Qaida leader in Iraq, reportedly directed the hotel bombings.
Security sources said that the two suspected Al-Qaida members from Nablus were arrested on December 10 as they returned from Jordan, where Al-Qaida activists had allegedly recruited them. They were indicted yesterday in a West Bank military tribunal.
According to the sources, Aladas and Hafnawi told their interrogators that they had spoken to their handlers about the possibility of undergoing training in military camps run by extremist Islamic organizations in Iraq, Syria or Lebanon. Another possibility raised in the meetings, the sources said, was that Al-Qaida would send a Gazan operative who specializes in preparing sophisticated car bombs to Nablus.
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas said recently that there is evidence indicating that Al-Qaida has infiltrated the Gaza Strip. In 2000, a Hamas operative from Gaza, Nabil Ukal, was accused of attempting to establish an Al-Qaida cell in the Strip and undergoing training at extremist Islamic camps in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He was convicted and sentenced to 27 years in prison.
Aladas allegedly met with three Al-Qaida activists in May, while he was studying in Jordan. The three are suspected of recruiting him and directing him to establish an Al-Qaida cell in the West Bank. He was allegedly instructed in covert terror operations and told to attack targets that would damage the Israeli economy.
When Aladas returned to Nablus, he allegedly recruited Hafnawi, a former Fatah member, and the two are accused of establishing the Nablus cell, along with the four other defendants. Aladas and Hafnawi are suspected of maintaining contact with Al-Qaida officials in Jordan and receiving a total of about 2,000 Jordanian dinars from them.
The idea of the Jerusalem terror attack was allegedly raised at the most recent meeting between Hafnawi, Aladas and the Al-Qaida operatives, in November. The cell is suspected of planning to send a suicide bomber to a French Hill pizzeria and then detonate a nearby car bomb remotely. The cell had allegedly already located a suicide bomber and prepared a bomb belt.
About two months ago, Channel 2 television reported that Israeli intelligence had identified the "fingerprints" of the global jihad network, of which Al-Qaida is part, in Nablus and Jenin. Military Intelligence officials have been saying for about a year that the global jihad network is gradually turning its attention to Israel and nearby countries. This assessment was based on messages between top Al-Qaida officials and on an analysis of recent terror attacks in the region: the attacks in Amman, two attacks in Sinai, and Katyusha rocket fire that targeted an American ship in the Red Sea (one Katyusha hit Eilat instead). In December, a Palestinian organization linked to Zarqawi fired Katyushas on the Galilee from Lebanon. In addition, the Shin Bet has previously arrested Palestinians suspected of having loose ties with Al-Qaida.
Meanwhile, an initial investigation of yesterday's attempted suicide bombing in the Tel Aviv area indicated that the vehicle in which the suspect was traveling never entered Jerusalem with the suspect aboard. Instead, it reached the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv Highway via dirt roads.
After receiving a warning from the Shin Bet, police went on high alert around 11 A.M. yesterday and set up dozens of roadblocks in Jerusalem, bolstering its forces in public areas and examining all cars entering and leaving the capital. But it was policemen stationed at a roadblock on the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv Highway, near the Harel overpass, who identified the vehicle that turned out to be carrying the bomber. They identified it as suspicious after noting that it had 10 passengers and attempted to escape when it approached the roadblock. Police forces on the scene, later joined by reinforcements from Jerusalem and Beit Shemesh, chased the van for several kilometers until it had to slow down at a roadblock near Sha'alvim.
The driver of the vehicle, an East Jerusalem resident, is suspected of regularly transporting Palestinians from the territories into Israel, primarily for work purposes.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/23/2006
01:51 ||
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Al Qaeda is the new Hamas; unreconstructed terrorists with no real strategy except to keep on killin', no interest in or capacity for governing, unrestrained maximalist rhetoric incorporating both victimhood and triumphalism, and undoubtedly a reputation as Muslims of committment and integrity.
Now that Hamas has tainted itself by accepting institutional power, where it might have to be accountable for its results, there's an opening for the mytho-political outside avenger role to stoke the fires of barbarism and backwardness in the name of God for yet another lost generation.
Posted by: Baba Tutu ||
03/23/2006 2:32
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Only a matter of time before the first Al Q suicide bombing of a Paleo institution.
The timing depends on which branch of Al Q is in charge of the Israel affiliate.
Jordan yesterday sentenced to death nine Islamist militants for their part in 2002 riots in the southern city of Maan in which seven people were killed.
Four of them were sentenced in absentia by a three-man military court which also handed another militant a 10-year prison sentence. Dozens of others were acquitted.
Among those sentenced to death was Abu Sayyaf, a fiery preacher and alleged Al Qaeda sympathiser who is already serving a 15-year sentence he received in 2004 for a plot to attack Westerners.
* The president of Jordan's state security court gave Jordanian-born Islamist fugitive Abu Musab Al Zarqawi 10 days to surrender and face trial in connection with triple bombings in Amman hotel late last year that killed about 60 people.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/23/2006
01:50 ||
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MICHAEL YON: For the most part, its doing an incredibly poor job. I see some exceptions; Tony Castaneda at the AP does a good job. But for the most part, they do Rich Opal (?), New York Times, does a good job. But for the most part, they just focus on I mean, the mainstream media just focuses on the flames and the bullets. They focus on the terrorism. They dont tell us that the Kurdish areas are a complete success. Theyre becoming economically viable, theyre making a lot of progress, theyre sending their children, including their girls, to school. They love us there in the Kurdish areas, and they dont tell us that Mosul is a success now. I mean, Mosul was the only thing on the news last year when I was there. Im sure you remember that. Hugh Hewitt nails the media
REBELS blasted an Iraqi police station with grenade and mortar fire, killing four policemen in Madaen, south of Baghdad, police said.
They said they had detained about 70 suspects in raids in the town after the assault, which occurred a day after at least 22 people were killed and 30 prisoners released in a similar attack on a police post north-east of the capital.
Among the detainees was a Syrian found with leaflets by the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, police said.
The violence again underlined the need for Iraq's leaders to break a deadlock over a government of national unity, widely seen as the best of hope of stabilising the country and undermining support for a tenacious Sunni Arab insurgency.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei yesterday approved rare talks with Washington on Iraq, where Shiite Islamists with links to Tehran lead the interim government.
Some Iraqi officials hope US-Iranian contacts could ease the political logjam, which is due partly to rifts among Shiite parties as well as those involving Kurds and Sunni Arabs.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/23/2006
01:49 ||
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#1
interrogate, then kill him
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/23/2006 11:45
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Naseem Khan blended right into the Pakistani community when he moved to this quiet farming area south of Sacramento. An immigrant who spoke Pashto and Urdu, he had lived there briefly once before, made friends easily and attended the local mosque.
Today, Khan's anonymity is long gone. The convenience store clerk-turned-FBI informant is the star prosecution witness in the trial of Umer and Hamid Hayat, a father and son accused, respectively, of supporting terrorism and lying about it to the government.
Hamid Hayat, 23, faces charges of providing material support to terrorists for allegedly attending an al-Qaeda training camp in Pakistan, as well as for lying to investigators during an interrogation. In a joint trial, Umer Hayat, 48, an ice cream vendor, is accused of making false statements to the FBI to protect his son. Hamid Hayat faces as much as 39 years in prison; his father, 16.
The case is built on Khan's infiltration of Lodi's small Pakistani community from 2002 to 2005. Earlier this month, prosecutors put Khan, 32, on the stand, where he told jurors that Hamid Hayat had talked about attending a training camp. Jurors also saw videotapes of both defendants first denying and then admitting to investigators that Hamid Hayat had attended the camp.
But last week, Khan shocked observers of the trial by asserting that al-Qaeda's second-in-command had passed through Lodi in 1998 or 1999, raising doubts about his credibility that the defense has begun to exploit.
The Lodi case is the latest in a string of prosecutions brought since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks under a law that criminalizes providing "material support" to terrorists.
The government's success with the previously obscure statute has been mixed. It has won convictions in high-profile cases in Northern Virginia, in Lackawanna, N.Y., and in the New York City trial of radical lawyer Lynne Stewart. It has lost prosecutions in Detroit, Idaho and Tampa.
The Lodi case provides a rare, detailed look at how one FBI informant functioned and raises questions about the effectiveness of the government's strategy of infiltrating the community with an outsider.
Defense lawyers say their clients' arrests were made in desperation because there wasn't any real terrorist activity to find in Lodi. They contend that Hamid Hayat was given to grandiose exaggerations. At trial, they played hours of the videotaped FBI interrogation, which appears to show the two men, whose English was limited, agreeing with FBI agents instead of offering information.
"They were after big fish," Umer Hayat's attorney, Johnny L. Griffin III, said of investigators. "They couldn't get the big fish, and they had to get someone."
Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura Ferris declined to comment.
The FBI paid Khan more than $200,000 to move to Lodi, a city of 56,000, according to court testimony. He took an apartment near the Lodi Muslim Mosque and befriended Hamid Hayat, a lean young man with a black goatee, imperfect English skills and few friends. Hayat had a sixth-grade education and followed Pakistani politics, including the movements of radicals, court testimony has shown.
Khan visited the Hayat home at least a dozen times and had lengthy phone conversations with Hamid Hayat, which he secretly recorded. Transcripts of those calls reveal that Khan talked with Hayat about girls, cricket and, over time, politics and terrorism. Khan feigned a radical streak and an interest in jihad.
In 2003, Hamid Hayat went to Pakistan but kept in touch with Khan. In transcripts of their phone calls, he told Khan that he planned to attend a militant training camp but sheepishly admitted he had not yet done so. Khan encouraged him, saying, "Be a man" and "You're wasting time."
"I was just making conversation with him," Khan told Hamid Hayat's lawyer at the trial this month. Under further questioning, Khan acknowledged that Hayat never told him he had attended the camp -- only that he would go in the future.
Under FBI interrogation, Hayat first denied, then acknowledged, that he had spent months at a training camp near Rawalpindi, Pakistan, that he said was run by al-Qaeda.
In June 2005, Hayat returned to the United States and was brought in for questioning. His father accompanied him, and both were arrested. They have been in jail ever since.
While Hamid Hayat was in Pakistan, Khan befriended two imams of the Lodi mosque, according to court testimony. They soon became suspicious and warned others to avoid him.
Several days after the Hayats were arrested, the two imams and one of their sons were detained on immigration violations. They were deported but not criminally charged.
One of the imams had been in conflict with another over the construction of a Muslim religious school. Some in Lodi suspect that political opponents reported the imams to the FBI.
Across the street from the Lodi mosque on a recent afternoon, children played basketball while men in traditional Pakistani dress watched over them or milled around the entrance to the mosque, a low-slung yellow building in a ramshackle neighborhood of single-family houses.
Taj Khan, a local activist and a 25-year resident of Lodi, said the investigation and prosecutions have wreaked havoc on the community. "People are scared. People are having nightmares, I'm being told," said Khan, who is not related to the FBI informant.
Taj Khan was part of a cross-cultural effort that sought to build bridges between Christians, Jews and Muslims in a town in which the Pakistani community dates to the 1930s. "This event has put a big lid on all that," he said. "This thing has set us back quite a few years."
Naseem Khan's credibility suffered a blow last week when he maintained he had seen al-Qaeda's second-ranking leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, at the mosque in 1998 or 1999 -- a statement that Brian Jenkins, an authority on terrorism at Rand Corp., calls "far-fetched."
FBI documents released last week show that Khan first made the assertion when agents approached him in 2001. At that time, Khan also told the FBI that he had seen Abdelkarim Hussein Mohamed al-Nasser, a suspect in a 1996 Saudi Arabia bombing, in Lodi, and Ahmed Mohammed Hamed Ali, a suspect in the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya, in Stockton, Calif., in 1999.
Terrorism experts believe that none of those suspects was in the United States at that time, though al-Zawahiri is known to have passed through the country on a fundraising trip in 1993.
The misstep for the prosecution shows one of the possible pitfalls of using confidential informants in terrorism cases, said Robert M. Chesney, a law professor at Wake Forest University in North Carolina.
"The FBI has been correctly critiqued for not having agents from these communities," he said. "Since they don't have them, they're going to informants . . . and with informants you often have credibility problems."
Chesney cautioned that "having an unexpected but clearly wrong thing being said doesn't help, but it's not dispositive, either." The videotaped confessions are still strong evidence, he said.
"I'm not a betting man, but if I was, I certainly wouldn't bet on the jury discounting confessions unless they've got some fairly specific facts that show their wills were overcome," he said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/23/2006
01:46 ||
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#2
Several days after the Hayats were arrested, the two imams and one of their sons were detained on immigration violations. They were deported but not criminally charged.
NB: The "immigration violations" were failure to list their connections to terrorist organizations.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
03/23/2006 7:52
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The U.S. military hit back on Wednesday at what it called a "pattern of misinformation" following Iraqi police accusations that its troops shot dead a family of 11 in their home last week.
Responding to comments by police and residents in the town of Ishaqi, north of Baghdad, that U.S. officers had failed to attend a meeting on Wednesday about the incident, Lieutenant Colonel Barry Johnson, a senior spokesman, told Reuters:
"There was no meeting scheduled with any Coalition investigators today. There appears to be a distinct pattern of misinformation surrounding this entire incident.
"This is another clear sign of that happening, making allegations for the sake of prompting media reporting and attempting to discredit Coalition operations. This is a pattern weve seen the terrorist-backed insurgency use repeatedly."
Relations between the U.S. military and Iraqi police in the mainly Sunni area north of Baghdad -- where many including police are sympathetic to the insurgency -- are strained, with police accusing U.S. troops of killing civilians and the military questioning the credibility of the police.
The military has launched an investigation into a raid last Wednesday by U.S. forces, in which an al Qaeda suspect was arrested, because of discrepancies between the police account and that of troops, who said only four people were killed.
The Ishaqi inquiry was announced days after the launch of a criminal investigation into events in the western town of Haditha in November, when U.S. Marines shot dead 15 civilians.
In Ishaqi, police said 11 people including five children under school age were found bound and shot in their home after the U.S. raid. The military said at the time that four people, including a guerrilla fighter, were killed.
Local journalists filmed the bodies of five young children, four women and two men who police said were killed in the raid.
Johnson said: "We have said repeatedly we know of four people killed after Coalition forces came under direct fire from the house, resulting in a heavy engagement to suppress it.
"We heard a barrage of shooting for 20 minutes and then we heard bombs," said Thiya Hussein, who said his cousin was killed. "After the Americans left we went to the house and found 11 people lying in blood together in one room. Five of them were children. They were bound in plastic handcuffs and shot."
"The baby, Husam, who was six-months-old, was shot dead. A 75-year-old woman was shot in the head," he told Reuters.
Another neighbor, Abbas Abid, said: "The house was damaged and the family was shot and lying in one room.
Accusations American soldiers have killed innocent people has fueled anger at the occupation among Iraqis, who complain that little disciplinary action has resulted from inquiries.
Near Ishaqi, at Duluiya, police accused U.S. troops of killing a 13-year-old boy and his parents in their home on Sunday, as well as five other people. The military said soldiers killed seven "terrorists" who attacked a patrol with grenades.
In July, an investigation was launched into the killing of a cousin of Iraq s U.N. envoy at Haditha. The results are unknown.
Military spokesman Johnson said: We do not target non-combatants in our operations, although we repeatedly find insurgents occupying homes that place innocent people in harms way ... However ... if any misconduct is found, those responsible will be held fully accountable."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/23/2006
01:41 ||
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#2
In Ishaqi, police said 11 people including five children under school age were found bound and shot in their home after the U.S. raid.
Binding people before execution is an Arab modus operendi, not American.
We need to set up a "canary" system of information releases. Establish certain heavily armed decoy patrols with covert escorts. Only certain squads of Iraqi police are given accurate schedules for these patrols. If an attack on a patrol occurs, members of that Iraqi squad get their clock cleaned. There are numerous ways of implicating infiltrators and we need to put them in place.
Interior Minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao has said foreign terrorists hiding in Waziristan would not be given amnesty because the deadline has now expired.
Sherpao said the government would use bullet for bullet to crush militants who challenged the writ of the government. The government will hold talks unconditionally with those who want peace and development, however all should join hands to restore peace and tranquility in the region, Sherpao told the tribal elders from Waziristans Miranshah, Datta Khel and Mir Ali areas at a meeting here on Tuesday.
The tribal elders demanded that the government initiate a process of dialogue and immediately withdraw troops from the tribal areas to restore permanent peace. They rejected the governments claim about the presence of foreigners in the tribal areas saying that innocent people from their tribes were being killed on the pretext of operations against miscreants and foreigners.
They urged the government to hold dialogue with tribal elders instead of going on with the military operations in the North and South Waziristan agencies.
Sherpao said the government wants peace in the restive area but attacks on security forces will not be tolerated. He said the government will welcome Maulana Fazlur Rehman if he uses his influence to restore peace and order in restive Waziristan.
The interior minister referred to government campaign to cleanse tribal belt of Afghan refugees and said all camps of Afghan refugees in these areas have been closed. The process of their repatriation has also been accelerated. Last year over 400,000 Afghan refugees returned to their country.
The tribal elders urged the government to form a bipartisan parliamentary committee to resolve the conflict in tribal areas. But, flanked by Aneesa Zeb Tahirkheli, the minister of state for information, Sherpao turned down the proposal.
He said that a parliamentary committee of opposition and treasury members might politicise the sensitive issue. He sought open support from opposition members to takcle the situation.
Sherpao rejected the claims of the tribal elders that security forces had only arrested Afghan refugees from their areas. I have already said that we arrested Arabs, Chinese, Uzbeks, Turkish and Chechens from Waziristan, he told journalists after the meeting.
He said the Al Qaeda network had been broken in the tribal areas, but some of its operatives are still at large and making attempts to create a law and order situation in Pakistan. He said Al Qaeda operatives might be present in other parts of the country.
He said the government had banned the display of arms in Miranshah, Mir Ali and adjacent areas. Almost every home in the tribal areas has weapons. We have asked them not to display arms.
The interior minister favoured the process of interaction with tribal leaders, saying his ministry would facilitate negotiations between the NWFP governor and the tribal elders.
Malik Attaullah and Malik Haji Muhammad Haleem, who led the delegation, told the minister that hatred of the armed forces was on the rise amongst the general public of the tribal areas.
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03/23/2006
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Emboldened a day after a successful jailbreak, insurgents laid siege to another prison yesterday. This time, U.S. troops and a special Iraqi unit thwarted the pre-dawn attack south of Baghdad, overwhelming the gunmen and capturing 50 of them, police said.
Although the raid failed, the insurgents' ability to put together such large and well-armed bands of fighters underlined concerns about the ability of Iraqi police and military to take over the fight from U.S. troops. Sixty militants participated in the assault, which attempted to free more jailed Sunni insurgents, police said.
The attack on the prison in Ma dain, 15 miles southeast of Baghdad, began with insurgents firing 10 mortar rounds. They then stormed the facility, which is run by the Interior Ministry, a predominantly Shi'a organization and heavily infil trated by members of various Shi'a militias.
Four police officers -- including the commander of the special unit -- died in a two-hour gunbattle, which was decided only after American forces arrived. Among the 50 captured, police said, was one Syrian.
The U.S. military did not respond to a request for comment about its role in the counterattack. The raid came a day after 100 Sunni gunmen freed 33 prisoners and wrecked a jail, police station and courthouse in Muqdadiyah, a town northeast of Baghdad near the Iranian border.
Madain, the site of yesterday's attack, is at the northern tip of Iraq's Sunni-dominated "Triangle of Death," a farming region rife with sectarian violence -- retaliatory kidnappings and killings in the conflict between Sunnis and Shi'as.
Police have discovered hundreds of corpses in the past four weeks, victims of religious militants on a rampage of revenge killing.
At least 21 more bodies were found yesterday, including those of 16 Shi'a pilgrims discovered on a Baghdad highway, police said. Millions were returning home yesterday at the conclusion of an impor tant Shi'a commemoration in the holy city of Karbala this week.
In the northern town of Beiji, meanwhile, a mortar fell on a government facility that Deputy Prime Minister Ahmed Chalabi was visit ing yesterday, an aide said.
Chalabi was not harmed and later returned to Baghdad, the aide said on condition of anonymity be cause he was not authorized to re lease the information. Chalabi, who is also the interim oil minister, was believed to have been visiting the refinery in Beiji, the nation's largest.
As U.S. officials step up pressure on Iraqi leaders to form a national unity government quickly, the United States' top military commander said he had underestimated the extent of Iraqi reluc tance to come together.
"I think that I certainly did not understand the depth of fear that was generated by the decades of Saddam's rule," said Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. "I think a lot of Iraqis have been in the wait-and-see mode longer than I thought they would."
Pace said one solution was for the Iraqis to do a better job of recruiting more Sunnis into the army and for police forces to balance Shi'a domination.
"Units that are purely Shi'a or Kurd or Sunni are looked on by various other sectors of the community as not being representative of their needs," Pace said.
The Bush administration views formation of a broad-based government as a first step in quelling violence and allowing the start of an American troop withdrawal this summer.
While the U.S. military has touted its progress in training the Iraqi army and police, a top expert on Iraq said the forces remained poorly matched against the insurgency and al Qaeda.
"The police have almost no protected vehicles, few heavy weapons similar to those of insurgents, are often located in extremely vulnerable buildings, and have weak communications. Corruption is a major issue," Anthony H. Cordesman, of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, wrote in a position paper released this week.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/23/2006
01:36 ||
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#1
Now is this the same one Frank G posted about yesterday? 50 captured is the same, round number.
Signs are mounting that Al Qaeda terrorists are setting their sights on Israel and the Palestinian territories as their next jihad battleground.
Israel has indicted two West Bank militants for Al Qaeda membership, Egypt arrested operatives trying to cross into Israel and a Palestinian security official has acknowledged Al Qaeda is "organizing cells and gathering supporters."
Al Qaeda's inroads are still preliminary, but officials fear a doomsday scenario if it takes root.
Palestinians in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and Lebanon have established contacts with Al Qaeda followers linked to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq, according to two Israeli officials.
Al-Zarqawi has established footholds in the countries neighboring Israel Syria, Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan and is interested in bringing his fight to Israel, too, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because Israel does not want to identify those involved in the issue.
Tuesday's indictment of two militants on charges of belonging to Al Qaeda and receiving funds from the group for a planned double-bombing in Jerusalem was Israel's most concrete allegation to date linking Al Qaeda to West Bank Palestinians.
The indictment described in detail how the two, Azzam Abu Aladas and Balal Hafnai, met with Al Qaeda operatives in Jordan, arranged for secret e-mail exchanges and received thousands of dollars from Al Qaeda to carry out the attack. The indictment came just three weeks after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told the London-based Al Hayat newspaper that Al Qaeda had infiltrated the West Bank and Gaza.
Still, Mideast watchers warned against overstating the Al Qaeda presence because the issue is easily manipulated for political ends.
Israel has a lot to gain by portraying its local conflict with the Palestinians as part of the global war on terror, and Abbas, badly damaged by the recent political rise of Hamas militants, wants "to show that he is needed by the West," said Israeli security analyst Dan Schueftan.
Both Israeli and Palestinian security officials described Al Qaeda's activities here as incipient, involving a handful of local militants who reached out to Al Qaeda often via the Internet rather than the other way around. A senior Israeli military intelligence official said he believed there were no more than 20 Al Qaeda-linked activists in the Palestinian territories.
Most of them are unhappy with a year-old decision by mainstream Palestinian factions, including Fatah and Hamas, to enforce a cease-fire with Israel, Israeli and Palestinian officials said.
Hamas, struggling to avert an international aid boycott in the wake of its Jan. 25 victory in parliamentary elections, is particularly sensitive about being associated with Al Qaeda, despite sharing core beliefs such as the rejection of a Jewish state in the Middle East.
When Ayman-al-Zawahri, Al Qaeda's No. 2 leader, appeared in a video earlier this month urging Hamas not to renounce its violent struggle, a Hamas official in Gaza shrugged him off.
The Hamas official said the group had no links to any outside group. He spoke on condition of anonymity, saying the movement did not want to respond formally to al-Zawahri.
By all accounts, Hamas, set to form the next Palestinian government, is not likely to further harm its international standing by joining forces with Al Qaeda.
But Al Qaeda itself is making an effort "to operate both in the Palestinian territories and inside Israel proper," said Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev. A Palestinian security official in Gaza agreed that Al Qaeda "is in the process of organizing cells and gathering supporters."
If the group succeeds in establishing a full-blown presence, predicted the Israeli military intelligence official, Israel can expect far larger terror attacks than it has seen in the past.
Another Israeli official said a major concern is Al Qaeda's activities in Israel's neighbors, especially Jordan, where al-Zarqawi claimed responsibility for the November 2005 bombings of three hotels that killed 60 people.
Al-Zarqawi also claimed responsibility for a Dec. 27 barrage of rockets from Lebanon into northern Israel, provoking Israeli airstrikes on a Palestinian base in central Lebanon.
The Israeli official praised Egyptian security forces for their performance following two bombing sprees in Egypt's Sinai peninsula one in October 2004 and another in July 2005 that some have blamed on Al Qaeda.
He said Egyptian forces arrested two sets of suspected Al Qaeda operatives one a month ago and another three months ago who were trying to enter Israel through Sinai "most probably carrying explosives."
An Egyptian police official at the Egypt-Gaza border would not confirm or deny the Israeli's account, saying, "It's our job to halt any security violations, that's what we've been always doing, nothing less or more."
Some Israeli officials have expressed concern that Al Qaeda operatives from Egypt may have entered Gaza after Israel withdrew from the coastal strip last summer.
But Assem Rashed, a former teacher at a Gaza university, said he doubts Al Qaeda could find many backers in Gaza.
"People here are against the attacks in Iraq, Jordan and Egypt. I don't think they will survive, or find much support from the public," he said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/23/2006
01:34 ||
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Thinking Like a Muslim
(Bismillah Ar-Rahman Ar-Raheem)
By Abdul-Aziz ibn Myatt
Posted: 21-02-2006
This material would interest those who are somewhat familiar with Islam.
Recently - due to certain martyrdom operations in Dar al-harb - many Muslims have taken to condemning fellow Muslims, and have, in their pursuit of aiding the kuffar, used the ideas, the terms, the concepts, the perspective of the kuffar to condemn their fellow Muslims. Therefore 100% of Muslims are actual or potential traitors.
There needs to be clearer understanding of the Islamic perspective - and a desire to distance ourselves from the kuffar ("disbelievers" in Islam) in our life, and in our very way of thinking. We should strive to once again think like a Muslim - that is, judge things from an Islamic perspective, and an Islamic perspective only. "Distance?" Make haste back to where you came. Over 1200 bodies of African Muslims have been pulled out of Atlantic this year. They were trying to get out of dar-islam and to the Canary Islands, Spain.
The perspective of the Muslim is the perspective of The Last Day, of the judgement of Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta'ala) - of this mortal life as but a means - and of following the guidance given to us in the Quran and Sunnah so that we might attain Paradise (Jannah) InshaAllah.
Innocent and Civilian:
Two terms which are frequently used by Muslims are "innocent" and "civilian". There is no concept, in Islam, of either "innocent" or "civilian". We should know and accept that these are kaffir concepts - concepts which they, and they apostate allies, seek to impose upon Islam in order to try and control Muslims and bring Muslims under the control, the domination - both physical and mental - of the kuffar. So we kaffirs are guilty-soldiers, that any Muslim can target with RPGs or SUVs.
Some Muslims quote the following Hadith in an effort to show that there is such a thing as the concept of "innocent" in Islam:
Narrated 'Aa'ishah who said that the Nabi (Prophet) (salla Allahu 'alayhi wa sallam) said, "The pen has been lifted from three; from the sleeping until they awake, from the child until they mature, and from the one who is crazy until he is sane." Speaking of "child," narrator Aa'ishah was Mohammad's 6 year old bride. Yech!
In this Hadith we have a beautiful expression - "The pen has been lifted..." The question we must ask is - Do we take the context to mean that the three are "innocent" as the kuffar understand innocent? That is, do we project a kaffir meaning into this Hadith? Or do we refer it, for explanation, to what Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta'ala) has told us, and thus take it in the literal sense to mean that what they are doing, have done, has not been recorded? If we refer to what our Rabb says: Abdullah's Record of Good Muslim Deeds: Monday, I sent a check to CAIR; Tuesday, I beat my wife, according to Koran 4:84; Wednesday, I had wicked honor rape thoughts about Karen Hughes...
"And over you are Watchers - just, honourable - who know and record [write down] all that you do. Thus shall those who do what is commanded be in bliss while the disobediant will be in the blazing Fire. " [82: 10-14 Interpretation of Meaning] And I thought Hell was a Christian concept?
Thus, understood in the context of the words of Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta'ala) this Hadith refers not to some kaffir concept such as "innocent" but to the recording of our deeds. I get it: kaffir deeds are all damnable.
In Islam, there is only the distinction between Dar al-harb, the realm of war, and Dar al-Islam, the realm of Islam; or, expressed another way, between the lands of war, and the lands of Islam. Peace, for Islam, is the peace of Jannah (Muslim Heaven), and the peace that arises from a submission to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. Peace has no other meaning in Islam. This peace can be and should be expressed through Muslims living in an Islamic way, that is, among Muslims in an Islamic community. This means Muslims giving bayah (blood oath; bin Laden took same from his terrorists) to an Ameer; it means turning to the Quran and Sunnah for guidance; it means upholding Shariah and Shariah only. It does not mean democracy and it does not mean accepting the kaffir concept of a "nation". It means a Khilafah, ruled by a Khalifah.
Thus, the lands of the kuffar are the lands of war - they can expect war; they can expect bloodshed; they can expect chaos. Only if and when they submit to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala can they expect peace. I know exactly what to expect from Muslims.
"Allah guides toward peace those who seek His pleasure." [5:16 Interpretation of Meaning]... Like when he guided suicide bombers to Murder teenagers in an Israeli pizza parlor.
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#2
Recently - due to certain martyrdom operations in Dar al-harb - many Muslims have taken to condemning fellow Muslims, and have, in their pursuit of aiding the kuffar, used the ideas, the terms, the concepts, the perspective of the kuffar to condemn their fellow Muslims.
And the difference between this rant and that of lefties who decry the fact they keep losing elections because the 'masses' are brainwashed zombies who can't see the real light?
A young Indonesian militant with close links to al-Qaeda is now in charge of the Southeast Asian terror group Jemaah Islamiyah, which remains dangerous despite more than 270 arrests since 2000, a top counterterrorism official said Wednesday.
Abu Dujana's rise to power within Jemaah Islamiyah is an indication the group's organizational structure remains intact, and highlights the challenges that remain for police fighting terrorism in the world's most populous Muslim nation.
Dujana, who learned bomb-making skills in Afghanistan alongside Hambali, an alleged regional terror chief now in U.S. custody, is a talented leader. He has good relations with al-Qaeda and is trusted, said Col. Petrus Reinhard Golose of Indonesia's counterterrorism task force.
The 34-year-old, who unlike many Indonesian militants is fluent in Arabic, replaced Abu Rusdan as head of Jemaah Islamiyah when Rusdan was arrested in 2003, Golose told members of Indonesia's foreign correspondents association.
Jemaah Islamiyah is blamed for a series of bloody bombings and failed plots in Southeast Asia in recent years, including two strikes on Indonesia's resort island of Bali that killed more than 220 people, most of them foreign tourists.
Golose said arresting Dujana, who he said was a native of West Java province, was a priority.
Nasir Abbas, a former militant-turned-police informer, said he trained alongside Dujana in 1990 in Afghanistan.
He was smart, you could tell that, Nasir told The Associated Press.
Recruits at the camp received instruction in basic weapons handling and bomb-making.
Golose said that since 2001, Jemaah Islamiyah operatives coming to Java from elsewhere in Indonesia had to first report to Dujana, and that the perpetrators of the 2003 car bombing of the J.W. Marriott Hotel also came to see him immediately after the attack.
Golose repeated earlier police statements that Noordin Top, a Malaysian militant accused of a key role in all the attacks on Indonesian soil, was now working outside Jemaah Islamiyah and had declared himself al-Qaeda's representative in Southeast Asia.
Even if Top were to be arrested, the risk of more attacks would still remain, he said.
There are others who are still more dangerous who are active, he told journalists.
The leading international expert on Jemaah Islamiyah, Sidney Jones, confirmed that Dujana had long been a key figure in the organization, although she said it's too early to say whether he's heading the group.
Dujana was indeed the secretary of the central command of the organization. Over the last year there have been rumors he is head of JI, but people close to JI have said they do not know how his name appeared as a leader, said Jones, who lives and works in Jakarta and has monitored its militant fringe for decades.
We must wait for more facts before we can make that conclusion, Jones said.
Dujana fled Indonesia for Malaysia with other Muslim activists in the 1980s to avoid repression by then-Indonesian dictator Suharto, said Jones.
Rusdan, Dujana's alleged predecessor, was released from jail last year after serving a short prison term for hiding one of the perpetrators of the 2002 Bali bombings. He is a free man, but refuses to speak to reporters.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/23/2006
01:09 ||
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Indonesia's war on terror is not close to being won and even the capture or death of senior militant Noordin Top will make little difference to the threat of more attacks, one of the country's most senior counter-terrorist officers has warned.
Noordin, Indonesia's most wanted man, blamed for the recent Bali bombings, was just one of a number of seasoned terrorists being hunted by authorities across Asia, Colonel Petrus Reinhard Golose said.
Noordin, said to be a skilled recruiter of would-be suicide bombers, headed only a militant offshoot of the al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiah terror network, he said.
"Noordin, he is dangerous, but we have also others who are also very dangerous," Golose said.
"Noordin is only Asykari, he does not to belong to Markazi, the JI organisation.
"Asykari is like a special force, he is not controlled right now.
"He declared himself that he is the representative of al-Qaeda but (we) have also others more dangerous."
Still at large and believed to be hiding out in the relatively lawless southern Philippines was expert JI bomb-maker Dulmatin, who has been on the run since 2002 and who has a $10 million bounty on his head posted by the US.
Dulmatin is an Indonesian explosives and electronics expert who attended terrorist training camps in Afghanistan.
He is believed to be a protege of 2002 Bali bombing mastermind Azahari Husin, who was shot dead by police in East Java last year after a three-year manhunt.
Also at large, Golose warned, was the shadowy Zulkarnaen, who is suspected of being JI's new operations chief following the 2003 arrest in Thailand of top commander Hambali.
"Even now, we don't let us say smell (Zulkarnaen) since the first Bali bombing," he said.
JI also had a new and relatively young overall commander in Abu Dujana, 37, another veteran of the Afghan war against the Soviets.
Dujana, Golose said, was a skilled bomber proficient also in small arms who replaced Abu Rusdan as the "emir" of JI.
He graduated from the Afghanistan Mujahideen Military Academy in 1991.
Although relatively young, Dujana had strong leadership qualities, Golose said.
"From Australia, some of the ... observers for counter-terrorism, they say whenever I give a comment about Abu Dujana, they say he is too young," Golose said.
But both Noordin and Azahari had reported back to Dujana following the 2003 attack on the JW Marriott hotel in Jakarta, which killed 11 people as well as the bomber, he said.
Golose said it was very difficult to determine who was actually in charge of various terror cells across South-East Asia because of their secretive nature and because their leaders like Noordin had learned to frequently switch tactics, confusing their police hunters.
But he warned that the various cells had several skilled bomb-makers fully trained and ready to take over from the slain Azahari.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/23/2006
01:08 ||
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Metal Storm announces that it has conducted initial test firings of High Explosive ammunition at Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey in conjunction with the US Army's Armament Research Development and Engineering Centre (ARDEC).
The ammunition tested was a prototype High Explosive 40mm grenade assembly which is being developed by Metal Storm and ARDEC engineers under a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) which was signed in September 2005. The development work and test firings are the initial phase of a project which ultimately plans to take existing certified munitions from the US Army inventory and convert them to Metal Storm configuration. This will enable firing by electronic initiation from Metal Storm launching systems.
David Smith, Metal Storm's CEO, said "This initial test firing of High Explosive munitions developed in conjunction with ARDEC sets in place the platform from which we aim to build a range of munitions utilising existing US certified warheads and components."
"This will complement the munitions development program we are currently engaged in with ST Kinetics in Singapore which produced the successful test-firing of High Explosive, Enhanced Blast and Air Burst munitions last month." he said.
"Our strategy is to take commercially available off-the-shelf munitions that have been certified for military use and convert them to Metal Storm configuration, thereby minimising the time and cost required to have munitions certified by the military for use with our weapons. This should also ensure our products match the customers established requirements" he said.
Further test firings and the trialling of different munition designs with ARDEC are ongoing as part of the munitions development program. Demonstration firings are planned for the second quarter of 2006, with the timing dependant on the availability of demonstration range facilities and sufficient quantities of ammunition.
Posted by: DanNY ||
03/23/2006
01:07 ||
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#1
Seems like a lot of new stuff coming out. Better stay in Iraq for a few more years to test these new toys. (shhhh, we could build a drone around that gun like the A10 is built around it's cannon, and plink all night from the dark sky)
#3
..Metal Storm is a really good 1-shot area denial weapon but for anything else it's kind of a solution in search of a problem. Having said that, it has some applications in Iraq - most notably in stopping the human wave attacks I think are coming next.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
03/23/2006 12:19
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#4
I wonder if Metal Storm is contemplating flechette loads.
#5
Metal Storm has better applications than just stopping the rare human wave attack (something that the current machine gun is more than capable of doing).
A great benefit of this technology is that you can have barrels of differing diameters packed together into a single weapon. These barrels hold different types of rounds, which are used to perform different missions. So in one box you could have some tubes of 40mm HE, some 25MM AP, some non-lethal and even some 7.62 or 9mm. Horses for courses as it were.
As far as Metal Storm stock, I wouldn't touch it. It is going to be years before these guys get any serious sales. They have already been on the edge.
#6
Phased Array -
I've talked to a couple of folks (on the civilian contractor side)who've been over there, and they have mentioned that there's a worry that the Bad Guyz might try to just overwhelm a base or outpost with sheer manpower. MetalStorm - or a few of 'em - would be a big help in a contingency like that.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
03/23/2006 14:25
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#7
Yes - as they did in the police station attacks. Good point, Mike.
#8
I've talked to a couple of folks (on the civilian contractor side)who've been over there, and they have mentioned that there's a worry that the Bad Guyz might try to just overwhelm a base or outpost with sheer manpower.
No doubt the weapons in their hands would disappear as their bodies are collected, allowing accusations of a massacre.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
03/23/2006 14:31
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#9
Easy enough.
1. CIWS deployed to major facilities and bases to protect from incoming mortars.
then
2. Manual operation on grouped ground-level man-sized targets.
Stops "human waves" pretty quickly.
No need to collect bodies. Unless you want to use a hose, a mop and a snow shovel.
#15
You keep pointing me at descriptions of the technology without telling me why it's better than a conventional firearm.
Posted by: Phil ||
03/23/2006 21:31
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#16
Massed fire capability / very high rates of fire, remote control, weight, wheeled terrain mobility, the remarkable flexibility described in #5 - all in one weapon, probably reliability (no / less jamming, etc), developing airborne capability...
Any of this sound interesting to you?
Re-read #5 and know that remoteman is a user of these systems - the nym is no accident. This isn't just cool / uncool - this is his real MOS gig. If he likes it, I like it.
#17
Massed fire capability / very high rates of fire,
Not sustained high rates of fire.
It has a very high rate of fire for a couple seconds. Then it's time to reload, which involves changing the barrel.
remote control,
You could attach a remote control to a conventional firearm. Such exist in the real world already, on many APC's like the Stryker. It doesn't require Metal Storm.
weight, wheeled terrain mobility, the remarkable flexibility described in #5 - all in one weapon, probably reliability (no / less jamming, etc), developing airborne capability...
Any of this sound interesting to you?
I do not see how 2/3 of the stuff you're describing above proceeds from Metalstorm's ammo-integrated-in-barrel concept.
Posted by: Phil ||
03/23/2006 22:45
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#18
Gee. Let's chill for second. Everything has to be reloaded - and I don't think you know what you're complaining about, exactly. People who know a lot more about this than you do are interested. Your complaints are probably either already addressed and you don't know the details - or the areas of application make them less relevant than you understand.
I am not a MetalStorm salesman. I don't own their stock. I have seen a demo vid of massed fire, an incredible amount of lead and HE ordnance going downrange in amazing quantity, reminded me of short-range MLRS, which would cut the shit out of anyone or anything in its path. There were times when I would've loved having something like this. But hey, go for it. Get your shorts in a bunch and go crazy, which you seem to be determined to do. I don't give a fuck.
#19
So now you're accusing me of flying off the handle and then telling me you don't care, but in relatively angry language.
Your complaints are probably either already addressed and you don't know the details - or the areas of application make them less relevant than you understand.
If they're addressed but I don't know the details, well, I'd like to know. That's why I was asking.
Posted by: Phil ||
03/23/2006 23:17
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#20
What part of "I'm not a MetalStorm salesman." are you having trouble with?
You want answers, I clearly told you I don't have them, but do see probable value in the product. You want more? Go google it up for yourself.
I'm not angry, son, I'm very mildly annoyed because you obviously directed your questions to me, to my post, instead of getting off your ass and digging for yourself after I said my piece.
No big deal - go figure it out and become the RB expert on why it's a good / bad system. That'd be cool.
I doubt I'd even know who you are even if you weren't using Fred's random name assignment gizmo.
As for digging for myself, well, I've been seeing press releases and press-release quality news articles about the company for about the last half-decade; I've read a lot about the system, without really learning anything relevant to the questions that have been bugging me for about the last three years of that half decade.
Posted by: Phil ||
03/23/2006 23:37
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#22
Cool. There should be info somewhere in the mess that is, collectively, the Gov Mil sites - since they have thrown some R&D money at it, I presume.
Maybe remoteman, next time you see him post, could point you to definitive info. He seemed to imply he had more than a passing interest.
#23
The Wiki entry has excellent info, lol. There's even a continuous feed capability - addressing the reload issue, and more about the weight advantages and potential microlight UAV application.
One day after a US daily reported that American intelligence officials believe the Iranian regime is hosting al-Qaeda militants and allowing senior operatives to help plan the network's operations, an Iranian source close to the reformists confirmed the report to Adnkronos International (AKI). "With the victory of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad relations with al-Qaeda have been resumed and strengthened," said the source, who used to work for Iran's intelligence services under the government of Mohammed Khatami.
The Los Angeles Times said US intelligence officials cited evidence from highly classified satellite feeds and electronic eavesdropping as proof that the recently elected Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may be forging an alliance with the terrorist network's operatives as a way to expand Iran's influence. The report said the president might also simply be looking the other way as al-Qaeda leaders in Iran cooperate with their counterparts abroad.
According to the source consulted by AKI, around 100 members of the terrorist organisation are living in Iran under the protection of the Pasdaran, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps.
Soleyman Abu Gaith, Seif al-Adel, Abdullah Mohammad Rajab, Abdulaziz al-Masri and Abu Mohammed al-Masri are men close to al-Qaeda currently in Iran, according to the United States. The former intelligence official told AKI the list also included "three children and two wives of Osama bin Laden." He also recalled that al-Qaeda number two Ayman al-Zawahiri recently visited the Islamic Republic "to meet with three envoys of Jordan's Abu Mussab al Zarqawi."
Ties between Iran and al-Qaeda were highlighted by the US September 11 commission, which disclosed many details on possible connections in its final report. The commission said Iran and the terrorist group had worked together sporadically in the 1990s, reportedly trading secrets on how to make explosives.
Many al-Qaeda operatives and family members, however, have reportedly lived in Iran since 2001, when they fled the US-led bombing of Afghanistan.
Iran declared four months ago that no al-Qaeda members live in the country, though officials have in the past claimed that some members of the terror network are kept under house arrest and their activities monitored.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/23/2006
01:06 ||
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Will say again that the WOT, among other things/precepts, is a war for control of the world, and future OWG/World Order,and what
Nation(s, ideos and -isms will dominate said world and OWG. Potentially the greatest protection the Burqua Boyz, and SpetzNorks etc., have are those anti-Americans within the Fed and NPE, whom needed to conspire, collude or scheme in 9-11 and the deaths of 000's of Amer citizens in order to enable and entrench PC/PDeniable Revolution, Anarchy, Socialism, and OWG against their own People and Country, for power, $$$ and ambition, and where in the name of the People = de facto against the People at the same time.
#3
Again the hounds of Hell come into play between or above the rift in the IslamicWorld/Umma/Juche or UN-inspired TRIFECTA of autocracy., war will come to an END only after BUsh, Cheney, or Blair etc. come to see the the Whole entirety of the THREAT before us or they do so, incorporating Silicon Valley, Wall-St and the Media in doing so. ###s will be the last test. DIVIDE and CONQUER.
#6
Reformists wouldn't be the MEK, DepotGuy, particularly if this guy worked for VEVAK under Khatami. And there are more than enough reformists pissed as to the fact that they've outlived their usefulness to start airing some of the regime's dirty laundry.
I think you're being overly cynical as to some of this stuff. Sure, a lot of it is coming from anonymous sources and the like, but that's one of the problems of working from open-source intel to begin with and this is probably the best that we're going to get. As far as why people in government aren't openly going public on this (though Burns has), I would think that the reason is simple: once you start saying that the al-Qaeda leadership is operating out of Iran, a number of things proceed from that which I don't think the US wants at this stage.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/23/2006 13:38
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Heres something that confuses me, dan, perhaps you can help.
I had thought the Iranian explanation for NOT extraditing was these guys was that we hadnt handed to them some Taliban that were involved in a massacre of Iranian diplos in Herat pre-2001. And my further impression was that we hadnt handed them the Talibs cause we hadnt finished milking said Talibs for intell.
Lately I was an MSM story that said the reason the Iranians hadnt extradited the AQniks, was cause we hadnt turned over the MEK to them.
I wondering if you know what the current Iranian line is, and what our current response is.
#9
Point taken Dan. Even though the Reformists and the Exile Groups share some common objectives it was unfair to equate the two as the same. Because much of the intelligence gathering has been attributed to the NCRI, I made an assumption on this report. My bad.
However, given the timing of the negotiations regarding Iranian nuclear capabilities and the pending UNSC decision, its very difficult to temper my cynicisms. The object of my rancor is not the conjecture but the process of how its being reported. Between the assertions of IED technology signature, HAMAS assistance, AQ collaboration, and promoting sectarian acrimony in Iraq its getting almost incubator like. Leaked information of classified reports from anonymous sources is the definition agenda driven news. Ill try not to openly contemplate their motivations so frequently
#10
Sunnis and Shiites are mortal enemies, but put aside their squabbles in some circumstances. For example, Sunni Sauds allow Shiites to carry out Hajj/pilgrimage, even though Sunni dogma treats Shiites as apostates. Sunni proliferator Khan, the head louse of the Paki jihad-nuke program, paid a secret visit to Teheran, and came away with barrels of cash. And Mushy is shielding Khan from justice. Something's up.
#11
The current Iranian line, as noted by Asefi's comments, is that these people are not in Iran and that all al-Qaeda members have been extradicted back to their home countries - never you mind that Egypt has yet to receive al-Adel and Co.
And we have always been at war with Eurasia.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/23/2006 18:47
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AN ALLEGED Islamist terrorist accused of planning attacks on targets in Britain was involved in a plot to buy a dirty bomb from the Russian mafia, the Old Bailey was told yesterday. Salahuddin Amin was said to have been entrusted by senior figures in a terror cell in Pakistan to act as a go-between in their planned purchase of the radioactive device.
He is standing trial alongside six alleged accomplices for conspiring to detonate explosives at key sites in Britain, causing maximum damage and fatalities. Among the intended targets were the Bluewater shopping centre in Kent, the National Grid, synagogues and a nightclub in Central London, the court was told during the second day of the trial. However, the plotters did not realise that as they pondered which of many potential targets to strike, their movements were being monitored by police, David Waters, QC, for the prosecution, said. Some of their cars and homes had been bugged. One defendant, Jawad Akbar, allegedly said in a recording: The biggest nightclub in Central London. No one can put their hands up and say they are innocent those slags dancing around.
Mr Amin was said in 2001 to have moved to Pakistan where he attended explosives and weapons training camps with five of the other men and supplied equipment for jihad (holy war). Mr Waters told the jury: An indication to the trust imposed in Amin and his position in the Pakistani end of the organisation is gained from the passing of information to him in relation to a radioisotope bomb.
Referring to alleged senior terrorists, Mr Waters said that Mr Amin was asked by Pakistan-based militants to contact a man named Abu Annis. Through Annis contact had been made via the internet with Russian mafia based in Belgium.
Mr Waters said that at least two of the defendants intended to leave Britain for Pakistan in the days before the intended attack on a UK target.
He said that Waheed Mahmood worked for Transco National Grid at its Brighton depot. Computer discs giving detailed plans of Britains electricity and gas systems, including pipelines, cables and sub- stations, had been found at another defendants house. Anyone armed with such information would have no difficulty identifying, in the context of this case, a potential target, Mr Waters said.
The men had bought 600kg (1,323lb) of ammonium nitrate fertiliser, supposedly for an allotment, even though that amount would cover five football pitches; had hired a lorry and had taken it to a storage depot in West London. They had refused to answer questions from the curious manager about what they would do with it, and had chosen the password pink in reference to a character in the film Reservoir Dogs. Mr Waters said that staff at the depot eventually became suspicious and contacted police, who exchanged the fertiliser for an inert substance without alerting the men. An undercover officer started working as a receptionist at the depot. The defendants were said to have acquired other bomb ingredients: aluminium powder had been discovered in a biscuit tin behind a shed at the home of Omar Khyam and his brother, Shujah Mahmood.
Providing detonators had been the responsibility of Momin Khawaja, a computer expert from Canada, who faces trial in that country. He and Mr Khyam were said to have been in regular e-mail contact about how best to bring detonators from Canada to Britain. In one e-mail Mr Khawaja had said: Weve got to find a way to get it [a device] into the UK. Maybe I could courier it over? He had also suggested sending it via the company that employed him at that time.
Mr Waters said that the internet played a vital role in the alleged plot: some of the defendants had purchased outdoor clothing and camping equipment online in preparation for trips to training camps in Pakistan. Wary of surveillance, they allegedly communicated by e-mail but without sending messages: by saving drafts and logging on using identical usernames and passwords. The men were said to have bought pay-as-you-go mobile phones and regularly disposed of them and their laptops in an attempt to evade MI5. Police had said that they appeared surveillance sensitive, being extremely aware of vehicles and pedestrians around them.
Nevertheless, Mr Waters said, security officers successfully bugged their homes and cars. In one conversation the men had been heard discussing a remote-controlled detonator that had a dipswitch to encrypt the signal, a booster chip to prevent it from being blocked and antennae that they hoped would increase its range to two kilometres. The jury was told that a recording was also made of Akbar talking to his wife in which he allegedly said: They are going to train me up and probably send me back here, act like completely stupid, and do a big mission. When we kill the Kuf (unbelievers) this is because we know Allah hates the Kufs.
In another recording Waheed Mahmood allegedly mentions a potential attack on Bluewater shopping centre in Kent: A little explosion at Bluewater tomorrow if you want. I dont know how big it would be, we havent tested it, but we could tomorrow do one tomorrow.
Mr Amin, 31, of Luton; Mr Khyam, 24, Shujah Mahmood, 18, Waheed Mahmood, 34, Jawad Akbar, 22, all of Crawley, West Sussex; Anthony Garcia, 27, of Ilford, East London; and Nabeel Hussain, 20, from Horley, Surrey, all deny conspiring to cause an explosion likely to endanger life between October 2003 and March 2004. Mr Khyam, Mr Garcia and Mr Hussain also deny possessing 600kg of fertiliser for the purposes of terrorism. Mr Khyam and Shujah Mahmood deny possessing aluminium powder, also for the purposes of terrorism.
All except Mr Amin were arrested in March 2004 and declined to answer questions. They eventually denied their guilt in short prepared statements, issued to police through their solicitors. Mr Amin was arrested in February 2005 on return from Pakistan. The prosecution said that he had become increasingly radicalised during a visit to the country in 1999, and had come under the influence of an extremist in Luton who had died fighting in Afghanistan.
When he returned to Britain he was said to have taken a year out from his university course to work as a taxi driver so that he could afford daily donations to the Kashmir cause. In 2001 he returned to Pakistan for his sisters wedding, Mr Waters said, and took the opportunity to check out a training camp but was unimpressed by the standard. He had been in Pakistan during the September 11 terrorist attacks and later told police that he regretted the civilian deaths but felt good and happy that there was such a big financial loss. Mr Amin had eventually sold his house in Luton, returned to Pakistan for terrorism training and had begun using the name Khalid.
However, Mr Waters said, his role in providing money and equipment to groups fighting in Afghanistan, such as al-Qaeda and the Mujahidin, came through a British link and was engineered by a man with whom Mr Amin had worshipped at a mosque in Luton. Mr Amin had also allegedly met the Crawley defendants when they had decided to visit a mosque in Luton. Mr Khyam had later gone to Pakistan to join him at a training camp. Mr Waters said: The training course included the fact that there were alternative substances to ammonium nitrate. The instruction was not restricted to explosives as a means of causing death or damage. As you will hear they were instructed in some detail as to how ricin was prepared. Khyam and Amin took notes of the training they were given.
When back in Britain, Mr Khyam was said to have acquired the 600kg of fertiliser and contacted Mr Amin, who had remained in Pakistan, to ask what he should mix it with to make explosives and in what ratio. Mr Amin had gone to his superior, obtained the formula, e-mailed it to Mr Khyam and destroyed his notes. He had been detained by the Pakistani authorities for ten months from April 2004 until his return to Britain, Mr Waters said. While in custody abroad, he had been interviewed by British and American security services.
Mr Waters told the jury: He claimed he was very badly treated by the Pakistani authorities and received threats . . . He said he had even admitted things he had not done. . . .When you hear the [police] interviews you may come to a conclusion that there came a time when Amin regretted revealing quite as much as he had . . . Mr Waters continued: The charge or allegation which all defendants face is conspiracy to cause an explosion or explosions. Provided there was such an agreement, any defendant who was party to it will be guilty. The prosecution does not have to prove a specific explosion was agreed upon.
He added that if the police had waited until the very last minute before arresting the defendants, this would inevitably involve risks to the public which would be unacceptable. The trial continues.
THE ACCUSED
Omar Khyam, 24, from Crawley, formerly lived in Slough. Also known as Ausman. Said by the prosecution to be very much at the centre of operations
Anthony Garcia, 27, from Ilford, East London. Also known as Rahman Adam, Abdul Rahman, John Lewis or Rizvan. Taught weapons training in Pakistan
Nabeel Hussain, 20, from Horley, Surrey. Lived in Uxbridge while a student at Brunel University. The only defendant not to attend training camps in Pakistan and the only one given bail
Jawad Akbar, 22, from Crawley. Also lived in Uxbridge for a time. Also known as Hamza
Waheed Mahmood, 34, from Crawley. Worked for National Grid Transco, which the prosecution said would be a significant point. Also known as Abdul, Esmail or Javed
Shujah Mahmood, 18, Omar Khyams younger brother. Also from Crawley. Prosecution alleges that he arrived in Pakistan with digital scales for weighing ratios of ammonium nitrate to aluminium powder
Salahuddin Amin, 31, from Luton. Spent a considerable period in Pakistan. Also known as Khalid
ITEMS ALLEGEDLY FOUND AT DEFENDANTS' HOMES
# Aluminium powder (key ingredient in making explosive device) in a biscuit tin behind a shed
# Long list of synagogues
# 12 CD-Roms on National Grid giving mains data, maps, areas of interest and location of hazardous plant
# Letter from Anthony Garcia in which he seemingly says goodbye to his brother and asks him not to tell anyone what he is about to do
# Outdoor survival clothing and camping equipment
# Book called Understanding Solid State Electronics
# Document called What to do if contacted by MI5 or Special Branch
# Computer video files with extract described as al-Qaeda weapons manual
# Money transfer documents
# Quotation for storage hire
# Pay-and-go mobile phone simcard box
# Phone number of fertiliser suppliers
# At home of Momin Khawaja (alleged accomplice awaiting trial in Canada) documents relating to jihad and home-made transmitter and receiver boards
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/23/2006
01:04 ||
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"V" FOR VIOLETBLUE??? - Daddy's little KILL BILL swordwoman. Not a petite finicky gun-toting Commie supermodel babe like her sister ANGELINA JOLIE whom thinks CHINA rules the [future]world.
More than 70 percent of citizens throughout the state of New York support a missile defense system with the ability to protect the United States from a nuclear, chemical or biological attack. The results came from a new poll commissioned by the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance (MDAA).
The poll also registered how New Yorkers viewed political priorities and public safety concerns. Based upon the poll results, 81 percent of registered voters in New York believe that both the state and New York City will be a likely target for a missile attack by countries or terrorist groups wanting to strike the United States. The results of the poll were announced by Riki Ellison, MDAA president, at the Fourth Annual Missile Defense Conference in Washington D.C.
"These results show that New Yorkers strongly support a missile defense system as an important part of homeland security and public safety," said Ellison, who founded MDAA in 2002. "It is clear that New Yorkers are aware of the threat and see missile defense as an additional solution along with diplomacy and international treaties to negate the proliferation of missiles that can carry weapons of mass destruction."
More than one-third of New York voters believe that the most important priority for the President of the United States and Congress to address this year is national defense and homeland security. Healthcare and the economy were the second and third-most reported priorities, with 22 percent and 21 percent respectively. In addition, 31 percent of voters reported they believe terrorism is currently the most significant threat to the U.S. and its allies, followed by dependence on Middle East oil and the proliferation of nuclear weapons.
Shows that not all of us are shrill barking moonbats!
Posted by: DanNY ||
03/23/2006
01:02 ||
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The results came from a new poll commissioned by the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance (MDAA).
And in other news, more than 70 percent of people agreed that fuzzy bunnies are cute.
I don't dispute this outcome. New Yorkers are pragmatic people who are in the bullseye of terrorists.
Posted by: Captain America ||
03/23/2006 19:00
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PRAVDA tells us why, or at least one of the major reasons, why the Failed/Angry Left and anti-Amer agendists want the US under [anti-American American]Socialism and OWG c. 2015-2020 [Russia-=China 2014/2015-2018] - Russia fears that it may NOT be able to maintain its ever-shrinking level of forces, including its nuclear forces, by or after 2015, and that one day soon wid GMD America will be able to take out both it [Russia's] and China's strategic nuke forces in one single strike. Other sources hint at similar condition(s), but infer that only by colluding together vv conventional forces can Russia-China hope to offset US nuclear dominance. SUPPORTS WHAT I'VE BEEN SAYING ON THE WEB - WORSE COMES TO WORSE, AMERICA AND ITS VOLUNTEER ARMY WILL RUN OUT OF BEANS AND BULLETS BEFORE THE COMMIES OR AMER'S ENEMIES RUN OUT OF BODIES/HUMAN WAVE CANNON FODDER!? Is why, in part, Russia-China are pragmatically focusing on mil, pol and economic ventures-alliances wid India, Africa and the lower Americas. Fron NOLA to the Shanghai Coop/SCO, the Left > getting the Fed and only the Fed to take over and socialize everything domestic, while overseas America faces stalemate/"quagmire" iff not defeat. The Left > America either unilat "volunteers" to give up its sovereignty, Govt., and endowments to OWG and non-/anti-American nations, OR AMERICA IS MILITARILY FORCED TO - the waffling dialectic policratic Governmentist Lefties don't and won't care becuz they win no matter what happens, AND REGARDLESS OF WHETHER AMERICA FAILS OR SUCCEEDS AT EMPIRE ANDOR ITS OWN VERSION OF OWG, AND WHETHER REVOLUTION ANDOR INVASION OCCURS IN AMERICA OR NOT - you know, Left-beloved SECULAR MORALISM where one doesn't have to believe in God or Ethics to tell the truth. Remember, the MSM/Left since Y2000 > Dubya and the GOP = despicable unreliable dishonest Liberals and Socialists; whereas Dems are Honorable, True-Blue Regulatory and Protectionist Conservatives and Americanists. Dubya for 2006-2008 is Adolf Bushitler whom needs to be stopped, defeated, or wiped out, but the same Dubya is a mere, imperfect, Half-a-Commie when it comes to dev Amer global empire WHICH AMERICA WILL LOSE = GIVE UP LATER ON, along wid everything else.
#4
Rest assured the Lefties won't care iff their feel-good scheme of treason and 3000-dead non Murder is found out becuz they'll lie to everyone about everything anyways.
Deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's last foreign minister, Naji Sabri, was a paid spy for French intelligence, which later turned him over to the CIA to supply information about Iraq and its chemical, biological and nuclear weapons programs more than six months before the war began in March 2003, according to former senior intelligence officials.
Although some CIA officials met informally with Sabri, who traveled extensively outside Iraq, the French and the CIA used a third-country intermediary when attempting to get information from him about Hussein's inner circle and weapons programs, according to the retired officials who refused to be identified because the information is classified.
"It was never clear what he wanted," one former official familiar with the situation said of Sabri, "but we never paid him." Sabri's role in providing information to the United States was reported by NBC News on Tuesday.
Over the summer of 2002, Sabri, as foreign minister, negotiated the terms U.N. inspectors' return to Iraq, and in November 2002 he announced Hussein's acceptance of the proposal.
Publicly Sabri was insisting that Iraq had no prohibited weapons of mass destruction. Privately, the sources said, he provided information that the Iraqi dictator had ambitions for a nuclear program but that it was not active, and that no biological weapons were being produced or stockpiled, although research was underway.
When it came to chemical weapons, Sabri told his handler that some existed but they were not under military control, a former intelligence official familiar with the situation said. Another former official added: "He said he had been told Hussein had them dispersed among some of the loyal tribes."
At the time, the Bush administration was preparing for the coalition's invasion of Iraq and publicly insisting that Hussein had reconstituted nuclear programs and was concealing from United Nations inspectors both chemical and biological weapons in violation of Security Council resolutions. The White House, which was seeking a congressional resolution that would permit the use of force against Iraq, hoped Sabri would defect, the two former officials said.
"They wanted a big public defection, which would have been good for the policy," one official said. But Sabri comes from a prominent Iraqi family and defection was not an option, one of the former officials said.
The White House was far more interested in trying to get Sabri to defect than in the information he was providing on Iraq's weapons programs, in part because the intelligence community did not trust him, another former intelligence official said.
Sabri took office in fall 2001 after a major housecleaning of Hussein's foreign affairs team. A diplomat with an Iraqi Christian background, Sabri once taught English literature at Baghdad University and was director general of the information ministry during the Persian Gulf War. His brother was one of the Iraqi officials that Hussein had killed because of alleged disloyalty.
Sabri was described as "smart and smooth" by a U.N. official who dealt with him, and as "a type that appeals to Westerners." According to a former intelligence officer, Sabri went out of his way to spend time with Americans and others when he was a diplomatic official in Vienna.
In a speech in February 2004, then-CIA Director George J. Tenet referred to Sabri, although not by name, when he said the CIA had obtained information from "a source who had direct access to Saddam and his inner circle." Tenet said that source described Hussein as covertly seeking to get a nuclear weapon and having stockpiled chemical weapons while his scientists were only "dabbling" with biological weapons development with little success.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/23/2006
00:40 ||
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Tenet said that source described Hussein as covertly seeking to get a nuclear weapon and having stockpiled chemical weapons while his scientists were only "dabbling" with biological weapons development with little success.
I've got to give a hats off to these propaganda writers. They are preparing us for the fact that they are going to find stockpiles of chemical weapons and other bad news such as Saddam did have an NBC program, that will come from the documents. Apparently the new talking point theme will be ..."sheesh, that's all Saddam was doing...dabbling".
I don't know, are Americans really so stupid as to fall for that? I don't think anyone but the moonbats can't put it together.
Besides, if you ask me, the French and CIA should have recognized that they were being played the fool by Sabri. LIke Saddam is too stupid to realize that somebody like this... A diplomat with an Iraqi Christian background, Sabri once taught English literature at Baghdad University and was director general of the information ministry during the Persian Gulf War. His brother was one of the Iraqi officials that Hussein had killed because of alleged disloyalty.....wouldn't make the perfect stoolie to give misinformation for a price to the French, who would be more than happy to believe him.
This whole plan laid out in this article just stinks of unbelievable.
Yo! Id like ta give a shout-out ta all my home-buoyz in the I-Unit over at MSNBC for keeping it real. Word Up.
An..Damn buoyyy! Dat Lisa Meyers has sum serious junk in da trunk! Noumsayin?
Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi on Wednesday ruled out "unfounded and false" claims of the US that al-Qaeda members were present in Iran.
"Dissemination of such reports aim to cover up failure of the occupying forces in guaranteeing security of Iraq," said Asefi.
He said Iran's stances against al-Qaeda terrorist group is completely clear and Americans know quite well that "we have thus far acted on our international responsibilities regarding campaign against terrorism and uprooting the international intricacy which has its roots in the inequality and injustice caused by global hegemony." "How can the US government, which itself has no commitment to the international regulations, speak of others' international responsibilities?" asked Asefi.
Undoubtedly, he said, under the current circumstances when security conditions in Iraq are worsening day by day and people in the country, as the biggest victim, are sustaining casualties and financial damage more than before, presence of the US occupiers will itself pave the ground for terrorist activities of such groups as al-Qaeda.
He added that Americans, which have no response for their public opinion, are laying blame on others and raising such subjects to cover up their weakness and failure.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/23/2006
00:36 ||
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Heh, Indeed...
Posted by: DanNY ||
03/23/2006 1:22
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Excellent. As long as they're denying it, it remains an issue. They could have said nothing, but now they've acknowledged they heard us. The US has set the agenda.
You seem a little defenseve there, Hamid. Why would that be?
Posted by: Baba Tutu ||
03/23/2006 3:10
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#3
That noise is the sound of a few M² rectal orifices puckering. Some Iranians do understand that it can't do a thing if we decided to take them out. Asymetric warfare doesn't do a thing to stop intercontinental bombers and real intercontinental ballistic missiles from raining down on their heads.
The apocalyptic religious fanatics that seem to be in control do not have a good grip on real life it appears. They have 2 countries on their own borders that are examples you how we can put them out of power. They don't fully get it.
Posted by: SPoD ||
03/23/2006 5:08
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The Basque terrorist movement ETA on Wednesday announced a "permanent ceasefire," to go into effect on Friday, after more than 30 years of violence and bloodshed. Nearly 900 people have been killed, many more maimed and hundreds have been blackmailed by the organization; those who failed to pay protection money often saw their businesses bombed or torched or were even kidnapped and held hostage until their families paid large ransom payments. ETA has long demanded independence from Spain for the Basques, who live in the border area between France and Spain. The more militant of its members call for the integration of the French Basque provinces into an independent Basque Country.
This is not the first time that ETA has declared a truce, but it is the first time that it has used the word "permanent." But will it be? Opinion in Spain is divided.
Journalist Gorka Landáburu, who was himself maimed by an ETA parcel bomb, which cost him an eye and part of one hand, welcomed the news. "I believe this is a genuine call for peace," he said. "It is a permanent ceasefire and not merely a truce. The path ahead will be complicated and difficult. But I can't see them turning back now."
Prime minister José Luís Lopez Zapatero, who had pledged himself to working for a Basque peace process when he took office two years ago, also welcomed the news but called for patience, warning that they were embarking on a "long, difficult and arduous process." Yet the conservative Popular Party greeted the announcement with skepticism. "It is a pause, not a renunciation [of terrorism]," declared PP's leader, Mariano Rajoy, who pointed out that ETA has yet to agree to lay down its arms.
ETA has lost considerable support among the Basque people in recent years and the organization has been seriously weakened by close cooperation between the French and Spanish security forces, who have arrested many of its leaders and seized quantities of arms, explosives and ammunition as well as computer files with valuable information on the members and their activities. Although there has been a spate of bombings in recent months, most were preceded by warnings, and while they caused considerable damage to property, there have been no deaths since 2003.
Pau Ríos of the Basque peace movement Alkarri described the wording of the communique as "a very important step forward....It is the best we could have hoped for from ETA." He said it would have been unrealistic to expect the group to announce its was laying down its arms at this time "But the word 'permanent' is particularly significant as it has very strong connotations in the Basque language," he said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/23/2006
00:35 ||
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No they don't. We hang up but you give us all we want (independence included) or we will unhang.
#2
Translated in American terms: it is like if bin Laden decreed a hudna on the condition that America must convert to Islam and instore Shariah. Oh and President is Jimmy Carter.
The competitiveness of Chinas manufacturing industries has suffered serious erosion over the past year, according to one of the worlds largest trade sourcing companies.
Hong Kong-based Li & Fung group, which manages a $7.1bn a year trading business, said price rises crept back into the Sino-US and EU supply chains last year, after at least six years of often severe deflation.
Looks like the end of their explosive growth if they can't transition their economy. If manufacturing growth slows significantly China is gonna go through a major depression due to overbuilding and bad loans. We could see a revolution soon.
#1
Another reason why NORTH KOREA = IRAN'S Mullahs are demanding to be invaded by Dubya in glorious "quagmire". Can't have implosion and revolution iff China and its PLA have to save the Mullahs from themselves and Dubya.
#2
China is still going strong. This is just a sign that the breakneck growth is becoming maturity. China's boom is due for a bust, but it's still 3-4 years away. Nobody I know is losing business to Vietnam or Bangladesh.
#3
Li and Fung does mostly clothing and accessories. Plus, I doubt the cost squeeze is across the board. If an illegal Chinese immigrant in NYC can generate a profitable garment at $8 an hour, her somewhat lower caliber counterpart in China can probably do the same at $4 a day.
Reflation is actually a sign that the overbuilding in China is finally done and over with. The overbuilding was what led to deflation. The really odd thing is that deflation (oversupply) coincided with explosive growth. Now that the period of oversupply is over, we should start to see really massive growth in the Chinese economy - I expect the Chinese central bank to start raising interest rates big time, which may ripple over to Treasury rates.
Note that Li & Fung stated that energy and raw materials costs are a major reason for the increase in Chinese costs. But these costs are the same in China and elsewhere. China's growth has a long way to go yet. When it starts approaching Thailand's wages, it will start losing production to the Thais. But it isn't yet at that point. The Southeast Asian countries to which Li & Fung is referring are Vietnam and Cambodia. Chances are they will now start their rapid growth era based on China's cast-offs, just as China's growth is based on the cast-offs from Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong and South Korea.
#4
Heck, even if it's inevitable, China could slow or hold it off enough to minimize or even avert substantial decline in the national economy. I read in the Wall Street Journal some time ago that the government had started to "cool down" the economy in hopes of lowering the growth rate to sustainable levels.
Posted by: Edward Yee ||
03/23/2006 1:00
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#5
gromky: This is just a sign that the breakneck growth is becoming maturity.
I don't think it's even begun, yet. Chinese wages are way below Southeast Asian wages. The Chinese consumer is starting to become a huge player, from almost nothing a decade ago. Car sales in China were 4m a year ago, compared to 1m in India, which actually has more people than China. On a per capita basis, Chinese car sales are already roughly half of Thailand's. That's a impressive record, when you consider the severe deflation in Chinese costs over the past several years.
"If an illegal Chinese immigrant in NYC can generate a profitable garment at $8 an hour, her somewhat lower caliber counterpart in China can probably do the same at $4 a day. "
You're forgetting about time to get product, which with shipping and customs takes close to 4 weeks. This is PAINFUL for inventory management. Also in many goods it's becoming more expensive to ship to goods than the price savings (automobiles for one). If China isn't significantly cheaper than mexico then China is in serious trouble for US manufacturing business.
"Reflation is actually a sign that the overbuilding in China is finally done and over with. The overbuilding was what led to deflation. The really odd thing is that deflation (oversupply) coincided with explosive growth. Now that the period of oversupply is over, we should start to see really massive growth in the Chinese economy - I expect the Chinese central bank to start raising interest rates big time, which may ripple over to Treasury rates. "
You're confusing goods price deflation due to oversupply of workers with goods price deflation due to oversupply of goods. There was no oversupply of goods, china was selling what it was making. The inflation is due to pricing pressure from a more demanding labor market in china, not because all the sudden chinese goods are selling where they weren't before.
#8
China's own consumption can cushion lots of the slow down in growth and increases costs of production.
Posted by: SPoD ||
03/23/2006 1:37
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#9
Yes it can cushion but this is the boom bust cycle. Overbuilding during boom times leads to bust times. The greater the overbuilding the greater the bust. China WAY overbuilt. Just look at their bad loans... crazy that they have so many considering their growth and explosive economy recently. There's no controls over how money gets distributed in the chinese economy... it's gonna be painful. Mark my words.
#10
The 'severe deflation' referred to is price deflation (decreasing prices) that was bound to come to an end at some point. I doubt it signifies anything other than a shrinking pool of cheap available labor. I'd argue its good news, because it means labor is gaining control over the price of labor, i.e. people will no longer take any job offered. Its a sign China is progressing down the road to a middle class that wants control over their lives.
I not aware of significant asset deflation in China, which is the deflation that brings debt and other problems.
#11
DPA: If China isn't significantly cheaper than mexico then China is in serious trouble for US manufacturing business.
Wage rates in many of the Southeast Asian countries are significantly more expensive than China, yet they continue to get tons of American manufacturing business. Mexico just isn't in the running for a lot of manufacturing activities - its labor force is illiterate, skills are lacking, investment regulations are convoluted and costly, labor laws are nutty, etc. This is why hard disk companies like Maxtor and Seagate manufacture in Malaysia and Singapore, both of which have higher wage rates than Mexico. The attraction of China as an investment destination lies in a cheap and well-educated work force. The workers don't generally speak English, but they are intelligent and extremely trainable. This is why countries across Latin America are losing their manufacturing industries to China. The sad reality is that China doesn't compete with the US - it competes with Mexico. And Mexico loses on both quality and price.
#13
The bad loans are another problem that has to be dealt with. I think that is a seperate issue and problem. Outside banking experts have to be brought in and given the power to set things to rights.
Posted by: SPoD ||
03/23/2006 2:49
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#14
I'd love to go to the Beijing Olympics, so I hope the revolution can wait until after then.
#15
ZF: I thought China had about 1 1/3 times the number of people that India did?
Posted by: Phil ||
03/23/2006 11:01
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#16
There's no controls over how money gets distributed in the chinese economy
Actually there are controls on how wealth is distributed, DPA. Most of those controls involve making sure that the money's direction of flow is towards the pocket of a politburo Mandarin.
#17
Jake-the-peg
If you get there for the olympics, may I recommend the street food vendors close to Tiananmen Square, for their exotic cuisine.
How exotic?
Well how about 4 seahorses on a double kebab, frog legs ditto, river beetles, locust, silkworms, lambs testicles on a kebab, as well as penises etc and all ridiculously cheap
Excellent after a night carousing the karaoke joints where a stubbie of beer will set you back $1 and the company of a hostess for the night will cost $20.
The Algerian parliament has approved a law banning the call to embrace other religions than Islam. This law states to jail anyone "trying to call on a Muslim to embrace another religion," in remarks to the Christianizing (evangelize) campaigns taking place in the country.
The Algerian Ummah council (Senate) approved this decision on Monday. This decision which was approved by the national people's council ( parliament) on March 15th is an attempt to withstand the Christianizing campaign which had witnessed a notable activity recently especially in al-Qabayel area east of the country.
The ratified law stated to sentence imprisonment for two to five years and a fee between 5 to 10 thousands EURO against "anyone urging or forcing or tempting, to convert a Muslim to another religion." The same penalty applies to every person, manufacturer, store or circulate publications or audo-visual or other means aiming at destabilizing attachment to Islam.
The law also bans practicing any religion "except Islam" "outside buildings allocated for that, and links specialized buildings aimed at practice of religion by a prior licensing." One official at the ministry of religious affairs said that the aim of the law is basically to "ban religious activity, and secret religious campaigns."
The Christian community constitutes the largest religious minority in the country. This community accounts for the time being to less than 11,000 after it was hundreds of thousands before Algeria's independence in 1962 including 110 priests and 170 monks distributed all over Algerian lands.
#3
Eventually, the non-muslims will have to return the favor.
Posted by: ed ||
03/23/2006 1:01
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One might even suppose the more curious amongst the ummah might be made more interested to know what the fuss is all about by this sort of heavy handed fiat. Of course, the Algerians are acting in accord with longstanding Islamic norms, so it probably seems appropriate to a lot of Muslims, rather than the mark of self-conscious insecurity it seems to outsiders. Of course it violates the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, but who really cares about such things anyway, unless the US is involved, and in that case neither the facts nor the law should stand in the way of world wide condemnation making the actual sources of international law amusing but irrelevent.
Posted by: Baba Tutu ||
03/23/2006 2:45
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#5
One might even suppose the more curious amongst the ummah might be made more interested to know what the fuss is all about by this sort of heavy handed fiat.
Until one recalls that the ummah actually approves of these laws.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
03/23/2006 5:27
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#6
Muslims demand respect for their religion, while they disrespect others. No quid pro quo there.
#7
More and more Berbers see Islam and specially the wahabism promoted by governemnt as a tool of Arab domination.
There is even a timid rebirth of Christianity between them.
The islamo/panarabist governemnt has an interest in islamism since it led the country to poverty and corruption and its only legitimacy derives from "having expelled the infidels" thus the movement towards leaving Islam is a mortal danger to the government.
#8
More and more Berbers see Islam and specially the wahabism promoted by governemnt as a tool of Arab domination.
It took them 1,000 years to realize this?
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
03/23/2006 7:42
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#9
The real story is that Moslems are leaving Islam in droves, most of whom are converting to Christianity, and this has the Mullahs scared out of their wits.
The irony is that the Christians don't have to prozelytize at all, the wannabe ex-Moslems come looking for them, utterly revolted at everything Islam represents.
#10
Honestly, 'moose, that sounds more like fantasy than reality to me.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
03/23/2006 8:16
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#11
Does anyone see wide spread evidence in intellectual curiosity in Muslim countries? I think most Muslims like the fact that Islam has rules for everything. Easier not to have to think.
#12
RC,
I don't know about droves, but I have heard of significant numbers of converts in Nigeria, Algeria and Saudi Arabia. In fact the Persian Gulf has a lot of secret Christians. This is one of the reasons for the rise is Islamic Fundamentalism.
Al
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
03/23/2006 9:11
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#13
There will always be some percentage of the general population who rebel and question everything. The leftists, if you will, but every group has them. Just as there will always be those who fight against change. There are also people who asess everything and gravitate toward a better standard of living. These folks must be frustrated under Islam where only a standard of dying is improved.
#14
Sorry, but people can make claims about secret conversions all day long; they're unfalsifiable. I hereby claim that everyone in China is now secretly worshipping me as a god -- prove they're not!
There no doubt are secret converts, but I don't think they're a significant number.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
03/23/2006 9:15
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Christianity, in a free and open "marketplace of ideas" tends to thrive. It has done so world-wide for a couple thousand years. Its has survived, and thrives even today in the midst of unbridled consumerism in the US, that is, when it is allowed to compete fairly (i.e. not banned by the ACLU and similar). Christianity has had centuries of critical examination from inside and out,and has had to deal intellectually with that.
Islam, on the other hand, cannot survive contact with any rational or spiritual opposition. Ineeded, it voida ANY rational or critical thought, and forbids it in most cases. Its creator Muhammed realized that, and set up rules to insulate Islam against outside influence - much like any other cult, c.f. Scientology. Whats not in the book is forbidden and its is forbidden to interpret the book as well.
#18
"More and more Berbers see Islam and specially the wahabism promoted by governemnt as a tool of Arab domination.
It took them 1,000 years to realize this?"
Well first, Wahabism wasnt even invented till about 300 years ago (though it has roots in some older fundamentalist strains of Islam.
Second, Algeria used to be part of the Turkish empire, whose official form of Islam was not Wahabist. And of course the Ottoman empire hardly enforced arab domination.
France took Algeria in 1830, and didnt leave till 1960.
So the Berbers have had at most 46 years to figure this out. And Wahabism, IIUC, didnt become a big force in Algeria till the 1980s.
#20
... much like any other cult, c.f. Scientology. Whats not in the book is forbidden and its is forbidden to interpret the book as well.
I could not agree more with your entire post OldSpook. Fundamentalism, in any guise, is proving to be a significant threat to our modern world. We should all be thankful that Christianity went through its own reformation long before the advent of WMDs. Sadly, Islam has not the least intention of reforming itself and currently seeks WMDs as well. This lethal combination requires swift and decisive action, the sort of which has not been seen since WWII. I fear that many in the intervening generations may have lost much of the self-preservation instinct and discriminatory faculties required to even understand the peril that confronts them. It is exactly the popularity of cults like Scientology that reinforce this notion.
Beware, OS, you "religiosity" is showing. You're gonna get a thorough (10,000 word) thrashing from the Resident Secularist. Or not, heh.
UE7099, your pathetic attempt to conflate "religiosity" with informed and realistic observation is duly noted. Would you like to bet on good Mr. OldSpook's issuing any sort of mealy-mouthed reply with respect to our curtailing domestic freedom of speech over the Mohammed cartoons? You know, one like our state department did.
#28
All any beleiver should require is that everyone be given the freedom to express their belief and freedom to believe as they wish, so long as they do not violate other's freedom to do so, and do not physically impose on each other in doing so, nor violate the commonly accepted (Non-Religious) standards society agrees upon (Sorry Fred Phelps, no interrupting funerals, Sorry Islam - no conversions at swordpoint, sorry Communists - no seizing anything "for the proletariat", Sorry Moloch-ists, no human sacrifices).
In the Bible, Christ knocks at the door and its up to you to open it (or not - you have a CHOICE). He doesnt bash it in and come swinging a scimitar, leaving you unable to choose.
To put things in simpler terms, and speaking personally as a Christian:
I base my values on FAITH. True Faith has no need of goonery or legal enforecment ultimately at the point of a gun, because it to be FAITH, it must be held personally and given voluntarily. To do otherwise would render the term Faith, itself, meaningless.
A coerced profession of faith has about as much validity as a coerced confession of muder. No matter what the means of coersion.
Personally, I have no need to be protected from other religions, nor from secularism or atheism for that matter. Were my faith so weak that I needed such things I could scarecely call it faith. Indeed, my exploration of alternatives has helped my faith: I've been an ardent atheist (in college, when I was a socialistic liberal too), a genuine agnostic (for many years doubt ruled my life), even Zen Buddhist for 5 years. All that has lead to my conversion to Christianity and Catholicism to be all the stronger.
Islam (and most fundamentalism of any stripe) apparently has no faith in its "faithful". How sad an indictment that is of the shallowness of the core of Islam.
#29
Conversely you could say that the faith of the fanatic is the weakest of them all. Only grave doubts can support such all-consuming, passionate and violent superstition.
Religion or philosophy to a fanatic is just window dressing to his unbearably small definition of reality, trying to force the vastness of the universe into his petty dichotomy of good and evil.
#30
Eric Hoffer--- "The True Believer", argued that fanatics of every extreme were all driven alike by deep-seated doubts... and belonging to a mass movement gave them a purpose, and a way to paper over their own inadequacy and self-doubts. And so, they shouted and ranted, and came down like a ton of bricks on anything that threatened those beliefs with special vigor, because a threat to their belief system was a strike at their own, secretly doubting hearts.
Or words to that effect. A useful book. It's helped me to get a grip on a certain mind-set ever since I had to read it in college.
#31
I saw an old article yesterday (from some years ago), in which it was related that some imam was calling for the faithful to arise, because Muslims were converting to Christianity at the rate of 600+/day. I've no idea if this is true, but even out of a base of billions that's still an interesting number. And of course, those that convert, or choose to leave organized religion altogether, are going to be the most clear thinking and creative of the group... those that refuse to allow others to think for them.
KABUL: Afghan President Hamid Karzai announced a limited cabinet reshuffle on Wednesday that included the appointment of an adviser on foreign affairs, Rangeen Dadfar Spanta, as foreign minister in place of Abdullah Abdullah. Other changes included new ministers of commerce, rural development, transport, women's affairs, education and vocational and higher education, an official in Karzai's office said.
"The president has appointed a new cabinet as well as members of the Supreme Court and presented it to the Wolesi Jirga for approval," Karzai's office said in a statement, referring to the lower house of parliament. The assembly, formed after legislative elections in September, was not in session on Wednesday and it was not immediately clear when it would debate and vote on Karzai's cabinet members. There were no changes at the defence and finance ministries. Zarar Ahmad Moqbel, who has been acting minister of interior since the resignation in September of the former minister, Ali Ahmad Jalali, was made minister. Analysts said the changes were aimed at improving the government's efficiency and came after protracted Earlier, President Hamid Karzai's aide said that Abdullah would be replaced in the proposed Cabinet reshuffle.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/23/2006
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From a source that I've generally found to be better than CBS.
Weekly World News is one of my favorites ...
America's military arsenal includes a deadly new weapon: Submarine-like craft that travel underground instead of underwater! Dubbed Subterranean Underground Vehicles, or SUVs, 14 of the top-secret vessels are already roving far beneath the sands of Iran, poised to launch a surprise attack if it becomes necessary to overthrow the rogue regime.
"They're mega-gasguzzlers until the new Hybrid models come out, but that's no problem since they clandestinely tap into Iran's oil wells," said a reliable Pentagon source. "SUVs are already in place near Iraq's most strategically important cities -- including Tehran, Hamadan, Bakhtaran and Mashad. The White House is hoping diplomacy will persuade Iran to abandon its nuclear program. But if President Bush gives the word, elite troops aboard those craft could emerge and easily overrun Iran's unprepared defensive forces."
Each SUV's nose is equipped with powerful drills capable of boring through solid granite and the craft's six giant, retractable digging claws allow it to tunnel like a mole. Under farmland, the vehicles can travel 20 miles a day. "Under sand, they're faster -- capable of slithering up to 45 m.p.h.," the insider said. The source refused to provide details of the highly classified technology. But he warned: "If Iranian officials don't play ball with Uncle Sam they'll face dire consequences." Did you think this article was about CHevy Suburbans?
#2
This article is not as 'out there' as it might appear. Well, OK, parts of it are. But the idea of a weapon that bores into the ground is sound and certainly technically feasible, at least in sand and loose soils.
Mines (in the original sense of the word) for a very long time were the most effective weapon against defensive structures and arguably still are. An autonomous device that bores into the ground beneath structures before detonating has doubtless been experimented with and even made to work.
#5
But the idea of a weapon that bores into the ground is sound and certainly technically feasible, at least in sand and loose soils.
I seem to recall Britain researching such a vehicle during WWI, with the idea that it could tunnel (or maybe just dig a trench) over to the enemy's trenchline.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
03/23/2006 7:33
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Posted by: Steve ||
03/23/2006 8:16
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#7
Yep, and it's still there under France.
The clay was plastic enough to ooze in around the borer and trap it, written off as a failure and left as it could not be recovered.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
03/23/2006 8:26
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#9
Manufactured at a secret Alabama assemply plant believed to be owned by Home Depot, two eight hour production shifts of Evangelical Christians and seasonally employed Amish man the assembly lines. Production is well ahead of schedule. Field testing in both Cuba and Venezuela is on-going.
LONDON: Britain's highest court on Wednesday upheld a school's decision to require a Muslim pupil to abandon the jilbab in favour of school uniform, reversing a lower court decision. The Court of Appeal in March last year ruled that Shabina Begum was unlawfully excluded from Denbigh High School in Luton, north of London, after she refused to change out of the head-to-toe jilbab.
The school then appealed to the panel of five judges at the House of Lords, Britain's de facto supreme court, which ruled on Wednesday that the school had been fully justified in its actions. "It had taken immense pains to devise a uniform policy which respected Muslim beliefs but did so in an inclusive, unthreatening and uncompetitive way," Lord Thomas Bingham ruled. "The rules laid down were as far from being mindless as uniform rules could ever be. The school had enjoyed a period of harmony and success to which the uniform policy was thought to contribute."
He said the rules - drafted by a school where 75 percent of the students were Muslim and Muslims sat on school bodies - were acceptable to mainstream Muslim opinion.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/23/2006
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#1
How much you want to bet she's going to appeal to some EU court to overrule this decision? And win there?
The political administration of South Waziristan has denied a news item published in the Guardian and subsequently in Daily Times that claimed that local Talibans had taken control of the agency. In a press release that was issued on Wednesday, the South Waziristan administration said the "mischievous report" of the Guardian about the Taliban collecting taxes, setting up checkpoints and establishing Islamic courts in Wana, was totally baseless and misleading. "In order to bring permanent peace in the area, a peace committee comprising of ulema, tribal elders, intellectuals and representatives of the business community has been formed to assist the administration in maintaining law and order," the statement said.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/23/2006
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Either Asif Zardari or Gomez Addams, I'm not sure which...
The district coordination officers of Nawabshah, Sanghar and Hyderabad have confiscated properties owned by Asif Ali Zardari as ordered last month by an accountability court, said the National Accountability Bureau on Wednesday. DCOs submitted details of the confiscated properties to the court as such, 98 acres of agricultural land in Sanghar, nine acres in Hyderabad, 39 acres agricultural land in Deh Deliwadi, Hyderabad, two acres agricultural land in Nawabshah and a plot in Cooperative Society, Nawabshah, said a NAB press release.
NAB has also moved an application at the Accountability Court for attachment of overseas properties of Zardari, it said, adding that the court would take up the application on April 4.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/23/2006
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A hotel in Germany has started charging its guests by the pound for an overnight stay, according to a Local 6 News report. The hotel owner in the town of Norden, Juergen Heckrodt, said he was continually getting overweight guests, so he decided to make them step on the scales to determine room costs. "Und iff Michael Moore and Ted Kennedy stay here, I can retire!"
The hotel requires guests to pay half a euro or 61 cents per 2.2 pounds, according to a Reuters report. Divide by 22, bring down the 1... That's $0.27/lb. Even cut-rate hamburger is more than that.
The report said that the move appears to be working with returning guests. "Much to (Heckrodt's) surprise, the guests were thinner on their next visit," according to the report.
Heckrodt said he hopes his initiative will inspire others to lose weight too and live longer. The hotel does not turn anyone away who refuses to step on the scales. If they do refuse, they are charged a regular room rate -- without a discount.
#2
There are an awful lot of very big boned people in Germany, as I was shocked to discover when we moved there. The babies are much bigger, too, not surprising given the habit of feeding them bits of the wares as Mama make the rounds of the shops (a slice of wurst at the butcher, half a roll at the baker, gummi bears at the dry cleaner, lollipops at the pastry shop, a banana at the green grocer). I wasn't organized enough to do my shopping in the mornings, so the trailing daughters were stuffed by the traditional suppertime. German babies are too large to move until about 18 months, and generally don't approach walking until after 24. American babies are generally thoroughly mobile by a year, walking at 18 months.
BAGHDAD - Iraqs new government will be in place by April, interim Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari told a delegation of US senators on Tuesday, amid signs Washington is losing patience with the political stalemate in Baghdad.
Jaafari told the senators he felt this government could be formed by April and that included the actions by the parliament in confirming the new government, visiting Senator John Warner told reporters following talks with the prime minister.
Talks between Iraqs political factions on forming a government of national unity have been going on since general elections were held three months ago, but there has been little sign of progress despite warnings that stalemate might be fueling sectarian violence. We need to combine our efforts in order not to exceed a fourth month in forming a government, Jaafari conceded at a news conference Tuesday.
The American people do expect this government to come about swiftly, said Warner, a Republican who chairs the Senates Armed Services Committee. Theres been too much dawdling whilst Baghdad is burning, the ranking Democrat on the committe, Carl Levin, said for his part.
Our continuing presence here is dependant on their reaching a prompt political settlement on setting up a government of national unity, said Levin. Its not good enough to say were here as long as they need us ... The commitment now is too open-ended, he added.
That's a fair statement if it's meant to nudge the Iraqis.
Levin, and two other senators, Susan Collins and Jack Reed, recently wrote to US President George W. Bush calling on him to make it plain US forces would not stay in the country unconditionally. The US needs to make it clear to Iraqi leaders that a prompt political settlement is not only essential to them, it is a condition of our continued presence, the letter said.
They don't realize, of course, that they're carrying Dubya's water for him.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/23/2006
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#1
Im not sure the focus on promptness is so good. A couple of months longer, to get a govt not headed by Jaafari, might be worth it, no?
#2
I appreciate President Generals Levin, Collins and Reed for their astounding insight and sagacity, but don't they have important speaking engagements at a local Lion's Club to attend to?
Homeowners in an Orange County, Fla., neighborhood claim their community has been overrun by rats big enough to pick fights with small dogs, according to a Local 6 News report. First, let's ask: "Why do they hate us?"
Residents in the Conway Acres neighborhood in Orange County said the rats are scurrying around their neighborhood 24 hours a day. Homeowners said they have seen the rats running on power lines into homes. "The rats are running off that power line and that telephone pole into this line and into the house," homeowner Andy Price said. "They say some of these rats are so big that if they wanted to, they could pick a fight with a small dog," Local 6 reporter Todd Jurkowski said.
Neighbors said a home that was left in deplorable condition after Hurricane Charley provided a structure for the rats to multiply unnoticed. The rats then apparently spread throughout the neighborhood, according to the report. Orange County code enforcement has ordered the homeowner to get a pest control company to assess the damage and kill the rats.
A town meeting will be held next week with experts from the health department offering tips on how to end the infestation.
#3
DB, maybe we can arrange to have the pythons eat the rats and then have the gators eat the pythons. (Don't know what to do about the gators. Leave 'em alone, I guess.)
Posted by: Jonathan ||
03/23/2006 6:54
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#4
(Don't know what to do about the gators. Leave 'em alone, I guess.)
Eat 'em, make luggage out of 'em.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
03/23/2006 7:35
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#5
MMMM bar-b-qued gator tail!
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
03/23/2006 7:36
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DHAKA: Bangladesh's top Sharia-based commercial bank, Islami Bank, has denied it played a role in financing militants after regulators detected that funds had been transferred to suspicious accounts from its branches. The government has ordered a crackdown on sources of funding to thousands of Islamist militants, including members of two outlawed groups whose top leaders have been captured recently, in efforts to wipe out Islamist extremism in the country.
The Islami Bank has come under the spotlight of the central bank's anti-money laundering investigations, as it draws most of its capital from overseas Islamic institutions. "We do not support terrorist activities, and we don't have any involvement with terror financing in any form," Abdur Raquib, executive president of the Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited (IBBL), told Reuters late on Tuesday. The central bank had probed many of its accounts and the bank itself had conducted a separate investigation, he said. "We have suspended five employees including three branch managers and issued show cause notice to 15 others for their involvement in suspected transactions," Raquib said.
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LAHORE: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Wednesday granted bail to Tajwar Naeemi of the Tahafuz-e-Namoos-e-Risalat Mahaz (TNRM) in a terrorism case after he submitted bail bonds worth Rs 30,000. A case had been registered again Tajwar, brother of Jamia Naeemia Principal Dr Sarfraz Naeemi, at Qila Gujjar Singh police station for inciting people to violence and creating law and order during the February 14 protests against Prophet Muhammad's (pbuh) caricatures. Tajwar submitted an affidavit that he had nothing to do with the incidents which took place on February 14. The court had earlier granted Tajwar bail in a terrorism case registered against him at Old Anarkali police station.
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A French prosecutor in the trial of 27 people suspected of planning a terrorist attack on the Eiffel Tower Tuesday challenged an attempt by one defendant to have the case against him thrown out. Anne Kostomaroff rejected a claim by 41-year-old Algerian former army officer and chemicals expert Said Arif that the French court could not try him for acts committed outside France. Kostomaroff said Arif was a legitimate defendant before for the French courts because he had allegedly acted as one of a group of defendants accused of committing crimes in France. The prosecutor also rejected a call by Arif's lawyer, Sebastien Bono, not to allow evidence he claimed had been obtained from his client under torture in Damascus. She said the Algerian had been questioned in Damascus at the request of the French authorities and in the presence of a French examining magistrate.
"Sit down, M. le Defense Attorney, and prepare to defend your client. This trial is ON."
#1
Will the defense then accuse the French examining magistrate (who, I believe entirely based on this article, was at the questioning to prevent torture) of abetting or even participating in the alleged torture?
Posted by: Edward Yee ||
03/23/2006 1:01
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KUWAIT CITY - The first woman ever to contest elections in the conservative Gulf state of Kuwait has launched her campaign by breaking a 44-year-old taboo in bringing male and female voters together.
Good for her.
Hundreds of men and women attended the landmark event late Tuesday, which was held according to Kuwaiti tradition in a huge tent where they listened to Jenan Bushehri who is vying to win a seat on the municipal council. It was the first time women have attended an election gathering in Kuwait since polls were held for the first time in this oil-rich emirate in 1962, and the first campaign event ever to be addressed by a woman.
Men and women were however made to sit slightly apart from each other although under the same tent. I promise I will not disappoint you if you elect me, Bushehri said in her address.
Kuwaiti women were granted full political rights in a historic vote in parliament in only May 2005. The government subsequently appointed two women members in the municipal council and named the first woman minister.
Bushehri is being challenged by 11 candidates, including another woman, in the April 4 by-election for the only seat up for grabs in the district of Salmiya, some 15 kilometers (10 miles) southeast of Kuwait City. The other woman candidate is Khaleda Al Khader, a physician and mother of eight. Both women belong to the minority Shiite Muslim community who make up about 30 percent of the native population but are just under half the number of voters in the constituency.
Wearing the hijab, the Muslim headcover, Bushehri, 33, called on the audience to fight sectarianism and tribalism and pledged to combat red tape and corruption, allegedly rampant in the civic body. Bushehri, who is married with two daughters, holds a masters in chemical engineering and is working on her doctorate. She heads the food examination department at the municipality.
More qualified than Hilliary to be U.S. Senator.
The council -- a civic body that carries out tasks such as city planning, organization and regulation of housing -- has 16 members, 10 of whom are elected and the rest appointed by the emir.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/23/2006
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Heavily armed police raided a hotel in Harares southern suburb of Mabelreign early morning Tuesday and severely assaulted the guests. The uniformed forces arrived at the Feathers Hotel at around 04:00 claiming they were searching for a fugitive armed robber. Without informing the management, the police surrounded the hotel and started assaulting the staff members on duty, accusing them of housing the wanted man.
Police then searched all the hotel rooms and assaulted their occupants, including this journalist who had booked there for the night. One of the attacked hotel guests who refused to be named said: I was sleeping with my wife in our room and the police used force to open the door. They assaulted us without posing any questions. My wife was left nude during the scuffle.
However, guests who had been turned out of their rooms by the police and grouped in the hotels corridors were saved from further beatings when a sound emerged from one of the rooms in the first floor. When police went to investigate, they found a woman sleeping in the room. She claimed she was a prostitute who had been hired by someone for the night. She claimed she did not know her lovebird who had disappeared whilst she was asleep.
Police officers at the scene suspected that the suspected robber had jumped to the ground but the suspect was not seen by any of their colleagues who had surrounded the hotel. The hotel guests were then paraded for identification. The wanted mans accomplice who was arrested in connection with a shooting incident conducted the identification and not any of the guests was positively identified.
#3
why were they there in the first place, I guess they get what they get
Posted by: bk ||
03/23/2006 10:19
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sounds like the Orchid in Zamboanga
Posted by: bk ||
03/23/2006 10:19
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Without informing the management, the police surrounded the hotel and started assaulting the staff members on duty, accusing them of housing the wanted man.
Um, it's a hotel. Housing people is what they do!
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
03/23/2006 10:35
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Venezuelan police helped the U.S. ambassador leave a Caracas building after a group of President Hugo Chavez's supporters blockaded him inside, U.S. officials said on Wednesday.
Guarico State Gov. Eduardo Manuitt, an ally of Chavez, said the protesters were peacefully demonstrating against U.S. Ambassador William Brownfield after he visited opposition leaders and a chamber of commerce. But U.S. embassy officials said a group of about 100 mainly students with anti-U.S. placards trapped the envoy inside the building for four hours while they burned tires and set fire to a U.S. flag before police stepped in to clear the way.
"When the ambassador went to leave the building, he felt he could not because he believed the protests were potentially violent," said an embassy spokeswoman. "The local authorities finally helped him out and he left for the airport."
The only person jailed for life by the international war crimes tribunal in The Hague has had his sentence cut on appeal to 40 years. Milomir Stakic, the 44-year-old former mayor of Prijedor in northern Bosnia, was held responsible for the notorious detention camps set up there in 1992.
Pictures of emaciated prisoners behind barbed wire, reminiscent of Nazi concentration camps, shocked the world.
But not the Euros, and especially not the court.
The appeals court said the original sentence was inappropriate. It upheld Stakic's conviction for the extermination and persecution of Prijedor's non-Serb population in order to create a Serbian municipality to join a pure Serbian state. But it also upheld his acquittal of genocide.
Apparently killing 1,500 people isn't enough to qualify for the genocide finals.
It said the evidence was consistent with the trial chamber's conclusion that Stakic "intended to displace but not to destroy" non-Serbs.
They just up and died anyway.
But correspondents say the ruling could mean that Stakic actually spends longer in jail. His life sentence would have been subject to a review after 20 years, but the 40-year sentence has no such provision.
As a top administrator in the Prijedor region, Stakic, oversaw the setting up of the Omarska, Keraterm and Trnopolje camps, in which more than 1,500 Bosnian Muslims and Croats died.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/23/2006
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EFL Three major tribes live in North Waziristan, which has become the Taliban's prime stronghold outside of Afghanistan: the Wazirs, the Mehsuds and the Dawar. British soldiers referred to the Wazirs as wolves, and the Mehsuds as panthers of the mountains.
The Dawar have traditionally been peace-loving, preferring shopkeeping to guns and towns over mountains. The Mehsud and Wazir tribes, though, have been arch-rivals for centuries. Traditionally, the Mehsuds have been part of the Pakistani establishment, and as recently as the past few years they supported the military's actions against Wazir tribes, who are mostly Taliban.
In today's North Waziristan, though, Maulana Sadiq Noor and Maulana Abdul Khaliq are the unbending leaders of the Taliban-led resistance. They are both Dawar and, even more startling, the Wazirs and the Mehsuds are under their command. The man in charge of launching mujahideen raids into Afghanistan is Maulana Sangeen, an Afghan from neighboring Khost province.
In South Waziristan, Haji Omar, a Wazir, is the leader of the resistance against Pakistani forces, while Afghan operations run from the area are taken care of by Abdullah Mehsud, of the Mehsud tribe. "Nobody has seen such an arrangement in centuries, where the Mehsuds and Wazirs are fighting side-by-side, and more, under the command of the Dawars," said a local bureaucrat in Waziristan who spoke to Asia Times Online on the condition of anonymity.
The revolution that is sweeping across Waziristan is not confined to the region. It is on the march, with the eventual targets being Kabul and Islamabad. The overall command center is in South Waziristan, where al-Qaeda No 2 Ayman al-Zawahiri calls the shots, while Tahir Yaldevish, leader of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and a key figure in the Afghan resistance, moves around Paktika province in Afghanistan.
Well-placed sources in the Taliban movement who spoke to Asia Times Online claim that the Taliban communicated "final messages" to Afghan and Pakistani officials, warning of direct attacks across both countries against top army and civilian officials. As a result, according to the sources, Pakistan stopped military operations in North and South Waziristan that were aimed at rooting out Taliban and foreign forces.
In Afghanistan, the Taliban strategy is to terrorize Afghan officials and prevent them from cooperating with foreign forces. And once the allied forces are alienated, attacks on them will be intensified. At the same time, the administrations in the capitals of the two countries are becoming increasingly isolated. The US-backed ruling royalists in Kabul are now threatened by Islamists who completely dominate parliament after recent general elections. There is no doubt that radical Islamists, whether those of the Hizb-i-Islami, the Ittehad-i-Islami led by Professor Abdul Rasul Sayyaf, the alliance led by Yunus Qanooni or dozens of independent former Taliban, are now at the helm of political affairs in Kabul. And the US-backed ruling and nominally secular officers of the Pakistani army are more on their own than ever before. A silent alliance of religious elements and religious parties is keeping a sharp eye on developments in the mountains, waiting for its chance to join in the revolution as it rolls off the mountaintops.
#2
i didnt think Qanooni was an islamist. I think the analysis of Afghan politics sounds like the usual stretch from Asia Times. I wonder if their take on Waziristan is to be trusted?
#3
I think it depends on your definition of Islamist, LH, which is one of my problems with the term. If by that you mean someone who accepts some degree of political Islam, I suspect most Afghan politicians would qualify as such. I have problems of lumping Qanooni in with Sayyaf, who certainly is one nasty SOB.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/23/2006 14:04
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#4
Maybe not a nuke strike, anymouse, but it would be "educational" to have a Dresden-style bombing of Wana or Miranshah, or both - plus. Unload a couple of thousand tons of iron bombs on their heads and see how much they like their Taliban government, and are willing to face the US government in a REAL war. Our biggest problem in these areas is that we've been too nice. These people link "nice" with "weak". We need to demonstrate, at least once, just how anal we can be. Nothing earns respect quicker than a 50-ship formation of B-52s (if we have that many left)dropping BIG bombs on your head.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/23/2006 18:40
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Jehangir Karamat, Pakistan's ambassador to the United States, is being replaced by retired general of the Pakistan Army Mahmood Durrani. The formal announcement from the Foreign Office is expected to be made when the agreement — the request to the host government to accept the nominated person as ambassador and plenipotentiary — which has already been sent to the US government is approved and received back in Islamabad.
It is not clear why Ambassador Karamat, who took up his post on a two-year contract, which is normal, around a year and a half ago is returning home. Maj Gen Durrani, an armoured corps officer like Gen Karamat, was Gen Zia-ul-Haq's military secretary for several years. He will become the third armoured corps officer to serve as Pakistan's ambassador to Washington.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/23/2006
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#1
Theory: armoured corps generals are not in high demand these days - the Pakistanis have concluded that they're not likely to be playing Patton-and-Rommel on the Indian border anytime soon, so that the excess would-be-George-C-Scotts are being shuffled over to the diplomatic corps.
Or, y'know, not.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
03/23/2006 12:45
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Keep your friends close and your generals with sketchy loyalties and a bunch of well-armed ululating followers on the other side of three oceans.
Although there were odd cases of piracy and other transnational crimes in the Melaka Strait over the years, none of them was linked to any acts of terror, Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency Director-General Vice-Admiral Datuk Mohammad Nik said Wednesday. There was no proof of any "ill-intended activities at sea" related to any form of terrorism in the strait over the years, he said in a special interview with Bernama.
[Mohammad] was refuting the allegation of the London-based Joint Committee on War (LJCW) which placed the strait in the "war risk and terrorism" zone list in June last year, based on perceived enhanced risk in relation to war terrorism. Some 50,000 merchant ships carrying 30 per cent of the world's trade and 80 per cent of East Asia's oil pass through the strait every year, making it a lure to activities of piracy.
But according to Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Abdul Razak, cases of piracy in the 900km strait were reported to average only six to nine cases a year or 0.01 per cent. However, the committee's poor rating of the one of the world's widely-used waterways has caused insurance premium for ships traversing the strait to soar, passing on the increase to shipping freight rates.
Mohammad said that admittedly the government had no control over the level of insurance premium imposed on ships sailing through the straits.
"But at the same time it is probably a business opportunity where insurance companies take advantage of the situation," he said.
Singapore Police Coast Guard Commander Deputy Assistant Commissioner of Police Jerry See said it was interesting to find out how the LJCW calculated the war risk of a waterway.
"They have not only placed Malaysia in the list last year but continue to do so this year, despite the improvement in security of the strait. The tag of a war risk zone for the strait is certainly unwarranted," he told Bernama in an interview today. He was referring to the Melaka Strait being free of crime since last October, with only one piracy case between June and December last year.
The littoral states are beginning to cooperate with one another and allowing user nations to lend support and expertise. Malaysia is forming a Coast Guard. Piracy in the Straits has dropped a bit, or at least there are more arrests. The Joint Committee on War can claim a good part of the credit. Proves that once you have them by the wallet, their hearts and minds will follow...
Red meat for the immigration debate frequently held on Rantburg.
SAN DIEGO (AP) - As the Senate prepares to tackle the most sweeping immigration reforms in years, a top Democrat vowed Wednesday to do everything in his power, including filibuster, to thwart Majority Leader Bill Frist's proposed overhaul.
Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he would ``use every procedural means at my disposal'' to prevent Frist from bypassing the Judiciary Committee. Frist, R-Tenn., has made clear the Senate will take up his proposal next week if the 18-member committee fails to complete a broader bill. ``If Leader Frist brings a bill to the floor that does not have the approval of the Judiciary Committee, it will not get out of the Senate,'' Reid told reporters at the San Ysidro border crossing, a few steps from Tijuana, Mexico.
Bob Stevenson, a spokesman for Frist, did not immediately respond to a call Wednesday evening.
Reid said the overhaul must include heightened border enforcement, a ``guest worker'' program and a ``path to citizenship'' for the estimated 11 million people in the United States illegally. He called legislation by Sens. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and John McCain, R-Ariz., a ``good place to start.''
President Bush, in a State of the Union address two years ago, urged Congress to create a worker program under which participants could gain legal status for a specific time and then be required to return home. It would not provide an automatic path to citizenship.
Frist unveiled a bill last week that sidesteps the question of temporary work permits. It would tighten borders, punish employers who hire illegal immigrants and provide more visas.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/23/2006
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I didn't vote for Sen. Reid, why should he set the policy for the entire country?
#3
Reid is just looking to make "Bush Republicans look bad" nothing more. He is a dirt ball not a boy scout as he is imaged in the media.
Posted by: SPoD ||
03/23/2006 1:48
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#4
"What is Reid's angle?"
He sees a handy source of 11 million new Democrats.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
03/23/2006 5:55
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a ``path to citizenship'' for the estimated 11 million people in the United States illegally.
Here's the path: go home, apply according to the law, and get in line. No one who ignores our sovereignty should be given citizenship.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
03/23/2006 7:48
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#6
With growing opposition to immigration, the Dems once again choose the losing hand. Add it to 'Let's not listen in to terrorists calling home', the 'Let's close down the Patriot Act', etc list of saying in bigs words - We Are not the Party of the People.
You know, usually the socialist doing these things have in the past done it while owning the government. I don't get the concept of thinking you can do it when you're not in control of the government.
#7
DD "He sees a handy source of 11 million new Democrats."
All immigration and social entitlement programs look like 'new voters' in the eyes of a liberal. Pretty soon there will be (if there isn't already) 'multi-lingual' and 'illiterate-sensitive' voting policies.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
03/23/2006 8:58
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#8
Good job, Harry! McCain and Kennedy may have been able to sneak their bill through. Now, all eyes and ears are on the debate and which side the Donks will vote on. Count on it being against Joe Six-pack. Karl Rove gets an early Easter present
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/23/2006 9:10
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#9
Not an easy problem. 11 million illegals= 11 million search results!
Results 1 - 10 of about 11,000,000
www.google.com/search?lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=immigration%20reforms
AMMAN - Detained former Iraqi deputy prime minister Tariq Aziz has been fitted with a new set of dentures and is in generally good health, his son said Wednesday, despite reports he could be close to death. My father phoned us on Monday. He was in high spirits and said he was generally in good health, Ziad Aziz told AFP. He told us that the Americans gave him a new set of dentures, having lost his teeth eight months ago, Ziad said, adding that during that time his father had been living on liquid food.
The mind boggles.
Azizs lawyer and his own family have repeatedly said over the past weeks that Saddam Husseins former mouthpiece as it were, being held in US custody in Iraq, was in poor health.
One attorney has called for him to be transferred to Moscow, saying he needed urgent medical treatment for heart problems. Tareq Aziz is not in good health. He is suffering from an embolism ... and complains of severe pain in his heart, Italian lawyer Giovanni di Stefano told the Russian government daily Rossiiskaya Gazeta on Tuesday.
Gitmo has docs. So does Diego Garcia. I'm pretty sure the Navy docs can handle whatever he has.
In January Azizs Iraqi lawyer Badie Arif Ezzat, warned that his clients health has seriously deteriorated following cerebral embolism and heart problems, and that he could soon die.
Sooner he dies, sooner he meets Himmler.
But a US official said Azizs health had not significantly worsened and noted that he had been suffering from existing ailments when taken into custody after his surrendered to US forces following the fall of Baghdad in April 2003.
Sorta like how the mob bosses spend all their nights chowing food at the Italian diner, but as soon as they're arraigned on charges they pop up with all sorts of ailments. It gets worse when they're actually convicted.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/23/2006
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...8 months ago he was in a jail cell - where the hell did he lose his teeth?
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
03/23/2006 12:26
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#2
IIRC, an army dentist caught some flak for making Tojo a set of "REMEMBER PEARL HARBOR!" dentures. Wonder what would is inscribed on these plates?
Posted by: bruce ||
03/23/2006 12:34
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Shoulda let the dentist brothers from "Iraq the Model" make T's teeth.
A key town in South Waziristan lost contact with rest of the country after suspected militants blew up a telephone exchange in Shakai Valley, security officials said on Wednesday. It comes two days after a similar attack on a radio transmission in Wana took Radio Pakistan off the air. "A telephone exchange of 600 lines was hit in Shakai Valley at 7:30pm on Tuesday when a bomb went off damaging its satellite dish and boosters," the officials told Daily Times wishing not to be named.
They said anti-government elements, a reference to Al Qaeda and Taliban-linked militants, were behind the attack and the aim was to disrupt government communication lines in Waziristan.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/23/2006
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Some people have a thing for pipelines, some for comm gear. Everyone needs a hobby.
Two Norwegian soldiers in the Telemark Battalion are dead after their tank went through the ice and into a bog during the military exercise Cold Response
The removal of 'snowshoes' to avoid ruining roads may have been a contributing factor to the accident that claimed two lives during the military exercise Cold Response. "Our investigations show that the tank slid sideways down into the ice-covered pool," said Kjell Rambøl of the Narvik police. The tank apparently had one tread on land and the other on ice, and Rambøl confirmed that how the tank was shod is being checked now. Pictures from the rescue action show that the tank that entered the water did not have ice crampons on its treads. When Aftenposten visited Cold Response before the accident last week, the crampons were being laboriously removed with crowbars and sledgehammers in order to move the vehicles without damaging the roads. A few days later the accident occurred.
The preliminary autopsy report indicates that the soldiers died of drowning," Monica Samland Johansen, lawyer with the Midtre Hålogaland police, told news agency ANB. The two who succumbed were inside the tank, the survivors were in the turret. Major Christian Chramer of the sixth division confirmed that the crew had training in evacuation procedures in case of a crash in water. Breathing equipment was mounted by the driver and the crew had rehearsed evacuation in an underwater simulator. Police also said their technical investigations show that there was nothing wrong with the tank, but the military investigation was continuing, with a focus on the lack of 'snowshoes' on the vehicle. Rest well, and give our regards to Odin.
An anti-terrorism court in Sibi convicted five militants on Wednesday on two counts of terrorism, a judge said. The five men, all Pakistani, had been involved in the March 2005 bombing of a Shia shrine, killing 45 people, and in the manufacturing of an explosive device. Anti-terrorism court judge Ismail Baloch sentenced Abdul Halim and Muhammad Aslam to death over their involvement in both the Gandhawa shrine blast and the manufacturing of explosives. The shrine blast had taken place as about 20,000 pilgrims, including Sunnis, had gathered at the shrine of a 19th Shia saint.
The judge sentenced Muhamamd Abdullah, Muhammad Arshad and Khalil Ahmad to life imprisonment over their involvement in the shrine attack. Bomb-making charges against them were dropped due to lack of evidence. Prosecution lawyer Deen Mohammad Marri said that the defendants had admitted to belonging to a branch of Sipah-e-Sahaba, an outlawed Sunni Muslim group charged with provoking previous sectarian violence in the country. He said that the men had the right to appeal against their sentencing.
Inspector General Police Balochistan Chaudhry Yaqub had last year said that four of the men had received militant training in Afghanistan and that two of them had fought alongside the Taliban in Afghanistan against US-led coalition forces. The accused were arrested at a mosque in Usta Muhammad, close to where the shrine blast took place, when a bomb they were making accidentally exploded, injuring one of them.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/23/2006
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Another step in the right direction, to be quickly reversed...
Either Julius Streicher or Uncle Fester, I'm not sure which...
Law enforcement agencies were directed by the Interior ministry on Wednesday to take punitive action against those involved in publishing and distributing sectarian material in the country. The police chiefs of the four provinces and the federal capital had been directed to take action against police officials in whose precincts the publication of hatred material was being carried out, with termination from service being the maximum penalty. They had also been asked to direct the district nazims and district police officers to contact the prominent Shia and Sunni leaders in their areas to address their security concerns, sources told Daily Times.
The orders had been made after intelligence agencies warned that the recent surge in sectarian violence in Iraq could trigger a similar backlash in Pakistan. The situation could be exploited by militants who could target laces of worship and high profile officials, the sources said The interior ministry stated that since the issue had serious implications for public order and terrorism concerns, an immediate response by the law-enforcement agencies was essential. The provincial authorities have been asked to convene joint meetings of the district peace committees and the local religious leaders of both sectarian groups to reduce any possible reactionary feelings, sources added. The authorities have also been asked to beef up security around mosques and Imambargahs and arrest under Anti-Terrorism Act, any religious leader delivering proactive speeches.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/23/2006
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#1
I'd feel more comfortable with a concrete definition for hate material. In that part of the world such terms are often defined as, "Anything I say is ok, if what you say offends me, that's hateful."
North Korea has no people with physical disabilities because they are killed almost as soon as they are born, a physician who defected from the communist state said on Wednesday.
Ri Kwang-chol, who fled to the South last year, told a forum of rights activists that the practice of killing newborns was widespread but denied he himself took part in it. "There are no people with physical defects in North Korea," Ri told members of the New Right Union, which groups local activists and North Korean refugees.
He said babies born with physical disabilities were killed in infancy in hospitals or in homes and were quickly repacked as Soilent Green buried. The practice is encouraged by the state, Ri said, as a way of purifying the masses and eliminating people who might be considered "different."
The group urged the South Korean government to change course away from "silent diplomacy" and immediately begin taking action to pressure the North to improve its human rights record.
The South Korean government has refused to join international condemnation of human rights abuses in the North out of concern that such a move could rattle ties with Pyongyang, which considers any criticism of its human rights as deeply offensive. "The government should stop trying to avoid upsetting Kim Jong-il," said another defector, Kim Young-sun, 67, referring to the North Korean leader. "It should try to upset Kim Jong-il," she said, adding it would be the best way to change the North.
Kim Young-sun is a survivor of the North's Yodok prison camp, notorious for its forced labor and life-sentences for people charged with conspiring against the Kim Jong-il leadership.
Mun Hyon-ok said women from her hometown in the northern region of North Korea bordering China were taken by a ring of human traffickers and probably ended up in China. "And there are women who are selling themselves for a handful of rice," she told the forum.
North Korea has called itself a people's paradise and said criticism of its human rights was motivated by a goal of toppling the leadership of Kim Jong-il.
South Korea has come under fire from human rights groups and some countries for abstaining in votes on U.N. measures to condemn the North's human rights record. Seoul has also avoided the subject in bilateral talks with the North. South Korean officials have said the best way to improve the situation is through quiet diplomacy and encouraging the North to improve its food situation and open up to the international community.
#1
Yet another Failed Commie state fighting for its god-given Stalinist right to have a global economy smaller than its land mass or one of its major cities!?
#2
I've heard of testmony that if a woman who is pregnant is returned from China (after escaping) they would either abort the child or (get this!) induce labor and kill the newborn right in front of the mother.
#3
Do not mock the Juche or you will end up vewy ronery.
Posted by: Kim Chee ||
03/23/2006 5:08
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South Korean officials have said the best way to improve the situation is through quiet diplomacy and encouraging the North to improve its food situation and open up to the international community.
How....EU of them. I mean, that approach is working so well with Iran.
#9
Some day, when the walls of this country-sized concentration camp are torn down, and everyone who survives can go into horrific detail about what is going on, (and has been going on for 50 years) there are people whose political careers are going to be over, because they will be shown to have had an interest in letting it all continue. And even more people will be looking on with shame in their hearts, because they can say "I didn't know"--- but they should have extrapolated from the stories like this that leak out.
What the world will find, when North Korea finally implodes will make what the Allies found in Germany and Poland at the end of WWII look like child's play. The best of us will be horrified and regretful and sorry that it didn't happen sooner...and the worst of us will take careful notes.
Why not start it yourselves? Go in there en masse and clear those pigstys out. With plenty of troops (and some grapeshot if needed).
Oh, yeah, I forgot - it's Frogistan.
What was I thinking?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/23/2006 11:16
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The French have far more serious issues at hand. For example, Radio France 2 ran a report last week on how difficult it is to find a decent meal in medium-priced restaurants.
#8
the Franch authorities have brought on these problems, nurtured and coddled them for decades. They earned their pain. No pain, no gain. Just gotta share it with the Islamists
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/23/2006 19:20
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EL AYOUN, Western Sahara - Morocco will consult the people of Western Sahara on the plan to give the territory greater autonomy which it is to submit to the United Nations soon, Communications Minister Nabil Benabdellah said on Wednesday.
Rabat, which annexed the largely desert but phosphate-rich territory after colonial rulers Spain pulled out in 1975, is proposing wider autonomy but rejects UN demands for self-determination by a referendum. On the other side is the Polisario Front, which fought a guerrilla war for the territory until a 1991 ceasefire and expects that a referendum will back its declaration of an independent state 30 years ago.
The process of consultation begun on March 11 with Moroccos political parties will be widened to the Sahrawi people, notably through the Consultative Council for Saharan Affairs, Benabdellah, the government spokesman, told AFP. He was speaking during a visit by Moroccos King Mohammed VI to El Ayoun, the territorys main city.
Benabdellah said Moroccos offer was final and Rabat could not improve on it. The great powers support the idea of a political solution, he said, calling on dialogue to end the conflict for good.
But he said that Rabats submission of its autonomy plan to the United Nations, originally scheduled for next month, could be delayed for several weeks. The political parties must hand their responses to the king by March 31, then we must draw up an analysis, he said. The main thing is that Morocco is committed to make proposals on autonomy, and will do it as soon as possible after the end of the consultations.
The UN-sponsored ceasefire in 1991 was supposed to have been followed by a referendum on self-determination, but Rabat failed to comply, initially raising objections over who was entitled to vote. It has since dismissed UN proposals that the referendum followed a five-year period of autonomy for the 266,000 square kilometres (90,000 square miles) of desert flatlands on Africas northwestern coast.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/23/2006
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Five military personnel were injured when their vehicle struck a landmine near Dera Bugti and three children were injured when a bomb exploded in Osta Muhammad area of Jafferabad on Wednesday. Spokesman of Balochistan Government Raziq Bugti said that the vehicle struck to a landmine in Gori area situated at the border of Sibi and Dera Bugti. Locals said security forces launched another aerial attack in the Tratani, Nisao and Daho areas where a woman and a girl were injured. Unconfirmed clashes were also reported in these areas. An electricity pylon was damaged in Sibi Harnai section on Tuesday. Quetta Electricity Supply Company Spokesman Jibreel Khan said the repair work would be complete in a few days.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/23/2006
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The government has kept open the door to negotiations for a political solution to the troubles in Balochistan and Waziristan, but it will not allow miscreants to blackmail the state, President Gen Pervez Musharraf said in a meeting with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Wednesday.
Looking for a little face to save...
The government will not allow the miscreants in Balochistan and the tribal areas to challenge the writ of the government and attack security forces, the president said in the meeting at Army House. However, he added that talks were still possible, but we will not let them blackmail us. He praised the government effort to develop the tribal belt, saying all available resources should be used for this purpose.
Gonna try and bribe them, huh?
Gen Musharraf condemned Kabuls accusations that Pakistan is sheltering Taliban militants who are responsible for violence in Afghanistan. Pakistan has deployed 80,000 troops on the border with Afghanistan to stop the infiltration of terrorists, so the Afghan accusations were particularly hurtful.
The troops are there. They're just trying real hard not to cheese anybody off...
Posted by: Fred ||
03/23/2006
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#1
The poor man looks positively dyspeptic. Though who can blame him, given that it's Pakistan he rules, along with his little uniformed friends?
PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) - A retired aircraft carrier returned Wednesday to Pensacola, where the Navy plans to sink it and create the first of many artificial reefs from former warships. The USS Oriskany, a famed Korean and Vietnam War ship, is scheduled to be sunk May 17. Explosives will placed on board and the ship will go down about 22 miles off the Pensacola coast.
A permit issued by the Environmental Protection Agency allows the carrier to be sunk with toxic PCBs in its paint, insulation and other ship parts. The EPA said the chemicals would slowly leach as the carrier rusts, and would pose no danger to marine life or humans. The Oriskany was first towed to Pensacola in December 2004, only to be towed back to Texas in June to ride out the 2005 hurricane season.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/23/2006
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#2
A retired and honored veteran, given a sendoff intended to provide benefits to the environment after they're passed on... good for all involved, it seems. :)
Posted by: Edward Yee ||
03/23/2006 0:57
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#4
Coral reefs grow beautifully and very quickly on sunken ships. A lovely offset for the reefs being destroyed by dynamite-laden fishermen in other parts of the oceans. Also, I understand that corals can actually be transplanted -- break off a bit of coral from an established reef, glue it to the new substratum, and watch it grow. No need to wait for nature to take its course...
LONDON: One of Britain's leading Muslims demanded on Wednesday the government crackdown on "widespread" child abuse at Islamic schools in Britain.
Easy enough. Shut them all down. Britain doesn't need madrassahs.
Doctor Ghayasuddin Siddiqui, head of the Muslim Parliament of Great Britain forum, said the 700 or so madrassas were operating "outside the law".
The more reason to shut them down. And to raze the sites.
Siddiqui co-wrote a report on the dangers facing some of the 100,000 youngsters in Britain attending the schools, which are usually attached to mosques.
Shut the mosques violating the law down, too.
"Our understanding is that physical abuse is widespread," he said."We would like to see mosques and madrassas come into contact with local authorities and police and put together guidelines, and the teachers are trained and parents and children are involved and they are told what their rights are if ever an allegation is made."
Any religious school, of whatever religion, should have to adhere to the curriculum and social guidelines of the country.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/23/2006
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#1
my god your telling me we have 700 of these hate centres here in this dump?? sheesh just another sign of this lame countrys rapidly crumbling society! I give up with us i really do, sighs, this is just outa control and going from bad to worse by each month. Christ why is my country falling apart at the seams like this? I'd like to withdraw my citizenship of this country and move somewhere else, somewhere sane and unaffected by politically correct madness and pro AQ media that you get locked up for not subscribing too. Sad, very sad. :(
#2
When you determine where that is, I wish you would let me know. I'm right behind you. Mexico is pretty close to that, but it's so damned humid down there.
#3
Me too, SUK - compare and contrast the unequivocal damnations in the dailytimes with al-Beebs report:
in DailyTimes we have "Widespread" abuse in "Islamic" schools
versus
"anecdotal reports of abuse," in "Muslim" schools
Then you have the moral equivalence / comparisons with catholic church abuse.
Can you imagine an article on abuse within the church mentioning in passing that child abuse is, of course quite widespread in animist/muslim/other societies.
#6
So how did 700 madrassas get started without authorities becoming aware?
How did 100,000 children become enrolled in unlicensed, abusive "schools" without a parent or relative complaining?
Gotta give a little credit to Siddiqui, though I think he places way too much emphasis on what the British government needs to do. Maybe his co-religionists could start by not opening these cesspools or sending their children to them.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
03/23/2006 7:41
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#7
Well rum, sodomy and the lash are British traditions.
Posted by: ed ||
03/23/2006 8:16
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#8
It could be that these madrassahs are billed as simple after-school religious instruction associated with the mosques, much like Christian churches host Sunday schools, and Jewish synagogues host Hebrew schools. The issues are physical abuse of the students and, of course, pushing the children toward jihad against the ever-deserving kufr.
#9
Shep, you're right. I'd be very concerned for my safety these days in the UK. You've let so many of these shit bags in there that you've been over run just like roaches. Between this little piece and the preddeing one about the Farmers with their fertiliser, I think you people better start forming committees (yeah, vigilance committees ) to start rounding these turds up and inviting them to disappear. You have a REAL problem. Of course we here in the states have far too many also. And Canada ? Over run too, eh?
#10
I've never been in a madrassa but testimony over at faithfreedom.org indicates that kids are beaten for not memorizing the Koran fast enough; they are whipped if they ask a question that Islam can't answer; and, they are sodomized if they are attractive to a cleric.
#11
I have a rule, mess with my kids, then I intervene, and you won't like it.
The other day I had a person give me the finger, I broke it for them.
It won't happen again anytime soon, and the next time this particular person thinks of giving anyone else the finger, they'll think twice, three times, or simply not give anyone a finger again.
That's how to educate someone that actions have undesired consequences.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
03/23/2006 14:13
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#12
Guess where your radical jihadis come from?
Moderate Muslim families who mindlessly send their kids off to these hate schools to get brainwashed.
#14
I disagree about the curriculum, Fred. We home-schooled our youngest for five years (grades 3-8)because the school curriculum was absolutely worthless. Half the answers in the back of the 4th-grade textbook were WRONG. The 7th grade textbook stated that burning hydrogen gave off carbon dioxide and nitrogen (there's no carbon OR nitrogen involved).
The madrassas in England either need to be licensed and controlled, or shut down. "Controlled" doesn't necessarily mean that the government controls the course of study (although failing to provide a complete education to students could, in itself be considered child abuse), but in the behavior of both the students and the teachers. The laws of England do not allow child abuse. Being a Muslim school does not terminate those laws, or make them non-applicable. The teachers involved should be discredited and forced to emigrate back to wherever they came (I doubt many are local-born British citizens). Hanging them would be preferable,and would provide a long-term solution to the problem, but would probably upset the poor, soft-headed darlings in Brussels.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/23/2006 16:21
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HANGU: Shops and business centres remained closed here and tensions ran high some 40 days after the bombing of an Ashura procession that killed 45 people. Shias and Sunnis have not reached a peace agreement and a 12-member government committee was talking with both sects towards this end, official sources told Daily Times on Wednesday. They said there was little hope that normalcy would return to the city, devastated by post-bombing violence. Inspector General Police (NWFP) Riffat Pasha visited the area to appraise the security situation. The law and order situation was very tense, he added.
Pasha said the provincial government had approved the establishment of another police station and deployed 100 more policemen to stop sabotage and terrorism in the area.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/23/2006
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QUETTA, Pakistan - A Pakistani court on Wednesday convicted five Islamic militants in connection with a March 2005 bombing that killed 45 people at Shiite shrine, sentencing two to death and three to life in prison, a judge said. The five men, all Pakistanis, were arrested two days after the March 19, 2005, attack in Fatehpur, a town about 350 kilometers (210 miles) south of Quetta.
Judge Mohammed Ismail told The Associated Press by telephone that he issued the ruling at a court in Sibi district, where Fatehpur is located, on Wednesday. They (the men) played a direct role in the bomb attack, he said.
Deen Mohammed Marri, a prosecution lawyer, said the accused had confessed to their involvement in the attack and links with Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, an outlawed Sunni Muslim militant group blamed for previous sectarian violence in Pakistan. The bomb exploded when about 20,000 people, mostly Shiites but also some Sunnis, had gathered at the shrine of a 19th century Shiite saint.
Mohammed Aslam and Abdul Aleem got the death penalty, and Mohammed Abdullah, Mohammed Arshad and Khalil Ahmad were given life sentences. We had a very solid case and evidence against them, Marri said.
Marri said the five men were arrested from a home adjacent to a mosque in the same region where the shrine attack happened, after another bomb they were making accidentally went off, injuring one of them.
He'll wish the bomb finished the job off.
Pakistan has a history of sectarian violence, ...
Reeeeaaaallly? Coulda fooled me ...
... mostly blamed on rival majority Sunni and minority Shiite extremist groups.
It's not the Esquimoux.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/23/2006
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The Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) has made 22 recommendations to the government on how to end terrorism in the country, along with the recommendation that incidents of terrorism should not dubbed as jihad.
Hot damn! My surprise meter still works!
These proposals were compiled by the CII in its recent report, based on the findings and recommendations of a dialogue titled Islam and Terrorism which was attended by a number of scholars and experts. The CII recommended that all camps training militants or terrorists should be shut down immediately.
I'd say the very first step in stopping terrorism would be to shut down their spawning grounds...
It says that an overall review of intelligence organisations including the Federal Investigation Agency, the Intelligence Bureau, Inter-Services Intelligence and Military Intelligence should be conducted and these organisations should be strengthened to eliminate the political-backing of terrorists.
Maybe intelligence agencies should stick with collecting, analyzing, and reporting intelligence. Special operations should be in a separate organization — the same applies to the U.S., by the way. Special operations organizations should be forbidden from conducting domestic operations and domestic intelligence collection should be controlled by police agencies and not the military.
It recommended that all Muslim countries adopt a joint strategy to combat terrorism and a special committee of experts on terrorism be formed at the Organisation of the Islamic Conference level.
Good move. Pick the most ineffective organization you can think of.
The CII proposed that an agreement should be made between clerics belonging to different sects and foreign involvement in this regard should be stopped.
I'd guess they're referring to the Soddies, which surprises me, as well...
It said that protest gatherings and rallies should be restricted to specific areas and no one should be allowed to preach outside mosques and immambargah. It recommended that religious and racial discrimination be eliminated and the violation of human rights be stopped.
This sounds so... un-Pakistani. The Land of the Pure would never stand for it.
The participants were of the view that if the political system was strengthened, development works were carried out without discrimination and people had job opportunities, terrorism and militancy would decline. The report also recommended that all borders of the country be sealed and the Federally Administrated Tribal Areas be brought fully under state control.
If they're part of the nation, the state should control them. If the state doesn't control them, they're independent.
It recommended that a council of intellectuals, researchers, bureaucrats, military officials and criminologists be formed at the SAARC level which would investigate causes of terrorism.
Actually, these recommendations pretty well address them. The fundos would never stand for half of it, much less all of it.
The dialogue also recommended that the Interior Ministry issue licences to private detectives on individual and organisation basis. It also recommended that anti terrorist courts be strengthened.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/23/2006
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#1
I'm not sure whether I'm happy to see that there are still sane voices active in Pakistan or saddened by the fact that the Council of Islamic Ideology appears to be the lone voice in the wilderness that seems to have gotten a clue and figured out the processes of cause and effect.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/23/2006 0:16
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#2
IM semi uninformed opinion: the web site looks/reads like window dressing
#3
I think somebody realizes that current behavior will result in the end of several nations' governments, with lots of former government loyalists on the gibbit. It's just another form of CYA.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/23/2006 18:22
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#4
immambargah
that's the sound I make in the morning after gargling...coincidence? I think not
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/23/2006 20:23
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HEAVY fighting in the Somalian capital Mogadishu killed at least 20 people yesterday, with an Islamic militia battling forces that have challenged the clerics' growing power.
"Challenge our growing power, will you? That's downright unIslamic. Take *that*, apostates!"
The 20 dead included civilians and combatants, killed in the fighting or in the crossfire, medical workers, militia commanders and witnesses said. More than 63 militiamen and civilians, including a three-month-old boy, were wounded in the clashes in northern Mogadishu, said doctors at the Medina and Keysaney hospitals.
Hmmm. No holy men are listed among the deaders. I'm sure that's just a coincidence, or maybe an oversight.
Islamic militiamen, wearing civilian clothing and hiding their weapons, travelled in public buses to a checkpoint in a residential neighbourhood controlled by a member of a new alliance of warlords and armed businessmen, jumped out of the vehicles and seized control of three trucks mounted with machine guns there. Both sides then brought in reinforcements. The two sides used rocket-propelled grenades, anti-aircraft guns, machine guns, assault rifles and hand grenades. Dozens fled their homes.
The Lions of Islam® vs. The Werewolves of the Apocolypse®. May all their boils fester.
Fighters loyal to members of the alliance gradually gained the upper hand.
As if it matters.
Late breaking scores from the Somalia Sports Desk:
Two days of fierce clashes in Mogadishu between an Islamic militia and forces that have challenged clerics' growing power have killed at least 60 people, according to medical workers.
At least 20 people were killed in fighting Thursday, while the toll from Wednesday was 40, said Dr. Abdi Ibrahim, citing figures gathered from hospitals in Mogadishu by the city's doctors' association. At least 10 combatants were killed at the front line, said Abdulkadir Ahmed, who saw the dead while fleeing his home there.
A passenger bus was hit by a mortar round, killing five civilians. Gunmen shot dead two passengers in another public bus. Militiamen killed a man who denied them permission to hide behind his house. Two people were killed when a mortar shell exploded at their house, other witnesses said. Sporadic gunshots that began early Thursday escalated into heavier fighting later in the day, with the sound of exploding mortars and gunfire ringing in northeastern Mogadishu, residents said.
#2
"Islamic militiamen, wearing civilian clothing and hiding their weapons, travelled in public buses to a checkpoint in a residential neighbourhood "
If these miscreants are captured, I wonder if the ACLU (Mogadishu chapter)will demand that their rights be respected under the Geneva Convention protocols?
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.
Paris, 23 March (AKI) - The French parliament has passed a law that increases from 15 to 18 the age at which females may marry - the same age limit already in place for men. The law, which aims to prevent forced marriages, also extends harsher penalties for marital rape and assault to partners and ex-partners. 
The Easter Bunny has been sent packing at St. Paul City Hall. A toy rabbit, pastel-colored eggs and a sign with the words "Happy Easter" were removed from the lobby of the City Council offices, because of concerns they might offend non-Christians. 
LAHORE, PAKISTAN - Like many students at Punjab University, Mohammed Abid Faran worries about living costs almost as much as his studies. To save rupees, he counts on an Islamist student organization, 
IJT activists deny such charges. "This is false propaganda. There is not one incident in which IJT workers beat students," says Nasurallah Khan Goraya, president of IJT, which is linked to the 
Critics, however, say that IJT's strong-arm tactics at Punjab expose their ideological agenda. Four years ago, IJT spearheaded a movement for a walled-off cafeteria for women, points out professor Mujahid Ali Mansoori. "They would not allow a single boy and girl to sit alone," he says, adding, "When I was a student 30 years ago, it was a lot more liberal." Professor Mansoori and other faculty say the incident is but one example of IJT's growing power, despite the fact that IJT is technically banned from campuses, the result of a 1992 Supreme Court ruling aimed at ending decades of political violence at universities. And, they say, its influence reaches into the ranks of senior administration. Officials say they maintain the ban on IJT, but that the group benefits from influence gained in the 1970s and '80s. Still, they say, that influence is petering out. Muhammed Naeem Khan, the university registrar, says he is doing what he can to support that trend. "Whenever I have to exert force, I do," he says, adding, "I don't want to be fanatical in my approach. I don't chase every poster."
Two killed in 'crossfire'
ZAGREB - One out of every two working Croats has had sex with a colleague, according to a study released on Thursday by the employment web portal MojPosao.net. Conducted on 1,807 women and men of all age and education groups, the study indicated some self-restraint only in the patriarchal Dalmatia, where 36 per cent of the polled said they had sex at work. The ratio of 50 per cent of those sexually active on the job was almost uniform in other Croatian regions. 
South Park has exacted revenge on its former star Isaac Hayes by turning his character Chef into a paedophile and seemingly killing him off. The opening episode of the 10th series, screened in the US on Wednesday, appeared to be a satire on Scientology. Hayes, a Scientologist, quit the animated comedy after a different episode ridiculed the religion. 
WINCHESTER - Winchester police are investigating whether an unidentified man found hanging from a flagpole outside a Veterans of Foreign Wars post early yesterday is connected to the burning of the hall's American flag a couple of hours earlier. Police are "leaning to believe" that the dead man "is responsible for the flag burning," said Winchester police Detective James Hall. Police say the death is a suicide because "there is no foul play that we can determine," Hall said.
Afghan government forces killed 16 Taliban insurgents after surrounding them in mountains near the border with Pakistan, an Afghan army officer said on Wednesday. 
Metal Storm announces that it has conducted initial test firings of High Explosive ammunition at Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey in conjunction with the US Army's Armament Research Development and Engineering Centre (ARDEC).
The Algerian parliament has approved a law banning the call to embrace other religions than Islam. This law states to jail anyone "trying to call on a Muslim to embrace another religion," in remarks to the Christianizing (evangelize) campaigns taking place in the country.
KABUL: Afghan President Hamid Karzai announced a limited cabinet reshuffle on Wednesday that included the appointment of an adviser on foreign affairs, 
America's military arsenal includes a deadly new weapon: Submarine-like craft that travel underground instead of underwater! Dubbed Subterranean Underground Vehicles, or SUVs, 14 of the top-secret vessels are already roving far beneath the sands of Iran, poised to launch a surprise attack if it becomes necessary to overthrow the rogue regime.
LONDON: Britain's highest court on Wednesday upheld a school's decision to require a Muslim pupil to abandon the jilbab in favour of school uniform, reversing a lower court decision. The Court of Appeal in March last year ruled that Shabina Begum was unlawfully excluded from Denbigh High School in Luton, north of London, after she refused to change out of the head-to-toe jilbab.
BAGHDAD - Iraqs new government will be in place by April, interim Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari told a delegation of US senators on Tuesday, amid signs Washington is losing patience with the political stalemate in Baghdad.
Homeowners in an Orange County, Fla., neighborhood claim their community has been overrun by rats big enough to pick fights with small dogs, according to a Local 6 News report. 
DHAKA: Bangladesh's top Sharia-based commercial bank, Islami Bank, has denied it played a role in financing militants after regulators detected that funds had been transferred to suspicious accounts from its branches. The government has ordered a crackdown on sources of funding to thousands of Islamist militants, including members of two outlawed groups whose top leaders have been captured recently, in efforts to wipe out Islamist extremism in the country. 
LAHORE: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Wednesday granted bail to Tajwar Naeemi of the Tahafuz-e-Namoos-e-Risalat Mahaz (TNRM) in a terrorism case after he submitted bail bonds worth Rs 30,000. A case had been registered again Tajwar, brother of Jamia Naeemia Principal Dr Sarfraz Naeemi, at Qila Gujjar Singh police station for inciting people to violence and creating law and order during the February 14 protests against Prophet Muhammad's (pbuh) caricatures. Tajwar submitted an affidavit that he had nothing to do with the incidents which took place on February 14. The court had earlier granted Tajwar bail in a terrorism case registered against him at Old Anarkali police station.
A French prosecutor in the trial of 27 people suspected of planning a terrorist attack on the Eiffel Tower Tuesday challenged an attempt by one defendant to have the case against him thrown out. 
Venezuelan police helped the U.S. ambassador leave a Caracas building after a group of President Hugo Chavez's supporters blockaded him inside, U.S. officials said on Wednesday.
The only person jailed for life by the international war crimes tribunal in The Hague has had his sentence cut on appeal to 40 years. Milomir Stakic, the 44-year-old former mayor of Prijedor in northern Bosnia, was held responsible for the notorious detention camps set up there in 1992.
Three major tribes live in North Waziristan, which has become the Taliban's prime stronghold outside of Afghanistan: the 
Although there were odd cases of piracy and other transnational crimes in the Melaka Strait over the years, none of them was linked to any acts of terror, Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency Director-General Vice-Admiral Datuk Mohammad Nik said Wednesday. There was no proof of any "ill-intended activities at sea" related to any form of terrorism in the strait over the years, he said in a special interview with Bernama.
AMMAN - Detained former Iraqi deputy prime minister Tariq Aziz has been fitted with a new set of dentures and is in generally good health, his son said Wednesday, despite reports he could be close to death. My father phoned us on Monday. He was in high spirits and said he was generally in good health, Ziad Aziz told AFP. He told us that the Americans gave him a new set of dentures, having lost his teeth eight months ago, Ziad said, adding that during that time his father had been living on liquid food.
A key town in South Waziristan lost contact with rest of the country after suspected militants blew up a telephone exchange in Shakai Valley, security officials said on Wednesday. It comes two days after a similar attack on a radio transmission in Wana took Radio Pakistan off the air. "A telephone exchange of 600 lines was hit in Shakai Valley at 7:30pm on Tuesday when a bomb went off damaging its satellite dish and boosters," the officials told Daily Times wishing not to be named.
An anti-terrorism court in Sibi convicted five militants on Wednesday on two counts of terrorism, a judge said. The five men, all Pakistani, had been involved in the March 2005 bombing of a Shia shrine, killing 45 people, and in the manufacturing of an explosive device. Anti-terrorism court judge Ismail Baloch sentenced 
Five military personnel were injured when their vehicle struck a landmine near Dera Bugti and three children were injured when a bomb exploded in Osta Muhammad area of Jafferabad on Wednesday. Spokesman of Balochistan Government Raziq Bugti said that the vehicle struck to a landmine in Gori area situated at the border of Sibi and Dera Bugti. Locals said security forces launched another aerial attack in the Tratani, Nisao and Daho areas where a woman and a girl were injured. Unconfirmed clashes were also reported in these areas. An electricity pylon was damaged in Sibi Harnai section on Tuesday. Quetta Electricity Supply Company Spokesman Jibreel Khan said the repair work would be complete in a few days.
The government has kept open the door to negotiations for a political solution to the troubles in Balochistan and Waziristan, but it will not allow miscreants to blackmail the state, President Gen Pervez Musharraf said in a meeting with Prime Minister 
LONDON: One of Britain's leading Muslims demanded on Wednesday the government crackdown on "widespread" child abuse at Islamic schools in Britain.
HANGU: Shops and business centres remained closed here and tensions ran high some 40 days after the bombing of an Ashura procession that killed 45 people. Shias and Sunnis have not reached a peace agreement and a 12-member government committee was talking with both sects towards this end, official sources told Daily Times on Wednesday. They said there was little hope that normalcy would return to the city, devastated by post-bombing violence. Inspector General Police (NWFP) Riffat Pasha visited the area to appraise the security situation. The law and order situation was very tense, he added.
QUETTA, Pakistan - A Pakistani court on Wednesday convicted five Islamic militants in connection with a March 2005 bombing that killed 45 people at Shiite shrine, sentencing two to death and three to life in prison, a judge said. The five men, all Pakistanis, were arrested two days after the March 19, 2005, attack in Fatehpur, a town about 350 kilometers (210 miles) south of Quetta.
The Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) has made 22 recommendations to the government on how to end terrorism in the country, along with the recommendation that incidents of terrorism should not dubbed as jihad.
HEAVY fighting in the Somalian capital Mogadishu killed at least 20 people yesterday, with an Islamic militia battling forces that have challenged the clerics' growing power. 
