Kuwait has detained seven suspected Islamic militants for questioning about last month's bloody clashes with police, security sources say. The Kuwaiti, Saudi and stateless Arab men were seized late on Sunday in continuing police raids in the oil-rich Gulf Arab state rocked by a surge in al Qaeda-linked violence in January, the sources said on Monday. Three security men and seven Islamists were killed in the four shootouts and scores of suspects were arrested.
Interior Minister Sheikh Nawaf denied allegations of torture raised after Amer al-Enezi, a leading militant, died in custody last week. Sheikh Nawaf told state news agency KUNA that "official medical reports are clear; why would the suspect be tortured ... if he confessed to everything he was charged with after he surrendered to security men?"
"We just waved the #7's at him, that's all!"
Officials said said Enezi died of heart failure. Since July, Kuwait has cracked down on militants opposed to the U.S. military presence in the tiny pro-Western country where diplomats say radical Islam is taking hold among youth.
This article starring:
AMER AL ENEZI
Peninsula Lions
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/15/2005 12:11:17 AM ||
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Eleven al Qaeda suspects have gone on trial in Yemen, facing charges of trying to join militants battling U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. The defendants were also charged with setting up an armed group and planning militant attacks in Yemen and abroad.
"The defendants took part in setting up an armed gang, forged passports and travel documents to enable them to commit criminal acts in Yemen and abroad, which include fighting U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq," the prosecutor said on Monday.
The men admitted to forging documents but denied the other charges. If convicted, they would be jailed but it was unclear how severe the sentences would be.
This is Yemen, jails more porous than a spaghetti western.
The trial was adjourned until next week.
The defendants were among a group of 14 al Qaeda suspects who were detained for alleged involvement in militant attacks in Yemen. Three of these suspects were released prior to the trial due to lack of evidence. Lawyers said six of the defendants were arrested in neighbouring Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and battling militants for over two years.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/15/2005 12:04:32 AM ||
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Eleven Yemenis suspected of belonging to al-Qaida have gone on trial accused of planning to carry out "criminal acts" in Yemen and abroad. Ten of the 11 defendants, all Yemenis and at least six of who were born in Saudi Arabia, were present at the hearing where they were formally charged on Monday The charges also include possession of arms and explosives and forging documents and passports. A public prosecutor claimed the 11 had trained in camps in Afghanistan between 1998 and 2002 and were plotting and raising funds for "criminal acts" inside Yemen and abroad. The prosecutor also charged that the men had planned to travel to Iraq to fight US-led forces and demanded the maximum punishment of between seven and 10 years in prison
Yemen, which has cracked down on suspected al-Qaida members at the behest of the US, has already tried and convicted two groups over the 2000 bombing of the US navy destroyer Cole in Aden which killed 17 American sailors and the bombing of a French tanker, the Limburg, two years later. On 5 February, the appeals court in Sanaa upheld the death sentence against a Yemeni and sentenced to death another who had been jailed over the bombing of the Limburg and other attacks. The appeals court will deliver the verdict in the Cole case on 26 February.
This article starring:
ABD ALLAH AL WADAI
al-Qaeda in Yemen
ABD AL RAUF NASIB
al-Qaeda in Yemen
AHMED MUHAMED AL KARDAI
al-Qaeda in Yemen
FARIS AL NAHDI
al-Qaeda in Yemen
FARIS AL WADAI
al-Qaeda in Yemen
IBRAHIM AL MUKRI
al-Qaeda in Yemen
MANSUR AL BIHANI
al-Qaeda in Yemen
MUHAMAD AL KAZMI
al-Qaeda in Yemen
MUHAMAD HATIM
al-Qaeda in Yemen
SADAM ISMAIL
al-Qaeda in Yemen
SHAFIQ AHMED OMAR
al-Qaeda in Yemen
Posted by: Fred ||
02/15/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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The special operation to wipe out terrorists in the area of the Chechen village of Starye Otagi is being continued. Special-purpose army units are now mopping up the foothill fields, where the bandits had fled, Colonel Vasily Panchenko, head of the Press Service of the Russia Interior Troops, told Itar-Tass on Monday.
He said the operation to liquidate the 15-20-man gang, which planned to attack a unit of the United Group of Troops in this inhabited locality, "was promptly mapped out by the group's command after it was tipped off that the bandits were planning the attack. Other units, in addition to the interior troops, also took part in the operation.
"Six bandits were killed in the course of the night-time clash, and others were dispersed in the area of Starye Otagi. "There were no losses among the federal troops," the colonel noted.
Spokesman for the Regional Operations HQ of the Counter-Terrorism Action in the Northern Caucasus Major-General Ilya Shabalkin told Itar-Tass that one of the killed bandits, judging by the features of his face, was an Arab mercenary.
According to preliminary reports, the bandits were subordinated to Rizvan Chitigov and Yunadi Yunusov. The former is active in the Shali District of Chechnya, and the latter — in Grozny.
This article starring:
RIZVAN CHITIGOV
Chechnya
YUNADI YUNUSOV
Chechnya
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/15/2005 12:22:53 AM ||
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Russian forces engaged in a "special operation" in the breakaway southern republic of Chechnya killed six rebels, news agencies reported, quoting a military spokesman in the region.
Ilya Shabalkin, spokesman for Russian forces in the north Caucasus region which includes Chechnya, said the operation took place overnight on Sunday near the villages of Starye Atagi and Novye Atagi, in the southeast of the republic.
State television footage showed an overnight firefight and several rebels, dressed in camouflage, lying killed on the ground in the snow.
Ten rebels were reported to have escaped the Russian attack in the dark.
Rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov has called on all separatist forces to observe a ceasefire during most of February, and his spokesman told AFP that the Russians "provoked" the deadly exchange of fire. "We have not broken the ceasefire. But there are constant provocations from the Russian special services, as well as disinformation being spread by the Russian army's press service. "They are trying to discredit our idea of a ceasefire," Maskhadov's spokesman Akhmed Zakayev said by telephone from London, where he has won immunity from Russian prosecution, which a British court ruled was politically motivated.
Zakayev confirmed that Russia has refused to hold official peace talks since the ceasefire call, and warned that violence in the republic was likely to grow after the ceasefire call expires on February 23. "I doubt that something will happen on the 23rd itself," Zakayev said. "But I think that if in the remaining time the Russian side fails to respond to our peace initiative, then the decree's order (for a ceasefire) will in fact end."
This article starring:
AKHMED ZAKAIEV
Chechnya
ASLAN MASKHADOV
Chechnya
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/15/2005 12:23:39 AM ||
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Spanish prosecutors are seeking a total of 222,000 years in prison and nearly $1.17 billion in fines for three suspects accused of aiding the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. The punishments are among a total of 230,000 years of prison terms sought for 24 suspects held in jail on charges of belonging to an al Qaeda unit in Spain, according to court documents filed Monday. The trial was due to start this month but has been delayed indefinitely because of a backlog of cases at the High Court.
The prison terms correspond to all the charges, including 2,973 murders for those who died in the Sept. 11 attacks, but Spanish law would limit jail sentences to a maximum of 40 years. The suspected leader of the cell is Syrian-born Imad Eddin Barakat Yarkas, born in 1963 and also known as Abu Dahdah, who investigators believe financed and organized Islamic militants in Spain.
He and two other suspects -- 32-year-old Moroccan Driss Chebli and 41-year-old Syrian Ghasoub al Abrash Ghalyoun -- are charged with aiding the Sept. 11 hijackers in their preparations for the attacks on New York and Washington. Prosecutors seek sentences of some 74,000 years for each of the three and fines of 893 million euros.
Another high-profile suspect from the 24 due to go on trial is Tayseer Alouni, 49, a correspondent from Arabic television channel Al Jazeera who interviewed Osama bin Laden shortly after Sept. 11, 2001. Prosecutors are seeking an eight-year term for Alouni on charges of collaborating with a terrorist organization. Alouni has repeatedly maintained his innocence.
The cell had been operating in Spain since 1995 under the name "Soldiers of Allah" to promote jihad against the enemies of Islam, according to the 205-page document filed by lead prosecutor Pedro Rubira. Spanish authorities had been watching the group for some time but High Court Judge Baltasar Garzon ordered the first arrests in November 2001.
This article starring:
ABU DAHDAH
al-Qaeda in Europe
Baltasar Garzon
DRIS CHEBLI
al-Qaeda in Europe
GHASUB AL ABRASH GHALYUN
al-Qaeda in Europe
IMAD EDIN BARAKAT YARKAS
al-Qaeda in Europe
TAISIR ALUNI
al-Qaeda in Europe
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/15/2005 12:51:56 AM ||
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Posted by: ed ||
02/15/2005 9:25 Comments ||
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#3
I guess there actually IS one good thing to say about Spain-at least the length of their jail sentences is a bit more comprehensible than Germany's. Remember Germany's 8 1/2 year sentence for the guy the killed and then ate his victim?
...and the prisoner, quite mand will claim to ber the king...and when he ceases to take his food, seal the cell...for the man in the iron mask will be no more...
But,
Spanish law would limit jail sentences to a maximum of 40 years.
A prosecutor said Monday he will seek prison terms of more than 74,000 years for each of three suspected al-Qaida members charged with using Spain as a staging ground for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States. A trial is expected to start in mid-March, the National Court said. Spain will be only the second country worldwide to put Sept. 11 suspects on trial, after Germany.
Prosecutor Pedro Rubira said that for each suspect, he will seek 25 years in prison for each of the 2,973 people killed in the suicide airliner attacks, for a possible sentence of more than 74,000 years. Under Spanish law, however, the maximum prison term someone can actually serve in a terrorism case is 40 years; the country has no death penalty or life imprisonment. Rubira also said he wants the defendants to pay a total of $1.16 billion in damages to victims' families.
Another 21 suspected al-Qaida members in Spain accused of belonging to a terrorist organization and other offenses - not with helping plan the attacks - are expected to stand trial along with the three facing more serious charges. The other defendants include Al-Jazeera journalist Tayssir Alouny, for whom the prosecutor is seeking nine years in prison, and Yusuf Galan, a Spanish convert to Islam who faces a sentence of 18 years.
The case stems from an indictment issued in September 2003 by Spain's leading anti-terrorism judge, Baltasar Garzon, against 35 people, later broadened to 40.
Garzon charged that Yarkas, a used-car salesman, provided financing and logistics for key Sept. 11 plotters. In the indictment, Garzon wrote that "it has become crystal clear" that Yarkas "had links to some of the perpetrators of the massacre." In a 200-page writ, Rubira said his evidence includes more than 100 wiretapped conversations among suspected cell members. He also wants to call as a witness Jamal Zougam, a jailed Moroccan suspect the Madrid train bombings last March. Zougam, accused of placing some of the 10 backpack bombs that killed 191 people in Madrid, was a close follower of Yarkas, according to court records.
Investigators on both sides of the Atlantic say that Spain - along with Germany - was a key staging ground for Sept. 11. In July 2001, Mohamed Atta - believed to have piloted one of the planes that crashed into the World Trade Center - attended a meeting in the northeastern Tarragona region of Spain that Garzon said was used to plan last-minute details such as the date of the attack.
The 24 who will stand trial are in Spanish custody. The rest of those indicted by Garzon are either fugitives, such as Osama bin Laden himself, or in custody in other countries. Such is the case of Ramzi Binalshibh, a Yemeni suspected of being a key contact person with bin Laden's terror network for an al-Qaida cell based in Hamburg, Germany. He was arrested on the first anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks in Pakistan and is now in secret U.S. custody. Those not in Spanish custody cannot be tried in absentia because the charge is terrorism. In Spain, such trials are held only for lesser offenses. Many of those in custody in Spain were arrested in November 2001.
Germany is retrying the first person to be convicted in a Sept. 11 case. Mounir el Motassadeq, a Moroccan, was convicted in 2003 of aiding the Hamburg al-Qaida cell that included Atta and two other hijackers. A federal court overturned el Motassadeq's original conviction and 15-year prison sentence, ruling that he had been unfairly denied testimony by key al-Qaida suspects in U.S. custody. The only person charged publicly in the United States over Sept. 11 is Zacarias Moussaoui, a French citizen accused of conspiracy to commit terrorism. No trial date has been set.
This article starring:
Baltasar Garzon
DRIS CHEBLI
Al-Qaeda in Europe
GHASUB AL ABRASH GHALYUN
al-Qaeda in Europe
IMAD YARKAS
Al-Qaeda in Europe
JAMAL ZUGAM
al-Qaeda in Europe
MOHAMED ATTA
al-Qaeda in Europe
MUNIR EL MOTASADEQ
al-Qaeda in Europe
RAMZI BINALSHIBH
al-Qaeda in Europe
TAISIR ALUNY
al-Qaeda in Europe
YUSUF GALAN
al-Qaeda in Europe
ZACARIAS MUSAUI
al-Qaeda in Europe
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/15/2005 12:21:01 AM ||
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#1
Don't be over-enthousiastic: Spanish constitution doesn't allow for people serving terms longer than thirty years in jail, from these thiry years there can still be reductions for good conduct or for joing a teaching institution (no need of passing the exam).
#2
They will be lucky to serve a 7 year sentence. Any higher sentence will be appealed to the EU Human Rights Court. The term for premeditated murder in the EU is 7 years on average. Life means a maximum of 15 years.
This is what shows the short-sightedness of thought for those whoadvocate no death penalty.
If these member of the RoP are also members of Al-Qaida then in seven years they will be planning attacks once again. Execute them and get the blood out of the way. They would even welcome execution as it will get them their 72 ho's that much faster.
Posted by: Jame Retief ||
02/15/2005 6:49 Comments ||
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#4
...in seven years they will be planning attacks once again.
#5
They will be planning, recruting and, converting while they are in prison. That is why you must keep them in segregation from the general prison population one to a cell.
#6
That would be cruel and unusual, SPoD. They need social interaction and religious services. In fact, they can teach religious services. That will help their rehabilitation.
#8
Any higher sentence will be appealed to the EU Human Rights Court. The term for premeditated murder in the EU is 7 years on average.
Even if true (don't have the statistics), it doesn't seem to have significantly increased European murder rates.
Btw, the EU doesn't have a human rights court. You are thinking of the European Court of Human Rights instead, which is connected to the Council of Europe (not the EU).
And which AFAIK has no objections to life imprisonment. But feel free to correct me if I have my facts wrong.
#9
"7 years on average. Even if true (don't have the statistics), it doesn't seem to have significantly increased European murder rates.
Aris, the point should be to decrease them. If you release the perps in 7 years, or course the rates would stay about where they are. (Not all perps would be repeated offenders, but some would. If someone was involved twice in a premeditated murder, the chances are it won't stop)
#10
I thought I had made myself clear but let me rephrase: "Even if it's true that the average sentencing in the EU for premeditated murder is as low as that, this low sentencing doesn't seem to have caused a higher murder rate than that of nations with much stricter and higher sentences, including the death penalty."
#12
"Even if it's true that the average sentencing in the EU for premeditated murder is as low as that, this low sentencing doesn't seem to have caused a higher murder rate than that of nations with much stricter and higher sentences, including the death penalty."
So what are you saying? Do you contend that a murder should only get 7 years? Is the only point of punishment to convince those inclined to commit crime not to do so? Since generally speaking, murderers are not recidivists and thieves are, should we execute thieves and let murderers go free? It would undoubtedly lower the amount of thefts. I mean, since low or high sentences do not affect the murder rate, why punish it at all?
Posted by: Mark E. ||
02/15/2005 14:57 Comments ||
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#13
Mark E> Do you contend that a murder should only get 7 years?
I'm interested only in what does the most good to the innocent. If automatic life imprisonment for the murderers was proven the best solution I'd be all for it. If death penalty had proved the best deterrent, I'd be in favour of it also.
What murderers "should" get, in a justice-be-done-via-revenge point of view doesn't much concern me. I think that the state should hurt the guilty only when that leads to the protection of the innocents, not from a sadistic desire.
should we execute thieves and let murderers go free? It would undoubtedly lower the amount of thefts.
It might lower the amounts of thefts, and then again it might increase enormously the amount of murders, since every thief would rather kill than let himself be caught. That's the whole argument against Draco. (of Ancient Greek, NOT Harry Potter fame :-)
I mean, since low or high sentences do not affect the murder rate, why punish it at all?
Is this a rhetorical question or do you expect an answer to that?
If a murderer plans to benefit from his murder, then he doesn't expect to be caught at all, because any capture would lead to him losing all such benefits, whether the punishment is 7 or 10 or 20 years or life imprisonment.
So from *some* point on, the punishment for rape may indeed become irrelevant. That doesn't mean murderers don't need to be punished at all.
You falling into the fallacy of "if some punishment is good, then more punishment is even better". From some point on, punishment may even be *counterproductive*. Imagine a person who's killed another, whether in a fit of rage or through premeditation. If this murder automatically gives him a death penalty or life imprisonment, then he may have no reason not to kill again and again and again to avoid getting caught. He has nothing to lose.
But if he knows that each murder adds another ten years to his sentence, he may stop at just one death.
As Sobiesky says, without hard stats, this is all speculation. But it's speculation you should give a thought to, I think, and not dismiss out of hand.
#14
I dismiss no arguments out of hand, unless they have internal contradictions which render them useless.
Um. Ok, so you say you are looking for the "best" solution. What is best? Justice, retribution, deterrence, or something else? What are your goals? State them simply.
Again, your argument ignores the FACT that as a whole murderers are not recidivist (look up the word if you need to; I can be at least as condecending as you, and probably a lot more.) Therefore, inprisoning murderers from a deterrence perspective is useless. Since they tend to commit their crimes only once, there is little risk of them doing it again. Therefore, release em all. That's what follows from your argument. Damn, man. It's called logic; Use it. And don't be a jerk. Also, leave the sophistry to professionals; you aren't very good at it.
The problem as you see it is that many people in the US believe that murder by it's very nature DESERVES a punishment greater than imprisonment, and not designed as some sort of behavior modification. You would have it so that all sentences have at their root rehabilitation. We tried that in the 70s. Didn't work.
Posted by: Mark E. ||
02/15/2005 15:52 Comments ||
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#15
Mark E-True, but 70's-style rehab is the still the fashion in Europe. This is a BIIIIIIIG difference between us and them--they are very uncomfortable at calling any crime an act of evil. This makes it difficult for them to justify long-term punishment for crimes.
Posted by: Mark E. ||
02/15/2005 16:29 Comments ||
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#17
Justice, retribution, deterrence, or something else? What are your goals? State them simply
The protection of the innocent. Geez, when I said "I'm interested only in what does the most good to the innocent", I thought that was indeed a simple statement of my goals.
Therefore, inprisoning murderers from a deterrence perspective is useless
That's a non-sequitur. So they're not recidivist, meaning (I did look it up) that most of them don't relapse. How the hell does that mean that deterring via imprisonment is useless?
Do you know what "deterrence" means? Do you know that it also means that e.g. preventing crimes through fear of punishment? Aka people who've *not* murdered, but may be tempted to do so, WON'T do it, for fear of being punished?
And what about those that do relapse, like serial killers?
You are telling not to be jerk all the while using stupid arguments that you yourself don't believe in. I may be an arrogant ass, but I'm never a dishonest debater. It's you who uses the sophistry, when I stated simply what I believe the arguments of the case to be.
"Since they tend to commit their crimes only once, there is little risk of them doing it again. Therefore, release em all. That's what follows from your argument."
You didn't read my argument at all. If there was no punishment for murder, many people who would normally not murder would be tempted to.
And like it or not, many murderers are indeed repeat offenders.
So. Cut. The. Huge. Pile. Of. Crap.
Thank you.
And as a sidenote I didn't speak a single time about "rehabilitation", I spoke only about protecting the innocent. If you didn't bother to read even my first sentence, then there's no point in pretending to discuss further.
The problem as you see it is that many people in the US believe that murder by it's very nature DESERVES a punishment greater than imprisonment,
The problem as I see it is that many people in the US think that the state's job is to give people what they "deserve", ignoring the fact that this is impossible. I'd very much rather if the state only cared about protecting the innocent to the best of its abilities, rather than play the vengeance game as a goal by itself.
#18
This makes it difficult for them to justify long-term punishment for crimes.
From a liberal and moral perspective I find it difficult to justify any action of the state not meant to prevent harm to innocents. Punishment is not a goal by itself, regardless how evil the one to be punished is.
Read some "Lord of the Rings". That some people deserve to die, doesn't mean that it's rightful to kill them for vengeance's sake.
Sir, you are a crank about many things, and all over this board. You know very little to nothing about the matters upon which you so often speak. You have no real knowledge of any of the topics you write about, whether criminal law and theory, the UN, the military, or anything else. You know as much about the US as a virgin does about sex. You simply make rank assertions, one after the other, not based on any evidence or logic. You refuse to answer simple questions which you previously revealed that you understood, then feign ignorance. I am sorry I have wasted my time with you; it won't happen again.
And don't thank me before I do something for you. Jerk.
Posted by: Mark E. ||
02/15/2005 16:50 Comments ||
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#20
Sir, you are a liar that pretended to be interested in discussing a topic. Not caring to answer any of the points I made, you simply attacked me with ad hominems, called me ignorant and then pronounced it the end of the discussion. My philosophy offends you, as does the fact that you can't pinhole me in the "rehabilitation" crowd, given how I don't believe in rehabilitation. But the fact my existence offends you is not my concern at all. I was an honest debater, and you were an ad hominem troll.
#21
"You would have it so that all sentences have at their root rehabilitation. "
Now, see? That's some of the stupid and totally wrong assumptions that make me contemptuous.
No, *sir*. I would have it that all sentences have at their root the protection of the innocent.
If I'm ignorant when I speak about the USA, what are you when you speak about what I believe in?
And if I failed to answer *any* of your questions, even as you failed to answer (or even read) all of my points, please pinpoint it to me, sir, your luxuriousness.
Posted by: Rodney King ||
02/15/2005 17:02 Comments ||
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#23
"The lady doth protest too much, methinks."
Posted by: W. Shakespeare ||
02/15/2005 17:04 Comments ||
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#24
Aris-Absurdly short sentences do not protect the innocent.
You say From a liberal and moral perspective I find it difficult to justify any action of the state not meant to prevent harm to innocents.
I say from a moral perspective, evil does exist in the human heart, and our squeamishness about lengthy sentences or passionate judgments should not overrule our human obligation to bring justice for the victim's sake.
We are talking in generalities, which makes this a surface argument. Take a few extreme cases and tell me how you would sentence the individuals.
Here's one from the US: A guy in CA (who is out now, BTW) chopped off a little girl's arms and served, if I recall correctly, 12 years for it; she is now alive and handicapped. He is free. Is she (the innocent) protected? Was the judgment fair?
#27
I say from a moral perspective, evil does exist in the human heart, and our squeamishness about lengthy sentences or passionate judgments should not overrule our human obligation to bring justice for the victim's sake
Justice is for the murdered innocent to live again, justice is for the raped to have never experienced their ordeal, justice is for that little girl to have her hands back.
Justice is an impossibility in these cases. Justice can only be served in the cases of theft, when returning to people their rightful property -- but justice is an utter utter illusion in cases of murder or rape or mutilation. At that point we project some sort of eye-for-an-eye mentality and call it "justice", regarded if the one-eyed victim would rather have his own eye back in its socket, instead of his foe's eye in his hand.
This may seem too philosophical or general for you, but nonetheless it's part of by moral belief system.
I agree with you that absurdly small short sentences don't protect the innocents. But unless I have statistics to make some sort of educated guesses, I can't even begin to estimate what's the ideal sentence for such crimes, the ideal that'd protect the most people in the best possible way. And even with statistics, it'd be difficult to make more than a generalized guess.
So, we're all blundering along with the best guesses possible. The murder rates in Europe are still low compared to most the rest of the world, so there's no urgent need to fix a system that's not broken. Europeans are "conservative" in this fashion :-)
The murder rates in USA are on the other hand still *high* compared to most of the rest of the world, so I think it falls on the USA to see whether its whole crime-and-punishment or societal system has flaws in it. Let me know if you ever come up with something.
#28
Your instances may be true justice, but those outcomes are beyond the power of human beings. Your instances would require divine intervention, which we are unlikely to see here on earth. So, what's the next best thing, throw up our hands and say no justice will be adequately served, so the sentence doesn't matter? No.
If I were raped, or if my arms were amputated, or my mother or father were murdered, and the criminal were only to serve a "European length" sentence (for example, 8 1/2 years for premeditated murder and cannibalization), I would feel a hell of a lot more justice was done by dealing them the death penalty or an adequate sentence than I would be by a society that throws up its arms and gives up, figuring that since there can be no divine intervention and the crime cannot be reversed, there's no sense in attempting to deliver justice at all.
#29
what's the next best thing, throw up our hands and say no justice will be adequately served, so the sentence doesn't matter?
The 8 1/2 years IIRC were in a case where the murdered "victim" had actually asked for his murder, and the murderer (and cannibal) obliged him. Two crazy people helping each other out, one by desiring to eat someone, the other by desiring to be eaten.
Is this typical of German or European law? Once again I profess ignorance. I do know that the *maximum* sentences can be lot higher than 8 years. And I do think that the cannibal case is far from typical, in order to be used as an example.
#30
Jules, I understand your argument as worthwhile in this respect: not in promoting "justice", as a value by itself, but rather the usefulness of revenge as helping to alleviate the suffering of the victims by comforting them.
#31
So provide a few typical ones, as I suggested in 24.
Also, for the sake of the argument, name a death sentence carried out for any crime in any of the EU states in the last 3-5 years, or name the most extreme sentence you recall being handed down in an EU state in that same period of time. Is there any crime you or your fellow EU friends would consider as too horrific to allow the release of the perpetrator at some point in his life, according to the current thinking about criminal justice in Europe?
#32
Death sentences are abolished throughout Europe and Israel (not just the EU) -- for a very long time. I couldn't name a single death sentence carried out the last 20 years, though some seem to have happened in the 1990s in Eastern Europe before it was abolished there as well. (Here's a listing of the dates of the last executions, and the abolition dates)
As for me I'm all in favour of imprisoning people for life. Anyone who's murdered more than once, and I'd even throw rapists in there as well. I just *do* happen to understand the arguments to the contrary as well. And as I said: since the system is not broken in Europe, there's no urgent need to fix it. That's why you'll see many people supporting death penalty on a hypothetical basis here, but people are never passionate enough about it to change the status quo back or make it an election topic.
Many "EU friends" of mine, would like to see not only true life imprisonment but death penalties as well.
Ofcourse half of the political spectrum would probably most want to see death penalties for drug dealers, and the other half would want to see drugs legalized, but there you have it.
#34
I could mention to you what Jesus said in a well-known case of a capital crime brought to his attention, but you would probably not like to be reminded of such pesky details, Poison Reverse. Christ's words are a nuisance for such a variety of "Christianity" as you hold dear.
#35
Actually, I don't mind hearing your twisted version of the Bible. Unlike the EUtopians, I love free speech.
He who is without sin cast the.........(adultery)
There is a big difference between adultery and what Jules and Mark E. is talking about e.g (mass murder).
Laws in the U.S. are based on the Judean/Christian principles. If you truly understood the Bible you would clearly see that Jesus doesn't have any issues with capital punishment. The problem is not Jesus, the problem is that certain people want to kill people, but they themselves want to stay alive. I don't get it. On the other hand, terrorism is a crime, e.g Jihad, that wants to destroy whole civilizations. These people must be, at all costs, be destroyed, after being found guilty in a court. The only caveat is that if they are openly fighting in the battlefield, no need for a court, a JDAM will suffice.
#36
There is a big difference between adultery and what Jules and Mark E. is talking about e.g (mass murder).
And yet Jesus never said that a person *should* be executed. It's probably coincidence that we know of his comments is stopping an execution, but there's never a passage of him encouraging one, hmm?
And btw, it's not just *my* twisted version of the Bible. Roman Catholics are abolitionists, Eastern Orthodox are abolitionists, Methodists are abolitionists, Presbyterians are abolitionists, Episcopalians are abolitionist, Quakers are abolitionist. Just to show you that there are hundreds millions of your "fellow" Christians with different opinions and what sweet Jesus would like us to do.
For murders just publicly HANG THEM HIGH! Then there is no worry about future crimes the might commit in hell.
Oh and I think the US has not shown the proper decorum when returning Gitmo prisoners. They should be ejected from a transport at 30,000 feet over their home nation without a parachute. A cam should be attached so all can enjoy their splat.
#38
Aris, I think Rantburg had a discussion on the subject of crime and punishment a while back. (One of you clever computer types can find the link for me). The problem had to be broken down into several parts before we could even begin discussing it properly:
1. Crimes are defined and reported differently in the States and in various parts of the EU, so direct comparison of statistics is very difficult. For example, until recently the local French police/gendarmes/whatever generally refused to record attacks against Jewish persons or property, especially not recording the attack as being antisemitic. Crimes committed in the French suburbs are not recorded at all, despite being among the most violent places in all of Europe. Rape also is defined differently in the different societies; and job discrimination considered criminal on this side of the pond is considered not only normal but prudent elsewhere (I had an American friend who'd gotten her JD law degree (magna cum laude) from a German university, and was told outright that she would not be offered more than half of what her male classmates with lower scores would get, because after all she would be quitting in no time to have babies, and not even to think about being offered a partnership. Over here such a statement could get the law firm shut down.)
2. In part because of long prison sentences, and in part because of the increase in the average age of the population in the U.S. reducing the number and percentage of problem-prone late teen-aged males, criminal activity has gone down across the country and across the range of criminal activities, except for cyber crime and extreme gang-related violence.
3. At the same time, in part because of the antisocial immigrant population in many of the EU nations, and in part because of very short sentences for convicted criminals, criminal activity has gone up for much of Europe (I read recently that now England has a higher per capita violent crime rate than the U.S). The problems that get Rantburgers so exercised about Britain, where the householder who defends himself against a burglar is likely to be imprisoned for violating the criminal's civil rights, is unfortunately symptomatic of social values across much of the continent.
So, before we continue this discussion, Aris, you may want to do a little research on the issues involved, so that the discussion can take place based on real numbers rather than delightfully but uselessly airy concepts.
#39
Aris, I think Rantburg had a discussion on the subject of crime and punishment a while back. (One of you clever computer types can find the link for me). The problem had to be broken down into several parts before we could even begin discussing it properly:
1. Crimes are defined and reported differently in the States and in various parts of the EU, so direct comparison of statistics is very difficult. For example, until recently the local French police/gendarmes/whatever generally refused to record attacks against Jewish persons or property, especially not recording the attack as being antisemitic. Crimes committed in the French suburbs are not recorded at all, despite being among the most violent places in all of Europe. Rape also is defined differently in the different societies; and job discrimination considered criminal on this side of the pond is considered not only normal but prudent elsewhere (I had an American friend who'd gotten her JD law degree (magna cum laude) from a German university, and was told outright that she would not be offered more than half of what her male classmates with lower scores would get, because after all she would be quitting in no time to have babies, and not even to think about being offered a partnership. Over here such a statement could get the law firm shut down.)
2. In part because of long prison sentences, and in part because of the increase in the average age of the population in the U.S. reducing the number and percentage of problem-prone late teen-aged males, criminal activity has gone down across the country and across the range of criminal activities, except for cyber crime and extreme gang-related violence.
3. At the same time, in part because of the antisocial immigrant population in many of the EU nations, and in part because of very short sentences for convicted criminals, criminal activity has gone up for much of Europe (I read recently that now England has a higher per capita violent crime rate than the U.S). The problems that get Rantburgers so exercised about Britain, where the householder who defends himself against a burglar is likely to be imprisoned for violating the criminal's civil rights, is unfortunately symptomatic of social values across much of the continent.
So, before we continue this discussion, Aris, you may want to do a little research on the issues involved, so that the discussion can take place based on real numbers rather than delightfully but uselessly airy concepts.
WASHINGTON -- A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld a ruling against two reporters who could go to jail for refusing to divulge their sources to investigators probing the leak of an undercover CIA officer's name to the media.
The three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit sided with prosecutors in their attempt to compel Time magazine's Matthew Cooper and The New York Times' Judith Miller to testify before a federal grand jury about their confidential sources.
Assuming they have one...
"We agree with the District Court that there is no First Amendment privilege protecting the information sought," Judge David B. Sentelle said in the ruling, which was unanimous.
Bwahahahaha!!!
Floyd Abrams, the lawyer for both reporters, said he would ask the full appeals court to reverse Tuesday's ruling. "Today's decision strikes a heavy blow against the public's right to be informed about its government," Abrams said in a statement.
But I thought their source was a member of Bushitler's cabal who outed a brave CIA undercover operative? Surely they wouldn't protect him, right?
In October, Judge Thomas F. Hogan held the reporters in contempt, rejecting their argument that the First Amendment shielded them from revealing their sources. Both reporters face up to 18 months in jail if they continue to refuse to cooperate.
The special prosecutor in the case, Chicago U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, is investigating whether a crime was committed when someone leaked the identity of CIA officer Valerie Plame. Her name was published in a 2003 column by Robert Novak, who cited two senior Bush administration officials as his sources.
So, again I ask, why protect the source if they really are Bush officials?
The column appeared after Plame's husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, wrote a newspaper opinion piece criticizing President Bush's claim that Iraq had sought uranium in Niger. The CIA had asked Wilson to check out the uranium claim. Wilson has said he believes his wife's name was leaked as retaliation for his critical comments.
Disclosure of an undercover intelligence officer's identity can be a federal crime if prosecutors can show the leak was intentional and the person who released that information knew of the officer's secret status.
Of course, they have to be a undercover intelligence officer, not just a member of the CIA. Valerie Plame was no longer undercover, she is a analyst or manager, I believe.
Cooper is a White House correspondent for Time who has reported on the Plame controversy. He agreed in August to provide limited testimony about a conversation he had with Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, after Libby released Cooper from his promise of confidentiality.
Fitzgerald then issued a second, broader subpoena seeking the names of other sources. Miller is facing jail for a story she never wrote. She had gathered material for an article about Plame, but ended up not doing a story.
Prosecutors have interviewed President Bush, Cheney, then-Secretary of State Colin Powell and other current or former administration officials in the investigation. Journalists from NBC and The Washington Post also have been subpoenaed.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/15/2005 12:54:25 PM ||
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Good. Works for me. We don't need the MSM protecting traitors who leak secrets.
Posted by: Tom ||
02/15/2005 13:19 Comments ||
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#2
of either party. IMNSHO - the leak (if it exists) is a Richard Clarke-type
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/15/2005 14:13 Comments ||
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#3
No one is above the law.
Posted by: Mark E. ||
02/15/2005 14:40 Comments ||
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#4
I guess that I do not understand why Robert Novak was not included with the two reporters Cooper and Miller. Novak was the one who published the info.
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - The Cabinet on Tuesday approved establishing a new infantry division of 12,000 troops to be based permanently in southern Thailand, where violence blamed on Muslim insurgents has claimed more than 650 lives in the past year. The new division will add to the more than 25,000 regular forces already stationed in the three southern provinces, which are the only ones with Muslim majorities in Buddhist-dominated Thailand. Most troops currently stationed there have been rotated in from camps in other parts of the country.
Now they won't have to commute.
The new division, to be based in the provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat, will comprise combat, medical, engineering, interrogation, communication and psychological warfare units.
Don't forget the graves registration platoon, I think you're gonna be planting a lot of jihadis.
Designated the 15th Division, it will be in place in two months and draw a budget of $229 million in the next four years, said Defense Minister Gen. Samphan Boonyanand.
Since January 2004, the area has been the scene of almost-daily shootings and occasional bombings, most targeting local officials and security personnel. The government blames Islamic separatists.
Me too
The military presence has failed to curb the violence, while alienating many local residents who see it as something akin to an occupying army. Many southern Muslims have long complained of being treated like second-class citizens.
Like everywhere else in the world, that's why they have to have their own state. They just don't play well with others.
"The (new) division will be different from regular troops as it will focus on reaching out to people and carry out development work for them as well as maintaining peace and stability," Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said Tuesday. Samphan said the army planned to give special training to personnel headed the south to "understand" their culture.
Oh, I'll just bet they will.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/15/2005 9:56:54 AM ||
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"Samphan said the army planned to give special training to personnel headed the south to "understand" their culture."
The southern Philippines is peppered with hotspots, and one detonated last week on the remote island of Jolo, where the Philippine army and marines fought rebels in three towns, and Air Force planes dropped 500-pound bombs on their strongholds in the island's thick jungles. It was the most intense fighting in the south in at least 30 years and by week's end, 22 soldiers had been killed, along with 60 rebels. Southern Command Chief Lieut. General Alberto Braganza said that several dozen American troops had been sent in from their base in the southern city of Zamboanga, although he insisted the Americans wouldn't be fighting, but merely acting as intelligence trainers. A rebel attack on the capital city of Jolo was feared, but Braganza said his men would continue to fight. "There will be no let-up," he vowed. "What they started, I will finish."
There are two versions of how the hostilities began. The military says 14 of its troops were ambushed and killed on Feb. 7 in the town of Panamao. The rebels say that the ambush was provoked by a military offensive the day before in which a local ustadz, or religious mentor, his wife and two children died. (The military is silent on that story.) The rebels include members of Abu Sayyaf, an al-Qaeda linked kidnap-for-ransom group, and renegades of the Moro National Liberation Front (M.N.L.F.), a Muslim group that once fought for a separate state. The military estimates the rebels' numbers at 800. By the end of the week, the armed forces had sent seven battalions—roughly 3,000 soldiers—to the island.
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Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/15/2005 12:29:13 AM ||
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Eleven people were killed and at least 93 injured Monday in Valentine's Day bombings by suspected militants that hit Manila and two southern Philippine cities, officials said. Three people were killed on the spot and about 60 injured when a powerful bomb ripped through a bus in the Makati financial district of Manila during the early evening rush hour, Metropolitan Manila police chief Avelino Razon said. The blast set two nearby buses on fire. Five people were killed when a blast hit a bus depot in the southern city of Davao on Mindanao island at dusk, Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman said. Three people were killed and 33 injured when a bomb hit a shopping mall in the southern city of General Santos on Mindanao at about the same time as the Davao bombing, she said over DZBB radio.
The three bombings were claimed by the Abu Sayyaf. Abu Sayyaf spokesman Abu Solaiman told DZBB radio in an interview that the three bombings were "our Valentine's gift to her (President Gloria Arroyo)". "The defenders of Islam have struck again," he said. "Our latest opperations in Manila, Davao and General Santos, planned and executed with precision by the gallant warriors of Islam, is our continuing response to the Philippine government's atrocities committed against Muslins everywhere," he said.
In a reference to an ongoing rebellion by several hundred Muslim gunmen on the southern island of Jolo he accused the military of "massacring whole families". And he warned every Filipino and foreigner alike that "we will not stop until we get justice for the countless Muslim lives and properties that you people have destroyed."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/15/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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We now know who the US thinks dunnit.
The United States has recalled its ambassador to Syria amid rising tensions over the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri of Lebanon. Before departing, U.S. Ambassador Margaret Scobey delivered a stern note, called a demarche in diplomatic parlance, to the Syrian government, said an official who discussed the situation only on grounds of anonymity. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher, announcing the move, said it reflected the Bush administration's "profound outrage" over Hariri's assassination. Boucher did not accuse Syria of being involved in the bombing Monday in Beirut. "I have been careful to say we do not know who committed the murder at this time," he said. But he said the deadly attack illustrated that Syria's strong military and political presence in Lebanon was a problem and had not provided security in the neighboring country.
#1
Syria is serving as a base for Hizb'Allah ops in Lebanon, and eventually into Israel, as Hamas sputters. Iran is really running the show, providing the resources to make this happen. Syria is just Iran's dog doing its duty. Syria needs to be neutralized to further isolate Iran. If this is not done, Iraq will be destabilized and Israel will REALLY be threatened.
So something needs to be done about Syria and Iran.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/15/2005 14:50 Comments ||
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#2
I think Baby Assad is having great fun playing International Villain but with all the deep laid plots and plans within plans, he doesn't see the Kick Me sign on his back.
Eventually, the grownups will lose patience and a border that is porous is porous in both directions. Should be entertaining! More popcorn, A.P.?
#3
SteveS---Thanks for the popcorn. In some ways, it is entertaining, but Syria and Lebanon are the gateways to stockpiling and implementing mischief and terrorism at the east end of the Med. Lebanon has been a hell hole ever since the PLO set up shop there after Black September. I would sure like to see these guys shut down, or at least neutralized. Syria has caused the Iraqis AND the US military much misery and death by letting themselves be willing gateways of terrorism.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/15/2005 16:18 Comments ||
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#4
Has another box been checked off by this MM / Syrian stupidity?
#5
Regardless of who did it, we're pinning it on Syria. It appears that the Lebanese are too. I think this is smart and appears to be a decision that was made quickly by the national security team. The goal is to build pressure for Syria to get out of Lebanon and stop messing around in Iraq.
#6
Well done revamped CIA boys. I bet the syrians will be convinced that they did it over the next few days. Of course they very well may have done it. I just can not believe they are that stupid. of course the whack jobs in the middle east continually amaze me.
#8
I smell a campaign of support for an independent Lebanon with Western troops in there to 'stabilize' if need be - France loves to play there, call their bluff -- but no overt bombing campaign.
Quickly recalling the ambassador helps burn in the perception of Syrian blame. Now they'll have to backpedal. This helps as Assad will be seen as retreating, diminishing his prestige which in turn softens him up domestically.
Next, we'll jack up support of Syrian pre-reform dissidents (they actually exist). Bombing would probably be counterproductive, but other covert means of applying pressure may be used (if they have not been already).
A similar approach appears to be directed against baby assad's sugar daddy, Iran.
Just my 2 cents, but at this point I think air strikes in absence of a domestic reform movement to support would be counter productive. We're banking on our new cred as a vector for reform in the middle east as our main source of influence in the next year or 2 not our military capabilities, which are in fact constrained by operations elsewhere.
All that changes with an attack vs. the US or WMD revelation.
#11
My gut instinct is that a military engagement with Syria is on the near horizon. Lots of evidence the hard boyz are coming through Syria to Iraq to kill Americans. Syria was put on notice in January 2002 of the Bush Doctrine. They've chosen not to heed the warning. Lock-n-load.
Posted by: Mark Z. ||
02/15/2005 23:10 Comments ||
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Lebanese security forces on Monday stormed the Beirut home of a man they identified as a Palestinian who appeared in a video claiming responsibility for the killing of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik al-Hariri. A Lebanese security forces statement said Ahmed Tayseer Abu Adas was not in the house.
"Honey, there's somebody at the door for you... Honey?"
He had earlier appeared in a video aired by Al Jazeera claiming responsibility killing Hariri and calling him a Saudi agent. Authorities were investigating whether he had blown himself up in the car bombing that killed Hariri or whether he was an accomplice in plotting the attack, the statement said. "Computer equipment and tapes were seized from his house and some documents were confiscated for investigation," it said. Early investigations had shown he was a member of an Islamic school of thought known as Wahhabism — an austere form of Islam practiced in Saudi Arabia. Western governments and moderate Muslim clerics have said this brand of faith, which rules all aspects of life, was fomenting extremism.
The tape broadcast by Al Jazeera showed Abu Adas sitting in front of a black flag carrying the name "Group for Advocacy and Holy War in the Levant." He called Hariri a Saudi agent and said the attack was also "in revenge for the pious martyrs killed by security forces of the Saudi regime" and used a religious term for Saudi Arabia often used by al Qaeda militants fighting Riyadh's U.S.-allied government since 2003.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/15/2005 12:13:04 AM ||
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BEIRUT - Two former ministers -- Samir al-Jisr and Bassel Fleihan -- who had been reported dead in Monday's huge explosion in the Lebanese capital are both still alive, Jisr and aides of Fleihan said. Jisr, 61, a former education minister in the governments of former prime minister Rafiq Hariri rang local media to say he was alive and well after the blast which killed his longtime boss. Fleihan, a former economy minister in his 40s, was wounded but not killed, aides said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/15/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Syria is ready to begin a large scale withdrawal of the 15,000 troops it has stationed in Lebanon before May's parliamentary elections. Diplomatic sources in Paris said UN special envoy Terje Roed-Larsen told French President Jacques Chirac that Syria is about to implement UN Security Council Resolution 1559 and that a first withdrawal to Dahr al-Baidar, Mdayrej, and Ain-Dara (Lebanese border villages) will be completed before the elections. But the source added that Syria's complete withdrawal from Lebanon, as called for by Chirac following his meeting with Larsen at the weekend, will not occur unless "all UN resolutions concerning the Palestinian-Israeli conflict are implemented."
This flies in the face of both French and UN insistence that Syria abide by 1559 without any linkage to other UN resolutions. France, which sponsored 1559, will also observe Lebanon's parliamentary elections, scheduled for mid-April or early May. On Sunday London-based Al Hayat newspaper cited diplomatic sources in Paris saying the message carried by UN envoy Terje Roed-Larsen to Damascus last week contained a strong warning to Syrian president Bashar Assad not to interfere in Lebanon's upcoming elections.
The UN warned Assad that any attempts to harm opposition members, naming former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri or Chouf MP Walid Jumblatt, would lead to a "total, final and irrevocable divorce with the international community."
Obviously, this was written before Hariri was boomed. Now it's time to put up.
Larsen, who was named to his post in January to report on the implementation of the UN resolution ahead of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's report, said that all parties concerned with 1559 need to express good will in implementing it. Diplomatic sources said that Larsen asked Chirac to grant him additional time to implement the resolution because of the difficulty of disarming Hizbullah, which is supported by the Lebanese government. The sources said that the disarmament of Hizbullah is likely to occur through negotiations with the concerned parties and not threats through issuing a second UN resolution and the use military force.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/15/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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..would lead to a "total, final and irrevocable divorce with the international community."
Oooooooo...."divorced from the international community".......scary.......
#8
The UN warned Assad that any attempts to harm opposition members, naming former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri or Chouf MP Walid Jumblatt, would lead to a "total, final and irrevocable divorce with the international community."
Comment: Obviously, this was written before Hariri was boomed. Now it's time to put up.
Translation: We are watching you, UN, just like we were watching you (hem and haw around) holding Saddam to UN resolutions on his regime's behavior. What are you gonna do?
WASHINGTON — The United States yesterday denounced the "brutal attack" that killed Lebanese former prime minister Rafik Al Hariri, and seized on the slaying to call on Syria to withdraw its troops from Lebanon.
White House spokesman McClellan said he did not know who was responsible for the attack. But "this murder today is a terrible reminder that the Lebanese people must be able to pursue their aspirations and determine their own political future free from violence and intimidation and free from Syrian occupation," he said.
Hear that ticking sound, Babybace?
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/15/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Man....if assad doesn't look like a ferret, nobody does. Well, I reckon a rat's a rat, huh?
Posted by: Tom Dooley ||
02/15/2005 1:27 Comments ||
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#2
You'd figure an eye doctor would have better sight. Then again, an overdose of Moronic Koranic(TM) can blind anyone.
#3
The Baathists are secular pan-Arab fascist types, PR. Their religion links are actually tribal and political, rather than belief-related. Assad's eyesight issues are no doubt due to peering around for the knives aimed at his back.
I respectfully disagree, they want to kill Jews and Christians in the name of Allah, which to me is belief based. The KKK and skin heads have killed blacks and Jews, in the name of Christianity, which to me is belief based. The difference is that the majority of Christians and Jews WILL take action against killing in the name of Christianity or Judiasm. The majority of Muslims will not do it.
I don't care how many knives he has aimed at his back, he is a proxy accomplice for terrorism against U.S. and Israel and he needs to be destroyed. You are not going to get any tears out of me.
If Assad has poor eyesight because of all the knives that are pointed at him, then let him ask the U.S. or secretly ask Israel for help. Jordan, Baharin and Quatar are doing pretty well against terrorism because the U.S helps them. There are also reports that are out there, I don't if they are true, that Israel helps Jordan, to track down and kill terrorists in their country. In turn, Jordan probably helps pinpoint Hamas hideouts in Gaza. King Abdullah is worth the time, Assad is not.
#5
Actually, the Asad's religion is called "Alawite" and is a very small sect. (http://www.geocities.com/defender_of_the_truth/alawis.html) and more in-line with Shia than Sunni.
#6
Poison Reverse, I wouldn't dream of trying to get tears for Young Assad. Although he is woefully unprepared for his current role either by temperament or training, he has done nothing to reduce the evils his father set in motion, which means he has chosen the course of evil for himself. As such, I agree that he must be removed, preferably very painfully, embarrassingly and permanently. Nor should the U.S. or Israel aid him against the knives -- he has worked hard to earn them, and has done nothing to merit aid. But I stand by my position that he is a simple totalitarian fascist, rather than a Muslim religious fascist.
Analysts were reluctant to point fingers after the assassination of former prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri in Beirut, saying there were many parties who had an interest in killing him and stirring tensions in Lebanon.
"Did he have any enemies, madame?"
"No, none that I know of! Except Hezbollah. And Syria. And Iran. And al-Qaeda. And the Paleostinians..."
Commentators said Syria would most likely be blamed for the killing and as a result feel the repercussions hardest.
"And where were you on February 14th?"
"To the east of Lebanon, where I've always been!"
But many of them wondered what Damascus stood to profit from having a hand in al-Hariri's death.
"Motive, LeGume! What could be the motive? Find the motive, find the real killer, I always say!"
"Where are you going, Inspector?"
"To the golf course!"
"What exactly would the Syrians gain from this? Precisely because most people would say that this is the Syrians who have done this. It doesn't make any sense," Rime Allaf, Middle East analyst at the Royal Institute for International Affairs in London, UK, said. "The first people who will be hurt by this is Syria. Given the chaos in Lebanon and the rising anger between the factions, analytically Syria loses a lot by this," Allaf told Aljazeera.net.
"But there is the matter of the matchbook found at the crime scene, with Syria's name written inside it. In a feminine hand."
The killing was condemned by Syrian and Lebanese government officials.
"Cheeze! Poor old Hariri! Who'da done somethin' like dat?"
"You, perhaps?"
"Us?"
"Yes, you! Syrian and Lebanese government officials!"
"Yez got nuttin' on us! Nuttin!"
Although a previously unheard of outfit calling itself al-Nasir and Jihad Group in al-Sham claimed responsibility for al-Hariri's assassination, commentators said the magnitude of the blast suggested an intelligence agency was behind the explosion rather than a small group.
"Yes, there's the size of the blast to consider. Normally, people don't keep that much explosives in one place, do they, Inspector?"
"Ah, LeGume! This is Lebanon, remember!"
Reuters reported security sources as saying the explosive device was sophisticated enough to evade jamming equipment so hi-tech that al-Hariri's passing convoy would interfere with cellphones and televisions. So who plotted al-Hariri's violent death? Murhaf Jouejati a Syrian analyst at the Middle East Institute in Washington, told Aljazeera.net that it was too early to accuse anyone of being behind the killing. "This is not good news. The Syrians are not crazy and they are not going to be assassinating Lebanese officials," he said.
"Paleostinians, on the other hand, are crazy, and they're not above assassinating Lebanese officials."
"They (the Syrians) have been engaging in dialogue with the opposition ... I think there are many local parties who would have an interest in the destablisation of Lebanon."
"Many of these local parties live in Ein el-Hellhole."
Al-Hairiri had recently joined the opposition in their calls for Syria to withdraw the 14,000 Syrian troops from Lebanon. He resigned from his position as prime minister last October after President Emile Lahud had his term extended, a decision that many saw as being imposed by Syria. A billionaire businessman who had played a key role in the post-war reconstruction process in Lebanon, Al-Hariri was a leader of Lebanon's Sunni Muslim community. Michael Young, a Lebanese political analyst and opinion editor of Lebanese newspaper the Daily Star, said the repercussions for Lebanon and Syria would be grave. "It may very well strengthen the opposition to the Syria presence. There will be a fierce reaction from the Sunni community. I think the government is very embarrassed. They may have to pay for the backlash," he told Aljazeera.net.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/15/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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#1
Iranian money.
Hezbollah infrastructure.
Syrian acquiescence.
Pal execution.
Algerian troops killed three Muslim gunmen in clashes in different parts of the North African country.The official Algerian radio Tuesday reported a clash between troops and gunmen late Monday in Bashar, some 1,000 kilometers (625 miles) south of Algiers, left two militants dead. In another incident, troops killed a gunman in Jijil in eastern Algeria, the radio said.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/15/2005 10:12:33 AM ||
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Two teens arrested in "work accident"
The police arrested four people, including two injured teens, for their suspected involvement in making bombs in a house at Lalbagh early Monday.
Two of them — Sohel, 22, and Kamal, 20 — were placed on a two-day remand on Monday. The teens — Shyamal and Roman — were arrested from Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
The boys at first told the police that they sustained the injuries when bombs were hurled at thembut later admitted being injured in an explosion, when they were making bombs on the roof of a plastic factory on the Water Works Road, said the police.
Gee, was the oil refinery booked?
The police recovered two live bombs and some bomb making materials from the place. The police also arrested two others from a nearby house. The police produced Sohel and Kamal in the chief metropolitan magistrates court and sought a five-day remand. The court granted a two-day remand. Coastguards-dacoits gunfight leaves two dead
According to Humayun Kabir Khandakar, UNO of Ramgati upazila and the local sources, 17 people including forest and coast guard members led by a coastguard Lt. Mohammad Shahidul Islam conducted an operation to nab a gang of forest dacoits belonging to Alauddin Bahini with a trawler on Sunday noon. As they reached there the leader of the dacoits Abdur Rahman and his accomplices suddenly attacked them. The forest and coast guards also opened fire to save their lives. During the gunfight, two people were killed on the spot who were later identified as Shahabuddin (40) and Ayub Ali (25). At least 50 people from both sides including Lt. Shahidul Islam were injured and three rifles of coastguards were snatched away by the armed dacoits from the coast guard members during the three-hour armed clashes.
Sounds like one hell of a party
Additional police force from Ramgati thana and nearby Gajaria police camp rushed to the spot to rescue the coastguards and the forest guards.
Meanwhile, the dacoits and a huge number of their local associates also attacked the Gajaria police camp. Police force led by the UNO and OC of Ramgati thana rushed to Gajaria and after an hour rescued the coast and forest guards and took them to Ramgati thana along with two bodies and other seven bullet-hit persons including Lt. Nazmul in the evening. Four critically injured persons were admitted to the local hospital.
The looted three rifles of the coast guards were recovered and Lt. Shahidul Islam of coast guard filed a case with Ramgati thana in this connection. 11 injured in bomb blast at TSC valentine's day function
At least 11 people, including two female students of Dhaka University, were injured in bomb explosions on a Valentine's Day function yesterday evening at TSC on the DU campus. Witnesses said three bombs blew off one after another in the midst of a huge crowd at the comic debate programme in front of Swaparjita Swadhinata at about 7:40 pm.
"Panicked students and valentine-lovers who gathered there to celebrate the St Valentine's Day ran helter-skelter for safety amid the blasts," says an eyewitness account of the incident.
Let's see, who doesn't like Valentine's Day and is known for blowing stuff up?
Two of the injured were identified as DU girl students Rimu and Tuhin. Witnesses said two to three more bombs were lying in the TSC area at about 8:30 pm. Police recovered the bombs and cordoned off the spot. 2 suspected robbers lynched in Keraniganj
Feb 14 : Two suspected robbers were beaten to death by a mob in Malancha area here early today. Sources said while a gang of 8-9 dacoits was looting valuables from the passengers of several baby-taxies at 6:30 am, local people rushed in and surrounded five of the bandits. "The dacoits tried to escape exploding some hand-bombs, leaving three people of the area wounded," says a spot report. The injured are Mamun, Kabir and Jewel.
When the bombs exploded, local people got angry, chased and caught and beat up the bandits mercilessly. Two of them died on the spot in the lynching. Another of the gang, Mukles, was also injured in the mass beating. The four injured were admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital. Separate cases were filed. Two listed terrorists held in Ctg
Feb 14: The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) personnel arrested two listed terrorists from different spots of the port city last night. They recovered firearms from the possession of the arrested criminals. Sources said, acting on a secret information, the RAB arrested listed terrorist Md Abul Kalam alias Lengra Abul from Aturar Depot area in the port city last night. They also recovered two Long Guns and six rounds of bullet from the bedroom of Lengra Abul.
In another raid, the RAB arrested Md Didarul alam alias Didar from Hajir Pool area at Baizid Bostami in the port city early this morning. They also recovered two guns and three rounds of bullet from the possession of the arrested Didar. 4 arrested for acid throwing
The police on Friday arrested a man along with his two brothers and a sister-in-law from village Khagdior at Balaganj upazila for throwing acid on his wife. The arrested are Oliur Rahman, husband of the victim, his brothers Omar Ali and Rupullah and sister in-law Khairunnesa.
The police said Oliur with the help of the members of his family threw acid on his wife Rahena on the night of February 3 as she failed to meet his dowry demand. Oliur took valuables worth Tk 1.50 lakh from Rahena's father during their marriage in 2001, as dowry. He again demanded Tk 2 lakh from her father.
Failing to get the money, Oliur became angry and threw acid on his wife, mother of a child.
Bastard
Posted by: Steve ||
02/15/2005 9:09:56 AM ||
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#1
No crossfires? CSI:Bangladesh have their policemans ball last night or something?
#3
I have a good suggestion for the acid-throwers' punishment, but first we'll need more acid. Since every jilted Mooslim and suspicious Islamist husband seems to have access to some, it shouldn't be hard to find....f&%kers
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/15/2005 14:57 Comments ||
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#4
I prefer the lobster in boiling water routine except lower them slowly. ps the woosies in Norway conducted a study which stated that the lobsters can't feel the pain when boiled. Boy has Scandinavia come a long way.
#5
Hmmmmmmmmmm... acid.
Have we tried that one yet, Achmed? The suspect tried to hide in a 55 gallon drum of acid? There's enough of it around.
Write that one down.
Intensified military raids in Iraq over the past few months have significantly battered the ranks of mid-level insurgents but have scored few gains against the 30 or so most wanted rebels, according to senior U.S. military officers here.
As much as a third of this group is thought to move in and out of Iraq with some frequency, the officers said. Many have eluded U.S. and Iraqi forces by a combination of moving constantly, avoiding use of telephones and receiving protection from family or tribal connections.
"Are we having success rolling up some of the top-tier leaders? Not at this time," said Brig. Gen. John DeFreitas, the highest-ranking Army intelligence officer in Iraq. "But we're successfully working the second- and third-tier leaders to put pressure on the top tier."
After a lull in the days after the Jan. 30 election, insurgents have resumed bombings, suicide attacks and assassinations, an increasing share of them directed against Iraqi civilians and security forces. There are now an average of about 60 attacks each day, close to the rate before the election, according to U.S. military tallies, and most remain concentrated in Sunni Muslim-populated provinces of central and northwestern Iraq.
U.S. officers classify nearly half of the insurgency's leaders as "former regime members" -- people who were operatives of the ruling Baath Party, aides to deposed president Saddam Hussein and officers in his military and security services. Another eight are described as associates of Abu Musab Zarqawi, the Jordanian-born insurgent leader. Most of the rest are characterized as foreign terrorists.
Intelligence analysts continue to view the insurgency as heavily fragmented and largely the work of small guerrilla cells that lack a central command. But the men on the military's wanted list are suspected of making important contributions in money or tactical coordination.
To better manage military and civilian intelligence efforts aimed at the insurgency's upper ranks, U.S. authorities established a special task force late last year. The Iraqi government issued arrest warrants for 29 figures on the most-wanted list last month to enable foreign governments to seize any who surface abroad.
More recently, Lt. Gen. John Vines, commander of the 18th Airborne Corps who took over last week as the senior U.S. operational commander in Iraq, has ordered a more focused approach to tracking high-priority insurgents. He calls it the "unblinking eye."
Predator drones, manned reconnaissance aircraft and agents on the ground are massed against a particular target to ensure round-the-clock surveillance. Previously, commanders typically had use of these for only limited periods of time.
"Rather than spreading those assets over an entire battlefield and getting only partial views, it's much more useful to mass them on a particular target," said Col. Rich Ellis, the senior military intelligence officer for the 18th Airborne Corps.
In a world of finite assets, this approach will require commanders to set more specific target priorities and gamble on pursuing them while leaving others for later. But military leaders here appear eager to try new methods, acknowledging that past efforts have fallen short.
In the U.S. view, the insurgency remains driven largely by Hussein loyalists bent on restoring themselves to power and preserving the dominance of the Sunni minority that existed in the Hussein years. These people are described as operating at times in loose associations with Zarqawi's network and with other underground Islamic groups that have been blamed for some of the more spectacular suicide bombings.
U.S. claims that insurgent operations below the top level have been badly disrupted stem from stepped-up pressure that started last summer with an assault in Najaf against the Mahdi Army militia of a radical Shiite cleric, Moqtada Sadr. That was followed by offensives against insurgents in Samarra, Fallujah, Mosul, northern Babil province and elsewhere.
The operations killed several thousand suspected insurgents, and swelled the number of detainees to more than 8,000, according to U.S. figures. U.S. and Iraqi forces seized enormous amounts of weapons as well as documents, computer files and other records said to contain intelligence leads.
U.S. commanders said that one of the biggest signs that these offensives worked was the insurgents' inability to disrupt the Jan. 30 elections. Still, several senior officers here with access to intelligence reports said the long-term damage done to the insurgency remains difficult to gauge.
They said that the elections, which drew 58 percent of 14.6 million eligible voters, have offered a clear political alternative to the insurgents' rejection of a democratic model and have fortified resistance to violent efforts at intimidation. Maj. Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli, commander of the 1st Cavalry Division that patrols Baghdad, reported a surge in tips from Iraqis about local insurgent activity.
"My unblinking eye is 7 million people in Baghdad," Chiarelli said. "That's why we keep talking about our tips line that people can call."
At the same time, officers said, the strong showings by Shiite and Kurdish parties in the voting could breathe new life into the insurgency by making Sunnis feel further excluded from power. U.S. commanders worry that insurgents, in an attempt to foment sectarian strife, will intensify attacks on Shiite targets.
Under the circumstances, military leaders here say, political compromise and power-sharing that emerge in coming months are likely to have as much to do with shaping the security environment as in shaping a new government and constitution. "The political outreach will have more impact on the insurgency than our military operations," one U.S. general said.
Also key, according to U.S. commanders, will be the level of cooperation from Iraq's neighbor, Syria.
Iraqi Baath Party loyalists are said to be using that country as a base for financing and supplying the insurgents. So the Bush administration has sought Syrian help to stop the movement of fighters and equipment across the border into Iraq and crack down on insurgent leaders in Syria. While Syria has taken some action on the border, it has not been as aggressive against Iraqi operatives inside the country, several U.S. officers said.
Iraq authorities recently stirred speculation of a major breakthrough in the hunt for top insurgents by reporting instances in which they claimed that Zarqawi was nearly caught. A senior U.S. commander here in a position to know, however, said he was unaware of any such case.
Having been burned in the past by grossly underestimating the size of the insurgency, military intelligence experts here now shy away from providing new estimates, at least in public. In private they report that they are looking hard at possible new methods for assessing the size and capabilities of the armed opposition.
Ultimately, given the cultural barriers involved, the best prospects for penetrating the insurgency may come not from greater U.S. efforts but from Iraqi efforts, U.S. officers said.
As part of a renewed U.S. effort this year to beef up Iraq's security forces, a U.S. advisory team will be assigned full time to Iraq's intelligence service, and intelligence assistance teams will operate in the field with Iraqi military units, officers said.
The number of counterinsurgency raids also will rise, Vines predicted. "But they will be by Iraqi soldiers and police," he said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/15/2005 12:36:03 AM ||
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Roadside bombs killed a U.S. soldier and three Iraqi National Guard troops Monday and officials said insurgents blew up an oil pipeline near Kirkuk and killed two senior police officers in Baghdad. Political leaders, meanwhile, sized up their positions in a new government.
One American soldier was killed and three wounded Monday when a bomb detonated near their patrol in northern Iraq, the military said. The explosion occurred when the soldiers from Task Force Liberty were on a combat patrol near the town of Baqouba, 55 kilometres northeast of Baghdad, the U.S. command said in a statement. The three Iraqi troops were killed by a bomb that detonated in Baqouba as their convoy passed, said Mudafar Al-Juburi of the Dyala police station. Three other soldiers were wounded, he added.
Insurgents near Kirkuk attacked the Al-Dibbis oilfield belonging to the North Oil Co., said Maj.-Gen. Anwar Mohammad Amin. The pipeline supplied oil for domestic use and the damage will hamper production, he said. It will take workers at least three days to extinguish the blaze and repair the pipeline, Amin said. Insurgents have regularly targeted Iraq's oil infrastructure, repeatedly cutting exports and denying the country much-needed reconstruction money.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/15/2005 12:15:16 AM ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Kuwait has detained seven suspected Islamic militants for questioning about last month's bloody clashes with police, security sources say. The Kuwaiti, Saudi and stateless Arab men were seized late on Sunday in continuing police raids in the oil-rich Gulf Arab state rocked by a surge in al Qaeda-linked violence in January, the sources said on Monday. Three security men and seven Islamists were killed in the four shootouts and scores of suspects were arrested.
Eleven Yemenis suspected of belonging to al-Qaida have gone on trial accused of planning to carry out "criminal acts" in Yemen and abroad. Ten of the 11 defendants, all Yemenis and at least six of who were born in Saudi Arabia, were present at the hearing where they were formally charged on Monday The charges also include possession of arms and explosives and forging documents and passports. A public prosecutor claimed the 11 had trained in camps in Afghanistan between 1998 and 2002 and were plotting and raising funds for "criminal acts" inside Yemen and abroad. The prosecutor also charged that the men had planned to travel to Iraq to fight US-led forces and demanded the maximum punishment of between seven and 10 years in prison 
The southern Philippines is peppered with hotspots, and one detonated last week on the remote island of Jolo, where the Philippine army and marines fought rebels in three towns, and Air Force planes dropped 500-pound bombs on their strongholds in the island's thick jungles. It was the most intense fighting in the south in at least 30 years and by week's end, 22 soldiers had been killed, along with 60 rebels. Southern Command Chief Lieut. General Alberto Braganza said that several dozen American troops had been sent in from their base in the southern city of Zamboanga, although he insisted the Americans wouldn't be fighting, but merely acting as intelligence trainers. A rebel attack on the capital city of Jolo was feared, but Braganza said his men would continue to fight. "There will be no let-up," he vowed. "What they started, I will finish."
Eleven people were killed and at least 93 injured Monday in Valentine's Day bombings by suspected militants that hit Manila and two southern Philippine cities, officials said. Three people were killed on the spot and about 60 injured when a powerful bomb ripped through a bus in the Makati financial district of Manila during the early evening rush hour, Metropolitan Manila police chief Avelino Razon said. The blast set two nearby buses on fire. Five people were killed when a blast hit a bus depot in the southern city of Davao on Mindanao island at dusk, Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman said. Three people were killed and 33 injured when a bomb hit a shopping mall in the southern city of General Santos on Mindanao at about the same time as the Davao bombing, she said over DZBB radio.
Lebanese security forces on Monday stormed the Beirut home of a man they identified as a Palestinian who appeared in a video claiming responsibility for the killing of former Lebanese prime minister 
This flies in the face of both French and UN insistence that Syria abide by 1559 without any linkage to other UN resolutions. France, which sponsored 1559, will also observe Lebanon's parliamentary elections, scheduled for mid-April or early May. On Sunday London-based Al Hayat newspaper cited diplomatic sources in Paris saying the message carried by UN envoy Terje Roed-Larsen to Damascus last week contained a strong warning to Syrian president 
Analysts were reluctant to point fingers after the assassination of former prime minister 
The official Algerian radio Tuesday reported a clash between troops and gunmen late Monday in Bashar, some 1,000 kilometers (625 miles) south of Algiers, left two militants dead. In another incident, troops killed a gunman in Jijil in eastern Algeria, the radio said.
