ON TUESDAY, March 15, the U.S. State Department faces a deadline: as previously mandated by State itself, the bureaucrats must show that they have taken action in accord with last year's designation of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia as a "country of particular concern" because of its flagrant violations of religious freedom.
Will State fulfill its responsibility? Who knows.
That's why 15 Senators from both sides of the aisle sent a letter to Secretary Condoleezza Rice last Friday demanding that the U.S.-Saudi relationship be "defined more clearly."
The signatories were: Charles Schumer (D-New York), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Evan Bayh (D-Indiana), Saxby Chambliss (R-Georgia), Gordon Smith (R-Oregon), Sam Brownback (R-Kentucky), John Ensign (R-Nevada), Frank Lautenberg (D-New Jersey), Norm Coleman (R-Minnesota), Ron Wyden (D-Oregon), Christopher Dodd (D-Connecticut), Herb Kohl (D-Wisconsin), Ben Nelson (D-Nebraska), Byron Dorgan (D-North Dakota), and Rick Santorum (R-Pennsylvania).
The need for heightened pressure on the Saudis has never been more obvious. The kingdom continues to maintain the ultra-radical Wahhabi sect of Islam as the state religion. Wahhabism is more an ideology than a faith, and is the inspiration for al Qaeda and much of the terrorism launched against U.S., coalition, and Iraqi democratic forces north of the Saudi-Iraq border.
As the text of the letter notes, the Saudi regime continues to disseminate limitless quantities of Wahhabi literature through mosques and schools on American soil. Samples of these materials were highlighted in a recent report by Freedom House, but the problem is not new. The Saudi Institute, a human rights monitoring group
in Washington, first exposed the dissemination of Saudi hate propaganda in America two years ago.
(On Saturday, March 12, three democratic reform leaders went on trial in the kingdom: Dr. Abdullah Al-Hamed, Dr. Matrook Al-Faleh, and the poet Ali Al-Domaini were arrested on March 16, 2004, for demanding adoption of a constitution by the Saudi monarchy.)
Saudi Arabia is an especially flagrant violator of its own subjects' religious rights. Non-Wahhabi Sunni Islam is banned; the large Shia Muslim minority is suppressed; the spiritual teaching of Sufi Islam are illegal. Possession of religious works, including classics of Arabic and Islamic literature, reflecting these traditions, is a crime.
And, of course, Saudi Arabia has millions of foreign workers living and toiling on its soil--more than a quarter of its population of 16.5 million--of which a large but unknown number are Christians from such countries as the Philippines, United States, Canada, Western Europe, India, and South Korea, Buddhists from Sri Lanka and India, Hindus, and non-Wahhabi Muslims from Sudan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia, and Egypt. None of these people has the right to practice their faith openly while serving their Saudi masters.
The kingdom is the only Muslim country in the world which forbids non-Muslims to practice their faith. It is the largest absolutist monarchy in the world.
The 15 Senators have it right: "it is essential that Saudi Arabia be held accountable for its support of radical Islamic ideology."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/14/2005 1:29:23 AM ||
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I have to ask:
What, precisely, does anyone - particularly these politicians - expect to happen?
Would allowing religious services for non-Muslims IK (In Kingdom) make it all better?
Would the Saudi Govt declaring it will (or has) stopped funding of Wahhabi pamphlets and other printed matter for distribution in the US make it all better?
Would their declaring that all Wahhabi funding to found new moskkks and "schools" and "institutes" in the US has been cut off make it all better?
Would ending all funding of Wahhabi interests in the US make it all better?
Would ending all funding of Wahhabi interests world-wide make it all better?
Though the article points out that Wahhabism is more an ideology (More? Lol!) is this only about "religious freedom" or ideological "intolerance"?
Without naming the goals, this is just a bunch of politicians posturing and posing for the press.
Calling a spade a spade regards the Wahhabi / Caliphatist / Islamist screed is on the tip of everyone's tongue - but none of our politicians have, as yet, made the call.
Until that happens, until reciprocal war is declared on this totalitarian hate machine, for it declared war on us in 1973, it's all spitting in the wind. The nibble, nibble approach means nothing, accomplishes nothing, and leads to nothing without the stones to make the call.
Would anyone be so gullible as to believe any such declaration? The House of Saud is composed of thousands of ultra-rich twits across the spectrum, from playboys fools to ideological fanatics. There is no Govt, there are a hundred (or more) factions. They fund whatever they want. They all make Saudi policy. They all act in their own "interests" and there is no effective means of restraining those who disagree with the "official" policy - short of killing them, that is.
So what would any of the forgoing Official Saudi Govt policies, efforts, and declarations mean?
Nothing. None would be worth warm spit.
Pfeh - Wahhabism is an ideology - with the goal of world domination and destruction or total subjugation, by any and all means, of all other ideologies. Period.
#3
Thank you, .com. The Islamists represent the Muslim reformation. I gag every time the USG calls Islam the "Religion of Peace." I hope that the USG will emerge from PC wishful thinking before a lot of Americans die. Same goes for Western Europe, but not much hope there.
#4
Nothing serious will be done about the Saudis until the world's oil supply can be ensured through control of Iraq and Iran. In the meantime, this kind of thing serves to remind the Saudis that they are not slipping under the radar, and that they will not be able to fast talk their way out of this -- not when both sides of the aisle are of the same opinion.
And if, in the meantime, the Saudis loosen restrictions/harassment even slightly of non-Wahabbi worshippers, that is all to the good.
#5
It's not a bad idea, but obviously I wouldn't want alot of our Soddy policy to get out in the press, so a public breakdown of policy is out.
A private meeting with "concerned" Congressmen is out too, since nobody with a brain trusts them to keep their mouths shut.
I believe that there are a variety of different strategies on the table behind closed doors regarding the Saudis, but W and his staff aren't idiots and they aren't going public. Look at everything that is happening in the ME right now without any further military actions having been necessary. The Saudis are going to find themselves under the same internal pressures as their neighbors and it won't be long until the signs of internal unrest begin to stir.
The time for those Congressmen to complain about this was last summer when all those idiotic rumors were floating aroud re: W in bed with the Saudis. Since the election, the momentum toward reform all over the ME shows me that the Saudi question (if there ever was one) is a waste of time.
Posted by: Chris W. ||
03/14/2005 12:55 Comments ||
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Charles Schumer (D-New York), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Evan Bayh (D-Indiana), Saxby Chambliss (R-Georgia), Gordon Smith (R-Oregon), Sam Brownback (R-Kentucky), John Ensign (R-Nevada), Frank Lautenberg (D-New Jersey), Norm Coleman (R-Minnesota), Ron Wyden (D-Oregon), Christopher Dodd (D-Connecticut), Herb Kohl (D-Wisconsin), Ben Nelson (D-Nebraska), Byron Dorgan (D-North Dakota), and Rick Santorum (R-Pennsylvania)
I don't trust the guys in bold at all. What an odd mix...
...and Bayh has been on my shit list since he voted against Condi...
Three Bahrainis detained for links to a banned Internet forum were ordered released on bail Sunday, but the trio refused to pay and chose instead to stay behind bars, their lawyer said.
"And you can't make us leave!"
Police detained Ali Abdelimam, Mohammed al-Mousawi and Hussein Youssef last month for links to the Web site www.bahrainonline.org, an Arabic-language forum for views on a range of subjects. The three have been accused of criticizing the royal family, inciting hatred of the government, spreading false news and rumors that could destabilize the nation, and violating the press code. The public prosecutor offered bail of $2,652 each. ``My clients have rejected the bail ... they have decided to stay in prison instead,'' said their lawyer, Ahmed al-Arayed. The detainees began a hunger strike Saturday. Ali Abdelimam is the founder and manager of the Web site, which has posted reports and photos of demonstrations in Bahrain. The government banned it in 2002, but it remains easily accessible to people outside Bahrain, while those inside the tiny island country reach it through foreign-based Internet Service Providers.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/14/2005 00:00:00 ||
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Interior Minister Prince Naif said yesterday that the trial of 13 suspects accused of trying to assassinate Crown Prince Abdullah will start soon after the completion of investigations. "Investigations in such cases will take their course before being referred to courts," Prince Naif told reporters in Riyadh when asked about reports on the imminent trial. Asharq Al-Awsat, a sister publication of Arab News, reported yesterday, quoting Saudi officials that the trial of eight Saudis and five Libyans was likely to start in Riyadh this month. Prince Naif, who arrived from Sanaa after chairing a meeting of the Saudi-Yemeni Border Committee, also said the probe on the assassination attempt was on the verge of completion. "We'll then know all the facts," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/14/2005 00:00:00 ||
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Did Joan Crawford will him all of her clothes when she croaked?
#2
Hey, the guy may be a psychotic dictator with delusions of omnipotence, but you must admit he does wear a nice kaftan. Or is it a dashiki, since he's in Africa? Oh well. Definite fashion sense. Nice taste in bodyguards, too...
Could just be a random madman using a currently 'trendy' homicidal method, or it could be something more sinister ala Holland. A man has been arrested, but no details are available.
Place your bets...
Posted by: Elliot Swan ||
03/14/2005 8:43:52 AM ||
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My bet is it's someone who should have been institutionalized but wasn't due to (a) Human rights issues (b)has only been arrested 49 times.
If it was a member of the ROP it will be covered up and hushed up. Count on it.
#4
"A man who lives in my building was telling him to put the axe down then two men grabbed scaffolding poles to try to stop him hurting anyone else."
"But he didn't respond to all the people shouting at him."
two men grabbed scaffolding poles ?
I know owning a gun is the highest crime in Britain, but don't they make cricket bats out of Aluminum????
It's really disaparaging to read that account because it seems no one did anything more than shout at the guy to stop. Yes, guns are pretty much illegal in Britain and confronting a guy with an axe would be pretty hairy, but you'd think a few guys would have been willing to surround and gang-tackle the guy?
Posted by: Dar ||
03/14/2005 11:44 Comments ||
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Nonono, you can't be the one if you use an axe. Only by using a sword can you be the One and escape prosecution. By using an axe, you simply become your local neighborhood axe murderer.
...the "calm and precise" killer seemed unworried as he handed himself over to armed police.
Other witnesses had told him how the attacker shouted "you've had this coming for 20 years" before he bludgeoned his victim to death with the 2ft weapon. Two workers from a nearby building site arrived carrying iron bars to try to stop the attack but were too late.
The 61-year-old victim was married with children and lived nearby while the suspect was from the Camden area. Detectives are investigating links between the two men, who are thought to have been known to each other but were not related. ...
The suspect, aged 37, was taken to Holborn police station after being arrested at the scene. He did not appear to have a history of mental illness.
Scotland Yard said a post mortem examination on the victim is to be held at St Pancras mortuary. Police said he had suffered severe head and facial injuries but had not been decapitated.
#9
BigEd: I don't know what these scaffolding poles look like, but in that situation if I had to face a deranged axe murderer with a hand-to-hand weapon a bo would probably be my first choice.
Then again, I'm out of practice... so take that as you will.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
03/14/2005 23:25 Comments ||
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South Korea is to make up its own mind about providing aid to North Korea as the communist country is considered a brother while Washington is an ally, Unification Minister Chung Dong-young said at a meeting of ministry officials on Monday.
Chung, who concurrently chairs the standing committee of the National Security Council, was reacting to U.S. Rep. Henry Hyde's remarks last week on the Korean Peninsula, spokesman Kim Hong-jae said at a press briefing.
On March 10, the International Relations Committee chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives criticized South Korea for scrapping ``main enemy'' from the national defense white paper this year, saying that Seoul should make clear who is its friend and who is its enemy.
The Defense Ministry deleted ``main enemy'' in the new version of the white paper released last month to maintain peaceful relations with North Korea.
``South Koreans basically think of North Korea as our brother and the U.S. as our ally,'' Chung was quoted by Kim as saying. ``No other country specifies its enemy in their white paper. Looking at Korean Peninsula affairs in black and white is not helpful in finding a peaceful solution.''
It is rare for a minister to make public what has been discussed in a meeting attended by high-ranking ministry officials, especially when it is related to diplomacy.
Chung said Hyde was apparently not fully aware of the 1953 South Korea-U.S. Mutual Defense Agreement, which did not specify the enemy and limits the boundary of military operations to the Pacific region.
``(Hyde's) remarks that we first have to clarify who our enemy is so that we can get help from the U.S. might have come as a result of a failure in understanding the aim and spirit of the agreement,'' Chung said. ``To help our ally's war against terrorism we even dispatched the world's third-largest military contingent to Iraq, which is far from the Pacific region.''
Upon Hyde's request for Seoul to reconsider its humanitarian aid programs for North Korea, Chung said he thinks the U.S. congressman's unilateral demand is not appropriate and Seoul cannot accept it.
``We will make our own decision after considering various circumstances,'' Chung said. ``Humanitarian aid to the North is helpful in easing North Koreans' pain and contributing to peace on the Korean Peninsula in the long term.''
A ministry official explained after the briefing that Chung's decision to release the minutes came as many people in South Korea have shown interest in Hyde's remarks.
Posted by: tipper ||
03/14/2005 9:07:15 AM ||
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South Korea is to make up its own mind about providing aid to North Korea as the communist country is considered a brother while Washington is an ally, Unification Minister Chung Dong-young said at a meeting of ministry officials on Monday.
Not a problem. Remove all U.S. assets and personnel from South Korea and allow their "brother" to provide whatever they need or want.
DETROIT -- The United Auto Workers says Marine reservists should show a little more semper fi if they want to use the union's parking lot. The Marine Corps motto means "always faithful," but the union says some reservists working out of a base on Jefferson Avenue in Detroit have been decidedly unfaithful to their fellow Americans by driving import cars and trucks.
So the UAW International will no longer allow members of the 1st Battalion 24th Marines to park at Solidarity House if they are driving foreign cars or displaying pro-President Bush bumper stickers
"While reservists certainly have the right to drive nonunion made vehicles and display bumper stickers touting the most anti-worker, anti-union president since the 1920s, that doesn't mean they have the right to park in a lot owned by the members of the UAW," the union said in a statement released Friday.
Shocked and disappointed, the Marines are pulling out. "You either support the Marines or you don't," said Lt. Col. Joe Rutledge, commanding officer of the battalion's active duty instructors. "I'm telling my Marines that they're no longer parking there."
At a time when U.S. armed forces are fighting and dying in Iraq and Afghanistan, quibbling over parking privileges is "silly," Rutledge said.
The UAW has a long history of barring foreign-made cars from its parking lots. The subject is touchier than ever as Detroit's Big Three loses market share, driving down union membership.
The pro-Bush bumper stickers are another sore spot after last year's election. UAW President Ron Gettelfinger opposed President Bush, accusing him of ignoring calls for labor law reform and failing to combat unfair business practices in China -- a growing threat to U.S. manufacturers.
The dispute arises as the UAW, using laid-off workers for labor, is building a $300,000 home for the Veterans of Foreign Wars. The home in Eaton Rapids will operate a residential program for children of veterans who don't have parents, or whose parents can't care for them.
"We do not think it is unreasonable to expect our guests to practice the simple principle of not insulting their host," the UAW statement said.
Rutledge is unmoved. "I don't see it as a snub against them," he said, adding no conditions were set when the union first began allowing the Marines to park in the lot several years ago. "We're appreciative of what they've done, but you don't come into my office and say, 'OK, we're not going to support some of your Marines.' I don't know what a foreign car is today anyway. BMWs are made in South Carolina now."
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/14/2005 4:18:39 PM ||
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Whole thing makes me embarrassed for driving Detroit Iron all these years, even the years when it was overpriced and decidedly inferior to the foreign stuff. The UAW is a dinosaur, squabbling and scrabbling to maintain artificially high wages and benefits for essentially unskilled labor.
#3
Still, I love my .04 F150 - put together in KC, by, I assume UAW workers. Their politics suck and are getting worse...but my truck's better than any Titan or Tundra
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/14/2005 19:57 Comments ||
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I love my Honda.
UAW - ESAD!
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/14/2005 20:01 Comments ||
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Ex-president Bill Clinton tried to persuade Saudi Arabia to behead Osama bin Laden while trying to arrange a deal in 1996 to have the terrorist kingpin extradited from Sudan. The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday:
"In the spring of 1996, the government of Sudan offered to deliver Osama bin Laden [then living in Khartoum] into U.S. custody. The Clinton Administration was aware of the threat bin Laden posed, but it worried it didn't yet have sufficient information to indict him on terrorism charges in court. Instead, the U.S. sought to have the Saudis take bin Laden and behead him."
In February 2002, Clinton said he was personally involved in negotiations with the Saudis.
"I pleaded with the Saudis to take him, 'cause they could have. But they thought it was a hot potato," he told a New York business group.
While the ex-president made no mention of any plan to behead bin Laden, he did admit to turning down a Sudanese offer to have him shipped to the U.S.
"At the time, 1996, he had committed no crime against America so I did not bring him here because we had no basis on which to hold him, though we knew he wanted to commit crimes against America."
In an October 2001 interview, Clinton national security adviser Sandy Berger hinted that the beheading plan was part of the Clinton administration's renditioning policy, where terrorists are sent to Third World countries with the expectation that they will be tortured - or worse.
"In the United States, we have this thing called the Constitution," Berger told the Washington Post. "So to bring [bin Laden] here is to bring him into the justice system. I don't think that was our first choice. Our first choice was to send him someplace where justice is more 'streamlined.'"
Saudi Arabia, where bin Laden was born, follows Islamic Law, which sanctions the beheading of criminals and other offending citizens. Low credibility. It depends on what your definition of the word "beheading" is.
No link, as this was posted on my employer's intranet site which is not accessable to non-employees, and the cited source CQ magazine is subscriber only.
Congressional Quarterly magazine looked at the demographics of the current 109th Congress and came up with the following: The average age of senators is the highest ever, and the average House member is older than at any time in at least a century. But it is the accelerating decline in military service among members that may be the most eye-catching statistic, given the prominent issues of war and security that this Congress faces. In 1969, as Richard M. Nixon took office at the height of the Vietnam War, three of four members of Congress had been in the military. In 1991, when Congress authorized President George H. W. Bush to wage war to end Iraq's occupation of Kuwait, just more than half the members - 52 percent - were veterans. But the 109th Congress, which will legislate on the nation's current military campaigns in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere in the war on terrorism, includes just 140 veterans - 109 in the House and 31 in the Senate - barely one-quarter of the membership. That is a nine percent decline just since the 108th Congress and a 49 percent drop since the Gulf War 14 years ago. The dwindling number of veterans in Congress is largely the result of the institution of an all-volunteer army in 1973 and the aging of the World War II generation.
Just wait a few years, when the men and women currently serving in Iraq and Afghanistan start running for office. They will be fantastic leaders!
Posted by: SC88 ||
03/14/2005 2:05:50 AM ||
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#1
But there are so few of them. Our military is the smallest relative to population since before WWII. Now, at the highest levels, we have the same number of offices as then (535 Congressmen vs. 531 back then), the explosion in all levels of government means that there are many, many of the "training" levels to fill. Not just elected offices, but high-visibility appointed ones.
Secondly, I don't know if that's really the case. After all, it was the "greatest generation" that led the country in the 60s and 70s, and we know how that turned out.
#2
The effects of having a draft shouldn't be ruled out. What I mean is that the possibility of being drafted did cause a few of my military acquaintences to join up (including myself). That's not exactly the same as only having "all vol" force. So having a "choice" between being a draftee for two years or going ahead and joining up the service of your own choice for three to four years is not the same now.
Ah, no, it's not some judge playing hardball...
A federal judge on Saturday prohibited the government from transferring 13 Yemeni prisoners from the military's detention facility at Guantänamo Bay, Cuba, until a hearing could be held on their lawyers' fear that they might face torture if sent to another country. But with all the sob stories I hear, I thought they were all already being tortured down at Gitmo? I guess we must have kinder, gentler torture.
The ruling by Judge Rosemary M. Collyer of United States District Court was the first action on at least five emergency petitions filed since Friday by lawyers for Guantänamo detainees after they learned from news reports that the government is seeking to transfer hundreds of prisoners to their home countries."We're relieved," said Marc Falkoff, a lawyer for the Yemenis. "If they were moved, the jurisdiction of the court over the case would effectively be dissolved." Don't worry, Americans. Judge Rosemary M. Collyer and Attorney Marc Falkoff have got your back.
Barbara Olshansky, deputy director for litigation at the Center for Constitutional Rights, who helped coordinate the detainees' legal representation, said she expected lawyers for all the detainees to file similar actions by Sunday. She said she would seek an order on behalf of several hundred detainees whose names are not known to the lawyers. Mohammed Doe, Achmed Doe, Mohammed Achmed Doe, Mohammed Achmed Jihad Doe... just a bunch of guys caught in Afghanistan checking out the school system before they moved the wife and kids over, right, Babs?
The judge's order puts at least a temporary roadblock in the way of the administration's plans to transfer at least half of the 540 detainees at Guantänamo to prisons in other countries, chiefly Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and Yemen. John Nowacki, a Justice Department spokesman, said late Saturday that government lawyers were reviewing the ruling and had no immediate comment.
The government argues that all the prisoners were members of the Qaeda terrorist network or the Taliban in Afghanistan, or have ties to those groups. Mr. Falkoff said that after talking to his clients during two weeklong visits to the detention center and reviewing government documents, he did not believe they were terrorists. He said he believed one was an aid worker, another was a medic and a third was a 17-year-old who had traveled to Afghanistan to teach children the Koran. He acknowledged that he did not have independent corroboration for their stories. But he believes them because...they look like they're honest guys who were framed by Bushitler and those other... bad, evil guys. I wonder if he'll adopt them and bring them home with him?
The ruling bans any transfer of the Yemenis until a hearing can be held on their lawyers' request for at least 30 days' notice before any transfer takes place. Ms. Olshansky said the notice would permit the lawyers to determine whether their clients willingly accepted the transfer to a prison in their home countries, or whether they feared they would be tortured or indefinitely detained without trial. I thought that was the lawyers main bitches about Gitmo?
"We want to find out where they're being sent and ask them if they want to go there," she said. "If the answer is yes, fine." Have the good counselor check with the Yemenis about getting them into the "repentance" program. I'm sure that would meet with his approval.
Also on Saturday, the Defense Department announced that it had transferred three detainees from Guantänamo to Afghanistan, Maldives and Pakistan for release, bringing the number of detainees who have left the naval base to 214. A tribunal reviewing the status of detainees found that they no longer qualified as enemy combatants, according to a department statement that provided no other details about the transfers, citing "operational and security considerations." Sounds like all the infidel torture hookers and brain sucking machines are all worn out by now.
Posted by: tu3031 ||
03/14/2005 11:24:03 AM ||
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"Your Honor, we've decided you're right. We cannot transfer these unlawful combatants to the custody of another nation. For that reason, they have all been executed by hanging at sunrise this morning. Thank you for your time."
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
03/14/2005 12:30 Comments ||
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"their lawyersâ fear that they might face torture if sent to another country." Ahem, I thought WE we torturing the prisoners and the Arabs were everything nice to people. Maybe RC has the right idea, just marching them out at noon and dispatch each of them.
Posted by: ed ||
03/14/2005 07:04 ||
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About time, too.
Nearly 30 years ago, I went with a friend to celebrate St. Pat's Day at Finn McCool's in Chicago. The band was singing garbage like, "If you hate the Queen of England, clap your hands." The whole evening was "let's get drunk and spew hate."
The Mafia began partly as "freedom fighters" opposing the stupid Bourbons in the Kingdom of Naples. They quickly concluded that crime paid better. Same with the IRA. They should be treated as the mafiosi they are.
#2
My mother's maiden name was Riley and my father's people Scotch-Irish who came to America in 1725, so I can wear the green or, if the spirit strikes, the orange. But in my opinion, these armed thugs, the IRA, the Ulster Defense Forces, Sinn Fein, etc.are evil anachronisms that should be hunted down and killed without quarter by good men and women everywhere. This kind of mindless reflexive evil needs to be excised from the gene pool.
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, al Qaeda's chief ally in Iraq, may be planning attacks on "soft targets" in the United States including movie theatres, restaurants and schools, Time magazine has reported.
White House national security adviser Stephen Hadley would not discuss the specific warning, which Time said was circulated among U.S. security agencies last week in a restricted bulletin.
But he said the administration was concerned about reports -- "which we think are very credible" -- that Zarqawi is working more closely with Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda organisation.
Hadley said movie theatres, restaurants and schools "are the kinds of targets we know that al Qaeda has traditionally been concerned about."
"But we, at this point sitting here, do not have evidence of a specific operation by Zarqawi's organisation targeting those kinds of targets. We just don't have that kind of information at this point," Hadley told CNN's "Late Edition."
The warning comes two weeks after President George W. Bush, in a rare public mention of the mastermind of the September 11, 2001, attacks, said stopping bin Laden from a new attack on U.S. soil was "the greatest challenge of our day."
Time said the bulletin was based on the interrogation of a member of Zarqawi's organisation.
It cited Zarqawi's belief that "if an individual has enough money, he can bribe his way into the U.S.," by obtaining a visa to Honduras and then travelling across Mexico and the southern U.S. border.
But the magazine quoted intelligence agencies as saying there is no evidence that Zarqawi's agents have infiltrated the United States.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/14/2005 1:25:35 AM ||
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It seems that their only strategy is to do that which will get the largest number of Muslims killed in short order. I wonder if the residents of Hell are complaining yet about all the recent Muslim immigrants.
#2
..said stopping bin Laden from a new attack on U.S. soil was "the greatest challenge of our day."
Given the way that the DoT has handled themselves, and GWB's attitude toward illegal immigration and the Mexican border, this so-called "challenge" has been made needlessly difficult.
"Aryan pure soopermen!"
"Sooper-dooper soopermen!"
In a letter posted on its Web site the head of the white supremacist group Aryan Nations offers his thanks to radical Islamic terrorists and extends the group's hand of friendship. Aryan Nations National Director August Kreis writes (www.aryan-nations.org), "We as an organization will also endeavor to aid all those who subvert, disrupt and are (sic) malignant in nature to our enemies. Therefore I offer my most sincere best-wishes to those who wage holy Jihad against the infrastructure of the decadent, weak and Judaic-influenced societal infrastructure of the West. I send a message of thanks and well-wishes to the methods and works of groups on the Islamic front against the jew such as Al-Qaeda and Sheik Usama Bin Ladin, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah and to all Jihadis worldwide who fight for the glory of the Khilafah and the downfall of the anti-life and anti-freedom System prevalent on this earth today.
"Hey! Y'all're purdy awful. An' we're purdy awful. We should get together..."
Kreis continues by saying (sic), "I ask our Islamic fellow fighters against jewry to remember the co-operation between Mufti Haj Mohammad Amin al-Husseini and Reichsfuhrer Heinrich Himmler during the last century and to remember that all that is of the past it is our duty to surpass!"
"Thet's why we got these here really neat nazi suits!"
Next Kreis tells his ominous vision for the future (http://aryan-nations.org/wulfranhall/kreis_interview.htm). "I see ... violent acts taking place against high places that represent the(sic) jewish domination of our lives here in (sic) Amerika. I see lone wolves targeting jews and others who knowingly condone and perpetrate crimes against White Freedom Fighters such as lawmakers that legislate laws which rail against the Laws of our Father and also those that enforce unmoral corrupt policies against white patriots, organizations and individuals." Kreis continues on in what many would consider a threatening vein.
... and others would consider a mere passing of mental wind...
"Carefully thought out and planned random acts of violence committed against all those who are affiliated with this satanic system will be a strike for freedom. It will not be much longer until our race in mass begins to see the hopeless plight our race is in at the hands of 'those mine enemies.' I believe that as we continue to wake up our brethren and they realize that there are worse things than death we will begin to make the enemy pay dearly for their actions against us."
"Until then, we'll continue running around in our nazi suits, occasionally showing our arm pits."
E-mails to Aryan Nations officials requesting comment were not answered.
Give them time. They're not the fastest readers...
In case anyone has any doubt about what Aryan Nations stands for, an article on the group's web site attributed to "Aryan Nations Staff" (www.aryan-nations.org/about.htm) makes it very clear. It reads (sic), "We are not a non-violent organization, we believe that our Race is on the verge of extinction, and will do anything in our powers to secure a white safe future for our children and our children's children ... Kindred, WAKE UP , join the Aryan Nations in our fight against this evil, jewish menace... Don't delay, JOIN Today! Together we can reach the masses with the Truth of Yahweh, exposing anti-Christ jewry as Satan' kid's and the Children of Darkness they are!"
The web site also contains an invitation to join the Aryan Nations ($25.00 to register and $10.00 monthly thereafter). Part of the application reads (www.aryan-nations.org/application.htm),
"I am of the White Aryan Race. I concur that Aryan Nations is only Aryans of Anglo-Saxon, Germanic, Nordic, Basque, Lombard, Celtic and Slavic origin, the White non-Jew race worldwide. I agree with Aryan Nations' Biblical exclusion of Jews, Negroes, Mexicans, Orientals, and Mongrels.
"That for which we fight is to safeguard the existence and reproduction of our Race, by and of our Nations, the sustenance of our children and the purity of our blood; the freedom and independence of our Race; so that we, a kindred people, may mature for fulfillment of the mission allotted us by the Creator of the Universe, our Father and God."
A highlighted portion of the application page (www.aryan-nations.org/application.htm) reads in part, "All those that are refused membership falsifying the application or trying to join under false pretenses; please consider before doing so that your donation to the cause will still be gladly accepted and put to good use."
On the web site's contact page, a Wulfran Hall is listed as "High Counsel" (www.aryan-nations.org/wulfranhall/library.htm). Hall's opening diatribe reads,
"We can become more than simple domesticated pawns in the games of (sic) jewish commerce. We spit upon the false sanctity of the 'flag' - of whatever country - for all of those flags have failed us and seek to keep us in thrall to 'government authority' - government which we have not asked for and which we do not need. We spit upon the erroneous sanctity of the cross - and all the meaningless relics of organized religion which is but another way to enslave us and control us, to keep us from realizing the potential that we possess as a race."
In his "library," Hall introduces readers to people and books he apparently admires. For example. There's "A Practical Guide to The Strategy and Tactics of Revolution." (www.aryan-nations.org/wulfranhall/practical_guide.htm). Here readers learn four ways they can "undermine/overthrow/disrupt/de-stabilize the present anti-Aryan System, and thus create or provoke a revolutionary situation. The four methods are: (1) assassination of individuals; (2) terror bombing (including targets where civilian casualties are probable); (3) sabotage of the infrastructure of the System - such things as roads, communications, television transmitters, airports, railways, power stations, food supplies, businesses, shops, financial institutions and so on; (4) terror campaigns directed at our enemies - indiscriminate or otherwise."
Readers are also given instruction on targeting and killing "soft targets."
"Successful assassination will get the organization known, respected and feared. One aim here is to create a climate of fear among the types targeted. The best types of soft target in this respect are: (1) enemies of Aryan freedom - specifically those active in anti-Aryan organizations; (2) drug-dealers and (3) those involved in street attacks on our people; (4) politicians who have spoken-out against Aryan groups or who have done things harmful to our race and our freedom (such as supporting some new anti-Aryan law or encouraging race-mixing). (2) and (3) provide excellent propaganda material - the organization can issue a statement saying such decadent anti-Aryan scum have finally been brought to justice.
"On the practical level, the organization must collect intelligence on suitable targets, acquire suitable weapons and prepare statements for after the action. Individual covert cells can then be supplied with a list of targets, and armed with suitable weapons."
Instruction on terror bombing, sabotage and race war is also included. Hall then provides a collection of writings by Abdul-Aziz Ibn Myatt (www.aryan-nations.org/wulfranhall/islam1.html) "rarely seen outside of the Islamic world. Abdul-Aziz Ibn Myatt presents us with pure, unadulterated Islam as it is meant to be - not the corporate, government-promoted false-Islam of 'peace and tolerance' spoken of by the apes in Washington D.C. but rather the religion of war, numinosity and cosmic apprehension which the Magians wish so desperately to destroy. Abdul-Aziz Ibn Myatt is calling you to jihad, will you answer the call?"
Hall also provides (with a disclaimer that they are "quite entertaining") "The Terrorist Encyclopedia," "Hit Man On Line: A Technical Manual for Independent Contractors" and the "CIA Book of Dirty Tricks." A post on the group's bulletin board (www.aryan-nations.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=693) from one apparent Aryan Nations follower attributed to David Myatt is just as ominous as the material disseminated by group leaders. It reads in part, "It is natural and healthy to want to kill, with our own hands, our sworn enemies, as it is natural and healthy to joyfully celebrate such a killing. It is natural and healthy to use violence to defend ourselves, our family, our kin, our comrades and our clan or tribe."
The Aryan Nations Site is apparently hosted by the California Based Managed Solutions Group which also appears to do business as Managed Solutions (www.managed.com). The ISP's hosting of this site violates its acceptable use agreement (www.managed.com/support.htm) which reads in part that users may not, "Utilize the Services to threaten persons with bodily harm, to make harassing or abusive statements or messages, or to solicit the performance of acts or services that are illegal under applicable law." Managed Solutions also appears to host a number of other hate sites that include www.Aryanradio.com, www.kkkchat.com and the American Nazi Party at www.nsm88.com/ Numerous e-mails and a telephone call to Managed Solutions requesting comment were not immediately returned.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/14/2005 1:21:40 AM ||
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#1
I consider anyone associated with these morons to be a deadly enemy of the US. A bullet in all their heads to render them safe would be a good thing.
Posted by: Cat in the closet. ||
03/14/2005 1:52 Comments ||
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#3
This would be a good thing to publicize far and wide. Let everyone know "if you are opposed to US policy in the Middle-east, you are aligned with these people."
#5
Isn't this crowd of the same general mindset as Oklahoma City bombers McVeigh & Nichols? (And is everyone satisfied those morons managed THAT on their own, and that all the smoke about Iraq/Arab involvement was just smoke?)
#8
I will never understand why people that clearly hate the US so much don't leave. If all of these Nazi's moved to lichtenstein they could have their own happy little Hate State free of Jews. Either they are not smart enough to think of that or they are not motivated enough, probably both.
#9
"Aryan pure soopermen!"
"Sooper-dooper soopermen!"
...Somewhere, Spike Jones is smiling...
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
03/14/2005 21:30 Comments ||
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#10
As a white doood, I resent having these missing chromosome assholes try and represent the "white race". Call me a cracker and I'll roll with it. Call me a member of the Aryans and them's fightin' words
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/14/2005 22:01 Comments ||
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On Saturday, more than 11,200 Lebanese had gathered in Martyrs' Square to form a human Lebanese flag.
Squares of colored cardboard - green, white and red - were distributed to the participants, who were assembled into position to form the nation's symbol.
"This event is our civilized way of expressing our solidarity and attachment to our country," said Tony Moukhaiber, the "voice behind the microphone" cheering on the crowd with zesty slogans while patriotic songs played in the background.
The flag took place in front of the Al-Amin mosque in central Beirut, facing Hariri's grave.
Thousands of men and women from all across the country began to gather at the square at noon to be part of the event.
Oumayma Loutfi said: "I departed from Baalbek this morning. I'm here with my three children, husband and mother-in-law."
Many opposition MPs also participated in the event.
"You are Lebanon's pride," shouted Zghorta MP Nayla Mouawad, while Beirut MP Ghinwa Jalloul congratulated the crowd for their patriotism and organization.
Jalloul said: "This flag shows how Lebanese people are faithful to Rafik Hariri's memory and how they won't rest until they find out the truth about who killed him."
At 3 p.m. sharp, the participants raised their squares high in the air forming a giant Lebanese flag for the cameras filming the formation from atop the Al-Amin Mosque, with the national anthem blaring out all the while. "This is the biggest flag in the smallest country," Moukhaiber screamed into his microphone.
Posted by: Sherry ||
03/14/2005 11:56:12 AM ||
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#8
I think the population of Lebanon is something under 4 million. If you assume 800,000 demonstrators out of 4 million possible, that's 20%. Adjusted to US numbers that's a 60 million person march on Washington. Assad's throwing up in three rooms.
Posted by: Matt ||
03/14/2005 20:07 Comments ||
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Dar, and if she's a Christian would that make her "Cross My Heart"-Bra???
Just asking .....
Posted by: too true ||
03/14/2005 20:28 Comments ||
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A living flag? Were they trained by Harold Starr of the Lake Wobegon Herald-Star?
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
03/14/2005 22:20 Comments ||
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#11
I donno, Eric, but it's better than "Block I" at halftime!
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/14/2005 22:30 Comments ||
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Hundreds of thousands of anti-Syrian protesters have joined a rally in Beirut to mark the assassination of Lebanon's former prime minister Rafik al-Hariri, one month on. Huge crowds from across the country have gathered in Martyrs' Square in central Beirut, close to Mr Hariri's grave. They are demanding an international inquiry into his killing and a complete withdrawal of Syrian military and intelligence units from Lebanon.
Opposition protests have taken place on an almost daily basis since the bomb attack that killed Mr Hariri, but today Sunni, Druze and Christians - the factions that fought against each other in the 1975-1990 civil war - joined together to pay their respects. The rally follows yesterday's anti-American demonstration organised by Lebanon's Hizbollah. Political sources have said that although the protests and rallies have been peaceful so far, they fear violence due to frustrations over Syria's involvement in the crisis since Mr Hariri's death. The authorities are thought to be considering a ban on future demonstrations. Emile Lahoud, the pro-Syrian president, has called for an end to the street protests and has urged the opposition to open a dialogue in an attempt to resolve the political crisis. UPDATE: Reports say from 500,000 to 1 million people have gathered in central Beirut for a rally aimed at forcing Syria to withdraw from Lebanon. Reports say demonstrators are still arriving from all parts of the country. A pro-Syria rally yesterday drew about 500,000 people -- and reports say today's demonstration is larger.
Posted by: tipper ||
03/14/2005 8:57:16 AM ||
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#1
LMAO, how ironic that this article came out on the very DAY that over 1 million lebanese marched against syria and hezzbolah.... oh this is to much :) What great times we're living in.
#2
Spengler displaying wishful thinking, and how out of touch he is with the Zeitgeist created by George Bush and his neocons. How long until he renders himself unemployable, do you suppose?
Hundreds of thousands of people gathered in Beirut Monday for a massive opposition rally four weeks to the day since Lebanon's former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was assassinated.
Looks like jinni can't be bottled back.
Posted by: Sobiesky ||
03/14/2005 8:19:36 AM ||
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StratFor Subscription Content - no link available. Summary
The United States has indirectly joined the ongoing European-Iranian nuclear talks. Far from representing a policy change for the Bush administration, however, the change indicates that the talks have failed and the path to direct U.S. action against Iran is clearing.
Analysis
Various leaks March 11 indicate that the United States has agreed to indirectly join ongoing European-Iranian negotiations and offer economic incentives to defuse Iran's nuclear program.
Washington has agreed to throw its support behind Iran's World Trade Organization bid should Tehran fully and permanently abandon its uranium enrichment program -- a condition that Tehran is unlikely to agree to. In exchange, the United Kingdom, France and Germany (EU-3) have agreed to refer the case to the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) for possible sanctions or military action against Iran should Tehran refuse to drop its enrichment program. In essence, the talks have failed and the path to potential U.S. military action against Iran is being cleared.
The core problem with the European-Iranian negotiations is not so much that everyone approached the talks from different positions and with different outcomes in mind, but that all sides did not consider discussing the nuclear issue to be the point of the exercise.
For Iran and the United States, the talks were an indirect means of debating the future Iranian role in Iraq. Tehran wanted at best to achieve dominance there -- after all, Iraq does have a Shiite majority -- or at least secure its western border. The ups and downs of U.S.-Iranian relations were mirrored in the ups and downs of the Iranian-European dialogue.
For the EU-3, the negotiations were about, well, themselves. France and Germany had just seen their efforts to forge a common European policy go up and smoke. Stymied by an inability to challenge the United States independently, they decided to pool their efforts with the United Kingdom in order to prove that Europe could still matter on the international stage.
Berlin and Paris felt it was critical to demonstrate that Europe could successfully negotiate away a problem without resorting to force, U.S.-style. For them, it did not really matter what the topic was, so much as that they were seen at the forefront of dealing with it.
Such disparate views of what was important have led to the talks' failure.
The United States has now decided that it does not need Iran much at all. In an effort to force Washington back to the table, Tehran declared March 8 that it has been hiding a nuclear program from international inspectors for 18 years. The EU-3, which now realizes that the Iranians did not care a whit for its belief that this was all really about Europe's place in the world, was embarrassed, to say the least. So, the EU-3 has changed its position.
The next few steps are almost locked in stone.
Iran is extremely unlikely to give up its nuclear card. For Tehran, this is about Iraq and regime survival. In order to maintain a strong bargaining position, Iran must keep the United States on its toes -- thus the admission that it has had a nuclear program for two decades. Tehran already knows that the Iraqi strategy of hide-and-seek will not dissuade Washington from pulling the trigger, so it needs to try something else.
That something else means the Europeans almost assuredly will agree to refer the case to the UNSC. They realize that they have been played the fool and are looking to come out of this with as little egg on their faces as possible. They path they have chosen is to ask the United States to indirectly join the "negotiations." The Bush administration, satisfied so long as the path leads to the UNSC -- and to possible military action -- was happy to oblige. The White House, hoping to thaw recently frigid U.S.-European relations, also is being uncharacteristically gracious about "accepting" the European strategy of negotiations.
The EU-3 can show the world that it can bring the United States on board. The United States can show Europe that it can be "reasonable" and engage in "negotiations."
Once the issue reaches the UNSC, however, all bets are off. The Chinese and the Russians are as likely to veto any call for action against Iran as they are to abstain, and the Europeans certainly do not want to see the United States run roughshod over another Middle Eastern state -- particularly such a large one whose market they would like to tap.
But for the United States, simply having the issue on the UNSC table will be enough. On March 7, Washington appointed John Bolton to be the top U.S. dog at the United Nations. Bolton is a firm believer that the United Nations should put up or shut up. Iran's activities have had the effect of moving the country outside of the U.N. system and so, in Bolton's view, making the issue one not just of Tehran's nuclear program, but of the credibility of the United Nations itself.
The Bolton/U.S. argument will be that if the UNSC will not take steps to rectify such defiance of international norms, the United Nations' time has passed.
That will leave the Bush administration having achieved two foreign policy goals. First, the United States will either have made the United Nations an arm of U.S. policy, or it will have freed the United States from needing to deal with it at all (the White House will be happy with either path). Second, the United States will have partially cleared the way for Washington to deal with Tehran as it sees fit -- a way which could possibly involve military action. Such action would most likely involve airstrikes against key nuclear facilities, such as the heavy water reactor site at Arak, Iran's primary uranium enrichment facility at Natanz and the Bushehr nuclear power plant.
As to time frame, it will likely be at least several weeks before the Europeans agree to forward the case to the UNSC, but the United States could be working to speed things along a bit. Two U.S. aircraft carriers, the USS Theodore Roosevelt and USS Carl Vinson, already are in Atlantic and Indian Oceans, respectively, steaming their way toward the Middle East. They potentially will join the USS Harry S. Truman, which already is in the Persian Gulf. The United States does not put multiple carrier groups in close proximity lightly.
Posted by: .com ||
03/14/2005 4:03:10 AM ||
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#1
I'm buying the analysis. The end of the Persian empire is in sight.
#3
If it comes to a UNSC vote, the Russlies will veto - they've been helping Iran all along. What will the Euroweenians do then? They'll be seen as even more impotent.
#4
I'm with you phil_b. I thought this was about the best, most accurate, StratFor piece I'd ever read. Usually I'm no fan, but this one hit almost all of the high points and added some insider stuff beyond my ken - but which rings true - particularly regards US reasoning for dealing with the E3 in the fashion Bush has done. Before, I didn't get it. Now I believe I do. I thought this would get quite a bit of attention and feedback, because of some of the insights. But nope. Go figure, I guess. Grins, bro.
#5
And all along ther way, Chimpy Bushitler maneuvered the U. S. into situations where it was in a win-win position. He sure is dumb.
/sarcasm
I just love it when a plan comes together. Hope the Soddies watched how this was done very carefully.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
03/14/2005 14:01 Comments ||
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They may get to see it up close and personal. Wonder if one of the carrier groups is headed to the Med rather than the Gulf ....
Also, anybody have the link to the carrier rotation schedule? Any chance that one of those groups is just steaming to relieve the Truman?
3 is a *lot* of firepower.
Posted by: too true ||
03/14/2005 14:21 Comments ||
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#7
And now we hear Karen Hughes is going to State Dept. First Bolton and now Hughes. Bush is getting very key people in position. He's setting up for his Mullah Gambit.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
03/14/2005 14:22 Comments ||
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Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
03/14/2005 14:33 Comments ||
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#10
Thanks, Mrs. D. In ordinary times I might expect the Vinson to be relieving the Truman, but actually the Truman is fairly fresh in the gulf and the Vinson is due for refurb work next Fall and will probably be deployed until then.
The Roosevelt is just getting out after training.
Yup, gonna be 3 carrier groups available in 2 weeks or so if they hump the Roosevelt at reasonably fast speed around the Cape.
Posted by: too true ||
03/14/2005 17:22 Comments ||
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Iran yesterday put on display three British naval boats it captured last year, shrugging off protests by London, which has demanded their return, the official Irna news agency reported. The boats, seized along with their crews by Iranian Revolutionary Guards last June in the Shatt Al Arab waterway which divides southwestern Iran from Iraq, were included in an exhibition of memorabilia from 1980-1988 war with Iraq.Â
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/14/2005 00:00:00 ||
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#1
Maybe the Brits should start seizing tanker cargos coming out of Iranian oil loading facilities.
#3
Just have the EU or the UN issue a strongly worded statement of displeasure. I'm sure the Iranians will respond to this display of "soft power".
/sarcasm off
#4
The MMs are having a good time right now, rubbing the Brits' noses in the dirt. Ball is in the Brits' court. Will they be EUweenies, or will they find and dust off their stones after their EU-3 fling with the MMs?
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/14/2005 9:54 Comments ||
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I'm sure the Iranians will respond to this display of "soft power".
CAIRO, Egypt - Even if Syria does in the end fully withdraw from Lebanon, Syrian President Bashar Assad may not be off the hook. Instead, US pressure is expected to shift to issues of reform, cross-border infiltration into Iraq and Syrian links to militant Arab groups.
Squeezing Assad further could present the young Syrian leader with serious domestic problems at a time when some question the extent of control he has over his Arab nation. "The pressure will continue until Syria achieves every US goal," said Ayman Abdel-Nour, a prominent member of Assad's ruling Baath party. "Syria will be left alone only when it no longer has a regional role, its influence in Iraq is gone, it severs links with Hamas, Jihad, Iran and Hezbollah," he said from Damascus.
That'll do for a start ...
Faced with mounting pressure from the United States and key Arab and European nations to withdraw from Lebanon, Assad last week announced that Syria's 14,000 troops would be redeployed to Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley by March 31, but that a complete pullout would be deferred until after later negotiations.
However, there are signs that Washington may be looking for much more from Syria than just pulling out its troops from Lebanon. "The sequence needs to be: Get Syrian troops out of Lebanon, get free and fair elections, get a democratic government in place," US national security adviser Stephen Hadley said on Sunday American talk shows. Aside from its military role in Lebanon, Syria has maintained a strong influence over Lebanese politics.
Earlier this month, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Syria was "out of step" with what she called the growing desire for democracy in the Middle East, suggesting that Assad needed to introduce economic and political reforms at home. "If the pressure grows and the Americans begin to hint at regime change, some here may be tempted to think they are the substitute the United States is looking for," George Jabour, a member of Syria's parliament and an eminent political scientist, said from Damascus. "But this may not happen for some time yet," he said.
This is W we're talking about, I wouldn't go long on this one.
The United States also has been urging Syria to stamp out the flow of Muslim militants crossing into Iraq to join the fight against Iraqi forces and their US allies. Remnants of Saddam Hussein's own Baath party also are thought to have found refuge in Syria, from which they are bankrolling Iraq's insurgency.
Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Jihad, which between them are responsible for scores of suicide bombings against Israeli targets, also have offices in Damascus, something that Washington views as proof of Syria's support for terrorism. Syria is also Iran's closest Arab ally and both countries are thought to cooperate in security matters. Washington suspects that Tehran's clerical regime is seeking to acquire nuclear weapons. Iran denies the charge.
Already, some experts on Syria say, images of Syrian troops heading home from Lebanon gave the impression of an army in retreat, thus hurting Assad's standing as the armed forces' supreme commander and prompting some in Syria to ponder whether his more politically savvy father would have handled the crisis differently.
"Syria will lose its traditional regional role when the withdrawal from Lebanon is complete," said Michel Kilo, a prominent Syrian writer and a government critic. "Now, reforms at home must be a top priority," he said from the Syrian capital. Kilo, like many Syrians, is hopeful the ruling Baath party will announce a comprehensive reform plan when its much-heralded national conference takes place later this year. The gathering was scheduled to take place late last year, but it was postponed, giving rise to intense speculation in Damascus that differences existed within the party leadership.
No kidding. They're Ba'athists fergawdsake.
BSigns of impatience with the lack of progress in reform are beginning to show, albeit rarely. On Saturday, Mohammed Ibrahim al-Ali, commander of the Popular Army - a paramilitary force with a mandate to protect cities in the case of war - called on state Syrian television for the dismissal of Baath party leaders known to be opposed to reform.Â
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/14/2005 00:00:00 ||
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Protesters rallied yesterday to denounce a UN resolution demanding a Syrian military pullout as the government asserted its right to have a say in when the troops leave Lebanon. The pro-Syrian gathering in the southern city of Nabatiyeh drew 200,000 people and is expected to be followed today by an even larger demonstration by the country's anti-Syrian opposition. A series of street protests by opposition parties as well as those sympathetic to Damascus has rattled the government, with President Emile Lahoud grimly warning of a catastrophe if they continue.
Lahoud yesterday met with a special UN envoy and pledged to work with the United Nations to secure a full withdrawal of an estimated 14,000 Syrian troops and intelligence operatives from Lebanon. But he also insisted that it was up to Lebanese and Syrian authorities to set the date for a final withdrawal that would end a near three-decade military presence. Syrian forces in Lebanon began moving eastward last week, with some crossing the border back home. The president, during a meeting with special UN envoy Terje Roed-Larsen, "vowed to cooperate fully with Larsen to facilitate his mission in Lebanon out of Lebanon's conviction that all UN resolutions should be respected," a presidential statement said. But Lahoud also stressed that a date for a "full and final" Syrian withdrawal would be determined by both countries' Cabinets and military leaderships, according to the statement. Roed-Larsen agreed that implementing UN Security Council Resolution 1559 could not come at the expense of Lebanese political stability, which has become increasingly fragile since the Feb. 14 killing of popular former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
In other news, the U.N. Security Council today takes up debate on a resolution condemning the U.S. and sending a delegation to the middle east "to halt the imminent decline into untrammeled liberty."
Posted by: Fred ||
03/14/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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The U.S. military has obtained agreement to maintain forward operating bases in at least two North African states.
Officials said that in 2004 U.S. European Command received final approval from Morocco and Tunisia to maintain forward bases. They said the bases would be lightly manned and employed in rapid-response and other emergency missions in North Africa.
'We know what is there, and we know what to bring when we come," Eucom chief Gen. James Jones said. "We can go from a zero presence to an operating base very quickly." Rumsfeld's Quick Reaction and Flexibility Plan
Jones, a marine corps officer and NATO commander in Europe, said the bases in North Africa and other areas of the Middle East mark what he termed a radical change in the U.S. military footprint. Eucom is responsible for Europe, Israel and parts of North Africa.
"Checking the spread of radical fundamentalism in the largely ungoverned spaces in Northern and Central Africa will require patience and sustained effort," Jones told the Senate Armed Services Committee on March 1. "Our goal is to assist nations of the region in building and sustaining effective and responsive governments and to develop security structures responsive to emerging democratic governments. Our success depends on maintaining relevant, focused, and complementary security cooperation, tailored to the social, economic, and military realities in both Europe and Africa."
Officials said Eucom has also increased military cooperation with several North African states through the National Guard State Partnership Program. Since 2003, Eucom has teamed the Moroccan security force with the Utah National Guard and the Tunisian force with the Wyoming Guard.
Eucom plans to maintain three types of bases in its area of command. The first would be main operating bases that contain U.S. troops, such as Ramstein Air Base, Germany, and U.S. Naval Station Rota, Spain. Still have Rota....good.
The second category was termed forward-operating sites. Jones termed these facilities "light-switch operations," whereby the bases would be ready for American troops and operations. He included the Turkish air force base at Incerlik in this category. Wonder how much latitude we have at Incerlik now...
Over the last 18 months, officials said, the U.S. military has obtained permission from several countries for forward-operating sites. In addition to Morocco, Tunisia, Bulgaria and Romania have also granted approval.
The third type of U.S. basing arrangement was termed cooperative security site, which could include a fueling agreement or rapid-deployment facilities. Officials said North African states have also agreed to such an arrangement, but would not elaborate. "We will say no more."
"These will be an inventory of geographical locations that if we need them, it will be pre-agreed with host nations that we can have access to these bases," Jones said.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/14/2005 1:15:46 PM ||
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Wheelus?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
03/14/2005 14:42 Comments ||
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Wheelus was in Libya and shut by Gadaffi, err, Khadaffi, ummmm, the guy with more medals than a NKOR General.
#5
Something odd: EUCOM is overly large, its AOR covering most of Africa, too. CENTCOM has a far more modest AOR. However, I can't find the new projected IRAQCOM AOR anywhere. I would guess that it would take over Middle East and Africa AOR from EUCOM and CENTCOM would be more oriented towards the Central Asian republics, Southern and Eastern Asia. I also suspect that IRAQCOM won't be more than a framework until the constitutionally enabled new Iraqi government creates a Status of Forces agreement.
#6
Ronnie sent some bombers from England to Lybia for a Khadaffi wake up call, as I recall. They had to avoid French airspace. Obviously we don't want to concern ourselves with similar issues in the future.
Posted by: john ||
03/14/2005 20:38 Comments ||
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Does this mean that the heads of our feckless LLL will explode simultaneously, thereby showering unsuspecting innocents with shrapnel in the shape of skull fragments? (I certainly hope so ;^)
#2
"In a stunning about-face, the New York Times reported Sunday that when the U.S. attacked Iraq in March 2003, Saddam Hussein possessed "stockpiles of monitored chemicals and materials," as well as sophisticated equipment to manufacture nuclear and biological weapons, which was removed to "a neighboring state" before the U.S. could secure the weapons sites."
Anyone have a direct NYT cite?
The source is, after all, Newsmax. They dont have a history of being accurate, just sensational.
In the weeks after Baghdad fell in April 2003, looters systematically dismantled and removed tons of machinery from Saddam Hussein's most important weapons installations, including some with high-precision equipment capable of making parts for nuclear arms, a senior Iraqi official said this week in the government's first extensive comments on the looting.
...
Dr. Araji said equipment capable of making parts for missiles as well as chemical, biological and nuclear arms was missing from 8 or 10 sites that were the heart of Iraq's dormant program on unconventional weapons. That program was the rationale for the United States-led invasion, but occupation forces found no unconventional arms and C.I.A. inspectors concluded that the effort had been largely abandoned after the 1991 Persian Gulf war.
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The United Nations, worried that the material could be used in clandestine bomb production, has been hunting for it unsuccessfully, across the Middle East. In one case, investigators searching through scrap yards in Jordan last June found specialized vats for highly corrosive chemicals that had been tagged and monitored as part of the international effort to keep watch on the Iraqi arms program. The vessels could be used for harmless industrial processes or making chemical weapons.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
03/14/2005 14:15 Comments ||
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#4
What the NY Times is doing is the "journalistic" equivalent of having your cake and eating it too.
(1) Bush lied when he said Saddam had WMD capability
(2) Bush failed to secure the elements of Saddam's WMD programs that provided that capability
You have to be a Dem to reconcile those two statements.
Why do you think the Syrians are pulling back only to the Bekaa Valley?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/14/2005 20:04 Comments ||
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Justrand - The Dems are good at reconciling two conflicting thoughts. Who can forget (pre-Iraq war): "Saddam doesn't have any WMD's, but if we attack him he'll use them on our troops".
#8
"In a stunning about-face, the New York Times reported Sunday that when the U.S. attacked Iraq in March 2003, Saddam Hussein possessed "stockpiles of monitored chemicals and materials," as well as sophisticated equipment to manufacture nuclear and biological weapons, which was removed to "a neighboring state" before the U.S. could secure the weapons sites."
Anyone have a direct NYT cite?
The source is, after all, Newsmax. They dont have a history of being accurate, just sensational.
#9
"In a stunning about-face, the New York Times reported Sunday that when the U.S. attacked Iraq in March 2003, Saddam Hussein possessed "stockpiles of monitored chemicals and materials," as well as sophisticated equipment to manufacture nuclear and biological weapons, which was removed to "a neighboring state" before the U.S. could secure the weapons sites."
Anyone have a direct NYT cite?
The source is, after all, Newsmax. They dont have a history of being accurate, just sensational.
#1
Stop your whiney pissing and moaning already. "Woe is me to be a persecuted muslim in America", STFU already. If you would reign in your lunatics and perhaps just label them as such than maybe someone would give a shit.
What really pisses me of is 24 prefacing the show with this nonsense; American Muslim community stands firmly beside their fellow Americans in denouncing and resisting all forms of terrorism
That is complete and utter bullshit - your silence damns you.
Try driving through certain sections of Paterson after Friday prayers, and you tell me by the nasty cold looks I get that the average American doesn't understand you. Bullshit. I understand what the wolf at my door looks like. SHUT UP!
#4
Do you think, just perhaps, that if CAIR and some other of these benighted islamic groups in America had condemned the terrorists associated with 9-11 or quit supporting terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah Americans would have a more positive image of moslems. I haven't heard of any fatwas from muslim clerics in America supporting the US. These people take advantage of the American legal system to support America's enemies and undermine our way of life. There may be good individual moslems in America, but they are being drowned out by the deafening silence of their organizations.
#5
24 is the only recent fiction that depicts Moslem terrorists.
I wish there were more.
As for the Moslem complaints. It's fiction! ever notice that fiction has all sorts of imaginary characters, some based on real facts, others not? or is your false god against fiction too?
What's next? communists complaining about their general portrayal as evil bad guys? businessmen complaining about their general portrayal as crooks? Italians complaining about their general portrayal as maffia criminals? Cry me a river.
#7
I don't think 24 has expounded anything more than what most Americans already think of Arabs in general.
Posted by: Bill Nelson ||
03/14/2005 13:38 Comments ||
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I remember when the Gray Panthers went after one of the networks because on one of the cop dramas old people were featured one week as gullible dupes for con men. Obviously TRUE and you'd think these old geezers would want old people to realize that scams that sound too good to be true probably are - so don't give them your life savings! But NOOOOOO - they were offended by the image. True as the sky is blue - but they hounded the network and the show theme was never repeated and that episode dropped from the re-run schedule. That was many years ago - and producers are still gimpy about tangling with such SIGs. Stupid, beyond words.
Meg Greenfield, who occasionally wrote a killer column for NewsWeek, IIRC, way back when, called it The Age of Organized Touchiness. Lol! Meg shoots, Scores!
#10
So ALL Muslims, incluing the ten or twelve I knew, once upon a time, are ONLY good for ... um, killing?
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/14/2005 22:21 Comments ||
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Just a little persepctive.... When someone says that all of (any particular group) is not better than (any particular thing or group that comes to mind) - I think that puts them right up there with the Islamofascists!
C'mom folks! How about a little tolerance?
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/14/2005 22:24 Comments ||
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# 10, where did you get that idea?
The show was about terrs (for some reasons jihadis are adherents of Islam, just making sure you are aware of it). And yea, jihadis are only good when dead.
Not sure why I would be tolerant of jihadis. Yes they are worse than most of other groups of people. If that is not apparent to you, then you may have underdeveloped your discernment faculties.
To be tolerant of evil means being intolerant of good. It is as simple as that.
International terrorism has become largely a matter of Arab expatriates living in Europe, or Arabs in Middle Eastern countries, making their way to Iraq, and getting killed, or disillusioned and going home, after a brief fling with danger and violence. What has been most frightening is the inability to find any of these young, European born Arabs, who have gone to Iraq and come back. It appears to be a one way trip. The few that have come back appear to be disillusioned. But it's the ones who came back quietly, and are still eager to wage a terrorism war in Europe, that is most worrisome. What appears to be happening is the same thing that occurred during the 1980s in Afghanistan. Thousands of Arab volunteers went to Pakistan, to try and help out Afghan "Holy Warriors" that were operating out of Pakistani refugee camps, and going into Afghanistan to fight Russians. Few Arabs crossed the border into Afghanistan, because the Afghans did not want to risk their lives with a bunch of amateurs. Few Arabs had any combat experience, and Arabs in general had a poor fighting reputation among Afghans. The Arab volunteers would hang out in the refugee camps, help out if they could, get their picture taken carrying an AK-47, drink a lot of coffee, tell a lot of stories, and eventually go home a hero.
It was much easier to get into Afghan refugee camps in the 1980s, than Iraqi terrorist safe houses since 2003. Syria and Iran have been hospitable, although covertly, to terrorist wannabes flying in with the intention of getting across the border. While there is some government assistance from Syria and Iran, most of the recruiting and travel arrangements are handled by Baath Party and al Qaeda personnel in Syria, and Shia Islamic radicals in Iran. Syria is the main conduit of volunteers, because Iran is rather hostile to al Qaeda (which is basically anti-Shia, and responsible for recent murderous attacks against Shias.)
Turkey, Jordan, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia are all very anti-terrorist, and make it difficult, but not impossible, for foreign tourists to get across the border into Iraq. Getting illegal visitors into Iraq has now become a big business, with smugglers and other criminal gangs charging large fees to slip the terrorist hopefuls into Iraq. It's a dangerous business, as American and Iraqi border patrols will shoot to kill if they find suspicious people in out of the way places. Apparently thousands of eager young Arab men have been arrested while headed for the border, and deported, or killed after crossing the border, and running into American and Iraqi troops.
European counter-terrorism organizations believe that only a few hundred of their citizens have tried to make the trip to Iraq, and most have disappeared. The number of Middle Eastern Arabs who have tried appears to be in the thousands. More of these have returned, often with horrific stories of fighting American and Iraqi forces, and getting the worst of it. But a larger number of the Middle Eastern volunteers have not come back, and many have been confirmed dead.
Trying to track down survivors of the al Qaeda effort in Iraq is a top priority by counter-terrorism efforts everywhere. Any terrorist who comes out of Iraq in one piece will not only be experienced in many terrorist techniques, but also a very tough, capable, and lucky operator. A few of these fellows could be extremely dangerous.
Posted by: Greenpeace ||
03/14/2005 6:33:55 AM ||
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A few of these fellows could be extremely dangerous.
Yes, indeed, but to whom? The odds are against them getting across the border into the U.S., and anyway they'd want to recuperate in the loving arms of family and friends before taking up the struggle again. That strongly suggests they'd go back to their home countries in Europe and the Middle East, to be a threat to peace and prosperity there.
So now there are significantly fewer bad guyz, but the ones that remain are concentrated evil. I think we've done our bit by thinning the herd; it's up to the security forces in Europe and the Middle East to take out the remaining killers they coddled all these years.
#2
TW, I'd love to see some statistics on how many bad guyz we've killed in Iraq and I'm also eager to get the trials started for all of these Baathist thugs. I guess quantifying dead bad guys is a bit morbid. Here's why. I'm a firefighter and my crew feels we are not doing enough damage to the bad guyz. These guys are not intellectuals and have a hard time grasping political, cultural and social victories, they're out for blood. Any websites, links or info you've come across that speculates on this?
#3
Brian, I am quite certain it is over 15,000 killed in Iraq alone... in fact that may have been the recent conquest of Fallujah alone. A search of the Rantburg archives should give us a better idea. Trials should be starting pretty soon for the big names... the Iraqi (Saddam era leftovers) judges have been letting the small fry off with wrist slaps, I'm afraid.
Fred, any chance of setting up a tally board? After you've recovered from your latest work project, I mean.
#4
Brian, here's a link from my peek into the archives, from a search of "Iraq killed"
Some of the terrorists are foreigners. But only about ten percent of the terrorists killed are al Qaeda, the rest are pro-Saddam or pro-Sunni Arab domination. Based on information posted on al Qaeda web sites (praising individual "martyrs" who died in Iraq), some 60 percent of the al Qaeda terrorists in Iraq are from Saudi Arabia. Another ten percent are from Syria, seven percent from Kuwait, about 15 percent from many other Moslem nations, and eight percent from Iraq. Over twenty al Qaeda members are being killed a month in Iraq, and many more captured. Those captives admit that their "emir" (leader) is Abu Musab al Zarqawi, but add that Iraqi Sunni Arabs are supplying a lot of technical assistance, equipment and cash. Recent al Qaeda captives have been unhappy with the direction the "war" is taking, because of the large number of Iraqis who are getting killed, and the growing hostility, by Iraqis, against al Qaeda.
Extrapolating from just this one article, if 10% of the terrorists killed are al Qaeda, and over 20 A.Q.s are killed per month, at least 200 terrorists are being killed per month, not counting the massive numbers killed off as Sunni triangle towns like Fallujah are taken care of.
Abu Musab al Zarqawi, the head of al Qaeda terrorism in Iraq, is an inspiration for Islamic radicals. Zarqawi, unfortunately, is carrying out his terrorist attacks mainly against fellow Moslems. This is not unusual, as, so far, most al Qaeda attacks have been against other Moslems. But for Arabs, living in Arab countries, the al Qaeda carnage in Iraq is scary, and disturbing. But for Moslems living in Europe, North America and other non-Moslem nations, the death of so many Moslems, at the hands of other Moslems, is inspiring. Especially with the young Moslems in places like Europe, it's easy to swallow the official al Qaeda line that the Iraqis killed by al Qaeda bombs deserved to die. Moslems in Moslem countries know better. This generation gap is being exploited by al Qaeda, and has made Zarqawi a hero to many of these European born Moslems.
You'll even find this Zarqawi hero worship in the United States, but with a difference. While America has a tradition of assimilation, such is not the case in Europe. There, the immigrants are encouraged to hang onto the culture and customs of the old country. This makes it easier for terrorists to operate. Fewer people will turn them in, and recruiting prospects are better. In the United States, there's too much danger that someone in the community will call the FBI or police. Even before September 11, 2001, this was the case. And since late 2001, the American Moslem community is even more dangerous for Islamic radicals and terrorists. This, and recent reports that bin Laden is urging Zarqawi to make attacks in the United States, makes European counter-terrorism people very upset. They know that any serious Islamic terrorist efforts are more likely to happen in Europe. It's that old "how do you deal with the danger of grizzly bears when you go hiking? Always go with someone you can outrun" routine. Islamic terrorists know that three years of efforts to carry out more attacks in America have only filled the jails with Islamic radicals. The only hope the terrorists have is that the American counter-terrorism people will get lax and lazy, as they did in 2001.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: ed ||
03/14/2005 6:46:03 AM ||
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Europe is quite welcome to it. I really think the weather is good in France this year. Perhaps Herr Schröeder will welcome them. Both countries have wide welcoming arms for these "refugees."
#4
Please, stop about this assimilation crap. Many European countries have a long tradition of assimilation. France to begin with has been absorbing large numbers of Spanish, Poles, Italians or Portuguese for decades and while racism was not absent towards the newcomers, their child didn't meet special discrimnations. Just like it happenned with the Irish Americans or the Italo Americans.
But Muslim immigrants from these days pose a different challenge be it in America or in Europe.
Unlike the Poles, Spanish or Italians these are inhabityed by an ideology telling them they are superior to the hosting populations so they have no desire to assimilate or adopt the inferior uses of the kufr and the simple fact of not giving them special rights is an offence.
The second point is that in those times there was no PC bullshit and the little sons of Italians or Portuguese were teached about "our ancestors the Gauls" and molded into patriotic French. Same thing in America. But today we have diversity schools telling it was Blacks who built the Pyramids and "progressist" teachers and MSM fanning anti-Western hate between their pupils. In both sides of the Atlantic.
Finally in those times there were little contacts
between the country of origin and the immigrants. Now most immigrants have a satellite dish allowing them to watch Al Jazeera
So if you Americans believe that your Muslim immigrants will assimilate then you are for a rude shock.
#5
JFM, I don't think anyone here at Rantburg believes in mooselimb assimilation in US. Just saying...
In the light what is likely to happen in Europe in the near future, the views here would change and the multi-culti lunacy would be rightfully discarded in trashcan and the new paradigm would be assimilate or go whence you came from, with the preference for the second. A self-preservation measure that will, inevitably, kick in.
ME may become modern to some degree, but I am affraid that Izzinazis will successfully take over parts of EUrope.
Al Qaeda is trying to deal with a public relations disaster. First, al Qaeda publicly announced, before the January 30th elections, that democracy was un-Islamic. When most Iraqis energetically turned out to vote, the damage to al Qaeda's prestige was considerable. Then there are the suicide bombs that miss their targets. Most of them kill Iraqi civilians, instead of Americans (the preferred target) or Iraqi police, troops or government officials (an acceptable substitute). This has gotten so bad that al Qaeda has tried to deny responsibility for some of the suicide bomb attacks that go spectacularly wrong. The most spectacular recent example was the February 28 attack that killed over 130 people, including children. It had all the signs of a typical al Qaeda bombing, but the explosion, as was often the case, caught a lot of civilians, in addition to police recruits that were the primary target. Al Qaeda attempts to deny responsibility, usually via web sites, are openly mocked by Iraqis. This is making al Qaeda public enemy number one in Iraq, and making it harder to recruit Iraqis to help out, or foreigners to carry out most of the suicide attacks. Part of the al Qaeda problem is a decline in the quality of their personnel. Key technical and supervisory personnel have been killed or captured, and not replaced. Thus the quality of the bombs, and the preparations for the attacks, has declined, causing more deaths to civilians, and fewer to Iraqi police and foreign troops. Better training of Iraqi police and soldiers has improved the quality of defenses around police stations and army bases, which has made it harder for the attackers to reach their targets. These are all trends that have been building for over a year, and now are pretty obvious.
The Arab tendency to believe outrageous rumors, which worked against the coalition initially, is now being turned on al Qaeda and the Baath Party terrorists. The killing goes on, but the killers get less and less respect. Even al Jazeera, long a major booster of the terrorists, has noticed their problems. In similar situations in other Arab countries, particularly Egypt in the early 1990s, this led to terrorist groups having to flee the country. Without public support, or at least public indifference, terrorists cannot survive long.
Posted by: ed ||
03/14/2005 6:39:03 AM ||
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Ah--articles like this make Monday much more tolerable...
Posted by: Dar ||
03/14/2005 8:37 Comments ||
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Al Jazeera actually gave a lot of coverage to the pro Democracy demonstrations in Lebanon. They also gave coverage to the Hizbollah demonstrations but the fact that the former were joyous and had good looking babes and are almost every day tends to make the Hizbollah demos look bad. Probably this is unintentional and Al Jaz would rather cover a pro terrorism rally. However, they want viewers and this drives their business in a way counter to their ideology sometimes.
#4
A 1/16 size violin is about the same size as a macaroni box, with a ruler for a fingerboard. This is what preschoolers start on in order to learn how to hold the insrument. So imagine a dirge played by a 3 year old who is learning the Mis-sis-sip-pi Mud Pie bowing pattern. Here's Mississippi Mud Pie to Al Jizz--right in the eye.
It is an all-too-familiar ritual. Hours after an attack on a US convoy or an Iraqi police patrol, a brief statement begins appearing on Islamist Web sites claiming it was carried out by fighters loyal to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Iraq's most wanted man.
But in the past two weeks something has changed. Every day now, new messages appear on the Web offering encouragement to resistance fighters, and last week, Zarqawi's group started an Internet magazine, complete with photographs and 43 pages of text. Other Islamist groups are joining the effort, including one calling itself the Jihadist Information Brigade.
The Iraqi insurgency appears to have mounted a full-scale propaganda war.
And while the methods are not new -- most militant groups now rely on the Web to recruit new adherents -- the recent flurry of propaganda from Iraq has a distinctly defensive sound. The violence here has not let up, but the relatively peaceful elections, and the new movements toward democracy in other Arab countries, appear to have had a dispiriting effect on the insurgents, terrorism analysts say.
"I think they feel they are losing the battle," said Rita Katz, director of the SITE Institute, an American nonprofit group that monitors Islamist Web sites and news operations. "They realize there will be a new government soon, and they seem very nervous about the future."
One recent Web posting, for instance, angrily disputed "the infidels' claim that the mujahedeen are weakened and their attacks are fewer." Another insisted that Zarqawi was "in good health" and still planning operations. Yet another warned against recent entreaties to insurgents to "sit down at the bargaining table" with the US and its allies.
It is hard, of course, to be sure of the authenticity of Internet postings. But US officials say those that appear with the Zarqawi logo seem to be credible, and that has led them to conclude that he does indeed have a news operation.
The group, al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia, is also casting itself as a defender of Muslim lives. After an attack Wednesday on a hotel in central Baghdad, the group released an Internet statement claiming credit, noting, "As for the time, the deadly attack should always be before the start of the working day so that it won't harm Muslims who are passing by."
To some extent, the insurgents are creating their own press coverage, and successfully. After Wednesday's hotel attack in Baghdad, for instance, one group quickly released its own videotape of the bombing, along with statements explaining why and how it chose that target. Within hours, all of it was appearing not only on Arabic Web sites and chat rooms but also on television stations and even in some Western news reports.
But just in case, the group is adding a forum of its own. The new Internet magazine is called Zurwat al Sanam, Arabic for "the top of the camel's hump," a metaphorical phrase meaning the ideal of Islamic belief and practice.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/14/2005 1:30:46 AM ||
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I would have preferred the headline "Zarqawi operation publishing 'Top of the Camel's Hump'" as more accurate, and funnier.
#2
The new Internet magazine is called Zurwat al Sanam, Arabic for "the top of the camelâs hump," a metaphorical phrase meaning the ideal of Islamic belief and practice.
The latest congressional report on nuclear threat reduction measures for India and Pakistan suggests that the United States may have been assisting Pakistan to help protect its nuclear sites since October 2001.
The report by the Congressional Research Service, which provides policy guidelines to US lawmakers, says that the United States had been debating since 1998, when India and Pakistan tested their nuclear weapons, whether it should provide assistance in making those weapons safer and more secure.
In the wake of September 11, 2001, interest in this kind of assistance has grown for several reasons: the possibility of terrorists gaining access to Pakistan's nuclear weapons seems higher, the US military is forging new relationships with both Pakistan and India in the war on terrorism, and heightened tension in Kashmir in 2002 threatened to push both states closer to the brink of nuclear war.
"In October 2001, media reported that the United States was providing assistance to Pakistan to keep its weapons safe, although those reports have not been confirmed," the report said.
"Revelations in 2004 that Pakistani scientist A.Q. Khan was selling nuclear technology to Iran, Libya, and North Korea also helped to renew interest in making, in particular, Pakistan's nuclear weapons program more secure from exploitation," the report adds.
"Pakistan, because of its location, the nature of its relationship to the Taliban and Al Qaeda, and its weapons of mass destruction programs, has generated particular concern," the report says.
It goes on to note that repeated assassination attempts on President Musharraf, the Khan network's sale of nuclear technology, and a continuous battle with terrorists within the country, have made "Pakistan the most crucial node of the nexus of terrorism and WMD proliferation".
A combination of doctrinal preference, such as first use of nuclear weapons, and a weaker conventional force has given Pakistan strong incentives to forward-deploy its nuclear forces, leading many observers to conclude that assistance to secure Pakistan's nuclear warheads could be critical, the report adds.
Suggested measures for securing Indian and Pakistani weapon sites have ranged from "guards and gates" around nuclear facilities to permissive action links, which act as locks, on nuclear weapons to prevent unauthorized use.
The report says that most types of assistance the United States can feasibly provide would probably focus on helping secure nuclear materials and providing employment for personnel, rather than on security of nuclear weapons.
The report observes that extreme sensitivity in India and Pakistan about their nuclear weapons and programs will also likely restrict access to facilities, which in turn will limit how well assistance can be tailored to potential problems.
Another concern for the United States, according to the report, is that technical measures to make weapons safer from unauthorized use may make those weapons more deployable or usable and thus inadvertently undermine the goal of reducing the nuclear threat. The report notes that the situation of Pakistan and India is different from that in Russia, where US assistance helped reduce the nuclear threat.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/14/2005 1:26:35 AM ||
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Senior Bush administration officials have warned in recent weeks that al-Qaeda is regrouping for another massive attack, its agents bent on acquiring nuclear, chemical or biological weapons in a nightmare scenario that could dwarf the horror of Sept. 11.
But in Pakistan and Afghanistan — where Osama bin Laden and his chief deputy are believed to be hiding — intelligence agents, politicians and a top U.S. general paint a different picture.
They say a relentless military crackdown, the arrests last summer of several men allegedly involved in plans to launch attacks on U.S. financial institutions, and the killing in September of a top Pakistani al-Qaeda suspect wanted in a number of attacks — including the 2002 killing of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl and two failed assassination attempts against President Gen. Pervez Musharraf — have effectively decapitated al-Qaeda.
Pakistani intelligence agents told The Associated Press that it has been months since they picked up any "chatter" from suspected al-Qaeda men, and longer still since they received any specific intelligence on the whereabouts of bin Laden or any plans to launch a specific attack
They say the trail of the world's most wanted man — long-since gone cold — has turned icier than the frigid winter snows that blanket the mountains between Pakistan and Afghanistan, where the terror mastermind is considered most likely to be hiding.
Pakistani officials have been quick to hail the long silence as a signal that it has already dismantled bin Laden's network, at least in this part of the world.
"We have broken the back of al-Qaeda," Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao said last month in a speech in Peshawar, the capital of the frontier province on the border with Afghanistan. Musharraf added last week that his government had "eliminated the terrorist centers" in the Waziristan tribal region and elsewhere.
"We have broken their communication system. We have destroyed their sanctuaries," the president told reporters. "They are not in a position to move in vehicles. They are unable to contact their people. They are on the run."
A senior official in Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence spy agency told AP he couldn't remember the last time the agency got a strong lead on top-level al-Qaeda fighters.
"Last year, we frequently heard Arabs on radios talking about their hatred for (Afghan President Hamid) Karzai and Musharraf for supporting Americans, and we were able to trace al-Qaeda hideouts in South Waziristan," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "Lately, such conversations have decreased."
Pakistan's optimism seems to be backed by senior U.S. military officials in the region.
Maj. Gen. Eric Olson, the No. 2 American commander in Afghanistan, said he had seen nothing to indicate that al-Qaeda was attempting to get its hands on nuclear or biological weapons.
There is "no evidence that they're trying to acquire a terrorist weapon of that type and, frankly, I don't believe that they are regrouping," he told AP in a Feb. 25 interview.
"I think the pressure on them here, the pressure on them in Pakistan, the pressure on them in Iraq, is pretty great and it makes very difficult for them to operate," Olson added.
The skeptical assessments from officials here fly in the face of warnings out of Washington, where President Bush is pushing Congress to approve a $419 billion defense budget for 2006.
The Homeland Security Department late last month issued a classified bulletin to officials that bin Laden was enlisting his top operative in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, to plan potential attacks on the United States.
There have also long been fears — though no evidence to date — that rogue Pakistani nuclear scientists might have provided bin Laden's men with the know-how to build a crude atomic device or dirty bomb.
Newly installed CIA director Porter Goss and other senior American intelligence and military officials warned last month that terrorists are preparing for new strikes.
"It may be only a matter of time before al-Qaeda or other groups attempt to use chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear weapons," Goss said at the Senate Intelligence Committee's annual hearing on threats, urging approval of the defense budget.
But Sherpao scoffed at such warnings.
"That is simply out of the question," he said of al-Qaeda's ability to acquire weapons of mass destruction, adding that any al-Qaeda leader who has escaped arrest was "more worried about their own safety."
"How can such people launch attacks with nuclear or chemical weapons?" he asked.
Maj. Gen. Olson, who leaves Afghanistan next month to return to the 25th Infantry Division back in Hawaii, said al-Qaeda leaders were unable to use modern communications for fear of detection and were reduced to "16th century" techniques such as couriers. He said he wasn't discouraged by the success bin Laden and his deputy have had in releasing audio and videotapes filled with threats during the past few months.
"They can deliver all the videotapes they want, as long as they're not delivering weapons that can kill large numbers of people and I am convinced that their ability to coordinate large attacks like that is severely disrupted right now because of the pressure we have on them," he said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/14/2005 1:24:04 AM ||
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Typical local v.global view. Just because the Afghani/Pakistani A.Q. hard boyz seem to be quiescent, does not mean things aren't being planned and acted on elsewhere. On 9/11 nothing blew up in my neighborhood, but to extrapolate from my personal experience to NYC and DC would be tragically silly.
SALAHADDIN, Iraq - Kurdish leaders have deflated hopes for the rapid formation of a government in Iraq as they refused to compromise on demands for joining a coalition with the country's powerful Shiite bloc. Six weeks after Iraq's milestone elections, Kurdish leaders are insisting on changes to a draft agreement setting out the terms for an alliance with the Shiite list, the biggest winner in the new parliament with 146 seats. The delays mean Iraq could be without a functioning government well past the first session of the new 275-member national assembly scheduled to open Wednesday.
"There is progress, but the agreement still needs work and the participation of other political groups in the negotiations to form a government and enlarge its base," said Fuad Massum, one of four Kurds negotiating with the Shiites. "The special character of this period we are entering necessitates the participation of different forces in the government, not just two or three."
His remarks opened the door to the possibility that the Kurds with an aversion to the religious character of the Shiite list were trying to force an opening for outgoing prime minister Iyad Allawi, whose list received only 40 seats but is still seeking a way to retain his job.
The plodding negotiations have triggered a wave of criticism from Shiite religious leaders who have demanded the government be put in place to tackle the resistance behind daily attacks in the country. The Kurdish negotiating team that had thrashed out a preliminary agreement with the Shiites presented the tentative deal Sunday to Massoud Barzani, head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), and members of Jalal al-Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).
But Barzani hinted at dissatisfaction with the deal in an interview broadcast Friday, saying he wanted agreement now on Kurdish claims to the ethnically divided northern oil centre of Kirkuk. "We do not agree on postponing this matter until after the constitution, we must agree on the issue of Kirkuk now," he told Dubai-based Al Arabiya television.
The UIA has sought out the Kurds, whose 77 assembly seats have given them the second largest bloc in parliament, in order to attain the two-thirds majority needed to appoint a presidency council, which then nominates the prime minister. In return, the Kurds have been seeking an iron-clad commitment from the Shiites that they will respect provisions regarding Kirkuk in an interim constitution adopted under the US-led occupation last year. The longer the process plays out, observers fear insurgents will exploit the delays and erode any momentum gained by the January 30 election.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/14/2005 00:00:00 ||
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This is negiotiation 101. Time is clearly on the Kurds side and not the Shiite side. They will get what what they want.
I know that it's the New York Times, and I know y'all hate registering. But this is a 4-pager, and I am not going to post the whole thing and gobble up Fred's bandwidth.
In the weeks after Baghdad fell in April 2003, looters systematically dismantled and removed tons of machinery from Saddam Hussein's most important weapons installations, including some with high-precision equipment capable of making parts for nuclear arms, a senior Iraqi official said this week in the government's first extensive comments on the looting. Didn't the administration say that, way back when?
The Iraqi official, Sami al-Araji, the deputy minister of industry, said it appeared that a highly organized operation had pinpointed specific plants in search of valuable equipment, some of which could be used for both military and civilian applications, and carted the machinery away. Again, didn't the administration say that, way back when?
Dr. Araji said his account was based largely on observations by government employees and officials who either worked at the sites or lived near them. "They came in with the cranes and the lorries, and they depleted the whole sites," Dr. Araji said. "They knew what they were doing; they knew what they want. This was sophisticated looting." And again: Didn't the administration say that, way back when?
The threat posed by these types of facilities was cited by the Bush administration as a reason for invading Iraq, but the installations were left largely unguarded by allied forces in the chaotic months after the invasion. Yes, it seems they did.
Dr. Araji's statements came just a week after a United Nations agency disclosed that approximately 90 important sites in Iraq had been looted or razed in that period. Or possibly shortly before the invasion, possibly even the reason for the many trucks observed via satellite driving back and forth between Iraq and Syria and further to Lebanon's Bekaa Valley?
Satellite imagery analyzed by two United Nations groups - the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission, or Unmovic - confirms that some of the sites identified by Dr. Araji appear to be totally or partly stripped, senior officials at those agencies said. Those officials said they could not comment on all of Dr. Araji's assertions, because the groups had been barred from Iraq since the invasion. Weren't they also barred from Iraq for some time before the invasion as well? Hmmm.
For nearly a year, the two agencies have sent regular reports to the United Nations Security Council detailing evidence of the dismantlement of Iraqi military installations and, in a few cases, the movement of Iraqi gear to other countries. In addition, a report issued last October by the chief American arms inspector in Iraq, Charles A. Duelfer, told of evidence of looting at crucial sites. Gosh, they have? How come we haven't read anything about it in the New York Times before this?
The disclosures by the Iraqi ministry, however, added new information about the thefts, detailing the timing, the material taken and the apparent skill shown by the thieves. Dr. Araji said equipment capable of making parts for missiles as well as chemical, biological and nuclear arms was missing from 8 or 10 sites that were the heart of Iraq's dormant program on unconventional weapons. Oh, really?
After the invasion, occupation forces found no unconventional arms, and C.I.A. inspectors concluded that the effort had been largely abandoned after the Persian Gulf war in 1991. Dr. Araji said he had no evidence regarding where the equipment had gone. But his account raises the possibility that the specialized machinery from the arms establishment that the war was aimed at neutralizing had made its way to the black market or was in the hands of foreign governments. But I thought Saddam Hussein wasn't doing that kind of stuff. Isn't that why we really hadn't needed to actually invade?
"Targeted looting of this kind of equipment has to be seen as a proliferation threat," said Gary Milhollin, director of the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control, a private nonprofit organization in Washington that tracks the spread of unconventional weapons. Dr. Araji said he believed that the looters themselves were more interested in making money than making weapons. Yes, but you don't have to worry about protecting the rest of the world. And the nasty stuff is already, by your own account, beyond your borders. So your people are probably safe. For the moment, anyway.
The United Nations, worried that the material could be used in clandestine bomb production, has been hunting for it, largely unsuccessfully, across the Middle East. In one case, investigators searching through scrap yards in Jordan last June found specialized vats for highly corrosive chemicals that had been tagged and monitored as part of the international effort to keep watch on the Iraqi arms program. I do remember reading something about that, somewhere. But it wasn't in the New York TImes.
The vessels could be used for harmless industrial processes or for making chemical weapons. Here endeth the first page.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
03/14/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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#1
This is just a rehash of what we knew in the weeks/months after the war. I just don't buy that this stuff was stolen after the war by opportunistic thieves. A lot of it big hard/dangerous to transport stuff with a miniscule (after)market. It doesn't make sense people would steal it on speck or that in the postwar chaos potential buyers would contact those who had access and knew a centrifuge from a cement mixer. It is much more plausible it was dismantled by Saddam and sent to Syria/Bekka for safe keeping under some deal with Assad. And if it was stolen by looters why has most of it turned up?
#3
It hasn't turned up because it's in Syrian control either in Syria or in Lebanon or in Iran. We know where it is. We have satellites that told us where it went. The NYT is dragging crap up that has already been run. This isn't "news" it's part of some TRANZI scheme to put Bush's body parts in the wringer. Hasn't worked so far. It's not likely to this time.
#5
I agree. We knew about this in January 2003, before the invasion. The newsworthiness of this article is that the NYT admits that the stuff was there, it did exist, and it was taken elsewhere by people who knew exactly what they were doing -- by implication Saddam's people, at his orders, because who else would dare to order such a thing without his ok.
This makes it awfully difficult for the anti-Bushies to continue spouting their nonsense on the subject, now that the Newspaper of Record has weighed in on the Bush side, even though they had to wait for the U.N. report in order to do so.
#6
Logical consistency is not a requirement for those wackos, TW.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
03/14/2005 8:20 Comments ||
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#7
I'm afraid, TW, that you've forgotten the principle of Doublethink. The far left can indeed say "There weren't any weapons" and "we misplanned so badly that all the weapons were stolen by the resistance" and see no logical fallacy there.
I am beginning to entertain an idea that moonbats have some form of genetically induced lobotomy and are, de facto, a different species. We can still interbreed, but frankly, do we want to?
They are also often called morlocks, which is both fitting and precognitive.
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Interior Minister Prince Naif said yesterday that the trial of 13 suspects accused of trying to assassinate Crown Prince Abdullah will start soon after the completion of investigations. "Investigations in such cases will take their course before being referred to courts," Prince Naif told reporters in Riyadh when asked about reports on the imminent trial. Asharq Al-Awsat, a sister publication of Arab News, reported yesterday, quoting Saudi officials that the trial of eight Saudis and five Libyans was likely to start in Riyadh this month. Prince Naif, who arrived from Sanaa after chairing a meeting of the Saudi-Yemeni Border Committee, also said the probe on the assassination attempt was on the verge of completion. "We'll then know all the facts," he added.
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, al Qaeda's chief ally in Iraq, may be planning attacks on "soft targets" in the United States including movie theatres, restaurants and schools, Time magazine has reported.
Kreis continues by saying (sic), "I ask our Islamic fellow fighters against jewry to remember the co-operation between Mufti 
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Iran yesterday put on display three British naval boats it captured last year, shrugging off protests by London, which has demanded their return, the official Irna news agency reported. The boats, seized along with their crews by Iranian Revolutionary Guards last June in the Shatt Al Arab waterway which divides southwestern Iran from Iraq, were included in an exhibition of memorabilia from 1980-1988 war with Iraq.Â
Protesters rallied yesterday to denounce a UN resolution demanding a Syrian military pullout as the government asserted its right to have a say in when the troops leave Lebanon. The pro-Syrian gathering in the southern city of Nabatiyeh drew 200,000 people and is expected to be followed today by an even larger demonstration by the country's anti-Syrian opposition. A series of street protests by opposition parties as well as those sympathetic to Damascus has rattled the government, with President 
Abu Musab al Zarqawi, the head of al Qaeda terrorism in Iraq, is an inspiration for Islamic radicals. Zarqawi, unfortunately, is carrying out his terrorist attacks mainly against fellow Moslems. This is not unusual, as, so far, most al Qaeda attacks have been against other Moslems. But for Arabs, living in Arab countries, the al Qaeda carnage in Iraq is scary, and disturbing. But for Moslems living in Europe, North America and other non-Moslem nations, the death of so many Moslems, at the hands of other Moslems, is inspiring. Especially with the young Moslems in places like Europe, it's easy to swallow the official al Qaeda line that the Iraqis killed by al Qaeda bombs deserved to die. Moslems in Moslem countries know better. This generation gap is being exploited by al Qaeda, and has made Zarqawi a hero to many of these European born Moslems.
