PejmanPundit roots out the following, from New Republic:
"According to recently released documents seized by the Israeli army from Orient House, the P.A.'s former headquarters in Jerusalem, the Palestinian leadership decided one year ago to bring down Sharon by intensifying terror attacks that would convince the Israeli public he was a failure. Arafat had already destroyed the political careers of two previous prime ministers, Peres and Barak. Now it's Sharon's turn."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/08/2002 ||
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GretaEmily Jones has given her site a facelift and passes on a sophisticated exchange in the House of Commons. Very pretty. Is not. Is too. I demand you retract that statement...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/08/2002 ||
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Lileks dismantles the disgusting Mr. Rall with casual ease but I don't think he was really interested - no challenge to it anymore. Rall's long since shown off his black belt in stupid. Rall's working hard to make a name for himself, but the name's something you call someone you don't like. I agree with Bill O'Reilly: Rall "makes me think," but what he makes me think is that he's a jerk.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/08/2002 ||
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Enemy ground fire slackened Friday in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan and American aerial attacks were hindered by foul weather. U.S. officials believe there are "a couple hundred" enemy fighters still holding out. The number of U.S. soldiers wounded in action since the battle began March 2 had grown to about 50. U.S. warplanes had flown 200 missions Friday and dropped 75 bombs. 1,000 American troops, about 2,000 U.S.-allied Afghan soldiers and smaller numbers from Germany, Australia and other allied nations are engaged in ground combat against hundreds of al-Qaida fighters. The commander of the Army's 101st Airborne Division said Thursday that another 200 U.S. soldiers are going to join the fighting in Afghanistan. The soldiers are traveling with 16 Apache attack helicopters and four CH-47 Chinook transport helicopters to supplement or replace aircraft that have been damaged.
"We're fighting fierce fighters," President Bush said. Noting reports that the enemy is showing no inclination to surrender, the president said, "That's OK. If that's their attitude, we'll just have to adjust."
"We know for a fact an awful lot of people have been trying to get out and haven't been making it," Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld said. "There seems to be no inclination to surrender. We've not seen or heard any willingness to do that, although we've looked." There aren't going to be a lot of friendly words for any prisoners taken, at least not from anyone on the US side. Mary Robinson and her ilk will no doubt be terribly "concerned" for them. Any Pak jihadis should just be shot out of hand. They had their chance, there were bunches of them repatriated after Konduz, and any that came back for more should get the full portion. The same really should apply to the Talibs - they were allowed by our erstwhile allies to return to their homes, and if they only stopped by to pick up more ammunition they shouldn't be allowed another trip. Any Hezb-e-Islami thugs caught should receive the same portion, and for the same reasons. That makes the al-Qaeda thugs the only ones in the pile who should be allowed any quarter at all. And they don't want it, so it looks like a successful campaign can be measured by how high the pile of deaders is.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/08/2002 ||
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One of Osama bin Laden's wives believes he is still alive and would never abandon his base in Afghanistan, a Saudi-owned newspaper reported on Friday.
"He once told me that if he left Afghanistan, he'd leave to God," she was quoted as saying. "He had always wished to die there." Asked if Bin Laden were alive or dead, she said she "feels deep down that he's still alive and that the whole world would have known if he had been killed." She was quoted as saying Bin Laden had told her he would never leave Afghanistan except for temporary medical treatment for chronic kidney and stomach pains. Ummm... Actually that interview says nothing to buttress any belief that he's alive. If he was, presumably a go-between would reassure the Little Women that their pride, joy and breadwinner was still kicking. So if he hasn't contacted her, chances are he's pushing up daisies. On the other hand, if he had contacted her to tell her all was well, she'd hardly want to advertise the fact, would she? Someone might snatch her and hit her very many times, until she put them on the trail leading back to him. The episode turns out to be a logical null.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/08/2002 ||
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Kashmir cops have arrested the supreme commander of the pro-government militant outfit Ikhwan-ul-Muslimeen (Muslim Brotherhood) in Baramulla district. This is the first time a top-level counter-insurgent commander has been arrested by police in Kashmir. Abdul Rashid Parray alias Billa was arrested on charges of murder, robbery and extortion in the area. The charges against him include the massacre of seven family members at Sadrkote Bala in 1996.
The search for Billa and some of his accomplices involved in bank robbery and extortion has been going on for some time. At one point, a group of around 100 Ikhwanis encircled the Sumbal Police Station and later ambushed a police party. Four policemen were injured in the attack. The attack on the police was seen as an open challenge by Ikhwanis, and a massive hunt was launched to nab Billa.
Police say they have found it difficult to arrest the other wanted counter-insurgents. They have taken shelter at an Army camp at Safapora, and the Army says it's not aware their activities outside the camps. The Ikhwanis are regarded as something of a fifth column in Jammu and Kashmir. They are what we called "ralliers" in the Vietnam war, gunnies who have laid down their arms and come over to the government. Some serve as Indian scouts (so to speak) with the army. Some retire, get jobs and are never heard from again unless their old friends hunt them down and kill them. Some are double agents. And some - like Billa - joined the Bad Guys because they were thugs and still remain thugs when they change sides.
Official figures say there are around 8,000 Special Police Officers working in the Kashmir Valley, of whom 300 are surrendered militants. 1,200 surrendered militants have already been appointed with the Border Security Forces. 3,000 Ikhwanis are working with various security agencies in the Valley. Around 200 counter-insurgents have rejoined the militants in the last three years.
I'm curious to know if the Muslim Brotherhood is affiliated with the pan-Islamic organization of the same name.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/08/2002 ||
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President Robert Mugabe on Friday predicted he would storm to victory in weekend elections, as the opposition charged wholesale rigging of the vote and a minister said the army was on high alert. The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said 40 of its polling agents had been briefly abducted by government supporters in the latest intimidation intended to steal the election. This is gonna be the blow-off for Zim. If Mugabe doesn't end up leaving in the dead of night with the national treasury under one arm and his wifelet under the other, the former breadbasket of Africa gets to attain a standard of living somewhere south of Chad's while Robert does his Idi Amin imitation. Sad when the "legally elected" government's a terrorist organization - and its citizens are the victims.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/08/2002 ||
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The International Committee of the Red Cross voiced growing alarm at the killing of Palestinian ambulance workers by Israeli forces as another Palestinian medic died in a hail of fire. The latest death, of medical worker Sayed Shalayel in the Gaza Strip, brought to four the number of ambulance workers killed since Monday. Expressing what he called "outrage" at the deaths, Red Cross official Rene Kosirnik urged both sides and "first and foremost the Israeli armed forces" to respect the safety of medical personnel under international humanitarian law. "If there is one category that should be respected in all circumstances and its work facilitated, it is medical work and more specifically the emergency medical evacuation," Kosirnik told a news conference.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society, two of whose staff were among this week's dead, has accused Israeli forces of targeting ambulances as they rush to recover wounded gunmen and civilians in the fighting. Israel's army commander for the West Bank, Brigadier-General Gerhson Yitzhak, again accused the Palestinians of using ambulances to move gunmen and ammunition, a claim the Red Cross said the authorities had failed so far to substantiate.
Younis al-Khatib, the head of the Red Crescent Society, called the killings "atrocities." Perhaps we need an international agreement requiring gunnies to stay out of ambulances except when perforated. That would seem to be an international agreement stating the obvious, but with Arabs the tactical always seems to outweigh the strategic - and to outweigh agreements. So, what the hell? Just forget it.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/08/2002 ||
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An Israeli incursion into central Gaza claimed the life of Maj. Gen. Ahmed Mefraj, the highest-ranking Palestinian officer ever killed in a clash with Israeli forces. Mefraj, 55, a "top security commander," died during the sweep into villages east of the city of Khan Younis. Doctors said he was shot several times. They mean he was perforated like a swiss cheese. Mefraj, deputy to Palestinian public security commander Maj. Gen. Abdel Razek Majaidie, was also a member of the Fatah Revolutionary Council, an arm of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement. So he was one of the muckety-mucks. Usually they just keep ticking along while it's the cannon fodder who's mowed down or, in the Palestinians' case, exploding.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/08/2002 ||
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The Palestinian Authority concluded an agreement with the Islamic Development Bank to receive $50 million from a special fund set up by Arab leaders to support the intifada. The IDB on Friday released $10 million to support the PNA budget, saying the remaining amount will be paid over the coming week. IDB President Dr. Ahmad Muhammad Ali and Palestinian Ambassador to the Kingdom Mustafa Hashim Deeb signed the agreement in Jeddah. Arab countries have so far contributed $680 million toward the $1 bilion Al-Aqsa Fund. Cheeze. They don't even bother trying to hide the funding trail anymore.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/08/2002 ||
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President George Bush announced on Thursday that he had decided to send Gen. Antony Zinni back to the Middle East region next week to work for a ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinians. They'll be exploding by the dozen next week.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/08/2002 ||
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Spanish police arrested 11 people as part of a police crackdown on radical youth groups linked to the Basque separatist movement ETA. The detentions follow the arrest of seven people suspected of links to the armed group and of taking part in street violence. Police say such violence is usually led by young ETA supporters, who are later recruited into the main ETA organization. The latest raids were against the organization known as Segi, which was labeled a terrorist group by the European Union in December. Police seized computer material and further arrests could be made. Some 200 police took part in the operation and searched four Segi offices and four bars run by the pro-ETA political party Batasuna. The Segi members are accused of organizing protests, street violence and distributing threatening posters. ETA's youth followers typically throw petrol bombs and burn bank cash machines. The pattern here is the same as the pattern in Pakland, where there are more thugs per capita than in Spain, and other places infested by thugs. There's a legal organization to piously wash its hands (Sinn Fein in Ireland, JI and JUI in Pakistan), the affiliated snuffy groups that do the killing and maiming (IRA, Jaish-e-Mohammad, Lashkar-e-Taiba, etc.), and the "youth groups" that feed both sets of organizations and provide on-the-job training in "smashing the state." I think all this was perfected under the Nazis in Germany (Hitler Youth leading into SA or SS) and in the various Commie dictatorships of the proletariat (Young Pioneers leading to Komsomoltsi leading into full party membership and positions in the state security apparatus or the armed forces as political officers.)
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/08/2002 ||
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In Tul Karem in western Shomron, IDF forces continue to surround some 300 armed terrorists of Tanzim, Force 17, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad. Fire was exchanged there during the night; a Border Guard policeman and a soldier were each lightly wounded. Nine Arabs were killed there yesterday, and dozens were wounded. IDF sources said the army would not leave the area until all the terrorists were arrested. PLO sources said that the terrorists had planted mines in the camp, and that men wearing explosives packs were awaiting the IDF soldiers. PA diplomatic sources have begun an international campaign to pressure Israel not to enter the camp. Hope they're more successful than we were at Tora Bora. Hope we are, too, since we're doing the exact same thing.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/08/2002 ||
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Turkish security forces killed two members of the radical Islamic organization Hezbollah in a major operation in southern province of Adana. During the operation, nine police officers were also injured when the pair, refusing to surrender, threw hand grenades at them. Before dawn, anti-terrorist police surrounded a house and killed two of them. The dead Hezbollah members were identified as Habip Dag, 42, who was one of the group officers in charge of the military wing of the organization in the province of Mardin, and Arif Keser, 37, who was an officer in charge of the military wing in the province of Gaziantep.
In recent years Hezbollah, which wants to replace Turkeyâs secular government with an Islamic one but has no connection with the Lebanese organisation of the same name, has begun to pose a threat to the Turkish government. This is a pretty nasty group. There were suspicions that its genesis was helped along by the Turkish government as a counterweight to the Kurdish nationalist movement in southern Turkey. Huseyin Velioglu, the group's founder and leader, was a sadist who videotaped over fifty grisly torture-murders. He was bumped off by a sniper in a raid in 1997, but his successors seem to be continuing the tradition.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/08/2002 ||
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Moro Islamic Liberation Front leaders reiterated that there is no truth to charges of collusion between their forces and members of the Abu Sayyaf and other kidnap gangs. They also laughed off news reports that the recent attacks by MILF fighters against government troops, in violation of a standing cease-fire agreement, were ordered by their chairman, Hashim Salamat.
Spokesman Eid Kabalu said the MILF could never be allied with the Abu Sayyaf. "We are a legitimate revolutionary organization and not a bunch of money-hungry kidnappers," he said. Kabalu was reacting to a statement by Senator Rodolfo Biazon, who said that collusion between the Abu Sayyaf and MILF fighters in Basilan has been confirmed at a congressional hearing. Former hostages of the Abu Sayyaf from the town of Lamitan in Basilan, the island stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf, testified at a joint hearing of the Senate and the House of Representatives that sometime in the last quarter of 2001 the Abu Sayyaf took them to MILF camps in Basilan after escaping military encirclement in Lamitan. The Saudis appear to be real solicitous about MILF, and they appear to have written Abu Sayyaf off, which also started off with Saudi money.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/08/2002 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
