David Warren is back from Tahiti or Timbuktoo or wherever he went. He's taken many of the same points I've been making here on the Middle East and presented them in a form that's eminently readable. He also reaches many of the same conclusions, which is good for my ego.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/09/2002 05:58 pm ||
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"Luke! Listen to the Force! I am not your fathah!"
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/09/2002 07:37 pm ||
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Fred: BTW-- the copyrats are all ready at it. Yesterday we had several: AP reported: Three small bombs have exploded in mailboxes in northern parts of Spokane County, the U.S. Postal Service said Thursday. And one in Indiana, but I can't remember the source. Jeeze all it takes is one flake to bring out the whole box. Mary Lu
Posted by: Mary Wehmeier ||
05/10/2002 4:46 Comments ||
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I saw one place in my cruising that one set of Kopy Kat Kiddy Killers was an 8-year-old.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/10/2002 6:42 Comments ||
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The CIA wants to kill a renegade Afghan warlord who it sees as a major threat to the interim government of President Hamid Karzai and U.S. troops, and has already fired a missile from an unmanned Predator plane at the man. Former Afghan Prime Minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar narrowly missed being hit by the missile, which was fired at him near Kabul Monday. Some members of his Hezb-e-Islami â "Party of Islam" â group were believed killed. CIA officials declined to comment. 'When asked for comment, an unnamed CIA official who requested anonymity replied, "I wonder if they're having lima beans in the cafeteria today? I really hate lima beans."'
An official of the Afghan Defense Ministry, who also spoke only on condition of anonymity, said Thursday that Hekmatyar was not in the Kabul area. Shortly after the missile struck he was as far from the Kabul area as he could get.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/09/2002 12:43 pm ||
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The 21-year-old college student accused in a string of pipe bombings wanted to make a "smiley face" pattern with his targets, authorities said Thursday. "There was a comment made to one of my officers about his hope to make a smiley face when he was all finished," Pershing County Sheriff Ron Skinner said. Skinner said Luke Helder made the comments to an undercover county officer shortly after his arrest outside Reno on Tuesday. Ofergawdsake.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/09/2002 09:27 pm ||
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What, did he run out of crayons?
Posted by: Andrea Harris ||
05/10/2002 1:06 Comments ||
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Ya know Fred-- The more I read about this kid, the more a couple things we talked about in the beginning come to mind... 1. Drugs = Fried Brain. (Insert fried egg PSA here.) 2. Parents were clueless. 3. Friends in denial. Sigh. Mary Lu
Posted by: Mary Wehmeier ||
05/10/2002 4:37 Comments ||
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That's the key to this particular loon, I think. The kiddies, and many of their advocates, deny that Better Living Through Chemistry can upset the balance of all the juices that keep the brain stable, and in some cases can introduce psycosis. Some, and probably most, people go through life indulging in recreational medication now and then with no long-term ill effects - but not all people. Mailbox Boy probably had the same set of latent flaws in his skull we all do, the same flaws we apply self-control to. With the aid of some happy juice, his became cracks, then gaps, then fissures.
Mom and Pop probably were clueless; who wants to even suspect their kid's become a drug head? The friends, part of the majority who can throw off most of the effects, didn't even notice that he was still crackers when the substance abuse wore off.
I'd guess that his choice in music made matters even worse. The willingness of Today's Youth (oh, God, I feel old...) to subject themselves to hour after hour of propaganda verses is pretty depressing. Those who deny that listening to hour after hour of "life is awful and so am I" should listen to the Horst Wessel Lied seven or eight times and see if they feel an urge to march around with a thousand others in natty brown uniforms. Sometimes I think the music industry is our Grand Muftis.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/10/2002 7:02 Comments ||
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Fred: All I can do is smile and nod. Uh huh. 10-4 good buddy. OnTarget. Mary Lu
Posted by: Mary Wehmeier ||
05/10/2002 12:25 Comments ||
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More than 100 extremists with suspected links to the Taliban and al-Qaeda have been rounded up in Pakistan after a suicide bombing which killed 11 French nationals. The operation was launched on the instructions of President Pervez Musharraf in response to the car bombing outside the Sheraton Hotel in Karachi on Wednesday. Think Perv has gotten the message that the westerners weren't the target, but he was?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/09/2002 01:16 pm ||
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The pro-Musharraf National Alliance, in its first formal meeting here on Wednesday, vowed to help end culture of corruption and injustice, and form a good government through the democratic process in the country. That'll be quite a switch, if it happens. The very thought probably scares the bejabbers out of both the fundos and the old-line parties...
Later, alliance's Secretary-General Mohammad Ali Durrani briefing the newsmen said: " In our view good government could only be an elected government". He said, piously...
In reply to a question about the suspected-suicide bombing in Karachi and killing of Dr Ghulam Murtaza Malik in Lahore, he did not accept the accidents as failure of the Musharraf government. Terrorism had become an international phenomenon for which no government could be blamed, he explained. Ummm... Yeah. But one of its focal points is Pakistan. One of its more obvious focal points.
When asked as to how many seats the forces, which helped forge the coalition, had assured to the alliance in October polls, Mr Durrani said: " This bloc has been constituted at people's will, and only they will ensure returning of it to power." He evaded to reply when questioned about the transparency of April 30th referendum, and the government's claim that general elections would also be fair, like the referendum. That statement sure raises some questions, since the referendumb wasn't, shall we say, as clean as it could have been.
The league's meeting through two separate resolutions condemned the terrorist attacks in Karachi and Lahore, and termed them deliberate efforts for derailing government's initiated economic revival plan, and sabotaging foreign investment scheme. Pretty obvious, huh? National Alliance could be a great thing for Pakland. In any other country, Perv would be just another tin-hat dictator with delusions of adequacy. Considering the entire range of alternatives in Pakistan, he's probably the nation's last, best hope. But if that's what he's going to be, he's got to crack down heavily on the fundos and the terror infrastructure, which is in the process of turning on the government machinery that gave it birth.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/09/2002 02:41 pm ||
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A PML(QA) delegation led by Mian Azhar is scheduled to hold a breakfast meeting with Jamaat-i-Islami amir Qazi Husain Ahmad on Thursday in an attempt to find common grounds for future cooperation between the two parties. Mian Azhar told Dawn here on Wednesday that the two parties had been allies in the past and he had reasons to believe that they could join hands again to put the country back on path to democracy. Qazi's wondering what he can offer to break Azhar off from Perv...
The PML(QA) is a staunch supporter of President Musharraf, but the Jamaat is making efforts to dislodge him at the earliest. Despite this yawning gap between the two positions, Mian Azhar says a common ground can be found. How many zeros on the figure? How old do you want your dancing girls? Where would you like your landed estates?
Qazi Husain Ahmad told Dawn that the meeting was taking place at the request of the PML(QA) chief. He made it clear that his party would not like to join hands with any pro-government alliance. That'll never happen...
He said there was, in fact, no possibility of any cooperation between the two parties but he would listen to the PML(QA)'s point of view. "There is a possibility of the Jamaat's cooperation with the PML(N) but not the PML(QA)," said the Qazi in a categorical tone. PML(QA) isn't dirty enough. Nawaz is fine, though. But if Qazi can find the right handle, Azhar'll be fine, too...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/09/2002 03:01 pm ||
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An Egyptian soldier has been wounded in cross-border shooting from the Israeli-controlled Gaza Strip. The soldier, Dessouki Ahmed Eissa, 22, was hit in the thigh by a bullet from the Israeli side on Wednesday. He has been admitted to hospital in Rafah, on Egypt's border with the Gaza. There was no immediate word from Israel on the shooting. An Egyptian security official said it is not clear what caused the shooting and whether it was intentional. Wonder what the circumstances of that one were? The IDF tries to avoid things like that.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/09/2002 08:52 am ||
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Radical Palestinians demonstrated against Chairman Yasser Arafat's leadership of the Palestinian Authority in Damascus today, calling his deal to end the standoff in Ramallah a "disgraceful concession" to Israel and the United States. About 60 members of 10 Damascus-based Palestinian groups staged a sit-in outside the offices of the Palestinian Liberation Organization in downtown Damascus. Doesn't seem like a real good turnout. Was there a lot of screaming and shootin' guns in the air? Anybody explode?
In a statement to the media, the groups rejected the deal struck by Arafat earlier this month under which Israeli troops withdrew from his headquarters in Ramallah on the West Bank in return for six Palestinians being confined to prison in Jericho under US and British guards. The groups also rejected a tentative deal reached over Bethlehem under which most of the people holed up in the Church of Nativity would be allowed to leave as long as 13 Palestinian militants were deported. The deal collapsed today. If there's a deal, there's always that segment that'll reject it. I think this only got play because it happened at all. The numbers involved don't seem much to get excited about.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/09/2002 08:51 am ||
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In Gaza City, Hamas officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, reported that 16 members were arrested today by Palestinian police, but would not reveal the identities of those taken into custody. "I do have reports that there is some kind of campaign that has targeted some members of the movement," said Hamas spokesman Ismail Abu Shanab. He said he could not confirm the exact number of those arrested. Shanab is one of the Hamas steering committee in Gaza, one of the four .90 calibers.
The arrests appeared to indicate that Arafat is responding to growing US pressure to take action against Palestinian militants. Also that he doesn't want to see Gaza thumped like the West Bank was. But it's also true that his writ doesn't run quite as large in Gaza, so maybe there's something to it â it'd be to Yasser's advantage to exert a little power there.
A number of important Hamas figures were killed or captured during the Israeli offensive in the West Bank. However, all of the group's senior leaders are in Gaza, and Israel has so far refrained from targeting them. Which shows that either the Israelis aren't geniuses, either, or that I'm missing some key data...
In the past, Palestinian authorities have temporarily detained Hamas leaders, but then released them soon after. In some cases, it appeared the Palestinians took the moves largely to protect the Hamas leaders from possible Israeli attack. Which could very well be what's happening here, if they really expect the tanks to roll. Otherwise, those "arrested" are small fry.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/09/2002 10:06 am ||
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Reserve soldiers are expected to receive emergency call-up notices as the IDF gears up for an anticipated strike on the Gaza Strip. Military sources told Army Radio that operations in the Gaza Strip will likely be much more complicated and difficult than previous actions during Operation Defensive Shield in the West Bank. The PA has probably noticed that they haven't demob'ed the bunch they called up for the West Bank...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/09/2002 09:09 am ||
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Not to dispute your prodigiously sourced information, but many of the reservists who served in Jenin have been interviewed by the media, because they've "returned to private life".
A militant Jewish group has claimed responsibility for the killing of eight Palestinians in the past year, saying in a leaflet distributed in Jewish settlements that the killings were revenge for deadly attacks on Israelis. Police were investigating the leaflet, police spokesman Rafi Yaffe said. Yeah, this is just what Israel needs. Somehow these goobers haven't picked up on the fact that what they're doing is what we're all fighting against.
A group called "Fighters of the Kingdom of Israel," named the places where the shootings took place and warned Palestinians to "prepare shrouds" for more burials. "In the actions of our fighters ... eight Arabs were killed and many wounded," read the leaflet, which was obtained by The Associated Press on Thursday. "Jews who are fed up have arisen and decided to get revenge against the Arab enemy!" The group, which has issued leaflets before, called on more Jews to join its cause. And the difference between them and Hamas is...?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/09/2002 01:43 pm ||
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For the second time since his arrest last month, West Bank Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti met with his attorney late Tuesday night. The most senior Palestinian to be apprehended during Operation Defensive Shield, Barghouti had previously consulted with his lawyer three days after his March 15 arrest, but a court later issued an order at the stateâs request barring another meeting until this week. That's because what they wanted from him wasn't criminal evidence, but military and political information.
Last Thursday night, the Prime Ministerâs Office announced that Barghouti has confessed that he was âpersonally involvedâ in directing terrorist attacks which killed and wounded scores and that he received funding for the attacks from Palestinian Authority Chair-man Yasser Arafat. Probably not admissible in court, but it fills in a lot of blanks in the order of battle...
Barghoutiâs attorney, Jawad Boulous, said his client, who is suffering from âlong hoursâ of interrogation and âsleep deprivation,â had denied these reports. Oh, did they take him off the happy juice?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/09/2002 01:50 pm ||
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A bomb caused extensive damage when it exploded outside an American fast-food restaurant early this morning in the Lebanese city of Tripoli, police said. No one was wounded in the blast. Police said a bomb containing 1.5 kilograms of TNT was placed at the entrance to a building housing Kentucky Fried Chicken and Hardee's burger chain on the southern side of the port city. No one was hurt in the 4 a.m. explosion, but a laborer suffered cuts from falling glass during a cleanup operation. Several parked cars were damaged. Police said they were investigating a possible link between the bombing and a campaign to boycott American products in retaliation for Washington's perceived support of Israel in its conflict with the Palestinians. "Goddamit! I said original, not crispy!"
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/09/2002 09:06 am ||
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The government has not ruled out the possibility of Al Qaeda's involvement in Wednesday's suicide attack in Karachi. "The attack has all the markings of a well-trained international terrorist organization," Federal Interior Secretary Tasnim Noorani said, adding that "this kind of operation is not carried out by the terrorist organizations operating within the country." Izzat so? Just a month ago, Hizbul Mujahideen was bragging about how they "know the art of becoming human bombs."
Intelligence reports, senior interior ministry officials said, had warned that some 300 suicide bombers with Al Qaeda and Taliban links would be unleashed in May in a new offensive against the US interests and its allies around the world. And this is the start of it? Could be. Could also be part of a campaign against Pak interests that they haven't quite noticed yet...
Sources said most of the terrorist cells of the Taliban and Al Qaeda network had the capability to be activated at short notice and most of them had spread their tentacles away from the main theatre of war in Afghanistan. Meaning they've been chased out...
The threat of Al Qaeda activists to infiltrate into target countries and conduct suicide attacks against Western targets and critical infrastructure was grave, they said, adding that Pakistan was a target country for being a partner in the US-led war against terrorism. Now we're starting to get down to it...
Suspecting that the attack might have a Taliban or Al Qaeda link, Federal Information Minister Nisar Memon said at a news conference that the government had decided to strengthen the country's western border with Afghanistan to reinforce vigilance against any infiltrations from across the border. But, having screwed around for the past six months, it'll be late coming. The head cheeses and lots of trained gunnies are already comfortably ensconced in Pakland. Even worse, in the coming confrontation between Perv and the fundos, they're on the fundos' side.
By this point, Binny, assuming he still lives, and the Learned Elders of Islam behind him, have probably written off Afghanistan as a do-able. But Providence has presented them with a perfectly good substitute in either all of Pakistan, with its nuclear weapons, or Greater Pashtunistan, if they can't grab the whole thing. Toilet paper consumption at the Pak general staff must be at an all-time high, as they notice that 1.)they can't depend on ISI, a significant part of which is allied with the fundos; 2.)they've allowed potential threats to grow up on both their eastern and western borders - al-Qaeda/Talibs in the west, their home-grown Harkats and Hizbs in the east, reinforced by the mercenaries in Lashkar and Jaish. The probability of civil war is probably better than 80%, and rather than being prepared for it, these single-cheeked "generals" have been aiding and abetting the other side.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/09/2002 10:05 am ||
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A remote-controlled bomb shattered a holiday parade Thursday in a Russian town in Dagestan, killing at least 34 people, including children, elderly veterans and members of a marching band that had just struck up the tune "Victory Day." The Russians killed Khattab last month, but his henchman still remain, as does the native killer, Shamil Basayev. Khattab tried to make Dagestan into his own little Islamic emirate before the Dagestanis and the Russers kicked him out and killed all the Wahabbis they could find.
On Thursday, a marine band had just started playing the namesake song of Victory Day, which honors the anniversary of the Allied defeat of the Nazis in World War II. Children ran in front, cheered on by veterans, as the musicians and other servicemen headed to the cemetery in the Caspian Sea port of Kaspiisk for a wreath-laying ceremony. Then the bomb â an anti-personnel mine, packed with metal fragments, according to witnesses â blew up. Streams of blood trickled down the tree-lined road after the blast, which injured about 150. A mangled drum heaped with flowers lay next to a pile of abandoned horns and an empty boot. Seventeen servicemen â most of them musicians â 12 children and five adult bystanders were killed, said the Dagestan department of the Emergency Situations Ministry. The pious men with turbans can certainly be proud of that, can't they?
No one claimed responsibility, but regional officials blamed Islamic militants who have organized previous attacks in Dagestan. A 1996 blast in a Kaspiisk building that housed Russian border guards killed 68 people. Officials never determined who was responsible, but many blamed Chechen rebels. Usually one doesn't have to look far...
President Putin convened an emergency meeting in the Kremlin and appointed the head of the Federal Security Service to oversee the investigation into what he called a terrorist act. "Today is the dearest holiday for our people. ... Today's act was committed by scum for whom nothing is sacred," he told guests at a Victory Day reception. "We have the right to view (the perpetrators) as we view Nazis, as those whose purpose is to sow terror and kill. "But however difficult the tasks before us today, they will be solved." And we should support him and everyone like him. Next time WaPo squawks about Russian "heavy-handedness," ask 'em about the dead babies at the parade.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/09/2002 01:02 pm ||
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Al Qaida is believed to have designated Lebanon as its Middle East base of operations, which could turn Israel into a direct target of Osama Bin Laden. A report said an Al Qaida base in Lebanon would allow the Islamic movement to combine forces with numerous Palestinian and other groups in the insurgency war against Israel. It would also put the bulk of the terror groups within a small geographical area. It'll be a bit hard on Lebanon, but I care a lot less about Lebanon today than I did on September 10th.
"This infrastructure would be invaluable for Al Qaida, allowing its operatives to infiltrate, recruit new operatives, and build new sleeper cells that would combine forces with the Islamic militant organizations already operating in the Palestinian arena," the report by the International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism said. It would produce a counterweight to Yasser's authority, if any, and would probably march more in tune with Hamas and Islamic Jihad. This isn't the first time Hezbollah's cozy relationship with al-Qaeda has come up.
The report, entitled "The Al Qaida-Hizballah Connection," and authored by Yoni Fighel and Yael Shahar, said an Al Qaida foothold in Lebanon would enable the movement to infiltrate Israel. The report said the routes would be either directly from Lebanon or through Jordan. I'm not sure Official Jordan would be as accomodating to them as the Paks and Afghans have been. Lebanon, with its figurehead government, seems the more likely candidate.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/09/2002 01:11 pm ||
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Two more Hizbul Mujahideen commanders have refused to accept the decision of the supreme commander Syed Salahudin to expel Abdul Majid Dar and his two associates. Talking to a local news agency CNS at an undisclosed place, the Hizb launching commander Abu Aamir and district chief Kupwara Asghar Bin Rehman said Salahudinâs decision was wrong and "they and their hundreds of colleagues have refused to accept it". Sounds like a real revolt in their disciplined ranks...
Some of the other commanders who according to them were behind them in their principled stand have been identified as Mumtaz Safder, Mumtaz Hussain, Abdullah, Aadil Mushtaq, all batalion commanders, Malik Asad, deputy district commander and financial administrator Majid Gani. However, the two commanders have rejected the possibility of any split in Hizb ranks saying the outfit was still united but was "nobodyâs fiefdom". "We wonât let Hizb to become anybodyâs personal property", the commanders added. That'll be a change, won't it?
The commanders have also come out openly in support of a change in Hizb strategy "as an expedient move in the new circumstances" and even refer to Quranâs teachings to validate their argument. When asked whether they were in the interest of giving up the gun, the commanders answered in the negative but added they also wanted to give one more chance to peace. "We want to give peace a chance but in the process we will continue to carry gun on our shoulders", they said. Now that sounds like a philosophical sea change...
In a strong rebuff to Salahudin, the first of its kind from within the Hizb ranks, the commanders accused him of being unaware of the prevailing ground situation in Kashmir. "Salahudin has been living in the free atmosphere of Muzafferabad for the last seven years and as such he canât understand the ground realities", the commanders said. Well, of course he can't. You can't expect him to risk getting shot or something, can you? Besides, he has important things to do, things that you wouldn't understand. Important things. With important people like him...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/09/2002 02:07 pm ||
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Three snuffies were iced in an encounter with troops in Islamabad district yesterday. The deaders, belonging to Lashker-e-Taiba, have been identified as Abu Saifullah, Abu Talha and Abu Huraira. They are survived by three Ak rifles, 9 magazines, a wireless set, 5 hand grenades and some ammunition.
Two crazed killers were relieved of their earthly woes in an encounter with troops at Saile (Budgam) today.
Reports from Jammu said security forces banged three hard boys in an encounter in Poonch. As troops were surrounding the area, the Bad Guys opened fire and in the retaliatory action three of them were fatally ventilated.
Two Lashker snuffies, Abdul Qazi alias Chotu and deputy district commander Bau Dujan alias Dujana, were iced by members of Village Defence Committee (VDC) at Lopara village of Doda early today. The two deaders, both hailing from Pakistan, were on the âthe most wantedâ list, with a reward of Rs 150,000 each on their heads, which would be distributed among the VDC members. Nice little piece of change for a few hours work...
BSF killed a militant in Kot Kuba area of Jammu after he sneaked into the Indian side early this morning. Gosh. He wasn't even there long enough to see the sights...
Security forces iced two psychos at Parnali in Udhampur district last night. Their identity was not available.
A girl, abducted by unidentified thugs from Mahore tehsil of Udhampur district on May 3, was found dead on the banks of Ans river in the area yesterday. Rat bastards...
Militants killed two brothers, Mohammad Abbas and Abdul Jabar, in Doda district yesterday. The deceased, both former Special Police Officers (SPOs), were shot dead by snuffies when they were attending a panchayat to settle a marriage dispute.
Hard boys exchanged fire with security forces during area domination patrol at Gunpora in Shopian area of Pulwama district today. However, there was no report of any casualty. Too bad about that...
Security forces apprehended a suspected militant, Ghulam Hassan, from the outskirts of Srinagar last night. He led to the recovery of an IED weighing five kg and fitted in a wooden box and two detonators from the area. Now all he has to do is explain them...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/09/2002 02:20 pm ||
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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.
