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Neighbors nab another perv in California...
A man who allegedly scaled a backyard fence and grabbed a 5-year-old boy was chased down and captured by neighbors alerted by screams from the boy's mother, authorities said. Randall Turner, 51, was arrested and booked for investigation of false imprisonment. Suzanne and David Arnado said their son, Vincent, was playing by himself in the backyard Friday evening when a man apparently scaled the padlocked, 8-high wooden fence.
If this is something that's going around, I hope it stops going around...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 07/29/2002 07:11 am || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Good news indeed. Any word in the news article about any injuries the perv suffered while the in the hands of the posse?
Posted by: Pat Phillips || 07/29/2002 8:42 Comments || Top||

#2  Dad bounced a lawn chair off him. Pity it wasn't a claw hammer. No other details on any flights of stairs he might have fallen down...
Posted by: Fred || 07/29/2002 9:36 Comments || Top||


G'bye, November 17th...
Nikolaos Karanikos at Sphaera Ephemeris has the membership list of the November 17th organization.
All but one are jugged, and the one who isn't is guarded in the hospital. Good riddance to bad rubbish...

Oh, and while you're there, read Sunday's post (links are screwed up, so you have to scroll down) about the idiot politician putting a show for the press with a shootin' arn, almost shot himself, and then was hauled off by the coppers for making an ass of himself...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 07/29/2002 02:28 pm || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Axis of Evil
Iran ''heart'' of Middle East terror, says Peres
Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres on Monday called Iran the "heart of terrorism in the Middle East" and lashed out at Tehran's support for radical Islamic groups. "They are the ones who are providing funds and arms to Hezbollah, the Islamic Jihad and Hamas. We have all the evidence we need, despite their statements" to the contrary, Peres told a press conference here ahead of talks with French President Jacques Chirac. "Without a doubt, Iran is the heart of terrorism in the Middle East."
See? Peres can speak perfectly well, once he spits the meal out of his mouth...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 07/29/2002 07:11 am || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


U.S. Exploring Baghdad Strike as Iraq Option
As the Bush administration considers its military options for deposing Saddam Hussein, senior administration and Pentagon officials say they are exploring a new if risky approach: take Baghdad and one or two key command centers and weapons depots first, in hopes of cutting off the country's leadership and causing a quick collapse of the government.
This week's NY Times leak...
The "inside-out" approach, as some call this Baghdad-first option, would capitalize on the American military's ability to strike over long distances, maneuvering forces to envelop a large target. Those advocating that plan say it reflects a strong desire to find a strategy that would not require a full quarter-million American troops, yet hits hard enough to succeed. One important aim would be to disrupt Iraq's ability to order the use of weapons of mass destruction.
Sounds like my (not serious at all) throwaway on staging a "coup d'etat." I hope they don't seriously plan to drop the 82nd Airborne, and I strongly suspect they don't...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 07/29/2002 07:12 am || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  How can the NY Times print each and every Invasion Plan O' the Week™ and think they're doing their credibility any good? Somebody is having a good time at the Times' expense in leaking all these plans, or else the Times is making this crap up. Maybe the purpose is to keep Saddam all edgy and paranoid, which does the health of his staff of generals, etc. little good, I would think..
Posted by: Frank G || 07/29/2002 10:59 Comments || Top||

#2  The reason why they print the "plan of the week" is twofold:

a. make GWB look indecisive
b. prove that once Iraq goes down, that even a blind pig can find the right acorn once in a while.
Posted by: Tom Roberts || 07/29/2002 11:02 Comments || Top||

#3  Somebody at the NSC is sitting around laughing his/her butt off, since the Iraqis "know" that we're going to attack from the north, the south, the east or the west, by air, by sea, or by land, using anywhere from a dozen Special Forces and CIA guys to 250,000 heavies. It's all there. All you have to do is read the paper and prepare for it.
Posted by: Fred || 07/29/2002 11:19 Comments || Top||

#4  Let's see. The 82nd just replaced the 101st in Afghanland. That means they'll be ready for redeployment in a number of months after a period of low intensity live fire training. When is the best weather window for going into Iraq? Is it easier to airlift from Central Asia to Iraq or North Carolina to Iraq? Just don't jump on top of a flak heavy environment.
Posted by: Don || 07/29/2002 15:30 Comments || Top||

#5  The real attack will come from below, through a tunnel the infidels are digging from their Bagram base in Kabul, under Iran, to the heart of Baghdad. You read it here first.
Posted by: Tresho || 07/29/2002 23:34 Comments || Top||


EU warns Iran, ties depend on continuation of reforms
A top EU diplomat warned Monday that Europe's improving relations with Iran depended on the continuation of political and economic reforms and an end to its efforts to torpedo the Middle East process. Iran's continued support for Palestinian militant groups and suspicions it is seeking to acquire non-conventional weapons pose "a very serious obstacle to closer relations", EU high representative for foreign affairs Javier Solana told a joint news conference with Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi. "In recent years, there has been an improvement in EU-Iran relations. Let me make clear from the outset that the process of reform in Iran has been crucial for this positive development," Solana said in reference to the five-year-old reforms of moderate President Mohammad Khatami.
"Yasss... One must keep up at least the appearance of reform. Otherwise some power not as sophisticated as we, not as multilateral, may do something rash. If you must have weapons capable of killing millions, at least be discrete about it..."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 07/29/2002 07:12 am || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Methinks Solana's threat is emptier than a bucket that's been dipped in a dry creekbed.
Posted by: Ray H. || 07/29/2002 12:14 Comments || Top||

#2  The UPI press release wasn't nearly as complimentary toward the EU.
Posted by: Robert Prather || 07/29/2002 21:15 Comments || Top||


Farah: Iran will 'regain freedom' with new regime
Iran's former empress Farah Diba said Iranians were disillusioned with promises of reform and needed to "regain their freedom" through a change of regime in Tehran. "When President (Mohammad) Khatami came, many young people, with what he was saying, had some hope for some change and some reform, but after five years nothing has happened," she told AFP in an interview on a visit to Cairo.
Lots has happened. You can't call an extended deadlock nothing...
Farah Diba said the real struggle in Iran was not between reformists led by Khatami and Islamic conservatives, who hold the reins of power, but between the people and the regime. "I think the quarrel between the so-called radicals (conservatives) and reformers is just a game to prolong the system," she said, adding that "the majority of the people have reached the point that they are beyond reforms."
The lady has hit it on the head. The ayatollahs are using the "reform movement" as a safety valve, but are determined not to give up the real power. That's why we've seen Iran devolve into something with a show government that drips good intentions most of the time, and a real government that is oppressive at home and the father of international terrorism abroad.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 07/29/2002 07:12 am || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Kuwait: Strong feelings of apathy toward Iraq war...
Kuwait said on Monday it was ready for "all eventualities" in case of US military action against Iraq, while renewing its opposition to such strikes. "The necessary measures have been taken for all eventualities. We are constantly paying heed to reactivating the role of the civil defence," said the interior minister, Sheikh Mohammed al-Khaled al-Sabah.
"If we have to, guess we will..."
Information Minister Ahmed al-Fahd al-Sabah, meanwhile, also quoted by KUNA, reiterated Kuwait's opposition to strikes on its former occupier. "We are against a strike, but we hope Baghdad cooperates (with the United Nations) to spare the region a war. Nobody in the world wants war. The brotherly Iraqi people are our neighbours and will remain so," he said, adding, "We want the Iraqi people to stay on their territory and the Kuwaiti people on theirs," he said.
That's Kuwaiti for "You idiots got yourself into this mess. Try not to get blood all over our carpets while you're trying to get out."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 07/29/2002 04:19 pm || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Iraqi buildup near border puts Kuwait on heightened alert
From World Tribune.com, not the best of all possible sources, and the link's going to die soon...
Kuwait has drafted an emergency plan in coordination with the United States as officials reported an Iraqi buildup near the Kuwaiti border. On Monday, the Kuwaiti Al Rai Al Aam daily reported that authorities have cancelled all vacations for civil defense employees until further notice. The newspaper said the move is part of heightened preparations for an Iraqi attack.
Yup. That's what they said they were gonna do...
The Kuwaiti Cabinet was presented with what was described as an emergency plan to counter an Iraqi military strike on the sheikdom over the next year.
Thinking of doing that again, are they? And after they said they were never gonna do it again. Tusk tusk. Wonder if Sammy still has the same bunch of "young revolutionaries" hanging around on pension?
Kuwaiti officials said the plan warns that the sheikdom can expect to be the first target of an Iraqi attack either prior to or during any U.S. military campaign to topple the regime of President Saddam Hussein. The Kuwaiti plan cited the Iraqi military buildup near the Kuwaiti border, Middle East Newsline reported.
Sounds like a gen-u-wine Iraqi war plan to me. Sammy coldly miscalculates his every move, and something like this would be a classic. In the event of invasion, they'll be too busy fighting off Merkins to be invading someplace else, but this probably looks pretty good on paper...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 07/29/2002 04:40 pm || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Kuwait: On second thought, make sure you take him out...
Gulf states believe that any U.S. military strike against Iraq must topple President Saddam Hussein who would otherwise emerge stronger, a Kuwaiti minister said yesterday. Information Minister Sheikh Ahmad Al Fahd Al Sabah told Kuwaiti newspapers that a possible U.S. "strike must be a knockout which leads to the downfall of the regime".
Guess they didn't like that troop buildup, huh?
"This is the point of view of Kuwait and the other members of the Gulf Cooperation Council. Falling short of such a target will give the head of that regime additional strength which is not appropriate for the stability and security of the region," he added.
It's probably a safe bet to say he's not going to survive the experience this time. We certainly aren't going to want to do it a third time.
The talk of a possible U.S. strike on Iraq is causing concern in Kuwait where residents fear retaliation by Baghdad and an influx of Iraqi refugees. Several state bodies have in recent days held meetings to review measures needed to deal with the impact of a U.S. attack. Kuwaiti concerns include the possible use of Iraqi chemical weapons against the nearest concentration of U.S. troops. The United States has troops training close to the border with Iraq.
Probably a legitimate concern this time, assuming the Bad Guys live long enough to launch. Perhaps the Kuwaiti forces would be kind enough to assist in building the target list to avoid that happening?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 07/29/2002 08:22 pm || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


More on the Persian hookers...
After more than two decades of subjecting kerbcrawlers to the lash, Iran's Islamic regime is thinking the unthinkable -- in the face of an explosion of street prostitution, it is floating plans to set up state-approved "decency houses." Conservatives, who still run the courts and security services, have been quick to slam the proposals as anything but decent, making it far from certain they will ever be put into practice.
Cheeze. I can't think of any smartass remarks that are suitable for a family blog...
The proposals being floated take advantage of a peculiar tradition of Shiite Islam, the majority sect here, which allows for "temporary marriage" or sigheh.
Oh, this sounds good...
Street prostitutes picked up by the religious police or other security forces would be given a choice — take the assistance of social services to give up their profession, or accept a placement in a state-sponsored "decency house" where they could contract temporary marriages with their clients. Customers would pay a dowry rather than a fee and would be able to set the duration of the "marriage contract."
"Hey, bebby, how long a marriage can I get for a twenty-buck dowry?"
The "decency houses" would not be open to any male — only those with identity cards proving they were bachelors, widows, or married to women incapacitated by physical or mental illness would be admitted.
"My wife doesn't understand me." Does that count?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 07/29/2002 09:12 pm || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
Colin sez Perv's a liar... diplomatically, anyway.
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell refused yesterday to back the claim by Pakistan's president, Pervez Musharraf, that his government had stopped militant Muslims from crossing the disputed Kashmiri border into India, but he said tensions between the rivals have eased. ''Everybody agrees that it has gone down,'' Powell said of infiltrations at a news conference in the Pakistani capital at the end of a two-day visit to the Asian subcontinent. ''Some say significantly, some say it's only temporary and not yet significant. With respect to the US position, we are monitoring this carefully. We still are not able to say that they have been stopped, though they have gone down.''
That about agrees with my assessment yestereday...
General Musharraf, however, said yesterday that he had done all there was to do to stop Islamic militants from crossing the disputed border. ''It is not taking place now. Whatever the Indian side is saying is absolutely baseless,'' said Musharraf, who was not at the news conference. ''I don't have to do anything because we've already done it.''
The Indos can document that it hasn't, quite, stopped. I suspect that every time or almost every time there's cross-border firing it's cover for jihadis infiltrating. But I think Perv's throttled it back as far as he feels he safely can. He won't do more, possibly because, as he says regularly, he "won't compromise on Kashmir," more likely because he's afraid of civil war or a new coup by True Believers in the army. It's a pretty narrow tightrope for him, and Qazi and Company will be trying their best to build up a support base for the fundos in the military...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 07/29/2002 07:21 am || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Six Jhangvi thugs iced in jailbreak...
Six suspected Islamic militants were killed Sunday in a fierce gunbattle with police, and four of the dead were suspects in a fatal attack on a Roman Catholic church last year, officials said. According to police chief in the city of Behawalpur in Punjab province, Sikandar Hayyat, police were traveling with four members of the outlawed extremist group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi outside the city when they were fired on from a car. The attackers freed all four militants and wounded nine officers, but police pursued them and caught them near the town of Kherpur Tamewala, about 60 miles southeast of Multan. Six people were killed, including all four of the men who had been with the police. Two of the attackers escaped, said Hayyat. The four who had been in police custody were all suspects in last October's attack on St. Dominic's Church in Behawalpur during a Protestant service, in which 14 worshippers, their minister and a Muslim security guard were killed.
Sounds like they did it just like in the movies, except that six of them were iced. I wonder if it was "convenient" that the four Bad Guys were among those decomposing?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 07/29/2002 08:00 am || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


100 English-medium schools for workers' children planned
The Federal Minister for Labour and Overseas Pakistanis, Owais Ghani, has said 100 English-medium model schools will be established by the Workers Welfare Board (WWB) across the country in the current year where the children of the poor workers will get free education. He said at present 10 schools in Punjab, eight in NWFP, four each in Balochistan and Sindh provinces had been set up by the WWB and the annual expenditure of each school was about Rs4 million to Rs5 million which had been provided from the workers welfare fund (WWF).
Not an awfully large expenditure, but it provides an alternative to the madrassahs. If nobody kills Perv in the next year, the program will probably expand while he tries to counterweight the influence of the madrassahs.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 07/29/2002 11:22 am || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Experts want law enacted to check barbaric customs
The tribal custom of handing over girls for settling feuds could be checked with the implementation of existing laws, enactment of a law prohibiting this practice and increasing education facilities in rural areas, said legal experts and human rights activists. "People sacrifice their women relatives, specially daughters and sisters, to save themselves, which is a barbaric custom," said Qazi Mohammad Jamil, a former judge of the Peshawar High Court and ex-attorney general of Pakistan. He said although none of the laws in Pakistan allowed such brutal customs, there should be a law clearly prohibiting such acts and compromises like that of Mianwali deal. The chairperson of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Afrasiab Khattak, told Dawn: "Due to weak governance extra-judicial forums like Jirgas and Panchayat have cropped up, which have taken upon themselves to decide fate of an individual."
Good idea. Pass a law and title it "A Measure to Outlaw Barbaric Practices." Then go enforce it in NWFP, where the response will be "Why should we do that?"
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 07/29/2002 11:27 am || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Pak madaris, mosques collect $1.1 billion annually
Madaris and mosques across Pakistan annually collect over Rs70 billion (US $1.1 billion) in donations, both in cash and kind, as against the official Zakat collections of only Rs4.5 billion (US $75 million), a study on Madaris by International Crisis Group (ICG) said.
About 15 times as much. That's a whole bunch of money to train jihadis religious scholars. Doesn't address donations made by outside parties, either, f'instance the Soddies and Gulf sheikhs...
About 94 per cent of the charitable donations made by Pakistani individuals and corporations go to religious institutions and causes, ICG said in the study "Pakistan: Madrasa, Extremism and the Military."
"94 per cent": That's Urdu for "virtually all of it."
The study also shed light on the sectarian strife in Pakistan and its links to madaris of different denominations. Though most of the donors do not support the politics of the religious parties collecting donations, they find Islamic education and preservation of Islam the most worthy causes for giving charity to. "Pakistanis display a curious lack of interest regarding the actual performance of an organization when determining to whom they should give," it noted. The half of Zakat donors did not know or care how their money was used.
That's called fatalism. We've seen that in other aspects of Pak life — like the willingness of some generals to waltz into nuclear war with India...
Zakat, according to the Qur'anic injunctions, cannot be used for mosques or educational projects like madaris. The Zia's government, it recalled, ignored Islamic injunctions against using Zakat money for mosque and education and its own Zakat ordinance of June 1980 to extend selective financial help. During the Zia's rule when Zakat was used as a tool of state patronage, 100 madaris had initially been identified for Zakat distribution, mostly of Deobandis, including Darul Uloom Haqqaniya of Akora Khattak and Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) madaris in the NWFP, the main supporters of the Afghan Jihad.
And also the main opponents of Perv's government...
In a summary attached to the study, the ICG expressed doubts on the intent and the will of military government to set Pakistani society on a sustainable course that would lead to political pluralism and religious tolerance. "On a key test - reform of madaris, Pakistani religious schools that breed extremism of many hue - the military government thus far has acted weakly," it added.
That's because they're scared to death of the fundos...
About a third of all children in Pakistan who get education attend madaris.
One third of all kiddies who get an education of any sort are being trained to be clergymen! Amazing!
Over a million and a half students at more than 10,000 seminaries are being trained, in theory, for service in the religious sector. But their lack of modern civic education and poverty make them a destabilising factor in Pakistani society.
Since they have an "education" and feel like it should be worth something, but lack any hard skills other than getting a good site picture at 300 yards...
On the proposed madaris ordinance it said that it did not envisage real intervention in the madaris system because the clergy was opposed to it. It underlined the need for carrying out curriculum reforms in Madaris within six months to introduce vocational training programmes.
They mean training children to do something besides recite the Koran and cut infidels' heads off...
It demanded banning of all madaris affiliated with banned militant organizations and prosecution of their leaders under the existing criminal laws if they were involved in incitement to violence.
Good luck with that one, too...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 07/29/2002 07:17 pm || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Your comments are very harsh but for anyone who has no idea of the ground realities he can only comment like that. Pakistan is a religious country, it was created on the basis of religion, so it is the raison d'etre of its existence. How do you expect people to give up the very reason of their existence. No religion advocates violence and so is true for Islam, infact the very name stands for peace. The recent spate of violence involving some muslims does not mean that all are like that. As far as your remarks about Pakistani kids going to seminaries and learning to aim at targets 300 yds away is again without realizing who put them on this track. It was the USA which funded their training to fight their war against the Soviets, since that day there is no looking back. Successive governments have exploited this for their mean ends. It is good tat people are discussing the issue and I am sure that after the discussion they will realize that it is not the commopn Pakistani who is to be blamed for this mess but the regimes.
Posted by: sohail mian || 08/26/2002 9:38 Comments || Top||


International
Briton sentenced to death for Saudi bombings
A Saudi court has sentenced a Briton and a Canadian to death and ordered four Britons and a Belgian jailed for their roles in fatal bombings in 2000. Briton Alexander Mitchell and Canadian William Sampson are to be executed. Britons James Lee, James Cottle, Les Walker and Peter Brandon and Belgian Raf Schyvens have all been given prison sentences, according to lawyer Michael O'Kane.
There's something that doesn't ring true about Britons car bombing each other in turf battles over bathtub gin. It's a cultural thing; they're not blowing each other up in Brighton, why in Riyadh? Maybe if they were Irishmen...
Mr O'Kane, who works for the Saudi law firm which is representing the British and Canadian defendants, could not say how long the jail sentences were, or on exactly which charges each was convicted. He says the defence team had been allowed to read the verdicts just once in the public prosecutor's office and were not given copies. Mr O'Kane says defence lawyers had appealed against the verdicts, saying the men were tortured into making confessions that were later withdrawn.
If government refuses to abide by its own laws, how it expect its citizens to abide by them?
The men were arrested after Briton Christopher Rodway, 48, who worked in a Saudi hospital, was killed in a November 17 blast in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, that also slightly injured his wife. On November 22, another car bomb injured two men and a woman, all Britons. Mr Sampson, Mr Mitchell and Mr Schyvens were shown on Saudi state television in February 2001 confessing to carrying out the bombings. No motive was given.
This bit of Soddy arrogance may be seen as a warning to the West that our citizens within the country are hostage. It could also be setting things up so they can be "magnanimous" and kick them out of the country instead of lopping heads off; if they do that, though, they can probably expect to see some pretty hair-raising torture stories hitting the press. And Bush Senior's reaction to the Iraqis and the "human shields" was basically to ignore it and go ahead with preparations for war.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 07/29/2002 12:34 pm || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Soddies making faces at Qatar
Craig Schamp points to the Kevin at the Large American uh... Doinker, who points to this Stratfor article on tension between the Soddies and Qatar.
Saudi daily al Watan called Qatar's foreign minister, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem al Thani, a "dwarf" July 29 after he met with his Israeli counterpart Shimon Peres in Paris. The insult is just the latest in a string of sour notes sounded between Riyadh and Doha.

Layers of resentment are contributing to the tensions between Qatar and Saudi Arabia. At the surface, Riyadh is genuinely angry about the negative press coverage by Doha-based Al Jazeera, a satellite TV network that broadcasts relatively uncensored material throughout the Arab world. Beneath this outrage over Qatari press freedoms is the fear that Qatari support for a U.S. military campaign against Iraq could result in Washington's advancing its war plans.

Tensions between the two Gulf neighbors could create an unstable environment for U.S. troops deployed in the region in the short- to mid-term. In a worst-case scenario, Saudi Arabia might pressure Qatar to oust the U.S. forces, or it might stir dissidents inside its tiny neighbor to try to destabilize the Doha regime or even launch assaults against American military. personnel.
Seems the Soddy hatred for the Merkins is becoming a bit more inescapable. As they get grouchier, they're becoming clumsier, more arrogant, and their true colors become more bilious. Personally, I think that's a good thing. It's probably occurred to an emir or two that they'd make perfectly good Guardians of the Holy Mosques, too.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 07/29/2002 07:02 pm || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Middle East
Palestinians Defy Nablus Curfew
Thousands of Palestinians defied the Israeli army's around-the-clock curfew Monday for the second straight day, and took to the streets of Nablus as shops and banks opened to accommodate them. The army, which has imposed the curfew in most West Bank cities and towns for the past 40 days, remained in armored vehicles ringing the city. But troops did not enter Nablus and made no moves to drive residents off the streets and back into their homes. At the edge of the city, the troops allowed trucks with supplies to enter, but blocked passenger cars. Some Palestinians said troops were firing in the air over cars to turn away those approaching the city limits.
That's the sort of gesture of defiance the IDF has to worry about. They can't arrest everybody. Most of the inhabitants aren't crazed killers — but under cover of the rest, the crazed killers will come out and start resuming operations. At that point the IDF will have to "drive residents off the streets." Either that, or they'll have to find an alternative to the curfews. I hope one pops into their minds, because mine's blank...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 07/29/2002 07:28 am || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Impounding cash registers and bank vault keys would be a good start if they were serious. Cutting off the commercial electrical grid would be another. Something tells me that these elementary steps are not being taken for a reason.
Posted by: Tom Roberts || 07/29/2002 11:00 Comments || Top||


Tanzim sez it'll stop targeting civilians...
The Palestinian militia, the Tanzim, linked to the largest group in the Palestinian Liberation Organization, has declared that it will cease targeting Israeli civilians in martyrdom attacks. In a statement the group said it was taking the initiative to "stanch" the flow of innocent blood. The statement did not make the policy contingent on a reciprocal move by Israel to stop targeting Palestinian civilians.
Head of Hamas military wing zapped — head of Tanzim next? They've got Marwan in custody, which leaves Hussein al-Sheikh...
Although the Tanzim has not directly accepted responsibility for any of the scores of martyrdom operations against Israeli targets since the start of the Al-Aqsa intifada in September 2000, it is believed to be the progenitor of the lethal Al-Aqsa Martyrs brigade.
Yasser tried to fire Tawfiq Tirawi, but he wouldn't go. Mr Chairman probably doesn't care if he gets banged.

The article, from Ummah.com, says that the statement was issued July 24th, before Shehadeh was banged. The statement reads surprisingly reasonably, much more so than the typical teevee statement by PA spokesmen:
You, the people of Israel, should understand clearly what we are proposing. We cannot stop the violence, today, immediately. There are those in our society who will attempt to undermine and deter our efforts. Some of them, unfortunately, may succeed. But we will now have the weight of public opinion on our side. So too, there are those in your society and even at the very top of your government who may attempt to provoke us. They will try to underestimate this declaration. They have done so before. These people are our enemies, they must also be yours. They are the enemies of peace. While provoked, we will do everything in our power to keep our self-restraint.

You must understand one other thing. We will not stop fighting for our land, we will not renounce our dream, or betray our birthright. We will continue to resist your military occupation of our lands and cities, your building of settlements, your house demolitions, your plan to deport our people. [Your] occupation is illegitimate and we will resist it - your soldiers are occupiers and will be treated as such. This is not a surrender, this is not a retreat. We will continue to fight every moment of every day for our rights and for our state. We are certain that we will achieve this, that we will be victorious. But we will not do so by targeting the innocent.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 07/29/2002 08:03 pm || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Southeast Asia
Indonesia's VP Calls For Islamic Law
Vice President Hamzah Haz says the constitution must be amended so that all Indonesian Muslims will be required to follow Islamic law. Haz, who was speaking on Sunday in his capacity as chairman of the Islam-based United Development Party (PPP), said his party would strive to have the amendment approved when the nation’s top legislative body, the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR), convenes next week. "For PPP, Islamic law should be echoed," he told reporters after attending the closing ceremony of a national congress held by the nation’s largest Muslim organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU).
Haz is one of Indonesia's bad guys. He's got a liking for the jihadi set, hasn't passed up an opportunity to support them that I've seen, and now he's determined to make sure that everybody else in the country is as devout as he is.
PPP and another Islamic party, the Crescent Star Party (PBB), have long been campaigning for the so-called Jakarta Charter – a rejected addition to the preamble of the 1945 Constitution – that requires all Muslims to abide by shariah Islamic law. Efforts by PPP and PBB to revive the charter at the MPR in 2000 failed and are unlikely to succeed this year, due to opposition from moderates, nationalists and the military.
In other words, most everyone but the jihadi set...
Haz said PPP would do its best to fight for the revival of the Jakarta Charter at the upcoming MPR annual session, which commences on August 1. But NU chairman Hasyim Muzadi said he opposed any efforts to force Muslims to follow Islamic law and urged NU members in the MPR to do their best to prevent the charter from being revised. Although Indonesia is predominantly Muslim, most people are moderates and often fuse Islam with traditional spiritual beliefs.
If they're under shariah, the fundos can cut their heads off if they want to fuse their traditional beliefs with, say, Lutheranism, instead. Islam is a door that only swings one way: you can get in, but you can't get out. Maybe that's why they're so fond of exploding...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 07/29/2002 11:56 am || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Mr. Vice President:
After Zia put shariah injustice into Pakistan's constitution, to pander to Jamaat-i-Islami pigs, the economy stagnated, rape became defacto legal, "holy warrior" (jihadi) parasites polluted the country's streets, the Inter-Services Intelligence agency began taking nominal "orders" directly from "allah", and 70% of the State budget went to the military. Americans are becoming increasingly aware that GW Bush's nominal counter-terror alliance with the terror State of Pakistan, is nothing but failed surrogate panderage to the US President's Arab benefactors. If Indonesia goes Islamist, your treasury can suck foreign aid out of the Kabba stone.
Posted by: RG Fulton || 07/29/2002 12:27 Comments || Top||

#2  More to the point, the Jakarta politicos seem intent on rearranging the deck chairs as the ship of state hits icebergs in Borneo and Sumatra. Like the situation in the Congo under Mobutu, things will suddenly get worse for Haz and buddies in ways they wished they had prevented, starting with the need for an effective Army under civilian control.
Posted by: Tom Roberts || 07/29/2002 15:39 Comments || Top||


AFP vows to destroy Abu remnants, rescue Indons
THE military won’t spare supporters of detained Bangsamoro leader Nur Misuari providing sanc­tuary to the Abu Sayyaf once it resumes clearing operations against the extremist group. Armed Forces chief of staff Gen. Roy Cimatu yesterday announced that government troops would set out in the jungles of Sulu to neutralize the remnants of the Abu Sayyaf and to recover the three Indonesian hostages. The presence of Misuari forces in Sulu, Cimatu said, would not dampen the military’s efforts to neutralize the Abu Sayyaf which has embarrassed government with a kidnapping spree beginning the year 2000.
MILF is one of those pet projects of the Soddies. They may have lost interest in it by now, with Jemaah Islamiyah trying to come up from the minors under the patronage of Indonesia's vice president. They still represent a considerable danger, and they have a shaky truce in effect with the government. The Philippines is never going to pacify the area without disposing of them.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 07/29/2002 01:19 pm || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Terror Networks
Binny's kid takes over the family business...
Drudge got this first...
Osama bin Laden's eldest son, Saad, has taken over the command of al-Qaeda, the Saudi pan-Arab daily Asharq Al-Awsat reported yesterday. Saad bin Laden has been in charge of the organisation "since the US offensive against al-Qaeda bases in Afghanistan," which began in October, and al-Qaeda's pullout from its main hideouts in the country, the paper quoted "informed sources" as saying in a London-datelined dispatch. This disclosure "substantiates the theory that bin Laden was killed or seriously wounded" in the US-led military campaign, the paper said. Bin Laden's second son, 20-year-old Mohammad, had previously been expected to succeed the suspected terror mastermind in case of his death or incapacitation, Asharq Al-Awsat said, adding that Saad was "unknown" outside al-Qaeda.
There was a Chinese press report back in October (picked up by NRO) that both Binny and Mullah Omar had been assassinated and that one of Binny's sons and two of Omar's also pegged out. That was three days before the Ranger landing at Kandahar. Perhaps that was when Mohammad departed the gene pool. Obviously Binny and Omar survived, one of them at least for awhile.

While this would seem to be a nice, big nail in Binny's coffin, I'd still hesitate to call for embalming fluid all around. Saudi sources seem hot to have the world believing that Binny's toes up — "why would that be?" my suspicious mind asks. It could be simply that they're as interested as we are. It could also be that he feels much more comfortable without his beard and that he's enjoying life in Khobar or Medina as Abu Abdullah.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 07/29/2002 05:17 pm || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  If Bin Ladin is alive and the kid is just drawing attention for Dad -- fine. Let him die while drawing attention. I'll bet the next son in line won't be in as much of a hurry to help out.
Posted by: Pat Phillips || 07/29/2002 18:06 Comments || Top||

#2  I wouldn't be surprised to learn OBL is hiding out in Detroit.
Posted by: Tresho || 07/29/2002 23:40 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Mon 2002-07-29
  Indonesia's VP Calls For Islamic Law
Sun 2002-07-28
  Four Beheaded in Kalimantan
Sat 2002-07-27
  Indonesia Bomb Blast Injures 53
Fri 2002-07-26
  Greeks nab another November 17th crazed killer...
Thu 2002-07-25
  Colombian plot to crash plane into buildings foiled
Wed 2002-07-24
  Hamas Threatens All Out War
Tue 2002-07-23
  Two days, two dead Soddy princes...
Mon 2002-07-22
  IDF strikes at founder of Qassam Brigades...
Sun 2002-07-21
  13 die as Afghan tour bus hits land mine
Sat 2002-07-20
  Car explodes in Jaffa, driver dead, I'm glad
Fri 2002-07-19
  Brit Muslim iced in Chechnya. Hurrah!
Thu 2002-07-18
  Greeks bust November 17th gang...
Wed 2002-07-17
  Boomers kills six in Tel Aviv explosions...
Tue 2002-07-16
  Powell sez to 'kick Yasser upstairs'
Mon 2002-07-15
  Pearl killers: Guilty, guilty, guilty, and guilty!

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