Patty Murray still hasn't resigned yet. Y'know, I'll bet that hospital those people in Yemen were running had a day car center...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/30/2002 11:40 am ||
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#1
As of now, the local Seattle newspaper still supports 'the clueless appeaser'. The total number of Democratic Senators honest and brave enough to critize her statement still comes to the grand sum of zero.
#3
Keep the pressure on Murray. Sooner or later she is going to pay so long as we don't forget her pro-Osama comments. She's still getting a pass from the media, and those that even bother covering her tend to sugarcoat what she said. Attacks like these on people doing real humanitarian work cannot be allow to go by without reminding everyone of what Murray said...
Posted by: R. McLeod ||
12/31/2002 2:16 Comments ||
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#4
I guess if she doesn't go then the Dems start to lose their "Bush is losing the war on terrorism" 2004 election strategy. I thought after the Lott affair that the Repubs had fatally stabbed themselves in the throat but thanks to da dems' to neutralize that performance.
Posted by: Jack ||
12/31/2002 6:29 Comments ||
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Statement on Senator Patty Murryâs Comments
For Immediate Release: December 21, 2002
"Like all Americans, I was disturbed by Senator Murry's comments. They were offensive, hurtful and wrong. Worst of all, they do not appear to be isolated remarks.
At a time when our country should stand as one, Senator Murry's comments serve only to divide.
We must continue to be a nation where people are judged not to fulfill a moronic political agenda, but by the content of their character.
Americans deserve leaders who will stand up for the protection and security of all citizens and help our nation to move forward."
A Saudi man in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, denied reports that he forwarded money from Saudi Princess Haifa al-Faisal, wife of the Saudi ambassador to Washington, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, to two of the Sept. 11 hijackers who crashed a plane into the Pentagon. "Lies! All lies!"
Osama Basnan told the London-based, Saudi-owned newspaper Asharq al-Awsat, that he used the money for medical care for his wife, Palestinian Majeda Dweikat, and that he had not met the terrorists. "And my mother needed an operation, too, see?"
Bandar, in an interview posted late Tuesday on The New York Times' Web site, said he regretted that the donations were unfairly putting a strain on U.S.-Saudi relations. Regardless, the link remained strong, he said. "This is a war and we are in it together," Bandar said in an interview at his northern Virginia home. "We're just on different sides."
His wife told the newspaper she was "outraged when people think I can be connected to terrorists when all I wanted to do was to give some help to someone in need." Guess the Salvation Army isn't on their list...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/30/2002 09:51 am ||
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Saudi Arabia is casting doubt on a report that it has agreed to let the US use its air bases in any war with Iraq. The New York Times (NYT) on Sunday reported that US commanders said they had private assurances from Saudi officials that they could use the kingdom's air bases and a sophisticated command centre.
On Monday however both Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal and the deputy defense minister said there was no change in Saudi Arabia's position against participation in a war on Iraq. Your position changes every time you open your mouth
"The truth is what I said, not what the newspaper reported," Prince Saud told reporters during a visit to Sudan. "Even if the (UN) Security Council issues a unanimous decision to attack Iraq, we hope a chance will be given to the Arab states to find a political solution to this issue," Prince Saud added. The only solution they'd accept is if a Saudi was installed as King of Iraq.
Deputy Defense Minister Prince Abdul-Rahman bin Abdul-Aziz said the NYT report was "incorrect." "The Jews misquoted me"
"We have no commitments on any matters towards Iraq," Prince Abdul-Rahman was quoted as saying by the daily Okaz. "Iraq? Never heard of it"
Opening Saudi air bases to the US would be a boost for any military campaign -- both logistically, and diplomatically.
The NYT report came amid confirmation that the US is significantly boosting its forces in the Gulf. It is expected to at least double its troop numbers near Iraq by early next year.
US Senator Joe Lieberman, who recently visited Saudi Arabia, said he made clear that Saudi support could be crucial for long-term bilateral ties. "I tried to make it clear to the Saudis, as directly as I could at what is a difficult time in the Saudi/US relationship, but the Saudi relationship remains very important to both countries, that if we need to go to war on Iraq and the Saudis appear not to be giving us the support for our military that we need, it will very badly affect our relationship," Mr Liberman said. I bet that went over well
"If they do give us that support it will go a long way towards repairing any breaches that may have occurred in the last year. If I can put it this way, I left feeling that the Saudis will not disappoint us," he added. Not a very ringing endorsement, is it?
Posted by: Steve ||
12/30/2002 10:31 am ||
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#1
Everyone knows the Saudis are stone liars. But what they say in public is almost never what they do in private. So all public pronouncements saying whatever are bullshit. In a fascist Islamic state the ruth does not exist.
#2
The current situation could be expressed much more tactfully as "No, the NYT doesn't have the story quite right. At this point, Saudi Arabia does not have a firm commitment to military support for a US war with Iraq. Saudi Arabia is still keeping its military options open, and we would really prefer to see the Arab states put together diplomatic solutions for Iraq." Just maybe, if the Saudis could make some effort at a "Helpful - open - straightforward" rhetorical style, and the US officials would drop all the "relationship" bullshit, we would start getting enough of the cards out on the table to start making some progress. There's an old saying that "Intrigue is a sign of incompetence." Sure, we all wind up in situations where we have to make decisions and take action on the basis of bluster, intimidation, and bullshit, but when you have a chance to make informed decisions based on facts, it's much better all around.
#3
I really, honestly, truly want to know. Are the Saudis really convinced that we buy their total bullshit? Does anyone over there have a clue how they're perceived over here?
Six Saudi Islamic charities have decided to contest a lawsuit filed by relatives of Sept. 11, 2001 attacks seeking trillions of dollars in damages, their lawyer said yesterday. Good move...
The names of the charities appeared on a list along with several dozen individuals, fund-raising charities and other organizations who were accused of funding terrorism. The charity organizations met last week in Jeddah under the chairmanship of Abdullah Al-Turki, secretary-general of the Muslim World League, and decided on the steps to be taken in this legal battle. The charity organizations wanted a local Saudi lawyer to liaise with US lawyers and oversee the process as part of a defense team, Dr. Basim Abdullah Alam, the attorney hired to represent the organizations, told Arab News. "We will strategize the media, the critical underlying tone and above all the legal aspects of the defense case." Battle of the Titans: The Worldwide Islamic Terror Machine versus the League of Ambulance Chasers! Talk about a "take-no-prisoners" duel!
Dr. Alam will be meeting with US lawyers next week in Europe and develop this strategy taking into consideration the legal interests of the defenders as paramount. "We will be presenting our case to the world," said Dr. Alam. "We are looking for fairness and justice, and if its available in US courts we will prevail. The organizations have allocated $1 million in initial costs for the case." A million bucks does buy a lot of justice, but it's not much compared to 30 percent of a trillion...
"It's a long process of studying the strong points and the weak points, systematically developing the case, presenting summary judgments, etc." explained Dr. Alam when asked about his strategy and the next steps. "I expect the case to take a couple of years." "We're hoping to draw it out long enough that all the plaintiffs and their have died off and the courts have forgotten what the original complaint was about..."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/30/2002 10:52 am ||
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Try presenting your case to the court, Dr. Alam. You've got a shot there.
Source: Reuters
A Yemeni has shot dead three American doctors and wounded a fourth U.S. national at a missionary hospital in the south of the country. Sources at the U.S. embassy in Sanaa on Monday confirmed the victims were U.S. citizens and said they were working at the Jibla Baptist hospital in Ebb province, some 105 miles south of the capital. The Yemeni official described the gunman as an Islamist militant. After he was arrested he told police that he had shot the two men and two women to "cleanse his religion and get closer to Allah". Yemeni security sources linked the so far unidentified man to a member of an Islamist opposition party who had killed a prominent opposition official earlier this week. Both men were trained in Afghanistan, the sources said. Afghanistan: the gift that keeps on giving.
FOLLOWUP:
The murdered were the administrator of the hospital William E. Koehn , 60, Obstetrician Dr. Martha C. Myers, 57, and storage department manager, Kathleen A. Gariety, 53. The doctor worked for several years in serving humanitarian needs in the country a source of the US embassy disclosed to Yemen Times. They have been serving Yemen for twenty years, and were about to leave after a transition of administration a source close to the Baptist Maaden Hospital in Jibla said. The incident looked as if it was pre-planned as the attacker knew who to target and knew they were Americans. Sources at the hospital said that he may have also knew that there would be a meeting at that particular time to discuss the transition of the administration of the humanitarian services in the hospital to a Yemeni NGO or a British association. "I doubt that the Brits will consider running the hospital after what happened," a source close to the hospital said. So the Baptists have been running a missionary hospital for 20 years, helping the locals out of the goodness of their hearts and for the Glory of God. And this ingrate decides to pop a few infidels. And make sure one of 'em's an obstetrician, because there are entirely too many Yemeni women who're surviving childbirth now. As I've pointed out on a number of occasions, there doesn't appear to be a word for "gratitude" in Arabic.
MORE FOLLOWUP:
The suspected attacker, a Yemeni, was arrested, and a Yemeni official said security forces were searching for a militant cell that may be targeting foreigners and secular figures in the country. The gunman entered the complex of Jibla Baptist Hospital in the town of Jibla hiding a semiautomatic rifle under his jacket to make it resemble a child, officials and the missionary organization said. He slipped past a security check where visitors are supposed to leave their weapons. It being Yemen, his gun was his baby...
The killings are ``a crime unacceptable in any religion. This contradicts Islam,'' said a Jibla woman who gave only her first name, Fatima, and said she used the hospital. ``They cared for us and looked after us. I can't even count the number of children they treated and saved.'' So now she'll have to watch her back...
Jack Graham, president of the Southern Baptist Convention, called the three victims ``martyrs'' who were ``killed in the line of duty.'' Speaking from Plano, Texas, Graham said that aside from providing humanitarian aid, the missionaries were ``there because they're Christians and they have no doubt been sharing their faith.'' That's the Christian definition of a martyr: someone who's killed for his faith. The Islamist definition is a bit different, covering people who get bumped off in the course of perpetrating unspeakable crimes...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/30/2002 12:41 pm ||
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Sure would be nice if they could pick up these whacko gunnies before they start capping the only doctors for 50 miles, huh? How about this: you guys take a look at the travel records, see who's been to Afghanistan in the last 4-5 years, then check the tax records for folks whose only means of support seems to be large rolls of Saudi Rials...
#2
I wonder when these bleeding-heart missionaries will realize that their charity isn't wanted or appreciated? When a nation decides they want things like food, medical care or freedom they can damn well do it themselves. Any other approach is just condescending, and stupid.
Ugh, I just re-read this and it sound really harsh. But seriously, am I wrong?
#3
This should embarrass the defenders of Senator Patty "the clueless appeaser' Murry. Yes, Senator, we've built roads, we've built schools, we've built hospitols; but the psychotic murderers hate us even more. I guess thats why we call them psychotic murderers.
#4
Scooter McGruder voices an understandable concern that implies these missionaries are wasted in Yemen. I think he is wrong to think they were motivated primarily by being 'wanted or appreciated' for their work among the poor. I have personal knowlege of the good work this hospital has done for many years serving the people of Yemen. Let me assure you that these medical missionaries were in no doubt about the possible dangers they faced. Yet, they did what they believed God called them to do. To them, this is just the kind of thing Jesus told them to expect. These are just a few of the more than 100,000 people worldwide who die because they happen to identify themselves as followers of Jesus Christ.
Missionary work, with this sort of thing as an occupational hazard, has been going on for hundreds of years. The missionaries in a pot, surrounded by banana-leaf clad natives used to be a cartoon cliche.
All the missionaries I've ever met have been wonderful people, including Baptists, Mormons, Evangelicals and Free Methodists. It takes an inate goodness of heart to be a missionary, and this incident more acutely highlights the difference between them and the Evil they were trying to influence while helping the innocent.
The Kumbaya set seldom becomes missionaries. Their focus isn't on the innocents and the downtrodden, but on themselves. They're more likely to be found "organizing" the natives, or attending conferences where the can draft manifestos telling other people what they should be doing.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/30/2002 11:49 Comments ||
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i dont' think the Rosa Luxemburg foundation sponsors hospitals in poor countries
#7
Scooter: I second the remarks by Kerry and Fred, especially Fred. These people are not your typical "talk the talk, but don't walk the walk" bleeding heart liberals. They put shoeleather on their convictions, and are supported by people like me, who put their own dollars, in the form of donations, where their convictions are.
#10
I understand that the mission and hospital have been there for over 30 years, not 20. The Administrator was there for 28 years. Considering all the things Yemen have been through (even before 9/11)this is a remarkable achievement and mission. To last 30+ years in a place like Yemen tells me that these souls were doing a pretty darn good job of helping people and saving lives. I doubt they were doing to much proselytizing but that is always part of the deal. Anyway, may God have peace on their souls.
Posted by: Jack ||
12/31/2002 6:35 Comments ||
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Interior minister Abdolvahed Mousavi Lari will appear before the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission this week to answer questions about attacks on recent rallies. The Persian-language daily `Aftab-E Yazd' quoted a commission member Hamid-Reza Haji-Babaei as saying that some 15 deputies will question Lari why the police had refused to stop those who had attacked three rallies, held in the southwestern province of Khuzestan in November. Haji-Babaei said he, himself, would question Lari about the failure of the Interior Ministry to authorize a meeting by teachers on December 13, and why the police had attacked the gathering. "Why'd they attack them? 'Cuz we don't like them, that's why!"
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/30/2002 11:10 am ||
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Iran's judiciary will no longer order executions by stoning and has told judges to issue alternative punishments for adultery. "The head of the judiciary has sent a ruling to judges telling them not to order stonings," member of parliament Jamileh Kadivar said, adding that the decision would be upheld pending a permanent change in the law. Damn! Made it all the way up to the 15th or 16th century, in a single jump!
The judiciary has yet to officially announce the ruling from its ultra-conservative head, Ayatollah Mahmud Hashemi-Shahrudi, but EU diplomats said they were informed of the decision when their rights talks began earlier this month. Execution by stoning is usually imposed for adultery, but such verdicts are seldom issued in practice. There were two confirmed cases in 2001, and one unconfirmed case in 2002 in which a condemned woman reportedly survived by struggling out of the pit in which she had been buried before she could be killed. Women sentenced to death are buried up to their shoulders, and men up to the waist, then onlookers are invited to pelt them with stones until death. Kadivar said alternative punishments should be either jailing or fines, although it is unclear whether judges will still be at liberty to order other forms of execution, such as hanging. Alright, ladies! There's your cue. Now, get out there and hump! But be careful...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/30/2002 11:16 am ||
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Just watch, the alternative sentences will turn out to be hanging or honor-killings by relatives. I guess those are steps in the right direction.
#2
Key: "The judiciary has yet to officially announce the ruling from its ultra-conservative head, Ayatollah Mahmud Hashemi-Shahrudi"
Which is the problem. The judiciary and nouch of the government is "moderate" Islamic, but the ultras sit at the top. If I were to bet, I'd go for the judiciary to be overruled and Sharia kept, at least in name.
Posted by: John Anderson ||
12/31/2002 9:46 Comments ||
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US and British planes on Sunday attacked two Iraqi military radar bases, the US military said. The US Central Command said in a statement the latest attack in the no-fly zone in southern Iraq came "in response to Iraqi acts against coalition aircraft" policing the zone. It said the sites were near Ad Diwaniyah, about 120km south of Baghdad and the attacks were carried out about 12:40 GMT. "The coalition executed today's strike after Iraqi forces moved the system into the southern no-fly zone. Its presence was a threat to coalition aircraft," said the command statement. "Target battle damage assessment is ongoing," it added. Counting the pieces
The last US-British attack in the no-fly zone was on Friday when US and British jets struck an Iraqi military air defence command and control system, "which supported highly mobile surface-to-air missile systems" near Al Kut, 150km south-east of Baghdad. Attacks in the no-fly zones of southern and northern Iraq have increased as the United States has stepped up pressure on Iraq over its weapons programmes and built up a military force around Iraq. Yup, the air war has been going on for some time now. There can't be a lot of air defenses left in the northern and southern no-fly zones.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/30/2002 11:33 am ||
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I'd turn that comment around. Why are there any air defenses in the no-fly zones? Either we're not trying very hard or the Iraqis have lots and lots. I think we're doing a tremendous amount of intelligence gathering and just a little bombing.
A top adviser to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein said on Monday the United States wanted to tempt scientists to leave Iraq and lure them into giving false information in return for financial gain. Iraq on Saturday handed over a list of the names of more than 500 scientists associated with its nuclear, biological, chemical and ballistic weapons programmes. U.N. arms inspectors began interviewing scientists over Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction programme last week but the United States insists they should be able to take the scientists outside Iraq for interview to make them feel safer.
"This is an American plan with a clear aim. If it succeeds in tempting some of those (scientists) through promises or maybe also through threats it might get information, also false information," Amir al- Saadi, Saddam's top scientific adviser, told a visiting Spanish delegation. "This has happened to a number of those who have left to get financial gains and residency permits, they said things America wanted to hear.
"If such a thing happens, it would be beneficial (to the U.S.) to add another 'material breach' and if not, then it is a step towards emptying Iraq from scientists," he said. He got it right! That was, in fact, one of the key factors that we managed to slip into the resolution.
The United States has already declared Baghdad in material breach of a U.N. Security Council resolution which gave Iraq one last chance to disarm or face possible war. Washington said an Iraqi declaration over its weapons of mass destruction fell well short of revealing arms programmes. Iraq denies it currently has any such programmes. Declaring Iraq in "material breach" could set the stage for a military attack by the United States and any allies. Saadi said there were legal problems related to human rights over forcing an Iraqi citizen to leave the country. Human rights being a bad thing, don't you know
"They know they can't force any citizen to leave his country if he does not wish to do so," Saadi said. "But we can keep any citizen from leaving if he does"
One section of the U.N. resolution passed by the Security Council requires Iraq to give unimpeded access to individuals sought for interviews and allows weapons inspectors to talk to them without Iraqi government officials present. U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said earlier this month the administration was offering to set up what amounts to a witness protection programme for defecting Iraqi scientists and their families. The U.N. inspectors are trying to pretend they don't know about this.
Saadi cited one example given by the United States on gaps in its arms declaration -- the fate of 400 aerial bombs capable of delivering biological weapons. He said the declaration did not document the fate of the bombs but said simple arithmetics would put the issue to rest. "Iraq now is charged with keeping the hulks of 400 bombs capable of carrying biological weapon. To us, the solution is clear: To become a weapon these need coupling with a warhead, a tail to provide stability and a parachute to act as a break...
"These components have been documented from import to their present numbers," he said. "Therefore checking the balance of the material account between what was specified for production and the remaining (components) would settle the matter. It is a simple mathematical issue." "If we hadn't hired Arther Andersen to do our accounting, we would be able to clear this right up"
Saadi blamed previous inspection teams of deliberately failing to close the issue. He said after Iraq halted its biological weapons programme after the 1991 Gulf War the hulks of the bombs were turned to scrap, melted and then reused for other purposes. Like new bombs
Posted by: Steve ||
12/30/2002 11:58 am ||
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He said after Iraq halted its biological weapons programme after the 1991 Gulf War the hulks of the bombs were turned to scrap, melted and then reused for other purposes.
The more important question is, where are the biological agents that would have gone into the warheads? Anyone know where they went?
Source: The Guardian
Russian security services yesterday began an urgent investigation into their forces in Chechnya, after it was revealed that the truck driven by three suicide bombers into the government building in the capital, Grozny, killing at least 57 people, bore Russian military plates. The old Stolen Plates trick. Or maybe the old Stolen Truck trick...
As rescuers were still combing the wreckage for survivors, Chechen government sources said both vehicles that ploughed through the gates of the most tightly guarded building in the country had passed through three military checkpoints on their way to Grozny. With some well-forged documents...
The vehicles, the heavier of which bore Russian military plates and caused the greatest number of casualties by speeding a ton of TNT into the canteen during the lunch hour, had been driven from the Nadterechny district in northern Chechnya and passed unimpeded to Grozny. A source within the Moscow-backed government of the republic said the bombers had shown documents with signatures and seals issued by the Chechen government at at least two checkpoints. 'In Grozny, an attempt was made to stop the trucks for inspection. However, the drivers ignored the order, proceeded to the government buildings at a high speed and burst through the gate,' the source said. Somebody's counting himself lucky he wasn't the one who managed to stop a 5-ton truck full of dynamite...
That the bombers were able to so easily dupe stringent security measures has led to accusations by members of the Chechen administration of complicity by Russian troops. On Friday, a senior aide to the Chechen administration, Abu Bakar Bayitirov, said: 'All the guards are Russians and I am sure that this could not happen without betrayal.' The head of the administration, Akhmad Kadyrov, has said the guards' actions must be investigated and that the 'terrorists act as if they were masters of Grozny'. It could also have to do with using draftees, and with the Russian military's reverence for official signatures and seals. The U.S. military isn't free of this, either, by the way. Betrayal could be an issue, but it probably isn't. It sounds more like normal incompetence. This sound more like shooting the wounded than trying to catch the bad guys.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/30/2002 09:51 am ||
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Georgia intends to agree with Russian on the protection of the Russian-Georgian border so that the problem of the Pankisi Gorge does not surface any more. Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze asserted that "the Pankisi problem no longer exists". Sounds like famous last words...
Commenting on the statements by Georgia's ex-defence minister Tengiz Kitovani to the effect that about 60 rebels were going to spend the winter in the Pankisi Gorge, Shevardnadze said that "he has never believed and will never believe Kitovani's pronouncements". "If I put my hands over my ears, I can't even hear them."
According to the Georgian President, the statements by the former Georgian defence minister are the result of Kitovani's "own fantasies". "I know exactly how many rebels are in the Pankisi Gorge - there are several of them there and they will soon be caught or destroyed," Shevardnadze said. Best get crackin', then...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/30/2002 10:57 am ||
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Renowned German writer Guenter Grass, attacked U.S. president George W. Bush, saying he is a threat to world peace, adding that his actions are based on a disturbed familial atmosphere. In an interview Sunday, December 29, with the German Welt am Sonntag, Grass, who won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1999, said that in the current political situation, the dangerous mix of financial, political and family-related interests have made Bush a truly dangerous politician. Grass, who is a personal friend of German chancellor Schroeder, also said that Bush's personality strikes a resemblance between the new liberalism which the United States presents and the terror which it's fighting against. "Yasss... There's no difference between the Merkins and the terrorists. It's all the same. Who's to say one's better than the other? In my mind, they're both bad, but the Merkins are worse..."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/30/2002 10:35 am ||
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#1
What is it with the nobel prize? (gunter grass: literature 1999)During the 1990's Gunter Grass opposed the reunification of germany and considered it equal to the nazi annexation of austria.
Do you have to have brain damage to get a nobel prize, or do you get brain damage when you get a nobel prize?
Posted by: Frank Martin ||
12/30/2002 12:12 Comments ||
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#2
I think the brain damage is a prerequisite for getting on the committee.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/30/2002 12:29 Comments ||
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Not sure about the brain damage, but to win the Nobel in Literature you have to write a book that almost no one execept those in the "intellectual community" would have any interest in reading.
#4
Grass is one of the first German authors to come to grips with the Nazi past. Good...
Grass is also one of the run of the mill German intelligenti who could tell the difference between a Nazi and a Communist street thug in the context of the political violence of the 1920's -30's. Bad...
But on the scale of the Nobel committee, the Good outweighs the Bad. However, it's rare when contemporary literary criticism is confirmed by posthumous acclaim.
Posted by: Tom Roberts ||
12/30/2002 20:51 Comments ||
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#5
oops... "could tell" -> "could not tell"
Posted by: Tom Roberts ||
12/30/2002 20:52 Comments ||
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#6
Look, its simple. They are all Europeans. They love to invade or be invaded. They love to colonize and critize others who do the same thing. They are weak in spirit. Overly taxed, nannied, and patronized. And I am not referring to the winners but the committees.
Posted by: Jack ||
12/31/2002 6:45 Comments ||
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The Israeli Interior Ministry confirmed Friday the expulsion of eight Belgian citizens who were planning to attend a conference in the reoccupied West Bank town of Ramallah. Four other foreigners, among them three Brazilians, were in custody Friday at Ben-Gurion airport awaiting deportation. The Belgians were among a 12-member group planning to take part in a four-day World Social Forum in Ramallah, Palestinian sources said. They were detained by Israeli immigration officials when they arrived in Israel on Thursday. Among those expelled was Pierre Galand, chairman of a Belgian-Palestinian association. Forum organizers said another 10 people who arrived at Ben Gurion Friday had not been allowed out of the airport and could also be turned away. The Palestinian social forum, based on the model of the World Social Forum held in Porto Alegre, Brazil last February, nonetheless opened as scheduled on Friday. World Social Forum is a gathering of leftists, anti-globalists, and other usual suspects. Sponsors include the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation. They're against "neoliberalism." I think they're also against paleoliberalism, too.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/30/2002 10:43 am ||
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#1
"neoliberalism"? *scratches head* Literal interpretation suggests a reference to that "good old time Liberalism". I.e. what Washington, Jefferson, Adams, Franklin, and the bunch who signed the Declaration and created the Constitution USED to be.
#2
Another embarrassment for my wife who is Belgian but thankfully, Flemish. Sounds like the Belgians were mostly Walloons which of course translates into - you guessed it - Frogs.
Posted by: Jack ||
12/31/2002 6:42 Comments ||
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Source: Daily Ausaf Qazi Hussain Ahmed, Leader of Jamat e islami Pakistan, in his Friday's sermon in Mansoora, said that the current international situation is a source of concern for the whole Islamic body of the world. âIraq is under attack, blood of Muslims is being shed in Palastine, Kashmir, Chechniya , India and Afghanistan. Everywhere Muslims are on the target of the infidels and are the oppressed ones. But these Muslims are being termed as the terrorists. All Muslim leaders should think in unification to solve this problem and should plan a line of action.â Qazi's schtick is a unified ummah, united in opposition to the kafir, preferably with him as khalifa. He forgot to include Indonesia in his list of terror centers. That's probably an oversight on his part, since I doubt that even with the good police work of the Indon cops that that particular cog has fallen off the terror machine.
Ahmed went on to encourage âthe masses to participate in a protest, organized by MMA, against the cruel conduct of the US leaders on the January 3rd.â "Be a good Muslim! Get out there and riot!"
He said that America has frightened the whole world. âAmerica has destructive weapons in such a large proportion that they can ruin the whole world many times. But the US does not even allow the Muslim nations to keep necessary weapons for their safety. It is devising different tactics to launch an attack on Iraq. America has also declared Iran and North Korean as the axis of evil. North Korea's not Muslim. Iraq is a secular state. Why would Qazi give a poop?
In these circumstances, the visit of the President of Iran to Pakistan is substantial. He has talked about the brutalities in Kashmir and on the Muslim world in general. The Muslims all over the world should unite together and OIC needs to be activated. The lovers of life after death and Shahadah are present in the thousands . They need a sincere and God fearing leadership.â "We need to get a good, solid suicide campaign going against those infidels! Get out there and kill yourselves!"
He said that the country is being made a slave by the scientific approach of East India company. They're still around? They're behind this? I thought it was Bilderberg...
âOur respectable citizens are taken out of homes in the darkness of nights and are sent to prison after masking their faces and clamping their hands. Many have been sent to Cuba, where no law prevails , neither is there a court of justice. They are pirates. General Musharraf very proudly says that America has done us a great favor including us in her friends. We are in the fore fronts against international terrorismâ. He's talking about respectable citizens like Ramzi bin al-Shibh — Yemen and Pakland seem to have reciprocal citizenship agreements — and Asif Ramzi, who would have been taken from his home in the darkness of night if he hadn't blown himself up. And let us not forget Omar Saeed Sheikh, than whom Pakland has no more upstanding citizen.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/30/2002 09:51 am ||
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#1
Target designation: aim at the one shooting his mouth off.
#2
I seem to recall that Qazi was incarcerated in Nov. 2001 for breach of pre-trial release conditions, after he incited violence against American airmen, while charges were pending after his threats against the Prime Minister of India. Qazi is a who is only out of jail because of Islam's perverse rules-of-evidence.
KARACHI, Pakistan â Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf said today he'd been prepared to use atomic weapons if Indian forces crossed into its territory earlier this year when tensions peaked.
The dramatic admission shows how close the neighbors came to nuclear war.
"I personally conveyed messages to (Indian) Prime Minister Vajpayee through every international leader who came to Pakistan, that if Indian troops moved a single step across the international border or Line of Control, they should not expect a conventional war from Pakistan," he told Pakistani Air Force veterans, referring to the nation's non-conventional nuclear force.
Tensions between India and Pakistan peaked earlier this year when both sides sent troops to their shared border after a deadly attack on the Indian Parliament last December. New Delhi blamed Islamabad, accusing Pakistan's spy agency of masterminding the assault that killed 14 people.
Pakistan denied the charge.
International diplomacy brought the nuclear neighbors back from the brink of war. And in recent months, it appears that tensions have eased, with both sides saying they have withdrawn troops from the border and stepped back from their previous war footing.
The United States was particularly anxious to avoid an Indian-Pakistani war at a time when it depended heavily on Pakistani support in its global fight against terrorism and as it waged its on war in Afghanistan, Pakistan's neighbor to the west.
Washington dispatched its top diplomats to India and Pakistan to defuse the conflict.
Both India and Pakistan say they possess a minimum nuclear deterrent, although it is not known how many nuclear devices or type of weapons each country possesses.
"We have defeated our enemy without going into war," Musharraf told the gathering of veterans and serving members of Pakistan's Air Force, a reference to India.
Both Pakistan and India also possess ballistic missiles that are capable of carrying both conventional and nuclear warheads and are capable of hitting deep within each other's territory.
The South Asian neighbors exploded tit-for-tat underground nuclear tests in 1998.
The world condemned the tests and put sanctions on both countries. But the economic penalties were lifted after Pakistan became a key ally of the anti-terrorist coalition following the Sept. 11 attacks.
Pakistan and India share a 1,800-mile border, a section of which is the Line of Control that divides Kashmir. Both claim the region in its entirety and have fought two wars over their dispute.
A third war was fought over Bangladesh, or what was then East Pakistan.
The simmering Kashmir dispute dates back to the partition of the subcontinent when Pakistan was created in 1947 as a homeland for Muslims of the region. Pakistan wants Kashmiris on both sides of the disputed border to vote whether a united Kashmir should belong to India or Pakistan.
India rejects the vote proposal and accuses Pakistan of backing militants who have been waging a bloody secessionist uprising in Indian Kashmir since 1989 that has killed more than 61,000 people. Militants want either outright independence or union with Islamic Pakistan. Indian Kashmir is India's only Muslim majority state in the predominantly Hindu country.
Pakistan: tiny Country, lots of people, no water, no food, no industry(code name: Hatfields). India, Big country, lots of people, some food, some water, industry all over the place(code name: McCoys). Everyone ready to roll their 6 sided dice ?
Posted by: Frank Martin ||
12/30/2002 02:36 pm ||
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Three Palestinians were killed Monday by Israeli fire in separate incidents in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Israeli troops killed early Monday a Palestinian who infiltrated from Gaza Strip, Army Radio reported. The Palestinian was spotted near the communal farm of Nahal Oz. The Palestinian opened fire at a tank. The soldiers returned fire, killing him, according to the radio. Unless you have a really big gun, shooting at a tank is fairly high on the dumb things to do scale
Also on Monday Israeli troops shot and killed a Palestinian near the West Bank settlement of Kadim in the Jenin area.
In Nablus, Israeli soldiers killed a Palestinian who was hurling petrol bombs at them, witnesses said. A Palestinian witness told AP that Jamal Zabara was lighting a petrol bomb when soldiers shot him in the head. Zabara was taken to the hospital where he died. Being shot in the head tends to do that
Earlier, the Israeli army demolished the homes of two Islamic Jihad members who carried out a weekend attack on a Jewish settlement in which they killed four Israeli seminary students before being shot dead themselves. Israel said it razed the homes of Ahmed Ayed Faqih, 20, and Mohammed Mustafa Shahin, 20, both in the Hebron-area village of Dura. Additionally, Israeli troops arrested eight Palestinians Sunday night, according to media reports. The men were turned into the Shin Bet, Israel's general security service, for questioning. Just another day in paleoland
Posted by: Steve ||
12/30/2002 10:09 am ||
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A powerful blast took place Sunday in eastern Lebanon where Hizbullah fighters maintain posts, according to radio and security reports. The explosion was reported around Janta, near the city of Baalbeck. According to Lebanese security sources, the blast took place at a Hizbullah training camp. However, a Hizbullah spokesman told United Press International that "we have no information about the explosion." So many explosions around here that they can't keep track.
FOLLOWUP: From Debka...
The powerful blast that reverberated across eastern and central Lebanon Sunday, December 29, was caused by the explosion of a big surface missile in Hizballah hands and of Iraqi origin. Reporting this, DEBKAfileâs exclusive military and Lebanese sources reveal that the Lebanese Shiite terrorist group has recently taken delivery of a shipment of surface missiles, presumed to be medium-range, from the Iraqi army. The blast occurred at a Hizballah training camp near a village called Janta in the northeastern section of the Beqaa Valley close to the Syrian frontier. This camp is also used by the group as a testing ground for new weapons, short range missiles and explosive devices. The blast was heard at a distance of 20 km indicating a warhead of one ton at least. I'm not sure what they mean by "medium range." The FROG is considered a short-range missile. The SCUD has a range of 180 km, with the various reworks by the Iraqis having more. The BM27 heavy MRL (Uragan) has a range of 40 km, but these are referred to as missiles, indicating it probably isn't a heavy MRL, which wouldn't be carrying a one-ton warhead. It's been a long time, but I don't think the FROG would carry a warhead of that size, either...
According to our sources, the missile exploded suddenly, catching the Hizballah team handling it unawares and causing a large number of casualties, as indicated by the long line of ambulances and rescue teams reported by witnesses to be racing to the blast scene from northern and central Lebanon. Among them were Syrian military rescue vehicles. The Hizballah quickly sealed off the ravaged area, allowing no one through but the rescue teams, their own operatives and Syrian officers. So now we're out of the usual "work accident" category and into the realm of spectacular, perhaps legendary, ineptitude. Perhaps its even the Hand of God, descending to flick the back of Nasrallah's turban...
Posted by: Steve ||
12/30/2002 08:19 pm ||
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Oops...
Sorry about that, guys. But I told ya not to let Achmed "10 thumbs" Barzai do the detonators...
#4
Well, now. Someone is trying to play with the big boy toys. So much for that crack Hezbo missile training mentioned previously. It will be interesting to get the details on this in the next few days.
The Palestinian Authority is said to have acquired aid from Hizbullah in the design and production of missiles. A Palestinian Authority official from the Gaza Strip has been charged by Israel with receiving training in a Hizbullah camp in Lebanon in an effort to develop and produce new missiles against Israeli civilian and military targets. The suspect was identified as Ahmed Aviti, a member of the ruling Fatah movement who arrived from Lebanon in 1994. Five years later, he received permission to bring his wife and children from Lebanon to the Gaza Strip. Over the last eight years, Aviti was said to have worked as an aeronautical engineer at the PA airport at Dahaniya. He was said to have participated in the improvement of the Al Bana anti-tank missile as well as the construction of tunnels that linked the Gaza Strip with Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. Busy little beaver, wasn't he?
An Israeli government statement said the Palestinian was contacted by Hizbullah during his pilgrimage to the Saudi city of Mecca earlier this year. He was given instructions to travel to Lebanon in October, where he underwent training in missile development and expertise.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/30/2002 11:22 am ||
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Undercover Israeli security forces shot dead two Hamas activists in the West Bank city of Jenin on Monday afternoon, one a senior member of the organization. Two explosives belts were found in the men's car, leading officials to believe that they were on their way to hand them over to suicide bombers. Senior members being above doing it themselves
The two, Shaman Subouh, 29, and Mustafa Kash, 26, had been travelling between the villages of Wadi Burkin and El-Yamou when the attack took place. Both men were from Burkin, where, two months ago, the IDF blew up Subouh's home. Subouh was the local head of the organization and had recently been attempting to bring the remnants of Jenin's Hamas network in under his leadership. He had become an accomplished bomb-maker who was on Israel's wanted list. Promotion seems to bring about unwanted attention
Palestinian security officials said the bodies of the two men were riddled by bullets shot and accused Israel of killing them in a targeted attack. Their bodies were taken to a Jenin hospital. Little late for a hospital, isn't it?
Posted by: Steve ||
12/30/2002 11:50 am ||
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Is it me or does it look like the Israelis have been on a bit of a roll lately taking these a**holes out? Wonder who's feeding them the info?
#2
tu3031 makes a very good observation and asks a thought-provoking question. Here's a crazy idea: could it be Arafat's Fatah feeding the IDF info? It weakens their rivals without breaking the illusion Arab unity and Paleo victimhood. I don't seem to recall any Fatah thugs getting zapped by the IDF recently... mostly just Hamas and Islamic Jihad...
The Straits Times
Police in the Malaysian state of Selangor, ruled by prime minister Mahathir Mohamad's United Malay National Organisation (UMNO) have said that the owners of premises found being used for sex shows or as prostitution dens will be considered guilty of breaking the law together with the operators of these outlets. 'The owners cannot plead ignorance. It is their responsibility to check who their tenants are and what kind of activities are going on there,' said a police spokesman on Saturday. Actually, there are lots of similar ordinances in the USA, some passed by bluenoses and some passed when the local "adult entertainment" areas have gotten out of control...
He said that the police, together with enforcement officers from other relevant authorities, were stepping up operations to rid the state of illegal sexual activities. Such activities, including the influx of foreign prostitutes, have led wives to openly complain about their husbands' wayward ways. "Hookers! We're being overrun by hookers!"
Meanwhile, the Selangor state government intends to regulate the excessive advertising of alcoholic beverages, especially at family-oriented eating outlets, said a state executive councillor. 'Selangor Chief Minister Mohamed Khir Toyo has no intention of disallowing the sale of alcoholic beverages as he recognises that the state is made up of different races with different orientations towards alcohol consumption,' said state councilor Ch'ng Toh Eng. 'He knows, for instance, the Chinese community takes to drinking at social functions and at festive occasions. He accepts it and does not wish to take away the community's right,' said Ch'ng, who is also secretary of the Selangor Malaysian Chinese Association. Not yet, anyway...
He said Khir was concerned over beer advertisements with scantily-dressed women found at eating places frequented by families. On Monday, Khir warned beer companies to reduce and sanitise their advertisements in family-oriented food outlets. "Oh, no! Not scantily-dressed wimmin! Horrors!"
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/30/2002 09:59 am ||
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When I visited Penang I was surprised, since Malaysia is a Muslim dictatorship - where they hang people regularly for smuggling, that drugs and prostitution are indeed available if you look around in the right places. As a fan of drugs and prostitues, I thought it was pretty cool - and hope this is just a temporary crackdown.
Jakarta Post Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), Indonesia's largest Muslim organization, urged Muslims, in particular radicals, to cease campaigns for Islamic sharia law, as well as violence in promoting religion. "Struggling for sharia to be enforced in Indonesia is not realistic. What we need is to develop universal values for the people's prosperity," NU chairman Hasyim Muzadi told The Jakarta Post on Sunday. Well, dip me in batter and fry me for an oyster! My breath's just been taken away!
"Universal values are also Islamic. This has already been adopted in the 1945 Constitution," he added. And denied at the tops of their lungs by Islamists...
In a year-end news conference on Saturday in Jakarta, Hasyim said a moral movement involving national leaders of different faiths and non-partisan scholars should promote religious values that are coherent with national interests. "This is because confusing religion with the state will only destabilize the country and its people. That's why religious politicization in a narrow-minded sense will only undermine noble values and religious universalities," he was quoted by the Antara news agency as saying. Sounds like secularism to me. This guy's putting himself in line for a bullet or a carload to TNT...
Hasyim further said Muslims should shed Islamic symbols and formalities in an effort to make a success of their struggle for the nation's prosperity. "The Islamic struggle should be packed with national idioms. If Islamic formalities like sharia are put forward in this common struggle, it will collide with other beliefs, and then it's a failure," he added. Apparently Hasyim has seen the light. Last June, when Singapore was urging the Indons to get off the stick, Nadhlatul Ulama complained that 'Lee is either paranoid or wants to please the United States in its international campaign against terrorism.' It's also engaged in periodic and predictable anti-American rants. Perhaps the Bali bombings were actually the wake-up call they needed...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/30/2002 10:14 am ||
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"...That's why religious politicization in a narrow-minded sense will only undermine noble values and religious universalities,"
Truer words have never been said: Give a religion, any religion, state power, and they'll twist and pervert their core doctrines in an effort to add religion as an enforcement mechanism.
#2
P.s. I'm no agnostic or atheist: I'm a Christian trying to get back to the core and heart of my religion, and having to fight to clear away the barnacles, seaweed, and other BS that have accreted or been attached thereto by one religious leader or another in an effort to "improve" on the original or "adapt it" to modern times.
Jakarta Post A man who surrendered to police claiming he was involuntarily involved in the Bali bombing has been declared mentally stable by a psychiatrist. "The head of the Bali police psychiatric unit has said that following observations and interviews, the said person is mentally stable and normal," said Bali police spokesman Yatim Suyatmo on Monday. Loosely defined, anyway...
The man identified as Suharyanto, alias Muklas Ardi, surrendered at Klaten in Central Java on Wednesday. He claimed he had carried explosives to Bali for the bombing on October 12 which killed at least 190 people. Suyatmo said the psychiatric assessment had been ordered because it was rare for people to surrender voluntarily. Suharyanto's statements also "did notfully accord with what other suspects have been saying." Sounds like he's a "confesser." Occasionally they pop up in big crimes — some sort of need for notoriety.
"Suharyanto is fully conscious and mentally stable when making his explanations and statements," he quoted the police chief psychiatrist as saying. Suharyanto was not in detention but he was staying at the Bali Police headquarters as the police needed to clarfiy his earlier statement. Suharyanto, who is not on the police wanted list of 11 suspects, is currently considered a witness. It doesn't sound like they're taking him very seriously. Maybe it's the rolling eyes and the drool...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/30/2002 10:23 am ||
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Actually, the report called him "sane, but extremely nervous."
The Jakarta Post, Jayapura/Jakarta
The Papua police conducted on Sunday an on-site investigation into Saturday's shooting which targeted three women, including the wife of a human rights activist who accused the military of involvement in the Aug. 31 ambush at an American-owned company, PT Freeport Indonesia. Motive, means, opportunity...
The field inquiry team, led by Jayapura Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Totok Kasmiarto at the Wutung area bordering with Papua New Guinea (PNG), extracted several pieces of evidence from the scene: 20 projectiles and nine arrows. "Arrows?"
"Yeah. If we leave some arrows at the site, then it looks like they were attacked by head hunters, not us."
"Brilliant, Mahmoud! Brilliant!"
In addition, the police investigation team also received other evidence, including 26 projectiles, a backpack and a man's pouch, collected by soldiers of the Bukit Barisan Military Command's 132nd Bima Sakti Task Force, who are stationed at the Papua-PNG border. "We still have to conduct further forensic tests to determine what weapons used in the attack," Totok said, adding that the police needed to test the collected projectiles as there was a similar attack on Dec. 16 on a vehicle carrying F.X. Soeryanto, head of the Papua's border agency. "But Mahmoud, what about the bullet holes?"
"Use small caliber rounds. They'll never notice, boss!"
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/30/2002 10:29 am ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
