A key road in the volatile eastern region of Afghanistan that was blocked for five days by gunmen loyal to a warlord has reopened following successful negotiations. "The road is open since Monday morning and people can move freely," Hakim Taniwal, the governor of eastern Khowst Province told IRIN. âWe are happy that the issue was resolved through negotiations rather than force.â Why? You bored? It'll be back again... Zakamdad Sarmalim, a senior official in Khowst, told IRIN that the road had been closed last week by the Dari Khel subclan of the Zadran, who were allied to the renegade warlord, Badshah Khan Zadran. âThey used to snatch vehicles and harass our people. But when we arrested them, they closed the road,â he said. Maybe you should have arrested those guys, too...
An ethnic Pashtun commander, Zadran, was appointed governor of Paktia Province after the fall of the Taliban in late 2001. However, the tribes in the region refused to recognise his authority. He then moved to neighbouring Khowst Province and set up an administration parallel to that of Taniwal, the provinceâs anthropologist-turned-politician administrator appointed by President Hamid Karzai. In August, Badshah was forced to leave Khowst and retreated to his mountainous native village in Paktia Province. Since then, he and his men have been linked to the harassment and robbery of travellers and traders on the road between Khowst and Gardez, where his armed supporters had established many checkpoints. I keep forgetting the difference between a warlord and a bandit. I'm sure it'll come to me...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/04/2003 02:08 pm ||
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warlords have a couple guys doing PR for them
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/04/2003 18:16 Comments ||
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Back in the 1950s and 1960s, the King of Afghanistan embarked on a serious program of liberalization for his ancient land. He substantially loosened the laws regarding burkas and other forms of social control. He initiated legal reforms to cut down on corruption. He allowed women to receive educations. He expanded the parliament, and intimated that he intended to convert the country to a Constitutional Monarchy, voluntarily giving up most of his enormous power. Kabul, in particular, developed a reputation for being a loose, hip, cosmopolitan sort of place, with the fleshpots of Babylon easily savored, and friendly relations with Westerners as well as the Soviet bloc.
...there's more!
Unfortunately, as awful as it sounds, the move toward democracy was probably a terrible mistake. The Soviet Union had designs on Afghanistan. As they so often did, they infiltrated the democratically elected government, and helped to engineer a coup. The King was toppled. Afghan communists took over and more or less destroyed the parliament. However, they faced internal friction and resistance from non-communists. Within a couple of years, under the guise of bringing "stability," the Soviets rolled in with tanks and took over--coincidentally killing many of the communists who they had helped just a few years earlier.
During the Soviet occupation, between 1.5 and 2 million Afghans were killed, out of a population of about 15 million. Millions more were dislocated. As always happened under communist rule, the economy was destroyed, and brutal repression reigned supreme. Political dissidents were routinely tortured and killed.
The Soviets had all sorts of innovative methods for "pacifying" villages that were suspected of collaborating with rebels. One was to kidnap a woman, take her up a few hundred feet in a helicopter above her village, strip her naked, and push her out the door. The Soviets would also do things like leave toys laying around the countryside for children to find--said toys being wired to bombs that would dismember or kill any child foolish enough to try to pick them up.
A standard method of "pacifying" a particularly troublesome village was to walk into town with tanks and troops, and start chucking grenades into people's homes. Then they'd shoot anyone--any age, any sex, armed or unarmed--who fled out the doors.
Literally millions were killed, while the Soviets simply took all the oil and food and other goods they could from the country. The U.S. helped the resisters with weapons and money, and was instrumental to getting the Soviets to finally pull out. Then, unfortunately, we left the country alone to the remaining warlords, which allowed bin Laden and the Taliban to take power within a few years of the Soviet exit.
You can argue that we should have stayed to help them rebuild after the communists were driven out. Then again, many would have called that "imperalism." In any case, it was the 1990s, the Cold War was over, and America spent a decade turning inward.
I continue to be irritated when some wag who thinks he knows something talks about how we "helped bin Laden back in the 1980s," as if that means something. I still hear this stuff on a semi-regular basis, and it's very depressing. Bin Laden was one of many anti-Soviet resisters we worked with. We never knew what he was going to become. Although we knew some of the resisters we helped were thugs, we knew the Soviets were worse. It was right to help them.
I also continue to be irritated when I hear people comparing America's current presence in Afghanistan with the Soviet occupation. It's not comparable. It's not even close. Not long ago, a teacher at my university tried this in class. I cringed and tried hard not to sound angry when I pointed out how misguided this comparison was.
Afghanistan is a shattered nation. It is finally starting to get back to where it was before the communists destroyed it. Indeed, as this Washington Post article on development in Afghanistan shows, the people there are immeasurably better off today. It's starting to, finally, become a functioning society again.
It's still got problems. There are still some rebel warlords in the badlands. It's still poverty-stricken and has a long, long way to go. But I wish more people would realize just how much good we've done for the people of that country, while simultaneously cleaning out a hotbed of murdering terrorist thugs.
People who think of America as a bloodthirsty nation have a lot of growing up to do.
Posted by: Dean Esmay ||
03/04/2003 07:56 am ||
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Unfortunately, as awful as it sounds, the move toward democracy was probably a terrible mistake. Dean's World had designs on Rantburg.
#2
According to the Bodansky(I think I spelled that right..) book on Bin Laden the US did not train any of the Afgani resistance directly. Just about everything done was through the Pakistani ISI. Which of course gave the ISI huge leverage in Afganistan-especially the ISI's Islamist elements. Anyway, as I understand it Bin Laden did not fight but functioned in a "combat support" role during the Soviet-Afgan war.
People who think the US is so terrible are the same willfully ignorant jerks who think Mikey Moore-on is a documentary maker as opposed to a lying, slandering, propangandist. Their whole frame of reference about the world rests on "Amerika is eeeevil". It is simple and "pat" and saves them from having to deal with the fact that the world is not made up of "simple peasants" just waiting for the yoke of "greedy capitalism" to be lifted from their necks, but are folks who can and are just as greedy, malicious and corrupt as "whitey". Without that they'd be lost emotionally and probably have trouble functioning day to day.
#3
The US gave lots of money and equipment to the Afghan resistance, but didn't actually directly control any groups, or enforce loyalty to the US. So the Pakistan ISI and the Iranians both created groups directly loyal to them.
This, combined with the US mostly ignoring the area later, allowed the Iranian and Pakistani backed groups to fight against each other and the rest of the resistance, creating a power struggle until one group won.
All that makes for an argument for more intervention and imperialism in the situation, I guess.
Posted by: John Thacker ||
03/04/2003 9:47 Comments ||
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it's funny because for most of the aghans that I would talk to and associated with when I was there, the muj war is a distant memory, a legend almost. something akin to our civil war. Although they know the stories, the emotional impact is a bit muted.
Afghanistan is a country that on a whole, does not know their own history except for a few stories and legends.
well, that was in Bamyan anyway. teh seperate cites and regions all have feeling all their own. however, most of what is though about afghanistan is false. A reporter cannot possibly understand what is going on there by spending a week or two in country and then reporting back to mr and mrs public about what's "going on". I spent 8 months there and I know that I barely got a chance to scratch the surface.
I will say this, afghanistan is in a far better place than it was when this war started and then when the taliban were in power.
if we did have as much of a hand in creating Bin Laden as some would like to think then it would also stand to reason that we have a responsibility to "un-make" him.
#5
Great commentary and I could not agree more! The Pakistani ISI actually distributed the bulk of covert CIA aid to the Afghan resistance and, unfortunately, the ISI chose to give the aid to the extreme islamic factions, such as the one led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. It was this faction that destroyed much of the country and that was the impetus for the rise of the Taliban. So, the notion that it's the U.S. that is responsible for the rise of Bin Laden is ridiculous.
#6
Isn't part of the problem with the Pakistani ISI funding radicals in Afghanistan that the Saudi's were working hard to establish a Sunni/Wahabi counterweight to the rise of the Shi'a's in Iran?
Didn't the Iranian mullahs hate the Saudi oligarchy, and threaten to export their true version of Islam into the Kingdom?
#7
Al-Qaeda was founded in 1989, as the Soviet participation was ending. It was founded on the Guevarist principle of "alternating foci" of jihad, hence, its attempts to establish itself in Sudan, Yemen, Afghanistan and, finally, Pakistan. Its founding principle, as proclaimed in its literature, was dictated by bin Laden's mentor - Sheik Abdullah (slave-of-god) Azzam - as such: "Jihad must be continued until Allah alone is worshipped by mankind. Jihad and the rifle alone, no negotiations, no dialogue and no conferences." After America's missile interventions in Sudan and Afghanistan, bin Laden began interpreting specific Koranic narrative - the Khurasaan Prophecy - in terms of the "destruction of America" (and Israel). Bin Laden is intelligent enough to know of U.S. power, however, he knows that America is vulnerable to internal subversion. That is why in 1998, he created a strategic link with a Pakistan political party - Jamaat-i-Islami - that has connections all the way up to the American White House. President Bush, whose reasoning is clouded by his delusion that it is his destiny to unite the so-called common-children-of-Abraham, is facilitating a coverup of the fact that it was a senior JI executive who harbored Khalid Mohammed, the al-Qaeda genocidist who was captured a few days past. Every Muslim who supports restoration of the "successor" (khalifa rashdun)global government, based on the example (sunna) of Mohammed, is either an open member of al-Qaeda or an agent of influence. In absolute terms, Islami is terror, and in general terms, Muslims are terrorists.
#8
Well, gee. That last comment had me going until "his delusion that it is destiny yada yada yada" and from there it went downhill faster than crumpled tinfoil hat.
A US lawyer claimed Tuesday to have found evidence that money from Saudi Arabia was used to fund terrorist cells linked to the October bombings on the Indonesian resort island of Bali. The attorney, Allan Gerson, said he traced Saudi funds through terror cells in Europe and on to groups in Bali linked to the bombings which killed nearly 200 people, 88 of them Australian. "When we looked at the actual evidence, we found out, to our surprise, how vast the network of support was, it extended way beyond cells in Europe to cells in Bali," Gerson told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio. No surprise to us.
"I discovered that connection to the Bali bombing," he said. Gerson has been leading a bid on behalf of victims of the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States to sue Saudi Arabian banks, charities and royal family members for allegedly helping fund the terrorists. He said the evidence gathered during research for that suit showed that Saudis gave money to terrorists in Europe who travelled to Bali and likely provided funds for the October car bombings. The bombings have been blamed on Jemaah Islamiyah, which allegedly has links to the al-Qaeda network that carried out the September 11 attacks. "I have come across evidence that shows you can connect the dots between terror cells in Europe that received financing from individuals and entities in Saudi Arabia. Those terrorists cells in Europe definitely had connections with Bali," he said. Gerson said he could not reveal too many details of his evidence because it had been gathered through judicial cooperation with European governments. Nobody does a more in-depth investigation than a lawyer in search of a big commission.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/04/2003 10:54 am ||
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Google Allan Gerson and you'll find that Allan Gerson is an attorney who represents about 3,600 family members of victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks. He does get a commission.
Dr. Gerson was with the CFR and represented families of Pan Am Flt 103 (Lockerbie crash). He's also George Washington University Research Professor of International Relations. His bio is here.
Posted by: The Kid ||
03/04/2003 12:37 Comments ||
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As much as I detest class action lawyers for their hidden agenda (read $$$), what I have read about the 9-11 victims suit against Saudis is a useful endeavor for bringing these money connections to terrorists to the light of day. The US govt could have quashed the suit, but it has not so far. It seems to be a Daniel Pearle kinda thing....no comment so tacitly sanctioned.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/04/2003 13:40 Comments ||
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France has all but ruled out using its veto in the U.N. Security Council to block a U.S.-backed resolution paving the way for war on Iraq, a weekly newspaper reported in its Wednesday edition. Le Canard enchaine quoted President Jacques Chirac as telling a small private gathering on Feb. 26 that a veto would be pointless because it would not stop U.S. President George W. Bush from launching military action. "France is doing everything it can, but the problem is that it is impossible to stop Bush from pursuing his logic of war to the end," Chirac was quoted as saying by Le Canard, a satirical newspaper that is known to have well-informed sources. DANGER! DANGER, WILL ROBINSON! A satirical newspaper? Isn't this like getting your news from The Onion? Le Canard also quoted Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin as privately telling a group of conservative lawmakers on Feb. 25 that "using the right of veto would be shooting the Americans in the back." Unless he followed it up with, "Wouldn't that be GREAT?", I'm not buying it.
A French diplomatic source said Tuesday France believes it has 10, perhaps 11, nations on its side â more than enough negative votes to block a second resolution. Well, this would explain why they weren't going to use the veto. But that's practically the whole SC. Last I heard many were still "thinking it over".
And notice the quote marks on the title. The swarmy writer apparently doesn't think the Nov. 17th gang is a real terrorist group.
At 9.15am yesterday 18 men, and a stony-faced woman, filed into a courtroom erected in Athens' maximum security prison. By 9.20am, this curious group - some suited and clean-shaven, others bearded and in casual sportswear - were seated behind a bulletproof pane, looking up at a panel of judges behind a wooden bench. To their left and right sat an array of lawyers; to their rear the widow of a murdered British soldier-diplomat, the widowed mayor of Athens, Dora Bakoyianni, and several hundred other men and women whose lives had allegedly been ruined by this ragged band. This was the moment Greeks had awaited for years - an event most believed they would never live to see. Nearly 30 years after the leaders of Greece's hated military dictatorship were tried in the same bunker-like chamber, the trial of November 17 — the Marxist-Leninist terrorist group born out of the resistance movement — had finally begun. Seems like a fitting place for the trial.
At 9.35am, Greece's "trial of the century" kicked off with Dimitris Margaritis, its bespectacled presiding judge, promising a "fair, democratic and humane hearing". An almost palpable surge of excitement charged through the court room. Blamed for more than 100 bombings, a string of armed robberies and 23 cold-blooded murders, no other group in the country's tumultuous history was as ruthless, impenetrable or as seemingly invincible as November 17. Unlike Italy's Red Brigades or Germany's Baader-Meinhof group, the band of self-styled "Robin Hoods" managed to outwit the combined Greek, US and British counter-terrorist experts. Aided by local police incompetence, it acted with impunity, targeting US diplomatic and military personnel, supporters of the Colonels' regime, Greek business tycoons, Turkish embassy staff and, in its last attack in June 2000, Brigadier Stephen Saunders, the British military attache in Athens.
The ability to elude detection and arrest partly explains the extraordinary mystique that surrounded the group by the time one of its hitmen was captured in a botched bomb attack which, in turn, ignited a rush of arrests last summer. For years many had marvelled at how the gang — which took its name from the date of the famed 1973 student uprising against the dictatorship — not only survived but survived long enough to taunt the police and goad the crowds. Before the appearance of al-Qaida, successive US state departments had labelled the revolutionaries as the most dangerous terrorist organisation operating in the west.
Yesterday, as more than 50 flak-jacketed police watched over the courtroom, Greek authorities appeared acutely aware that the hearing offered them the opportunity to redeem their reputation. The trial is expected to take at least six months. Some 333 people are lined up to testify for the prosecution and 70 for the defence - including, if he has his way, Carlos the Jackal who collaborated with the group in the 80s. There's a good character witness.
All bar three of the suspects — not least Alexandros Giotopoulos, November 17's alleged French-born mastermind — of the accused have, at some point, admitted membership of the gang in the past six months. Yesterday, the urbane white-haired former academic, who faces more than 1,000 charges but insists he has been set up by "the secret services of America and Britain", sat languidly in the dock, flashing smiles at long-legged female journalists and his French wife. "Lies! All lies!"
Mr Giotopoulos' reserved demeanour was in stark contrast to Dimitris Koufondinas, the group's chief assassin who has assumed "political responsibility" for all the murders, including that of Brig Saunders whom he shot dead as the diplomat drove to work. "I did it! Yeah, it was me, but I had reasons! Hey -- what are you doing with that intravenous catheter and tubing?"
On Sunday, the self-avowed assassin likened himself and his comrades to the "heroes" of the Greek war of independence who fought against the Ottoman Turks in 1821. "I'm like Zorba except that I can't sing, and rooftops make me dizzy!"
Amid scenes of chaos as lawyers indulged in heated debate with the bench, the lanky beekeeper defiantly stood up to denounce the level of security. "I want to know whether all of this was inspired by the Americans?" he said. "And so what if it is?" Judge Margaritis shot back. Bravo.
The exchange gave a taste of what is likely to come, diplomats said. "So far it doesn't feel like a murder trial," said Stephanie Tsandis, the daughter of a US naval officer killed by the group in 1990. "There was so much noise, even the judge compared it to an agora [market]."
It is a measure of the Greek public's profound disappointment in those now linked with November 17, that as the trial opened many were still asking "who the real powers" were behind the group. They were a bunch of thugs. What did you expect, revolutionaries?
But the same could not be said of the families of the victims — for decades perceived by unsympathetic Greeks to be deserving of their pain. Yes, remind me again why we're still allied to these clowns?
Few had waited longer for yesterday than them. And like Mrs Saunders and Mrs Bakoyianni, whose husband was murdered by the group, few now want closure as much. But unlike the hundreds who yesterday squeezed into the chamber to catch a glimpse of the accused, most said they could not bear to even make eye contact with the curious group in the dock.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/04/2003 10:36 am ||
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There's been a blind eye turned toward these groups in Greece, and a hint of official - if not assistance- then at least tolerance. If the Sept 11th attacks hadn't happened, coinciding with the coming Athens Olympics, I wonder whether this group would've been actually rolled up? A large measure of how serious the Greeks really are will be whether they pursue if there were any government ties and assistance
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/04/2003 8:36 Comments ||
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Amen--What Frank G said.
I wonder if the US should send Delta Force to the Athen's Olympics as security for our athletes, or maybe the 82nd Airborne Division.....
On a beach by the grey waters of the Black sea, scores of young American airmen are racing against the clock to get ready for war. Surrounded by Kalashnikov-toting Bulgarian military police, fenced in by red corrugated iron, and shrouded by a pine grove, the men of the US air force's 409th air expeditionary group are pioneers in a mission that is reconfiguring decades of the US military presence in Europe and redrawing Europe's military map. "We're in a rush," said Sergeant Jason Smith, just arrived from Charleston in North South Carolina. "Our main role is to support the global war on terror. And we're preparing for future operations."
Since last Tuesday night when two US Hercules transport aircraft landed dropped out of the sky from Ramstein base in Germany on to Bulgaria's Burgas airport, the airmen, many barely out of their teens, have been working frantically to get Burgas fit for the US war machine.
Everyone in their 20s is barely out of their teens. What's that have to do with it? At that age, they're strong and limber and full of enthusiasm...
The transports — huge C-5 Galaxies, C-141s and the C-130 Hercules — have been landing almost every day over the past week, disgorging hot dogs and Coke, computers and secure phone systems, huge tarpaulins for a "tent city", showers and tanks of water, and more troops and pilots. Yesterday afternoon a brace of KC-10A Extender jets, the biggest air tankers in the USAF, landed at Burgas to play a key role in the campaign against Saddam Hussein. The two tanker jets, capable of carrying more than 160,000kg of fuel, are to be followed by at least 14 others. "No one asks us whether we like it or not," said Mincho Minchev, the Bulgarian airport's technical director. "We're just under orders to service the US aircraft. We're not told what's going on, just on a daily basis what will be arriving." The Americans on the beach at what has been dubbed Camp Sarafovo are the first foreign military to commandeer Burgas airport since the Luftwaffe seized it in 1943. "Commandeer"? I think I see the writer's bias in action.The correct word is "use", courtesy of the Bulgarian government.
Al-Guardian seems to think we "seized" it, too...
But they are the thin end of a wedge of a US military project that is appropriating strategic assets in a vital area that Donald Rumsfeld, the US defence secretary, terms the "new Europe". "Appropriating"? Yup, no bias here.
"If things go on as they are right now, there will be a lot more of this," said Sgt Smith, at 27 a nine-year veteran of the USAF.
Closer to the scene of the action than Germany, and we don't have to watch our backs as closely...
Just up the Black sea coast in neighbouring Romania, hundreds of US troops as well as planes and helicopters have been pouring into an air base beside the port of Constanta over the past 10 days. Last November Washington invited Bulgaria and Romania to join Nato. With war looming, it is, perhaps earlier than expected, payback time for the impoverished, corrupt Balkan states whose proximity to the Middle East have boosted their value to Pentagon planners. Suddenly the talk of eastern Europe is of the Americans snubbing pacifist Germany and of redeploying their vast military presence there to the cheaper, more welcoming, and more passive "new European" countries of Poland, Romania and Bulgaria. "Passive"? I'd wager the writer wouldn't use that word in the presence of any military officer of any of these countries.
With not a single vote cast against the decision in parliament in Sofia, the Bulgarian government last month offered the US the Burgas base, the Sarafovo camp (a holiday complex for Bulgarian army officers), and more in the pipeline. "We're ready to negotiate over locating American bases in Bulgaria," said Lubomir Todorov, the foreign ministry spokesman. "Our territory could be a very good place for new bases because it is close to the Middle East." And the people understand how to defend freedom.
A senior western diplomat in Sofia said: "There's going to be a lot of activity here. It's a convenient location."
Just back from Washington last Thursday, the Bulgarian defence minister, Nikolai Svinarov, announced: "There's a possibility of providing four or five bases to the United States." The Romanians have already offered Constanta, the centre of the national oil industry, as well as the country's air bases. In Poland, derelict Warsaw pact garrisons are being dusted down by enthusiastic locals who think the GIs are coming their way after spending a couple of generations in Germany. In Stuttgart yesterday, the top US commander in Europe, General James Jones, confirmed that Washington was looking at bases in Bulgaria, Romania and Poland for mobile and more flexible deployments of US forces in about a year's time. He denied that the move was a "kneejerk reaction" aimed at punishing Germany for its anti-war stance, but was part of a reordering of US strategic planning. "This is not about building up eastern Europe in the same way we built up western Europe after world war two," he said Of course, our people have to go somewhere besides Germany when this is all over.
And if you've got to spend dollars, might as well spend them on people who don't make faces at us and call us names...
Public support for the Americans is soaring in Poland and Romania. In Bulgaria, which was so cravenly loyal to the Kremlin in the Soviet era that it was nicknamed the Soviet Union's 16th republic, opinion is more ambivalent. There was a small anti-American demonstration in Burgas a couple of weeks ago and locals fear that the US airmen will wreck the Black sea tourist business that is its lifeblood. "Everyone's afraid. Who wants this?" said Mr Minchev. Most of your countrymen.
But the opposition is passive. The government is committed to backing the Americans. Burgas is only an hour's drive from the Turkish border, a couple of hours' flying time from Baghdad, and home to the country's largest oil refinery with big money to be made from supplying the fuel that the Stratotankers will use. The base is also to be used for secret operations. "It will be mostly refuelling operations. But I expect a more intense exploitation of this base," Mr Todorov said. Nudge, nudge, wink, wink.
Bulgaria is additionally valuable to the US. It is the only one of the 13 east European countries that have signed declarations of support for Washington to be currently sitting on the UN security council. The declarations infuriated France and Germany — old Europe in Mr Rumsfeld's description. Gads, but Rummy played that well.
Washington can count on Bulgaria, as well as Britain and Spain, to support it on the new UN resolution on Iraq which aims to unleash a war. If Germany and France deride the east Europeans as the "new vassals", take the view that once a (Soviet) satellite, always a satellite, and Paris warns Bulgaria that it is imperilling its chances of joining the EU, the east Europeans are sulking but unrepentant. Again, they know the cost of freedom.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/04/2003 10:46 am ||
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Pay attention to the hoo-hoo in Turkey. The big issue is the basing and projection of the troops from Turkish soil into Iraq. There's not been a whole lot of noise about overflights, either of tactical or transport aircraft. How to you get to the Mideast from Romania and Bulgaria other than over Turkey? That's what makes these new eastern digs valuable. Without overflight it just bottles the force structure to the Black Sea.
Posted by: Don ||
03/04/2003 8:19 Comments ||
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Be interesting to watch the Euorpean stockmarkets if the U.S. millitary moved lock stock and barrel to East.Euorpe.
30-40,000 year-round uniformed tourists spend a lot of money.
#3
Just a small bit of fact checking on your A**...Charleston is in SOUTH Carolina. Geeze guys, if you can't get the geography right can we trust the rest of the article?
Posted by: Scott ||
03/04/2003 8:12 Comments ||
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Pay attention to the hoo-hoo in Turkey. The big issue is the basing and projection of the troops from Turkish soil into Iraq. There's not been a whole lot of noise about overflights, either of tactical or transport aircraft. How to you get to the Mideast from Romania and Bulgaria other than over Turkey? That's what makes these new eastern digs valuable. Without overflight it just bottles the force structure to the Black Sea.
Posted by: Don ||
03/04/2003 8:19 Comments ||
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#5
With unenployment in Germany so high, and Schroeder's popularity so low, and the awful state of the German economy, and their back-stabbing behavior toward the U.S., let's take our bases to the "new" europe. All of them!
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/04/2003 13:43 Comments ||
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That's what the U.S. had planned way before feathers got ruffled over Iraq.
It will cost Germany money, yes, but I don't hear a lot of people complain. A lot of Germans are quite happy if Germany is no longer used for more U.S. military adventures.
Good U.S. friend Putin will be so happy if you move your troops closer to him.
Lets see how long you keep your "new allies" happy with dollars. Worked well in Turkey, right?
But you will like Bulgaria. The strip clubs and the beer are a lot cheaper there. The German tourists know that already.
#9
Anonymous you cleary overestimate the economical impact of U.S. troops in a country that is the third biggest economy in the world. The current economic problems in Germany stem from the fact that East Germany was in a far more rotten state than anyone had imagined at the time of the reunification. And up to now Germans have been unwilling to reform the economy: too much bureaucracy, tough labor laws, aging population etc.
In Bulgaria the stationing of U.S. troops will have a far greater impact on the local economy.
#10
TGA - I've read your comments and developed a respect for both your realism and patriotism....however, you are not personally responsible for actions your government takes, and I think most of the commenters would acknowledge that while they disagree with the actions (or nonactions) of the German leadership, they basically feel no dislike for the common volk, and you in particular. I strongly dislike the positions and rhetoric Gerhard Shroeder took to win reelection, and if it takes moving out of Germany to remind the people just who was an empire and who wasn't(?) then that's a move I'd celebrate, along with much of the former warsaw pact. We do spend a lot in your economy, along with providing much of your security $ during and after the cold war. That has enabled much of western europe to develop social welfare states without regard for providing for their own defense. NATO is dead, and so will be the UN. Defend yourselves, and start to make the hard budgetary choices others charged with defending you have had to make...not you personally, though, of course..
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/04/2003 18:46 Comments ||
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Source: Fox News
CONIFER, Colo. â As talk of war escalates, school boards across the country are grappling with the First Amendment: from first graders making peace posters to whether teachers can wear anti-war pins. Some parents in Conifer, Colo., are fuming that a sixth-grade teacher wore a pin that said, "Not My President, Not My War," on a class trip. Holy Rip Van Winkle, Batman! The teacher thinks it's still November 2000.
When Linda Fowler's son came home from West Jefferson Middle School wondering why his teacher was against a possible war with Iraq, she took it personally. "I'm not afraid to stand up for my country," said Fowler, whose father and grandfather are both war veterans. "I have family and friends that are currently in the military â you are crossing the line of what many Americans are teaching their children â to be proud Americans." The Fowlers wrote e-mails to the school to protest the wearing of the button. But the Jefferson County School District, saying "teachers have the same First Amendment rights as all Americans," wouldn't demand the teacher remove the button â although it said it encouraged teachers not to wear such items. The school district first defended the teacher. "She has not politicized her classroom nor tried to convince her students of her point of view," said the Feb. 26 statement. Typical ratweasel public school administrators.
But it later did an about-face: "It's inappropriate to wear a political button (on a field trip), since it's an extension of a classroom," district spokesman Rick Kaufman told the Denver Post, saying the media misinterpreted the statement. See what I mean?
"There is a fine line to be walked here," Kaufman said. "Teachers have a right to freedom of expression, but not when that expression disrupts the learning process" by forcing one viewpoint over another on the students. Now if they'd only tell that to the curriculum committee! As the mighty James Lileks wrote in this morning's Daily Bleat, the level of ideological indoctrination in some public schools is nothing short of astounding.
The district and the teachers union â the Jefferson County Education Association, an arm of the National Education Association â said teachers "must be judicious in expressing their political opinions to avoid politicizing the classroom or disrupting the learning environment" and must provide a "neutral atmosphere." "Neutral"=everyone agrees with the NEA party line.
"We don't believe that teachers lose their First Amendment rights when they enter the school building," Jeanne Beyer, spokeswoman for the Colorado Education Association, told the Rocky Mountain News. But, she noted, "the second part of that whole discussion is, is it appropriate? Even if your right is, in fact, protected, is it appropriate in your role as a professional educator to do that?" Uh, in this case, no.
The teacher who started the controversy in Colorado, horrified she got caught caused such a fuss, has voluntarily taken off her anti-Bush pin. She wears an American flag lapel pin with a peace sign on it in the classroom. "Although the teacher in question isn't being disciplined, she would do well to recall that after Abraham Lincoln was elected president in 1860, the 11 states that eventually made up the Confederacy decided he wasn't their president," The Denver Post wrote in an editorial on Friday. "It took a long, bloody civil war to prove them wrong. "On a more practical level, expressing such contempt for the presidency isn't exactly conducive to teaching good citizenship." But wait, there's more!
The potential war with Iraq is an emotional issue, and a school district's responsibility to stay neutral in the classroom has been a hot topic throughout the country.
On Wednesday, the National Youth and Student Peace Coalition is sponsoring an anti-war day playing hooky walk-out. An eleventh grader at Legacy High School in Colorado was suspended because he put up fliers in the hallway advocating the strike after the school suggested he put the leaflets on a community table.
The Maine National Guard has fielded complaints from at least 16 schools there from children with military parents that they are being criticized by teachers in the classroom and on the playground from other children. A state lawmaker there is investigating the complaints. The state education commissioner issued a spineless mild letter to schools telling them to watch what they say. Previous Rantburg articles on the Maine complaints here and here.
A 60,000-student public school district in California in January unanimously [Unanimous? All 60,000 of them? Even the kindergarteners?]
approved a resolution condemning any U.S.-led war on Iraq and urged all schools to host a "public day of discussion" on the topic, which angered the local Parent Teachers Association, among others. Eric Mar, the school board vice president who co-authored the resolution, denied that the board was trying to force its viewpoint on teachers or students, [Yeah, right!]
and said it was a money issue. 'Course, it's always a money issue with that crowd.
Posted by: Mike ||
03/04/2003 08:07 pm ||
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A 60,000-student public school district in California in January unanimously approved a resolution condemning any U.S.-led war on Iraq and urged all schools to host a "public day of discussion" on the topic, which angered the local Parent Teachers Association, among others. Eric Mar, the school board vice president who co-authored the resolution, denied that the board was trying to force its viewpoint on teachers or students, and said it was a money issue.
Who does this asshole think he is, Harry Belafonte?
Vouchers, folks. We need them bad. Let's see how the public schools (and the teachers unions feasting on the public tit) measure up with a little competition.
...and here he is again folks! Live from Helsinki! It's...
Singer Harry Belafonte, long outspoken on civil rights and political issues in the United States, has lashed out at the Bush administration saying it is "possessed of evil" for preparing war against Iraq. The 76-year-old U.S. singer told Finnish television on Tuesday that global leaders who ignored demonstrations against a war in Iraq did so at their own peril. They're always in Europe when they say this s**t. Like we'll NEVER find out...
Asked if he thought leaders of his own country were misguided, Belafonte, said: "Absolutely. I not only think that they are misguided, but I think they know exactly what they are doing and I think that they are men who are possessed of evil." I can't wait until Bush's head starts spinning around during the next press conference.
Belafonte, who popularized calypso music in the 1950s with hits like "Banana Boat (Day-O)" and "Jamaica Farewell," hit the headlines in October for likening Secretary of State Colin Powell to a plantation slave for selling out on Iraq.
"I don't think that (U.S. President) George Bush... is a man of honor," added Belafonte, a black man of Jamaican descent like Powell. Harry, who DO you consider a man of honor? Bill Clinton, maybe?
"I think he has a very selfish, arrogant point of view. I think he is interested in power, I think he believes his truth is the only truth, and that he will do what he wants to do despite the people," he said during a break on his Finnish tour. Thanks Harry. I'll try not to blacklist/boycott you. I hope you're freezing your ass off in Finland.
#2
Belafonte adors Castro...more like worships him. So now you know where his heads at - firmly ensconced in his anus maximus.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
03/04/2003 14:10 Comments ||
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The Axis of Ganja
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/04/2003 14:39 Comments ||
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The 76-year-old U.S. singer told Finnish television on Tuesday that global leaders who ignored demonstrations against a war in Iraq did so at their own peril.
Oh?
What, pray tell, are demonstrators going to do if they are ignored??
#5
They're always in Europe when they say this s**t. Like we'll NEVER find out...
You've never heard of the Iron Media Curtain that prevents all news from the rest of the world from entering the U.S.? It's why a Canadian M.P. can talk about how she "hates those American bastards" with no fear whatsoever of word of this reaching the U.S., and why Harry can spill his innermost ravings thoughts in Finland.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/04/2003 17:59 Comments ||
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An update on the Canadian MP who called Americans bastards: she only regrets calling every American a bastard, but she still would call a few Americans bastards (implied the Bush administration). She's not in my riding so I won't have the pleasure of voting against her. Dammit.
Amid criticism of celebrities with antiwar views, leaders of the Screen Actors Guild have warned against possible blacklisting of thesps. Ohhhhhhhhhhh. The blacklist! Pretty soon...McCarthyism!
The union's national executive committee delivered the warning Monday in a statement asserting that such a threat had emerged in debate over a possible U.S. invasion of Iraq. SAG's announcement was accompanied by a statement of support from the Intl. Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees. "A disturbing trend has arisen in the dialogue," SAG said. "Some have recently suggested that well-known individuals who express 'unacceptable' views should be punished by losing their right to work. This shocking development suggests that the lessons of history have, for some, fallen on deaf ears." Let 'em work. If nobody goes to see whatever they're working in, then who will they blame?
SAG refused to ID organizations or individuals who have made such a threat but pro-war groupss, such as Citizens Against Celebrity Pundits, have generated boycott threats. "Even a hint of the blacklist must never again be tolerated in this nation," SAG said. So if I think they suck and don't go to see them, am I boycotting or blacklisting?
Thesps who have been active on the antiwar front include Sean Penn, Mike Farrell, Martin Sheen, Susan Sarandon, Edward Norton, Tyne Daly, Danny Glover, Rob Reiner, Penelope Cruz, Alec Baldwin, Janeane Garofalo, Woody Harrelson and Rosario Dawson. Farrell is a member of SAG's national board. Hey, thanks for the handy list!
SAG asserted that showbiz had failed to protect those persecuted during the late 1940s and 1950s. "During this shameful period, our own industry prostrated itself before smear campaigns and witch hunters rather than standing on the principles articulated in the nation's fundamental documents," the guild said. "Today, having come to grips with its past, having repudiated the insult of loyalty oaths and examined its own failings, our industry, perhaps more than any other, understands the necessity of guarding and cherishing those rights for which Americans have fought and died." Smear campaigns! Witch hunts! See my movie or be branded a facist!
Jonah Goldberg had an article just a few days ago in NR Online discussing the blacklists. He was impolite enough to point out that the guys who were "persecuted" were... ummm... commies. But what's happening to the present day's Brain Trust isn't a "blacklist." If people disagree with the stupidities that drop out of their mouths, if they're mocked and reviled, that's called discourse. If you're going to "debate," don't bitch when people disagree with you. And if you're not going to say anything indicating at least a 2-digit IQ, don't bitch when people describe you as stoopid. Oh, and if you make them not like you, don't bitch if people don't go to your movies. Going to your movies is the same thing as giving you money, and I don't give money to people I don't like.
Posted by: tu3031 ||
03/04/2003 11:37 am ||
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Freedom of speech, SAG. It's called the First Amendment and it works for everybody. Why is it that if we disagree with you, it's a smear campaign? But you can call Bush Hitler anytime you want? Or mock Charlton Heston's disease?
You people have a lot to learn about the responsibilities that come with your rights.
#3
SAG is all concerned about anti-war people being backlisted but the reverse is probably more true -that actors/actresses/other who support the war will be the ones shut out. Remember in 2000 when Sharon Lawrence was running around concerned for her acting jobs because she was photographed with Bush or some prominent Republicans? Another site yesterday noted a comedian who lambasted Dennis Miller and subtly noted that he was going to pay for his pro-war stance.
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This fries me. Since when did Actor+Unfettered Media Access = Foreign Policy Expert? They spout their nonsense, and when the public spits it back in their face they cry McCarthy. And believe me they are feeling the pain. Some good sites out there that are coordinating the payback. Also, it shows what hypocrites they are. Talk about blacklisting...just ask Tom Selleck. He backed Reagan and Bush 1 and was made to pay for it.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
03/04/2003 11:55 Comments ||
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Has anybody in Hollywood ever considered that years of making movies that decry America is an evil place, filled with evil big-shot generals and corrupt politicians might be one of the reasons why the world is filled with a new found hatred of Americans? Ever notice that movies that send positive American messages are met with derision by hollywood, while movies like "American Beauty"," American History X" and " Natural Born Killers" are lauded by Hollywood as true visions of the evil that is America?
Its one thing for those of us in America to see these visions of vile putrid hate for our country, but what effect does these film have on the 'hearts and minds' of the third world video rental public? ( Is Hollywood accountable for this? naahhhhh. )
Posted by: Frank Martin ||
03/04/2003 12:08 Comments ||
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The Hollywood Mouthies equate freedom of speech with license. One has the right to say what one wishes, but there are consequences when someone else does not like what one says. If you s--t in your messkit, you may be forced to eat s--t, in a metaphoric way, ah hmmm.....
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/04/2003 12:24 Comments ||
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I'm pretty sure Mike Farrell has been blacklisted since MASH went off the air. I don't remember anything that he has acted at in the last decade, other than an intellectual.
Posted by: Joe ||
03/04/2003 15:19 Comments ||
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Hollywood's America is not America's America. These are actors. Their reality is fantasy. They never put words in a sentence together without a script. They entertain us with dreams.
Course they could look around and see what the Usama's of the world think of entertainment or the First Ammendment for that matter.
Posted by: john ||
03/04/2003 20:55 Comments ||
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Entertainers absolutly have the right to state thier opinion.Just as I have the right to call them delusional,publicity-seeking fools.If I decide I do not wish to support thier stance,or show my dissatifaction with them by boycotting thier product then that is also my right.
BTW,has anybody noticed that most of these entertainers are has-beens!
HALIFAX -- The destroyer HMCS "Iroquois" will sail Wenesday for the Persian Gulf - without a helicopter.
The warship was forced back to Halifax last week for repairs after a Sea King crashed into its flight deck.
The 'Iroquois' will leave with the frigate HMCS "Fredericton."
Captain Paul Maddison, the destroyer's skipper, says his crew is anxious to get back to sea.
Once overseas, the "Iroquois" will assume command of the Allied support fleet, which is taking part in the war on terror.
That fleet could also play a key role incase of war with Iraq.
Air force officials say they're still trying to find a Sea King to go with the "Iroquois," but are not optimistic one will be available
Folks, I've tried to make this clear before, but this is as clear an illustration as I can find. Those who keep saying "we need to get allies", try and remember this. The Canadians apparently dont have a single spare helicopter in their inventory.
Posted by: Frank Martin ||
03/04/2003 11:31 pm ||
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Why not loan them the equivalent American chopper (sorry, I'm not up on Navy choppers so I can't be specific)? If the chopper is for ASW, that's something I'll bet our Canadian friends and we have worked on together. I'm sure we could cobble something together, and it would provide some additional force protection for the support group.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/04/2003 23:59 Comments ||
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The Sea King is an American Chopper.
Sounds like that pollitician who refeered to Americans as bastards is not as isolated as they would have us believe.
MMA Parliamentary Leader and Amir Jamaat-e-Islami Qazi Hussein Ahmed Monday said that international plotters are trying to link JI with al-Qaeda, a network of Osama bin Laden. I confess! I dunnit!
"We are very much aware of an international plot of establishing a linkage of al-Qaeda with JI. As we are against extremism and have no linkage with any extremist group so we will turn down the international plotters to do so," Qazi Hussein Ahmed told the reporters. He rejected official's claims that Khaild Shaikh Mohammad and another Arab were arrested from Dr. Abdul Qadoose Khan's house. Referring mother, wife and sister of arrested Pakistani Ahmed Abdul Qadoose, Qazi said, "the family members of Ahmed Qadoose are saying in public that non of the Arabs were arrested from their house but Ahmed." "Nope. Nope. Nobody there. It's all a frame-up."
It seems as if a plan has been executed of projecting linkage of al-Qaeda with JI "but I want to say very clearly that JI even don't know who is Khalid Shaikh and even al-Qaeda." "Never heard of 'em... And who are you?"
He questioned that when Americans and Europeans are even having liberty of setting up organizations for the protection of their dogs and cats "why we Muslims cannot run charity organizations for the assistance of orphans and widows." "What's a poor old widow lady to do, when there's not a speck of ammunition to be found in the house?"
He said that being Muslims "we are not against Arabs but we oppose politics of extremism or terrorism." He, however said categorically that under no circumstances JI may stop helping the deserving persons including widows and orphans.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/04/2003 09:47 pm ||
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The raid that resulted in the capture of al-Qaeda operations chief Khalid Shaikh Mohammed also netted Mustafa Ahmed al-Hawsawi, the alleged financier of the Sept. 11 attacks, two senior U.S. government sources said Monday. Al-Hawsawi, 34, is identified as a "supporting conspirator" in the indictment of accused terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui, the only person charged in the USA in the attacks. The Saudi-born al-Hawsawi is said to have routed thousands of dollars to the Sept. 11 hijackers to fund the operation. In the days before the attacks, hijackers allegedly wired more than $25,000 in excess money back to al-Hawsawi in the United Arab Emirates. We've known about "Mustafa Ahmed" since two weeks after 9-11. It's a comfort to see him snagged. I shall now ululate for an hour or two...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/04/2003 07:50 pm ||
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Federal Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad declared on Monday that the Jamaat-i-Islami was not a terrorist outfit despite the fact that four main Al-Qaeda activists, including Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, had been arrested from the houses of its activists. "Khalid Shaikh Mohammed is the first important suspect arrested from the house of a JI activist after Sept 11. But the JI is a religious force and not a terrorist organization," he said while replying to questions at Meet the Press of the Lahore Press Club. Although four out of the 22 most-wanted people had been arrested from the houses of JI activists, it was still a responsible politico-religious party, the minister said, adding "there could have been some misunderstanding." "There must be some sort of misunderstanding..."
"They (the JI) are holding demonstrations, but we are trying to protect them from any trouble. We want to keep everybody along but they must also consider government's limitations and show responsibility," he said. "Sometimes they just make it so hard to cover for them..."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/04/2003 02:29 pm ||
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"...the JI is a religious force and not a terrorist organization..."
How touching. We'll be sure to pray for ya after we blow your freakin' heads off...
The Indian Air Force Monday got a shot in the arm with the first of the six IL-78 mid-air refuellers joining the
force making India only the sixth air force in the world to have such force multipliers. The first IL-78 landed at Agra airbase in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh on Monday from Uzbekistan capital Tashkent to make newly raised Squadron-78 nicknamed 'battle-cry' operational giving the IAF capability to strike targets as far as 7,000 kms with two mid-air refuels. This is going to make the Paks very unhappy. Now Indian aircraft have the range to attack Pakistan from any direction. The Chinese won't be happy either.
An Indian Air Force (IAF) spokesman said Monday that the second refueller would join the force in April and all the six Giant IL-78, each capable of carrying 36 ton of aviation fuel to a distance of 3,000 kms, would be inducted by the year end. "The mid-air refuellers have already become operational as our air
crew and maintenance personnel have been already undergoing training in Uzbekistan," the spokesman Squadron Leader Rajesh Dhingra said. They've been working up in Uzbekistan before taking delivery, very smart. No lag time now while they trained to use them.
He said IAF's recently acquired SU-30MKI were already fitted with mid-air refueller adapters and the French Mirage 2000 and Jaguars were being modified to make them compatible with the air-to-air refueling. The Mirage 2000 is nuke capable.
The Air Tankers can boost the SU-30MKI combat range of 3,000 kms three times. The IAF has already had its first experience at mid-air refueling during the recent first-ever fighter exercises with French Air Force in which the French tankers KC135 refueled IAF's Mirage 2000 fighters. The Indian Air Force just became a much bigger headache.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/04/2003 01:46 pm ||
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Well Saudi, are you willing to ante up some more chips for Pakistan so they can meet the bet?
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/04/2003 14:43 Comments ||
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Headaches for the poor naked Indian multitudes. It was small aircraft which did relatively little damage after crashing; now these Indian Airforce buffoons have large bodied aircraft to crash on their slum dwellers, extracting the maximum of causalities in the process. These Indian loud-mouths have 210 peacetime crashes in the last nine years. Some airforce record for Guinness, I presume!
Gunmen killed a Pakistani intelligence official Tuesday in a border area near Afghanistan. Sher Nawaz Khan was killed by at least two attackers as he rode a motorbike to work in the border town of Wana, 180 miles south of Peshawar, the officials said. Somehow the image of a middle aged political functionary riding to work on a vespa, doesnt fill me with fear. The article doesnt mention if its a "shiny new" motorbike, and if he had wads of american dollar bills hanging out of his pants.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. The gunmen followed Khan in a car then shot him repeatedly after knocking him off the motorbike, officials said. Khan was an official with InterServices Intelligence agency. "was" being the operative word here.
In June, a group of al-Qaida suspects opened fire on Pakistani troops in nearby Azam Warsak, starting a gunbattle that killed 10 Pakistani soldiers. Two al-Qaida suspects also died, one was captured and dozens escaped. Let me see if I get this straight, Al-qaida has decided to start fighting the Pakistanis? First rule when you find yourself in a hole, is to stop digging. Apparently, thats just more of my peculiar western thinking at work again.
Posted by: Frank Martin ||
03/04/2003 01:56 pm ||
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They need to take Dire Revenge®. The ISI was the agency that captured Khalid Sheikh Mohammad. If you're taking Dire Revenge®, you just pick somebody and bang 'em.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/04/2003 13:58 Comments ||
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A lot of the commentary on this site has suggested that the ISI is an Islamist / al-Qaida tool. I've always suspected that it's factionalized between pro-Islamist and pro-Sanity factions. It'll be interesting to see if this killing (combined with the capture of KSM) heralds a shift within the ISI -- or the beginning of a civil war within the ISI.
Posted by: Patrick Phillips ||
03/04/2003 14:06 Comments ||
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good point patrick - but when much of the press doesnt even recognize the ISI/Musaharaf distinction, its real hard to get find good info on different factions within ISI - I suspect even the Pakistani press doesnt present much on that - am I right??? I mean getting info on internal politics in secret agency is well, a job for professionals, no?? This war will be fascinating to read about after its over, but for now there is too much fog of war, and your point is at the heart of that fog.
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It would be worthwhile to know 'exactly' where this guy was killed. These actions might be random (probably not) and it would make me think that the location where he was killed and nearby surroundings were worth close inspection.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
03/04/2003 14:28 Comments ||
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Alleged senior al-Qaeda leader Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has been flown out of Pakistan, four days after his arrest by security services near the capital, Islamabad. Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said the suspect had been handed over to US custody. Sheikh Mohammed — who was arrested in a joint Pakistani-US operation — is believed to have been flown to a US detention facility at Bagram air base, in Afghanistan. Ah, Bagram in springtime!
The information minister said Pakistani interrogators had extracted all the intelligence they needed from Sheikh Mohammed, the suspected planner of the 11 September 2001 attacks on the US. The use of the word "Extracted" in this sense puts a smile on my face amid mental pictures of pliers in action.
Earlier, Pakistani Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat said information given by the suspect was being acted upon. He predicted there would be "significant developments" but gave no details. Security agents are reported to have recovered valuable material during Sheikh Mohammed's capture, including a computer, mobile phones, data discs, lists of telephone numbers and other documents. Found his AOL Buddy List.
Washington is hoping that the suspect can lead them to Osama Bin Laden and to sleeper cells in the United States. It has also been suggested that he was involved in the murder of US journalist Daniel Pearl in Karachi last year. On Tuesday, Australia said it also wanted to question Sheikh Mohammed in connection with last October's bombings in Bali, in which more than 200 people were killed, including 89 Australians. Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said the country wanted to find out if he had any links to Jemaah Islamiah. Intelligence about Sheikh Mohammed's activities was partly behind a decision by the US Government to put the country on the second-highest level of alert last month, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said. A spokesman for President Pervez Musharraf, described him as "the kingpin of al-Qaeda". I wouldn't go quite that far, but he is a big catch.
The New York Times reported that it was the capture of Muhammed Abdel Rahman during a raid on an apartment in the Pakistani town of Quetta on 13 February that led to this weekend's arrest. Mr Rahman — the son of the blind Egyptian cleric accused of inspiring the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center — is alleged to have told investigators that Sheikh Mohammed had lived at the same Quetta address. Room mates?
Lovers?
From there, Sheikh Mohammed was reportedly tracked to Rawalpindi, where he was captured in a bloodless operation. Sheikh Mohammed has been indicted in America for plotting to blow up American commercial airliners in the Philippines in the mid-1990s. "This is a very serious development, a blow to al-Qaeda," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said on Monday. BBC Pentagon correspondent Nick Childs says that Bush administration has been under pressure at home from critics who complain it has neglected the hunt for al-Qaeda as it focused on Iraq, and the arrest will take some of that heat off. Yes, we can walk and chew gum at the same time.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/04/2003 11:02 am ||
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I live for comments like the AOL Buddy List ...he he
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/04/2003 20:46 Comments ||
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Forces loyal to Patriotic Union of Kurdistan shot dead a member of the political bureau of Iraqi Kurdistan Jamaat-e Islami PartyMullah Abdullah Qasri in Suleimanieh on Tuesday. Oh, a Jamaat e-Islami. That's zackly what Kurdistan needs...
Altercation between Qasri and four of his companions with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) patrollers had reportedly led to the murder. The incident claimed the lives of all of Qasri's companions. No report is yet available on casualties among PUK forces. "I'm a mullah! You can't tell me what to do! I've got bodyguards!"
"Then go fer yer guns, holy man!"
[Bang! Bang! Bangety bang!]
Dad my gums, but I like those Kurds more every day...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/04/2003 02:16 pm ||
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I think these are the same guys that the Kurds said were Ansar al Islam. Mistaken identity or card carrying members of both groups?
Posted by: Steve ||
03/04/2003 14:34 Comments ||
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Good shootin' Tex! Being a mullah these days just ain't what it used to be. Hey Mullah...no virgins for you!
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
03/04/2003 15:26 Comments ||
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Couldn't they just shoot his eye out or blow his hands off like all the other mullahs?
Russia finds it unjustified to submit the draft resolution on Iraq proposed by Britain, the United States and Spain for voting at the UN Security Council. "We still hold a negative attitude to the draft resolution submitted by Britain and the United States with Spanish support," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Yuri Fedotov told Interfax on Tuesday. The draft resolution "absolutely groundlessly, and in contrast with the actual situation and progress in implementation of UN Security Council resolutions on Iraq, demands the immediate curtailment of inspections and opens the door to a military operation," he said. "We believe it is becoming increasingly groundless and unjustified to put the Anglo-American draft resolution to a vote," Fedotov said. Sounds to me like they are more against voting than the resolution itself.
Asked about the possibility of Russia vetoing the draft resolution, he said: "This is an inseparable right of every permanent member of the UN Security Council that is used only in the worst case. We hope this will not happen and that in the remaining days, solutions will be approached permitting continued inspections." Yup, they don't want to have to go on record by voting.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/04/2003 01:03 pm ||
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Must be lot of internal conflict at the UN. The US and UK just toss the resolution out to the UNSC like hot potato. When war is 110% certainty, who want to drop the potato?
Posted by: john ||
03/04/2003 21:09 Comments ||
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Fox News (Abridged)
...Despite the tough rhetoric â and the holiday â Iraq continued to destroy banned missiles to comply with a U.N. order. At least two Al Samoud 2 missiles were being crushed north of Baghdad on Tuesday, Information Ministry official Odai al-Taie said. A missile launcher was being destroyed as well, he said. Hiro Ueki, spokesman for the inspectors who are supervising the destruction, confirmed the destruction of missiles was continuing but wouldn't give details. Since Saturday, Iraq had already destroyed 16 of about 100 Al Samoud 2 missiles. It also has been slicing up casting chambers used to make another missile, unearthing bombs and sending scientists to talk with U.N. weapons inspectors â all in a desperate effort to prove it is disarming before a crucial U.N. report at the end of the week.
Workers have unearthed buried bombs they say are loaded with anthrax, aflatoxin and botulin toxin, and inspectors are analyzing the contents. Iraq is readying a letter to the United Nations that proposes verifying it has gotten rid of anthrax and deadly VX nerve agent. Oh?!.... you meant thoooose 'weapons of mass destruction'(TM)... sorry about that...
Wonder why these bio/chem weapons haven't gotten more coverage? The missles get all the media attention...
Story from the Times. There has been some discussion as to this guy's real identity and motive, but his story rings true to me.
THE young manâs eyes glitter with fervour as he explains his comradesâ expectations in battle against American troops: âWe want to fight and we expect to die. There is no other option. A special death unit, the Siriya, will be positioned behind us. They are there to kill anyone who tries to flee.â
It is the manâs vernacular that gives his story credence. Sadak Ali Akram (an alias), claims to have served until 13 days ago as a sergeant in the Quiada Quat âAdnanâ, a 10,000-strong Republican Guard division based in Mosul, Iraq. Deserting this unit on February 18, a crime punishable by death, he sought sanctuary in Kurdish-held northern Iraq, arriving here in Sulaimaniyah two days later. Now under house arrest and speaking in the presence of an interpreter on contract to the Kurdish security services, there are gaps in his story, and issues he cannot or will not discuss â not least because his wife and young child are still in hiding in Iraqi-held Kirkuk.
Reflecting the delusions and twisted logic of his Baghdad leadership, Akram, 26, depicts a force that doubts the ability of the Americans ever to wage a war, yet is prepared to self-destruct in order to inflict as many casualties on Western forces as possible.
âFor 13 years the US has threatened Iraq with an attack,â he snorts. âEach time they hold back. Most of the US speeches are lies. We have our weapons and they know this and fear us. And what about Israel? If attacked, Saddam can hit them with missiles and kill so many.â Time and time again during his three-hour interview with The Times, his language spins into an anti-American rant in which he extols the virtue of his abandoned Guard division: more the mark of an indoctrinated soldier than a Kurdish propaganda âplantâ.
At once the backbone of Saddam Husseinâs power and the most serious threat facing British and American troops inside Iraq, the detailed account of life in the Republican Guard painted by Akram is the first from within the unit in the present crisis.
âIf there is a war, then we expect the regular troops to run away immediately. They have no Siriya behind them, and are upset with their poor pay and bad equipment. But the Republican Guard lack for nothing. Each soldier has his full complement of ammunition, good gas masks and a chemical kit with four syringes inside. Our tanks are all operable. Only seven months ago we received more new armoured vehicles and stocks of spare parts.â Akram was born in Kirkuk. A Kurd, technically his ethnicity should have precluded membership of the Baath regimeâs military elite. Yet he says that a clerical error erased his Kurdish prename and on April 7 last year he was enrolled into the Republican Guard under his three Arab names.
For three months he received basic training at the Guardâs headquarter division north of Baghdad. He was transferred to Mosul and became a logistics sergeant with the âAdnanâ division, named after Adnan Khairallah Tulfah, Saddamâs cousin and Defence Minister, who died in a helicopter crash in 1989.
According to Akram, the fighting spirit of the Republican Guard is maintained through a mix of religious and political indoctrination, perks and fear. The average Guard soldier receives 11,000 dinars month â 4,000 more than a conscript â plus privileged accommodation and rations.
âMost of the soldiers are Shia Arabs,â he says. âThey donât like Saddam but most donât hate him. They are happy to spend their lives in the Republican Guard with Saddam in power. If they die in battle with America they are told they will become martyrs. Our officers tell us that if America invades we will be their slaves. They will shame us with the rape of our women. We have many lectures on this. Sometimes one a month, sometimes several each week.â Akram claimed that the Guard felt especially confident about dealing with the Americans as they had escaped the last Gulf War almost untouched by the coalition forces and had even preserved most of their armour intact.
âThis time again special bunkers in hidden places have been made for our troops and tanks to survive the air attacks and emerge to fight,â he said.
Questioned about chemical weapons, Akram said he had no specific knowledge. Later he returned to the subject and pointed out that Iraqi security services would already be hunting for his family. If he revealed more, the searches would itensify. âAll I can say is that there are things that are mobile, not fixed. They are all the time moving.â
Of the Siriya death squads, he claimed that a 200-strong unit was attached to the âAdnanâ division in Mosul, and a similar unit positioned behind the âNabukhuznassirâ division protecting the oilfields around Kirkuk. âWe see the Siriya,â he says slowly. âWe donât mix with them but we know their responsibility, and what is expected of them and us.â Just like in the old USSR, a political unit placed behind the front line with orders to shoot anyone who tries to surrender.For all his apparent pride in his unit, Akram says that he felt under pressure over his Kurdish ethnicity. His privileges were restricted and his commander told him that his file had been sent to Baghdad for investigation. He feared arrest. Between February 10 and 13 though, he was chosen to share the feast marking the end of the Haj in the company of his divisionâs commander, General Sayifadeen Al-Rawi. In common with most selected soldiers he took snapshots. âAfterwards my lieutenant, a hard-hearted man, told me that as a Kurd I was forbidden to take pictures of senior commanders. He said the offence would be added to my report. I became even more frightened.â Five days later he fled. I'd run too.
He found his family in Kirkuk and warned them to move to safe houses, then he crossed into Kurdish-controlled territory over the hills above Chamchamal. It is the one real sticking point of his story. Why did he not bring his parents, wife and child with him? âI did not know how I would be received. I had no house here and nowhere for my family to live,â he says. âI was afraid for them to come here. I think they can stay safe there while I plan their escape.â Makes sense to me, they would know what he looks like, but his family has a chance to blend in as long as he disapears. Of course, he also might be more concerned about his own skin than his family.
In Saddamâs Iraq such a decision is indeed a gamble. Much later in the day, running the transcripts of Akramâs story past a Kurd who served for two years with the Iraqi regular army, I am told: âEven the way this man speaks denotes he is Republican Guard. Though he has deserted his division he still cannot help but use their language. But to leave his family? It would be better that they died than the Iraqi secret police find them.â Pray for them.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/04/2003 11:20 am ||
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#1
after 3 months basic training he became a sergeant?? Either theres a problem in translation, he's lying, or the Republican Gurad is less "elite" than one might think.
#3
What elite force needs battle police behind it to stop deserters?
One that is going to realize shortly after the battle commences that they have no chance of survival unless they surrender. Of course, that goes double for the Siriya goons, no?
The three-month sergeant thing is right from the Soviet playbook. The smartest conscripts are siphoned off and sent to a few more weeks of training and indoctrination.
The US Army used to do the same thing during Vietnam. The program was derisively referred to as "shake and bake." The graduates were made E-5 buck sergeants. The "honor graduate" was made an E-6 staff sergeant, i.e. a squad leader.
NCOs are the backbone of an army. Our shake and bake program is one of the reasons Army units especially did so poorly toward the end of the Vietnam War. The weak NCO corps of many armies are the reason why the US, Brits and Israelis can pretty much kick the asses of every other army in the world.
#7
Soviet Sergeants are more like glorified coporals. In the field they have no authority whatsoever, they are sergeants simply as a reward. They help enforce discipline in the unit, but that is all.
If they follow Soviet SOP a sergeant in three months isn't surprising. It means he's shown his unit commanders he can be a rotten bastard to his charges.
...and again...and again...and again
Leaders of Islamic nations including a top aide of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein meet in Qatar on Wednesday at a summit critics say will only underline the Muslim world's diplomatic disarray over the Iraq crisis. The Muslim world in diplomatic disarray... whoda thunk it??? Izzat Ibrahim, Saddam's No. 2 in Iraq's Revolutionary Command Council, will be one of the delegates at the emergency meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), Iraqi diplomats said. The 56-member OIC is the world's largest Islamic grouping. But only around a quarter of its members are sending heads of state to the summit, and some members have said they do not believe the gathering is worth holding at all. At least there's a couple of smart guys out there.
Host nation Qatar said it hoped the summit would at least send a strong message to Baghdad and Washington that Muslim nations wanted every effort made to end the crisis peacefully. "I cannot predict the outcome of this meeting but we all hope we send the right message to the Security Council, to the Iraqis and to the United States," Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr al-Thani told a news conference. But the omens are not good. Recent Muslim summits have been marred by fistfights arguments and two initiatives proposed to prevent war have been quickly discarded. An Arab League summit in Cairo on Saturday only served to highlight the problem. A row between the Saudi and Libyan delegations erupted on live television, and the final resolutions were watered down to appease all participants. The Arab League summit on live television. Talk about Must See TV.
The summit ignored a proposal by the United Arab Emirates to formally call on Saddam to go into exile. Analysts said many Muslim countries regard the proposal as unwarranted interference which could set a dangerous precedent in the Middle East, where few leaders are democratically elected. UMMMMMMMM...Wait a second. Let's really think this out.
On Monday, a meeting of ministers from the six Arab states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) stopped short of formally backing the proposal and said it needed further study by the Arab League â effectively killing off the plan. Okay. Further study. That goes in the Arab circular file.
Iraq has already rejected the idea as farcical. At least give them credit for that.
In late February, leaders of many of the OIC states met in Kuala Lumpur, and the idea of using an Islamic oil embargo to exert pressure on the West to avoid war was floated. But it was quickly shot down by Gulf countries. "We in Qatar, and I think all the GCC, will not agree with using oil as a weapon," Sheikh Hamad said on Monday. ...as it will hurt us big in the pocketbook. No more high roller suites in Vegas.
Many analysts say the idea that the Muslim world can speak with a united voice on Iraq is fanciful â and that the Doha summit will simply give further proof of this. "Perhaps at long last, Arabs can accept that the search for consensus from Mauritania to Kuwait on anything other than vague generalities has always been and will always be an impossible task," Saudi Arabia's Arab News daily said on Tuesday.
"Arab unity has become a charade and will remain a charade." And for once Arab News gets it right. Maybe they're wising up?....NAHHHHH.
Several thousand allied special forces, including more than 300 SAS personnel, are already operating inside Iraq. Ssssssh, don't tell anyone, OK?
This suggests that, despite efforts to secure a United Nations resolution backing force, the war has begun. Defence sources said last night that two SAS Sabre squadrons - about 240 men - plus more than 100 support troops were engaged in various parts of Iraq. The scale of the operations in the south and west is unprecedented. British special forces did not enter Iraq during the 1991 Gulf war until the ground offensive began. The men are part of joint special operations, which include more than 4,000 American and Australian special forces with headquarters in Qatar and bases in Jordan, Kuwait and Turkey. Their insertion into Iraq coincides with intensified air attacks. Hummm, I'd use an airstrike as cover myself.
Iraq said yesterday that American and British aircraft killed six civilians and wounded 15 others in raids on Basra but Washington said the jets had struck military targets after coming under anti-aircraft fire. In the Commons, the Conservatives said that the action amounted to the "opening shots" in a new Gulf war. Geoff Hoon, the Defence Secretary, told MPs that there had been "no substantial change" in activity but that patrols in the no-fly zones now involved "a broader range of aircraft". RAF aircraft have played only a supporting role in the latest attacks. Last September RAF and US air force patrols of the no-fly zones were turned into a de facto air war when a raid by 106 aircraft on the H3 air base in western Iraq signalled the start of an intensification of attacks aimed at destroying air defences. 106 aircraft? They must have counted every plane flying in the region as part of the strike package.
The Telegraph disclosed in January that a team of 35 SAS men was operating in and out of western Iraq as part of a 100-strong allied force looking for Scud missile launchers that could be used to attack Israel. The special forces are now moving in and out of Iraq virtually at will, monitoring Iraqi oilfields west of Baghdad and in the north amid concern that Saddam Hussein will set fire to them in the event of an invasion. The priority of the SAS, which is being ferried back and forth by RAF Chinook helicopters normally based at Odiham, Hants, has been to ascertain Iraqi troop positions and confirm that targets selected from satellite photographs for the first attacks in any air war are not decoys. The troops have also been looking for suitable holding areas in south-western Iraq for the many Iraqi troops who are expected to give themselves up in the early phases of fighting. The allied plans involve a rapid advance across southern Iraq towards Baghdad from Kuwait and it is feared that this could be seriously delayed by the need to deal with large numbers of prisoners of war. "Youse guys sit over there, somebody will be along in a while to tell you what to do, OK? And no funny business, that plane up there is watching your every move."
Other roles have included monitoring troop movements in the vast desert west of Baghdad and in the north around Saddam's home town of Tikrit, where senior commanders expect the Iraqis to put up stiff resistance. I think we should make a example of Tikrit, something along the lines of a Arc Light mission.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/04/2003 09:45 am ||
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#1
I think we should make a example of Tikrit, something along the lines of a Arc Light mission.
Martyr an entire city as an example to Saddam? That will sit well with the people we're supposed to be liberating when we obliterate a city.
As the good guys in the white hats, we need to stick to targets of proven military value. We can make examples out of the Iraqi leaders--if any are left alive--afterwards. Think Nuremburg Trials.
Posted by: Dar Steckelberg ||
03/04/2003 11:13 Comments ||
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Well said, Dar.
As for the SAS guys: Good luck, good hunting, and get home safe.
Posted by: Mike ||
03/04/2003 11:25 Comments ||
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Regarding that strike by 106 aircraft, I seem to recall they were counting everything including the refueling tankers. Still, that's a hefty strike package, and I haven't heard much regarding H-3 since then.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
03/04/2003 11:37 Comments ||
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The strike involved coordinated British and US aircraft for the first time in a long time. It also appears to have involved multiple entrance / egress routes, multiple ECM, etc. Practice for the real thing.
Why haven't the Gurkha's been sent? I have to wonder if the pension mess has reduced their combat readiness. 300 of them are in Sierra Leone, but why haven't the rest been deployed? Maybe, primarily jungle fighters?
Members of an Islamic militant group and Kurdish soldiers exchanged gunfire at a military checkpoint in northern Iraq on Tuesday, killing five people, Kurdish officials and witnesses said. Officials of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, which rules the eastern half of the Kurdish autonomous province in northern Iraq, blamed the attack near the city of Sulaymaniyah on the militant Islamic group Ansar al Islam, which is suspected of having links to al-Qaida. The United States also has accused Ansar of cooperating with Saddam Hussein's regime, which it accuses of harboring weapons of mass destruction in defiance of U.N. orders. The five dead were all members of the militant group, Kurdish officials said on condition of anonymity. Kurdish officials dragged blood-soaked bodies out of the truck driven by the attackers. It's a start.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/04/2003 08:13 am ||
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The Islamic Republic News Agency has a slightly different spin on this story: Suleimanieh, March 4, IRNA -- Forces loyal to Patriotic Union of Kurdistan shot dead a member of the political bureau of Iraqi Kurdistan Jamaat-e Islami Party Mullah Abdullah Qasri here on Tuesday. Altercation between Qasri and four of his companions with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) patrollers had reportedly led to the murder. The incident claimed the lives of all of Qasri's companions. No report is yet available on casualties among PUK forces.
Gee, do I detect the slightest amount of bias?
Posted by: Steve ||
03/04/2003 13:37 Comments ||
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The American plan to form a northern front against Saddam Hussein slipped deeper into crisis yesterday when Kurdish leaders made clear they would resist any attempt by Turkey to occupy Iraqi Kurdistan, even if it was a member of the American-led coalition. "Nope, we don't like 'em, no matter who their friends are. Nope, nope."
The Kurds have already declared they would fight if Turkey unilaterally occupied a swath of territory in northern Iraq with the intention of limiting Kurdish influence in Iraq after the overthrow of President Saddam. Hoshyar Zebari, a Kurdish leader, said yesterday that even if Turkey joined the coalition in the war against Baghdad the Kurds would have to be assured that this was not a smokescreen for the occupation of Iraqi Kurdistan. Mr Zebari, picking his words carefully, said: "Unless the end-game is clear we will resist." "We might fight 'em even if the end-game is clear. We're Kurds after all, not French!"
The Kurds fear America might fix up a deal whereby Turkey nominally joined the coalition against President Saddam, but in practice would seek to extinguish the de facto independence enjoyed by the Iraqi Kurds for the past decade. Rest easy, Mr. Zebari, the odds of our selling you out went down considerably over the weekend.
The plan to squeeze President Saddam, with American forces advancing from the north as well as the south, was already in disarray after the Turkish parliament rejected a deal on Saturday for Turkey to provide bases for US troops. Washington now faces the problem that, even if it eventually reaches an agreement with Turkey, the first shots of a second war with Iraq could be fired between two of its allies, the Turks and the Kurds. Yesterday tens of thousands of Kurdish demonstrators poured through the streets of Arbil, the largest Kurdish city, chanting: "Yes to Liberation! No to Occupation!" Criminy, what is it with people in this region? All they have to do all day is stage demonstrations? Anyone work in that area? I thought southern Kurdistan was a relative paradise!
Fear of a Turkish invasion has made many Kurds believe they might be the first casualties of an American-led war. The Iraqi opposition is seeking to send a delegation to Ankara to persuade Turkey not to attack, but it will not go unless the Turkish government says it will receive them. It also wants America to join the talks. Many Kurds believe that they are on the eve of a third betrayal by the US, saying that Washington had twice let them down in the past; once in 1975 when President Saddam crushed a Kurdish rebellion and again in 1991 when he destroyed the Kurdish uprising after the Gulf War. I can undersdtand how they might feel that way.
Mr Zebari was more diplomatic about Kurdish suspicions. But he said: "The Turks and the Americans have kept us in the dark." He added that the Iraqi Kurds had received mixed signals from Turkey, with one official telling them the Turkish army would "advance 60km [37 miles] which would mean occupation". If America does allow Turkey to launch its own war against the Kurds in Iraq, Mr Zebari said, "clashes would be unavoidable". The Kurdistan Democratic Party, which controls western Kurdistan, has a regular army of 62,000 men, though some 12,000 of these are involved in logistics and administration. The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan has a somewhat smaller regular force of about 40,000 men. In the face of the Turkish threat the KDP and the PUK have established a joint military command and deployed some Peshmerga [Kurdish soldiers] closer to the border with Turkey. The only circumstances in which Kurds might accept Turkish soldiers crossing into northern Iraq is if they were under American command and on their way to attack Iraqi forces further south. They would also need to know when the Turkish army was planning to withdraw from Iraq. "Might not even let 'em through then!"
At heart the Kurdish leaders know that the de facto independence of Kurdistan depended on peculiar circumstances. America and Britain provided a military guarantee through regular air patrols. This would end with the installation of a pro-American government in Baghdad. By becoming the focal point of the Iraqi opposition in recent months the Kurds want to make sure that they are not politically isolated in future. The best guarantee of their autonomy in a federal Iraq is to ensure that they are a strong political power in Baghdad in a post-Saddam era. The Kurdish leaders also need to keep good relations with America, on whom they ultimately rely for their security against Turkey. They were gratified by the arrival of Zalmay Khalilzad, Washington's envoy to the Iraqi opposition, on their territory for an opposition conference that ended on Saturday. To emphasise that they are not a negligible military force Kurdish troops lined the road down which Mr Khalilzad returned to Turkey. This is going to get ugly. Soon.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/04/2003 11:07 am ||
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#1
Well,the Turk's have made thier decision.
They have cut themselves out of any say in what happens in Kurdistan and any forthcoming U.S.aid.
Hope the Priesident doesn't screw the Kurds.(agin)
#4
Well, the Kurds are not alone. The Lebanese. They've been occupied for Syria for ages, and no one cares. The Kashmiris have to put up with Indians and Pakistanis shelling each other, and religious nutters on both sides.
At least the Tibetans have Richard Gere.
Posted by: Jeremy ||
03/04/2003 1:40 Comments ||
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If I were the Kurds, I'd be nervous. Everyone talks as if the Turks are nervous nellies just trying to do the right thing. But I think their actions have seemed consistently predatory and self-interested. Don't get me wrong, I don't wish the Turks any ill will. But those oil fields are worth buckets of money - enough to make a weak economy strong and I haven't seen any indications that the Turks intend to be chivalrous in this regard. In fact, all the warning indicators have bright flashing lights going whooo whooo whooo. Everyone trys to wish them away saying, Oh...they would never do that. Hmmmm.
#6
Well,the Turk's have made thier decision.
They have cut themselves out of any say in what happens in Kurdistan and any forthcoming U.S.aid.
Hope the Priesident doesn't screw the Kurds.(agin)
#7
I agree w. most of the sentiment expressed here. In response to Becky's post, I think the most disturbing news item I've seen thus far is that the new Turkish government was vetting treaties from the time of the Ottoman Empire to see if any still applied. They're looking for territorial claims to those oil fields you mentioned.
#8
I agree. A while back, Instapundit had a link (most likely a link to Rantburg) about how Iraq was going to be divided up btwn ethnic and ancient lines of Turkey/Jordan/"Republic of Kurdistan"/Iran/Shia's etc. It actually was a good idea - but we probably chucked it because we wanted so badly to have the Turks allow US troops in. The Turks gave up that big bargaining chip and screwed us in the process. I think it's time to go back and find a nice little solution that allows the Turks money from the oil wells AND a Republic of Kurdistan. I'm willing to bet it CAN be done. If the Kurds in Turkey get ideas - then they can migrate to Kurdistan. And if Turkey has an oppressed population of unhappy Kurds, that's really their problem, now isn't it? The money from the oil wells will help them get over it. Best to find a solution that makes everyone happy than to jam an unworkable solution down everyones throats. Bottom line, they didn't give us the front and even if they do it's got trouble written all over it. Back to the drawing boards. Fools rush in.
#9
How about a U.N. Trust Territory for Kurdistan, like we had for Micronesia?
Turks run it, giving up some territory in Turkey to it. In return, they get to protect the Turk populations around Mosul and Kirkuk, administer the oil fields, and generally steer Kurdistan towards stability and security for both Turks and Kurds.
#10
becky - I've followed this board for a while now, and you seem the one trying to pose as a Turkey-, Iraq- and middle east expert, don't want to hurt your feelings but so far I have noticed that you are the one knowing the least about the area. It's sometimes quite amusing since you are not the only one lately, even some American journalist popped up as experts. Most of them don't even know the difference of the people, sunni, shia, Kurd, Turk, Iranian, Persian, Arab. Maybe we should call this virtual internet expertise.
Posted by: Murat ||
03/04/2003 8:02 Comments ||
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Y'all have probably seen this by now, but if not, check out this recent interview in Der Spiegel with Ahmad Berwari, the German representative of Iraqi Kurdish opposition group PUK:
#13
Oh..and by the way, Murat, for the benefit of the other readers I would like to note that I've never claimed to be anything other than a casual observer following the war with no expertise - only interest. Claiming that I fancy myself some sort of expert is just another lie and distortion brought to us courtesy of Murat.
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/04/2003 8:51 Comments ||
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#15
There are alot of us that are not experts on Turkey or the Kurds. I read a background article recently in the Asia Times on the Kurds, and the history is so complicated that I am glad that they did not have a quiz at the end. This ethnic stuff gets hot, impassioned, and irrational---quick! Becky is just trying to find some common ground so as to create some kind of a win-win for everyone. That is an admirable thing to do.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/04/2003 9:44 Comments ||
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#16
I hope one doesn't have to be an expert in everything to comment on this board, otherwise I would never be able to. I think a lot more can be gained by trying to listen to and learn from the others that post here rather than to degrade them, namely Becky, for stating their (her) opinion.
You have succeeded in prompting much discussion of Turkey on this board. That is a good thing and may we all learn a lot.
Also, you could be criticized in much the same way you criticize Becky for your insufficient, assumption-filled, and thinly detailed analysis of the American people/culture/motives. As, I'm sure, could I for my assumptions on many subjects, etc.
How interesting of you to pick on the one poster on this board who has a discernibly female name...
America admitted yesterday that the war due to begin as early as next week might have to be put back by at least a month because of Turkey's refusal to allow US ground troops to deploy there. Fer Gawd's Sake. We can't hit Iraq effectively with what we have in the south?
The surprise rejection by the parliament in Ankara made the planning "more complicated", Ari Fleischer, the White House spokesman, said. Some military analysts predicted that an attack of the speed and decisiveness President George Bush wants might have to be delayed until late March or even early April. "Speed" and "delay" are mutually exclusive.
The United States sounded more determined than ever yesterday to use force to disarm and topple Saddam Hussein. Mr Fleischer again derided Iraq's destruction of six more al-Samoud 2 missiles, and Baghdad's last-ditch moves to account for missing chemical and biological agents. "Iraq is not co-operating ... they continue to fundamentally not disarm," he said. How long does it take to destroy 100 missiles?
Another carrier group, the Nimitz, left America last night to join five other carriers either in the Gulf region or on the way. The Pentagon issued deployment orders for 70,000 men of the 1st Cavalry division from Fort Hood, Texas, equipped for heavy ground combat. Nearly 250,000 American and British troops are now believed to be in the region. Though some officials in Washington still cling to the hope that the Ankara parliament, which reconvenes today, will reconsider its decision, Pentagon planners are considering whether to activate a "Plan B" for an invasion. Thus far, the dozen heavy cargo ships carrying equipment for the 4th Infantry Division have not been rerouted from just off the Turkish coast where they have been waiting to unload. But if there is no change of heart in Ankara, the whole plan for a second front bearing down on Baghdad from the north will have to be redrawn. So long, Turkey, nice knowin' ya.
Under the rejected deal, up to 62,000 men would have been sent to bases in eastern Turkey, poised to launch a massive operation southwards. Now, any such force would be more a holding one than offensive, its size unlikely to exceed 20,000, according to analysts. That's if we get anyone at all in from Turkey.
Officials maintain this would suffice to cover the immediate objectives of protecting against any Iraqi thrust against the Kurds, to secure the oilfields around Kirkuk and Mosul, and tie down some Republican Guard units who would otherwise be directed south. But the American force would not be enough for a big strike.
Although the campaign may be delayed, there is no indication it will be halted. Yesterday the British Government announced it had given the United States permission to base 14 B-52 bombers at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire. The first wave of the long-range bombers arrived yesterday in an echo of the first Gulf War in 1991, when 60 missions were flown from the base.
Tony Blair was accused of concealing from the public the fact that a new Gulf War had already begun. Bernard Jenkin, the shadow Defence Secretary, said the "opening shots of the second Gulf War" had been fired. Anti-war Labour MPs claimed that war had begun by stealth. Doug Henderson, a former armed forces minister, said the increased activity in the no-fly zones was a "slide into war". Alice Mahon suggested that war had been started through the "back door". Actually Bernie, we started shooting months ago. Good thing you're the Shadow Defence Secretary.
Although Downing Street denied any change of policy, Geoff Hoon, the Defence Secretary, told the Commons: "There is no doubt that our forces have been undertaking more frequent patrols involving a broader range of aircraft in the no-fly zones." "Other than bombing anything in sight that we feel is a threat, there's been no change in policy."
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/04/2003 12:20 pm ||
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How long does it take to destroy 100 missiles?
Wonderful. Could it have been done in November?
Posted by: carl ||
03/04/2003 0:30 Comments ||
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#2
The longer we wait, the more opportunities for other "allies" to get cold feet, the closer Saddam is to a working nuke, the closer North Korea is to reprocessing their plutonium (we need to be done with Saddam before that crisis comes to a head). Not to mention the jittery won't-move-till-we-win economy.
#3
I predict there will be no new motion by the Turkish government until March 10, after that US troops stationing will with high probability allowed.
Posted by: Murat ||
03/04/2003 4:20 Comments ||
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The desert has to be taken before summer begins, every one knows that. But that is where there is least amount of resistance. That part shouldn't take more than a month. The real deal is Baghdad: hard to know what the mil planners have in mind. But there's still some time available.
My guess is that March madness will be a time for the yappa yappa BS at the UN, s'more diplo manoeuvring, more pleasantries exchanged, but by April everything will be in place. Then it's a go.
#5
RW - I don't think the real part or deal is Bagdad neither, the real challange would be to secure the oilwels before they have been set ablaze, the US planners are not that dumb, they'll use Shia and kurd forces to do the street battles.
Posted by: Murat ||
03/04/2003 6:35 Comments ||
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#6
I'm glad they are stepping back and taking a deep breath. The planners relied too heavily, too long on the Turks. Somebody should have given plan B a dress rehersal two weeks ago - or maybe they did and she wasn't ready for prime time. Now they can put the A team on plan B and make it plan A. heh heh... sorry!
#7
The main advantage of an invasion from Turkey is that it gives the best chance of capturing territory before Saddam can damage infrastructure or set off chem/bio weapons. If Turkey is out, the biggest potential losers/victims are civilians in N. Iraq. Is saving those lives and infrastructure worth playing another round in the Turkish legislature? Probably.
#8
The main advantage of an invasion from Turkey is that it gives the best chance of capturing territory before Saddam can damage infrastructure or set off chem/bio weapons. If Turkey is out, the biggest potential losers/victims are civilians in N. Iraq. Is saving those lives and infrastructure worth playing another round in the Turkish legislature? Probably.
#9
As Murat notes there may be a new vote next week but does the US wait for this vote or change it's plan now? What if the vote is a no again - the US will have wasted another week.
To Becky's point it does seem odd that the military/political powers weren't prepared for a no vote by Turkey.
I'm no warmonger but let's get rolling already. Delay is only causing more obstacles/problems. My hope is that a) we really don't know what the military is planning, and b) the large buildup and slow pace mean that not just Iraq will be dealt with.
#10
AWW, I think the planners will risk another voting, I read some articles of retired generals who are stating they would pull out their hair with losing Turkey as a logistic base. The one way or another I think there will be created a compromise ensuring a Turkish vote on this matter at the end of the tug-of-war.
Posted by: Murat ||
03/04/2003 8:42 Comments ||
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#11
Murat, you are at least half right. For the US/UK strategic plan to succeed, two things *must* be (militarily) obtained:
1) Control over the oil fields. If the fields are set ablaze then "control" cannot be gained until the fires are extinguished and the equipment restored, which sets back all future plans;
2) Saddam's head, whether attached to the rest of him or not.
#12
It fascinates me how many people assume that: (1) the Pentagon doesn't have Plan B worked out, (2) the troops and equipment waiting on ships off Turkey are necessary to commence the hostilities, (3) there is no disinformation flying around from our side, (4) GWB is really hanging on the UNSC vote, (5) the war couldn't start tonight, and (6) I give a sh*t what Martin Sheen or Harry Bellafonte think about ANYTHING.
In the last four days the B-2s and B-52s have left the U.S. and the Patriot missiles have been taken out from under wraps in Israel. Yeah, we're going to wait another month. Right.
Posted by: Tom ||
03/04/2003 15:38 Comments ||
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#13
Another 10 billions may help. Should be cheaper than Plan B
#15
Obviously you never haggled over a carpet in a Turkish bazaar.
When the negotiations seem to fail the client pretends to walk out and the dealer will run after him and drag him back into the store to finalize the deal.
#16
One of the big arguments used against further inspection was that 100 guys could not find anything in a place the size of Califonia. Well, we got 250000 guys sitting on the border of this California sized place. Should be able to put them wherever we want without much trouble. Like 250000 guys driving from Kuwait to Basra to Bagdad would be sort of a major traffic jam. So I guess we'll start by spreading them around to the north and south and all over in a hurry. We are talking about California here, a little more square geographically and without Disneyworld.
Posted by: john ||
03/04/2003 21:40 Comments ||
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A still undetermined number of New Peopleâs Army rebels were believed killed in a 45-minute encounter with soldiers in Cervantes, Ilocos Sur last Monday. Maj. Gen. Romeo Dominguez, chief of the Armed Forces Northern Luzon Command, revealed that soldiers had responded to text messages from local residents reporting the presence of 16 NPA members in Sitio Illungan, Barangay Malaya in Cervantes. Dominguez added the rebels were extorting money from the villagers and trying to recruit minors to the underground movement. âUpon seeing the advancing troops, the rebels, led by a certain Ka Joben immediately fired but the superior government force left the NPA with no option but to run for safety,â he said. No soldier was killed in the firefight. He said three assault helicopters were dispatched to aid the troops on the ground at the height of the encounter. As if the Philippines doesn't have enough problems with MILF, they've still got commies running around...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/04/2003 12:35 pm ||
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The religion of peace is expressing itself intelligently and articulately again...
An explosion has ripped through Davao City airport on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao, killing at least 15 people. Local TV reported that many others had been injured, among them children. According to initial reports, the explosive went off at around 5:15pm in the arrivals hall, airport authorities said. The presidential adviser for Mindanao affairs, Jesus Dureza, told Reuters news agency that the cause of the blast was still unknown. "We don't know whether it's a bomb or a grenade," he said. There is also no information on who was behind the blast. Any guesses?!
In the past, rebels from the Moronic Islamic Liberation Front have been blamed by the military for a string of attacks on the island... The Abu Sayyaf militant group has also been blamed for bomb attacks in the region. Tuesday's explosion "happened ... a few minutes after a Cebu Pacific flight arrived, and people packed the waiting area," an airport security official said. "There were many people killed. I saw six persons killed on the spot."
I wonder if this will be the atrocity that causes the Philippines government to stop yakking with them and clean them out, which is the only thing that's going to work...
The island is mired in factional fighting, with government troops clashing regularly with Muslim separatist rebels. The rebels have been fighting for a separate Muslim homeland in the southern Philippines for three decades. The Philippine army said on Tuesday it had killed 14 rebels in fighting on the island. Mindanao was also hit by a major power cut on Tuesday, for the second time in a week, amid rumours of a suspected sabotage by guerrilla groups. "So we want an independent state. But how're we gonna go about getting it?"
"I've thought hard about this one, Mohammed. We want to achieve our objective as quickly and as efficiently as possible, showing we're responsible people who deserve respect from our neighbours. I think we should kill people."
"Kill people, I like it."
"Yeah, blow up people at airports, anywhere really."
"Great."
"I'll get us some explosives then."
"Can't wait to see those limbs flying."
"Is it time to pray again yet?"
"Yeah."
FOLLOWUP:
Two explosions rocked Davao City and Davao del Norte yesterday afternoon, killing at least 26 and injuring more than 100, the latest in a wave of violence that hit Mindanao since fighting resumed between the military and Muslim rebels. MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu denied that MILF fighters carried out the bombings, saying that the attack on the Davao City airport could have been the result of an internal management dispute. Of course, every time Eid issues a statement, it always turns out to be a lie...
#2
It's up to three bombings now: Three people were slightly injured when a bomb exploded outside a government building in the southern Philippines city of Tagum, minutes after a powerful bomb killed at least 18 in nearby Davao airport, officials said. It was the third reported bomb attack to hit the south today. An explosion also ripped through a bus terminal in Davao, but there were no reports of casualties. Tagum City chief of police Marcelo Pintac told DZBB radio that an unidentified man planted a "homemade explosive" at the fence of the city health office, which exploded at 6pm. "The police right now are on high alert and are guarding vital installations. Three people had minor injuries because of the blast," Pintac said.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/04/2003 14:26 Comments ||
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#3
Did they hurry up and do these operations for fear that KSM would squeal? Or just the usual MILF lunacy?
Posted by: Patrick Phillips ||
03/04/2003 14:52 Comments ||
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United States authorities, buoyed by the capture of al-Qaeda operations chief Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, say they are worried his nephews may take over planning terrorist attacks. We have noted here before that being a scumbag terrorist seems to be genetic.
As FBI agents began running down leads which emerged from a search of the house where Mohammed was captured in suburban Islamabad, counter-terrorism officials said they believe that two of his nephews and one of their cousins were planning al-Qaeda operations in the US and Europe. Mohammed was flown from Pakistan yesterday to Afghanistan, where US interrogators are questioning him. The interrogators' immediate goals were to find out about any attacks planned for the near future and the location of al-Qaeda's leader, Osama bin Laden. They believe bin Laden is hiding in the rugged northern border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan. I still think Binny is feeding the worms.
An informant is reported to have tipped off US intelligence about the whereabouts of Mohammed. In London, The Sun claimed that an Egyptian father of four, who is a suspected former Taliban officer, was to be given a $A43million reward. He had been tracked down by the CIA and arrested in the Pakistan border town of Quetta on February 14. The newspaper reported that the man was being offered a new identity. The Sun also reported the town in England where the guy was supposed to be hidden in. Binny is supposed to have spoken (from the grave) and put out a hit on him.
US intelligence officers say Mohammed had in the past spoken about blowing up filling stations and suspension bridges. He is believed to have been active in several plots targeting US interests, but officials do not have specific details. Even before Mohammed's arrest on Saturday, sources said, the US intelligence community were worried that his nephews had the experience and connections to succeed him. The brothers have been in Pakistan and move easily around the Middle East, officials said, but their whereabouts are unknown. They'll be moving now, wondering if Uncle Mohammed is going to crack and give them up.
Authorities in Pakistan say they were led to Mohammed by information developed from other arrests, including the arrest five months ago of Ramzi Binalshibh. US officials said on Monday they were also helped by the capture last month in Quetta, Pakistan, of Mohammed Omar Abdel-Rahman, a son of the blind Egyptian cleric serving a prison sentence for plotting to blow up New York landmarks. Another family connection.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/04/2003 11:15 am ||
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#2
I thought there could only be one "Mastermind"? I thought it was like....a rule? And if they're such "Masterminds" how come they always end up dead or in jail?
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/04/2003 12:49 Comments ||
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#5
United States authorities, buoyed by the capture of al-Qaeda operations chief Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, say they are worried his nephews may take over planning terrorist attacks.
Then the answer to this that it will become necessary to capture them too, even kill them, if at all possible. How difficult a concept is this?
#6
(T)hey are worried his nephews may take over planning terrorist attacks.
Who the f... cares? Am I just that naive that I don't see what the worry here is? Isn't the idea of taking out the "mastermind" so that command and control is crippled, morale suffers, paranoia increases, and, ideally, infighting will result as internal factions wrestle to advance their successor?
And, if you take said "mastermind" alive, you get the added bounty of intelligence on the org, creating even more chaos as they race to change their communications, and supply and finance methods.
Or am I really that naive? Surely they didn't think the whole org was just going to dry up and blow away in the wind...
Posted by: Dar Steckelberg ||
03/04/2003 15:39 Comments ||
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#7
Oops--I was posting at the same time as you, Bomb-a-rama, so please don't interpret my comment as targeted at your comment.
Especially as I agree with your sentiment!
Posted by: Dar Steckelberg ||
03/04/2003 15:41 Comments ||
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#8
Dar,
When we shot down Yamamoto in 1943, the war ended in...1945. Wait a minute!
I'm with you. Whatever else you think about these deranged nutballs, they are persistent. This is a fight that's going to take a long time and a lot of patience. Unfortunately, a lot of Americans are short of the latter.
Interesting commentary by Mansoor Ijaz on Greta's show on FoxNews. He says that ISI retrieved hand-written letters from Binny to Khalid Sheikh Mohammad â which would indicate that he's alive. The letters discuss getting out of Pakland entirely, and indicate that Ayman is also back in Pakistan. Mansour says that Ayman was in Indonesia until recently. Mansoor also has a good piece up on NR On-Line with a wrap-up of the KSM snag. Wish I had some of his sources...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/04/2003 09:29 pm ||
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#1
No kidding! I read the Ijaz article on NR and was amazed. Assuming he's not full of it -- and he does seem to have some weight behind what he's saying -- how the heck does the "chairman of Crescent Investment Management in New York" know this much about international terror networks and the inner workings of one of the most politically convoluted regions on the planet?
Posted by: Patrick Phillips ||
03/04/2003 22:01 Comments ||
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The unemployment rate in the [Saudi] Kingdom has reached 31.7 percent, according to statistics published by the Saudi Monetary Agency (SAMA) quoted in Al-Watan newspaper yesterday.
A study issued five years ago by the manpower council in cooperation with a research center for the fight against crime showed that crime among unemployed Saudis rose by nearly 320 percent between 1990 and 1996, an annual growth rate of over 15 percent. This is expected to increase by another 136 percent by 2005.
The majority of perpetrators had been unemployed for one or two years, according to the study, and 84 percent of them blamed unemployment for their behavior. Theft ranked first among the crimes committed by the unemployed.
Posted by: Tom ||
03/04/2003 07:30 pm ||
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#3
What's the foreign worker unemployment rate there, like 0%? Guy's that've been over there tell me the Saudi's don't exactly have a grueling work ethic.
Palestinian Minister of Interior Hani Al-Hasan said it is high time to reach a decision in the dialogue between Fatah and Hamas because this dialogue cannot go on forever and confirmed that he is going to contact Egypt's chief of intelligence Omar Sulaiman shortly for this purpose. It has become evident that Hamas was unable to commit to the Egyptian proposal due to internal reasons, Al-Hasan said in an interview published by the Palestinian daily Al-Quds on Sunday. Hamas has reached the point where Fatah's weakened enough that it thinks it can take over...
"Egypt sponsored inter-Palestinian talks in Cairo recently and proposed a one-year truce between Palestinians and Israelis. These talks were supposed to resume in February but the Israeli military escalation and ongoing extra-judicial killings of suspected Palestinian activists have rendered the resumption of talks impossible. The dialogue between Fatah and Hamas movements has reached a point where a decision should be made. It is not permissible to go on with it forever, though we acknowledge that Hamas has its own considerations." Like supplanting Fatah...
Al-Hasan confirmed that "the Palestinian people and leadership are standing at a decisive crossroad, and therefore we have to act correctly in the next three months to outlive the crisis, by the declaration of the Palestinian state and the withdrawal of Israel." Al-Hasan voiced similar determination to seek unity inside Fatah. "The brothers in the Al-Aqsa Brigades promised me they will be committed not to attack civilians inside the Green Line," he said adding that "nothing in our Arab and Islamic heritage allows killing of civilians." "We just... do it, y'know?"
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/04/2003 07:32 pm ||
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The warhead of a long-range missile test-fired by North Korea was found in the U.S. state of Alaska, a report to the National Assembly revealed yesterday. "According to a U.S. document, the last piece of a missile warhead fired by North Korea was found in Alaska," former Japanese foreign minister Taro Nakayama was quoted as saying in the report. "Washington, as well as Tokyo, has so far underrated Pyongyangâs missile capabilities." So it would appear, assuming the statement is true...
The report was the culmination of monthlong activities of the Assemblyâs overseas delegation to five countries over the North Korean nuclear crisis. The Assembly dispatched groups of lawmakers to the United States, Japan, China, Russia and European Union last month to collect information and opinions on the international issue. The team sent to Japan, headed by Rep. Kim Hak-won of the United Liberal Democrats, reported, "Nakayama said Washington has come to put more emphasis on trilateral cooperation between South Korea, Japan and the United States since it recognized that the three countries are within the range of North Korean missiles." Probably primitive of us, but if you criticize the way we go about solving the problem, we'll be happy to turn the whole thing over to you to solve...
According to the group dispatched to the U.S., American politicians had a wide range of opinions over the resolution of the nuclear issue, from "a peaceful resolution" to "military response." Doves, such as Rep. Edward J. Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat and co-chairman of the Bipartisan Task Force on Nonproliferation, called for a peaceful settlement of the current confrontation, by offering food, energy and other humanitarian aid to the poverty-stricken country, while urging the North to give up its nuclear ambitions. Rep. Markey also said the North should return to the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and the U.S. should make a nonaggression pact with the communist North. That's the approach that was taken in the past, which is how we got to this point. They say that doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result is a sign you're a nut...
Hardliners, however, warned that the Northâs possession of nuclear weapons will instigate a nuclear race in the region, provoking Japan to also acquire nuclear weapons. Rep. Mark Steven Kirk, an Illinois Republican, said the U.S. might have to bomb the Yongbyon nuclear complex should the North try to export its nuclear material to other countries. It'll be interesting to see what Rodong Sinmum has to say about that statement in a few days...
Over the controversy concerning the withdrawal of U.S. forces stationed here, most American legislators that the parliamentary delegation met said U.S. troops should stay on the peninsula as long as the Korean people want, the report said.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/04/2003 03:33 pm ||
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#1
The Markey Household - A comedy in one act:
Edward J. Markey - Son, did you mow the lawn like you promised yesterday?
Son (playing Playstation) - I sure did, Dad.
EJM (looking out window) - Wait a minute... Those weeds are nearly two feet tall! You didn't mow the lawn!
Son - Can I borrow $20 and the car keys?
EJM - Sure, son, but only if you promise to mow it first thing tomorrow.
Son - Of course, Dad!
Posted by: Dar Steckelberg ||
03/04/2003 15:50 Comments ||
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#2
Thank you Prez Clinton.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
03/04/2003 15:57 Comments ||
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#3
Ed Markey used to be my Congressman up here in Massachusetts, Peoples Republic of. I need no stories as to what an idiot he is. Still uses his mothers house as his address in the district and lives in a million dollar estate in either MD. or VA.I don't think he could find his district on a map. Typical Dimbo Man of the People.
#4
I was wondering; what about the article seems like it might not be true? I think it does feel like someone sending a missile into our backyard means we should blow the reactors and anything else to smithereens. I don't know if with the Iraq and war on Terror if we are overextended or not being told about how we will deal with NK. It seems weird knowing this; that we would pull troops. My husband think China will fix this problem; but I can't tell if they would be secretive like the help we get in the war on terror from countries in the Middle East.
#5
The damn warhead nearly hit my welder outside, but luckily it just landed in a plowed snowpile beside him with a thud and a booooshhhh, and some funny smelling gas. We are turning it into a wastebasket as we speak.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/04/2003 17:44 Comments ||
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#6
China won't fix the problem. China is the problem.
#7
Well, according to CNN, we're sending bombers to Guam. The CNN write-up begins much more bellicosely than this "Reuters" story.
CNN paints it as "sending a message" to NK, whereas "Reuters" was much more relaxed, adopting a "prudent measure" tone.
Toward the end, both stories are more similar. Both said that this wasn't a response to the interception (oh, no). Neither mentioned any warheads in Alaska.
#8
B-1s and B-52s....that puts the B in Bellicose. hmmmmm a Bellicose-52. Works for me.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
03/04/2003 18:02 Comments ||
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#9
"Washington, as well as Tokyo, has so far underrated Pyongyangâs missile capabilities."
At least publicly, anyway.
If this is true, and if we wanted to make somethin' of it... well, dropping warheads on folks isn't hard to construe as an act of war. OTOH, if we were to start playing the NKOR game a little bit by having a major international tantrum and demanding an apology, it'd be awfully fun to watch... :-)
ORAN, Algeria, March 4 (AFP) - Thousands of Algerians packed the streets of the city of Oran Tuesday to welcome French President Jacques Chirac on the last day of a historic visit marked by the signing of a pact that signalled the start of "an exceptional partnership."
Chirac had been greeted by huge crowds in the capital Algiers on Sunday, the first day of his three-day visit during which he signed a friendship pact with Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, paving the way for what the French leader called "an exceptional partnership" between the two countries.
On Tuesday, the Algerian press toned down the unstinting praise for Chirac that had characterised its pages Monday, saying that his visit - the first official one by a French president since the north African country gained independence in 1962 - had not completely broken down the wall of mistrust between the two countries.
"The trust spoken of in eloquent speeches is a good thing but it would be better if it were felt at all levels of relations between the French and Algerians," La Nouvelle Republique said in an editorial.
Full trust will only be restored once Air France resumes flights to Algeria - suspended in 1994 after an Airbus belonging to the French carrier was hijacked by Islamists at Algiers airport on Christmas Eve - and requests for military equipment are met, the paper said. Just off the top of my head, I'd guess that hijacking airplanes generally is a fairly bad means of inspiring lasting trust.
"Mistrust persists and we don't yet know at what price our country can hope for a true return of trust with its former guardian. This is, indeed, the mystery surrounding the grandiose return of France to Algeria this week," it wrote.
L'Authentique newspaper said Chirac had failed to meet Algerians' expectations. "Unless there is a miracle by tomorrow, Mr Chirac's visit will be over before it began. It was just an exercise in hospitality," it said.
Le Matin noted that, in his speech to Algeria's parliamentarians, Chirac had not "broached the contentious history of the war, replete with torture, missing persons, massacres of which he did not utter one word..."
Arabic language newspaper Sawt El-Ahrar urged France to ask forgiveness of Algerians, to show that it truly wants reconciliation with its former colony.
"If the French state truly wants to purge its past, it should officially recognise that Algeria existed as a country before it was attacked militarily by France and transformed into a French province," wrote the newspaper, close to the ruling National Liberation Front (FLN) party.
But France's Algerian-born secretary of state for war veterans Hamlaoui Mekachera, who was part of the entourage of political figures, business leaders and artists who accompanied Chirac to Algeria, said in the Al-Fadjr newspaper that the time was now to "build the future rather than cry about the past."
#1
This is a good example of how France's policy isn't really as nuts as it may appear from this side of the pond. Remember, France fought an incredibly brutal colonial war in Algeria way back when. And now the Algerians seem to love them. The French are earning big points from the Islamic world for standing up to the "big, bad US" in the UN. Combine that with a general willingness to see Israel die, and you're now very popular with 1/6th of the worlds population. And what did it cost them? Next to nothing -- for now.
Posted by: Patrick Phillips ||
03/04/2003 15:25 Comments ||
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#2
That works for them in the short term...
Problem is, they're already on a collision course with Islam over the 'cites'.
I'd give even odds for something really nasty happening as soon as we hit Iraq.
#3
I'm sure that there a lot of Algerians that want to move over to France (remember the cries of "Visa, Visa" yesterday). The bigger the enclave, the more pressure for Sharia Law in their area. Froggie Boy (TM) better watch what he is doing.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/04/2003 17:58 Comments ||
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Jaba Ioseliani, a Georgian ex-warlord who helped bring President Eduard Shevardnadze to power in a coup but was then imprisoned for attempting to assassinate him, died on Tuesday. Georgian television reported that Ioseliani, 77, never recovered from a stroke he suffered a week ago. G'bye, Jaba. Don't come back.
In the early 1990s, the former bank robber headed a ragged nationalist militia in the former Soviet republic. He was a key figure in the violent local politics, and in the 1992 coup which brought Shevardnadze to power. Ioseliani was then imprisoned for his alleged role in a 1995 attempt on Shevardnadze's life. He never got back into politics after being released under an amnesty in 2000. Jaba and his "Mkhedrioni" (Horsemen) overthrew Zviad Gamsakhurdia, the self-styled "Saddam Hussein of the Caucasus," who was something of a study in megalomania. Jaba had the opportunity to be a national hero, but never managed to be anything better than a glorified crook.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/04/2003 01:51 pm ||
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#1
Aren't they all bank robbers? The only career that pays, I guess.
Israel and the United States have set up a joint command post next to the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv at which Israeli army officers will be able to view real-time pictures of the movements of American war planes over Iraq in the event of a war. In addition, an American early warning system that is hooked directly into U.S. intelligence satellites over Iraq was transferred to Israel a few weeks ago, giving Israel direct access to information on any Iraqi missile launches at its terrority. The aim is to prove to Israel that the U.S. is doing everything in its power to prevent Iraqi missiles from landing here, and therefore to convince it not to retaliate should any missiles nevertheless hit.
Why not? They held off last time. They've said they won't hold off this time. Why try and make them? To comfort Soddy Arabia?
According to the Wall Street Journal, Israel will be the only country other than the U.S. hooked directly into the U.S. Central Command's communications system. The joint command post in Tel Aviv will enable Israel Defense Forces officers to view what is termed the "common air picture". Israeli officers will thus be viewing exactly the same pictures as the U.S. officers running the war from the CENTCOM base in Qatar. A senior U.S. official told the Journal that this decision was made because the Americans' experience in the 1991 Gulf War convinced them that the best way to restrain the Israelis was to let them see for themselves that the U.S. was doing everything possible to eliminate the Iraqi threat. However, Israel will not be able to use this real-time information to launch its own attack on Iraq, since the Israeli air force will not be able to enter Iraqi airspace unless the U.S. supplies it with the IFF codes that distinguish friend from foe. Bet they have them ready, just in case.
The other measure, the loan of the early warning system, is equally revolutionary. During the Gulf War, Israel received U.S. information about incoming Iraqi Scuds only three minutes after the missile launch â greatly shortening the available reaction time, since a Scud takes only six or seven minutes to travel from western Iraq to Tel Aviv. The satellite data was first relayed to America's ALERT system in Colorado, then to the U.S. Army command and only then to Israel. In 1996, the Clinton administration decided to hook Israel directly into the ALERT system, but even with this improvement, there was a 90-second lag time before Israel received the information. The loan of America's JTAGS early warning system will reduce the lag time to almost zero, giving Israel ample time to operate its Arrow and Patriot anti-missile batteries. In addition, unlike the ALERT system, JTAGS does not filter out any of the data.
The U.S. has also decided to set up a special sub-command, headed by a general from one of its special forces units, for the destruction of missile launchers in western and southern Iraq. The command will seize one or two airfields in western Iraq even before America begins the ground war and will use them as bases for anti-missile operations in the area. The U.S. will employ pilotless drones to locate and destroy the missile launchers. America's hope is that all these measures will persuade Israel to exercise restraint even if Iraq scores a successful missile strike on Israel. The U.S. has also warned Israel that should it respond to an Iraqi attack with non-conventional weapons, it would immediately forfeit all international support. I guess that I don't have to tell you what "non-conventional" weapons are.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/04/2003 12:16 pm ||
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#1
It's nice to see that forthought is being given to Scud hunting. It came as an afterthought last time and caused quite a bit of diverting of resources. Sounds like we have the logistics and tactics figured out in advance this time.
#2
The U.S. has also warned Israel that should it respond to an Iraqi attack with non-conventional weapons, it would immediately forfeit all international support.
What about, say, a Syrian attack? I have to believe that a lot of folks (including Israel) are looking at how they can use the impending chaos as cover for other operations.
#3
Fred, smartest thing the Israelis can do is play dumb and stay out of this. It's like scoring during a time out. We'll do all the work of removing Sammy, and the Israelis can show everyone how they were willing to restrain themselves in the name of peace. It keeps the Syrians and Soddis from having any excuse to interfere.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/05/2003 0:05 Comments ||
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Crews began deploying U.S.-supplied Patriot anti-missile batteries in the greater Tel Aviv area Tuesday, as a back-up system to the Arrow missile killer meant to protect the densely populated center from the potential threat of Iraqi Scud missiles. The deployment of the U.S. Patriot batteries, which had stored until now at Israel Air Force bases, apparently indicates that the American attack in Iraq may be near. Hummmmm.
Israeli Patriot batteries, along with the two that Israel received from Germany, will be deployed in other areas, primarily in Haifa and near the nuclear plant in Dimona. Last week, the Israel Defense Forces issued irregular call-up orders for several dozen missile battery operators. Reserve soldiers will be taught how to operate the second Patriot battery that Israel has received from Germany, which is to become operational within a few weeks. The first is already operational. The Patriots are intended to serve as a second defense line should the Arrow fail to intercept incoming Iraqi missiles. The Arrow is designed to intercept Iraqi Scud missiles some 70 kilometers above the ground, while the Patriot is designed to hit the Scuds at an altitude of 15-30 kilometers. Israeli defense authorities have said that the likelihood that Iraq will launch missiles against Israel has significantly declined since the 1991 Gulf war, in which Saddam Hussein's forces fired 39 Scuds at the Jewish state, causing widespread damage but relatively few casualties. Washington, keen to keep Israel from retaliating for Scud attacks, has assured the Sharon government that it views operations to curb missile firings as a top priority for its forces in an upcoming war.
Israel sat out the first Gulf War. They don't have to sit out a second one...
The defense establishment in Israel is also concerned about experiments that Syria has been conducting recently with Scud-D missiles. The range of these missiles is 700 kilometers, and they are more accurate than the older Scuds. One of the difficulties in intercepting the Scud-D is that in flight the missile splinters, making it more difficult for the Arrow radar system to pick up all its parts. The defense establishment stresses, however, that as of now, there are no signs that Syria may be seeking a confrontation with Israel in the near future. They may be crazy, but they ain't stupid.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/04/2003 11:11 am ||
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#1
which is why the troops off Turkey may sit there awhile alongside the HS Truman....keeping Syria honest.
Posted by: john ||
03/04/2003 22:06 Comments ||
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Visiting Cuban President Fidel Castro told Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Sunday that he is willing to play a role in resolving the North Korean nuclear crisis, government officials said. ...and I will bring Jimmy Carter and maybe Bill Clinton with me to help.
He made the comments during an afternoon meeting at the Iikura House in Tokyo. The foreign ministers of the two countries were also present. "If there is anything I can do, I am prepared to do so within the capabilities of what can be done," Japanese government officials quoted Castro as saying. Koizumi told Castro that the resolution of the North Korea issue was very important, not just for Tokyo and Pyongyang, but for the entire region. The Cuban leader responded by saying that even if North Korea had nuclear weapons, it would be pointless to use them against Japan. ...use them against the US or South Korea instead.
"It is possible for countries such as Japan, China, Russia and South Korea to cooperate and exert influence on North Korea, and a solution can be brought about through political efforts," Castro was quoted as saying. I guess he's not buying into the US- North Korean direct negotiations either.
At the same time, however, he stressed that Cuba's ties with the reclusive state were no longer what they once were. "(Former North Korean leader) Kim Il Sung was a calm and kind man, but I have had no contact with (North Korea's) leaders since his death," he said. because his son appears to be a bigger whackjob then...me.
Castro also met with House of Representatives Speaker Tamisuke Watanuki and former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto earlier in the day. On the issue of Japanese nationals abducted by the North, Castro told Watanuki that it was the first time he had heard of the issue and that he was unable to understand the reason behind the abductions. Really, when did this happen? My cable must've been out.
He suggested there are ways for Japan to resolve the issue, such as through cooperation with China. Koizumi and Castro also discussed the Iraq situation. Koizumi explained that Japan was doing its utmost to make international cooperation compatible with Japan's partnership with the United States. Castro said there was still a chance that Iraq would respect a U.N. resolution to destroy its weapons of mass destruction, and that he would like to do what he could to help defuse the situation. Must be another one of them Nobel Peace prize wannabes. But he has had experience with a similar situation a few years back.
Castro arrived in Tokyo on Saturday for an unofficial three-day visit. It is the second time the 76-year-old Cuban leader has visited Japan. His first visit was in December 1995.
Posted by: tu3031 ||
03/04/2003 10:50 am ||
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"Castro told Watanuki that it was the first time he had heard of the issue and that he was unable to understand the reason behind the abductions."
Castro is "prepared" to help resolve issues between North Korea and Japan...but his preparation didn't include finding out what those issues are. Terrific!
Why do so many busybodies peacemakers think they don't need a passing familiarity with actual facts to be able to tell everybody else how to solve problems?
Posted by: Arthur Fleischman ||
03/04/2003 14:00 Comments ||
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Sophism? Where the hell do they find these words?
Nowadays, the CIA is raising a hue and cry over the "missile threat" from the DPRK, claiming that the whole territory of the U.S. is within the North Korean missile range, while Japan Defence Agency is busy taking "emergency measures" to cope with "North Korea's missile test fire." Such campaign was quite frequent in the U.S. and Japan in the past years. But, we can never overlook the present campaign that has been launched at a time when the DPRK-U.S. confrontation is getting extremely acute and a touch-and-go military situation is prevailing on the Korean Peninsula. The DPRK's production and deployment of missiles are a matter pertaining to its sovereignty in every respect and they are intended to increase its self-defensive military capability. Therefore, they can never be a threat to other countries in any case. So I guess they'll use them on themselves?
Nevertheless, the U.S. and Japanese bellicose forces are making much fuss about "missile threat" from the DPRK. This is nothing but a cunning trick to tarnish the image of the peace-loving DPRK, invent a pretext for their preemptive attack on it and justify their establishment of Missile Defence System (MD). Those "bellicose forces". Japan has them too. Must be some super secret special ops force. I guess the peace loving DPRK doesn't have such units.
The U.S. MD is, in essence, aimed to put the DPRK under its military control, contain big powers around the Korean Peninsula and, furthermore, achieve its purpose of turning the world into a U.S.-led unipolar world. ...and George Bush as Dr.Evil
So, the MD poses a serious threat not only to the Korean people but to the world people desirous of global peace and security. The U.S. is working hard to make the fictitious "missile threat" from the DPRK loom as a potential one in a bid to calm down the condemnation and protest of the unbiased world opinion against the MD and justify it. The clamor about "missile threat" can never be tolerated as it reveals the sinister intention of the U.S. and Japanese warhawks who do not want improved relations with the DPRK... Pursuant to its plan for preemptive attack on the DPRK, the United States is now concentrating huge armed forces, including an aircraft carrier, in and around the Korean Peninsula to stage large-scale war exercises... driving the situation to the brink of a war... The U.S. sometimes shows "carrot" called dialogue and negotiations but it is no more than a window-dressing to cover up its "stick" strategy, which is the core of its Korea policy. That is why it has persistently turned down the DPRK's fair and aboveboard proposal for concluding a non-aggression pact between the two countries. Keeping pace with the U.S. moves, the Japanese bellicose forces are taking an active part in the MD. Such action is arousing the DPRK's vigilance as it is in violation of the basic spirit of the DPRK-Japan Pyongyang Declaration which calls for the settlement of the unpleasant past between the two countries and the establishment of fruitful, political, economic and cultural relations. You don't use our women as whores and we won't kidnap your citizens.
Now that the U.S. and Japanese warhawks are pushing ahead in full swing with the MD threatening the DPRK, we have no option but to further increase our self-defensive military capability. Damn warhawks!
Posted by: tu3031 ||
03/04/2003 11:46 am ||
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we should let them see bellicosity: a brace of FA-18's around the next recon flight. Publish the flight plan in advance and get as close to their coast as int'l waters allow with weapons free. See if Dear Leader's patriotic forces has any cojones in his army-based policy - Now that would be a cunning stunt....or is it a...oh wait, that's a punchline from an old joke, nevermind
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/04/2003 9:24 Comments ||
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Interesting that they're working Japan into it now. Gettin' real riled up, aren't they?
Seven French nationals have started legal action against the leader of the Palestinian Authority, Yasser Arafat, accusing him of crimes against humanity and genocide. The seven — all relatives of Jewish victims killed during the current Palestinian uprising, or intifada — said Mr Arafat was responsible for the crimes. "[Yasser] Arafat had the power and the means to stop acts of terrorism, murders and violence... [but] he organised and paid for them with the money of the Palestinian Authority," the seven families — all French Jews living in Israel — said in a statement. Aha, not your usual "nous aimons Saddam" tadpoles then... (Ta, Babelfish)
The statement said Mr Arafat did not have immunity of a head of state under French laws as there was no internationally recognised Palestinian state. A specially appointed judge must now determine whether the lawsuit can be accepted and pursued legally. Who's responbible for these special appointments, I wonder. And will the next step be the European Court of Human Rights when Chiraq's crony stonewalls? I'd enjoy watching that...
The statement said the suit included dozens of pages describing circumstances surrounding various "criminal acts, suicide bombings... and car bombs which caused death or injury to the victims of the crimes". It said video tapes of speeches at Gaza mosques "inciting directly and publicly to kill Jews" and some of Mr Arafat's speeches were also included. Fun experiment for anyone to try: substitute "Jews" for your own race or nationality, and see how you like it. Incitement of genocide's not nice, is it?
Lawyers for the plaintiffs said that as Jews, they considered themselves victims of "a concerted plan aimed at the partial destruction of a racial or religious group, which constitutes a genocide". The move follows the recent decision by a Belgian appeals court to reject a lawsuit brought by Palestinians to prosecute Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for alleged war crimes. Maybe they couldn't find their tape on which Sharon called for the murder of all Paleos...
However, the Belgian parliament has not ruled out changing the country's laws to bring the case before the court. Who was it told the Belgians they were the moral ubermenschen anyway? Somehow, I don't think the Belgians have really thought things through.
Posted by: Bulldog ||
03/04/2003 07:59 am ||
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A funny thing about this article: you can't tell for sure where the charges against Arafat have been filed. The last paragraphs imply that it's in Belgium, but the first paragraphs say nothing specific about that.
I'm no journalist, but whatever happened to the old idea of making "who,what,why,when, and how" as clear as possible in the first paragraph of the story? Oddly enough, the article is from the BBC -- supposedly a real professional outfit.
Posted by: Patrick Phillips ||
03/04/2003 4:56 Comments ||
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Patrick, I was wondering about that myself, but the charges must have been filed in France: "...Mr Arafat did not have immunity of a head of state under French laws as there was no internationally recognised Palestinian state.".
Britons were warned by the Foreign Office to cancel all non-essential trips to Syria yesterday. "Drat, Alice, I was so looking forward to our trip to Damascus!"
"It's a crushing disappointment, Nigel, but perhaps we can tour the Bekaa Valley instead?"
"Oh, you know how it is with the travel agencies. It will cost us a fortune in bloody re-booking fees!"
Those already in Syria were warned to be vigilant because of increasing regional tension. The "voluntary departure" has been authorised of all non-essential diplomatic staff and their dependants. There have been no recent terrorist attacks in Syria but a number of terrorist organisations are believed to operate from the capital, Damascus. Closely watched by the Eye-Doctor-in-Charge.
The warning on the Foreign Office website reads: "Because of the increasing regional tension, we advise you not to make any non-essential travel, including holiday travel (but excluding airline passengers in transit, provided they do not break their journey), to Syria, and, if already in Syria, to maintain a high level of vigilance and to consider whether your presence and that of your dependants is essential." "In other words, take a bleedin' hint!"
Last month, the Foreign Office upgraded its travel warnings on the Middle East, advising Britons in Iraq to leave and warning against travelling to Kuwait, Israel and the Palestinian territories. Personally I wouldn't go east of oh, Rome.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/04/2003 12:29 am ||
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Oh, I dunno. How about Prague or Sofia?
Posted by: Ed ||
03/04/2003 1:25 Comments ||
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Syria. Number One on my list of dream destinations.
#3
Actually I bet damascus is one of the coolest places to go to. That was the site of one of the caliphates and so there's probably tons of historical sites, beautiful mosques, monuments, gardens, etc. Hopefully some day sanity will be restored in countries like Iraq, Iran, Syria and Lebanon and then we westerners can tour those countries, spend our $ there, shoot the shit with the locals, and everybody is better off. But for now, an American or Brit in Syria would not be safe because of the presence of so many jihadis and because of the dictator bashar assad.
Posted by: Abu Hamza ||
03/04/2003 15:15 Comments ||
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I know Damascus. It's one of the most interesting cities in the Middle East. Certainly the most fascinating bazaar I have ever seen. The Omayyad mosque is absolutely beautiful. Then you have the fantastically well preserved Roman ruins of Palmyra in the desert, the more than impressive crusader castle Krak des Chevaliers, the old city Aleppo and lots of other interesting sites. Syrians are actually very friendly people and a lot less sticky than the Moroccans or Tunisians. Combine the trip with Lebanon (Baalbek Ruins, Beirut etc.) and Jordan ("Rock city" of Petra, bizarre desert scenery of Wadi Rum where Lawrence of Arabia was filmed).
All these places are probably safer than the "Big Orange (Alerted)" New York or London.
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