Qatar expelled a Russian diplomat yesterday, one month after he and two other Russians were detained in Doha over the assassination of Chechen leader Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev in the Gulf state. His expulsion was an apparent swap for two Qataris held in Moscow in retaliation for the arrest of the three Russians, including First Secretary Alexander Fetisov, diplomats said. âThe Foreign Ministry sent an official memorandum on Tuesday to the Russian Embassy in Doha and informed (it) that First Secretary Alexander Fetisov was not desired and had 24 hours to leave the country,â a Qatari Foreign Ministry official said. The official, quoted by the Qatar News Agency (QNA), gave no further details and the Russian Embassy declined to comment. News of the diplomatâs return to Moscow came hours after Russia freed two Qatari wrestlers. It had arrested them the day after the two Russians in Qatari custody were charged with involvement in the car blast that killed Yandarbiyev.
Toldja so. Standard procedure.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/25/2004 6:02:22 PM ||
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.... Thus wrote Saudi publicist Wajiha al Huwayder on the British Arabic Web Site Ilaf, which deals with current events. The title of the provocative article was no less biting than its content: "A call to Arab women: A single life is a thousand times better than marriage to a man in this miserable East."
Up to about half a year ago, Al Huwayder had no reason to write on the Internet. She was an important journalist for the Saudi newspaper Al Watan, where with great daring she expressed her views about the status of women in Arab countries in general and in Saudi Arabia in particular. Last August, Saudi Arabiaâs Crown Prince Abdullah ordered that her work at the newspaper be terminated because she "damaged the foundations of the nation and wrote about issues not permitted by Shariâa" (Islamic religious law)." ....
Al Huwayder therefore found a refuge in writing on the Internet, and from there she embarked on a major attack against those whom she defines as "the pathetic and emasculated men of the East." And this is what she writes:
"Most Arab men have been emasculated since they were young. They have no power to give, and therefore they are incapable of granting a respectable life to anyone. There are no exceptions here, according to the rule that says: A person who lacks something, is unable to give it."
From here Al Huwayder embarks, together with her female readers, on a journey around the Arab countries.
"Letâs begin with the original land of the Arabs, Saudi Arabia. The most important characteristic borne by the men of this country is the impotence complex. Thatâs the reason why the most common medication among them is a drug against impotence. These men spend more money on its purchase than all the men in the world, in order to achieve the missing sense of masculinity. If we examine them under a microscope, we will see that they are pathetic ... whereas the men of the oil-producing countries were educated on the principle that states that they are the best, the only ones. Their foremost wish is the kaffiyeh and the akal [the traditional Arab headcloth and cords], after they have sat themselves down on a chair to which the title "Director" is affixed. They are afflicted by a chronic germ that has determined that guardianship (of a woman) is a sign of masculinity, and that without it their limbs will not be in balance, and their wives will not do well."
From here Al Huwayder goes on to Iraq, where "blood flows as quickly as the flowing of the waters of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. And what remains of its men? The remains of a Nazi regime." And so on to Syria, Jordan, and even Palestine and Egypt - countries in which the men, says Al Huwayder, are pathetic and humiliated. They live in poor countries "but material poverty is no disgrace, the disgrace is their poverty of thought, which prevents them from realizing their ignorance when they link the honor of the nation to the blood of a woman."
Al Huwayder ends her geographic survey of men without finding even one country in which there are men who are worthy of Saudi women or of Arab women in general. She says that in Saudi Arabia "there is nothing that should arouse in you the feeling of shame at being single, or regret about the years of solitude. The land of the Arabs is full of men who are losers, men who are not worthy of you or of your status. Is it logical that after a long fast you should break your fast with a meal lacking taste or smell, and accompany defective men all your lives?"
Al Huwayder has strong words for Saudi women as well. In another article she published on the site, she accuses the women of having become accustomed "to laziness, to relying on someone else, and to waiting for the men to bring loot and gifts from "the hunting fields." ...
Posted by: Homer Simpson ||
03/25/2004 9:43:31 AM ||
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#1
D'oh! This article was posed by me.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
03/25/2004 10:16 Comments ||
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Woot! Woot! This is one classy Saudi lady. And everything she says (there's quite a bit more at the link) fits to a "T" what I saw.
I had, in my 2 tours in SA, a few wymyn "friends" - though the relationships wouldn't qualify in the West as being beyond acquantence or work associate. But for Saoodi, it was pretty big magic for an expat to actually have decent unabridged conversations with a Saudi woman. I certainly met none with the stones of the author, but then the ones I knew were still young - and hadn't been forced into a arranged marriage, yet. That's where the author's main point might fail: family pressure to accept an arrangement would be very powerful. Loss of face for the Patriarch (refusing to cooperate) would probably mean some very nasty consequences in the norm. Except where there was true tolerance, love, and respect - such defiance would be unthinkable or heavily punished, IMHO.
The key impression I took away from Saudi was that wymyn who speak out / want to work / act independently are usually punished or confined (and shunned within the family) -- or if the males in her life were very very tolerant (that means connected and well exposed to Western ways, BTW) then she was treated like a favored pet - not taken seriously in the least. The way you would treat a child with an overactive imagination.
I wish there was a link to her site - I don't see one.
#7
gromky - This isn't generic anti-myn stuff at all. If you read it you'll find it's very specifically targeted criticism of Arab males and Arab society - which is based upon Shari'a Law, of course. She's dead-right, too, I've seen it first-hand.
#9
I think the problem is, while she may be spot-on with her criticisms of Arab men, it's that very feeling of impotence that causes them to so brutalize and oppress their women-folk: They need to feel they have power over something. And Islam has a long history of putting their women second. Forget "rights of men over women are equal to rights of women over men." Mohammed didn't respect women, and I don't think his modern-day followers do, either.
Posted by: The Doctor ||
03/25/2004 15:19 Comments ||
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#10
"...the most common medication among them is a drug against impotence... If we examine them under a microscope...
Ouch!
Posted by: Old Grouch ||
03/25/2004 22:10 Comments ||
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Doctor: Wrong, wrong, wrong.
The men in Saudi don't oppress the women because theey are powerless and it makes them feel better.
They do it because they can.
And because they are encouraged to do so from an early age by all their relatives, their teachers and their clerics. Their society makes the cultural rules and they accept them.
Saudi women would be the natural allies of the west. They have everything to gain by westernisation and democratisation of Saudi.
Most of all they have everything to gain from a cultural shift away from fanatical Islamist fascism and towards a turkey-style moderately Muslim state.
Being real for a minute, we cannot win the WOT by armed conflict alone: it is an ideological battle and we must win by crushing the fascist, repressive, western-freedom hating aspect of Islamist culture.
The women of Islam are our natural allies and the sooner the State Department and the Pentagon realise this and begin a serious psy-ops initiative of cultural warfare, the better.
Wahhabism treats women like dirt, and guess what? Women are human beings with brains.
This is also the weakpoint of the bleeding-heart left. Try bringing it up next time they call you racist. They give not one jot of caring about the women treated like chattel slaves in Saudi for all their prating about human rights.
The Central Intelligence Agency did not target Al Qaeda chief Osama bin laden once as he had the royal family of the United Arab Emirates with him in Afghanistan, the agency's director, George Tenet, told the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks on the United States on Thursday. Had the CIA targeted bin Laden, half the royal family would have been wiped out as well, he said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/25/2004 1:56:48 AM ||
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#1
Well if the royal family was with him then they were enemy and thus a legitimate target.
#2
"Had the CIA targeted bin Laden, half the royal family would have been wiped out as well, he said."
Gee, and he says that like it's a bad thing....
A friend of mine, even more bloodthirsty creative than I am (yes, as bad as that), suggests that we could take a long step toward solving the terror problem by rounding up the the males of Soddy royal family and publicly crucifying them at 50 yard intervals along the Mecca-Medina highway.
The peninsula's minor brigands, like the UAE royals, could be thrown in as a bonus.
We could hold a triumphal procession down Pennsylvania Avenue when it's over.
The climax would be a celebratory sporting event in RFK Stadium, where captured terrorists would be forced to fight to the death or, alternatively, fed to the White House's new pride of ceremonial lions.
Hey, it worked for the Romans, and we could get billions for the TV rights.
#6
Actually, I'm all for ending the lives of all the members of all the "royal families" in the Middle East - after all, they're just a bunch of over-rated camel-herders with an attitude problem. I just think it'd be too risky for our guys to hang 'em too closely to the glowing radioactive holes I hope Mecca and Medina become after the next terrorist attack against the United States. I also have the solution to the "imam" problem: feed them to the sharks (if they'll eat them - there's the same problem with feeding trial lawyers to sharks - that "professional courtesy" thing). Who knows, shark trolling may become big business in the Middle East...
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/25/2004 12:09 Comments ||
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Five more people have been arrested in Spain in connection with the March 11 Madrid train bombings, taking the total numbers detained to 18. Police sources told the Spanish-language network CNN+ that three were arrested Wednesday night and another two arrested Thursday. Sources at the National Court told CNN+ that the three arrested Wednesday were seized on the orders of Judge Ismael Moreno, who was the judge on duty at the time. The files on the latest arrests will go to Judge Juan del Olmo, who carries the dossier on the Madrid attacks. Of the 18 people arrested so far in the train probe, 11 have been charged with offenses related to the attacks. Two others have been detained then released without charge. A German television station said the three suspects arrested Wednesday had lived in Germany and were "directly involved" in planning the Madrid bombings. Interior Ministry spokesman Richard Ibanez said those arrested included Moroccans and at least one Syrian national. Anyone care to place a bet that the âSyrian national(s)â are in fact paleos? I noted at the time the MO looked like paleo handiwork.
Leaders are expected to adopt a Declaration on Combating Terrorism. This was drawn up by EU interior ministers on 19 March - a week after the Madrid bombings - and then adopted by foreign ministers on 22 March. Here are the key elements: EFL
* the adoption of a "solidarity clause" from the draft EU constitution which provides for mutual assistance in the event of a terrorist attack
* the integration of an intelligence structure on terrorism within the Council Secretariat. High Representative Javier Solana will be charged with presenting a report to the June European Council on how this might be achieved. (It will not be a "European CIA" as suggested by Belgium and Austria)
* make counter-terrorism a key element of political dialogue when agreeing on external programmes with third countries. (This means that aid and trade could be affected if a country is not deemed to have cooperated sufficiently) As I pointed out the other day, the European "multilateral" approach will be purely defensive. It will rely on better coordination between police and intelligence agencies for the most part. There will be limited use of wealth transfer and sanctions to incentivize/disincentivize nations that fund or tolerate the operation of terror groups. There will be a bureaucratic coordinating body at the EU level that will add additional paperwork and probably be as useful as the Department of Homeland Security. It will be as easily flanked and turned as its predecessor 65 years ago.
#1
You're right, I don't see anything here about actually hunting them down and killing them.
make counter-terrorism a key element of political dialogue when agreeing on external programmes with third countries. (This means that aid and trade could be affected if a country is not deemed to have cooperated sufficiently)
- "Counter-terrorism" has a broad definition; can any one else see "United States" in place of "third countries"? Especially with the recent charge that the US going after al-Q has led to an "increase" in terrorist attacks?
Posted by: The Doctor ||
03/25/2004 15:35 Comments ||
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provides for mutual assistance in the event of a terrorist attack
Oh great. They'll send each other band-aids and condolences.
Some defining keywords (in order of appearance): Declaration, solidarity, Secretariat, report, Council, dialogue
Somehow I prefer the Bush method of dealing with terrorism.
Posted by: Rafael ||
03/25/2004 15:56 Comments ||
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Somehow I prefer the Bush method of dealing with terrorism.
they are both needed..Europe is military not capable so it better provide other means of assistance..
They're both needed perhaps... as example and counter-example of how to be effective...
Posted by: Mark Onyschuk ||
03/25/2004 16:22 Comments ||
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Integration of intelligence is a good thing for internal security, but also for the US. It will take time before Europe is gonna be ready to flex a military muscle
Welcome back!
Hang gliding has evidently returned to the 2004 Olyi BOOM!
Posted by: Pedro Pan ||
03/25/2004 17:21 Comments ||
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"* make counter-terrorism a key element of political dialogue when agreeing on external programmes with third countries. (This means that aid and trade could be affected if a country is not deemed to have cooperated sufficiently)"
Initial list in the compliance-exception clause: Iran, N. Korea, Syria, Palistinian Authority, Cuba, Venezuela, China, Lebanon, Dominican Republic...
#11
A charitable view of Euro position is conflict between Israel and Palestinians is causing Islamic terrorism.If that conflict is resolved,that will end terrorist threat.With this belief comes anger at Israel for not reaching a deal w/Palestinians,and anger at US for not forcing Israel to deal and for attacking other countries that have nothing to do w/"root cause".Euro elites also believe their experience w/leftist terrorists(Red Brigade,et.al.)in 70's,80's shows this view to be correct.Once the "root cause"-US/Soviet confrontation-disappeared,the terrorist attacks petered out.(The Euro countries also moved left,co-opting some of the radicals).Since Europe couldn't fight Soviet Union militarily,the anti-terrorist effort became a law-enforcement exercise.To the Euro elites,the Euro way was again proven correct by Britian's struggle w/IRA.Once Britain agreed to negotiate w/IRA over giving up Northern Ireland,IRA terror attacks stopped.
Unfortunately,OBL and his Al-Q leadership don't appear to care one bit for the Palestinians.They hate Western(esp.US)influence on Islam.Realizing in today's world there is no way to prevent outside influences from entering a society,OBL and Al-Q have logically concluded the only way to stop such "pollution" is to destroy Western society.
If the lack of a Palestinian state was the driving force behind Al-Q,US and coalition forces should be encountering hordes of Palestinians in Iraq and Afghanistan.Instead,US and Coalition forces have encountered Saudis,Yemenis,Egyptians,Syrians,Morrocans,Brits,Canadians,Jordanians,Pakistanis-and very few Palestinians.
The Euro view is logically based on their previous experience.The problem is they have misidentified what OBL and Al-Q want and are applying wrong "fix".Fortunately for Europe,OBL and AL-Q believe US is main opponent and their efforts are aimed against US.
Posted by: Stephen ||
03/25/2004 21:25 Comments ||
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They don't really have to play offense if we do the job for them. I guess we chose the same policy prior to WWI and WWII and then got pulled in. They see this as our fight.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
03/26/2004 2:23 Comments ||
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A Turkish suicide bomber who survived a deadly attack on a masonic lodge in Istanbul earlier this month has expressed repentance but denied membership of any outlawed group, the media reported here Tuesday. Engin Vural, still in hospital recovering from loss of an arm and serious abdominal injuries, confessed to a prosecutor on his sickbed to having received training on bomb-making in a camp in Pakistan controlled by the al-Qaeda terrorist network, the NTV news channel reported.
I hope it came with a money-back guarantee...
Vural, however, denied that he belonged to the group or other outlawed organisation, the report said.
"No, no! Certainly not! (I ain't doin' no 50 years in a Turkish prison with only one arm and a colostomy bag...)"
He said he and a fellow bomber killed in the blast had planned the March 9 attack together with Adem Cetinkaya, another suspected Islamist whom police have arrested. Vural told the prosecutor that Cetinkaya had supplied them with the weapons and explosives used in the attack, which killed a waiter and injured five freemasons, Anatolia news agency reported.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/25/2004 9:43:11 AM ||
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#2
Let's hope there was a drip involved, something useful to attach the anode to, cathode obviously goes on the cholostomy bag, with a big switch in-between and a humming jennie in the background.
I like the graphics and vetting system but it would be good to rate the trolls on their high level of assholeman-ship, (not you , Shipman)(!). They could start on No 10 Asshole, get their score up to No 1, then become a Colostomy Bag for 5 go's, and then achieve the exalted status of.... Rectum. (Or just: shitfor-brains).
#4
#3 (!).............Similar to a Melodic Cattle Prodder, Ship, but hums quietly in the background, with a few harmonics thrown in occasionally, mostly in the keys of E and I and Ow. Sometimes referred to as "She, The Humming Jennie". I'm just looking for the lyrics to the song now, hang 5....;)........
A mysterious group that claimed to have planted bombs on the French railroad network announced Thursday it is suspending its terror threats while it improves its ability to carry them out.
In two letters, addressed to President Jacques Chirac and Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, the group, which calls itself AZF, said that "there are currently no bombs capable of functioning on the French rail network."
"With the experience gained these last weeks and now conscious of its technological, logistic and other weaknesses, AZF suspends its action for the time needed to remedy this," the one-page typed letter said.
The Interior Ministry said it received the letter Thursday morning, and made a copy available to the press. It carried the letters "AZF" and an arrow in the top left corner.
The letter came a day after a bomb with seven detonators was found half-buried on a passenger train track near the town of Troyes, southeast of Paris, triggering a massive inspection of the tracks.
It was the second bomb discovered hidden under tracks in just over a month â and the second inspection of thousands of miles of track.
In the new letter, AZF also included a cryptic threat, saying that if the money were not paid when asked, "France will surpass without glory the sad Spanish records," an apparent reference to the Madrid bombings.
"So understand well that we in no way renounce obtaining the sum ... that you should consider as a subsidy," the letter said.
Investigators have carried on a cat-and-mouse game with AZF, using special phone lines and newspaper classified ads addressing the group with code names like "My big wolf." The investigators sign off as "Suzy."
The daily newspaper Liberation said Thursday that police placed more ads March 12 and 17 that said "discretion assured" and included phone and fax numbers.
Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin has said there had been "several contacts" with AZF. State-run France-2 TV reported Wednesday a rendezvous had been planned for last weekend but AZF apparently did not follow up.
In the letter, AZF described itself as "a small brotherhood" with no grievances against the French government.
"Our true objective is to strike a decisive blow against the depraved spirit that prevails today in most human actions," the letter said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/25/2004 9:40:18 AM ||
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#1
Sounds like the Chirac must have met their first installment plan.
#4
These guys are taping everything for a documentary to be narrated by Peter Sellers.
Posted by: Mr. Davis ||
03/25/2004 11:30 Comments ||
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#5
Perhaps the French, in the spirt of multicultural cooperation and understanding, could offer technical assistance to AZF.
Posted by: Michael ||
03/25/2004 12:00 Comments ||
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#6
Man, this whole thing just smacks of a group of "revolutionary" students and professors. What is this masturbatory bullshit? Coded classified ads? Someone is attention-whoring, and reveling in the fact that he's being taken seriously. Be on the lookout for Marxist professors who have gone from being their usual glum selves to upbeat and lively in the past few months.
Posted by: Daniel King ||
03/25/2004 12:34 Comments ||
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#9
there's a UN report that mentionnes several cases of blackmail like this in which Western governement actually did pay money to avert attacks..What's the opinion here on this?
#11
...police placed more ads March 12 and 17 that said "discretion assured"...
Ohhhh! I've seen those! They also say stuff like "professional and courteous","sophisticated and elegant","classy and prompt"---oh, here's one: "BARELY LEGAL". Dang! Pretty brazen of them terrorists to advertise in the phone book like that.
(Hmmm ... "Bored Housewives" ... "Older & Better" ... "No Tips Escort Service" ... now that's class, man, all class.)
Islamic extremists had planned a bomb attack on Milan's main railway station similar to that which rocked Madrid on March 11, Italian media reports said on Thursday.
Citing statements made to Italian anti-terrorist police by a man it called "Italy's first al-Qaeda turncoat", the daily Corriere della Sera said the attackers would have placed bombs in left-luggage lockers in the station and set them to blow up at a time when it would be packed with travellers.
Other targets named by the man were Milan's police headquarters, a Nato military base in Mondragone, near Naples, and Italian television personalities, according to the newspaper.
The Milan headquarters of Italy's paramilitary Carabinieri police was another target, it said.
The newspaper said the attacks were planned between 1997 and 2001.
The man, identified by the newspaper as a Tunisian called "Ahmed", was arrested in 2001 before the September 11 attacks in the United States, and sentenced to four years and six months for criminal association.
"We consider this collaborator to be plausible and we are continuing to check out his statements," Milan anti-terrorism magistrate Elio Ramondini said.
The Corriere della Sera quotes in its report from leaked statements made by the man to police in September, 2003.
It said Ahmed, a former taxi driver with a diploma in musicology, was convicted of being part of an extremist network which included Essid ben Khemais, considered by Italian authorities as a key al-Qaeda figure in Europe and jailed for five years in 2002.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/25/2004 9:37:22 AM ||
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There are some highly intelligent Islamist terrorist strategists who understand European politics to an extraordinary degree and, more importantly, they know how to exploit divisive issues in European politics like the war in Iraq, with or without suicide bombers.
This statement flies in the face of Fareed Zakaria's March 15 Newsweek column, "The radicals are desperate." If Madrid March 11 is an example of their desperation, one shudders to think what the terrorists will do when they become cautious and optimistic.
My view of their political intelligence is based on a March 14 expose in the Italian daily, Il Giornale of Milan, about an al Qaeda pamphlet published last year and discovered on the Web by Israeli and Norwegian investigators.
The headline over the March 14 Giornale story reads:
"The plan of the attack [on Madrid, March 11] was written in a booklet in 2003, in Iraq."
What the 42-page pamphlet makes clear is that Madrid â remember this pamphlet is dated a year ago â was to be the first terrorist target to be followed by a similar terrorist attack on Italy, both attacks coupled to the anti-American terrorist resistance in Iraq. The objective of the attack was to force both countries to withdraw their troops from the coalition forces in Iraq. That, as we have seen, has already happened in Spain in the aftermath of the March 11 catastrophe.
The pamphlet, titled, "Jihad in Iraq: Hopes and Risks. Analysis of Reality, Prospects and Current State of Jihad in Iraq," was published by a "Service Center for Mujaheddin," a name associated with al Qaeda. It was found by the Forsvarets Forskning Institutt, the Norwegian intelligence agency, and the Israeli secret service, according to Il Giornale.
The 2003 pamphlet begins:
"To compel the Spanish government to retreat from Iraq, we must strike powerfully. These attacks will be accompanied by a propaganda campaign on the issue of Iraq. To do this, it is essential to take advantage of the political elections in March 2004. The Spanish government cannot afford more than two or three attacks, after which it will have to retreat under the pressure of popular protest. If, however, the Spanish troops were to remain in Iraq, the Socialists will get elected, precisely on the basis of their explicit promise to bring back the troops."
The pamphlet then proposes the same destabilizing strategy and cooperation with pacifist movements in Italy, where, it says, the situation is similar to Spain's. Target No. 3 is Britain.
"The retreat of the Spanish and Italian troops from Iraq," concludes the booklet, "will create enormous pressure on Great Britain, which Tony Blair may not be able to handle. The dominoes will fall fast. The only problem is the choice of the first piece to hit."
Well, they chose Spain and won. Next stop? Italy, Britain?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/25/2004 2:06:52 AM ||
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#1
Europeans are not stupid. Europeans perceive this threat, and they will defend themselves against it. We may laugh about their committees and slow progress, but there should be no doubt that Europe will aggressively hunt and eventually crush the Moslem terrorists in Europe.
Anyone can get hit by a sucker punch. The USA got hit by a sucker punch on September 11. Spain got hit by a sucker punch on March 11.
The European Union's population is 380 million. They will not be defeated by several dozen small, secret groups of alien Moslem terrorists.
.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
03/25/2004 8:13 Comments ||
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MS - I hope you're right - on all points. I wish I had faith across the board, as you do. I do have faith in the intelligence / security services of some European countries - and they probably have the required relations and arrangements with (much or all of) the remainder to make progress against the Izzoids. TGA has made this point before and convinced me to wait and see.
Your sensitivity is understood - you obviously have an emotional, as well as intellectual, connection underlying your comments - your persistence is as telling as it is admirable! But the criticisms posted here aren't coming out of vaccuum. Where the tone is harsh, it mirrors the sense of new vulnerability - or worse: betrayal.
Complicity issues (UN - everything it touches, ease of manipulation and gridlock / EU - Oil for Food, Paleos / France & Russia - Oil for Food, nuke reactors, etc) or sudden changes compromising security arrangements (Spain - the first open break since the WoT began in earnest; Who would now freely share intel with Spain?) compromise our efforts -- and have generated the response. It certainly was predictable - so where does the surprise come from? Accept that they have created the issues, not us. They are autonomous - and culpable - we are reacting to their actions - or the lack of them.
Bush could not be any clearer - nor could he have made me any prouder. I hope you're right, I hope Europe is willing to fight fire with fire. Timidity, a hallmark of the collective EU and many individual countries thus far, will serve no one except the terrorists.
#3
How many European countries will have to be hit, how many people will have to die, before Europe gets the message that you can't deal with these people? You give in, they push harder next time. You have to hunt them down and kill them, and while your faith is admirable, Mike, as .com said, I just don't know if Europe really has the balls to do it. I wish they did, because if they aren't with us, then we'll have very few standing up against these bastards, and a whole lot of potential betrayers - I fear that we'll get a situation like in the old Soviet Union, where citizens, even though they might have their own doubts about the government, would betray their neighbors so the authorities wouldn't come for them.
Posted by: The Doctor ||
03/25/2004 9:12 Comments ||
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#4
Europeans are not stupid.
Dude, when you state something that bizarre, you're going to have to provide evidence.
They will not be defeated by several dozen small, secret groups of alien Moslem terrorists. .
Nope. They'll be beaten by the millions of Muslims they've invited in and let get away with acting like barbarians. They'll be beaten by their own cowardice.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
03/25/2004 9:12 Comments ||
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#5
They will not be defeated by several dozen small, secret groups of alien Moslem terrorists.
Well that is the issue the Euros have to deal with. they think this is like the Baader Meinhof or the Red Brigades. A handful of extremists. Read the polls of Arab and Moslem views to 9/11 etc. A significant proportion think its was a 'good' thing then multiple that persentage by the male population of muslims between 18 and 40 in the EU and you get hundreds of thousands. That is the problem you have to deal with. As I pointed out before the IRAs pool of potential recruits was about a hundred thousand people in total and in a quite small geographic area. The jihadists pool of potential recruits in the EU is a hundred times larger spread over an area thousands of times bigger. The IRA was never defeated militarily despite 25 years trying. Now do you grasp what you are up against. This is just the begining. It will get much much worse.
Posted by: Smith ||
03/25/2004 10:44 Comments ||
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#7
Europeans may not be stupid, but it looks like a lot of them have decided that cultural suicide is the best option. Look at Spain's fertility rate: unless something changes fast, Spain will indeed again be al-Andalus in a couple of generations. But for the time being, the Spaniards have a good deal. If you don't eat dinner until 10:00 or 11:00, it not very convenient to have children around. Just bring in North Africans to do the nasty work, and party away until the wee hours every night. Here's another indicator: what percentage of Spanish and Italian 30-year old "men" live at home with mommy and daddy? Most of them do, or so I hear.
#8
The IRA was never defeated militarily despite 25 years trying
The IRA wasnt trying to take over Great Britain - they were trying to take over (or get the Irish Republic to take over) Ulster, where something like 40% of the population sympathized with them. Ultimately the cost benefit for Britain simply wasnt there. Islamists taking over Europe is something else. Kinda like why the US left Viet Nam after 7 years, while the Israelis have stayed in the territories for 37 years, despite a much worse ratio of national power to the magnitude to the population in question.
Which is not to say the Euro approach of handling this as purely a police matter is the best one, but its not quite as hopeless as the Ulster comparison makes it look, I think.
#9
neo con, IIUC the siesta in the afternoon, dinner late at night was common in the Med countries back when they had high birthrates. In fact they do something like that in Israel (or did in 1981, at any rate) yet Israel had a high birth rate for a Western country (im speaking of the Israeli Jews). It was originally an accomodation to the climate, IIUC.
#10
LH -- sorry, but the climate theory doesn't wash. Much of Spain is hot in the summer, but most peoples in the world live in hotter climates yet still manage to lead a diurnal existence. Other Med. peoples may eat dinner late -- but at midnight? American college students generally love semesters abroad in Madrid. "Its sooo great -- hardly any school work, and we get to go clubbing everynight until dawn!"
CIA Director George Tenet on Wednesday said he suspects that more than 100 al-Qaeda-trained extremists were in Europe while evidence in Madridâs March 11 bombings "strongly implicates" militants linked to Osama bin Ladenâs network.
"We suspect that there may be over 100 al-Qaeda trained extremists in Europe," Tenet told the Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States on September 11, 2001, which on Wednesday held the second of two-day open hearings with top officials from the George W Bush and Bill Clinton administrations.
Explosives used in the Madrid train attacks "were inexpensive and likely obtained locally and the key suspects appear to have some explosives expertise," he said in prepared remarks. "This suggests that they could have launched the attack without financial or operational help from al-Qaeda or other terrorist groups," he added.
According to information obtained since September 11, he said: "Europe-based al-Qaeda associates traditionally have received little or no oversight or funding from al-Qaedaâs leaders. While the investigation is far from complete, available information strongly implicates Spain-based extremists linked to al-Qaeda as being responsible," he said, adding: "We have no information indicating whether the central al-Qaeda leadership ordered or approved the attack."
They wouldn't have had to. The stuff that's been found online to date basically laid out their strategy rather succinctly for anybody who knew where to look and the nuts and bolts work was left to the local cells. It isn't called "decentralized" for nothing ...
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/25/2004 1:41:37 AM ||
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TWEEEEEEEEEEEEET. Reveille, reveille. All hands heave out and trice up. [Sorry, had a flashback to another solution to sleepers.]
Posted by: Super Hose ||
03/25/2004 13:47 Comments ||
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#2
Ouch! I busted ma head.
Posted by: P. Spackle ||
03/25/2004 17:40 Comments ||
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P. Spckle, have you been through Great Lakes?
Posted by: Super Hose ||
03/25/2004 22:26 Comments ||
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Rekindling debate on how close Libya actually came to acquiring a nuclear bomb, a private arms-control group says the Bush administration overstated the number of devices the country had for making uranium fuel....
And since I refuse to register, thatâs all there is, there isnât any more...
Posted by: Anonymous2U ||
03/25/2004 12:11:27 AM ||
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Of course they're saying that...
This is a shining success for Bush's foreign policy. Everything possible must be done to take the luster off it.
Even if what ISIS says is true, Libya's weapons program was still far more advanced than anyone knew. It's like the difference between finding a bull elephant in your china shop and finding a bull in your china shop.
Five-year plan to âput footprints in the snowâ and assert northern sovereignty
by Adrian Humphreys, The National Post EFL
Canada is launching an extensive five-year plan to march soldiers through all of its uninhabited Arctic territory in the largest bid yet to exert sovereignty over its northern domain, an area drawing increasing international attention and conflicting territorial claims.
"We must reclaim this uninhabited frozen wasteland for Canada, eh!"
"Why is that, Doug?"
"So some other hosehead country doesnât take it by adverse possession."
"Ah, Doug?"
"Yeah, Bob?"
"What other country would want it?"
"I dunno. Want another Moosehead?"
"Yeah. Beauty, eh?"
The enhanced northern security and sovereignty efforts encompass both low-tech manpower and cutting-edge science, ranging from patrols by soldiers driving snowmobiles and carrying antique rifles (which are more reliable in the biting cold), to an intensive satellite surveillance system to monitor the Arctic from space, the National Post has learned.
"Allright you, there! Youâre violating Canadian territory. Stop, or Iâll shoot!"
"Ah, Doug, we donât have any budget for ammunition."
"Oh. Okay. Well, ah, stop or Iâll . . . beat you like a baby seal!"
"Ah, Doug?"
"Yeah, Bob."
"That is a baby seal."
"Oh."
"Weâre putting footprints in the snow where they are not normally put," said Colonel Norris Pettis, who as commander of Canadian Forces Northern Area is the ranking military officer in the north.
I pity the poor bloody, er, frozen, infantry who have to go do it.
Posted by: Mike ||
03/25/2004 4:48:45 PM ||
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#1
Am I alone or do Canadians have WAY to much time on their hands? Hand me a molsen plz!
#3
I actually think China might be licking its chops...all that resource rich open land must look pretty good to an overcrowded Asian nation right about now. Especially considering that there will be around 70 mil frustrated single young men coming out of there in the next 20 years...look out Baby Seals!
#5
The country that ought to be nervous about some one else wanting "Lebensraum" is Australia. Between China, India and Indonesia I would think Canberra is thinking really hard about its strategic future. Plus the thing with Canada is I wonder if there has been some oil exploration going on, on the sly up north.
#9
China's not too far off. Posted a story someplace last year about the Canadians getting a call from up North. Seems a bunch of Chinese sailors were wandering around town. China had sent a ship to the Northwest Passage and it made port in one of the villages up there. The first the gov't knew was the call.
#11
carrying antique rifles (which are more reliable in the biting cold),
The reason I think is fewer moving parts to bind up. But I've never shot a rifle at 50 below either.
Posted by: Bill Nelson ||
03/25/2004 21:28 Comments ||
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#12
Don't laugh...most of America's drinking water comes from Canada!
Posted by: Rafael ||
03/25/2004 21:55 Comments ||
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Spent two weeks of pure misery in March one year at a place called Cold Lake, Ontario. The name fit. We were about 20 miles from Hudson's Bay, it was -40F, the wind never stopped blowing, and I've never seen diesel fuel freeze so fast before. I don't know if rifles of any kind would have fired, but touching bare metal with bare hands was a definite no-no! Was VERY glad to get back to South Carolina!
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/26/2004 0:15 Comments ||
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Last night I read the story about Dana Beaudine was wounded in a mortar attack near the town of Basra in Iraq. But after he came home a decorated war veteran, and after he came back he has been trying to get his job back with Securitas Security Services USA, the nationâs largest private security firm, which counts among its clients the federal government. http://www.rantburg.com/Default.asp?D=3/24/2004#28987
I wrote Securitas Security Services USA and complied. Below is a copy of the e-mail I received back. Does any one know the rest of the story. Who is trying to con us -- Securitas Security Services USA or Dana Beaudine.
Just to put you at ease... I am personally insulted by any company that would restrict the rights of our military personnel to return to work after a tour of duty. My brother commanded a very dangerous air reconnaissance group over Iraq during the peak of the war effort. The case you are referring to is not about this. We have a duty to insure the public safety. The article you read did not give all the facts. Telling you more would violate this individuals right to privacy.
Craig A. Smith
President, Rocky Mountain Region
Securitas Security Services, USA
E-mail: craig.smith@securitasinc.com
[Craig Smith (06-198)] -----Original Message-----
From: Jack Bross [mailto:jjb@Achievergroup.com]
Sent: Wednesday, March 24, 2004 5:28 PM
To: Craig Smith (01980)
Cc: info@securitasinc.com
Subject: Dana Beaudine
Dear Sirs,
What is being done to reinstate this heroâs right to his job.
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.asp?HC=Main&D=3/24/2004&ID=28987
Jack Bross
President,
Achiever Group, Inc.
Posted by: Jack Bross ||
03/25/2004 6:05:41 PM ||
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It really all began one sunny May morning in Tampa, Florida in 1997. Three Federal agents, one each from the INS, the FBI and the U.S. Customs Service, teamed up to knock on the apartment door of Mazen Al-Najjar. He answered, and the agents proceeded to serve a duly issued INS Form I-200 Warrant of Arrest in Deportation Proceedings. Al-Najjar was taken into custody without incident that morning, but the arrest would begin a chain of events that would garner international media attention, ibecome an issue in a Presidential election and have ramifications on the nationâs War on Terror.
Why was Al-Najjarâs arrest so significant? Al-Najjar had been identified in the ongoing Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) investigation in Tampa that began, at least on the criminal side, in late 1994 after the airing of the PBS special Jihad in America. Al-Najjar was an alien who was in the United States illegally, and he had been placed under deportation proceedings before his arrest that day in May but not detained. That was not an unusual practice, since there was pending litigation against him at the Immigration Court level. (His wife, also unlawfully in the U.S., and American citizen kids lived with him in Tampa.)
Once the Immigration Court ruled against Al-Najjar (and his wife), and ordered them deported, that changed his status from the perspective of the government. He was, at that point, an alien who had been found deportable by a judge and who had been denied all relief from deportation. Additionally, the government developed no shortage of evidence against Al-Najjar, linking him to the PIJ and other PIJ operatives. Some of that evidence was information the government did not want to reveal then because further investigation was continuing against other suspects, and some of it was classified.
A decision was made to detain Al-Najjar after the deportation order was entered against him by the Immigration Court, and to seek his continued detention, in part, based upon the submission of certain classified information to the Court. This was a rarely utilized process in deportation proceedings. However, it was entirely legal. What some of the government folks underestimated at the time was the extent of the reaction utilizing such a process would have among certain groups. Individuals and organizations sympathetic to Al-Najjar very quickly picked up the use of âsecret evidenceâ as a cause celebreâ, and the circus began. ..... read the entire article
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
03/25/2004 8:28:55 AM ||
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#1
Good read, Mike - Thx!
Reno's behavior was reprehensible - as was Judge Lenard's. Surely there must be some redress available for such malfeasance and misfeasance. Slackers, both.
I always thought that the National Security Act statutes would be sufficient - apparently not, or they are for far more dire situations and cannot be triggered for some particular reason. Time for our legal beagles to take over and strut their stuff!
There is so much here that is relevant to both the WoT and the more mundane subject of ejecting the immigration lawbreakers that it's hard to see where to begin! We need a zero-tolerance approach - all the marbles are on the line. And this reminds me how unhappy I am with Bush's new proposals regards Mexico's hordes. Again, it's obvious that we are long overdue for a total overhaul of immigration law and enforcement policy - and once settled, adequate enforcement funding.
The election year is prolly a huge damper - the LLL crowd is scraping the barrel for boogeymen and this, as the article makes clear, would qualify in their tiny little looney minds. There is just no cure when the patient is willfully ignorant. Sigh.
Thanx, again, Mike. Excellent review and an eye-opener!
Amnesty International issued a report stating that "using children to carry out or assist in armed attacks of any kind is an abomination. We call on the Palestinian leadership to publicly denounce these practices." The report was published on Thursday in response to Wednesday's foiled attack, in which a 14-year-old Palestinian, Husam Abdu Hawara, was discovered carrying an explosive' belt while attempting to pass through Hawara checkpoint, near Nablus. According to the boy's account, he received NIS 100 to blow himself up near the soldiers, with the additional promise of being awarded 72 virgins in heaven.
"Hey, kid! You open to a job as a suicide bomber?"
"Uhhh... I guess. What's it pay?"
Last week, Israeli soldiers discovered a bag of explosive in the possession of an 11-year old Palestinian child at the same checkpoint. The boy, who regularly carried bags for travelers from one side of the checkpoint to the other, was reported not to have been aware that one of the bags on his cart contained explosive.
The baggy also contained a plastic Spiderman among the nuts and bolts. I think they were intended to surprise the kid with the boom, with the toy for propaganda use later..."
"Amnesty International has repeatedly condemned suicide bombings and other attacks against civilians by Palestinian armed groups as crimes against humanity. Using children to carry out or assist in armed attacks of any kind is an abomination. We call on the Palestinian leadership to publicly denounce these practices," the report said. "Palestinian armed groups, including Hamas, Islamic Jihad and al-Aqsa Martyrs' brigades, must put an immediate end to the use or involvement of any kind of children in armed activity," it said.
"No."
"Uhhh... Hokay."
In its report, Amnesty accused Palestinian armed groups of putting pressure on families of those who have been killed while carrying out attacks, including children, not to condemn but to welcome and endorse their relatives' actions.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/25/2004 6:19:29 PM ||
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The baggy also contained a plastic Spiderman among the nuts and bolts.
I also read somewhere yesterday that the suicide belt on Husan yesterday was hooked to a cell phone and that the damn phone _rang_ while the poor kid was at the checkpoint. Thank God (and I just don't mean that as an expression of speech) it didn't go off. In its report, Amnesty accused Palestinian armed groups of putting pressure on families of those who have been killed while carrying out attacks, including children, not to condemn but to welcome and endorse their relatives' actions.
AI finally figured it out, huh? "Gee Storm, maybe gangsters and moral monsters are exploiting these kids and their families?" "No way Bryce. This is the only way that the Palestinians can fight back against Apaches and F-16s!"
The United States is expected to veto a UN Security Council resolution Thursday night condemning Israel for killing Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin.
The US, one of five nations with a veto power in the council, reiterated in the past week its refusal to condemn Israeli counter-terror actions without a condemnation of Palestinian terrorist groups. They couldnât get this through, so they had their "Human Rights" Commission issue a condemnation.
"Events must be considered in their context, and as we consider the killing of Sheikh Yassin, we must keep in mind the facts. Sheikh Yassin was the leader of a terrorist organization, which has proudly taken credit for attacks on innocent civilians," said US ambassador John Negroponte.
On Wednesday, the UN Human Rights Commission passed a resolution condemning "the continuing grave violations of human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and in particular the tragic assassination of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin." The vote passed 31-3, with 18 abstentions. NY Times said only two no votes: Australia and US.
During his speech, Gillerman [ed.: Israelâs ambassador to the UN] held a nearly 200-page document documenting the 425 Hamas terrorist attacks perpetrated since September 2000, which have killed 377 Israelis and wounded more than 2,000.
"Following a sad and familiar pattern, the council convenes. Why? Not to condemn the terrorism, not to honor the memory of the hundreds murdered by it, but to come to the defense of one of its prime perpetrators, a godfather of terrorism," Gillerman said. "This is not a message of which the council can be proud. Frankly, it is an outrage. It is the ultimate hypocrisy." Yep. Itâs also not surprising in the least.
The Palestinian-authored text before the council eulogized Yassin as a spiritual leader without mentioning Hamas or terrorist activities. "To characterize him as a spiritual leader is to attempt to characterize Osama bin Laden as a Mother Teresa," said Gillerman. Funny because itâs true!
Palestinian observer to the UN Nasser al-Kidwa, described Israel as "an outlaw state," and "one of the major reasons for the presence of terrorism in the Middle East and beyond."
Al-Kidwa also used his speech to protest Israelâs prospective withdrawal from Gaza on the grounds that it would turn the territory into a "huge prison." Gillerman said after the meeting that he considered adding a response to Al-Kidwaâs protests to his speech. "I wanted to say youâve enjoyed the last 36 years so much, maybe weâll stay on," Gillerman said. Gillerman should consider doing standup, late nights at one of Manhattanâs comedy clubs. Also, protesting Israelâs withdrawal? But isnât that what they want? So they claim. But only on their terms: all Jews must be pushed into the sea.
Posted by: growler ||
03/25/2004 11:26:29 AM ||
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[Off-topic or abusive comments deleted]
Posted by: The Reporter ||
03/25/2004 11:41 Comments ||
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Did ya see that 14 yr old paleo zombie with his boom belt today.
Hey asshole. Try saying something that wont be deleted. Many have.
If Israel leaves the Gaza and it becomes a huge prison. Then it's the inmates who are your jailers.
The Nelson touch. Tie in tight to your foe and blast away.
#3
Palestinian observer to the UN Nasser al-Kidwa, described Israel as "an outlaw state," and "one of the major reasons for the presence of terrorism in the Middle East and beyond." Afterward he exploded his suicide belt in the general assembly. Good riddence Yassin enjoy Hell!
#4
I don't know how US ambassador John Negroponte does it. I mean, I live in Boulder, CO (Bezerkely in the Mountains, aka 24 square miles surrounded by reality), where it was once fun to "live in the belly of the beast" have lively "debates" with the natives. Now, I have simply stopped engaging lefty looney's in conversation or arguement because I refuse to waste my time confronting the circle jerk of fantasy and conspiracy any longer. It's maddening and futile, and fuck 'em anyway if they want to ignore facts at all cost (Chompski and Moore are Gods here).
Negroponte is surrounded by them day after day after day, immersed in their bile and forced to address their blathering bullshit. And still he hasn't cracked and openned fire in the General Assembly! Obviously, he is a WAY better man than I am, and he has my respect at least for that.
#6
Incredible. Do we need any more evidence that the UN has been hijacked? Once upon a time a world organization like the UN may have been a good idea, but when you get a joke like this, it's a clear sign that something has gone drastically wrong. The "tragic" assassination? It only would have been "tragic" if Yassin had been collateral damage rather than the target.
Posted by: The Doctor ||
03/25/2004 15:28 Comments ||
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#7
But Osama bin Laden is just like Mother Teresa. He built day care centers and stuff. Patty Murray (D-Mecca) said so.
#8
The US ... reiterated in the past week its refusal to condemn Israeli counter-terror actions without a condemnation of Palestinian terrorist groups.
I believe that the world's educated population generally recognizes and appreciates the USA's principled vetoes of these tendentious UN resolutions, no matter how the various UN delegations vote. The USA has provided and continues to provide a valuable service to the UN simply by vetoing these resolutions. Future generations will certainly praise these principled vetoes.
Posted by: Homer Simpson ||
03/25/2004 18:52 Comments ||
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#9
D'oh!
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
03/25/2004 18:58 Comments ||
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#10
Hyper:24 square miles surrounded by reality Good description. I also like its other name, "the People's Republic of Boulder".
#11
"the People's Republic of Boulder"
Hereâs a scary lesson. Boulder, yes, Boulder, CO, used to be a solidly Republican town. What happened? All it takes for LLL to prevail is for good men (and women) to do nothing.
The US has introduced a resolution at the United Nations designed to prevent terrorists getting hold of weapons of mass destruction. It aims to close loopholes in current non-proliferation treaties. The draft resolution will be discussed over the next few days, but it is unclear when it will be put to a vote.
It was prompted by US President George W Bushâs call last year for action to prevent the proliferation of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. The British Ambassador to the United Nations, Emyr Jones Parry, said the Security Council had to stop the ultimate nightmare of bringing together weapons of mass destruction and terrorists.
The draft resolution calls on states to pass and enforce laws to stop unauthorised individuals or groups from developing or using such weapons. The text also says states should prevent their proliferation by accounting for all items, developing effective border controls, and co-operating to prevent illicit trafficking. Under the terms of the resolution, governments would have to report to a committee on what measures they had taken to fulfil these conditions.
The US resolution is co-sponsored by the British and is broadly supported by the other permanent members of the Security Council - Russia, France and China. Its supporters say the resolution would tighten international law regarding non-state actors such as terrorists and traffickers and is part of a wider package to stop the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
Does that mean Russia will have to stop construction of Iranâs plutonium generator?
Posted by: Super Hose ||
03/25/2004 1:22:29 AM ||
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No major armed skirmishes were reported yesterday between government troops and separatist rebels as the advanced survey party of a Malaysian-led international monitoring team arrived in the southern Philippines to inspect rebel camps ahead of the peace talks next month. Both the military and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front confirmed that there have been no confrontation between the two sides since last week. âSo far there have been no reported major armed skirmishes between our men in the field and soldiers since last week,â said Benjie Midtimbang, chief of the MILF coordinating committee on cessation of hostilities. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo signed a memorandum on March 17, reminding the military to strictly observe a bilateral cease-fire agreement it signed with the MILF on July 19, 2003.
The 12-member advance team headed by Brig. Gen. Datoâ Zulkifli Mohd Zain of Malaysia met with Maj. Gen. Trifonio Salazar, commander of the Philippine Armyâs First Infantry Division in Western Mindanao, one of several areas where MILF forces are actively operating. Salazar led senior military officials in briefing Zulfikliâs group about the security situation in the strife-torn region, one of the poorest in the Philippines. No officials from either the Philippine and the Malaysian side gave any statement about the truce monitoring, but they allowed photographers inside the tightly guarded Southern Command headquarters in Zamboanga City where the meeting took place. Members of the international monitoring mission, who will oversee the implementation of a peace accord, will arrive soon after the assessment by the advance party.
According to MILF vice chair for political affairs Ghazali Jaafar and military spokesman Lt. Col. Renoir Pascua, the truce observers would inspect different rebel camps in Mindanao and meet with MILF and military representatives. The field visitation will also include government offices, local armed forces commanders, MILF leaders and community members, as a prelude to the actual deployment of the international cease-fire monitoring team, a government statement said.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/25/2004 6:14:47 PM ||
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The sun was bright, the sky a flawless blue -- a perfect day for a graduation. In a mountain clearing in the southern Philippines four years ago, 17 young Indonesians snapped to attention in their camouflage fatigues, two instructors recalled. They marched in formation. They assembled a low-explosive bomb and detonated it. They crawled on the ground with AK-47s. "Allahu Akbar!" the audience cheered: "God is greatest."
... could also be translated as "This is really neat!"
The men were the first graduates of the military academy established by Jemaah Islamiah. That day in April 2000, as described by two men who were there, was a high point in the life of the organization.
"I want to thank all the Little People who made this possible...!"
During the next two years, hard-liners in Jemaah Islamiah gained influence. The group's biggest attacks came in the October 2002 bombing of two Bali nightclubs and the August 2003 bombing of the JW Marriott Hotel in Jakarta, which together killed 214 people. At least one of the 17 graduates was arrested last year for hiding a Bali bomber, said Muhaimin, 42, one of the instructors in the Philippines and now an imam at a Jakarta mosque. Like many Indonesians, he uses only one name.
Comes from a poor family, y'see. It's that povery that makes 'em terrorists, not the explosives...
In fact, although al Qaeda provided financing for the Bali attacks, Jemaah Islamiah operates largely independently, analysts and police say. Indonesian, Malaysian and Singaporean members, who met and were molded in Islamic boarding schools and training camps in Afghanistan and the Philippines, share al Qaeda's ideology but do not need an order from Osama bin Laden to act, according to police and former members such as Muhaimin. More than 240 of Jemaah Islamiah's members have been arrested since the Bali and Jakarta attacks, including many of its leaders. But interviews with captured members, former members and relatives portray a network that continues to defy police efforts to quash it, exploiting school, family and religious connections to stay alive. "At the same time that the police arrest them, they always find someone to replace them," Mohammad Nasir bin Abbas, 34, a former instructor at the camp, said in an interview. "Even if the entire Jemaah Islamiah membership is wiped out, other groups will arise and do the same thing."
That's okay. First you break the big organization into smaller pieces, then you break up each of the pieces into smaller pieces, until eventually you're tromping individual cockroaches...
Jemaah Islamiah plans to close its training camp in the Philippines, according to Indonesian police, as its main ally there, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), conducts peace talks with the Philippine government. But the network is reportedly seeking to relocate the camp in Indonesia, a handful of leaders are still at large and analysts and police warn of the possibility of another attack. "This organization is still dangerous as hell," said an Indonesian police official who spoke on condition of anonymity. "They keep regenerating. They can wear false noses and moustaches change the name of the group. They can use new faces. They change strategy."
They learned that in Pakistan. They've been doing it for years. It's a little-known fact, but Pakland is actually a false nose and moustache for Scythia...
Until his arrest last December, Muhammad Saifudin, an Indonesian, was being groomed as part of Jemaah Islamiah's next generation of leaders. In an interview in his jail cell in Jakarta in the presence of his attorney, Saifudin said he was recruited as a religious teacher, or ulema, for the terrorist network by the principal of a conservative Islamic boarding school in Solo, in central Java. As Saifudin explained it, Jemaah Islamiah needed not only fighters, but teachers who could furnish a religious justification for the jihad, or holy war. But even teachers needed hands-on experience, he said. So he was sent to the Philippines to learn to fight. "I wanted to contribute something to this Islamic movement," Saifudin said. "Besides, I was the best student in my class, and my teacher saw this potential."
"That sucker really rubbing in the old oil. I gobbled up the hook without even thinking. Now, here I am. I'll be out in 40 years. I'll still be relatively young..."
In 1999 after he graduated from the Islamic boarding school, he took one of Jemaah Islamiah's short courses at its camp in the Philippines. In four months, he said, he learned everything from mapmaking to bomb assembly. In 2001, he trained in Afghanistan, at Camp al Farouq in Kandahar, which housed 300 fighters from Saudi Arabia. Also at the camp was Hambali, whose real name is Nurjaman Riduan Isamuddin and who was Jemaah Islamiah's most important strategist until his capture last August. In October 2001, when the United States invaded Afghanistan in retaliation for the Sept. 11 attacks, Saifudin said he shouldered a Stinger missile and tried to shoot down U.S. jets. But the planes flew too high and the camp's Stingers were outdated, he said.
"Mahmoud! The batteries are dead!... Mahmoud?"
Saifudin, who said he met bin Laden four times at the camp, said the al Qaeda leader showed the recruits videos of Palestinian civilians dying after being attacked by Israelis. "Osama was blubbering crying and said, 'These people are my brothers in Islam. They ask for my help and your help,' " he recalled.
"So reach down deep in your hearts and your wallets, brethren and sistern!"
In late 2001, Saifudin went to Karachi. There he joined a group called al Ghuraba, Arabic for "the foreigners." The group was formed on Hambali's orders, Singaporean authorities said. Many of its members were sons or brothers of Jemaah Islamiah militants. The group itself was set up by Abdul Rahim, Baasyir's son. Hambali's brother handled the finances, Abdul Rahim said in an interview at his father's home in Solo. Abdul Rahim, who lives freely in Solo where his father co-founded an Islamic boarding school, said al Ghuraba was formed purely for religious study and discussion.
"Class! Tonight's religious study and discussion involves plastique. Now, how many brought their detonators?"
Saifudin said senior Jemaah Islamiah members "saw the urgency of regeneration in the movement" and sent their sons and their students to Pakistan to study to become ulemas. But Singapore, which has arrested two of the group's members, has characterized it as a cell designed to groom future leaders. And a senior Indonesian security official said the students served as liaisons between Hambali and al Qaeda, in some cases transferring or sending money. An Indonesian police official said that they helped Hambali in terrorist activities, which he did not specify. Eleven young al Ghuraba members are now in jail in three countries. Their backgrounds reflect the movement's family ties: The two members arrested in Singapore are the sons of a Jemaah Islamiah member and a Moro member respectively. In Malaysia, five students have been detained, three of whose fathers are with Jemaah Islamiah. In Indonesia, Saifudin and Hambali's brother are among four members arrested by police.
I think we caught onto that "family affair" thing a while ago...
With the 11 arrests, al Ghuraba has been effectively dismantled, authorities say. But police and analysts such as Sidney Jones, director of the International Crisis Group's Indonesia program, point to the emergence of other groups as evidence that the militant movement will be difficult to break up. A group called Mujaheddin Kompak formed in 1999 in response to what it saw as the slower, more bureaucratic Jemaah Islamiah, from which it drew some of its leaders, wrote Jones in a new ICG report. Jemaah Islamiah, meanwhile, continues to draw strength from family ties, with women playing a largely unseen role. In a modest cinderblock house in East Java, Faridah binti Abbas, Nasir's sister, is raising six young children alone. The youngest, Usama, was born after her husband, Ali Ghufron, also known as Mukhlas, Jemaah Islamiah's alleged operations chief, was sent to prison for helping plot the Bali bombing. There, Mukhlas has told police he was gratified that Bali "claimed many lives from American allies, including Australians," and he hand-writes manuscripts with titles such as "How to Educate Your Wife" and "The Bali Bomb Jihad." Yet Faridah, whose marriage was arranged by her father, shows no sign of weariness or fear that his death sentence could leave her a widow. She wears a black chador, the traditional garment that covers all but the eyes and is worn when a woman is outside the house. She became passionate when asked about jihad and the targeting of civilians. "Bali killed only 200 people," she said. "How about those killed in Kashmir? In Iraq? In Palestine? In Chechnya? In Afghanistan?" Why don't we call those who attacked them terrorists, she asked.
Because they weren't targeting civilians?
These days, Nasir is torn by conflicting emotions. On the one hand, he still reveres the organization's founder, Abdullah Sungkar, the "old man," he calls him, who died in late 1999 of a heart attack. On the other, he is disgusted, he says, by the group's shift toward civilian violence since 2000. He said a majority of the group disagree with that tactic, an assertion backed by Saifudin. Nasir said that he believes that the use of arms is justified only against another army or militia in defense of Muslims under attack. Persuading his fellow militants to end their targeting of civilians is difficult, he said. "It's about ideology," he said. "They believe what they're doing is true. That it comes from God."
"And the civilians are so much less likely to be armed and able to shoot back!"
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/25/2004 1:45:50 AM ||
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At the same time that the police arrest them, they always find someone to replace them .... On the other, he is disgusted, he says, by the group's shift toward civilian violence since 2000. He said a majority of the group disagree with that tactic,
And so, they will not "always find someone" to replace an arrested terrorist.
Faridah binti Abbas ... is raising six young children alone. Yet Faridah ... shows no sign of weariness or fear that his death sentence could leave her a widow.
The reporter should go back and re-interview Faridah in five years. I expect she'll look very weary and afraid then.
.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
03/25/2004 7:51 Comments ||
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This is a very interesting article, but talk about air freshener over a decomposing body. Here's how this really reads.
Even if the entire Jemaah Islamiah membership is wiped out, other groups will arise and do the same thing." Ok...so, they ARE wiping them out
Jemaah Islamiah plans to close its training camp in the Philippines, They shut em down, ran them out of town.
But even teachers needed hands-on experience, he said. So he was sent to the Philippines to learn to fight. Wanted: Dancers and Teachers for Exciting Foreign Lands You're great! You're the brightest star we ever saw!! But, um...before you start, we need you to step this way and learn about cannon and fodder and all.
In late 2001, Saifudin went to Karachi, a city in southern Pakistan. There he joined a group called al Ghuraba, Arabic for "the foreigners." The group was formed on Hambali's orders, Singaporean authorities said. Many of its members were sons or brothers of Jemaah Islamiah militants. The group itself was set up by Abdul Rahim, Baasyir's son. And a senior Indonesian security official said the students served as liaisons between Hambali and al Qaeda, in some cases transferring or sending money interesting.
With the 11 arrests, al Ghuraba has been effectively dismantled, authorities say. Game's over.
Nasir's sister, is raising six young children alone... and no doubt she reads them daddy's, The Bali Bomb Jihad - thus making full circle the meme of - "no matter how many of us you kill, there are more where we came from". Sooo... I guess we might as well just go home now, resistence is few-tile.
Arabic television Al Jazeera has aired a purported new tape of senior al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri in which he calls on Pakistanis to overthrow their government.
"I call on Muslims in Pakistan to get rid of their government which is working for Americans," said the voice on the tape, which sounded like previous recordings of Zawahri, the right-hand man of Osama bin Laden.
"The CIA is reviewing the tape in an effort to determine whether it is authentic," a U.S. intelligence official told Reuters in Washington.
The CIA has determined that two tapes broadcast on Arab television in February were "probably Zawahri" -- who it believes played a key role in the September 11, 2001 attacks.
In those tapes, he accused France of "Crusader hatred" toward Islam by banning Muslim headscarves from state classrooms and threatened more attacks against the United States.
On the new tape, the speaker called Musharraf "the traitor."
"Pakistan is targeted mainly because Americans don't want it to be a nuclear power in Asia because it is Muslim," he said.
He said Musharraf had plans, including "strangling the Jihad (holy struggle) in Kashmir" -- the majority Muslim state disputed between India and Pakistan -- by gradually abandoning the right of Kashmiri independence and paralyzing Pakistan nuclear capabilities.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/25/2004 2:39:06 PM ||
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Fred, have you considered reporting this joker for theft of service? Seriously -- this latest post looks like he's trying to shift his URL around to get around any filters you've set up. That's an attempt to get around controls you've set limiting the use others have of the machine you've paid for.
Turn in a troll -- the site you save may just be your own.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
03/25/2004 14:45 Comments ||
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Additional from the tape: It was not known when the tape was made, but the speaker appeared to be referring to the conflict in South Waziristan when he said, "I call on the Pakistani army: you, poor army, what a miserable state Musharraf has put you in ... Musharraf ruins your natural fences - those tribes on the border - by engaging you in a fight with them. Then he removes your nuclear weapons. Will you stay silent until Pakistan is divided again?"
The speaker said such military operations on the borders violated Islamic law by pitting Muslims against each other at America's bidding.
"Every soldier who finds this act to be legitimate is an infidel, according to Islamic law," the speaker said. He also urged Islamic clerics to tell the Pakistani people "the truth about Musharraf, the traitor and killer of Muslims."
"They should incite the nation to expel the crusaders from Pakistan," the speaker said, using the word "crusader" for Americans as Islamic militants often do. "The crusade in Afghanistan, Iraq, Chechnya and Palestine is targeting Pakistan primarily, because America does not want Pakistan to be a special power in the center of Asia."
Posted by: Steve ||
03/25/2004 14:49 Comments ||
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Tanzania has banned paramilitary-style training by political parties after a spate of bombings rocked the turbulent semi-autonomous island of Zanzibar.
That sounds like a remarkably sensible move...
John Chiligati, Deputy Minister for Home Affairs, said weekend attacks on the homes of political and religious leaders and a restaurant used by tourists were political, not religiously motivated as the police previously suggested. "We have found out that these attacks are not religious. They have all the signs of being political," he said during a tour of the island. "From now on I am outlawing any military training undertaken by any political party."
"It's just politix, Mike..."
Tanzania's main opposition political party, the Civic United Front (CUF), which draws most of its support from among the island's Muslim communities, maintains a quasi-military youth wing known as the Blue Guards. Chiligati said places of worship would also be searched regularly to stop them being used for military training. The ruling party on Zanzibar and the Tanzanian mainland, the Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM-Party of the Revolution), has blamed the Guards for bomb attacks during elections in 1995 and 2000. Dozens of people were killed in political clashes in 2001, and tensions between the two political rivals are mounting ahead of general elections to be held next year. But a CUF spokesman denied his party was giving its followers any military training. "We do not have that ability," Salim Biimani said. "It is the contrary: It is the ruling Chama cha Mapinduzi which has been making military preparations." The CCM denies that charge.
Sounds like somebody's doing it...
Thirty-nine people were arrested after homemade bombs detonated over the weekend at houses belonging to a Zanzibari cabinet minister and the island's top Islamic leader, but no one has been charged. A grenade thrown into Mercury's, a busy seafront restaurant, landed on the table of a British diplomat but failed to explode. The attacks followed bombings last week of a church, a school bus and a number of electric transformers. "The message is very clear," Chiligati said. "They want to destroy the government's image and economy."
And start you fighting among yourselves.
CUF says it has written to the government in the past seeking its view on where the constitution stands on militia-style training by political parties but got no response.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/25/2004 8:30:19 PM ||
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Palestinian leaders have accused Israel of fabricating a story about a 14-year-old Palestinian boy the Israeli army said was caught wearing an explosive belt at an army roadblock in the northern West Bank.
J-Post has a thumbnail of the kid in his undies...
The boy, identified as Husam Abdu from Nablus, was shown on TV screens around the world, with an explosive belt strapped to his waist. The Israeli army said the boy told interrogators that his dispatchers promised that he would have sex with 72 virgins in heaven soon after his death. âWe know for sure this is a fabricated story from A to Z. Would you believe that a 13 or 14 yearsâ old would agree to blow up himself in return for a hundred shekels which he would receive after his death? It seems to me that the Israelis are bad liars as well,â said Yaacoub Shahin, a director-general of the PA ministry of information.
Ummm... What about the witnesses? Are they dead yet?
In an interview with PIC, Shahin accused Israel of seeking to justify slaughtering Palestinian children by spreading the false impression that they are used as suicide bombers. âTheir (Israelâs) goal is to besmirch Palestinian childhood so that when they slaughter the children, the world wonât feel sorry for them.â Arab Knesset member Muhammed Baraka has also voiced âserious doubtsâ about the veracity of the Israeli narrative. âI have very serious doubts about the whole story. I canât give the Israeli army the benefit of the doubt,â he told PIC. However, Baraka urged all parties to âkeep children away from this sinister and bloody conflict.â âUsing children as bombs is infinitely diabolical. It is totally inconsistent with all religious, moral and human values.â
That's what we were saying, too, only we believe the story. There have been too many of them lately.
The armed wing of Fatah, the Aqsa Martyrsâ Brigades has denied any involvement in the incident, accusing Israel of âconcocting the whole story for the purpose of justify the killing of more Palestinian children.â
Posted by: Fred ||
03/25/2004 7:59:32 PM ||
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Yeah, I think he just found it at his house and was bringing it to school for "show and tell".
I wonder if these assholes believe their own bullshit?
A young actor trying to look old and frail, his head covered gently with a white scarf and his beard painted silver, was blown from a wheelchair in a reenactment of Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassinâs assassination. The dramatization was the highlight of a rally in Khan Yunis, one of several gatherings that drew tens of thousands across the Gaza Strip on Wednesday night to mark the end of three days of morning for Yassin.
In Wednesdayâs carefully choreographed skit, a young man in a wheelchair was pushed onto a stage in one of the townâs main streets. Like Yassin, the unidentified actor had a brown blanket covering his lap and legs. The manâs beard was stiff with silver paint and he was enveloped in a white scarf. Flanking his wheelchair, two armed guards, straining to look tough and wearing ball caps and keffiyehs, scanned the sky and swiveled apprehensively left and right to keep watch. Suddenly, a small fire ignited on the stage and Yassin tumbled from his wheelchair. With a yell, the man writhed on the ground and then fell still. The guards dropped over his body. Medics in reflective orange vests rushed the stage, loaded Yassin onto a stretcher and carried him above the surging audience. Alongside the stretcher, men pumped their fists in the air. If they need to re-enact, then they are clearly not getting enough of the real thing.
Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat said on Wednesday that he is not afraid of the Israeli threats that he could be the next in line after Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, who was assassinated on Monday morning. Arafat's remarks came amid growing fears in the PA that Israel was planning to bump off kill or deport Arafat. Senior PA officials warned that such a move would lead to an all-out explosion in the region. Arafat was referring to comments made on Tuesday by Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Moshe Yaalon, who expressed his hope that the killing of Yassin would send a message to others. "In the long run," Yaalon said, "I hope it shows all those who choose to murder us what kind of end awaits them."
Those were some pretty yucky pictures...
Asked whether Arafat and Hizbullah chief Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah are in Israel's crosshairs, Ya'alon quipped, "Judging from their hysterical responses, it appears they understand that it's getting closer to them. It is our view that the decapitation of the terrorist infrastructure is one means among the strategies in the war against terrorism."
Makes more sense than stomping cheap, easily replaceable cannon fodder...
Speaking to reporters in Ramallah, a defiant Arafat said, "We are a mountain that is not shaken by any wind. This is not the first time that they make such threats."
"They shall not break my wind!"
Arafat said he was not afraid of the Israeli threats to liquidate him and vowed to pursue the struggle until the Palestinians achieve statehood. He also renewed his call for dispatching an international force to the West Bank and Gaza Strip "to defend the Palestinians against Israeli crimes."
Posted by: Fred ||
03/25/2004 6:39:16 PM ||
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Yasser needs to get himself a brain-retention strap, available on late nite TV for only $29.95 (cash orders only.)
Posted by: Matt ||
03/25/2004 19:22 Comments ||
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Hmm ... if we consider the case of Pablo Escobar, decapitation was impossible & they ended up chopping at the tree til its canopy was at rock bottom ...
Posted by: Edward Yee ||
03/25/2004 19:39 Comments ||
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"We are a mountain that is not shaken by any wind..."
That's some pretty big talk there Fish-fella. Why don't you come here and pull my finger. We'll see who's left standin' .
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
03/25/2004 19:58 Comments ||
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after Yassins photos surfaced, I understand Yasshole ordered a kevlar keffiyah
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/25/2004 20:30 Comments ||
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I hope the Israelis kill that worthless piece of shit.... He's breathin' air that could be put to better use.
Two Hamas terrorists wearing IDF uniforms and armed with Kalashnikov rifles and grenades and carrying a 20-kilo bomb were killed by soldiers late Tuesday night, after they were spotted crawling toward the settlement of Morag in the southern Gaza Strip. The bomb was detonated by Border Police sappers. The two were identified as Muhammad al-Qadi, 22, and Yasser Abu Sultan, 21, after soldiers found their bodies at daybreak. Elsewhere, three soldiers were lightly wounded, one from gunfire and others from stones, in incidents in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. In the afternoon, a soldier was lightly wounded in the shoulder from gunfire directed at an IDF position near the settlement of Gadid in Gush Katif. He was taken to the hospital. One soldier was lightly wounded from stones thrown near Budrus west of Ramallah, another was wounded by stones near Eilon Moreh and required hospital treatment. A third soldier was lightly wounded from stones at the Zieff junction southeast of Hebron.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/25/2004 6:33:22 PM ||
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Haven't heard from them in awhile... Ahmed Jibril'sPopular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command has confirmed that a squad preparing to launch Katyusha rockets that was hit in an IAF strike on Tuesday night belonged to the group. At least one terrorist was killed and another seriously wounded as they were setting up rocket launcher near Shakra in south Lebanon. The organization, in a statement issued from its headquarters in Damascus, claimed the squad had managed to fire rockets, in retaliation for the killing of Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, before it was hit in the air strike. Israel, however, said no rockets were fired.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/25/2004 6:23:56 PM ||
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Libya on Thursday brought to an end decades of international isolation as a pariah state with a promise to join forces with the US and Britain in the war against terrorism.
It is to provide more intelligence to help root out al-Qaeda and on Thursday secured a gas exploration deal with Shell that could be worth billions of dollars.
Tony Blair, UK prime minister, held two hours of talks with Colonel Muammer Gadaffi in a bedouin tent a few miles outside Tripoli, the first time a British leader has set foot in the country since 1943.
He emerged afterwards to declare the Libyan leader an important ally and urged other Arab countries to follow Tripoliâs example.
The historic talks sealed a dramatic and rapid transformation of Libyaâs standing in the international community, a process that started in earnest in December when it unexpectedly renounced its pursuit of weapons of mass destruction. That decision followed more than a year of secret negotiations with Britain and the US.
"We are showing by our engagement with Libya today that it is possible for countries in the Arab world by working with the US and UK to defeat the common enemy of extremists, fanatical terrorism driven by al-Qaeda," Mr Blair said.
He was struck "not only [by] Libyaâs determination to carry on down this path of co-operation but also his [Colonel Gadaffiâs] recognition that Libyaâs own future is best secured by a new relationship with the outside world."
The prime minister, risking further political controversy at home, announced a big gas exploration deal, under which Shell, the Anglo-Dutch energy group, will spend at least $200m on a liquefied natural gas project. A Shell official said successful finds could lead to billions more being invested.
The investment, coupled with the prospect of a civil aerospace deal with BAE Systems in a monthâs time, is a tangible reward for Libya.
Intelligence sharing arrangements between Tripoli and London are expected to be strengthened as part of Colonel Gadaffiâs commitment to help in the war against terror.
Britain, meanwhile, is to give Libya expert advice in devising a new conventional defence strategy now that it has scrapped its weapons of mass destruction.
Although the Libyan leader appeared only briefly and did not speak to reporters, Abdulrahman Shalgam, his foreign minister, explained the countryâs determination to fight al-Qaeda, now widely suspected to be responsible for the Madrid bombings, alongside the US and Britain.
"For us, they are a realobstacle against our progress, against our security, against women, against the new culture, against moderation and against any change in our region," he said.
Colonel Gadaffiâs hatred of al-Qaeda dates back to an assassination attempt, for which he issued an international warrant for the arrest of Osama bin Laden in 1999.
The dictator has long been regarded as a target for Islamic extremists.
Mr Shalgam said Libya wanted to discuss oil and gas projects with investors from the US, Britain and China. There were 180 oil concessions available. It planned to upgrade old fields and develop its petrochemicals industry.
Posted by: Mr. Davis ||
03/25/2004 6:16:18 PM ||
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Glad to see Kadaffi sees the light. He's probably salivating at all the economic benefits Libya will reap from his change of heart. Good for him says I.
Jordanian Prime Minister Faisal Fayez warned yesterday that the killing of Hamasâ leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin was tantamount to âa demolitionâ of the peace process, and said the solution for the regionâs problems lay in âIsraelâs evacuationâ of Palestinian and other Arab territories.
His lips are moving, words are coming out, they don't make any sense...
âYassinâs assassination represents a demolition of the process whereby peoples of the region yearn to achieve just and durable peace,â Fayez told the lower house of Parliament. âIsraelâs continuation of the policy of assassinations, repressions and destruction of Palestiniansâ homes will only fuel the cycle of violence and bloodshed,â he said. âWe believe the solution for the crises Israel is creating lies in the evacuation of all Palestinian and Arab land and recognition of the Palestinian peopleâs right to an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital,â he added. Fayez pointed out that the Jordanian government was âestablishing contacts with Arab and friendly countries to evaluate the implications of this ugly crime and other Israeli crimes. We intend to continue our moves at various international forums with a view to ensuring an end to the Israeli violations and occupation of Palestinian lands and securing international protection for the Palestinian people,â he said. Fayezâs remarks coincided with a UN Security Council session called by Arab countries in order to seek international condemnation of the Israeli action and press for a UN peacekeeping force to be sent to the Palestinian territories. Amman-based Arab diplomats believed the move would be unproductive in the light of reported US insistence to veto any draft resolution blaming the Jewish state.
He might as well have farted that statement. There is no peace process. Every time somebody tries to start one, Hamas blows up another bus. The genuine "peace process" at the moment involves beheading Hamas. When they're out of business, then there's something to talk about.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/25/2004 6:04:49 PM ||
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I disagree. Lopping off the head (or the top thereof) of someone who has time-and-time-again literally killed any hope for peace in the regions is progress along the peace process.
#4
Aw, jeez, can't these clowns give it a rest? What peace? The only "peace" in Israel for years has been a piece of a baby, a piece of an old lady, etc., mixed with pieces of the idiot homicide bombers. Now that the Pals are getting it back against the "leaders" of these atrocities, they're whining. What a bunch of losers.
Plus, the Jordanians are scared to death they'll get stuck with a lot of the Pals. (A friend's ex-husband, who now claims to be a "palestinian," has "Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan" on his birth certificate. And he ain't the only one.)
It must truly suck to be a Pal; nobody wants them, especially other Arabs. You'd think that would give them a hint that the problem is them, but nooooo - their Arab "pride" gets in the way.
Earth to Pals: You ain't got anything to be proud of. Quit whining, grow up and do something useful with your lives.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/25/2004 22:00 Comments ||
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The new Hamas leader in Gaza said yesterday the group had no plans to attack American targets, backing off earlier threats from its armed wing following Israelâs assassination of Hamasâ founder. However, the group is considering targeting Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in retaliation for the killing of Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, another top Hamas official said. Hamasâ armed wing issued a statement Monday saying Americaâs backing of Israel made Yassinâs assassination possible. US President George W. Bush said after the statement that the United States takes the threat seriously. On Tuesday, the State Department repeated a long-standing warning urging Americans not to travel to the Gaza Strip. Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat said yesterday he opposed targeting civilians. âWe are against any attack on civilians, whether they were Israeli or Palestinian,â he said.
"They're gonna kill me! I'm too old to be a martyr! I'm too important to The Movement!"
Posted by: Fred ||
03/25/2004 5:58:58 PM ||
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They start doing that, and my guess is the gloves come off. Probably not the best of ideas.
Posted by: The Doctor ||
03/25/2004 18:34 Comments ||
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Ok.. pop quiz time.
When has Hamas not targetted the Prime Minister (or any other Israeli for that matter)?
#3
CrazyFool: You beat me to it. Ain't it the truth!
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/25/2004 19:00 Comments ||
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CF, Hamas may have "targeted" PMs before, but the killing of Yassin might give them the extra boost they need to actually follow through with it.
And if they have made attempts before, please tell me and forgive my ignorance; I try to follow the situation in the ME but am really not as versed in the history as I should be. Are there any really good books you Rantburgers would recommend?
Posted by: The Doctor ||
03/25/2004 19:02 Comments ||
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Israeli tanks and bulldozers "Look out, Rachel!"
entered a Palestinian area of the Gaza Strip late Thursday, residents said, after soldiers shot and killed three Palestinians who were apparently trying to infiltrate a Jewish settlement. . . . The military said an armed cell of three Palestinians opened fire on an army outpost and a civilian vehicle at the settlement of Tel Katifa, opposite the Palestinian town of Deir e-Balah in central Gaza near the Mediterranean seacoast. In a heavy exchange of fire, the three Palestinians were killed. The military said there were no Israeli casualties.
Posted by: Mike ||
03/25/2004 5:39:22 PM ||
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Gonna pile me up some more Evergreen College speedbumps.
Gordon Brown ordered British banks yesterday to freeze assets held in the name of the new Hamas leader in Gaza, Abdel Aziz Rantissi. Using anti-terrorism powers introduced after the September 11 attacks in America, the Chancellor acted to prevent Rantisi - who has succeeded the assassinated Sheikh Ahmed Yassin - and four other Hamas leaders from gaining access to money held in British accounts. He also instructed the Bank of England to freeze the assets of two Kurdish terrorist groups. Treasury officials refused to give details of the various accounts involved or what sums were involved.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/25/2004 5:20:13 PM ||
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An unknown number of Al-Qaeda-linked militants may have escaped a army siege of tribal villages near the Afghan border, a senior local security official admitted today. "The possibility of some militants managing to escape the area through various routes is not out of the question," a top security official for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) told AFP. "However tight the cordon may be, we cannot put troops shoulder to shoulder and, therefore, the possibility of one or two men slipping through at night cannot be ruled out."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/25/2004 2:40:37 PM ||
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one or two my butt! The Paks lost credibility with this SNAFU.
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
03/25/2004 14:53 Comments ||
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even if they lost the main quarry, theyve killed about 50 hostiles, captured (and interrogated) about 150, destroyed an AQ base/compound, and shown their ability to operate openly with large forces in the FATA. Not to mention that some of the guys who got away have probably been caught or killed by US troops on the Afghan side of the border. Not the victory we were hoping for, but still progress.
#6
I have to agree w. Fred. The media reports emphasized the HUGE numbers of Paki troops and the use of artillery and helicopter gunships pit against 400-500 militants in a mud fort? And the standoff is STILL NOT OVER?!!?
This is window dressing by Perv. As LH points out, however, it is a good sign that he has broken the taboo of operating in the tribal areas. Perv's balancing act is not going to work, he's stirred up a nest of extremists that want to remove him, and he's going to have to "defecate or discommode" as I've heard used on this site on several occasions (my new favorite cliche!).
The son of Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi said Wednesday Arab countries should support President Bush's campaign to promote democracy in the Middle East. Numerous Arab governments have rejected Bush's democracy initiative, notably Egypt's and Saudi Arabia's, as an imposition unsuited to Arab culture and traditions.
A culture of despotism, traditions of oppression...
"Instead of shouting and criticizing the American initiative, you have to bring democracy to your countries, and then there will be no need to fear America or your people," said Seif al-Islam Gadhafi. "The Arabs should either change or change will be imposed on them from outside."
"There's the choice, guys. We're changing. What're you gonna do?"
Seif denied reports that he is a candidate to succeed his father, who rules Libya with little tolerance of opposition. "Many Arab countries are now following the policy of inheriting the leadership, but there are hundreds of Libyans who are better (suited) than I," Seif said. Seif even praised Israel, saying that unlike Arab countries, sons do not tend to succeed their fathers in power there. "We don't put the appropriate person in the right place, but Israel is a democratic country," told the Al-Jazeera television station.
Bet that statement caused a fire in the studio...
In Syria, Bashar Assad became president on the death of his father in 2000, and in Egypt, the son of President Hosni Mubarak is playing an increasing important role in affairs of state and the ruling party. Seif said Libya has its own version of democracy. He said it was a formula based on "human rights, democracy, protecting the individual and the society."
"We're still working on the details, of course..."
#3
WTF?!?!?!?!?! OK, which is the alpha entity, and which are the clones? We have Muammar, Mohamar, Gadhafi, Qaddafi, Gadafi, Gaddafi, and Ghadaffi (then I had to get back to work)...
I know the major world press has disdain for facts and consistency, but can't they come to some agreement on the spelling of a world leader's name?
Three men arrested in the killing of Afghanistan's aviation minister have confessed to the attack, saying they fired upon him with rocket-launched grenades and assault rifles, security officials said Thursday.
"We dunnit! We dunnit and we're glad! GLAD, y'hear!"
Mirwais Sadiq was killed Sunday in the western city of Herat, where his father, Ismail Khan, is both the officially appointed governor and a warlord at the head of a powerful private army. Sadiq's killing sparked hours of tank and gun battles between Khan's forces and those of a local government militia commander, Zaher Naib Zada. Clashes ended early Monday, when Khan's forces took Naib Zada's division barracks and Naib Zada fled Herat with his supporters, on foot, horseback and in vehicles.
"Get the hosses, Mahmoud! We gotta run for it!"
Herat authorities arrested 21 of Naib Zada's men immediately after the clash, Herat deputy intelligence director Abdul Wahid Tawakuli said by telephone from Herat. Three of them confessed to direct involvement in the aviation minister's killing â one said he opened fire with a grenade launcher, and the two others said they fired on the minister with assault rifles, Tawakuli said. Tawakuli did not identify the men, other than to say they were toast loyalists of Naib Zada. Naib Zada and local officials said the fighting that followed killed between 50 to 100 people. President Hamid Karzai, in a statement late Wednesday, said an initial investigation showed the death toll at only 16.
"Somebody else bumped off the other 34-84..."
Combatants and others have given widely varying accounts of what sparked the killing and clashes, which highlighted the difficulties Karzai's government faces in reining in local commanders and controlling their power struggles.
"There I wuz, with commies to the left o' me, commies to the right o' me..."
"Wait a minute! Last time it was aviation ministry employees?"
"Well, they wuz commies, too! Lemme finish..."
Sadiq, largely seen as his father's emissary in Karzai's administration, became the third top official in Karzai's administration, and second aviation minister, to die violently.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/25/2004 1:32:59 PM ||
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"Off to the calaboose wit' yez!"
An Egyptian court on Thursday convicted 26 people, including three Britons, of trying to revive an outlawed Islamic group and sentenced them to up to five years in prison. Following the sentencing, all of them burst into shouts of "God is Great, thanks be to God!"
"Thank you, God, for getting me jugged!"
The three Britons — Ian Malcolm Nisbett, Maajid Nawaz and Reza Pankhurst — were each sentenced to five years. One of the 26 was convicted in absentia. The defendants, first arrested in April 2002, were accused of attempting to revive Hizb-ut-Tahrir, or Islamic Liberation Party, which was banned by the government after an alleged failed coup in 1974. "We're not sad," said Nisbett, 29, who now goes by Yehiya Nisbett.
"We're just stoopid..."
"We've always known that they're oppressors. Now they are confirming that. Thank God for everything." Nisbett's British wife, Humayra, who does not understand Arabic, started crying quietly when he indicated his sentence by holding up his hand with all five fingers extended. Pankhurst's mother, Zara, said it was a "goofy trial with a goofy judge," but did not seem disheartened by the verdict. "Thank God, they are not going to beat us, we are strong," she told The Associated Press. In London, Pankhurst's wife, Hodan, lamented the verdict. "This was our worst nightmare and it has happened," she said. "There is nothing legally we can do about it now." Lawyers for the defendants said the group was only studying the ideologies of the Islamic Liberation Party and not recruiting others to follow its thinking.
"Yeah! They wuz just standin' on the corner, mindin' their own bidnid, when these cops comes up..."
The Islamic Liberation Party was formed in Jordan in 1953 by Taqi Eddin al-Nabahani, a Palestinian who was bumped off died in unclear circumstances in the Palestinian territories in 1978. The group has long been underground. Its current leader, Ata Abu-Rushta, a Jordanian of Palestinian origin, took over in 2003 after the death of Abdul-Kaddim Zalloum, who led the party for 26 years.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/25/2004 1:24:51 PM ||
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More on last night's post...
A 16-year-old Palestinian with a suicide bomb vest strapped to his torso was on a mission to kill the Israeli soldiers who caught and disarmed him before he could strike, the army said. The youngster told a newspaper he had been afraid to die.
"Really, I just wanted to hurt myself. I'm into pain, y'know. In school, when the bullies wuz handin' out dutch rubs, I usedta step right up..."
In an interview with the Yediot Ahronot newspaper Thursday, the boy, identified as Hussam Abdo, said he wanted to go to paradise but feared killing himself until he neared the Israeli army roadblock and was stopped. "When the soldiers stopped me, I didn't press the switch. I changed my mind. I didn't want to die anymore," Abdo said, according to the newspaper. "I'm sorry for what I did."
Not nearly as sorry as you'd have been â briefly â had you pressed the switch...
The military said Abdo's mission was to kill himself soldiers at the crowded West Bank checkpoint. "In addition to the fact that he would have harmed my soldiers, he would have also harmed the Palestinians waiting at the checkpoint, and there were 200 to 300 innocent Palestinians there," said the commander of the checkpoint, who identified himself only as Lt. Col. Guy.
As in "Big Guy"? Or simply the "Guy in Charge"?
During the tense encounter Wednesday, soldiers took cover behind concrete barricades and sent a yellow army robot with scissors to the teenager so he could cut off the vest. Before he finally was detained, the youngster was made to strip to his underwear to prove he had no other weapons.
... followed by a biopsy, I hope.
Leaders of the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades militant group denied sending the boy, but local members in Nablus' Balata refugee camp said they did. The group has ties to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement. The family of the teenager said he was gullible and easily manipulated.
"Yeah. He's just stoopid."
"He doesn't know anything, and he has the intelligence of a 12-year-old," said his brother, Hosni.
"He was dropped on his head when he was young."
In the newspaper interview, Abdo said he wanted to reach paradise, which he was taught in school was the reward for suicide bombers. "A river of honey, a river of wine and 72 virgins. Since I have been studying Quran I know about the sweet life that waits there (in Paradise)," the newspaper quoted the boy as saying.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/25/2004 1:01:52 PM ||
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A river of honey, a river of wine and 72 virgins.
Let's see -- one river that's sticky and too thick to swim in, one that's haram and forbidden for Muslims, and 6 dozen women that are either hags, kids, or have no clue what they're doing.
That's paradise?
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
03/25/2004 13:31 Comments ||
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#2
If alcohol's so bad, why is there a river of wine in paradise?
Posted by: Dan ||
03/25/2004 13:58 Comments ||
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"He doesn't know anything, and he has the intelligence of a 12-year-old,
What's Hosni miffed about? That he didn't hold out for $35? Considering the result, I would say Hussam is one of the brighter kids in Paleostan.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
03/25/2004 14:17 Comments ||
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"He doesn't know anything, and he has the intelligence of a 12-year-old,"
-insert any mullah/ayatollah/ or imam's name into that sentence.
#9
Moloch returns. I wonder if it's something in the water or genes to make this sort of stuff always happen in the same geographical area.
Hamas and Fatah are claiming that they are getting hundreds of volunteers for suicide ops. The reality is that they have to bribe retarded kids. How come the well fed guys at the protests with the fake explosive belts and the hoods never go boom? Instead its always the skinny, introspective types that in the US would be reading too much maudlin poetry and contemplating suicide anyway.
According to the Koran all that is forbidden on earth is permitted the faithful (ie men, women don't count) in paradise. Everyone assumes that those 72 virgins are girls. Not necessarially.
#12
From what I hear this kids mother is seriously pissed at whoever talked her son into this. If we can get the mothers of the Muddle East to become overprotective domineering types maybe we can solve this problem.
#14
A 16-year-old boy might have a lot of physical energy for 72 virgins, but he still hasn't developed the maturely complex and perverse imagination that is necessary for subtle seduction and eternal endurance in such circumstances.
A 16-year-old boy's moronic and shallow dullness will gradually bore all 72 virgins and will drag them down to his own slutish stupidity.
A sophisticated, mature man -- especially one schooled in the Rantburg arts -- will gradually delight and elevate the playful, sylphic maidens up to his own sophisticated sensuality.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
03/25/2004 19:10 Comments ||
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#15
commander of the checkpoint, who identified himself only as Lt. Col. Guy.
I knew Lucky was never completely honest with us. ;>
An Indian court on Thursday sentenced four Pakistani men to death for "waging war" against India after they were caught smuggling the deadly explosive RDX into the country in 1999, court officials said. The local court in Bhuj town in Gujarat state acquitted 29 Indians who were accused of conspiring with the four men. The condemned men were identified as Jamaal Haji Mohammed, Nawazali Jan, Haji Ibrahim Jan and Usman Ali Mohammed Jan.
Rounded up the whole Jans Gang, did they? Except for Jesse...
Judge V.M.Chaudhary found them guilty of bringing in the explosives to attack Indian targets while India and Pakistan were engaged in conflict in the northern reaches of Jammu-Kashmir state.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/25/2004 12:39:26 PM ||
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the deadly explosive RDX
A friendlier explosive is needed.
Exquisite timing, guys. You get a nice little bump when Sauroman gets converted into a pavement stain, and all the crocodiles who lead the nations of the world get out their pre-moistened towelettes and pretend to squeeze out a few tears. So how do you capitalize on this moment? The âworld communityâ is outraged that Israel smoked a guy who sent men to kill children, so naturally: you send a child to kill men.
Job security for the engineers of Hell. Ordinary Hell isnât enough for the guys who send out these kids; theyâre going to have to open a new wing of Extra Special Ultra Hell, aka Satan's Playroom. As I heard someone on the radio say the other day, for the 164,232nd time: they have no choice but to use suicide bombers, because they donât have a conventional military. I have never quite understood that logic. Okay, so we give them Apache helicopters so they can strafe buses from overhead?
If we give them lots of Stinger missiles, perhaps they will promise only to use suicide bombers whoâve completed puberty.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/25/2004 9:46:33 AM ||
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#1
Job security for the engineers of Hell. Ordinary Hell isnât enough for the guys who send out these kids; theyâre going to have to open a new wing of Extra Special Ultra Hell, aka Satan's Playroom. As I heard someone on the radio say the other day, for the 164,232nd time: they have no choice but to use suicide bombers, because they donât have a conventional military. I have never quite understood that logic. Okay, so we give them Apache helicopters so they can strafe buses from overhead?
gosh..I love him. In a platonic way...ok....i could make it sexual...but...gnat is watching.
Posted by: B ||
03/25/2004 10:42 Comments ||
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I didn't write that, but it is good.
Posted by: B ||
03/25/2004 12:22 Comments ||
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i, for one, refuse to think they sent that 14 year old boy out with a bomb-belt without repeatedly screwing him up the ass in arabic fashion in order to awaken his sexuality and prepare him for the 72 virgins and pearl-like youth in paradise--the israelis should check his bunghole for repeated anal thrustings in the name of allah the most compassionate, the most merciful and the most horny
Posted by: SON OF TOLUI ||
03/25/2004 12:27 Comments ||
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Prime Minister Tony Blair says that Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi sees a common cause in the fight against al Qaeda. After historic talks with the Libyan leader, Blair said on Thursday Gaddafi recognised "a common cause with us in the fight against al Qaeda, extremism and terrorism, which threatens not just the western world but the Arab world also."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/25/2004 9:39:22 AM ||
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Israeli tanks have carried out a second incursion into the Palestinian refugee camp of Khan Younis. A policeman was injured when an Israel gunship fired a missile at a police post, Palestinian residents said. Tensions have risen dramatically since Monday, when Israel assassinated the paraplegic spiritual leader of militant group Hamas, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. To anyone who follows the situation, Gaza has been noticeably quiet the last few days.
On Wednesday, remaining Hamas leaders reiterated pledges to avenge the killing. "We are carrying out our duty to defend our families and ourselves," the groupâs new overall leader, Khaled Mashaal, told reporters in the Syrian capital Damascus. "Any target that the mujahideen [Islamic holy warriors] are able to reach will not be spared," he said. Much of the media has been spinning like crazy the meme that killing Yassin will make things worse for the Israelis. While the Israelis have pointed out that killing terrorist leaders normally results in a quiet period, which seems to be the case now. This of course is completely ignored by the media.
Posted by: phil_b ||
03/25/2004 1:58:18 AM ||
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"Any target that the mujahideen [Islamic holy warriors] are able to reach will not be spared," he said.
Lol! And exactly how is this any different from before Yassin was aced? The Beeb is as pointless as a ball bearing. You certainly are an expensive lolly.
#3
The quiet period is for the Palestinian leaders to hit Blockbuster one more time to prepare for the prolonged post-attack stay in ye olde hidey hole.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
03/25/2004 13:37 Comments ||
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Amid reports of an escalation of resistance and even foreign complicity, fighting continues between the army and suspected al-Qaeda militants in Pakistanâs tribal region of South Waziristan on the border with Afghanistan. Tribal elders had earlier tried to talk foreign militants and their local supporters into surrendering during a break in the fighting that began in earnest last week. But the army apparently was not prepared to wait any longer, and nor were their targets, as overnight reports filtered in of attacks on military bases in other parts of the troubled region, and even a rocket attack on Peshawar, the capital of North West Frontier Province. More disturbingly, there have been confirmed reports of dissent among the ranks of the Pakistani para-military troops and the army sent into the semi-autonomous region to flush out al-Qaeda and Afghan resistance suspects. More than 5,000 forces have been deployed in the region. Pashtuns make up the second largest nationality the Army recruits from, after the Punjabis. Many of them are probably from the Waziri tribe too.
At the same time, talking to Asia Times Online, a high-level army officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, claimed that Indiaâs Research and Analysis Wing as well as the Northern Alliance - which makes up most of the government in Afghanistan - were attempting to exploit the volatile situation in the tribal areas to foment further unrest. "Yes, there are reports of infiltration from across the [Afghan] border and there is a fear that the Afghan Northern Alliance and Indian intelligence will take advantage of the situation and try their level best to further deteriorate the situation," he said. Somehow I donât think America would be ok with such âinfiltrationsâ
According to a local resident in the area, fresh fighting began late Tuesday evening when Pakistan army troops occupied the homes of people in Kalooshah, situated in South Waziristan near the Afghanistan border. At the same time, Pakistani authorities forcibly removed all foreign and local journalists from the area. Several local media persons who worked as stringers for foreign publications, including one for Asia Times Online, were taken into custody and then released after having their cameras and tape recorders confiscated.
The level of resistance to the Pakistan army in the tribal areas - by both foreign militants and local tribespeople - has been far greater than anticipated, according to security people who spoke to Asia Times Online. They claim that the reaction has now reached dangerous levels as it appears to be spreading beyond South and North Waziristan to the other five tribal regions. Attacks have been reported in Khuram agency (Parachanar) on army troops. There have also been protest rallies in Khyber agency, with tribal leaders warning that if the army does not withdraw from South Waziristan, they will join hands with Wazir tribes there. The countryâs top brass are obviously deeply concerned at the situation, but are compelled to push on with the operation as the United States is applying heavy pressure on Islamabad to remain committed. As a result, cracks are already appearing within the army as some ranks are unwilling to take on their countrymen. In one publicized case, a major refused to fly a helicopter gunship.
According to another officer, who served in North Waziristan as a junior officer, the Data Khail tribe is traditionally the most disliked among all Wazir tribesmen. These tribesmen are generally very primitive and have a long record of being associated with heroin trafficking, car theft and child abductions, where the children are sold into slave labor. Many a criminal from across Pakistan has taken refuge with them - for a fee. However, after the emergence of the Taliban in Pakistan in the 1990s, the Data Khail were widely reformed. Poppy cultivation is now prohibited in their areas, mosques and Islamic seminaries have been built and many of the young lads were educated in the famous Haqqania seminary of Akora Khattack in Pakistan, from where they returned to their homeland to improve the lot of their people. Now, in this time of crisis, despite their notorious past, other Wazir tribes have joined with the Data Khail in the name of jihad and mujahideens.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
03/25/2004 4:20:45 AM ||
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the Data Khail were widely reformed
Now they collaborate with international terrorists.
.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
03/25/2004 7:07 Comments ||
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oh...i see. The young men of the Data Khail tribes were, until recently, hated because they were thugs. But thanks to the new mosques and Islamic seminaries, they became peaceful, studious types - working towards human rights for women.
And so they would have remained - reformed and peaceful - were it not for the US forcing Pakistan to go in and shoot up the place - just for kicks.
Yes, it was not the mosques and the Islamic seminaries that turned them to Jihad - it was George Bush.
I rate it 5. It's useful for the idiots, but, despite the refreshing absence of chirping birds and other excess adjectives, it still took waaaay too long to get to the point that it was all GW's fault that they turned to Jihad. I would have rated it even lower, but he did a fair job of making it appear as if the sky was falling. However, the quagmire/sky-falling seems to have a farily limited shelf life.
#4
They always trot that out until it turns out to be Lashkar e-Jhangvi. It's a boogyman.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/25/2004 9:27 Comments ||
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#5
I heard that after operation against tribals, Bush gave the statement that he consider Musharaff to be more faithful than his dog.....Musharaff after listeing to this said that its an honor to be a dog/bitch of Bush...!
#7
In America - dogs live like Kings. They rule the house. Mine has his own room and two thrones that are his very own, weekly gooming, daily walks and great meals served twice daily. He has his very own seatbelt for the car. We even have special community playgrounds for them.
Yep my dog lives like a King - as do MOST american dogs - especially President Bush's. So...you see...to an American, it would be an honor to be treated like the Dog of President Bush.
You need to work on your slurs a bit. Pig thing is a bit tired too. Monkey's seem to work ok. I'd stick to the monkeys.
#8
Oh, and loosen your turban a little. It's making your ears stick out.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/25/2004 10:01 Comments ||
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I am sorry if I hurt the feelings of ur dog..but well, I am just the massenger...Though you should tell Bush about it, or sue him a few million dollars for hurthing the feelings of ur dog....!
#10
you seemed to miss my point Ghulam. But then - you seem to miss out on lots of them.
Posted by: B ||
03/25/2004 10:06 Comments ||
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#11
Guys it was in CNN....My advice to u all.... take some time away from ur dogs that may help you keep urself updated about wus going on in world beyond your dog...Chao!
#12
Yeah. And it's in the Koran someplace, too. You could look it up...
Posted by: Fred ||
03/25/2004 10:14 Comments ||
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#13
ok..Ghu..good advice...
I'll get busy and figure out how I can suffer die for a two-bit dictator who bleeds me dry so he can live far better than my dog could ever dream of.
um..no, on second thought, I'll take my dog for a walk, enjoy a beautiful day - and thank God that there are American soldiers who protect me from fanatics like you.
Posted by: B ||
03/25/2004 10:15 Comments ||
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#14
Cool down Fred! u took comment about ur dog as if i am talking of ur mom!!!
#17
world beyond your dog...Chao!
My dog chao? I don't feed my dog Purina. He is not a chao, and his name is not Chao, either.
Advice to Ghulam...Quit watching CNN or your testicles will rot just like your brain has; and, learn something of English semantics and nuances before making another attempt to look intellectual.
#18
Ghul clearly has dog issues. ...somehow I picture him scurrying about in a tight fitting Lassie costume and eating from a monogrammed dog dish. Man....I gotta layoff the late night SNL reruns.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
03/25/2004 12:12 Comments ||
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#20
Perv needs to ask George for just a "little" help - a couple of (hundred) tons of bombs on those "mud huts" in South Waziristan. About three buffs full should do it... preferably late at night. Also a couple for one of those 'mountain ravines' where all the tunnels end. Then we can use the special shit-smelling dogs to find the survivors in their stained shorts.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/25/2004 13:24 Comments ||
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#21
Does anyone else find it incredibly annoying when the barely literate misspell "your" as "ur"? "Ur" is a word -- it has a meaning all its own, and mis-using it like that makes you look like, well, a subliterate ass.
Learn the language, folks. It's not that hard.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
03/25/2004 13:28 Comments ||
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A hardline Islamist group opposed to New Delhiâs rule in Kashmir has vowed to strike within India to avenge Israelâs killing of Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. "We will take revenge here in India as Yahud (Jews) and Hanood (Hindus) are two sides of the same coin," a spokesman for Lashkar-e-Taiba was quoted saying by the English-language Greater Kashmir newspaper. "We will convene a meeting of field commanders shortly to decide as to how revenge could be taken," the spokesman said.
"It will be known as the Sheikh Ahmed Yassin Memorial Boom..."
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
03/25/2004 4:02:15 AM ||
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Wait one. Israel kills the leader of Hamas in Gaza, so this other Islamic group is going to attack India???
Posted by: Ben ||
03/25/2004 5:12 Comments ||
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#3
The next time a Yahud bus is blown up, the Hanood should assassinate a Lashkar-e-Taiba leader for revenge.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
03/25/2004 6:56 Comments ||
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#4
[Off-topic or abusive comments deleted]
Posted by: Ben ||
03/25/2004 9:54 Comments ||
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#5
Two sides of the same coin? A rather imbalanced coin, considering the fact that there are roughly 900 million Hindus in the world. I expect to see the tacit Israel-India alliance growing much stronger in the coming years -- with major benefits to both parties.
A senior Hamas leader denied yesterday that his movement had any connection with Al-Qaeda, even though both groups called for attacks on Israeli allies after the assassination of Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. 'We have no connection between Al-Qaeda and Hamas,' said Mahmud Zahar, a top aide to Sheikh Yassin, in an interview on Australian television. He said Hamas 'concentrated their activities on the occupied territories in Palestine'. But he added: 'I expect every Islamic movement everywhere is going to make retaliation for the assassination of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin.'
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/25/2004 1:44:48 AM ||
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Cluck cluck cluck!
They can dish it out, but they're shite at taking it on the chin.
Perhaps we should have a deathpool specifically for Hamas - that would be fun.
Den Beste and Wretchard have some interesting analyses on what the Israelis are doing with these assassinations - very interesting reading.
IMHO, I'd like to read about all the Hamas 'leadership' getting iced, then anyone who steps up to be a new leader, ultimately ending up with anyone who puts up a Hamas poster. This really is a "Wipe them out" situation. But that doesn't fit too well with Den Bestes analysis, so it must be wrong! :)
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
03/25/2004 2:06 Comments ||
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#2
Thanks for the tip, Tony (UK).
The Den Beste entry is excellent. Really, go check it out. You have to scroll down a bit but it's so logical.
#3
This spokesman is basically correct in his statement here. Although some Hamas members have occasionally made wild statements, Hamas as a whole does not advocate or carry out terrorist attacks on the USA because of our relationship with Israel. That is a real difference between Hamas and Al-Qaeda.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
03/25/2004 7:38 Comments ||
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#4
That is a real difference between Hamas and Al-Qaeda.
I'd say it's a real small difference. Don't play games like chess, Mike. You need to be able to see more than one or two moves ahead.
#5
really...uh, who killed the Fulbright Scholarship guys in Gaza? No, I mean really killed them, not the mopes Arafat's boyz "arrested". Sure it wasn't Hamas?
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/25/2004 9:35 Comments ||
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#6
Anon1 - we aim to please! :)
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
03/25/2004 18:32 Comments ||
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After the Pakistani military's week-long offensive here inside the country's semiautonomous tribal belt, Al Qaeda supporters have launched a series of counterstrikes. On Tuesday evening, guerrillas attacked the headquarters of Pakistani paramilitary troops as well as government establishments in the Northwest Frontier Province's capital, Peshawar. In the nearby town of Bannu, a bomb exploded moments before a military convoy was to pass a bridge, killing three policemen and a civilian. In the tribal region of Korram Agency, masked men attacked a military camp, killing three troops. Villagers in South Waziristan have reported a series of explosions, mostly in the evenings. Significantly, these attacks have taken place well outside the 30-square mile area cordoned off by the Pakistani military in its roundup operation against Al Qaeda fighters. This broadening of the fight suggests that Pakistan could be facing a wider guerrilla war from Al Qaeda and their local supporters. "They are trying to hit back by adopting guerrilla tactics in an attempt to hurt Pakistani security forces," says Mohammad Noor, a local journalist. "By attacking in other cities and towns, they want to engage [Pakistani] forces beyond the troubled region and want to demonstrate their strength."
Up until now they've been keeping their activities under the often obliging radar. But open rebellion is a different thing from running an autonomous operation within somebody else's territory. The Paks will have to take "official" notice and they'll have to suppress it. Otherwise, Pashtunistan's a go and the problem assumes new dimensions.
The authorities have imposed a ban on riding motorbikes in South Waziristan as militants using bikes are believed to launch rocket attacks on kiosks and military bases. "They operate after sunset in small numbers, mostly two or three, and run away after carrying out attacks," says a local intelligence source.
"Just like they do in Afghanistan..."
"Once the darkness covers the mountains, we could see the movements of a few suspicious men carrying rockets over their shoulders, their bodies and faces covered with blankets. They disappeared and we could see only their shadows," says a tribesman in South Waziristan.
If I see somebody with his face covered, lugging a rocket into the night, I'd refer to them as something other than "suspicious."
The counteroffensive started Monday when a group of guerrillas attacked a military convoy 25 miles outside Wana in Sarwaki village. Ten military and three paramilitary troops were killed. Several convoy vehicles carrying troop supplies into South Waziristan were damaged. The militants are "feeling the heat, as they fear being uprooted from the region that has provided them shelter and given them a hope of survival. But now it has become a death trap, so they seem to be desperate and will fight a battle for their survival," says Sailab Mehsud, sociologist and a writer in South Waziristan.
If it was any other country other than Pakland that would be a stupid thing to do. Chances are good, though, that the Paks will finish up this little fistfight, withdraw, and leave the area to its own devices in the future, no matter what happens. They don't have a government; they have a name-calling society...
Meanwhile, Pakistani authorities are still trying to secure the release of 14 paramilitary troops and administration officials held hostage by Al Qaeda militants and local men. The hostages are believed to have been captured when the fighting began March 16 between paramilitary troops and "foreign terrorists," as Pakistani authorities describe them. Officials are trying to force cooperation from the Zalikhel tribe, which is accused of harboring Al Qaeda militants. Several tribesmen's houses have been demolished and their businesses shut. Around 10,000 well-armed and equipped military and paramilitary troops, backed by gunship helicopters, are engaged in fighting with 400 to 500 Al Qaeda militants and their local supporters, known as Men of Al Qaeda, in South Waziristan. Pakistan says that its security forces have struck "solid blows" to foreign terrorists who had been hiding here after crossing the border from Afghanistan into this tribal belt following the ouster of the Taliban by the US and allied forces in 2001.
Show us a stack of corpses and we'll believe you, kinda. Otherwise, having to use 10,000 to bump off 400 to 500 just isn't making it. The Boy Scouts could probably do it better, if they can stay out of court. Get yourselves a real army...
Several foreign and local militants, said to be mostly Chechens and Uzbeks, were killed during the operation launched on March 16, while around 125 have been arrested. The security forces have cordoned off several towns and villages spread over 30 square miles. Troops are conducting search operations in two of the towns, Schin Warsak and Kallu Shah, which are located some 10 miles west of Wana. "Pakistan wants to control this region and to cleanse it from Al Qaeda and the Taliban militants. By doing so they will try to finish this problem once and for all and strengthen their presence along the western border [with Afghanistan] as well," says Mr. Mehsud. "We are against the operation because of the miseries of innocent tribesmen.
"... and their darling puppies and kittens and baby ducks!"
"Not every tribesman is involved with Al Qaeda and cannot be punished for a sin or crime committed by a few tribesmen," says a tribal elder. "The tribesmen are ready to cooperate and will fully cooperate if the security forces pledge to withdraw from towns and villages after the operation."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/25/2004 1:37:09 AM ||
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problem:operation causing misery on innocent tribesmen(id there such a thing?).
#2
The tribesmen ... will fully cooperate if the security forces pledge to withdraw ... after the operation.
The tribesmen should fully cooperate AND the security forces should stay after the operation. The tribesmen have forfeited their previous autonomy by allowing their area to be used as a base of terrorist operations against Afghanistan and against the Pakistani government. Welcome to the real world, tribesmen!
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
03/25/2004 7:05 Comments ||
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#3
I heard that after operation against tribals, Bush gave the statement that he consider Musharaff to be more faithful than his dog.....Musharaff after listeing to this said that its an honor to be a dog/bitch of Bush...!
Posted by: Fred ||
03/25/2004 10:00 Comments ||
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#5
"Ghulam Rasool"
Hmmm. Sure sounds familiar... Were you in GhostBusters? Fred, think one of those containment units might be available from the movie studio's prop deparment? I think we've got a slimer, here. ;-)
#6
Fred it was in CNN....My advice to u, take some time away from ur dog that may help you keep urself updated about wus going on in world beyond your dog...!
#7
Jeesh, Ghulam. Are you going to write your little "dog" quote on every thread.
I think you are just jealous of the fine treatment our dogs get...living in air conditioned palaces and all. Is it hot where you are?
Posted by: B ||
03/25/2004 10:10 Comments ||
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#8
.com,
Nope. Not the same old nut. It's a different nut. This guy posts from rr.com, and it's the same origination for each post.
Boris' latest seems to have come from iplannetworks.net, the one before that from techtelnet.net, and last night from hostplus.net. He's also used ultrawholesale.com.au, and one lookup dies on win.be. I still think he's one of the guys using the product of all those emails that say "click here right away!"
Posted by: Fred ||
03/25/2004 10:33 Comments ||
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#9
B, Gollom Ratstool seems to have a things for dogs, prolly has a thing for sheep as well - bwhaahahaha.
#11
On the other hand, Ghulam is the same person as Lopez, jose, Jacob, Ben, Motin, Allah Rakha, and micheal. Sounds like the medication's running low...
Posted by: Fred ||
03/25/2004 10:44 Comments ||
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#12
He was Abramov(Israel), Jack Brown, Thomas, Khan, Spencer, and robert, and most lately Smith. Now he's banned...
Posted by: Fred ||
03/25/2004 10:48 Comments ||
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#13
I hope Colin was impressed.
Posted by: Mr. Davis ||
03/25/2004 11:13 Comments ||
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#14
He was Abramov(Israel), Jack Brown, Thomas, Khan, Spencer, and robert, and most lately Smith
Whoa! Now that's a list. Had trouble finding himself evidently.
#20
I was afraid he was gonna turn into Fred, and then what the hell was I supposed to do?
Great! Finally someone who can understand my surprise upon learning I was a Kurd.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
03/25/2004 13:22 Comments ||
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#21
10,000 vs 400.
Lets be fair to the pakis. if youre just trying to blast away at something its one thing. If your trying to take as many as possible alive, and especially some high value AQ guy, who wants to make a break for it, it makes sense to have enough guys to establish a cordon around a huge area like they did. Even if they screwed up and let the big quarry get away. and much (most?) of the 10,000 are unreliable tribals, useful for little more than manning the outer cordon. How regulars are actually doing the front line fighting? take 400, multiply by some usual need of a 3 to 1 advantage for an attacker against a fixed position, double that say, for this being a well established fixed position, and assume that the hardened AQ chechens and Uzbeks are 50% more efficient than the average Paki soldier. that would mean you'd need over 4000 Pakis on the front line. Figure the other 6,000 are to man the extensive outer cordon. Sounds like not an unreasonable amount for this battle. Better too many, than too few, if they can keep them supplied easily.
#22
Agree LH. But to cut down on the verbage. The Paks screwed the poochy. They are not now, nor have they ever been a country, army or even a people. Fu*j 'em and their queer notions of nationhood.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair will hold talks this week in Libya with Muammar Gadhafi, British officials said on Wednesday, marking improved relations as Libya scraps its banned weapons programs. Blair's visit is a significant step in reinstating Libya in the world community after its pledge in December to dismantle its nuclear, chemical and biological programs. "We will be using the visit to continue the process of bringing Libya into the international mainstream, and to make clear that we will be trying to get Libya's relationship with the European Union developed in the months ahead," a senior official accompanying Blair said Wednesday on condition of anonymity. "It was part of our agreement with Libya that we and the United States would act quickly to bring them back and show them the rewards of cooperation with the international institutions," the official added.
Britain has a long history of grievances with Gadhafi, who supplied shiploads of weapons to the Irish Republican Army in the 1980s. Britain broke off diplomatic relations with Libya in 1984, after British policewoman Yvonne Fletcher was killed by a shot fired from a window of the Libyan embassy, or "people's bureau," in London, and relations hit bottom after Libya was implicated in the bombing of a Pam Am jetliner over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270 people, in 1988. Britain restored diplomatic relations with Libya in 1999, and Britain has taken a lead diplomatic lead in ending Libya's isolation. The British official, who briefed reporters in Madrid, said "a number of British companies stand to gain from a more normal relationship." He said Shell may soon sign a heads of agreement on gas exploration rights off the Libyan coast in the days ahead, and British Aerospace was negotiating about providing civil aviation facilities for Libya. Asked if Britain would push for an end of the EU arms embargo against Libya, he said, "I think it will mean that in time."
Lotsa carrots for Q-man!
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/25/2004 12:20:23 AM ||
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#1
shiploads of weapons to the Irish Republican Army
Boatloads maybe.... heaps, many, lots, sh*tload... but shiploads? If that'that't the case it looks like the evil Irishters took 'em for a ride.
President Mikhail Saakashvili's government annulled a defiant regional leader's diplomatic passport Wednesday, the latest move in a battle to force the head of Adzharia to submit to Georgia's central authorities. Aslan Abashidze, his son Georgi Abashidze, who is mayor of the regional capital Batumi, and the region's Interior Minister Dzhemal Gogitidze were among more than 500 people who had their diplomatic passports annulled, said Malkhaz Radiani, head of the Georgian Foreign Ministry press service. Abashidze has yet honor his pledge to cede control to government representatives or lift a state of emergency. Saakashvili has threatened to reintroduce sanctions if Abashidze doesn't fall into line. Saakashvili on Wednesday also accused Abashidze of trying to recruit foreign soldiers to his Black Sea region, warning that "if even one foreign mercenary from Chechnya, from Ukraine or anywhere else, comes to Adzharia, I promise this will end tragically for Abashidze."
"I's warning ya, ya mutt, ya better hand over da vigorish!"
"Absurd," countered the Adzharian leader who denied the accusations, saying he was "surprised by the fantastic declarations" of Saakashvili, the Russian news agency ITAR-Tass reported.
"Lies! All lies!"
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/25/2004 12:15:07 AM ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
